The semantic attributes of data elements are mainly significant when they are used as types of
dynpro (or
Web Dynpro( fields. The
only exceptions to this are the default component name and the flag for the change document. ABAP data objects declared with reference to a data element ignore the semantic attributes of the element.
Short text
The short text assigned to a data element appears as a header in the
field help of all dynpro fields or Web Dynpro fields defined with a direct or indirect reference to the data element.
Field label
The short, medium, and long field labels assigned to a data element, plus a header, can be created where
appropriate as descriptions or column headers of lists for fields on the screens of dynpros or Web Dynpros
with direct or indirect reference to the data element. A freely definable maximum length with varying upper limits for the different field labels is applied to all languages and must be set accordingly.
Documentation
The documentation created for a data element appears by default as
field help for all dynpro
fields or Web Dynpro fields defined with a direct or indirect reference to the data element. If no documentation was created, only the short text appears.
Supplement documentation
Additional supplement documentation can be created for a data element, with each piece of documentation identified by a four-figure number. This supplement documentation can be used for program-specific and dynpro-specific
field helps. The assignment of supplement documentation to a dynpro field is saved in the database table THLPF.
Documentation status
The status of the documentation for a data element can be noted as follows for any check tools:
Object is documented
The default setting, indicating that the data element requires documentation.
Object not used on a screen
The data element is not implemented for dynpro fields or Web Dynpro fields and no further documentation is required.
Object is documented by its short text.
The short text provides enough documentation.
Documentation is currently on hold
The data element requires documentation but it does not yet exist.
Search help
A data element with an elementary data type can be assigned a
search help and a parameter can be passed to this search help. This search help is used for the
input help of all dynpro
fields or Web Dynpro fields defined with direct or indirect reference to the data element, unless the
dynpro field is itself associated with a search help. Search helps cannot be assigned to a data element with a reference type.
SPA/GPA parameter
A data element with an elementary data type can be associated with an
SPA/GPA parameter. Dynpro fields defined with direct or indirect
reference to the data element are filled with the content of the parameter, unless the dynpro field
is itself associated with an SPA/GPA parameter. A data element with a reference type cannot be associated with an SPA/GPA parameter.
Flag for input history
The flag for the input history defines whether the SAP GUI history is active for dynpro fields defined
with direct or indirect reference to the data element. This makes it possible to switch the input history off for sensitive fields.
Flag for bidirectional fonts
This flag defines the behavior of dynpro fields or Web Dynpro fields defined with direct or indirect reference to the data element when handling bidirectional fonts (such as Hebrew or Arabic).
Writing direction
This flag can specify the writing direction
of a dynpro field as "From left to right", which overwrites the direction "From right to left" specified by logons in a bidirectional font. This flag can be useful for fields with numeric texts.
BIDI filter
This flag can be used to prevent the Unicode formatting
characters that specify the writing direction of bidirectional fonts in data transports between GUI
and AS ABAP from being filtered out, regardless of the global system settings. The global system setting is made in the program I18N_SET_DATAELEMENT_FLAGS.
Default component name
The default component name of a data element is a naming suggestion for structure components or table fields defined with reference to this data element. Structures used in APIs in particular should use this proposal.
Flag for change document
The flag for change documents specifies whether changes to fields in database tables defined with reference
to this data element are logged when change document objects are involved. A change document object
groups multiple tables and is used to generate function modules that can be integrated into ABAP programs and that log changes. This flag cannot be set for data elements with a reference type.
Further semantic attributes can be defined in the domain referenced by a data element.
The texts in the semantic attributes (the short text, field labels, and documentation) are, like all AS ABAP texts, passed to the translation tools.
It is highly significant that many semantic attributes of a data element define the behavior of dynpro
fields or Web Dynpro fields. For example, a data element whose documentation describes the internal
attributes of a technical type are not usually suitable for use in UI fields. One example are the data
elements SYST_... that define the components of the system structure SYST.
The documentation of these data elements describes the corresponding system fields and must not appear
on a UI. Ideally, separate data elements are created with their own semantic attributes for UIs and
database tables. Any data elements not used for UI fields do not usually need semantic attributes (except
for the short text and possibly documentation). Conversely, attributes such as the flag for change documents are not relevant for data elements for UIs.