ABAP Keyword Documentation → ABAP Dictionary → ABAP CDS in ABAP Dictionary
ABAP CDS - Views
A CDS is defined for existing database tables and any other views or CDS views in ABAP Dictionary using the statement DEFINE VIEW in the DDL in ABAP Core Data Services (CDS). This is done in CDS source code in the ABAP Development Tools (ADT).. Every CDS view has its own CDS source code. Two objects are created in ABAP Dictionary for every CDS view:
- In ABAP, the CDS database view can (using its name CDS_DB_VIEW) be
used wherever database tables or classic database views can also be specified, such as after the
TYPE addition, in reading Open SQL statements, but also in Native SQL or after the
TABLESstatement. An exception to this are Open SQL writes.
- In ABAP Dictionary, the CDS database view can also be used like any classic structure, such as the type of a substructure, as an include structure, or as the row type of a table type.
- In ABAP, the CDS entity can be specified after the TYPE addition using
its name
cds_entity. This lets it reference the structure type defined by the view fields of the CDS view in ABAP programs and it can be used in Open SQL statement reads (but not in Native SQL). The components of the structured type can, as usual, be specified using the structure component selectorcds_entity-comp.
- The CDS entity cannot be used as a data type in ABAP Dictionary. It cannot, for example, be used as a type of a substructure, as an include structure, or as the row type of a table type.
Both the names CDS_DB_VIEW and cds_entity are in the namespace of the data types in ABAP Dictionary. The view is also known under both names within the DDL of the ABAP CDS. In general, only the CDS entity should be accessed in ABAP programs and in other CDS entities using its name cds_entity and not the CDS database view using the name CDS_DB_VIEW.
A CDS view has two types of keys:
- For CDS entities, KEY can be used to define key elements. This key is the semantic key of the CDS view.
- The key of the CDS database view is determined implicitly, as in a classic view. This key is the technical key of the CDS view.
In Open SQL, the key used is determined according to whether the name of the CDS entity or the name of the CDS database view is used to access a CDS view.
Other versions:
7.31 | 7.40 | 7.54
Notes
- The programming of CDS views using the DDL of the Core Data Services is one of the tasks included in the implementation of data models in ABAP Dictionary and is not usually the responsibility of regular ABAP application programmers. Once created, CDS views are used in ABAP programs using Open SQL read statements and must be stable enough to allow this.
- As well as the specific functions available for CDS views, such as the definition of associations, the options for the regular SQL DDL of the CDS DDL are far more comprehensive than the form-based ABAP Dictionary tool in ABAP Workbench used to define classic views.
- CDS views can be defined as platform-independent views. An exception to this are CDS views with input parameters, which are not currently supported by all database systems.
- If a CDS entity is defined for a CDS view using the DCL statement DEFINE ROLE, an implicit authorization check is made in Open SQL accesses and only that data can be accessed for which a CDS authorization exists.
- The CDS source code of a CDS view does not need to have the same name as the CDS entity or the CDS database view, however it is recommended to use the name of the CDS entity.
- The CDS source code in a CDS view is edited in a different editor from the CDS source code of CDS role or a CDS access policy. The ADT documentation describes how the different types of source code are created.
- A structure type defined using a CDS entity of a CDS view exists alongside the classic structures in ABAP Dictionary.
- A CDS database view is created for each CDS view and this database view supports only transparent tables, which means that pooled tables and cluster tables cannot be accessed using CDS views.
- For CDS views, CDS view enhancements are a separate way of making enhancements without making modifications.
- The main differences between using a CDS database view and using the CDS entity in Open SQL are currently as follows:
- Client handling
In a client-specific CDS view, the CDS entity does not have a client column; the CDS database view, on the other hand, does have a client column.
- CDS authorizations
In the case of CDS entities, a CDS role can be defined that checks the authorization of the current user when Open SQL is used to access the CDS entity. This is not possible for CDS database views.