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MOVE

Short Reference

Other versions: 7.31 | 7.40 | 7.54

Syntax


MOVE {source {TO|?TO} destination} 
   | {EXACT source TO destination}. 
 
destination {=|?=} source.

Effect

Both of these statements assign the content of the source operand to the destination data object, whereby any necessary conversions are carried out in accordance with the conversion rules.

  • Variants with the addition TO or the assignment operator = must be used for all assignments between operands that are not reference variables and for assignments between reference variables for which the static type of source is more specific than or the same as the static type of destination (up cast).
  • Variants with the addition ?TO or the assignment operator ?= (casting operator) must be used if the source and destination are reference variables and the static type of source is more general than the static type of destination (down cast). For assignments between operands that are not reference variables, use of the question mark ? is not permitted.
  • The addition EXACT, which cannot be used with ?TO and is currently only possible with the MOVE statement, implements a lossless assignment for which an exception is raised when content is lost or invalid values arise.

destination can be any data object that can be listed at a write position. source is an enhanced functional operand position in which functional methods or all predefined functions that have exactly one unnamed argument can be declared.

The data type of the data object destination must be either compatible with the data type of source or it must be possible to convert the content of source into the data type of destination in accordance with one of the conversion rules. If the value of source does not match the data type of destination, the exceptions described in the conversion rules may be raised. When the addition EXACT is specified, the assigned content is checked and an further exceptions are raised if the assignment causes values to be lost or produces invalid values. After an exception, the content of destination is determined by the category of the data type.


Notes

  • I is not possible to specify a calculation expression expr for the source field of the statement MOVE. There is no MOVE expr TO result statement. Conversely, the result = expr statement does not correspond to MOVE but to a COMPUTE statement, and the rules described there apply.
  • If source and/or destination are field symbols, then, as in all ABAP commands, the system works with the content of the data objects to which the field symbols point. The actual pointer content of a field symbol can only be changed using the statement ASSIGN or the addition ASSIGNING when processing internal tables (value semantics). If source and destination are reference variables, the reference contained in source is assigned to destination (reference semantics).
  • Strings and internal tables are addressed internally using references. When assignments are made between strings and between internal tables of the same type (if the line type itself does not contain any table types), for performance reasons, only the internal administrative information is passed. After the assignment, the actual string or the actual table body of the source as well as the target object are addressed (sharing). Sharing is valid until the object is accessed to be changed. At this point, the sharing is canceled and a copy of the content is made. The sharing is displayed in the memory consumption display of the ABAP Debugger and in the Memory Inspector tool. For internal tables of which the line type itself contains internal table types or Boxed Components, no sharing takes place. Sharing can, however, take place for the subtables of a line type.
  • If an internal table with a header line is specified as an operand of an assignment, in nearly all operand positions, the header line is addressed and not the table body. To address the table body of a table with a header line, [] must be appended to the table name.
  • One obsolete form of the statement MOVE is MOVE PERCENTAGE.

Exceptions


Catchable Exceptions

CX_SY_CONVERSION_NO_NUMBER

  • Cause: Operand cannot be interpreted as number when assigned to a numeric data type
    Runtime Error: CONVT_NO_NUMBER

CX_SY_CONVERSION_OVERFLOW

  • Cause: Overflow in arithmetic operation (type p, with specified length)
    Runtime Error: BCD_FIELD_OVERFLOW
  • Cause: Operand too big or (interim) result too big
    Runtime Error: CONVT_OVERFLOW

CX_SY_MOVE_CAST_ERROR

  • Cause: Type conflict in down cast
    Runtime Error: MOVE_CAST_ERROR
  • Cause: Source variable or target variable is not a reference variable
    Runtime Error: MOVE_CAST_REF_ONLY
  • Cause: Dynamic type conflict in assignment of references
    Runtime Error: MOVE_CAST_ERROR_DYN


Non-Catchable Exceptions

  • Cause: Source field (type p) contains an incorrect BCD format
    Runtime Error: BCD_BADDATA
  • Cause: Assignment for deep structures not allowed if they overlap
    Runtime Error: MOVE_COMPLEX_OVERLAP
  • Cause: Type conflict in assignment between object references
    Runtime Error: MOVE_INTERFACE_NOT_SUPPORTED,
    Runtime Error: MOVE_IREF_NOT_CONVERTIBLE,
    Runtime Error: MOVE_IREF_TO_OREF,
    Runtime Error: MOVE_OREF_NOT_CONVERTIBLE
  • Cause: Type conflict in assignment between data references.
    Runtime Error: MOVE_DREF_NOT_COMPATIBLE
  • Cause: Assignment between the involved types is not supported
    Runtime Error: MOVE_NOT_SUPPORTED
  • Cause: Constants and literals cannot be overwritten
    Runtime Error: MOVE_TO_LIT_NOTALLOWED
  • Cause: Constants and literals cannot be overwritten
    Runtime Error: MOVE_TO_LIT_NOTALLOWED_NODATA
  • Cause: During a loop on an internal table, an attempt is made to overwrite a reference variable that is associated with the internal table using REFERENCE INTO.
    Runtime Error: MOVE_TO_LOOP_REF

Continue

MOVE EXACT