ABAP Keyword Documentation → ABAP − Reference → Built-In Types, Data Objects, Functions, and Constructors → Built-In Functions
Built-In Functions - Syntax
In functions with named arguments, there is usually a main argument val and
additional, possibly also optional, arguments. The following sections show the general syntax for calling built-in functions.
Other versions: 7.31 | 7.40 | 7.54
Functions with an Unnamed Argument
Syntax
... func( arg ) ...
The syntax for functions with an unnamed argument is the same as the syntax for calling functional methods
with an input parameter. func is the built-in function and the argument
arg is an operand whose data type matches the function. The blanks after the opening parentheses and before the closing parentheses are relevant.
Example
The built-on function line_exists has an unnamed argument that expects a table expression.
DATA itab TYPE TABLE OF i WITH EMPTY KEY.
...
IF line_exists( itab[ 1 ] ).
...
ENDIF.
Functions with Named Arguments
Syntax
... func( val = arg p1 = arg1 p2 = arg2 ... ) ...
Functions with one or more named arguments are bound to keyword parameters in the same way as when functional
methods are called with multiple input parameters. Operands can be specified for the arguments whose
data type matches the corresponding parameter. The blanks after the opening parentheses and before the
closing parentheses are relevant. If one of these functions only has one argument or only the main argument is to be populated, the syntax can be simplified as follows:
... func( arg ) ...
Example
The built-in function condense has named arguments and can, for example, be called as follows.
DATA(str1) = condense( `...` ).
DATA(str2) = condense( val = `...` ).
DATA(str3) = condense( val = `...` del = ` ` ).