ABAP Keyword Documentation → ABAP Glossary
reference variable
Data object that contains a
reference. Reference variables are differentiated by
data reference variables and
object reference
variables. Reference variables have a length of 8 bytes and are opak, which means the reference
cannot be accessed directly. These are typed with the addition REF TO that defines their
static type. The static type is always more general or the same as the
dynamic type. For assignments between reference variables,
reference semantics apply.