ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming) refers to the primary programming language that is available on SAP. It is used by SAP to develop and implement its own applications on Netweaver ABAP platform. ABAP is also used by many SAP developers to build or modify their applications.

ABAP has a lot of useful features and applications for software developers. Here are some of the most useful features that you can find on this program.

Storage Type for Tables

These storage types for tables come in three types:

1. Column Store

This creates tables in the SAP/4HANA column store or places them there. This setting should be used in the following cases:

• If the table is designed for the application data which has been analyzed in SAP/4HANA
• The table contains a huge volume of rows and the storage type column store provides much better compression
• The table has a full-text index
• The database table contains table fields with SAP/4HANA data types. These are supported only by the column store of the storage type

2. Row Store

This either creates the table in the SAP/4HANA column store or places it there. This setting should be used if the database table is being used primarily for frequent single row accesses.

3. Undefined

This is the one setting possible for pooled and clustered tables. There isn’t any point in specifying a single storage type for these tables. They are grouped according to custom requirements or logic. This setting is unusable for transparent tables, however.

Once the storage type is created for a table, it may be changed. However, the table has to be moved to the specified store to do so. This should be used with caution because if the table contains content, a reorganization of table data may be required.

Full Text Indexes

This is a new index that is available for the SAP/4HANA databases. This is available as a secondary table index. Created on the database table as an additional column, the Full-Text Index isn’t visible to the user. The text highlighting search and analysis is available to the user with the Full-Text Index.

However, before creating a Full-Text Index, there are certain rules that need to be met. For instance:

• A full-text index may be created with tables for a storage type column store for the SAP/4HANA database.
• A full-text index can be created for only one column in a database table. This column must have a built-in data type from one of these: CHAR, SHORTSTRING, STRING, RAWSTRING.
• The database table must have a column for the text language.

De-Clustering and De-pooling

Pool tables and cluster tables are very common in SAP ABAP app development and modification. The former combines a large number of individual small tables into a single database table. This addresses problems with large numbers of individual database objects and allows for collective modification. It also improves the efficiency of certain development processes.

The latter combines information from several tables that belong together by force of logic. Hence, this allows for a different, more logical grouping of tables that can be modified based on their intrinsic properties.

The newest useful feature available for these tables in SAP/4HANA is the conversion to transparent tables. This allows the SAP/4HANA database as a primary database to support de-pooling and de-clustering.

This option can be accessed thus:

Choose Table Category>>Extras>>Change/Display Table Category

Under the Choose Table Category, different databases or lists of databases can be specified for which transparent tables are needed. You can select whichever pool or cluster table you need so that they can be made transparent.

De-Activation of Secondary Indexes

ABAP allows developers to activate and deactivate secondary indexes selectively in index definition dialog windows. This allows for much more flexibility in the development and modification of applications.

Special Features of ABAP

ABAP in SAP isn’t a standalone app. It’s integrated with a lot of other features of SAP that allow it to do much more. Some of these special features include:

• Logical Database Connections:These allow the code to be abstracted from a specific database. The database connections that are made are configured outside of the ABAP code. This allows the same code to be used in several different database environments. The Logical Database Connections allow for several volumes of information to be extracted when the need arises. This saves a lot of time.
• Open SQL:This is an abstraction of the SQL syntax which is converted into native SQL by ABAP runtime environments. This is possible since the SQL syntax itself is part of the ABAP language. The conversion is necessary for interaction with the database that is being used.
• Internal Tables:These tables hold collections of objects that are accessed through Open SQL or special language keywords. This is in direct contrast with the concept of typed arrays in languages like Java or C++. While this may be a different ABAP concept, it’s extremely useful for quick access.
• Security:This feature simply integrates ABAP with the security infrastructure of SAP NetWeaver.
• Data Dictionary:This is simply a trove of definitions for data structure. This includes business logic, and it is available to all the ABAP programs within a single system.
• Change and Transport System:A CTS system tracks all changes in development objects. It also manages development object promotion to quality assurance and production environments.
• Shared Development System:ABAP is quite different from all newer languages because a shared system handles development. Hence, all developers work on the same objects simultaneously.

These features make ABAP a standout platform for SAP. Using these features will allow developers to make quick work of key functions in their software development process. While these functions afford ease of access and customization, their use as powerful tools must not be forgotten. Using them responsibly to remove obstacles instead of creating more through disregard should be cautioned.