What is the "Hardcoded message class/numbers" issue in S/4HANA migration?

MESSAGE statements with hardcoded message class and number instead of exception classes. ABAP Cloud restricts MESSAGE statement. Exception-based error handling is the clean-core pattern.

How much effort does it take to fix "Hardcoded message class/numbers"?

Remediation effort is rated S — Small (hours). Severity: LOW.

Which tool checks for Hardcoded message class/numbers automatically?

The s4ready.ai A1 Readiness Scanner checks for Hardcoded message class/numbers (and 29 other rules) automatically across your custom ABAP codebase. Results include object-level findings with severity and effort estimates.

LOW Effort: S — Small (hours) Architecture

How to remediate: Hardcoded message class/numbers

MESSAGE statements with hardcoded message class and number instead of exception classes.

Is this issue in your codebase?

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What changes in S/4HANA

ABAP Cloud restricts MESSAGE statement. Exception-based error handling is the clean-core pattern.

Before and after: ABAP code example

Before (ECC)

* ECC: hardcoded message class and number
MESSAGE e042(zsd_messages) WITH lv_order.

After (S/4HANA)

* S/4HANA ABAP Cloud: exception class pattern
RAISE EXCEPTION TYPE zcx_sd_error
  MESSAGE e042(zsd_messages) WITH lv_order.
" Or use cx_sy_* standard exceptions where applicable

Effort estimate and common pitfalls

Effort estimate

S — Small (hours)

Estimate is per affected object. Total effort scales with the number of occurrences in your codebase. Use the A1 scan to get an object-level count before estimating the full project.

Common pitfalls

! Forgetting to update all occurrences in the same program
! Not running ATC after the change to confirm the finding is resolved

Related rules to check

MEDIUM S

Obsolete ABAP statements

Use of obsolete ABAP syntax: MOVE, COMPUTE, WRITE TO, SORT BY ASCENDING/DESCENDING without field list.

MEDIUM S

Unchecked SY-SUBRC

Database operations or function module calls without checking SY-SUBRC return code.

HIGH L

ABAP Cloud restricted object access

Access to SAP internal objects without C1 release status. These are blocked in ABAP Cloud.

Find every instance of this issue in your codebase

The A1 scanner checks all 30 compatibility rules — including Hardcoded message class/numbers — across your custom ABAP objects and produces a prioritised remediation backlog.

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