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.