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ABAP Data Declarations

ABAP Data Declarations |

Dec-2008

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Objectives
The participants will be able to :
List ABAP elementary data types
Declaring variables
List user-defined data types
Use arithmetic expressions
List field-symbols

ABAP Data Declarations |

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ABAP Elementary Data Types

C: Character Text

N: Numeric Text

I: Integer

D: Date

P: Packed #

T: Time

F: Floating Point #

X: Hexadecimal #

STRING

XSTRING

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ABAP Elementary Data Types (Contd.)

C: Character Text

N: Numeric Text

I: Integer

D: Date

P: Packed #

T: Time

F: Floating Point #

X: Hexadecimal #

STRING

XSTRING

ABAP Data Declarations |

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Declaring Variables

DATA:

ABAP Data Declarations |

PLAYER(35) TYPE C,
NICKNAME(35),
POINTS
TYPE I,
GAMES
TYPE I
AVERAGE(5) TYPE P,
STARTER,
ACQUIRED TYPE D.

VALUE 10,

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Initial Values

C: (blank)

N: zeroes

I: zero

D: 00000000

P: zero

T: 000000

F: zeroes

X: 00

The CLEAR statement sets a field back to its

initial value, not its default value.
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Assigning Default Values

DATA:

PLAYER(35) TYPE C,
NICKNAME(35)
POINTS
TYPE I
GAMES
TYPE I
AVERAGE(5) TYPE P
STARTER
ACQUIRED TYPE D

ABAP Data Declarations |

VALUE Dr. J,
VALUE 255,
VALUE 10,
VALUE 25.5,
VALUE Yes,
VALUE 19760610.

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Declaring Like Fields

DATA:

PLAYER(35) TYPE C VALUE Julius Erving,

NICKNAME(35),
ACQUIRED TYPE D.

Use the LIKE addition to declare fields with

the same format (i.e., data type and length)

DATA:

PLAYER(35)
NICKNAME
ACQUIRED

ABAP Data Declarations |

TYPE C VALUE Julius Erving,

LIKE PLAYER,
LIKE SY-DATUM.

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Declaring Constants

The VALUE addition is required.

CONSTANTS: TEAM1(20)
TYPE C
VALUE 76ers,
TEAM2
TYPE TEAM1
VALUE Celtics,
TOT_GAMES TYPE I
VALUE 82.

If you attempt to change the value of a

constant, a syntax error will occur.

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User-Defined Data Types

TYPES:

NAME(35)
TEAMS(20)
DATA:
PLAYER
NICKNAME
CONSTANTS: TEAM1
TEAM2

TYPE C,
TYPE C.
TYPE NAME VALUE Troy Aikman,
TYPE PLAYER.
TYPE TEAMS VALUE Cowboys,
TYPE TEAM1
VALUE Packers.

A user-defined data type created with the TYPES statement

is used to specify a fields data type in the TYPE addition
of the DATA or CONSTANTS statements.

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Output Characteristic for Data Types

Standard Length

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Justification

C = defined length

C = left-justified

I = 12

I = right-justified

P = (2 * defined length) + 1

P = right-justified

F = 22

F = right-justified

N = defined length

N = left-justified

D = 10

D = left-justified

T =8

T = left-justified

X = (2 * defined length)

X = left-justified

ABAP Data Declarations |

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Output for Numeric Fields

DATA:

FLOAT
PACK
INT

TYPE F
TYPE P
TYPE I

VALUE 98.7654321E2,
VALUE 12,
VALUE 32.

WRITE: / FLOAT,
/ FLOAT EXPONENT 1 DECIMALS 3,
/ FLOAT EXPONENT 0 DECIMALS 2,
/ PACK,
/ PACK DECIMALS 1,
/ INT DECIMALS 2.

These fields are not aligned

because of the different
standard output lengths of
the numeric type fields.

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ABAP Data Declarations |

9.876543210000000E+03
987.654E+01
9876.54
12
12.0
32.00

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Demonstration
Declaring variables and constants.

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Practice
Declaring variables and constants.

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Assigning Values to Fields

MOVE <value> TO <field>.
[COMPUTE] <field> = <value or expression>.
ADD
<value> TO
SUBTRACT <value> FROM
MULTIPLY <field> BY
DIVIDE
<field> BY
DATA:

<field>.
<field>.
<value>.
<value>.

TITLE(25),
SALARY TYPE P,
CNVSALARY TYPE SALARY,

MOVE President TO TITLE.

COMPUTE SALARY = 5000000.
CNVSALARY = SALARY * 3.
ADD 1000 TO SALARY.

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Arithmetic Expressions
Operators
+ - * / **
DIV and MOD

Functions
SQRT, EXP, LOG,
SIN, COS, STRLEN, . . .

COUNTER = COUNTER + 1.
SALARY = BASE * BONUS_PERCENT.
LENGTH = STRLEN( NAME ).
ANSWER = ( 10 + SQRT( NUM1 ) ) / ( NUM2 - 10 ).

Spacing is very important when using arithmetic expressions!!!

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Sub-Fields in ABAP

DATA: CUSTOMER(10) TYPE C,

INV_DATE TYPE SYDATUM.
CUSTOMER = 1234567890.
INV_DATE = 19960626.

Use an offset and length to

display or change portions of a
field.

WRITE: / CUSTOMER+8(2), xx,

INV_DATE(4).
* Start of Month
INV_DATE+6(2) = 01.
CUSTOMER+6(4) = ABCD.
WRITE: / CUSTOMER, ------, INV_DATE.

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ABAP Data Declarations |

90 xx 1996
123456ABCD ----- 06/01/1996

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Date Calculations in ABAP

DATA: DAYSOLD TYPE P,

DOB TYPE D,
TODAY TYPE SYDATUM.
DOB
TODAY

Date fields store values as

YYYYMMDD.

= 19621230.
= SY-DATUM.

DAYSOLD = TODAY - DOB.

WRITE: You are, DAYSOLD, days old.

You are 12410 days old.

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Demonstration
Assigning values to the fields and doing calculations.

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ABAP Data Declarations |

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Practice
Assigning values to the fields and doing calculations.

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Declaring Fields with PARAMETERS

PARAMETERS:

NUM TYPE I,
NAME(20) DEFAULT AARON.

ADD 10 TO NUM.
WRITE: / NUM,
----,
NAME.

Selection Screen
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Selection Texts

These selection texts

will be used on the
selection screen
instead of the
parameter names.

Selection Screen With the parameter description

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Demonstration
Creation of a selection screen and displaying the value in the report.

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ABAP Data Declarations |

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Practice
Creation of a selection screen and displaying the value in the report.

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ABAP Data Declarations |

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Working with Field Symbols in ABAP

DATA: NUM TYPE I VALUE 12.
FIELD-SYMBOLS:
<F1>,
<F2> TYPE I,
<F3> TYPE NUM.

A field symbol is a
pointer that assumes a
fields address, not a
fields value.

ASSIGN: NUM TO <F1>,

NUM TO <F2>,
NUM TO <F3>.
WRITE: / Line 1:, NUM, <F1>, <F2>, <F3>.
<F1> = 32.
WRITE: / Line 2:, NUM, <F1>, <F2>, <F3>.
Line 1: 12
Line 2: 32
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ABAP Data Declarations |

12
32

12
32
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Demonstration
Working with Field Symbols.

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ABAP Data Declarations |

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Practice
Working with Field Symbols.

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Dynamic Assignment of Partial Strings

DATA:

TEXT_LINE(30) VALUE ABCDEFGHIJK.

FIELD-SYMBOLS <FSYMBOL>.
ASSIGN TEXT_LINE+2(5) TO <FSYMBOL>.
* this assigns 5 characters of text_line starting at
* position 3 to the field string.
WRITE: / Text Line =, TEXT_LINE.
ULINE.
WRITE: / Field Symbol=, <FSYMBOL>.
ULINE.
<FSYMBOL> = 1234567890.
WRITE: / Field Symbol =, <FSYMBOL>.
ULINE.
WRITE: / Text Line =, TEXT_LINE.

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ABAP Data Declarations |

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Dynamic Field Assignment

PARAMETERS FIELD(8) DEFAULT SY-UZEIT.
FIELD-SYMBOLS <FSYMBOL>.
ASSIGN (FIELD) TO <FSYMBOL>.
IF SY-SUBRC = 0.
WRITE: / The contents of field, FIELD, <FSYMBOL>.
ELSE.
WRITE: / Failure assigning field, FIELD, to field symbol.
ENDIF.

FIELD

SY-UZEIT

Selection Screen

List

The contents of field SY-UZEIT 12:32:06

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ABAP Data Declarations |

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Demonstration
Dynamic assignment with the Field Symbol.

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Practice
Dynamic assignment with the Field Symbol.

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Summary
DATA statement is used to declare a variable (or field) in an ABAP program
"LIKE" and "TYPE" statements are used to declare fields with reference to other
variables or fields
CONSTANTS statement is used to declare a constant
Text elements can be used to maintain a programs title and column headings,
selection texts, and text symbols. These text elements can be maintained in
multiple languages
A field symbol does not reserve space for the field, but points to the field
ASSIGN statement associates a field to a field symbol at runtime
The system carries out automatic type conversion if variables are not of the same
type
ABAP allows to display and change portions of a field by specifying an offset and
length

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Questions
What are the different types of data types?
What is a field symbol ? What is the advantage of using it in the program?
How to create a selection screen with the selection screen text?

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