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ABAP Dictionary Objects: Views

ABAP Dictionary Objects: Views | Dec-2008 © 2005 IBM Corporation

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Objectives

 The participants will be able to:

 Define a View.
 Explain the different Relational Operations.
 Discuss the different types of Views.
 Discuss how to use Views in an ABAP program.

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What is a View?

 Views are used to look into one or more tables.

 A view does not contain data of its own.

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The Most Basic Form of a View

 In its most basic form, a view simply mirrors an entire database table

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The Relational Operations

 We can use views to Join several tables, Project (or choose) certain fields
from one or more tables & Select (or choose) certain records from one or
more tables.

Projection Selection Join

Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4

View A View C

View B

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The Projection Operation

 The projection operation is used to narrow a view’s focus to certain fields in a

table.

Projection
Table 1

View A

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Specifying Projected Fields

Can use any field name if database view,

otherwise must be same name as table field.

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The Selection Operation

 The selection operation is used to narrow a view’s focus to certain records in a

table.

Selection

Table 2

Example:
Staff Level <= 3

View B

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Specifying Selection Criteria

Can include unprojected fields

1 2 3 4 5

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The Join Operation

 The join operation is used to combine information from multiple tables into a
single view.
Join
Table 3 Table 4

View C

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The Necessity of the Join Operation

 Database design principles often require related data to be stored in separate

tables. This is called normalising.

Employee

ID Name Salary 1 Salary 2 Salary 3 …

Salary
ID Name Salary

5579 Smith $10,000.00

5579 Smith $11,000.00

Wrong
5579 Smith $12,000.00

5579 Smith $13,000.00

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Understanding the Join Operation

 The join operation essentially reverses the normalising process.

 The result of a join is a view that looks like a table with redundant data.
Employee

ID Name …
Salary

ID Salary Date Effective

5579 $10,000.00 10/1/91

5579 $11,000.00 10/1/92

Right
5579 $12,000.00 10/1/94

5579 $13,000.00 10/1/96

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The Join Operation and Foreign Keys

 Therefore, in order to use the join operation in SAP, you must first ensure that
the appropriate foreign key relationships exist among the tables to be joined.

Join
Primary Secondary
Table 3 Table 4

View C

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Specifying Joined Fields

Indicate base tables that data will come from.

Join Conditions

Hit button to see related tables and

automatically generate join conditions.

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Types of Views in the ABAP Dictionary

 Database View
 Projection View
 Help View
 Maintenance View

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The Database View

 The database view is the only type of view in SAP that is physically created at
the database level.
Database View

Database
DB
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Demonstration

 Creation of a database view using two related database tables.

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Practice

 Creation of a database view using two related database tables.

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The Projection View

 The projection view is a logical view. In this context, the word “logical” means
that the view exists within the ABAP Dictionary but is not recognized by the
underlying database system.

Projection View

View C

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Database vs. Projection Views

Projection View Database View

• Can be built over many tables

• Must be built over a single table • Data can be updated if the view is built
• Data can be updated over a single table
• Data updates must use open SQL • Data updates can use open or native SQL
• Updates are less efficient • Updates are more efficient
• Fields in the view must be named the same • Fields in the view can be named differently
as the fields in the underlying table from the fields in the underlying table
• Can’t be buffered • Can be buffered

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Other Types of Views

 Help View:
Help views can be used as selection methods for Search Helps.It might be
necessary to create a Help View if you are trying to accomplish an outer join.
 Maintenance View:
These views permit maintenance of base table data. Transactions SM30 and
SE54 are provided for working with maintenance views.

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Using a View in Program Code

DATA : WA_YXXEMP_V TYPE YXXEMP_V.

SELECT *
FROM YXXEMP_V INTO WA_YXXEMP_V.

WRITE: / WA_YXXEMP_V-EMP_ID,
WA_YXXEMP_V-LAST_NAME,
WA_YXXEMP_V-FIRST_NAME.

ENDSELECT.

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Demonstration

 Select data from the database view created earlier and display selected data in a
report.

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Practice

 Select data from the database view created earlier and display selected data in a
report.

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Summary

 Views are used to look into one or more tables. A view does not contain data of
its own.
 The projection operation is used to narrow a view’s focus to certain fields
in a table.
 The Selection Operation is used to narrow a view’s focus to certain records
in a table.
 The Join Operation is used to combine information from multiple tables into a
single view.
 Types of Views in the ABAP Dictionary are Database View, Projection View, Help
View & Maintenance View.
 The syntax to reference a view in an ABAP program is the same syntax we use to
reference a table.

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Questions

 What is a View ?
 What is a Database view ?
 What is a Projection view ?
 What is a Maintenance view ?
 What is a Help view ?

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