Unlocking SAP HANA Power with AMDP

What are ABAP Managed Database Procedures (AMDPs)?

In the world of SAP development, ABAP Managed Database Procedures (AMDPs) are your key to boosting performance and tapping into the full potential of SAP HANA. Imagine this: you must process large datasets or execute complex calculations directly within your database layer. That’s where AMDPs shine!

They allow you to embed database-specific SQLScript code within ABAP methods. This powerful combination brings several key advantages:

• Performance Optimization: Traditional “fetch data to the application server, process, send results back” methods can be slow, especially with large datasets. AMDPs let you push calculations and processing directly to the SAP HANA database, significantly boosting performance.
• Harnessing SAP HANA Features: AMDPs allow you to seamlessly use features unique to SAP HANA (like advanced analytics) from within your ABAP code.
• Simplified Development: AMDPs are created and managed as part of your ABAP code, streamlining the development process.

AMDP in Action: A Simple Example

Let’s consider a scenario where you need to calculate the total sales amount for each customer within a massive sales dataset:

CLASS zcl_amdp_demo DEFINITION PUBLIC CREATE PUBLIC.

  PUBLIC SECTION.

    INTERFACES if_amdp_marker_hdb. 

    METHODS get_sales_by_customer 

      IMPORTING

        VALUE(iv_filter) TYPE string 

      EXPORTING

        VALUE(et_results) TYPE ty_results_table. 

ENDCLASS.

CLASS zcl_amdp_demo IMPLEMENTATION.

  METHOD get_sales_by_customer BY DATABASE PROCEDURE

         FOR HDB

         LANGUAGE SQLSCRIPT

         OPTIONS READ-ONLY 

         USING sales_data. 

    et_results = 

      SELECT customer_id, SUM(net_amount) as total_sales

      FROM sales_data

      WHERE … — Add filtering based on iv_filter if needed

      GROUP BY customer_id;

  ENDMETHOD.

ENDCLASS.

Explanation

1. We create an ABAP class zcl_amdp_demo with the interface if_amdp_marker_hdb to mark it for AMDP usage.
2. The get_sales_by_customer method is where the magic happens – it’s defined as a database procedure.
3. SQLScript is used to write the database-native calculation, taking advantage of HANA’s power.

Key Points

• Development Environment: AMDPs are best developed in ABAP Development Tools (ADT) or SAP HANA Studio.
• Transportation: AMDPs are part of your ABAP system and follow the standard transport mechanisms.
• Debugging: Specialized debugging tools are available for AMDPs to help you troubleshoot if needed.

AMDPs in the Big Picture

While open SQL remains a core part of ABAP development, AMDPs offer a powerful tool whenever you need:

• Significantly improved performance for database-heavy operations
• Direct access to SAP HANA’s unique features