In this SAP HANA Cloud tutorial, we will know ABAP Development Tools and how to install them, Also learn how to connect to the SAP System using Eclipse.
- Introduction to ABAP Development Tools
- What are the pre-requirements for installing ABAP Development Tools?
- The process to install ABAP Development Tools
- How to connect with the SAP System from ABAP Development Tools
Introduction to ABAP Development Tools
With the aid of ABAP Development Tools (ADT), ABAP developers can carry out development work on the traditional ABAP Workbench or in an IDE based on Eclipse that supports the Application Server ABAP capabilities.
- The ABAP platform can now be deployed in a variety of ways, including on-premises with the Developer Edition, in the cloud with SAP BTP, as a virtual appliance in the SAP Cloud Appliance Library, or in a trial ABAP environment. (CAL).
- The ABAP Workbench, which everyone is familiar with from the ECC environment, can be used to access these new sorts of objects, but this access is limited to read-only.
- In order to create and edit these new objects, a new development environment called ABAP Development Tools is needed. (ADT). ADT is a collection of plug-ins from SAP that are placed on the popular non-SAP development environment called Eclipse.
- The development of all additional items, including data dictionary objects, reports, classes, etc., is also possible in the ADT environment. ADT also supports additional tasks that were previously performed in the ABAP Workbench, such as interactive debugging.
Pre-requirements for installing ADT (ABAP Development Tools)
ADT can be installed on any personal computer that supports the SAPGui installation. For an ADT installation, three things are necessary.
- Java Development Kit (JDK)
- Eclipse (IDE)
- The components of the SAP ADT plug-in.
Specific versions needed will constantly vary as both the Eclipse and SAP components evolve. SAP offers a website https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/ on which current needs are listed.
Check out, Operators in SAP HANA Cloud
How to install ABAP Development Tools
To view a page with complete information on ADT installation requirements, click the ABAP link.
Installing the Java Development Kit is the first step in setting up Eclipse. You have two ways to install the JDK.
- Firstly, you can install the SAP-specific JDK from https://sap.github.io/SapMachine/.
- Secondly, using the industry-standard JDK from Oracle Corporation, which is accessible at https://www.java.com/en/. We will use the first one.
Visit SapMachine at https://sap.github.io/SapMachine/. Next, click the Download button after navigating to the Download section of the page and selecting Windows x64 Installer.
After downloading open the file. A welcome wizard opens to install the SAP JDK. Then click on the Next button.
On the next wizard, check the box for accepting the terms and conditions and click on the Next button.
Then, the setup choices window appears to install the features. Set the features and click on the Next button.
Then click on the Install button to install the SAP JDK.
After installing the SAP JDK, click on the Finish button to finish the installation.
Installing the Eclipse IDE comes next after the JDK has been set up. Visit https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/latest/ to download the IDE’s most recent version. Click the latest Eclipse version link as shown in the below picture.
The page for Eclipse installation packages is the default page on the Eclipse website. Click the Eclipse Installer toolbar link as the SAP Java machine has already been installed. Then select the Windows 64-bit installer link.
Then click on Download.
Choose Open from the context menu when you right-click the downloaded file. Then Eclipse Installer wizard appears. In that installer, click on the Eclipse IDE for Java Developers.
Click the Install button after making sure all the parameters are accurate.
After that installation completes successfully. Click on the Launch button to start the Eclipse.
After clicking on Launch, it asks for the directory as workspace, then specify the directory for the workspace. And again click on Launch.
Whenever the welcome page appears, installing the SAP ADT plug-ins is the next step. The IDE help menu is used to install Eclipse plug-ins. Click Install New Software from the toolbar’s Help button.
In the Work with field, type https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/latest and click the Enter key.
Expand the ABAP Development Tools tree, choose the necessary components, and then click Next.
Review the selected list of tools before selecting Next.
Click the Finish button after accepting the license agreements.
Then it shows the installation process of the ADT plugin at the bottom right of the screen.
To make the installed components active when installation is finished, the IDE must be restarted. Select Restart Now from the menu.
Restarting the IDE will be done. The ADT plugin’s overview screen will be displayed.
How to connect with the SAP System from ABAP
By starting a new ABAP project, one can connect to an SAP system. Use the File > New > Project menu option on the toolbar.
Expand the ABAP tree and choose ABAP Cloud Project for a system that is cloud-based or ABAP Project for a system that is on-premises. Here we will use the ABAP Cloud Project. Then click on the Next button.
The next step is to how you want to connect to the ABAP service instance running on the Cloud. Then choose the SAP BTP ABAP Environment and again select the option Use a Service Key. Click on the Next button.
If you want to know about ABAP Environment and Service Key, you can refer to our tutorial SAP HANA Cloud ABAP.
The next step is to provide the Service Key created for the instance on SAP BTP ABAP Environment.
- You can provide the Service Key in two ways, using the copy-paste method or by importing the downloaded Service Key file. we will use the import method.
Click on the Import button.
Select the Service Key file such as “Abap_Service Key.txt” in the below picture, and click on the open button to import the Service Key.
After importing the Service Key, the credentials appear in the section Service Key in JSON format. Then click on the Next button.
Next, a wizard appears for logging into the SAP Cloud System through the browser. You can use the default browser or can copy the login URL to the clipboard and log in through the desired browser.
- For example, here you will use the default browser, and for that click on the Open Logon page in Browser.
It takes you to the SAP BTP and provides an email or password for logging in if it asks for it, otherwise, you will be logged in automatically. if you have successfully logged in, it shows a message on the screen as shown in the below picture.
Now return to the eclipse, you will see the connection overview as shown in the below picture. Then click on the Finish button.
Keep in mind that after installation, this process was launched using the Java perspective. In the future, we are considering developing using the ABAP perspective.
- Enable the Remember my decision checkbox, then click the Open Perspective button to make the ABAP perspective the future default.
The ABAP perspective will be used to present the new system in the Project Explorer pane, along with a tree of objects.
Now, we have successfully connected with SAP System through Eclipse.
Conclusion
In this SAP HANA Cloud tutorial, we have learned about the ABAP Development Tools and the prerequisites to install these tools, also discussed how to connect to the service instance of ABAP running on the cloud using Eclipse.
- What is the ABAP Development Tools
- What are the pre-requirements for installing ADT?
- The process to install ABAP Development Tools
- How to connect with the SAP System
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I am Chris Waldron, working as a Senior SAP HANA Consultant at Halliburton, Houston, Texas, United States. I have been working in SAP for more than 15 years, especially in SAP IT consulting and business consulting. I worked in various industries in Sales & Distribution, Customer Relationship Management, banking, Risk Management, etc. And I am an SAP Certified Development Specialist – ABAP for SAP HANA 2.0 and SAP HANA Modeling Certified consultant. Read more