AL11 is a standard SAP transaction used to display and manage application server directories.

Think of it as the SAP file explorer for backend files.

• It lists logical file paths configured in transaction FILE.

• It shows the physical directories on the SAP application server (not your local PC).

• You can view, upload, download, or delete files (depending on your authorizations).

CLASS zcl_al11_demo DEFINITION
PUBLIC
FINAL
CREATE PUBLIC.

PUBLIC SECTION.
METHODS:
write_to_al11,
read_from_al11.
ENDCLASS.

CLASS zcl_al11_demo IMPLEMENTATION.

METHOD write_to_al11.
“—————————————————
” Step 1: Define target file path (AL11 directory)
“—————————————————
DATA(lv_filename) = ‘/usr/sap/interfaces/hr/employee_data.txt’.

“—————————————————
” Step 2: Create sample employee data
“—————————————————
DATA(lt_employee) = VALUE stringtab(
( ‘E001|Alice|IT|65000’ )
( ‘E002|Bob|HR|55000’ )
( ‘E003|Carol|Finance|72000’ )
).

“—————————————————
” Step 3: Open dataset for output (text mode)
“—————————————————
OPEN DATASET lv_filename FOR OUTPUT IN TEXT MODE ENCODING DEFAULT.

IF sy-subrc <> 0.
WRITE: / ‘Error opening file for write:’, lv_filename.
RETURN.
ENDIF.

LOOP AT lt_employee INTO DATA(lv_line).
TRANSFER lv_line TO lv_filename.
ENDLOOP.

CLOSE DATASET lv_filename.

WRITE: / ‘File written successfully to:’, lv_filename.

ENDMETHOD.

METHOD read_from_al11.
“—————————————————
” Step 1: Define file path to read
“—————————————————
DATA(lv_filename) = ‘/usr/sap/interfaces/hr/employee_data.txt’.

“—————————————————
” Step 2: Open file for input
“—————————————————
OPEN DATASET lv_filename FOR INPUT IN TEXT MODE ENCODING DEFAULT.

IF sy-subrc <> 0.
WRITE: / ‘Error opening file for read:’, lv_filename.
RETURN.
ENDIF.

“—————————————————
” Step 3: Read and display file contents
“—————————————————
DATA(lv_line) = ”.
WHILE sy-subrc = 0.
READ DATASET lv_filename INTO lv_line.
IF sy-subrc = 0.
SPLIT lv_line AT ‘|’ INTO DATA(lv_id) DATA(lv_name) DATA(lv_dept) DATA(lv_salary).
WRITE: / lv_id, lv_name, lv_dept, lv_salary.
ENDIF.
ENDWHILE.

CLOSE DATASET lv_filename.

ENDMETHOD.

ENDCLASS.