ABAP - BOPF General
Start of a new series about BOPF of SAP. What is it about and how can you use it effectively for yourself? You will learn this from us.
Table of contents
What does BOPF stand for? How can you use it successfully and effectively? What is behind it? These questions we want to clarify in a small series around the topic BOPF and bring you the benefits of the framework something closer.
Definition
BOPF stands for "Business Object Processing Framework" and is a framework written by SAP for processing and maintaining related data. The framework was written completely object-oriented, so that the access to the data is only possible through the provided classes and methods.
Availability
BOPF has been officially released by SAP since Release 7.4 and comes standard with no additional activated extensions. It does not matter which database is in the system, the framework works with and without a HANA database. If you own a HANA system, then there are a few minor processing steps.
Usage
What do you need the framework for, and where can it support you? In fact, using complex data models can help you keep your data in more than one database table.
A simple example of a business object is, for example, the FI document. There is a document header (BKPF) and the line items (BSEG), but also other items for taxes (BSET) or the auxiliary indices (BSIK, BSAK, etc.). All data belong together, if you delete the document header, all positions and entries in the other tables should also be deleted. Only in this way does the database always remain completely consistent.
Advantages
- Time and cost savings
- Standard access to all data
- Separation of business logic and UI logic
- Central maintenance of the object
- Easy expandability
Disadvantages
- Knowledge and understanding of the technology (design pattern, OOP)
- Compliance with the defined purpose of use
Conclusion
With the BOPF you get another tool to assist you in your development process to easily map complex data models. The implementation in the system follows the modern design principles and helps you with a modern framework.