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ABAP Keyword Documentation →  ABAP - Release-Specific Changes →  Changes in Release 4.6A 

Further Developments in Release 4.6A


1. New event keyword LOAD-OF-PROGRAM


2. Typing of RANGE tables


3. Increased precision in BCD arithmetic


4. F1 help for dynamic field access


5. More local and global data descriptions


6. More literals and memory for literals


7. Improvements in documentation

Other versions: 7.31 | 7.40 | 7.54

Modification 1

New event keyword LOAD-OF-PROGRAM

LOAD-OF-PROGRAMM is an event keyword which processes an event immediately before execution of the first load statement. For example, when a function module is called, the statements following LOAD-OF-PROGRAM are executed first after the function group has been loaded into the roll area. It is then no longer necessary to know the order of execution.

This statement has the same effect as a program constructor, similar to the class constructor in ABAP Objects, which replaces the event LOAD-OF-PROGRAM in class pools and global classes.

Modification 2

Typing of RANGE tables

The addition RANGE of the statements DATA, STATICS, and TYPES defines an internal table with the type RANGES. This addition can also be used for the definitions in classes and is supported in ABAP Dictionary.

Modification 3

Increased precision in BCD arithmetic

In rare cases in fixed point arithmetic, calculations were performed with a precision of 15 instead of 31 decimal places. This meant that fields with many decimal places were sometimes rounded off. Now calculations are always performed to an accuracy of 31 decimal places.

This change has resulted in a significant reduction of the computing time required for multiplication and division.

Modification 4

F1 help for dynamic field access

Previously, F1 help in dynpros and lists was not available for fields addressed using field symbols or ASSIGN COMPONENT ..., although the assigned field was defined in ABAP Dictionary. Online help is now available for all fields that have a HELP ID.

Modification 5

More local and global data descriptions

Previously, a 16 KB address space was available for global and local static descriptions. Now 16 KB each are reserved separately for the local definitions of subroutines, functions, and methods to reduce the workload in the address space for global descriptions.

Modification 6

More literals and memory for literals

The address space for literals has also been extended so that 64 KB are now available for the different literals. The length of the individual literals is limited only by operating system restrictions. Previously, a maximum of 64 KB was available for all literals together (indexes and texts).

Modification 7

Improvements in documentation

The documentation has been improved as follows:

  • Standardized presentation in the keyword documentation and the application help BC - ABAP Programming
  • Extensive documentation of dynpros and the structure SYST in the application help
  • ABAP command reference in the application help
  • Detailed visualization of overviews in graphics in the application help
  • Links from the keyword documentation to the corresponding sections of the application help for each ABAP statement
  • All example programs for display, execution, and debugging available in transaction ABAPDOCU.