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sap debugging for functional
consultants
October 23, 2022 by saptutorials
In this article, we will share a quick and easy guide to sap debugging
for functional consultants. When it comes to ABAP code debugging or
analyzing an ABAP program, functional consultants frequently struggle.
This is to help those who would like to explore and learn the SAP ABAP
Debugging knowledge area. This is helpful for all functional people with
minimal knowledge of SAP.
Table of Contents
What is debugging?
Why do we need to Debug?
Introduction of sap debugging for functional consultants
What is ABAP Debugging?
Types of Debugger
Selecting and switching the debugger
o Debugger settings
o Selecting the debugger
o Switching the debugger
Debugging Function Keys and their functionality
Customize the debugging desktop components
Variable fast display
Break point
o Types of breakpoints
Watch point
Internal table and related operations in debugging
What is debugging?
Definition: Debugging is the way to find the root cause of SAP
transaction behavior (e.g, finding a reason why a certain value in a field was
updated or determining why users receive an error, warning, or abnormal
transaction termination message during transaction processing).
Why do we need to Debug?
Debugging is necessary if the root cause cannot
be determined from functional methods such as checking to
customize or master data.
Because ABAP is SAP’s backbone, every member of a functional
team must have dealt with SAP development technicalities
underlying business functionality at some point. This need for
technical details can occur during various phases, such as writing
functional specifications or analyzing production environment
issues.
To understand basic terminology for ABAP and various tools and
techniques for debugging.
This knowledge is helpful when you are trying to find the root
cause of an issue or designing a needed functionality to fill a GAP
in requirements.
Introduction of sap debugging for functional
consultants
SAP ABAP Debugging is a tool that helps to identify and analyze errors.
Through debugging, we can analyze a program, understand the flow logic and
most importantly find out the root cause of any issue. Debugging is a task that
an ABAP consultant should be familiar with, although functional consultants
would also benefit immensely from debugging skills. It will save their time for
analysis and issue resolution, reduce the over-dependence of the ABAP team,
and help in effort [Link] debugger is an integrated testing tool
within the ABAP workbench through which we can check the flow logic of
programs.
What is ABAP Debugging?
Debugging is when you stop a program or transaction at a certain point, so
you can walk step by step through the ABAP programming to see where an
error occurs. But as a functional consultant you need basic ABAP skills to be
able to do this, Most good functional consultants will have basic debugging
skills and this is very very important because it reduces the excessive
independence of ABAP teams. Most of the time, part of our workload is to
resolve errors that occur during the execution of certain transactions.
However, if these errors message cannot be resolved by setting up the master
data or transactional data (i.e.: error message without any meaning) you need
to access the program in debug mode (by typing “/h” in the transaction bar
and then executing the transaction), which will allow us to analyze the
program and see where the problem lies, and thus save time.
If you are not sure about which line of code you want to debug, enter
transaction /h in the command prompt, sometimes referred to as the OK
CODE, while executing any transaction. Press Enter to activate the debugger.
You’ll see the message in the status line and now if you were to press enter
again, hit save, or perform any function on this transaction, you will see the
DEBUGGER screen appear
Types of Debugger
Two types of debuggers
1. Classic debugger
2. New debugger
The Classic ABAP Debugger runs in the same role area as the application
being analyzed. The Classic ABAP Debugger is a one-process debugger, where
the debugger and debugged run in the same internal session.
The New debugger: The New debugger is a two-process debugger, available
for all releases after 6.40. The new ABAP debugger starts in a separate external
session.-> In the new debugger, the debuggee session will be inactive while
the debugger is active. So during debugging we can still see the input values
in the debuggee screen. As long as the debuggee session is active, the
debugger is not shut down. The advantage is the debugger with all the
settings, variables, and breakpoints is always available when we restart
debugging. /hx command in a debug session ends the debugger session.
A debugger settings screen appears. Go to Settings->Options.
sap debugging for functional consultants
Selecting and switching the debugger
Debugger settings
If we choose “Close Debugger After Continue (F8) and Roll Area End”, the
debugger will be closed after we execute the program. With this setting, the
debugger behaves like a classic debugger.
debugging in sap ABAP step by step
Selecting the debugger
We can chose the debugger type in the ABAP development environment for
example, in ABAP editor(Tcode – SE38) or in the object navigator(Tcode –
SE80) via menu path Utility-> Settings
ABAP debugging
In the user-specific settings, select the classic debugger or new debugger
option. The selected debugger option will become the default debugger tool
for the user.
de
bugging in sap ABAP
Switching the debugger
We can switch between the classic debugger and the new debugger at any
time. From classical debugger to new debugger, through path Debugger ->
switch to new ABAP debugger
sap debugging for beginners
Debugging Function Keys and their
functionality
Starting the debugging session, The new debugger can be started with the
same commands as a classic debugger.
Using the command “/h”
Execute the program in debug mode
Setting breakpoint
Commonly used debug keys:
F5 – Single-step execution
F6 – Single step/skip subroutines
F7 – move to the next breakpoint or finish loop
F8 – Execute / Stop at the next breakpoint
New Debugger screen main parts Desktop
Control Area
Tool
System fields
Process Info
The new debugger has 3 custom desktops, 7 standard desktops
1. Standard
2. Structures
3. Tables
4. Objects
5. Detail Display
6. Data explorer
7. Breakpoint/Watchpoint
In the new debugger, we can scroll vertically and horizontally through source
code. New Debugger screen main parts
Debuggers
Customize the debugging desktop components
We can maintain up to 4 tools on the desktop. We can undo the layout
changes by clicking on the back button. We can customize the desktop at our
convenience using the following buttons on the right side of the debugger
screen.
Close the current tool
Add new tool
Replace current tool
Make the current tool full screen and – to align/maximize tools
vertically or horizontally
Swap tools
Services of the tool
We can save the current layout of the user-specific desktop using the layout
save button of the new debugger. When the swap tool button is selected, the
following pop-up screen appears. Based on the option selected, tools will be
swapped. When we click on the “add new tool” or “replace tool” button, a
pop-up screen appears to choose the new tool to be displayed or replaced on
the desktop. Then the selected tool will get added or replaced on the desktop.
on desktop.
Variable fast display
Variable fast display or variable overview displays data objects with current
content and technical attributes. Variables 1 and 2: Double-click on any
variable to get its content and attributes. Local and global tabs display all local
and global variables of the current program. We can select the default tab in
the variable fast display using the menu path Settings->Options. In new
types of debugging in sap abap
In the new debugger options screen select the default tab for the fast variable
display tool. We can filter out the global variable by selecting the checkbox to
hide constants, tables, data, and common parts.
debugging for functional consultants in sap
Break point
The breakpoint is the indication to the ABAP runtime processor to stop the
program processing at a certain specified statement and to start the ABAP
debugger.
Types of breakpoints
Static breakpoint
Dynamic breakpoint
Static breakpoint: Static breakpoint is useful during the development phase.
We can set the breakpoint using the keyword BREAK-POINT. Due to this hard
coding, the program is interrupted regardless of the user who executes it.
BREAK user_name Using this command, the program is interrupted only when
the specified user runs the program. We can find the static break point in the
program using an extended program
check or transaction code SLIN. Chose Program -> Check -> Extended
Program Check or TCode SLIN
sap abap debugging for functional consultants
Dynamic breakpoint
It is set in the ABAP editor or debugger by double-clicking on that line. These
breakpoints are user-specific and will be deleted when the user logs off. We
can delete or deactivate the breakpoint at runtime. On selecting create
breakpoint from the menu options as shown below
breakpoint
Create Breakpoints A pop-up screen appears where we can choose the type of
dynamic breakpoint as per requirement.
debugging in sap abap step by step
Breakpoint at statements The Debugger stops program immediately before a
specified program statement is executed. Break point at subroutines The
Debugger stops the program immediately before a specified subroutine is
executed.
Breakpoint at function module
The debugger stops the program immediately before the specified function
module is executed. Breakpoint at method The Debugger stops the program
immediately before the specified method is executed. There is a separate tab
for managing breakpoints in the new debugger. We can activate or deactivate
or delete or create any breakpoint in the breakpoint tab of the debugger.
Text Link Test
Double-clicking on the navigation button shows a breakpoint on the source
code.
sap debugging
Watch point
Watch points are user-specific dynamic breakpoints. We can define watch
points in the debugger screen to monitor the content of specified fields. We
can set a watchpoint to interrupt program execution when the content of a
field or structure is changed
Local watchpoints are valid in a specific program
Global watch points are valid in a specific program and all the
programs it calls.
Click on create watch point button on the debugger screen.
Watch point
Select a local or global option as per the requirements. Mention the program
for which we want to set watchpoint; the current program name will default in
the program field. If we just enter the field name and select continue, the
breakpoint will be created in such a way that every time the content of the
field changes program execution will be interrupted.
We can create conditional watchpoints by selecting appropriate relational
operators like >, <, >=, <=, <>, =. As soon as the watchpoint field values
change or the condition is met, the debugger will stop and the system will
show the message “ Watchpoint is reached.” We can set a watch point for
internal tables in the new debugger. If we set the watchpoint at a table
without mentioning the condition, the debugger will stop whenever the table
content changes. This affects program performance and also creates memory
problems. So it is preferred for short program durations. The new debugger
creates a clone of the watchpoint variable. So once the watchpoint is reached,
we can see the old and new values of a variable.
Internal table and related operations in
debugging
The internal table in the new debugger We can save internal table data to
local files by clicking on the table services Button
debugging in programming
Chose to save to local file and continue services button
SAP debugging
Select the number of records and data format for the download file We can
delete the entire internal table content or selected records by choosing delete
table. On confirmation, the internal table will be completely refreshed. We can
upload the data to the internal table in debug mode from a local file on the
desktop.
We can insert new records to the internal table using the context menu of the
table. Right-clicking on the internal table record and choosing Insert Row from
the available options A pop-up appears asking you to use a template while
creating a new record. If we choose to use a template, a new record will be
inserted at the selected position. In the new debugger, we can scroll through
the internal table vertically or horizontally.
We can search for a specific field value in the internal table. For example, Go to
the context menu of the internal table and choose “search.”
debugging
Conclusion
These are some fundamental facts that functional consultants may find
beneficial. As we become more involved in debugging, we will be able to
investigate many more aspects. Those abilities can only be acquired over time
through real-world practice. I hope this was useful.
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