PROJECT LINKS:
IDEA
For a long time only OLE/DOI-approach was available for creating spreadsheets. As you know, OLE/DOI-approach is quite flexible, but some restrictions. For example, it requires installed MS Excel application (this makes impossible to use background job for generate spreadsheet). Moreover, OLE-approach has low performance (this problem may be partly solved by using VBA, but this requires manually changing of security settings MS-Excel application on each front-end computer).
Since, ZIP-folder processing tools became available in the SAP environment, we are able to generate spreadsheets with new Open XML Format (XLSX). This approach does not have lacks of OLE.
But, in my opinion, the flaw of all existing solutions for generate spreadsheets from ABAP- is many lines of ABAP code required directly for creating and formatting spreadsheet layout. This fact is the cause of that, the same tasks are quite differently implemented by different developers, which complicates further support these developments. My idea is to create a tool (to design spreadsheets) which has graphical user interface, for example such as SMARTFORMS; and resultant spreadsheet would have XLSX format.
WHAT DOES DEVELOPMENT PROCESS LOOK LIKE ?
The development via XLSX Workbench comprises three components:
- FORM. The principle of visual design forms in XLSX Worbkench has some similarities with the principles of using such editors as SMARTFORMS or AdobeForms. Forms are stored in the SAP WEB-repository (transaction SMW0, binary data for WebRFC-applications), and represented as XLSX-files. All data about form's structure is inside the file.
- CONTEXT. But here notion of the context is little simplified compared with the AdobeForms.
- PRINTING PROGRAM. It must contain next steps:
- Declaration of the context (int.table or structure)
- Code for filling of the context
- Call a funct.module 'ZXLWB_CALLFORM'
HOW TO GET RESULTANT XLSX-FILE ?
You run the print program, which prepare a source data (and fill the context) and pass it to F.M.'ZXLWB_CALLFORM'. The F.M. generates the resultant XLSX-file using the form's structure and context data. Everything is processed on the application server, but the result at the developer's decision:
- could be displayed on the front-end computer via MS Excel application;
- could be saved on the front-end computer as file (.XLSX) in a specified path;
- could be returned into the printing program as rawdata.