SAPGui 7.40: How can I set the ABAP editor to "backend editor" mode?

[jensupetersen]

Hello everyone,

I know the fancy colored frontend editor has become state-of-the-art (for those that are not already using Eclipse), but I am still using the old backend editor, mainly because it supports all the keyboard shortcuts that I have grown so used to (as well as automatic FORM generation upon doubleclick).

Recently I logged in with a test user, launched SE38 and opened the menu Utilities->Settings to set the editor type to "backend". However, the options there are now named "Source Code-Based Editor" and "Text-Based Editor" instead of what I remember to be "frontend editor" and "backend editor". I fail to set the editor to backend?!

However, with my main user, whom I set to "backend editor" in an earlier SAPGui release (it was 7.20) and upgraded to 7.40 later, the ABAP editor still works nicely in backend mode, meaning that SAPGui 7.40 still supports that mode. So where can I now access the setting when I want to change it for another user?

[jude_bradley · Accepted solution]

This is not a SAPgui dependent issue as on our older internal test system, it shows the old settings.

1) Start SE38

2) On the main menu, go to Utilities -> Settings.

3) The Abap Editor Tab displays the options "Front-end editor (new)""Front-end editor" (old), and

"Back end editor".

Choose the desired option and execute with the green checkmark.

Regards,

Jude

[jensupetersen · Accepted solution]

I wish I could find the settings you describe. On my computer, the page you refer to looks like this:

I am using SAPGui 7.40 Patchlevel 4 for Windows. (I know PL 5 exists, but in that patch level, the graphical SAPscript editor (for program documentations etc.) no longer works. I doubt that this is a patchlevel-related issue anyway).

[jude_bradley · Accepted solution]

My screenshots are from a SAPKB74003 basis release.

(SAPgui 7.40 patch 5)

What is your current basis release?

Jude

[jensupetersen · Accepted solution]

SAPKB74008. I agree that it might be backend-related, seeing that these settings are stored in the backend.

Nonetheless the backend editor still works for my user (I set it before we upgraded to 7.40). Since it does work, the release can do it, so the question is how it can be set for new users.

[LutzR · Accepted solution]

Hi Jens, give it a try with SE16 table RSEUMOD field EDITCNTRL. Play around with values A and X. X should do what you want.

But you are a strange guy. When the edit control was new in 1998 (?) I activated it immediately and happily and never switched back .

Have fun,

Lutz

[jensupetersen · Accepted solution]

Thank you, apparently that is the right field.

I started with SAP around 2001, but it was still release 3.1i. The backend editor is actually quite powerful when you are used to it. The hotkeys allow lightning-fast work without even touching the mouse. Their definition is mind-diseased (like Ctrl-F12 for copying and Ctrl+Shift+F1 for inserting a line), but when you are used to them, you can work with them very efficiently. I have been using them for so many years that I use them automatically without thinking. Hell, the ABAP editor no longer even displays them, but they still work all the same.

Besides, the backend editor automatically creates a FORM frame code when you write a PERFORM for a FORM that does not yet exist and double-click on its name (or press F2 to avoid needing to grab the mouse). The frontend editor no longer has that capability. The fancy surrogates with modal popup windows and stuff are just too slow, because they require the user to grab the mouse, find the mouse cursor with his eyes, and operate it and fill input fields. Keyboard-only is always a lot faster, which is why I mourn the fact that SAP has been gradually moving towards mouse-requiring usage for years (also represented by some new display elements that are not batch input-capable because they require mouse usage). Try efficiently entering data into a write-enabled ALV as opposed to an old-fashioned table control! (ALVs are awesome for output, but not for input.)

Frontend editor may be better for creating OO code. But even in a OO discussion here on SCN, I managed to get the confession from OO proposers that for anything but huge programs (this "anything" comprising near 100% of an inhouse consultants work), procedural code is a lot faster to code and easier to read and understand. OO only shines when it comes to abstracting and re-using large concepts. I can program OO, but my coding productivity would be a fraction of what it is if I was forced to do it all the time.

I managed to set the field you named by abusing FM SE16N_INTERFACE. But is there still a legal way to set it?

[LutzR · Accepted solution]

Hi Jens, hmm in my (old) system this table was open for editing with SE16 - at least for me .

Of course everybody has his preferences. I never understood vi. Others can't do without it.

Cheers,

Lutz

[Former Member]

Good question!

I am very interested in the answer as well!