RICEF stands for Reports, Interfaces, Conversions, Enhancements, and Forms. It is not a standard SAP acronym defined by SAP like ABAP etc. RICEF categorizes and explains the five important areas of SAP technical development objects.
R- Reports
R in RICEF stands for Reporting Developments, encompassing all technical objects and developments related to the programming of SAP Reports. This category covers various types of reports, including simple reports utilizing WRITE statements, Simple ALV reports, ALV Grid, and ALV Grid with advanced functionality, among others. It encompasses all categories of reports such as Classical, Interactive, ALV, Query reports, report painter, and module pool reports.
I - Interfaces
I in RICEF represent Interface Developments, which involve ALE/IDOC development. This encompasses not only ABAP programming for IDOCs but also IDOC customization. Interfaces encompass development objects utilized to facilitate communication between SAP and non-SAP systems, including the retrieval or placement of files in the application server. Technical concepts like ALE/IDOCs, FTP using OPEN DATASET, and PI concept fall under this category.
C - Conversion
C stands for Conversion Objects, referring to BDC programming. Conversion involves uploading data from legacy systems in flat file format to the SAP system via Conversion Objects. This process entails uploading data through BDC, LSMW, BAPI, etc. Conversions are essentially techniques used to transfer data from legacy (non-SAP) systems to the SAP system from a flat file, mimicking manual user input with thorough checks through a transaction. Techniques such as BDC (call transaction and Session), LSMW, BAPI, etc., fall under this category.
E - Enhancements
Enhancements encompass User Exits, Customer Exits, BADIs, etc. These involve writing ABAP code to enhance SAP system functionality and include all modifications to SAP standard-delivered objects. Techniques such as User Exits, Customer Exits, BTEs, Enhancement points, Enhancement sections, Implicit and explicit enhancements, and BADI fall under this category.
F - Forms
Forms include SAP Smartforms and SAP Scripts, representing technical developments that involve fetching necessary data from the SAP system and displaying it in the form of printouts. Forms refer to the structured display of data in a layout as required by the Business. SAP Smartforms, SAP Scripts, and Adobe Forms are categorized under this section.