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ABAP Test Cockpit (ATC) Analysis

ATC is SAP's built-in code quality framework — the same checks you run in SE80 or Eclipse ADT, but integrated directly into VS Code. It scans your ABAP objects for coding violations, security issues, performance problems, and (optionally) S/4HANA compatibility.

Running ATC

With an ABAP file open, use any of these methods:

  • Keyboard: Ctrl+Shift+F2
  • Command Palette: ABAP FS: Run ABAP Test Cockpit
  • Copilot chat: "Run ATC on this file"

Findings appear immediately as colored underlines in the editor, and in the ATC Findings panel (Activity Bar → ABAP FS → ATC Finds).

Working with Results

Click any finding in the ATC panel to jump to the affected line. From there you can:

Action How
Read check documentation Click Show documentation on the finding
Apply a quick fix Click the lightbulb / use Ctrl+. on the underlined code
Get an AI-suggested fix Ask Copilot: "Fix this ATC finding"
Request an exemption Right-click a finding → Request exemption (single or bulk)
Hide exempted findings Toggle Filter exempted in the panel toolbar
Re-run after saving Toggle Auto-refresh in the panel toolbar

Enhancement Decorations

When viewing standard SAP code, 🎯 markers show where customer enhancements (BADIs, implicit enhancements, etc.) are active. Hover for details, or click the link to open the enhancement source directly.

Configuring the Check Variant

The check variant controls which rules ATC applies — just like choosing a variant in transaction ATC or SE80. To set a default variant per connection:

  1. Open ABAP FS: Connection Manager
  2. Edit the connection
  3. Set the ATC Variant field (e.g., DEFAULT, S4HANA_READINESS, or your custom variant)

Or add it directly to settings.json:

"atcVariant": "S4HANA_READINESS"

S/4HANA Migration Workflow

To check custom code for S/4HANA compatibility, set the variant to S4HANA_READINESS. ATC will then flag removed APIs, changed interfaces, and deprecated features on every run.

Recommended workflow:

  1. Use the S/4HANA Readiness Dashboard to identify all affected objects
  2. Open each object and run ATC (Ctrl+Shift+F2) for detailed findings
  3. Ask Copilot to fix the flagged issues based on the ATC documentation