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asXML - Mapping of Elementary ABAP Types

The asXML representation of elementary ABAP types is used in XSL transformations and in Simple Transformations. In both cases, the elementary values or the elementary components of complex structures are converted in accordance with this mapping.

For elementary data objects with built-in ABAP types, the asXML representation is based on the representation of XML schema data types from the namespace xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema", where dates and times are represented in accordance with ISO-8601 and binary data is represented in accordance with Base64. The mapping of ABAP types to the XML schema data types is not fully bijective, due to the different value ranges. For example, a time zone can be specified for the XML schema data type xds:date, which is not possible for the ABAP type d.

Other versions: 7.31 | 7.40 | 7.54


Notes

  • Exceptions from mappings cannot be handled directly. Instead, the exception CX_TRANSFORMATION_ERROR (or one of its subclasses) from statement CALL TRANSFORMATION can be handled. The attribute PREVIOUS then contains a reference to the original exception.

  • The exceptions that occur when mapping the data types displayed here can in some cases be suppressed by specifying noError in the option attribute of the ST command tt:value.

Mapping Tables

Numeric Data Types

ABAP Type ABAP Representation XML Schema Type XML Representation
b 123 xsd:unsignedByte 123
s -123 xsd:short -123
i -123 xsd:int -123
int8 -123 xsd:long -123
p -1.23 xsd:decimal -1.23
decfloat16 123E+1 precisionDecimal, totalDigits = 16 1.23E+3
decfloat34 -3.140...0E+02 precisionDecimal, totalDigits = 34 -314.0...0
f -3.140...0E+02 xsd:double -3.14E2


Notes

  • In the ABAP type p, a number with more decimal places than available places (twice the length minus one) is considered to be invalid and cannot be serialized to asXML.

  • If noError is specified in the option attribute of the ST command tt:value, an invalid sign byte for type p is interpreted as a positive sign, which prevents the corresponding exception.

  • The type precisionDecimal is not yet an official XML schema type.

Character-Like Data Types

ABAP Type ABAP Representation XML Schema Type XML Representation
c " Hi" xsd:string _Hi
string " Hello " xsd:string Hello
n "001234" xsd:string (pattern [0-9]+) 001234

Byte-Like Data Types

ABAP Type ABAP Representation XML Schema Type XML Representation
x ABCDEF xsd:base64Binary q83v
xstring 456789AB xsd:base64Binary RweJqw==

Date types, time types, and time stamp types

ABAP Type ABAP Representation XML Schema Type XML Representation
d "20020204" xsd:date 2002-02-04
t "201501" xsd:time 20:15:01
utclong "2019-04-10 12:37:29.5040200" xsd:datetime 2019-04-10T12:37:29.50402Z


Note

During the serialization of a time stamp field of the type utclong, only the significant decimal places are generated. There may also be fewer than seven decimal places for the deserialization.

Differences in Serialization

In serializations, ABAP values are converted to the appropriate character-like XML format. Deserializations operate in the opposite direction. Note the following differences to the usual conversion rules that apply in ABAP.

  • When data objects with the type x are serialized, trailing bytes with the value hexadecimal 0 are handled in the same way as trailing blanks with data type c and are ignored.
  • When the following ABAP data objects are serialized to asXML, partial checks are made to see whether the ABAP data object has a valid value:
  • A data object with the type n can contain only digits.
  • A data object with the type p must represent a valid packed number.
  • A data object with the type d or t cannot contain any leading or closing blanks or the corresponding separator ("-" or ":").
  • A data object of the type utclong must contain a valid value. The initial value results in an empty XML element.

Any violations of these rules raise handleable exceptions, some of which can be bypassed by specifying a transformation option after the OPTIONS addition of the CALL TRANSFORMATION statement.


Notes

  • To check the validity of dates and times, the domains XSDDATE_D and XSDTIME_T can be used instead of the data types d and t.

  • If noError is specified in the option attribute of the ST command tt:value, leading and trailing blanks are ignored for type n, which prevents the corresponding exception.

Differences in Deserialization

  • Serializations to an ABAP data object must retain the precision of the XML value:

  • Numeric types cannot lose any places.

  • In character-like or byte-like data types with fixed lengths (c, n, x), the target object must have enough places for the entire content, unless only leading and trailing blanks in data type c and leading zeros in data type n are affected.

  • Structures cannot be converted to elementary data objects.

  • Deserializations fill data objects of the type c or x with blanks or hexadecimal 0 on the right (as usual) if fewer characters or bytes are passed than can fit in the data object.

  • If the required XML element does not exist when the system is deserializing in an elementary data object, the elementary data object keeps its previous value. If an empty element is assigned to an elementary data object, it is set to its type-dependent initial value. To initialize the data object in either case, the transformation option clear can be used with the value "all".

Any violations of these rules raise handleable exceptions such as CX_SY_CONVERSION_DATA_LOSS, some of which can be bypassed by specifying a transformation option after the OPTIONS addition of the CALL TRANSFORMATION statement.

Executable Example

asXML, Mapping of Elementary Data Types