SAP NEWS-640-TOOLS documentation, setup help and example usage

Tools in Release 6.40

1 Assertions and activatable breakpoints
2 New two-process debugger
3 Enhancements to the previous debugger
4 Memory Inspector
5 Code Inspector
6 ABAP Unit
7 Runtime analysis


ABAP_MODIFICATION_1 - Assertions and activatable breakpoints

With the new statement ASSERT , you can define assertions. Assertions help verify particular assumptions about the state of a program in a particular place, and they guarantee that these are maintained.

Assertions can be activated with the ID addition from outside the program by a checkpoint group. The same addition was also introduced for the
BREAK-POINT statement to activate breakpoints using checkpoint groups.
Latest notes: - This change has also been downported to Release 6.20.

ABAP_MODIFICATION_2 - New two-process debugger

The new two-process debugger is a completely new development, with particular emphasis on the development of a more modern user interface. The main differences between it and the previous ABAP debugger are that the new ABAP debugger is executed in a separate external session and the object that is analyzed ( debuggee ) is now the entire external session, not an internal one.
The new ABAP debugger provides the user with a flexible and freely configurable interface with over 8 desktops , on which 1 to 4 tools, such as source code or structure display, can be placed and arranged. In Release 6.40, you can choose between the previous debugger and the new debugger; it is now also possible to switch between the two at any time during a debugger session.
For more details, see the
Application Help .

ABAP_MODIFICATION_3 - Enhancements to the previous debugger

When you display internal tables, you can make offset and length specifications for the character-type components in the column headers.
When you display internal tables, you can select the corresponding icon next to the table name to list the names of all internal tables displayed in the previous debugger session and double-click to display them. The display starts with the line number and with the components that were used to display the selected table.
If the program flow is stuck on a CASE statement, the system branches in a single step to the affected WHEN block.
In the ABAP Editor, you can determine under Tools - Settings whether external debugging is to be active or not. According to the settings and whether you are editing a normal ABAP program or an ABAP Script for a
BSP, you are asked when you create breakpoints in the ABAP Editor whether these breakpoints are to be HTTP breakpoints or session breakpoints
. HTTP breakpoints are permanently stored in the database for different logons; session breakpoints are normal breakpoints that refer to the current logon.

ABAP_MODIFICATION_4 - Memory Inspector

To analyze the memory snapshots , the Memory Inspector tool was introduced. For more details, see the
Application Help .
Latest notes: - This change has also been downported to Release 6.20.

ABAP_MODIFICATION_5 - Code Inspector

To check repository objects regarding performance, security, syntax, and the adherence to naming conventions, the Code Inspector tool was introduced. For more details, see the Application Help .

ABAP_MODIFICATION_6 - ABAP Unit

For testing individual program sections, the ABAP Unit tool integrated in the ABAP runtime environment was introduced. The ABAP unit is based on the execution of test methods in test classes . For more details, see the Application Help .

ABAP_MODIFICATION_7 - Runtime analysis

In the runtime analysis ( SE30 ), during the measurement of BSP applications, you can now also specify a different variant to the standard variant for restrictions.
The class CL_ABAP_RUNTIME provides methods for creating objects, the GET_RUNTIME method of which can be used to execute several runtime measurements with different resolutions and parallel measurements (see
Class for Runtime Measurements ).

Documentation extract taken from SAP system, � Copyright SAP AG. All rights reserved