Sap gui scripting

SAP GUI Scripting & Automation

Related Skills

• sap-build-process-automation — Desktop Agent uses GUI scripting under the hood
• sap-testing-quality — Automated GUI testing with eCATT/CBTA
• sap-s4hana-extensibility — When to use API vs. GUI scripting

Quick Start

Prerequisites:

1. Enable scripting on SAP server: RZ11 → parameter sapgui/user_scripting = TRUE
2. Enable on client: SAP GUI → Options → Accessibility & Scripting → Enable scripting
3. Disable notification popups: uncheck "Notify when script attaches" and "Notify when script opens connection"

Record your first script:

1. Open SAP GUI → transaction you want to automate
2. Menu: Customize Local Layout (Alt+F12) → Script Recording and Playback
3. Click Record, perform actions, click Stop
4. Save as .vbs file — this is your starting template

Minimal VBScript — Run Transaction:

If Not IsObject(application) Then
   Set SapGuiAuto = GetObject("SAPGUI")
   Set application = SapGuiAuto.GetScriptingEngine
End If

Set connection = application.Children(0)
Set session = connection.Children(0)

session.findById("wnd[0]/tbar[0]/okcd").text = "/nMM03"
session.findById("wnd[0]").sendVKey 0
session.findById("wnd[0]/usr/ctxtRMMG1-MATNR").text = "MAT-001"
session.findById("wnd[0]").sendVKey 0

Core Concepts

Object Hierarchy

GuiApplication
 └── GuiConnection (SAP system connection)
      └── GuiSession (user session / window)
           └── GuiFrameWindow (wnd[0], wnd[1]...)
                ├── GuiToolbar (tbar[0] = command, tbar[1] = app)
                ├── GuiUserArea (usr/)
                │    ├── GuiTextField, GuiCTextField
                │    ├── GuiComboBox, GuiCheckBox, GuiRadioButton
                │    ├── GuiTableControl, GuiGridView (ALV)
                │    ├── GuiTab, GuiTabStrip
                │    └── GuiTree
                ├── GuiStatusbar (sbar/)
                └── GuiTitlebar (titl/)

Element ID Pattern

Format: wnd[N]/area/type[row,col]

• wnd[0]/tbar[0]/okcd — Command field (OKCode)
• wnd[0]/usr/ctxtFIELD-NAME — Context field (F4 help available)
• wnd[0]/usr/txtFIELD-NAME — Text input field
• wnd[0]/usr/chkFIELD-NAME — Checkbox
• wnd[0]/usr/radFIELD-NAME — Radio button
• wnd[0]/usr/btnBUTTON-NAME — Push button
• wnd[0]/usr/tblTABLE/ctxtFIELD[row,col] — Table cell
• wnd[0]/usr/cntlGRID/shellcont/shell — ALV Grid control
• wnd[0]/sbar — Status bar (messages)

Virtual Keys (sendVKey)

Key	Code	Description
Enter	0	Confirm/execute
F2	2	Choose/display
F3	3	Back
F5	5	Refresh
F8	8	Execute report
F12	12	Cancel
Shift+F4	16	Save as variant
Ctrl+S	11	Save
Ctrl+Shift+F3	43	Delete

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Python Automation with win32com

import win32com.client
import time

def get_sap_session():
    """Connect to running SAP GUI session."""
    sap_gui = win32com.client.GetObject("SAPGUI")
    app = sap_gui.GetScriptingEngine
    connection = app.Children(0)
    session = connection.Children(0)
    return session

def run_transaction(session, tcode):
    """Navigate to transaction."""
    session.findById("wnd[0]/tbar[0]/okcd").text = f"/n{tcode}"
    session.findById("wnd[0]").sendVKey(0)

def get_status_message(session):
    """Read status bar message."""
    sbar = session.findById("wnd[0]/sbar")
    return {
        "type": sbar.MessageType,  # S=Success, E=Error, W=Warning, I=Info
        "text": sbar.Text
    }

Pattern 2: Table Data Extraction

def extract_alv_grid(session, grid_id="wnd[0]/usr/cntlGRID/shellcont/shell"):
    """Extract all data from ALV grid."""
    grid = session.findById(grid_id)
    columns = grid.ColumnCount
    rows = grid.RowCount
    col_names = [grid.GetColumnTitles(i) for i in range(columns)]

    data = []
    for row in range(rows):
        grid.SetCurrentCell(row, grid.GetColumnName(0))
        record = {}
        for col in range(columns):
            col_name = grid.GetColumnName(col)
            record[col_name] = grid.GetCellValue(row, col_name)
        data.append(record)
    return data

def extract_table_control(session, table_id):
    """Extract data from classic table control (scroll-aware)."""
    table = session.findById(table_id)
    all_rows = []
    visible = table.VisibleRowCount
    total = table.RowCount

    for offset in range(0, total, visible):
        table.VerticalScrollbar.Position = offset
        for row in range(min(visible, total - offset)):
            row_data = {}
            for col in range(table.Columns.Count):
                cell = table.GetCell(row, col)
                row_data[table.Columns(col).Name] = cell.Text
            all_rows.append(row_data)
    return all_rows

Pattern 3: Batch Data Entry (e.g., Mass Material Change)

def mass_material_change(session, materials):
    """Change multiple materials via MM02."""
    results = []
    for mat in materials:
        run_transaction(session, "MM02")
        session.findById("wnd[0]/usr/ctxtRMMG1-MATNR").text = mat["matnr"]
        session.findById("wnd[0]").sendVKey(0)

        # Select views
        for view in session.findById("wnd[0]/usr/tabsTABSPR1").Children:
            if hasattr(view, "Selected"):
                view.Selected = view.Text in mat.get("views", ["Basic Data 1"])

        session.findById("wnd[0]").sendVKey(0)

        # Update fields
        for field_id, value in mat.get("fields", {}).items():
            try:
                session.findById(field_id).text = value
            except Exception as e:
                results.append({"matnr": mat["matnr"], "status": "ERROR", "msg": str(e)})
                session.findById("wnd[0]").sendVKey(12)  # Cancel
                continue

        session.findById("wnd[0]").sendVKey(11)  # Ctrl+S
        msg = get_status_message(session)
        results.append({"matnr": mat["matnr"], "status": msg["type"], "msg": msg["text"]})

    return results

Pattern 4: Handle Popups and Modal Dialogs

def handle_popup(session, action="confirm"):
    """Handle unexpected popup windows."""
    try:
        popup = session.findById("wnd[1]")
        if action == "confirm":
            popup.findById("wnd[1]/usr/btnBUTTON_1").press()  # Yes/OK
        elif action == "cancel":
            popup.findById("wnd[1]/usr/btnBUTTON_2").press()  # No/Cancel
        elif action == "close":
            popup.Close()
        return True
    except Exception:
        return False  # No popup present

def safe_action(session, action_func, max_popups=3):
    """Execute action and handle any resulting popups."""
    action_func()
    for _ in range(max_popups):
        time.sleep(0.3)
        if not handle_popup(session, "confirm"):
            break

Pattern 5: Login Automation

def login_sap(system, client, user, password, language="EN"):
    """Open new SAP GUI connection and login."""
    import subprocess
    sap_logon = r"C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP\FrontEnd\SAPgui\saplogon.exe"
    subprocess.Popen([sap_logon])
    time.sleep(3)

    sap_gui = win32com.client.GetObject("SAPGUI")
    app = sap_gui.GetScriptingEngine
    connection = app.OpenConnection(system, True)
    session = connection.Children(0)

    session.findById("wnd[0]/usr/txtRSYST-MANDT").text = client
    session.findById("wnd[0]/usr/txtRSYST-BNAME").text = user
    session.findById("wnd[0]/usr/pwdRSYST-BCODE").text = password
    session.findById("wnd[0]/usr/txtRSYST-LANGU").text = language
    session.findById("wnd[0]").sendVKey(0)

    # Handle multiple logon popup
    handle_popup(session, "confirm")
    return session

Pattern 6: Error-Resilient Script Template

import logging

logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format="%(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(message)s")
log = logging.getLogger("sap_script")

def run_with_retry(session, func, max_retries=3, *args, **kwargs):
    """Run GUI action with retry on transient errors."""
    for attempt in range(max_retries):
        try:
            result = func(session, *args, **kwargs)
            msg = get_status_message(session)
            if msg["type"] == "E":
                log.warning(f"Attempt {attempt+1}: SAP error: {msg['text']}")
                if attempt < max_retries - 1:
                    session.findById("wnd[0]").sendVKey(3)  # Back
                    continue
            return result
        except Exception as e:
            log.error(f"Attempt {attempt+1}: Exception: {e}")
            if attempt == max_retries - 1:
                raise
    return None

Error Catalog

Error	Message	Root Cause	Fix
Runtime error: -2147352567	Object not found	Element ID wrong or screen changed	Use Script Recorder to get correct ID
Scripting disabled	Server rejected script	sapgui/user_scripting = FALSE	Set via RZ11 or profile parameter
No SAP GUI instance	GetObject failed	SAP GUI not running	Start SAP GUI before script
Session busy	Cannot attach	Transaction is processing	Add time.sleep() before action
Modal dialog open	Cannot access main window	Popup blocking	Handle wnd[1] before wnd[0]
ALV: Invalid cell	GetCellValue error	Row index out of range	Check RowCount before access
Multiple logon	Popup at login	User already logged in	Handle popup or close other session
Authorization	No authorization for scripting	Missing S_SCR auth object	Assign auth via SU01/role

Performance Tips

1. Disable screen updates — Not natively supported; minimize visual impact by running in background session
2. Batch via BDC/BAPI first — GUI scripting is last resort; prefer RFC/BAPI/OData for bulk operations
3. Reuse sessions — Don't login/logout per record; reuse connection for batch processing
4. Minimize findById calls — Cache element references: field = session.findById(...) then reuse field
5. Handle scrolling — For table controls, read VisibleRowCount and scroll incrementally
6. Parallel sessions — SAP allows up to 6 sessions per user; parallelize with connection.Children(N)
7. Avoid hardcoded waits — Use status bar checks instead of fixed time.sleep() where possible

Gotchas

• Screen variants: Same transaction can show different screens based on user settings — always verify screen number
• Language dependency: Element IDs can differ by logon language for some older transactions
• ALV vs. Table Control: GuiGridView (ALV) and GuiTableControl have completely different APIs
• SAP GUI version: Scripting API changes between versions; test on target version
• Security policy: Many organizations disable scripting in production — always check policy
• 64-bit Python + 32-bit SAP GUI: COM interop may fail; use matching architecture