🧾 SAP ABAP Reports – A Quick Guide

What is a Report in SAP ABAP?

A report is an executable ABAP program used to read, process, and output data from SAP database tables using Open SQL.

Common Use Cases:

• Generating invoices using data from billing tables (e.g., VBRK, VBRP)
• Listing sales/purchase orders from tables like VBAK, EKPO
• Tracking deliveries using documents (LIKP, LIPS)
• Displaying master data such as:
• Materials (MARA)
• Vendors (LFA1)
• Customers (KNA1)

In short: A report is an executable ABAP program that fetches data using Open SQL, processes it via loops/internal tables, and outputs the result using text output or ALV grids.

 

Types of Reports in SAP ABAP

Report Type	Description	Output Style	Interaction Level	Best For
Classical Report	Line-by-line output using WRITE statements	Text List	None	Simple, quick data display
Interactive Report	Allows drill-down into detailed data	Text List + Events	Medium	Master-detail navigation
ALV Report	Rich output with sorting/filtering/export	Grid/List/Table	High	Business-critical reports
Modern (Fiori/CDS)	Browser/mobile-based UI using CDS/OData	Web/Mobile UI	Very High	Real-time analytics and Fiori apps

1. Classical Report

• Oldest form, uses WRITE statements.
• Best used for: quick internal testing or non-formatted outputs.

 

2. Interactive Report

• Enables user interaction like clicking a line to see more details.
• Uses events like AT LINE-SELECTION.
• Best used for: hierarchical views like Customer → Orders.

 

3. ALV Report (ABAP List Viewer)

• Most popular in real-time projects.
• Offers sorting, filtering, Excel export, layout saving.
• Uses: REUSE_ALV_GRID_DISPLAY, CL_GUI_ALV_GRID, CL_SALV_TABLE.
• Best used for: all major business reports.

 

4. Modern Reports (Fiori, WebDynpro, CDS)

• Based on SAPUI5/Fiori/WebDynpro.
• Backend: CDS Views + OData + Annotations.
• Best used for: role-based apps and mobile/web dashboards.

 

Comparison of Report Types

Feature	Classical	Interactive	ALV	Modern (UI)
Drill-down	❌	✅	✅	✅
Export to Excel	❌	✅	✅	✅
Filter/Sort Columns	❌	✅	✅	✅
Modern UI	❌	❌	❌	✅
Layout Save	❌	✅	✅	✅
Ease of Development	✅	✅	Medium	Complex
Usage in Real Projects	Rare	Rare	✅	Increasing

Conclusion: ALV Reports are the most used and practical in real-time and interview scenarios.

 

Events in ABAP Reports

Events are predefined execution blocks triggered automatically by SAP during report runtime.

Common Events Table:

Event	When It Runs	Purpose
INITIALIZATION	Before selection screen	Set default values
AT SELECTION-SCREEN	After user input	Input validation
START-OF-SELECTION	After validation	Core processing and data retrieval
END-OF-SELECTION	After processing	Display results (in classical reports)
TOP-OF-PAGE	On first output page	Show headers/titles
AT LINE-SELECTION	On line click (interactive)	Drill-down into detailed data
AT USER-COMMAND	On user button/action	Handle custom actions (e.g., ALV buttons)
AT NEW / AT END OF	During loop processing	Group-wise subtotal/headers

 

Simple Report Flow Example:

1. INITIALIZATION – Set default selection values (e.g., customer = 1000)
2. AT SELECTION-SCREEN – Validate inputs
3. START-OF-SELECTION – Fetch data from tables
4. GET <table> – Row-level processing
5. END-OF-SELECTION – Show results
6. TOP-OF-PAGE / END-OF-PAGE – Page titles/footers
7. AT LINE-SELECTION – Line click for detail view
8. AT USER-COMMAND – Button event handling

 

System Fields in SAP ABAP

System fields are predefined variables prefixed with SY- that provide system state details.

Common System Fields:

Field	Description	Example
SY-DATUM	Current date	20250503
SY-UZEIT	Current time	134510
SY-UNAME	Logged-in user	SAPUSER1
SY-SUBRC	Return code of last operation (0 = success)	0, 4, 8
SY-TCODE	Transaction code	SE38, ME21N
SY-REPID	Current program name	ZMY_REPORT
SY-TABIX	Current internal table index	1, 2...
SY-UCOMM	Function code (button action)	'BACK', 'SAVE'
SY-MSGID/NO	Last message ID and number	Z1, 101
SY-MSGTY	Message type	S (Success)

Example Code Using System Fields:

WRITE: / 'Date: ', sy-datum,

       / 'Time: ', sy-uzeit,

       / 'User: ', sy-uname.

SELECT SINGLE * FROM mara INTO wa_mara WHERE matnr = '1000'.

 IF sy-subrc = 0.

  WRITE: 'Material Found'.

ELSE.

  WRITE: 'Material Not Found'.

ENDIF.

Why System Fields Matter

1. Debugging & Troubleshooting

• SY-SUBRC shows operation result (success/failure).
• SY-UNAME helps track user-specific errors.

2. Flow Control

• SY-UCOMM supports button handling.
• SY-TCODE allows reuse in multiple transactions.

3. Personalization

• SY-LANGU, SY-ZONLO support user-specific behavior.

4. Interactivity

• SY-LISEL, SY-CUROW, SY-CUCOL enable interactive reports.