Screen Painter An Overview Screen Painter is SAPs standard tool for development within all ABAP based-SAP systems.

. It allows developers to utilize Drag and Drop technology to design and implement custom screens inside of SAP systems. It is a standard piece of the ABAP development workbench and can be accessed from any ABAP based SAP system via transaction code SE80.
Screen Painter via the SAP Object Navigator (SE80):

Screen Painter Layout View:

Just like Visual Basic and similar development tools, Screen Painter allows you to lay out the screen visually, and then simply write the code behind it to perform any necessary functions. The code that executes required functionality behind any Screen Painter screen is SAPs proprietary ABAP. This allows companys to utilize existing ABAP resources to develop Screen Painter based programs with a minimum of additional training. Common Uses: Screen painter allows for rapid development of custom screens. These screens can be used as front-ends for custom developed reports and transactions as well as replacements for SAP standard screens that may be overly complicated and difficult to use. In the case of building replacement screens for existing SAP transactions, the typical development method would be to first, design a screen, or screens, that have better look and feel and that are capable of collecting all necessary information about the transaction that needs to be performed. Then, the developer would write ABAP code to perform the required functionality.

Typically, when replacing existing SAP functionality with custom designed screens, rather than rewriting all of the transaction logic behind the custom developed screen, SAP delivered function modules and BAPIs (Business APIs) would be utilized. There are thousands of predefined function modules delivered with SAP R/3 out of the box as well as over 1,400 BAPIs. BAPIs: BAPIs are APIs to SAP that allow you to perform various functions on SAP business objects. Each BAPI contains attributes and methods that allow you to manipulate the business object. With over 1,400 pre-delivered BAPIs in R/3 alone, most, if not all, required screen re-writes could utilize BAPIs to perform any necessary functionality behind the custom built screen. Example: It is determined that the SAP standard screen for a Goods Receipt is too complex and needs to be rewritten. The developer assigned to this project, would first write a less-complicated screen to process a Goods Receipt and could then utilize the GoodsReceipt BAPI to perform the necessary logic. This BAPI contains the following as of R3E 4.70x2.00: Attributes: MaterialDocument MatDocumentYear Methods: Cancel CreateFromData GetDetail GetItems Screen Painter Benefits/Liabilities Benefits: Screen painter is the SAP standard tool for designing customized, ABAP based, screens inside of a SAP ABAP based system. It is currently fully supported by SAP and will continue to be as long as the SAP GUI is in existence. Since it is a SAP utility, primary support, when/if problems arise, is provided by SAP. This is not the case with some other development tools that offer comparable functionality. SAP support of Screen Painter can lead to decreased problem resolution time when issues are encountered as there is no need to engage a third party and the expertise regarding the tool are in-house at SAP. Screen painter also provides a stable interface. By using screen painter developed screens in the customer namespace with SAP provided BAPIs providing the transaction logic, a stable interface is provided that is buffered from changes to the system that could result from upgrades, patch installations, and other required changes. While testing will still be required for any changes, development objects in the customer namespace

are guaranteed to never be changed by SAP. Also, BAPIs are guaranteed stable and if/when a change to a BAPI becomes necessary from SAPs perspective, a transition period is provided in which the Obsolete BAPI is still available. Screen painter developed screens require no additional SAPGUI maintenance to be utilized by SAP users. Screen painter simply provides an easy method for developing a user interface. The screen and transaction logic is stored entirely within the SAP server. Screen painter developed screens and programs are fully integrated with SAPs robust change management and security model. Because screen painter screens and programs are fully housed within SAP and use ABAP for their transaction logic, they are subject to and managed by all standard SAP security and change management procedures. This eliminates the need for developing additional policies/procedures around security and change management for custom screens as any existing SAP policies/procedures should be used. Screen painter is an ABAP development tool. While there are a few minor additions to screen painter developed programs, ABAP is the language used for all transaction logic behind screen painter developed screens. This allows utilization of existing ABAP resources and does not require any retraining of resources to develop custom screens. Liabilities: If screen painter is being used and an existing BAPI or function module that provides the required transaction logic does not exist, it becomes a VERY difficult task to develop the required program. By design, SAP programs should not be modified unless absolutely necessary. Therefore, a required screen for which no suitable BAPI or function module(s) already exist could require an extensive re-write of code. While these cases should be relatively few, when this does occur, it could mean a major effort to produce the needed results. While screen painter developed screens are relatively easy to produce, it is still an ABAP program. In some cases, even when an appropriate BAPI or function module exists, it could take a bit longer to develop the new screen than it would if other, third-party products, were utilized. Notes on Custom Designed Screens: In general, before a custom designed screen is created to replace existing SAP screens that perform the same functionality, a hard look should be taken at the requirement, and the SAP standard screen should be utilized if at all possible. If/when it has been determined that a custom screen is required, then a Screen Painter developed screen utilizing either predefined BAPIs and/or function modules should be the method of choice.