HDBDD vs HDBCDS

[Former Member]

Hi All,

I would like some clarity on HDBCDS (the new CDS development file) after SP12. My questions are:

1. Would this work only with XSA? if my project has no XSA would I still use HDBDD?

2. Can I copy and paste the same HDBDD code to HDBCDS? Does the codes change somehow?

3. Can HDBCDS be created in HANA studio or is it on web IDE only?

4. To create one on web IDE, would I use the same URL - <host:port>/sap/hana/ide ? Or is there a different XSA URL?

5. I've read about 'graphical' CDS editors. Is this a HANA 2.0 exclusive feature?

6. Which URL is used to create these graphical CDS views/entities? I see no option on the <host:port>/sap/hana/ide

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

I would really appreciate it if you could respond to each point individually.

Shyam

[thomas_jung]

This new question is completely unrelated to the original question. Please post it as its own new Q&A entry.

[thomas_jung · Accepted solution]

1. Would this work only with XSA? if my project has no XSA would I still use HDBDD?

HDBCDS replaces HDBDD in the HDI/SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA context. You don't have to have any of the XSA modules in your project to use it. You only need the HANA Database Module.

2. Can I copy and paste the same HDBDD code to HDBCDS? Does the codes change somehow?

There are so minor code changes. Mostly the configuration annotations are now moved to the Technical Configuration section. These changes are documented in the online help.

3. Can HDBCDS be created in HANA studio or is it on web IDE only?

HDBCDS is only possible from the SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA.

4. To create one on web IDE, would I use the same URL - <host:port>/sap/hana/ide ? Or is there a different XSA URL?

That URL you posted is for the SAP HANA Web-based Development Workbench. You have to use the SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA to leverage any of the new features of HDI or XSA. These are two separate web tools.

5. I've read about 'graphical' CDS editors. Is this a HANA 2.0 exclusive feature?

It is SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA exclusive feature. It has been available in the SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA since HANA 1.0 SPS 11.

6. Which URL is used to create these graphical CDS views/entities? I see no option on the <host:port>/sap/hana/ide

This seems to be the same question as #4. You can not use the SAP HANA Web-based Development Workbench for these new features. Instead please use the SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA.

[lbreddemann]

Most of these questions have been answered before here on SCN or are part of the documentation.

Please search before posting your question. We'd really appreciate if you could follow this community rule.

[Former Member]

Hi Lars,

Thanks for your reply.

I did some searches and went to the CDS documentation as well. I apologize if I am violating the forum rules in any way. There is so much of information available from the CDS documentation that I did understand to an extent but raised more questions than answers for me.

For older objects like Calculation views, there's a ton of examples online but I've found it quite hard to find step by step documentation on CDS entities as there are very few out there - mostly by SAP employees.

I can follow the process but in some of the blogs, screens look quite different from what I have. That's why I asked if there's a different IDE URL in XSA among other questions.

A few lines of replies would help a lot. It's been hard finding folks with XSA experience for a concrete reply.

Shyam

[lbreddemann]

Generally, it's recommendable to try and follow the documentation that matches the system version you are using. Documentation for older versions can still be downloaded from the help.sap.com webpage, even if the current version is much more recent than what you use.

For specific topics like XSA and CDS it's usually straightforward to see what HANA version the information apply to as most SAP materials mention the version.

A quick search on google got me these pretty good starting points:

• https://www.youtube.com/user/saphanaacademy
• https://github.com/SAP/hana-shine-xsa
• https://blogs.sap.com/2017/01/12/hana-cds-graphical-editor-introduction/

Of course, the product documentation matching your system covers all functions and limitations for the different tools.

Beyond all that, I cannot over-recommend the free open online courses on openSAP covering development on SAP HANA. These are available for current and older HANA versions and provide hands-on training.

[Former Member]

Thanks for asking this question Shyam. I too spent too-much time trying to find the answers to this in the provided documentation and highly appreciate the directness of your questions and Thomas's answer.

@Thomas - it seems a little concerning as a design approach that what is effectively a compile-time artifact would be linked to a single front-end technology. Could you provide any more insight on this decision? Coming from experience with other technologies, this would be like node.js package.json only working when using a plugin from IntelliJ....it seems like not a very stable separation of concerns?