Object Oriented ABAP

Introducing ABAP Objects

 Introduction to ABAP Objects

• ABAP Objects, the object-oriented (OO)

extension to the ABAP language, is available
with releases 4.5 and 4.6. Release 4.6 adds
inheritance, nested interfaces, and dynamic
method invocation. In this training, we’ll take
you through an introduction to ABAP Objects
and give you a comprehensive example (The
code for the example can be tested and
debugged in DEMO_ABAP_OBJECTS program
in R/3 release 4.6 or higher).

2 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 What are ABAP Objects ?

• ABAP objects are compatible extension

of the existing ABAP language.
• You can use existing ABAP statements
within ABAP objects.
• You can use ABAP objects within
existing programs.
• ABAP objects are fully integrated in
ABAP debugger.
3 The ASPplus Solutions Compan
 Continued….

• The term has two meanings

• On one hand, it stands for the entire
ABAP runtime environment.
• On the other hand, it represents the object
oriented extension of the ABAP language.

4 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 ABAP objects are created because

• The Business Object Repository(BOR)

already presented an OO view of the
system to the outside, and we wanted a
common programming model for both
outside and inside.
• We wanted seamless integration with
external object modules (DCOM and
CORBA).
5 The ASPplus Solutions Compan
 Continued…

• We wanted the potential benefits of

objects with in R/3, including better
control of complexity, a better means for
encapsulation, extensibility, and reuse,
and a language basis for patterns and
frameworks.
• We needed objects to be the foundation
for a new GUI Programming model.
6 The ASPplus Solutions Compan
 Design Goals

• To make ABAP Objects as simple as

possible.
• To use only proven OO concepts.
• To comply with external standards
whenever possible (for example, to allow
mapping to COM, CORBA, and UML).

7 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Continued...

• To require much stronger typing (type

checking) than traditional ABAP, where
type specification is almost always
optional.

8 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Elements Of ABAP Objects

• Classes
• Interfaces
• Objects
• Object References
• Inheritance

9 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Classes
• Classes are the central element of object-
orientation
• A class describes a general element or a general
concept, for example the abstract concepts
Business Partner, Material, Transaction,
Equipment or list.
• You can define classes globally using the class
builder (Transaction SE24) or locally in an
ABAP program.
• All of the ABAP programs can access the global
classes.
• Local classes and interfaces can only be used in
10 The ASP Solutions Compan
plus

the program in which they are defined.

 Components of classes

• Attributes
• Methods
• Events
• Types and Constants

11 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Continued…

• In ABAP Objects classes are made up of

a definition and an implementation part.
• Example
CLASS C1_PARTY DEFINITION.
ENDCLASS.
CLASS C1_PARTY IMPLEMETAION.
ENDCLASS.
12 The ASPplus Solutions Compan
 Attributes

• Attributes can take on values within an

object at runtime. The sum of all
attributes and values describes the state
of an object.
• Attributes can be of two types
3. Static attributes
4. Instance attributes

13 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Instance Attributes

• Instance attributes represents the instance-

dependent status of an object. Instance
attributes are declared using the statement
DATA

14 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Static Attributes

• Static attributes represents the instance-

independent status of the class, which
applies to all instances. Static attributes
exist once for each class. They are
declared using the statement CLASS-
DATA and are retained for the entire
runtime.

15 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Example

Class C1_party DEFINITION.

PUBLIC SECTION.
CLASS-DATA : instance_count type I.
DATA : name(50) type C.
ENDCLASS.

16 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Methods

• Methods describe the behavior of objects

within a class.
• They could be compared to the subroutine
in normal ABAP
• They can access all attributes of their
class and can thus change the status of an
object.

17 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Continued…

• Again Methods are of two type

Static Methods
Instance Methods
• Special Method : Constructor

18 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Methods

• An instance method is declared using the

statement METHODS. It can access all
attributes of a class and trigger all events
of the class.
• Static method is declared using the
statement CLASS-METHODS. It can
access static attributes and trigger only
static events.

19 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Methods

• Methods can have any number of IMPORTING

parameters and one RETURNING parameter.
• In addition to the regular methods, there are
special methods called CONSTRUCTOR and
CLASS_CONSTRUCTOR, which are called
implicitly when objects are generated or when
class components are called for the first time.

20 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Example

Types : Boolean(1) type c,

Pname(50) type c.
CLASS C1_party DEFINITION.
PUBLIC SECTION.
CLASS-METHODS : is_class_with_objects
RETURNING VALUE(re_bool) TYPE bollean.
METHODS : change_name IMPORTING value
(im_new_name) TYPE pname.
ENDCLASS
21 The ASPplus Solutions Compan
 Events

• Events enable objects or classes to trigger

event handler methods in other objects or
classes. They are declared in the
declaration part of a class and raised in its
methods.
• They are of two types
Instance Events
Static Events
22 The ASPplus Solutions Compan
 Continued…

• You can declare events by using the

statements EVENTS for instance events
and CLASS-EVENTS for static events.
• Instance events can be raised in any
method of the declaring class, whereas
static events can only be raised in static
methods.

23 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Example
Class ship DEFINITION.
PUBLIC SECTION.
METHODS DRIVE.
EVENTS emergency_call.
ENCLASS.
CLASS ship IMPLEMENTATION.
METHOD DRIVE.
if speed > more_speed.
RAISE EVENT emergency_call.
Endif.
24 ENDMETHOD. The ASP Solutions Compan
plus
 Types and Constants.

• The statements TYPES can be used to

declare self-defined ABAP data types
within a class.
• Constants are specific static attributes
whose values are defined in the
declaration and cannot be changed.
Constants, are not instance-dependent and
exist ones for all objects of a class.

25 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Interface

• The Interface concept describes a class

interface. You can define the same components
in an interface that you can in classes, however
without implementing them.
• Classes can implement interfaces, and
subsequently be addressed via these interfaces.
For example, a class cl_class can implement
the interface if_archive and thereby become
archivable, or it can implement if_workflow
and thereby take part in a workflow.
26 The ASPplus Solutions Compan
 Nested Interfaces

• By using the INTERFACES statement

within the interface definition, you can
define nested interfaces.

27 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Interface References

• A class which implements a specific interface

can be addressed via this interface reference.
Using such an interface reference, you can
access the components defined in the interface.
In this way a user can view different classes
through the 'spectacles' of an interface and
address them in a uniform manner. (DATA:
reference TYPE REF TO
cl_interface).

28 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Inheritance

• Inheritance allows you to define classes by

deriving them from existing classes. The new
class adopts or inherits all components of the
existing class. The existing class is called a
super class of the new class.
• A class can have any number of direct
subclasses, but only one super class. ABAP
Objects thus uses single inheritance.

29 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Objects

• Objects are instance of classes. All transient

objects exist within the context of an internal
session (memory area of an ABAP program).
You can create any number of objects(instances)
for a class. Each one has a unique identity and
its own attributes.
• An object remains intact for as long as it is used
in a program.

30 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 Object References

• Object references are used as pointer to

objects. Object references (the value of
reference variables) are the only way to
access component of an object in an
ABAP program.You can use references to
access attributes and methods, but not
events.

31 The ASPplus Solutions Compan

 THANK YOU

32 The ASPplus Solutions Compan