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Standard classes worth knowing — the CL_ABAP_* you will reach for

Level: 201 · working knowledge

Status: stub — the shelf is here; each entry wants a program.

One line: A short list of SAP-delivered classes that solve a problem you will otherwise solve worse — type description, code page conversion, timestamps, random numbers, ALV, JSON, HTTP, mail — with what each is for, so the search starts from a name rather than from the class browser.

The shelf

Class For Page
cl_abap_typedescr, cl_abap_structdescr, cl_abap_tabledescr, cl_abap_elemdescr RTTI: describe a type, list its components, build a new one Dynamic programming
cl_abap_conv_codepage, cl_abap_conv_in_ce=>uccp characters ↔ bytes; a character from its code point Unicode and code pages
cl_abap_char_utilities newline, horizontal_tab, cr_lf as constants File handling
cl_abap_tstmp timestamp arithmetic and conversion Dates and times
cl_abap_math rounding-mode constants, min/max of types Numeric functions
cl_abap_random, cl_abap_random_int random numbers with a seed —
cl_abap_regex, cl_abap_matcher stateful regular expressions Regular expressions
cl_abap_dyn_prg escaping and whitelists for dynamic SQL and code Security
cl_abap_unit_assert, cl_abap_testdouble tests and doubles ABAP Unit
cl_salv_table ALV in five lines ALV
cl_demo_output quick output in ADT and SAP GUI, better than WRITE for development WRITE
/ui2/cl_json, cl_sxml_string_writer, xco_cp_json JSON JSON and XML
cl_http_client, cl_web_http_client_manager HTTP out HTTP client
cl_bcs, cl_document_bcs email Email from ABAP
cl_gui_frontend_services files and dialogs on the user's PC File handling
cl_bali_log the released application log Application log
cl_system_uuid GUIDs —
cl_abap_context_info user, date, time in ABAP Cloud, where sy fields are restricted ABAP Cloud
xco_cp_* the XCO library: the cloud-era utility layer for strings, JSON, time, generation ABAP Cloud

Most of these are documented in the class itself (ADT: F2 on the name) and in the keyword documentation under ABAP → Classes. Note that abaplint in this repository cannot resolve any of them, so a snippet calling one is checked for syntax only — see Keywords.

What this page still needs

  • [ ] one snippets/ program per row that has no page, starting with cl_abap_random and cl_system_uuid
  • [ ] the released/unreleased status of each in ABAP Cloud, checked
  • [ ] the XCO library as its own page, since it is large

See also