Ok…  now I finally got to the really important stuff for me.  I have a configuration table that tells how columns are available, and how they sequenced by default.  So obviously, if I’m going to use the ALV simple table versus the “standard” Table Class, I need to control the ALV Table Columns, this includes sequence, visibility and column header text.

So, again, I’m doing all of this in the WDDOINIT method, since it’s a one time read.  Here’s how you can do it yourself.

  data lo_cmp_usage type ref to if_wd_component_usage.
DATA lo_INTERFACECONTROLLER TYPE REF TO IWCI_SALV_WD_TABLE .
DATA lv_value TYPE ref to cl_salv_wd_config_table.

*** instantiate the component
lo_cmp_usage =   wd_this->wd_cpuse_alv_comp( ).
if lo_cmp_usage->has_active_component( ) is initial.
lo_cmp_usage->create_component( ).
endif.
lo_INTERFACECONTROLLER =   wd_this->wd_cpifc_alv_comp( ).
*** get the ALV table
lv_value = lo_interfacecontroller->get_model( ).

** first, get all of the columns from the table.
lt_cols = lv_value->if_salv_wd_column_settings~get_columns( ).
READ TABLE lt_cols INTO ls_cols with key ID = <TABLE FIELD NAME>.
*** For visibility, you the following values
*      WHen ‘VISIBLE’
lv_vis = ’02’.
*     when ‘INVISIBLE’.
lv_vis = ’01’.
ls_cols-r_column->set_visible( lv_vis ).

*** set the sequence of the columns
lv_seq = lv_sequence.
ls_cols-r_column->set_position( lv_seq ).

*** Set the header text and tooltip
ls_col_hdr = ls_cols-r_column->get_header( ).
lv_col_text = lv_text.
ls_col_hdr->set_text( lv_col_text ).
ls_col_hdr->set_tooltip( lv_col_text ).

Of course, you can loop through and find your values from anywhere.  The important thing to notice is that it’s pretty simple.  Especially in comparison to the process I was using that had to delete a column and re-add it in order to sequence it properly.  This is a lot less involved.  So far, I haven’t found anything that I do that would force me away from the ALV Table.  I guess I’ll see what happens, but I may start converting my SM Portal to the ALV Tables.  The processing time doesn’t seem bad, so if you happen to know why the “standard” vs SALV table is preferable, I’d love to hear from you.

As always, Thanks for reading,

Well, the next phase of my journey was the ABAP Web Dynpro ALV Table Settings.  I wanted to control things like the number of rows to display, what buttons should be available etc…

So after a little more research, I found that is pretty easy to do too.

Again we go to the WDDOINIT and add the follow code (or something like it ).

  data lo_cmp_usage type ref to if_wd_component_usage.
DATA lo_INTERFACECONTROLLER TYPE REF TO IWCI_SALV_WD_TABLE .
DATA lv_value TYPE ref to cl_salv_wd_config_table.

*** instantiate the component
lo_cmp_usage =   wd_this->wd_cpuse_alv_comp( ).
if lo_cmp_usage->has_active_component( ) is initial.
lo_cmp_usage->create_component( ).
endif.
lo_INTERFACECONTROLLER =   wd_this->wd_cpifc_alv_comp( ).
*** get the ALV table
lv_value = lo_interfacecontroller->get_model( ).

*** Set Table Buttons and attributes
lv_value->IF_SALV_WD_TABLE_SETTINGS~SET_SCROLLABLE_COL_COUNT( value = 10 ).
lv_value->IF_SALV_WD_STD_FUNCTIONS~SET_EXPORT_ALLOWED( value = abap_false ).
lv_value->IF_SALV_WD_STD_FUNCTIONS~SET_PDF_ALLOWED( value = abap_false ).

this particular example turns off the print button (PDF Allowed), turns off the Export button (Export_Allowed), and sets the scrollable column count = 10.  Just because my particular table could be 100 columns wide.  So I want it to render nicely, and 10 is a pretty good number of columns.  In addition, I’m leaving the settings button available, so a user can make his own settings if he doesn’t like my default.  I really like this ALV stuff 🙂

Alright, back to it.  Thanks for reading,

Well, after my last post, I realized, this is cool.  Now it’s time to make it better.  So the first objective is to add an ALV table button for refresh.  It turns out, it’s pretty easy to accomplish this.  Here’s what you need to do.

So, go into your WDDOINIT and add the following code (or some variation).

*** initial ALV table
data lo_cmp_usage type ref to if_wd_component_usage.
DATA lo_INTERFACECONTROLLER TYPE REF TO IWCI_SALV_WD_TABLE .
DATA lv_value TYPE ref to cl_salv_wd_config_table.
DATA: lr_btui_refresh TYPE REF TO cl_salv_wd_fe_button.
DATA: lr_bt_refresh TYPE REF TO cl_salv_wd_function.

*** instantiate the component
lo_cmp_usage =   wd_this->wd_cpuse_alv_comp( ).
if lo_cmp_usage->has_active_component( ) is initial.
lo_cmp_usage->create_component( ).
endif.
lo_INTERFACECONTROLLER =   wd_this->wd_cpifc_alv_comp( ).
*** get the ALV table
lv_value = lo_interfacecontroller->get_model( ).
*** create the button object
create OBJECT lr_btui_refresh.
*** set icon
lr_btui_refresh->set_image_source( ‘ICON_REFRESH’ ).
lr_bt_refresh = lv_value->if_salv_wd_function_settings~create_function( ID = ‘BT_REFRESH’ ).
lr_bt_refresh->set_editor( lr_btui_refresh ).

Now you can also add text to the button instead of just the image source.  If you drill into the cl_salv_wd_fe_button class to see the methods available.

I’ll have more tomorrow as I keep learning.  Thanks for reading,

Well, with all the work that I did for my Customer SM Portal, I thought I knew what I was doing with the ABAP Web Dynpro, especially around tables and dynamically changing them.  I recently started working on a new application that is more scaled back.  One of the requirements is to have the same sort of functionality as an ALV Table in the ABAP.  So we want to have the filter, sorting, and flexibility to play with your layout and settings.  Well, I started to look at the current tables I’d been using, and realized I had to implement each of those functions myself.  Well, that looked like a rather big task to undertake, so I went to my buddy, the internet and looked up Web Dynpro ALV Table and quickly found that SAP was nice enough to provide a way to implement the ALV Table.  Of course, it meant another change to the way I was doing things… but hey, I learned something new.

First of all, thanks that Sankar.  If you like to see exactly how to do this in video format, check out this like.  Sankar does a great job in demonstrating exactly how to code this stuff.  My only problem is that sometimes it was hard to read the code and class names (which is why I’m going to cover this in text form). https://www.youtube.com/user/sankar1bhatta?feature=watch

So, let me walk you through the steps of how to create an ALV Table.  The first step is to add a new Web Dynpro Component.

So, go to your top level, and add a Used Web Dynpro Component.  You can name the Component Use whatever you like, the component itself is SALV_WD_TABLE.  This is the magic that will allow you to use all of the ALV functions. I’m not going to cover this in depth, but the next step will be to add a context node + attributes that will be the structure for the table you want to create.  Be sure to create this in the componentcontroller, and not directly in a particular view. This next part was new to me.  I believe it’s called external component mapping.  So let me walk you through this next part.

First, drill down into the component usuages until you find the ALV component you defined above (mine is ALV_COMP).  Next, you need to drag your context (table you want to create in ALV) from the right side, over to the Data node on the left side above.  You have now linked that table structure to the ALV components. Finally, we need to add this to the layout so you can actually see the table.  So, go to your layout and add a ViewContainerUIElement.  Wherever you place this is where your table will come in. We have one final step, and then you’re ready to test.

So, go to your window, and find the VCUI element that you just created, and drill down and then right click to Embed View.

Select the Table interface, and you’re ready to go.  Just fire up your application.  In some future posts, I’ll discuss how you can customize this, but for many applications, this might be enough.

Thanks for reading,