SAP - Defining Data in ABAP/4, Part 1

Contents
Objectives Elements of ABAP/4 Syntax Defining Data Objects Summary Q&A

Contents
Objectives

Objectives
Understand the elements of ABAP/4 syntax. Describe the concept of data objects and their visibility. Use literals and understand how to code each type. Define and use constants. Use the data statement to define variables and field strings. Understand ABAP/4 data types, and be able to identify the character and numeric data types. Understand the ABAP/4 definition of common DDIC data types.

Contents
Elements of ABAP/4 Syntax

Elements of ABAP/4 Syntax

1 ABAP/4 program = 1-n statements 1 statement = 1-n words separated by space(s) The 1st word: keyword select * from ztxlfa1 where lifnr > '0000001050' order by statement ends with punctuation mark (dot) A statement can include 1-n additions
lifnr. write: \ ztxlfa1-lifnr, ztxlfa1-name1, ztxlfa1-land1. endselect. - Keywords: select, write, endselect - Additions: where, order by

Elements of ABAP/4 Syntax

A statement:
can begin in any column any number of lines to continue select * from ztxlfa1 on another line break where lifnr > '0000001050' between any order by lifnr. 2 words

ABAP/4 code is not case sensitive.

write: \ ztxlfa1-lifnr, ztxlfa1-name1, ztxlfa1-land1. endselect.

Contents
Defining Data Objects

Data Objects
Data Objects: memory locations to hold data while running 2 types:
modifiable:
variables field strings (~ structures) and internal tables (~ arrays)

non-modifiable:
literals constants

Data Objects

3 levels of visibility: from where in prog., data object is accessible.

Local: from inside the subroutine Global: from anywhere within the program External: from outside of the program by another program

Literals
Literal: a non-modifiable data object. 4 types:
character string:
'Hello SAP world 'Caesar''s tail Caesar's tail

numeric
256, -99, 10.5

floating-point: '<mantissa>E<exponent>
'9.99E9', '-10E-32', '+1E09'

hexadecimal:
character string (0-9, A-F) must be an even number of characters in the string must be in uppercase '00', 'A2E5', 'F1F0FF'

Literals

Variables
2 statements are commonly used to define variables:
data
variables can be declared for the program variables are assigned to a data type and can have defaults

parameters
like data statement the parameters are displayed as input fields on a selection screen.

DATA statement
Syntax:
data v1[(l)] [type t] [decimals d] [value 'xxx']. data v1 like v2 [value 'xxx'].

where:
v1 is the variable name. v2 is the name of a variable previously defined in the program, or is the name of a field that belongs to a table or structure in the Data Dictionary. (l) is the internal length specification. t is the data type. d is the number of decimal places (used only with type p). 'xxx' is a literal that supplies a default value.

DATA statement
Examples of Variables Defined with the DATA Statement 1 2 3 4 data data data data f1(2) type c. f2 like f1. max_value type i value 100. cur_date type d value '19980211'.

default length: depends on the data type default data type: c (character) default initial value: 0, (for data type c: blank) cannot use a variable to supply a default value.

ABAP/4 Data Types

Character Data Types Numeric Data Types

Character Data Types

N Numeric text:
hold unsigned positive integer in character used as unique identifiers: document no, account no

D Date & T Time:

stored internally as YYYYMMDD & HHMMSS ex: current date sy-datum, current time sy-uzeit

Numeric Data Types

Packed decimal: (L*2) 1 digits, L-length in bytes

Mapping DDIC Data Types to ABAP/4 Data Types

PARAMETERS statement
The maximum length is 8 can use a variable to supply a default value. Syntax:
parameters p1[(l)] [type t] [decimals d] ... parameters p1 like v1 ...... [default 'xxx'] [obligatory] [lower case] [as checkbox] [radiobutton group g].

where:
p1 is the parameter name. v1 is the name of a previously defined variable or parameter, or is the name of a field that belongs to a table or structure in the Data Dictionary. (l) is the internal length specification. t is the data type. d is the number of decimal places (used only with type p). 'xxx' is a literal or previously defined variable that supplies a default value.

PARAMETERS statement
parameters parameters parameters parameters obligatory. parameters obligatory. p1(2) type c. p2 like p1. max_value type i default 100. cur_date type d default '19980211' cur_date like sy-datum default sy-datum

PARAMETERS statement

Example
report ztx0706. parameters: p1(15) type c, p2 like p1 obligatory lower case, p3 like sy-datum default sydatum, cb1 as checkbox, cb2 as checkbox, rb1 radiobutton group g1 default 'X', rb2 radiobutton group g1, rb3 radiobutton group g1. write: / 'You entered:', / ' p1 =', p1, / ' p2 =', p2, / ' p3 =', p3, / ' cb1=', cb1, / ' cb2=', cb2, / ' rb1=', rb1, / ' rb2=', rb2, / ' rb3=', rb3.

Parameter Labels

In ABAP/4 Editor: GotoText ElementsSelection Texts

LIKE addition
F1 help: from Documentation in data element F4 help: from check table
obtain a list of valid values the value entered is NOT validated against the check table.

field label: obtained from the Data Dictionary

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Summary

Summary
An ABAP/4 program, statement, keyword. A data object is a memory location that contains data during the runtime of the program.
non-modifiable: literals and constants. modifiable: variables, field strings, and internal tables.

Data objects have 3 levels of visibility: local, global, and external.

indicates from where the data object is accessible.

Literals are data that is hard-coded in your program. Data types: character and numeric.
Character: c, n, d, t, and x Numeric: i, p, and f

data and parameters statements. parameter input field labels: menu path Goto->Text Elements.