I’d like to share with you my an online talking to a recruiter. I won’t give this nice guy name now and the client name. Maybe I can give them later. I talked to him about an SAP ABAP Developer position in Dallas, TX.
I just applied an SAP ABAP position on computerjobs.com last week. Then online talking - just e-mailing - was as following:
Last Friday I was interviewed on the phone by a recruiter for an SAP Developer position. It was actually not a real interview, it is just a preinterview before submitting the resume to the customer. They just try to understand how your knowledge about SAP is.
As far as I remember I was asked these SAP questions:
Question 16: How is the Smart Form’s architecture?
When you create forms for an application, you want to include application to into the form. The architecture of SAP Smart Forms separates application data retrieval from the actual definition of the form.
Question 15: What are Smart Forms?
The Smart Forms replace the SAPscript formats. SAPscript forms will still be supported in the future; you can use them without making any changes for years to come. You can even use SAPscript texts in the Smart Forms. Migration of SAPscript forms into Smart Forms is supported.
You use Smart Forms to create and maintain forms for mass printing in SAP Systems. Besides using the printer for standard output you can also select Internet (by using a generated HTML output), a fax, or e-mail as output medium.
It is inevitable that if you are an SAP consultant, you work too close the customer’s project manager, end users, and other consultants. SAP project requires team working. Without a good team working, an SAP project cannot be successful! Think about a situation like that one of your colleagues ask a question! But you don’t know the correct answer totally. Here they are 20 top answers you need to know to be an SAP expert consultant.
I think all SAP technical folks are familiar with SDN (SAP Developer Network). SDN is the most exciting job that SAP has ever made. SDN is a platform, a portal where all SAP tech people meet. You just need to sign up, then you can get a great knowledge about all SAP tech stuff. Visit forums, read blogs, downloads latest sneak preview and trial programs, watch eLearning videos, follow up events, etc.
Today actually I just don’t want to mention SDN. Today I would like to let you know about SND World. What I understood is one of the SDN bloggers Eddy De Clercq, a web application developer at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, started SDN World, then another one of the SDN bloggers Valery Silaev, a lead software engineer at the EPAM Systems, contributed his works for SDN World.
Question 14: What is the transaction recorder?
The transaction recorder - BDC recorder - is for recording a series of transactions and their screens. TCODE (transaction code) is SHDB for the transaction recorder. Run SHDB for recording any transaction in SAP R/3 System.
As you know that BDC programming is a kind of tracing all screens and enter data into appropriate place then running the transaction. To do BDC programming either batch input sessions or CALL TRANSACTION you have to know order of all screens, screen names, field names and even you don’t have to miss any screen elements. As you can guess that it is hard to that manually. So SAP provides us an easy method: The Transaction Recorder (BDC Recorder).
I decided to give you a list of standard SAP programs that every ABAP developer should know. As you know that as a consultant or a user, you memorize a lot of transaction codes. But some programs don’t have a transaction to run. Those are usually type ‘1′ executable programs. Even it is good to know program name, therefore maybe you may want to look at the source code and get some knowledge about SAP structure and logic behind SAP.
Let me start a few programs. Then I will update this post whenever I get a new program name. Maybe I can write a separate post for some programs, and so I give a link here.
To run these programs, you have to go to SE38 (the ABAP Editor) or SA38 (ABAP:Execute Program) then type program name and hit F8 on the keyboard for foreground running. You would also sometimes need to run these program in background processing.
Question 13: How do you write a conversion program?
Don’t confuse about the conversion program. When using the standard batch input program, they require a specified file format. But probably your file that is to be transferred is not as required. Therefore you need to write a conversion program that will convert your file to SAP’s file format.You must generate the data structure from the SAP standard data structure. Then you can use the standard batch input program by using this converted SAP file format.
A conversion may be necessary for data type and length. The data type required by all standard SAP batch input programs is C, character. You can find the required field length either in your analysis of the data declaration structure of the generated batch input program or in the data structures that you generate.
The data is exported in SAP format to a sequential file. The batch input program in R/3 System reads the data in from this file.
The tasks involved in writing a data transfer program are shown in the diagram and list below.
What is RICEF? This is not an interview question!
You can see RICEF acronym, when you look at the most SAP ABAP Developer job position descriptions; and you can sometimes encounter RICE version of it. So what does RICEF stand for?
Firstly let’s look at some SAP job posting examples:
- Able to scope, review, and create SD RICEF…
- MM RICEF Functional Spec Exp…
- Must have experience supervising a team and writing RICEF…
- Must be very proficient in all aspects of RICEF developments…
- Interact with business users to analyze the requirements and technical desings of the RICEF objects…
- Develops functional specifications for RICEF technical objects affecting respective business processes…