Badi

Enhancing Standard Programs Quickly and Easily
Via Business Add-Ins (BADIs):
A Guide for SAP Developers and Consultants
By Rehan Zaidi, Siemens Pakistan
Editor’s Note: Some of the most appealing aspects of SAP® are its modularity and “configureability”. SAP’s enterprise solution allows a great deal of flexibility in application, as well as a lot of
tailoring to specific company needs. One ofSAP’s recent offerings in the tools and techniques
arena is the concept of Business Add-Ins, or BADIs. ABAP “man of the hour” Rehan Zaidi uses
this white paper to explain exactly what Business Add-Ins are, and how they are called in ABAP
programs. He presents an overview of the benefits to consultants and users, and he describes
the steps required to enhance standard SAP programs that usethis functionality. Maybe you’re
no Schwarzenegger, but you can be a world class BADI builder when you exercise your newfound knowledge of Business Add-Ins in SAP.

Introduction
A major strength of SAP is the capability to adapt its module’s standard programs according to
customer-specific requirements. One of the recent customization techniques made available is
the use of Business Add-Ins.This technique uses newer technology and concepts, and has been
used by SAP in most of its modules. Moreover, due to the numerous advantages that it provides,
learning the basics of this technique is essential for SAP developers and consultants.
The goal of this white paper is to provide a description of the steps required in adapting programs
that use Business Add-Ins. These are some of thequestions that this paper will address:
•

What are Business Add-Ins and how are they called in ABAP programs?

•

What are some of the benefits that they provide to consultants and users?

•

What steps are required to enhance standard programs that employ this functionality?

I will begin with an overview of BAdIs (Business Add-Ins) and their connection with objectoriented concepts.I’ll discuss, in detail, the steps required in implementing a typical Business
Add-In. Finally, I will use an example drawn from an easy-for-all company scenario to illustrate
my views. I am going to include tips learned from my personal experience and observation.
This paper is primarily intended for SAP developers but may also be of interest to SAP users. I
will assume that the reader isfamiliar with basic ABAP concepts and has some knowledge of
object-oriented programming within an SAP environment. For more information, refer to the SAP
documentation on http://help.sap.com/. Though the screenshots have been taken from Release
4.6, the tips mentioned are relevant for later releases as well.

Business Add-Ins (BADIs): An Overview
Business Add-Ins may be simply defined as anobject-oriented extension of the SAP
enhancement technique. They consist of special portions provided by SAP developers for
incorporating customer (or company) specific logic. The process of adapting your program
according to your scenario is known as implementation of the BADI.
Business Add-Ins have been used by SAP developers in a number of modules such as HR, SD,
and MM. In addition to standardABAP programs, you may also use BADIs for menu and screen
enhancements. Apart from SAP-delivered applications, you may also want to create your own
Business Add-Ins in order to provide the option of enhancing your own ABAP programs. The
transactions for creating and implementing Business Add-ins are SE18 and SE19 respectively.
Copyright © 2005 by Klee Associates, Inc.
www.SAPtips.com

Page 1Enhancing Standard Programs Quickly and Easily
Via Business Add-Ins (BADIs):
A Guide for SAP Developers and Consultants
As already mentioned, BADIs are based upon the concept of object-orientation. The program that
incorporates the enhancement option calls a method of a generated BADI class. During the
implementation procedure, the customer-specific code is written in the relevant...