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Type Groups

A type group is an ABAP program managed by ABAP Dictionary that is initiated by the statement TYPE-POOL and that contains ABAP statements for defining globally visible data types, constants, and macros. More information about type groups can be found under ABAP Program Types and under the statement TYPE-POOL. A type group and its types, constants, and macros do not have any semantic attributes except a short text and any comments in the source code.

Other versions: 7.31 | 7.40 | 7.54


Notes

  • Types in type groups are the predecessors for general type definitions in ABAP Dictionary, which include reference types and table types alongside elementary data types.

  • Since it is possible to also define data types and constants in the public visibility section of global classes or in interfaces, type groups are obsolete and should no longer be created. Existing type groups can still be used.

  • One drawback of type groups are their missing semantic attributes when compared to the other dictionary objects. These attributes can also be defined in global classes.


Example

One type group often used in ABAP programs is ABAP itself, which contains many low-level types and constants. The drawback of this group is that the entire type group must be loaded, even if only a few types and constants are needed, such as the type abap_bool and the associated constants abap_true and abap_false.