ABAP Dictionary
a.. What types of objects can be created in the ABAP Dictionary?
b.. What types of tables can be created in the ABAP Dictionary?
c.. Which field differentiates a table from client-dependent and client-independent?
d.. What is the difference between Pooled tables and Cluster tables?
e.. What is the difference between Database tables and Views?
f.. What are the different types of Views?
g.. Can I use all the views in the ABAP program ?
h.. What is Table Maintenance Generator?
i.. What is One step, two step in Table Maintenance Generator?
j.. How do you activate the database table after making changes to it?
k.. In which table are the programs stored in?
l.. I have recently added a few fields to a custom table. But I don't get these fields in the table maintenance program?
m.. What is the difference between INSERT and MODIFY?
n.. How do I create index on a database table?
o.. What is the difference between Check Table and Value Table?
p.. When Value table becomes check table?
q.. What is the difference between Domain and Data Elements?
r.. When I create new entries in the table the field values are always in Uppercase. How do I get the data with mixed case?
s.. What is the need of reference table and reference field in Currency/Quantity fields?
t.. Where to find the table of tables?
u.. How to add new fields in standard table ?
Answers...
What types of objects can be created in the ABAP Dictionary?
Tables
Views
Data Elements
Structures
Table Types
Type Groups
Domains
Search Helps
Lock Objects
What types of tables can be created in the ABAP Dictionary?
Transparent Tables
Pooled and Clustered Tables
Which field differentiates a table from client-dependent and client-independent?
The MANDT field of the table specifies whether the table is client independent or not. Client-dependent tables contains MANDT column and are client specific. Client Independent tables do not have MANDT columan and can be accessed from any client.
What is the difference between Pooled tables and Cluster tables?
Cluster tables and Pooled tables have many to one relationship with the underlying database.
A table pool corresponds to a table in the database in which all records from the pooled tables assigned to it are stored.
Several logical data records from different cluster tables can be stored together in one physical record in a table cluster.
a.. A pooled table cannot have the name having more than 10 characters.
b.. All the key fields of the pooled table must be of character data type.
c.. In pooled tables, the maximum length of the key field/data fields should not exceed the length of varkey/vardata of the pool respectively.
a.. In cluster table the records having the same key are stored in a single key in the cluster.
b.. If there is an overflow of the data records a continuation record is created with the same table key.
What is the difference between Database tables and Views?
The Table has a physical storage of data whereas views do not have physical storage of data.
The view is derived from one or more tables which is created only with the required fields from the database table(s). It can also be created with table inner joins and specifying conditions for data retrieval.
What are the different types of Views?
a.. Projection view - Just retrieves some fields from a single table.
b.. Help View - This is used for search help.
c.. Database View - This is inner join view of one or more tables
d.. Maintenance View - Helps in creating maintaining data of the application object. The data can be distributed among several tables.
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Can I use all the views in the ABAP program ?
No. You can use only projection view or database view in your ABAP program.
What is Table Maintenance Generator?
The Table Maintenance Generator is used to create table maintenance program to add, modify or delete records in the database table. This can be accessed using transaction SE54 or in SE11 using the menu Utilities->Table Maintenance Generator.
What is One step, two step in Table Maintenance Generator?
This specifies the screens to be created in the Table Maintenance Program.
Single step: Only overview screen is created i.e. the Table Maintenance Program will have only one screen where you can add, delete or edit records.
Two step: Two screens namely the overview screen and Single screen are created. The user can see the key fields in the first screen and can further go on to edit further details.
How do you activate the database table after making changes to it?
After making changes to the table, inorder to reflect the changes go to transaction SE14 and Choose Edit and then choose Activate and Adjust Database.
OR
You can directly activate it from the SE11.
The programs are stored in the table TADIR and the development class packages in TDEVC.
I have recently added a few fields to a custom table. But I don't get these fields in the table maintenance program?
You have to delete and recreate your own existing table maintenance program to see your new fields.
What is the difference between INSERT and MODIFY?
Whenever you need to create new records in the database table use INSERT. Whenever using INSERT be sure that a duplicate entry having the same values for the primary key fields are not present. Else it may throw a dump.
When you use MODIFY it makes a check for the matching key field values. If present it modifies the matching record, else it creates a new record in the database table.
How do I create index on a database table?
Go to transaction SE11, open your database table. Choose the menu, Goto->Indexes to create index. Give your index name and choose the fields of the table. Be careful, an additional index may vanish with the next upgrade or hotpackage.
What is the difference between Check Table and Value Table?
The Check Table is the dependent table to which the relationship is defined using foreign keys. The contents of the check table field are shown in the input help for the referenced field.
The Value table is the table attached to a field at the domain level, where the entry to the field can be only from the value table. They are not used in the Input Help.
When Value table becomes check table?
while establishing foriegn key relation between check table and foriegn key table if at the domain level value table is provided then the system will prapose that value table as check table if you accept this prposal then value table will becomes check table.
What is the difference between Domain and Data Elements?
The Domain specifies the Technical attributes of the field such as the data type, length and the value range.
The data element is an elementary type defining the description/text for the field when displaying on the screen and Parameter ID.
When I create new entries in the table the field values are always in Uppercase. How do I get the data with mixed case?
The reason for this is that the Domain for the field in the table might have Lowercase checkbox unchecked. Check the Lowercase checkbox to preserve the case of your data.
What is the need of reference table and reference field in Currency/Quantity fields?
The reference table and reference field are the fields which specify the currency key or Unit of Measure. Suppose if the user specifies a currency amount say 1000$, the currency amount field would indicate the amount 1000 and the currency key indicates that the currency specified is in Dollars.
Where to find the table of tables?
See forum thread:
DD02L and DD02T for short text
How to add new fields in standard table ?
Create Z-Structure with the fields needed and append the structure to the standard table by using the option append structure within table display
we can enhance the standard tables by using Append structures and customizing includes.
Append structures allow you to attach fields to a table without actually having to modify the table itself. Table enhancements using append structures therefore do not have to be planned by SAP developers. An append structure can only belong to exactly one table.
In contrast, CI_includes allow you to use the same structure in multiple tables. The include statement must already exist in the SAP table or structure. Table enhancements using CI_includes do, however, have to be planned by SAP developers
