ABAP Keyword Documentation → ABAP - Release-Specific Changes → Changes in Release 6.10
Further Changes in Release 6.10
1. Dynamic pass by parameter in CALL FUNCTION
2. New comparison expression IS BOUND
3. Negated relational operators
4. Unconditional exit from a processing block
5. Extended/advanced search of/in the keyword documentation
6. Runtime analysis
7. Calling predefined arithmetic functions
8. Transformation of XML data into ABAP variables
9. Displaying the generation limits in the program check
10. Increase in line length in ABAP Editor
11. Enhancement of the MESSAGE statement
12. Displaying exceptions for runtime errors
13. Separate logical units of work for application and generation
14. Minimum and maximum values for elementary data types
15. Name for a component in the structure buffer
16. Reading a program title
17. New medium for data clusters
18. Selecting and deleting data clusters
19. New additions for INSERT REPORT
Other versions: 7.31 | 7.40 | 7.54
Modification 1
Dynamic Pass by Parameter in CALL FUNCTION
The addition PARAMETER-TABLE itab
can be used to fill the interface of a function module with parameters dynamically. The addition
EXCEPTION-TABLE itab is used to pass a table of exceptions to the called
function module. At the same time, the numeric value to be assigned to the system field SY-SUBRC after the exception is raised is passed to the component VALUE.
Modification 2
New Comparison Expression IS BOUND
The comparison expression IS BOUND indicates whether a reference variable contains a valid reference.
Modification 3
Negated Relational Operators
A new word order has been introduced for the negation of the following relational operators. Instead of IF NOT (f IS INITIAL), the spelling IF f IS NOT INITIAL is now possible. This word order is available for the following relational operators:
[NOT] BETWEEN
[NOT] IN
IS [NOT] INITIAL
IS [NOT] ASSIGNED
IS [NOT] REQUESTED
IS [NOT] SUPPLIED
Modification 4
Unconditional Exit from a Processing Block
The new statement RETURN can be used to exit a
processing block explicitly.
Modification 5
Extended/Advanced Search of/in the Keyword Documentation
The keyword documentation has been enhanced in such a way that more general terms like RADIOBUTTON,
INNER JOIN, or FOR ALL ENTRIES are now also processed.
Until now the system only searched for keywords like DATA or CLASS.
If a number of documents contain the same term, the search can be limited in the hit
list. A further improvement is that the system displays the found document at the relevant point.
Modification 6
Runtime Analysis
From now on, the runtime analysis can also be called within a program unit by calling the methods ON/OFF from the class CL_ABAP_TRACE_SWITCH. Additionally, the measurement restrictions now have an input help for program types and the Tips and Tricks interface has been completely redesigned and now includes a tree structure and a text editor.
Modification 7
Calling Predefined Arithmetic Functions
In expressions, the arithmetic functions can be used at the same positions as functional methods. The following cases are supported:
MOVE statement
COMPUTE statement
CASE statement of the CASE control structure
WHEN statement of the CASE control structure
WHERE condition in the LOOP AT statement
Modification 8
Transformation of XML Data into ABAP Variables
Another new addition is the CALL TRANSFORMATION statement, which enables the transformation of
XML data into ABAP variable content. The following transformations are possible:
Modification 9
Displaying the Generation Limits in the Program Check
When choosing Program → Check → Generation Limits in the ABAP Editor menu, the system displays the load size and the available kernel resources for the selected program.
Modification 10
Increase in Line Length in ABAP Editor
From now on, ABAP programs support a line length of 255 characters instead of 72 characters. Literals or statement lists that exceed a line with 72 characters now produce a syntax error. However, this only affects programs that are modified in an editor with a line length of more than 72 characters.
Modification 11
Enhancement of the MESSAGE Statement
The form MESSAGE msg TYPE t is a new in the statement
MESSAGE. It produces direct output of character strings or other strings. This option is designed for exception classes that have exception texts of data type STRING.
The new addition DISPLAY LIKE can also be used to modify the icons in the display of the message.
Modification 12
Displaying Exceptions for Runtime Errors
The display of runtime errors now includes the columns Name of Runtime Error and Exception. The same fields are also displayed and explained in the short dump, immediately after an uncaught runtime error.
Modification 13
Separate Logical Units of Work for Application and Generation
If a program was not modified by its own logical unit of work
(LUW), generation is started in a separate work process
when the program is used. The the program is generated in the same work process only if no other work process is free.
If, for example, modified programs were used in a background process, these were only accessible to
other users after the background process was finished. After the program was generated, the system could
not trigger a COMMIT WORK, since
this may have caused inconsistencies in the background processing data. The separation of application
and generation now ensures that a program is available to other applications immediately after it is generated.
Modification 14
Minimum and Maximum Values for Elementary Data Types
The class CL_ABAP_EXCEPTIONAL_VALUES provides the methods GET_MAX_VALUE and GET_MIN_VALUE, which are used to establish the value ranges of the elementary data types. These methods replace the function module MAXIMAL_VALUE_GET.
Modification 15
Name for a Component in the Structure Buffer
Previously, if ASSIGN COMPONENT was used to access components of a dictionary structure, the statement DESCRIBE FIELD ... HELP-ID was used to return the name of the associated data element. The name of the component of the dictionary structure is now returned instead. The following program now produces the value TRDIR-NAME instead of PROGRAMM.
PROGRAM test_struc.
DATA: mydir TYPE trdir,
hlpid(61) type c.
FIELD-SYMBOLS <fs>.
ASSIGN mydir TO <fs>.
ASSIGN COMPONENT 1 OF STRUCTURE <fs> TO <fs>.
DESCRIBE FIELD <fs> HELP-ID hlpid.
WRITE / hlpid.
Modification 16
Reading a Program Title
Previously, the program title was read from the ABAP text elements using the statement
READ TEXTPOOL. For performance and buffering reasons, the program title is now read from the table TRDIRT.
Modification 17
New Medium for Data Clusters
The medium SHARED MEMORY has been added to the statements
EXPORT and IMPORT.
Unlike the variant SHARED BUFFER, whose memory is automatically modified
after a displacement, memories must be managed explicitly if this type of repository is used. To do
this, the statement DELETE FROM SHARED
MEMORY or a method of the class CL_ABAP_EXPIMP_SHMEM can be used.
Modification 18
Selecting and Deleting Data Clusters
There are new methods in the following classes for selecting and deleting data clusters:
Modification 19
New Additions for INSERT REPORT
The following new additions are available for the statement INSERT REPORT:
... KEEPING DIRECTORY ENTRY
... DIRECTORY ENTRY trdir
... UNICODE ENABLING uc
... FIXED-POINT ARITHMETIC fp
... PROGRAM TYPE pt
... MAXIMUM WIDTH INTO w