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DATA - HEADER LINE

Short Reference

Other versions: 7.31 | 7.40 | 7.54

Obsolete Syntax

... WITH HEADER LINE ...

Effect

This addition to the statements DATA TABLE OF, DATA RANGE OF, and the obsolete statement DATA OCCURS (which is not allowed in classes) declares a further data object alongside the internal table, known as the header line. This object has exactly the same name as the internal table and has the row type of the internal table as its data type. A header line cannot be declared for internal tables with a table-like row type. This is possible for structured row types with table-like components, however.

If you specify the name of an internal table itab in an operand position of an ABAP statement, the statement determines whether the table body or header line is used. As a rule, all table-specific statements such as SORT or LOOP use the internal table, whereas all other statements use the header line. Exceptions to this rule are listed under Internal Tables with Header Line.

To address the table body instead of the header line in statements, you can append [] to the table name:

... itab[] ...

For internal tables without a header line, the table body is always used. An internal table with a header line cannot be a component of a structure or a row of another internal table.

Notes

• These statements for processing individual table rows have obsolete short forms that use the header line as a work area implicitly. These short forms are allowed only outside of ABAP Objects.
• If the name primary_key is explicitly specified or a secondary key is defined when the primary key is being defined, the addition WITH HEADER LINE can no longer be specified, either inside or outside of classes.