This document tries to answer the most important FAQs about the ABAP Development Tools for Eclipse, the new Eclipse-based ABAP IDE. This is only a starting point, if you are interested in more specific topics please take a look at the forum/discussions or post your question there. For more information about how to use the ABAP development tools please take a look at the Getting Started Guide and the Quick Launch Sheet of ADT.

Frequently Asked Questions

General

Why did SAP choose the Eclipse platform to build a new ABAP IDE?

The open Eclipse platform offers first-class user experience, powerful platform capabilities, and a broad and vivid ecosystem contributing enhancements and extensions. Thus, SAP as active contributor and strategic developer of the Eclipse foundation continously invests in harmonizing design-time and development tools on the Eclipse platform like the ABAP development tools or SAP HANA Studio to increase the developer productivity and enable specific cross-tool interactions.

What are the key benefits of the new ABAP IDE?

Besides the intrinsic benefits of the Eclipse platform the ABAP Development Tools offer failover-safe online development in multiple AS ABAP systems, advanced source code editing and refactoring support, powerful search and navigation capabilities, ideal support for task-oriented and test-driven development, and built-in extensibility by rich extension points (see below). For more information about ADT please refer to the Getting Started Guide.

Is there an additional license fee for the ABAP development tools?

No, this is also covered by the standard SAP NetWeaver developer license.

Are the ABAP development tools for Eclipse open source software?

No. Because of legal obligations we are not allowed to publish the source code. Nevertheless, SAP already offers a software development kit for the ABAP development tools to allow the community or customers and partners to extend and enhance the IDE (see below).

Which is the lowest SAP NetWeaver release supported by the ABAP development tools?

Currently, ADT is compatible with AS ABAP of SAP NetWeaver 7.31/7.03 SP04 onwards. For more information please refer to this blog post.

Will SAP stop investing in the ABAP workbench (SE80) or even disable it?

No, SE80 is still supported, but in the future more and more new features will be exclusive to the ABAP development tools. At the current point in time the ABAP development tools are an additional offering without replacing the ABAP workbench completely.

Can I use the ABAP development tools for Eclipse and the ABAP workbench (SE80) in parallel?

Yes, this is possible. Both IDEs share the same source code repository and locking mechanism.

Installation

Which operating systems are supported by the ABAP development tools?

Currently, the officially supported version runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. For detailed installation instructions including the hardware and software requirements please take a look at SAP Note 1718399 and the attached installation guide.

Where can I download and install the ABAP development tools?

Go to the SAP Software Download Center and search for 'ABAP Eclipse'. For detailed installation instructions please refer to the attached installation guide of SAP Note 1718399.

Does SAP also offer an Eclipse update site for the ABAP development tools?

Yes, there's an update site for all SAP development tools for Eclipse including the latest trial version of the ABAP development tools: https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/#abap

Is it possible to install the ABAP development tools as additional plugin(s) into an existing Eclipse installation?

Yes, if you are already using Eclipse 3.7 (Indigo) or 4.2 (Juno) this is possible. Please refer to the attached installation guide of SAP Note 1718399.

Is there also a trial version of the ABAP development tools available?

Yes, there's already a trial version of the ABAP development tools as well as a compatible SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP backend available. For download links and more information please refer to this document.

Core Concepts

What is the difference of an ABAP project in Eclipse compared to a standard project in Eclipse?

In ADT the project represents a pre-defined connection to an AS ABAP backend (server/client/user) as if you would connect to an AS ABAP backend using SAP GUI. Thus, you can develop and compare objects of different backend systems simultaneously. For more details how to organize your projects please refer to the ADT documentation.

Do I have to check in and check out my ABAP source code like in the Java Development Tools for Eclipse?

No, ADT is using the same online development model as the ABAP workbench with the well-known lifecycle management services of the AS ABAP (e.g. TMS).

Where are the form-based function and class builder?

Our user experience studies have shown that a powerful source code editor is much more efficient than editing fragmented sources in multiple forms. The new Outline View and the Quick Outline window complement the new source code editor by providing convenient navigation capabilities and a structured view on your source code.

I'm missing some important tools. Where are they?

Not every tool has been migrated to the Eclipse platform yet - for different reasons: Some will make their way into a future release of ABAP development tools, for others we are evaluating new concepts, that fit much better into SAP's platform strategy. In these cases you can use the tight SAP GUI integration for now which allows you to use existing transactions with context-aware navigation. For more information please refer to the documentation.

How can I debug my application in Eclipse?

If you update the kernel of your AS ABAP system to SAP Kernel 7.21 (or higher) you can already use the native debugger of the ABAP Development Tools. Alternatively, you have to use the GUI-based debugger.

As the open Eclipse platform offers first-class extension points, how about the extensibility of the ABAP development tools?

Yes, SAP is already offering a software development kit for the ABAP development tools. For more information please download the SDK and read this blog by Michael Schneider.