SAP ABAP Interview Questions, Answers, and Explanations: ABAP Certification Review By Barry FewerSAP ABAP Interview Questions Please visit our website at www.sapeookbook.com © 2006 Equity Press all rights reserved. ISBN 1-033804-06-8 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a license permitting restricted copying in the United States or abroad. The programs in this book have been included for instructional value only. They have been tested with care but are not guaranteed for any particular purpose. The publisher does not offer any warranties or representations not does it accept any liabilities with respect to the programs. Trademark notices SAP, SAP ABAP, Netweaver, and SAP New Dimension are registered trademarks of SAP AG. This publisher gratefully acknowledges SAP permission to use its trademark in this publication. SAP AG is not the publisher of this book and is not responsible for it under any aspect of the law.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Table of Contents SAP ABAP Interview Questions, Answer: and Explanations Motivation Introduction The ABAP Guru has Spoken! Part I: Database Updates SAP Standard. 10 Question 1: Lock Objects and Function Modules wll Vodifications odification Assistant. Question 7: Function Module Exit .. Question 8: Transaction Variants Question 9; Changing SAP . Question 10: Adding Fields Question 11: What is a BADI?, Part II: List Processing. Question 12: SAP Que! Question 13: List Generation .. Question 14: Output an Icon Question 15: List Processing Question i6; System internal table? Question 17: Selection Screen Number Question 18: Logical Databas Question 19: Native and Open SQ) Question 20: AT LINE-SELECTION.. Part III: Internal Tables & ALV Grid Control 3 Question 21: Internal Table: -3-SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 22: COLLECT Statement. Question 23; AT NEW Control Structure Question 24: ALV Grid Control Question 25: Code Example Question 26: Field Descriptions Question 27: ALV Grid and Events. Part IV: Dialog programming. Question 28: Module Pool . Question 29: Important TCODE: Question 30: Inner and Outer Join Question 31: GUI Status.. Question 32: SY-UCOMM Question 33: Dialog Executi Question 34: Search Helps. Question 35: Subscreen Call . Question 36: Subsereen OK_CODE Question 37: Table Control Part V: ABAP Objects... Question 38: Object Oriented Languages Question 39: Class and Objects... Question 40: READ-ONLY... Question 41: Public versus private attributes. Question 42: Static Attributes... Question 43: Instance v. Static Method. Question 44: Object Instantiation Question 45: Garbage Collector Question 46: Constructor Method Question 47: Multiple Inheritance Question 48: Redefined Method . Question 49: Interfaces ... Question 50: Abstract Classe: Part VI: Data Transfer . Question 51: Data Transfer. -4-SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 52: BDCDATA. Question 53: What is LSMW? Question 54: Batch Input Part VII: BASIS.. Question 55: Client Definition... Question 56: Tiered Architecture. Question 57: Dispatcher . Question 58: Work Processes Question 50: RFCs. Question 60: SAPNet Question 61; CCMS. Question 62: Transport Change Request. Question 63: Internet outage 94 Question 64: OK Codes 95 Question 65: Transaction Code: 96 Question 66: STMS Importing .. Question 67: Work Processes Question 68: Patch Level for Question 69: Web help installation Question 70: Web Resources Question 71: Instance installation Question 72: Client cop Question 73: Table Tooo. Question 74: Table USRo2.. Question 75: Passwords. Question 76: Table TADIR.. Question 77: Table TDEVC. Question 78: Change Requests. Question 79: User Access .... Question 80: Transport object keys. Question 81: Transport in progress Question 82: Repaired Objects.. Question 83: Disable Multiple LoginsSAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 84: Locked Transactions Part VIII: ABAP Development Question 85: Chained Statement: Question 86: Defining Constants Question 87: Return Codes... Question 88: SELECT SINGLE. Question 89: SELECT SEMANTIC: Question 90: Array Fetch... Question 91: Dialog Data Transport Question 92: Domain v. Data Element Question 93: Table Buffering. Question 94: CONDENSE.. Question 95: CLEAR and FREE. Question 96: Passing Parameters Question 97: Assigning Attribute: Question 98: Function Group INDEX, ABOUTSAP ABAP Interview Questions Motivation My motivation for writing this book is based on two. different reasons resulting from my experience working with SAP over the last eight years. The first reason stems from my recent re-certification in ABAP. Anyone who has ever written an SAP certification knows the enormous amount of material that must be reviewed in order to prepare for the exam. In my most recent endeavor I found that there was a definite lack of material covering the type of questions presented in the ABAP exam. It is this experience that has led me to write this book that provides sample questions and related material. The second reason is to provide technical managers a guide for interviewing ABAP resources. The ABAP Tanguage provides a wealth of functionality and tools for developers. It is difficult to remember “all the right questions” that should be asked in an interview especially as not all SAP projects use all of the features, tools and techniques that the product offers. This book enables the interviewer to ask the right questions in order to select the best candidate. Tam confident that this book will provide an excellent precursor for an ABAP developer that is planning on writing the certification exam. I am equally sure that it will assist technical managers in completing a thorough interview covering all needed aspects of the language in the hopes of finding the best possible candidate. Barry Fewer Ottawa, Ontario January 2006SAP ABAP Interview QuestionsSAP ABAP Interview Questions Introduction This book is divided into the following sections: I. Database Updates and Changing the SAP Standard Il. List Processing IIL. Internal Tables & ALV Grid Control IV. Dialog Programming V. ABAP Objects VI. Data Transfer VI. BASIS VII. ABAP Development Each question has a question and an answer — that is pretty straightforward — but when you see the guru icon — this is information that represents the highest degree of knowledge in a particular area. So if you're looking for an “ABAP Objects guru” be sure to listen for an answer similar to those given under the guru icon. x HH Don't be bamboozled! The ABAP Guru has Spoken!SAP ABAP Interview Questions * ra Part I: Database Updates and Changing the SAP StandardSAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 1: Lock Objects and Function Modules What are the names of the function modules that will be generated upon activation ofa lock object? At: Prior to creating setting any locks in an ABAP program, a lock object must be created in the ABAP dictionary. When the lock object is created, the system will automatically generate the two function modules required for lock management. The first function module used to set locks is the ENQUEUE_. This function module is used to generate a lock entry in the lock table. If the lock cannot be set for any reason then this would be reflected in the return code. The second function module used to release locks is the DEQUEUE_. This function module will remove a lock entry from the lock table. These function modules are used to set and release Jocks in an ABAP program. The programmer -ii-SAP ABAP Interview Questions simply performs the specific “CALL FUNCTION...” statement for each function module. * These lock function modules are executed in a specific work process with the SAP system dedicated to lock management. This work process is run ona single server that maintains the central lock table for the entire SAP system. There are two types of locks that can be set: Shared lock — is a read only lock that prevents data from being changed while a user is reading it. Exclusive lock — is a write lock that prevents data from being changed while a used is already modifying it.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 2: Update function modules Update function modules are classified as either Vi or V2. Which type of update is performed first and in what mode (Asynchronously, Synchronously or locally) can each type be processed in? A V1 updates take priority over V2 updates and are therefore processed prior to V2 updates. V1 updates can be performed asynchronously, synchronously or locally. Vo updates always run asynchronously.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 3: ABAP Memory Exchanging What two statements would be used to exchange data between programs using ABAP memory? AA: EXPORT to MEMORY ID will copy data to ABAP memory and IMPORT from MEMORY ID is used to copy the data from ABAP memory into a program. The data that is being exchanged via ABAP memory must be declared in the two programs involved with exactly the same data declarations.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 4: Authorization Objects Whatare authorization objects and what statement is used to perform an authorization check in an ABAP program? As Authorization objects are composed of a grouping of fields. The values in these fields will be ‘used in an authorization check. AUTHORITY-CHECK is the statement used in an ABAP program to perform an authorization check against an authorization object. In the AUTHORITY-CHECK statement, all fields of the object must be addressed or the keyword DUMMY is used to bypass checking on a field. x TA here can be a maximum of 10 fields defined on an authorization object.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 5: Modifications What is the definition of a modification in an SAP system and how do they impact an upgrade? A: A modification is a change made by a customer to an SAP delivered repository object. Modifications must be reviewed during upgrade time to determine if the new SAP object should be used or if the modified object can still be used with or without further modifications.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 6: Modification Assistant What is the Modification Assistant? A: The modification assistant is a tool introduced in release 4.5 to simplify the upgrade process as it relates to modifications. The modification assistant can be triggered through the ABAP editor and it will assist in logging modifications for any changes that are made to the system. The modification assistant provides support for modification made through the ABAP Editor, Screen Painter, Menu Painter, text element maintenance, Function Builder and ABAP Dictionary.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 7: Function Module Exit What statement will be found in an SAP application program that implements a function module exit? A: Function module exits will exist in some SAP application programs to allow a customer to add some functionality to the SAP program, Search the SAP application program globally looking for the following search string: “CALL CUSTOMER’ to determine if an exit exists.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 8: Transaction Variants What is a transaction variant and why are they used? A: A transaction variant is a set of screen variants that is used to predefine screen behavior and defaults. Fields, subsereens and full screens that may not be required by a user can be suppressed from that users view through the use of variant functionality. Default values can also be set for any input fields and fields can have the “ready for input” status revoked. A transaction variant can only be created for a dialog or reporting transaction and only normal, subscreen and dialog screens can be included in the variant. a The GuiXT script language allows a developer to modify a screen through transaction -190-SAP ABAP Interview Questions variant maintenance providing more flexibility and power to the developer. Screen layouts can be modified by inserting buttons, value helps, moving objects, inserting screens and much more Fig. 1: Transaction SHDo -20-SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 9: Changing SAP List some of the many different ways that the SAP standard functionality can be changed by a customer? A: The SAP standard can be changed through personalization, customizing, modifications, enhancements and custom ABAP programs developed by the customer development team. Examples of these different approaches for changing the standard are as follows Personalization techniques include creation of variants, set/get parameters and activity groups. Customizing is the most common way for changing the SAP standard through the use SAP tools such as the R/3 reference model and the Implementation Guide. Customizing could be considered mandatory in order to implement R/3 and is usually performed by the functional team. Enhancements are usually performed by the development team and include activities such as dictionary enhancements, function module exits, menu and screen exits and Business add-ins (BADI's)SAP ABAP Interview Questions Custom ABAP programs are developed for a wide variety of reasons and can work with standard SAP objects or custom developed objects. Modifications to SAP objects are strongly discouraged. All other techniques should be explored before modifying an SAP object. The SAP Software Change Registration SSCR) is a procedure for registering all manual modification to SAP objects.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 10: Adding Fields What are two different ways to add fields to SAP tables? At An append structure or a customizing include can be used to add fields to a table. Append structures are created by adding fields to the end of a table while Customizing includes are specified by the SAP developer in advance to allow for the customer to create new fields.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 11: What is a BADI? A’ BADI stands for Business add-in. BADI’s are a relatively new enhancement concept that make use of ABAP Object technology. This is a true object oriented approach to SAP enhancements using classes, interfaces and methods to implement the BADI In order to enhance a SAP application program, the BADI must first be defined. The developer will create an interface for the BADI. An adapter class is created from this that will implement the interface. Developers will then create an instance of the adapter class in the SAP application program and create method calls as required. Fig. 2: SEi8 — BADI Maintenance = 24-SAP ABAP Interview Questions z laa Part II: List ProcessingSAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 12: SAP Query Explain the relationship between a functional area, user group and query when developing queries using the SAP Query tool? A: Functional areas and user groups are organizational elements used in SAP Query that must first be created in order to user the query environment. The data that a query will be based on is defined in a functional area. A functional area is typically based on a logical database but can be any table and fields within that table. Users are assigned to user groups. Functional areas are also assigned for the user group allowing users to create and start queries based on the data in that functional area. Multiple functional areas can be assigned to a user group and a functional area can be assigned to several different groups.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 13: List Generation What ABAP statement will trigger list generation? A: The first WRITE statement encountered in an ABAP program will trigger list processing. Upon completion of the program, the list is output. The system will generate some standard headings for list output that includes the program name anda page number in the heading.SAP ABAP Interview Questions Question 14: Output an Icon What two statements are required in an ABAP program to output an icon using a write statement? A: There are 2 statements required in the ABAP program: The INCLUDE or INCLUDE statement is required in the program. The WRITE statement will have the following syntax: WRITE AS ICON. The Include files contain the names of constants that represent all system defined icons. contains only icons that are relevant for list processing while will contain all system defined icons.