Data Dictionary

Data dictionary is the centralized and structured source of information about a database table. Its a logical layer situated over the database. Data Dictionary does not contains the data like Emp name, Addresses etc but rather a type of data whose function is to define the properties of data such as type, length and relationship. Advantages of data dictionary. Advantage of using data dictionary is avoiding inconsistencies when defining data type that will later be used in different applications. This avoids redundancies. When a type is defined in the dictionary, it is available to any program in the application. A change in the definition of a type of data in the dictionary automatically affects any other data or program, which has this data. Again, data dictionary is a fast and efficient way to answer questions such as which entries exist in a table of the database, what the structure of table is. Activation of dictionary objects For a dictionary object to be effective at runtime, that is, for a dictionary object to be available for use within a program, transaction, and so on, it must be in active status. For objects to become active, R/3 includes the ACTIVATION function. When a table or aggregated object is activated, it is placed at the disposal of the system as a runtime object in a way that makes it available quickly for the application program to access relevant information of new activated objects. When a dictionary object is modified, that means that the object previously existed and activated. You need to reactivate the object after modification. When mass activation is performed massively, it might take a quite a long time. Then it should be in the background system. This type of activation is known as background activation. The ABAP/4 Data dictionary is the central component of ABAP/4 repository. A Data dictionary is centralized and structured source of information for business application. The ABAP/4 dictionary is the core of the R/3 development system. It is the source of every definition, within

R/3, from the very basic domain to the company data model. It is totally integrated with other tools of the development environment like screen painter, menu painter, and editor. Some of the main available functions in the ABAP/4 dictionary are as follows: Add, delete, modify, and manage the definition of the dictionary data. Preserve the data integrity. Be the central source of information e.g. from the dictionary you get the information about the defined relationship between two tables or even the directory tells whether table is active or empty. It also permits documentation of system data. In the R/3 system instead of working with original objects, you work with internal representation of objects. With this type of operation the system performance is enhanced and has the advantage that the development tools, screen interpreters always access current data. When any of the data dictionary objects are used in other parts of the development workbench for example, in program, programmer only has to enter a table name or field name. The system automatically knows all the properties and information of the field. To call ABAP/4 dictionary, from the main menu, Tools ABAP/4 workbench data dictionary or enter transaction SE11.