ABAP Modern — RAP, CDS & ABAP Cloud/RAP Advanced Features

Actions in RAP — Static, Instance, and Factory Actions

Learn to implement RAP actions for custom business operations like approving orders, copying records, and triggering workflows.

Actions — Static, Instance, and Factory Actions

What You'll Learn

What actions are and the three types
Instance actions: operations on a specific record
Static actions: operations without selecting a record
Factory actions: creating new records from existing ones
Action parameters and result types

What Are Actions?

Actions are custom operations beyond standard CRUD. They appear as buttons in the Fiori UI. TechMart needs:

Approve Order — change status from New to Approved (instance action)
Create with Reference — copy an existing order (factory action)
Generate Daily Report — runs without selecting an order (static action)

Instance Action — Approve Order

An instance action operates on a selected record.

Step 1: Declare in behavior definition

define behavior for ZI_TM_SalesOrder alias SalesOrder
{
  ...
  action approve result [1] $self;
}

result [1] $self means the action returns the updated instance.

Step 2: Implement

METHOD approve.
  " Read current status
  READ ENTITIES OF ZI_TM_SalesOrder IN LOCAL MODE
    ENTITY SalesOrder
      FIELDS ( Status OrderId )
      WITH CORRESPONDING #( keys )
    RESULT DATA(lt_orders).

  LOOP AT lt_orders INTO DATA(ls_order).
    " Only New orders can be approved
    IF ls_order-Status <> 'N'.
      APPEND VALUE #( %tky = ls_order-%tky ) TO failed-salesorder.
      APPEND VALUE #( %tky = ls_order-%tky
        %msg = new_message_with_text(
          severity = if_abap_behv_message=>severity-error
          text = |Order { ls_order-OrderId } cannot be approved (status is not New)| )
      ) TO reported-salesorder.
      CONTINUE.
    ENDIF.

    " Update status to Approved
    MODIFY ENTITIES OF ZI_TM_SalesOrder IN LOCAL MODE
      ENTITY SalesOrder
        UPDATE FIELDS ( Status )
        WITH VALUE #( (
          %tky   = ls_order-%tky
          Status = 'A'
        ) )
      REPORTED DATA(ls_rep).
  ENDLOOP.

  " Return updated instances
  READ ENTITIES OF ZI_TM_SalesOrder IN LOCAL MODE
    ENTITY SalesOrder
      ALL FIELDS
      WITH CORRESPONDING #( keys )
    RESULT DATA(lt_result).
  result = VALUE #( FOR ls_r IN lt_result (
    %tky = ls_r-%tky  %param = ls_r ) ).
ENDMETHOD.

Static Action — No Instance Selection

A static action doesn't need a selected record.

define behavior for ZI_TM_SalesOrder alias SalesOrder
{
  ...
  static action generateReport;
}

METHOD generateReport.
  " Business logic that doesn't depend on a specific order
  " For example: generate a daily summary, trigger batch processing
  
  APPEND VALUE #(
    %msg = new_message_with_text(
      severity = if_abap_behv_message=>severity-success
      text = |Daily report generation started| )
  ) TO reported-salesorder.
ENDMETHOD.

Factory Action — Create from Existing

A factory action creates a new instance, often by copying an existing one.

define behavior for ZI_TM_SalesOrder alias SalesOrder
{
  ...
  factory action copyOrder [1];
}

METHOD copyOrder.
  " Read the source order
  READ ENTITIES OF ZI_TM_SalesOrder IN LOCAL MODE
    ENTITY SalesOrder
      ALL FIELDS
      WITH CORRESPONDING #( keys )
    RESULT DATA(lt_source).

  DATA(ls_source) = lt_source[ 1 ].

  " Create a copy with New status and today's date
  MODIFY ENTITIES OF ZI_TM_SalesOrder IN LOCAL MODE
    ENTITY SalesOrder
      CREATE FIELDS ( CustomerId OrderDate Status Currency )
      WITH VALUE #( (
        %cid       = 'copy_1'
        CustomerId = ls_source-CustomerId
        OrderDate  = cl_abap_context_info=>get_system_date( )
        Status     = 'N'
        Currency   = ls_source-Currency
      ) )
    MAPPED DATA(ls_mapped).

  " Return the new instance
  mapped-salesorder = ls_mapped-salesorder.
ENDMETHOD.

Actions with Parameters

Actions can accept input. Define an abstract entity for the parameter:

@EndUserText.label: 'Rejection Reason'
DEFINE ABSTRACT ENTITY ZA_TM_RejectParams
{
  Reason : abap.string(200);
}

Declare the action with the parameter:

action rejectOrder parameter ZA_TM_RejectParams result [1] $self;

Access the parameter in the implementation:

METHOD rejectOrder.
  DATA(lv_reason) = keys[ 1 ]-%param-Reason.
  " Store reason, update status to Rejected, etc.
ENDMETHOD.

Exposing Actions in the Projection

Actions declared at the interface level must be exposed in the projection:

projection;
define behavior for ZC_TM_SalesOrder alias SalesOrder
{
  use action approve;
  use action copyOrder;
  use action rejectOrder;
  use static action generateReport;
}

And add UI annotations to show the button:

@UI.lineItem: [{ type: #FOR_ACTION, dataAction: 'approve',
                  label: 'Approve', position: 10 }]

Common Mistakes

Instance action on multiple selections — RAP actions receive a table of keys. Loop through all of them, don't just process keys[ 1 ].
Forgetting to return result — If the behavior definition says result [1] $self, the method MUST populate the result parameter. Otherwise the Fiori UI won't refresh.
Not exposing in projection — An action declared at the interface level but not exposed in the projection behavior won't appear in the Fiori app.
Mixing action and validation logic — Actions should execute operations. Put data validation in validations, not in actions.

Key Takeaways

Actions are custom operations beyond CRUD — they appear as buttons in Fiori.
Instance actions operate on selected records. Static actions don't need selection. Factory actions create new records.
Use abstract entities for action parameters (user input).
Actions must be exposed in the projection behavior with use action.
Add @UI.lineItem annotations with type: #FOR_ACTION to display action buttons.

Next Lesson

TechMart's users want to save partial work and come back later. In Lesson 21, we'll implement draft handling — the auto-save mechanism that lets users edit without committing, resuming later where they left off.

← PreviousValidations and Determinations — Business Rules in RAP Next →Draft Handling — Save Incomplete Work