Variables are named data objects used to store values within the allotted memory area of a program. As the name suggests, users can change the content of variables with the help of ABAP statements. Each variable in ABAP has a specific type, which determines the size and layout of the variable's memory; the range of values that can be stored within that memory; and the set of operations that can be applied to the variable.
You must declare all variables before they can be used. The basic form of a variable declaration is −
DATA <f> TYPE <type> VALUE <val>.
Here <f> specifies the name of a variable. The name of the variable can be up to 30 characters long. <type> specifies the type of variable. Any data type with fully specified technical attributes is known as <type>. The <val> specifies the initial value of the of <f> variable. In case you define an elementary fixed-length variable, the DATA statement automatically populates the value of the variable with the type-specific initial value. Other possible values for <val> can be a literal, constant, or an explicit clause, such as Is INITIAL.
Following are valid examples of variable declarations.
DATA d1(2) TYPE C.
DATA d2 LIKE d1.
DATA minimum_value TYPE I VALUE 10.
In the above code snippet, d1 is a variable of C type, d2 is a variable of d1 type, and minimum_value is a variable of ABAP integer type I.
This chapter will explain various variable types available in ABAP. There are three kinds of variables in ABAP −
- Static Variables
- Reference Variables
- System Variables
Static Variables
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Static variables are declared in subroutines, function modules, and static methods.
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The lifetime is linked to the context of the declaration.
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With ‘CLASS-DATA’ statement, you can declare variables within the classes.
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The ‘PARAMETERS’ statement can be used to declare the elementary data objects that are linked to input fields on a selection screen.
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You can also declare the internal tables that are linked to input fields on a selection screen by using ‘SELECT-OPTIONS’ statement.
Following are the conventions used while naming a variable −
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You cannot use special characters such as "t" and "," to name variables.
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The name of the predefined data objects can’t be changed.
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The name of the variable can’t be the same as any ABAP keyword or clause.
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The name of the variables must convey the meaning of the variable without the need for further comments.
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Hyphens are reserved to represent the components of structures. Therefore, you are supposed to avoid hyphens in variable names.
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The underscore character can be used to separate compound words.
This program shows how to declare a variable using the PARAMETERS statement −
REPORT ZTest123_01.
PARAMETERS: NAME(10) TYPE C,
CLASS TYPE I,
SCORE TYPE P DECIMALS 2,
CONNECT TYPE MARA-MATNR.
Here, NAME represents a parameter of 10 characters, CLASS specifies a parameter of integer type with the default size in bytes, SCORE represents a packed type parameter with values up to two decimal places, and CONNECT refers to the MARA-MATNF type of ABAP Dictionary.
The above code produces the following output −
Reference Variables
The syntax for declaring reference variables is −
DATA <ref>
