Database Reference
In-Depth Information
As a Workbench tool, the program editor also enables you to specify the attributes for ABAP
programs.
11.1.2.5 Screen Painter
The screen painter enables you to define and design the screen, as well as the flow logic for dynamic
programs (dynpros). Supplementary control information includes the language used and the num-
ber of the follow-on dynpro. The screen is interpreted not by the ABAP interpreter but by a sepa-
rate DYNPRO interpreter. It should be noted that DYNPRO is a full-fledged 4GL environment
that enables you to develop prototypes quickly and then flesh out the full logic.
The screen painter specifies the following:
Screen program attributes such as screen number and screen type (normal, subscreen, dialog)
Screen layout, including field locations, labels, radio buttons, icons, check boxes, and ele-
ment group
Fields, including database field and cross validations
Flow logic
For screen design, the screen painter has a graphical as well as an alphanumeric editor. In the
former, the field labels, positions, and so on can be changed or arranged directly on the screen.
All text on the screen can also be represented by graphical icons. However, with the alphanumeric
editor, screen design has to proceed only by selections from the menus of the screen painter.
11.1.2.6 Menu Painter
This is the ABAP Development Workbench tool for developing user interfaces or more correctly
presentation interfaces.
It must be noted that these are not the customary user screens or menus but only user interface
standard frames that are used as a template for all SAP screens. They are not related to any screen
generated by the screen painter. But they could become associated through the menu object called
GUI status , which groups together the menu bar, standard toolbar, application toolbar, and the
function keys that are usable in the presentation interfaces.
The control elements provided by the front-end O/S are employed mainly for movement of the
screen itself or for the movement of the display screen. A dialog program consists of several variants
of the user interfaces, called the statuses. A status is defined by the following editable elements:
Menu
Push-button identifications
Function key assignments
Title bar
A main menu can consist of up to three levels, and each level can consist of up to 15 entries. By using
the menu painter, every menu item is mapped to a SAP transaction code. Important function codes
are assigned to function keys for immediate access; this avoids the need to search through the menus
for relevant functionality. Similarly, function codes can also be assigned to push buttons located
below the toolbar. Again, it should be noted that these push buttons are not the same as those cre-
ated by the screen painter; these push buttons can be defined only by the menu painter and can be
mapped to SAP transactions (i.e., ABAP programs), but are not part of ABAP applications directly.
This separation of the user interface and access—that is, the presentation interface and the
SAP system—has been fortuitous because it enables SAP to use the latest Web browsers as front
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