The ABAP Test Cockpit (ATC) plays an important role in securing custom codes by identifying quality and security issues early in the development cycle.
Securing SAP systems starts with ensuring that all custom code has passed appropriated testing and reviews using Code Inspector or ATC check variants.
This blog reveals how essential checking of ABAP code ensures your systems’ security and stability, minimizing disruptions to daily business operations.
As SAP continues to evolve, the ATC remains a practical and valuable tool for managing custom code quality and strengthening the return on SAP investments
What is the ABAP Test Cockpit?
The ABAP Test Cockpit is SAP’s standard toolset for performing static code code checks and unit tests on ABP code.
The ATC is based on the SAP Code Inspector (SCI) engine, enabling organizations to reuse existing check variants and extend them with additional rules. Where implemented, ATC automatically leverages SCI+ capabilities for more advanced analysis.
ATC in action
Why use the ABAP Test Cockpit for custom code quality and security?
Quality assurance is critical given the volume of ABAP code organizations develop and the potential impact of issues, such as bugs, on essential business processes. ATC checks help organizations to enforce consistent standards and reduce operational risk through the following capabilities.
Quality and security enforcement
- Centralized management of ABAP quality and security checks
- Mandatory quality gates before transports are released
- Early detection of security vulnerabilities and risks
Governance and compliance
- Robust exemption and exception management processes
- Central reporting with filtering and aggregation for audit and review
- Single point of entry for static code check tools
DevOps and developer productivity
- Integration with the ABAP development workbench
- Reuse of SAP Code Inspector (SCI/SCI+) checks and variants
- Support for regression testing and consolidation systems
- Prioritization of automated test cases
- Transport control through automated check runs before release
Together, these capabilities help organizations shift quality and security checks left, reducing rework and production incidents.
Automating and enforcing ATC checks with Rev-Trac!
Rev-Trac allows out-of-the-box integration with advanced SAP toolsets, including ABAP Test Cockpit and Code Inspector.
This integration enforces ATC checks to be embedded directly into SAP change and transport processes, ensuring only high-quality, compliant code is delivered to your SAP systems.
With Rev-Trac:
- Code is automatically sent to the ATC if it has been configured
- Changes that past ATC tests and checks can be auto approved, reducing manual effort
- Changes that fail checks are automatically rejected
For more information about how ATC and Rev-Trac work together as a solution, please reach contact one of our SAP change management experts.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Are ATC checks mandatory for SAP security?
While enforcing ATC checks is not technically mandatory, it is widely considered a best practice for securing SAP system code, particularly in regulated environments and during S/4HANA transformations.
Can ATC checks be integrated into SAP DevOps pipelines?
Yes. ATC checks can be incorporated into SAP DevOps workflows, especially when combined with SAP change automation tools like Rev-Trac, to enforce quality and security checks before releasing transports to production.
Does ATC support S/4HANA custom code checks?
Yes. ATC supports S/4HANA-specific checks, helping organizations identify incompatibilities and non-compliant code during the migration and post-migration.
