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ABAP Keyword Documentation →  ABAP − Reference →  Creating Objects and Values →  CREATE DATA 

CREATE DATA - TYPE abap_type

Quick Reference

Other versions: 7.31 | 7.40 | 7.54

Syntax


CREATE DATA dref [area_handle] 

                 TYPE {abap_type|(name)} 

              
       [LENGTH len] [DECIMALS dec].

Effect

Creates a data object with an explicitly specified data type. For the data type, all built-in data types (apart from b and s) can be used that are more specific than the static type of dref or are identical to it. The name of the type can be specified as follows:

  • abap_type
Specified directly and statically as abap_type.
  • (name)
Specified as the content of a character-like data object name (not case-sensitive). The following can be specified for name:
  • Literal or constant

    If the data object name is specified as a character literal or as a constant, it can be evaluated statically and the specified type is identified as the used object.
  • Variable

    If the data object name is specified as a variable, it is specified only dynamically and the content is not evaluated statically.
When the statement is executed, name is not evaluated until runtime (in both cases).

In the ABAP types c, n, p, and x, the length of the data type dtype can be determined by specifying a numeric data object len after the addition LENGTH, which, when the statement is executed, contains a value within the length range defined for the type in question. If the addition LENGTH is not specified, the standard length from the table is used. For all other ABAP types, the length is determined by the value in the table and the addition LENGTH cannot be specified.

In the ABAP type p, the number of decimal places is determined by specifying a numeric data object dec after the addition DECIMALS. If DECIMALS is specified, the same applies as in the statement TYPES. If the addition DECIMALS is not specified, no decimal places are created. The decimal separator is ignored in operations with packed numbers if the program attribute fixed point arithmetic is not set. If it is not set, the addition DECIMALS is applied only to dynpros and in the statement WRITE [TO]. For all other ABAP types and if name is specified dynamically, the addition DECIMALS is not permitted.


Note

When a data type abap_type is used, the instance operator NEW acts like the statement CREATE DATA dref TYPE abap_type and can be used in general expression positions. The content of name cannot be specified dynamically here.


Example

Creation of an anonymous data object of packed number type with length specification and decimals. As the static data type of the data reference variable is generic, data referencing is only possible by assignment to a field symbol.

DATA dref TYPE REF TO data. 

CREATE DATA dref TYPE p LENGTH 8 DECIMALS 3. 
ASSIGN dref->* TO FIELD-SYMBOL(<fs>). 

<fs> = 1 / 3. 

cl_demo_output=>display( <fs> ).

Executable Example

Creating Elementary Data Objects

Continue

Creating Elementary Data Objects