Comparing Classic ABAP and ABAP Cloud: replaced or now-unavailable features.

A fundamental shift in ABAP development has emerged with the introduction of ABAP Cloud, a modern, service-oriented approach that contrasts with the classic, monolithic architecture. This evolution emphasizes API-based data access over direct database manipulation and introduces a host of updated tools and methodologies while phasing out older, less flexible features.

The transition from classic ABAP to ABAP Cloud is marked by a significant number of replaced or now-unavailable features. Development is now primarily done in the Eclipse IDE rather than the traditional SAP GUI. A key architectural change is the move from a monolithic system to a service-oriented architecture, which relies on API access for data instead of direct database queries.

Here is a detailed comparison of features that are unavailable or have been replaced in the ABAP Cloud environment:

Characteristic	Traditional ABAP	ABAP Cloud Replacement
Development Tool	SAP GUI	Eclipse IDE
Data Access	Direct Database Access. KNA1, LFA1, MARA, VBAK	API-Based Data Access, CDS Views
File System Access	OPEN/TRANSFER/CLOSE DATASET	Not Supported
SAP GUI Screens	DYNPRO events, Reports	Not Supported
Event Blocks	LOAD-OF-PROGRAM, INITIALIZATION	Not Allowed
UI Output	WRITE, ALV	ADT console, Fiori, ABAP2UI5
ABAP Memory	EXPORT/IMPORT TO MEMORY ID	Not Supported
Batch Jobs	SM36, SM37	ABAP catalogs, templates,
Application Log	SLG0, SLG1, BAL_LOG_CREATE	cl_bali_object_handler, Fiori App
Change Documents	CDHDR, CDPOS	Generated classes, cl_chdo_read_tools
Debugging	jdbg, LOG-POINT	ADT, custom tools
Function Modules	BAPI_MATERIAL_SAVEREPLICA	Behavior Definitions (RAP)
Remote Calls	RFC, SOAP, SE37, SOAMANAGER	ABAP objects, communication scenarios
System Fields	sy-datum, sy-uzeit, sy-zonlo	cl_abap_context_info methods
Arithmetic Syntax	ADD, SUBTRACT, MULTIPLY, DIVIDE	+, -, *, / operators
Internal Tables	DESCRIBE TABLE LINES	lines(itab_name)
Loop Grouping	LOOP AT ... AT NEW / ENDAT	LOOP AT ... GROUP BY
Calendar	Factory/Public holidays	CL_FHC_CALENDAR_RUNTIME, CDS views
Concurrency Control	ENQUEUE_E_TABLE	cl_abap_lock_object_factory
Number Range	SNRO, NUMBER_GET_NEXT	cl_numberrange_objects, Fiori app
Parallel Processing	CALL FUNCTION STARTING NEW TASK	cl_abap_parallel
Regular Expressions	REPLACE ALL OCCURRENCES OF REGEX	cl_abap_matcher, xco_cp_regular_expression
Translation	GUI-based translation	xco_cp_i18n, Fiori app
Transport Request	E070, E071	xco_cp_cts, xco_cp_transport