ABAP Keyword Documentation → ABAP − Reference → Declarations → Declaration Statements → Classes and Interfaces → ABAP Objects - Overview → Classes → Components of Classes
Constructors of Classes
Constructors are special methods that produce a defined initial state for objects and classes. The state of an object is determined by its
instance attributes and
static attributes.
Content can be assigned to attributes using the addition VALUE of the statement
DATA. Constructors are necessary when you want to set the initial state of an object dynamically.
Like normal methods, there are two types of constructor: instance constructors and static constructors.
Special rules apply to constructors in inheritance. These rules are not described in this document, but can be found here.
Other versions: 7.31 | 7.40 | 7.54
Instance Constructors
Each class has one instance constructor. This is a predefined instance method of the class called
constructor. To use the instance constructor, the method constructor
must be declared in a visibility section of the class using the
METHODS statement, and implemented in the implementation part. In global
classes, the instance constructor can be declared in the public visibility area only, for technical
reasons. In local classes, the visibility section in which the instance constructor can be declared
must be more general or equal to the instantiability defined by the addition
CREATE of the statement CLASS.
Here, the most specialized area is recommended. Unless it is explicitly declared, the instance constructor is an implicit method, which inherits and accesses the interface from the instance constructor in the superclass.
Instance constructors are called once for each instance. They are called automatically, immediately
after an instance is created using the statement
CREATE OBJECT. It is not possible to call an instance constructor directly using the constructor( ...
) (but see super->constructor( ... ) in the inheritance).
An instance constructor can contain an interface with IMPORTING parameters
and exceptions. The interface is defined using the same syntax as for regular methods in the statement
METHODS. The fact that there are
no exporting parameters shows that constructors only exist to define the state of an object and have
no other function. The additions EXPORTING and EXCEPTIONS
of the statement CREATE OBJECT are used to pass actual parameters and handle classical exceptions.
Static Constructors
Each class has a single static constructor. This is a predefined public
static method of the
class_constructor class. To use the static constructor, the static method
class_constructor must be declared in the public section of the declaration
part of the class using the statement
CLASS-METHODS and implemented in the implementation part. The static constructor has no interface parameters and cannot raise exceptions. Unless you implement it explicitly, it is merely an empty method.
The static constructor is called once for each class and
internal session.
The static constructor of a class class is called automatically before the
class is accessed for the first time. The class is accessed when an instance of the class is created
or a component of the class is used (with the exception of types and constants). It is not necessary to execute the static constructor to access a type or a constant of the class.
The static constructor is always called immediately before the class is accessed, with one exception: if the class is accessed for the first time to address a static variable, the static constructor is executed at the beginning of the processing block (dialog module, event block, or procedure) in which the class is accessed.
Notes
- The point at which the static constructor is called has not yet been finalized. We can currently ensure only that it will be called before the class is accessed for the first time.
- A static constructor can call static methods of its class. A method of this type must be implemented accordingly and cannot just rely on the static constructor being executed in full.
- The execution sequence of static constructors is dependent on the program flow. Static constructors must be implemented so that they can be executed in any sequence.