ABAP 7.

40 Quick Reference
So you're an experienced ABAP programmer wanting to leverage off the fantastic new functionality
available to you in ABAP 7.40!
However, searching for information on this topic leads you to fragmented pages or blogs that refer to only a
couple of the new features available to you.
What you need is a quick reference guide which gives you the essentials you need and shows you how the
code you are familiar with can be improved with ABAP 7.40.
The below document contains exactly this!
It gives examples of "classic" ABAP and its 740 equivalent. It goes into more details on the more difficult topics
normally via examples. This allows the reader to dive in to the level they desire. While this document does not
contain everything pertaining to ABAP 740 it certainly covers the most useful parts in the experience of the
author.
The document has been compiled by drawing on existing material available online as well as trial and error by
the author. In particular the blogs by Horst Keller have been useful and are the best reference I have found
(prior to this document
). He has a landing page of sorts for his various blogs on the topic here:
ABAP Language News for Release 7.40
Credit also goes to Naimesh Patel for his useful explanations and examples on ABAP 7.40. Here is his
example of the "FOR iteration expression" which I leaned on (links to his other 740 articles can be found at the
bottom of the link):
http://zevolving.com/2015/05/abap-740-for-iteration-expression/
I compiled the below document to make the transition to using ABAP 740 easier for myself and my project
team. It has worked well for us and I hope it will do the same for you.
Regards,
Jeff Towell

ABAP 7.40 Quick Reference

Author:
Date Created:

Jeffrey Towell
Friday, 22 May 2015

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Contents
Inline Declarations
Table Expressions
Conversion Operator CONV
1. Definition.
2. Example.
Value Operator VALUE
1. Definition.
2. Example for structures.
3. Examples for internal tables.
FOR operator
1. Definition.
2. Explanation.
3. Example 1.
4. Example 2.
5. FOR with THEN and UNTIL|WHILE.
Reduce
1. Definition.
2. Note.
3. Example 1.
4. Example 2.
5. Example 3.
Conditional operators COND and SWITCH
1. Definition.
2. Example for COND.
3. Example for SWITCH.
Strings
1. String Templates.
2. Concatenation.
3. Width/Alignment/Padding.
4. Case.
5. ALPHA conversion.
6. Date conversion.
Classes/Methods
1. Referencing fields within returned structures.
2. Methods that return a type BOOLEAN..
3. NEW operator
Meshes
1. Problem..
2. Solution.
3. Output

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Filter
1. Definition.
2. Problem..
3. Solution.

Inline Declarations
Description

Before 7.40

With 7.40

Data statement

DATA text TYPE string.

DATA(text) = `ABC`.

text = `ABC`.
Loop at into work area

DATA wa like LINE OF itab.

LOOP AT itab
INTO wa.

LOOP AT itab INTO DATA(wa).

...
ENDLOOP.

...
ENDLOOP.
Call method

DATA a1 TYPE ...

DATA a2 TYPE ...
oref->meth( IMPORTING p1 = a1
IMPORTING p2 = a2 )

oref->meth( IMPORTING p1 =
DATA(a1)
IMPORTING p2 =
DATA(a2) ).

Loop at assigning

FIELD-SYMBOLS: <line> type

LOOP AT itab
ASSIGNING FIELDSYMBOL(<line>).

LOOP AT itab
<line>

ASSIGNING

...
ENDLOOP.

ENDLOOP.
Read assigning

FIELD-SYMBOLS: <line> type

READ TABLE itab

ASSIGNING FIELDSYMBOL(<line>).

READ TABLE itab ASSIGNING

<line>.
Select * from

DATA lt_itab TYPE

TABLE OF
dbtab.
SELECT * FROM dbtab INTO
TABLE lt_dbtab where
fld1 = lv_fld1.

SELECT * FROM dbtab

INTO TABLE
DATA(lt_dbtab)
WHERE fld1 = @lv_fld1.

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Select single f1 f2

SELECT SINGLE f1 f2 FROM

dbtab
INTO (lv_f1,lv_f2)
WHERE
WRITE: / lv_f1,
lv_f2.

SELECT SINGLE f1 AS my_f1,

"ref for f1
F2 AS abc "ref for f2
FROM dbtab
INTO
@DATA(ls_str)"structure
WHERE
WRITE: / ls_str-my_f1, ls_str-abc.

Table Expressions
If a table line is not found, the exception CX_SY_ITAB_LINE_NOT_FOUND is raised. No sy-subrc.
Description

Before 7.40

With 7.40

Read Table index

READ TABLE itab INDEX idx

INTO wa.

wa = itab[ idx ].

READ TABLE itab INDEX idx

USING KEY key INTO wa.

wa = itab[ KEY key INDEX idx ].

READ TABLE itab

wa = itab[ col1 =

Read Table using key

Read Table with key

WITH KEY col1 =

col2 = ].

col2 =
INTO wa.
Read Table with key
components

READ TABLE itab

WITH TABLE KEY key
COMPONENTS col1 =

wa = itab[ KEY key

col1=

col2=

].

col2 =
INTO wa.
Does record exist?

READ TABLE itab with

TRANSPORTING NO FIELDS.
IF sy-subrc = 0.
...
ENDIF.

Get table index

DATA idx TYPE sy-tabix.

READ TABLE itab

IF line_exists( itab[ ... ] ).

...
ENDIF.

DATA(idx)=
line_index( itab[ ] ).

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TRANSPORTING NO FIELDS.
idx = sy-tabix.

NB: There will be a short dump if you use an inline expression that references a non-existent record.
SAP says you should therefore assign a field symbol and check sy-subrc.
ASSIGN lt_tab[ 1 ] to FIELD-SYMBOL(<ls_tab>).
IF sy-subrc = 0.
...
ENDIF.
NB: Use itab [ table_line = ] for untyped tables.

Conversion Operator CONV

Definition
CONV dtype|#( ... )
dtype = Type you want to convert to (explicit)
# = compiler must use the context to decide the type to convert to (implicit)

Example
Method cl_abap_codepage=>convert_to expects a string
Before 7.40
DATA text TYPE c LENGTH 255.
DATA helper TYPE string.
DATA xstr TYPE xstring.
helper = text.
xstr = cl_abap_codepage=>convert_to( source = helper ).
With 7.40
DATA text TYPE c LENGTH 255.
DATA(xstr) = cl_abap_codepage=>convert_to( source = CONV string( text ) ).
OR
DATA(xstr) = cl_abap_codepage=>convert_to( source = CONV #( text ) ).

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Value Operator VALUE

Definition
Variables: VALUE dtype|#( )
Structures: VALUE dtype|#( comp1 = a1 comp2 = a2 ... )
Tables:
VALUE dtype|#( ( ... ) ( ... ) ... ) ...

Example for structures

TYPES: BEGIN OF ty_columns1, Simple structure
cols1 TYPE i,
cols2 TYPE i,
END OF ty_columns1.
TYPES: BEGIN OF ty_columnns2, Nested structure
coln1 TYPE i,
coln2 TYPE ty_columns1,
END OF ty_columns2.
DATA: struc_simple TYPE ty_columns1,
struc_nest

TYPE ty_columns2.

struct_nest = VALUE t_struct(coln1 = 1

coln2-cols1 = 1
coln2-cols2 = 2 ).
OR
struct_nest = VALUE t_struct(coln1 = 1
coln2 = VALUE #( cols1 = 1
cols2 = 2 ) ).

Examples for internal tables

Elementary line type:

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TYPES t_itab TYPE TABLE OF i WITH EMPTY KEY.

DATA itab TYPE t_itab.

itab = VALUE #( ( ) ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ).
Structured line type (RANGES table):
DATA itab TYPE RANGE OF i.

itab = VALUE #( sign = 'I' option = 'BT' ( low = 1 high = 10 )

( low = 21 high = 30 )
( low = 41 high = 50 )
option = 'GE' ( low = 61 ) ).

FOR operator
Definition
FOR wa|<fs> IN itab [INDEX INTO idx] [cond]

Explanation
This effectively causes a loop at itab. For each loop the row read is assigned to a work area (wa) or fieldsymbol(<fs>).
This wa or <fs> is local to the expression i.e. if declared in a subrourine the variable wa or <fs> is a local
variable of
that subroutine. Index like SY-TABIX in loop.
Given:
TYPES: BEGIN OF ty_ship,
tknum TYPE tknum,

"Shipment Number

name TYPE ernam,

"Name of Person who Created the Object

city TYPE ort01,

route TYPE route,

"Starting city
"Shipment route

END OF ty_ship.
TYPES: ty_ships TYPE SORTED TABLE OF ty_ship WITH UNIQUE KEY tknum.

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TYPES: ty_citys TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF ort01 WITH EMPTY KEY.

GT_SHIPS type ty_ships. -> has been populated as follows:

Row

TKNUM[C(10)]

Name[C(12)]

City[C(25)]

Route[C(6)]

001

John

Melbourne

R0001

002

Gavin

Sydney

R0003

003

Lucy

Adelaide

R0001

004

Elaine

Perth

R0003

Example 1
Populate internal table GT_CITYS with the cities from GT_SHIPS.
Before 7.40
DATA: gt_citys TYPE ty_citys,
gs_ship TYPE ty_ship,
gs_city TYPE ort01.

LOOP AT gt_ships INTO gs_ship.

gs_city = gs_ship-city.
APPEND gs_city TO gt_citys.
ENDLOOP.
With 7.40
DATA(gt_citys) = VALUE ty_citys( FOR ls_ship IN gt_ships ( ls_ship-city ) ).

Example 2
Populate internal table GT_CITYS with the cities from GT_SHIPS where the route is R0001.
Before 7.40
DATA: gt_citys TYPE ty_citys,
gs_ship TYPE ty_ship,
gs_city TYPE ort01.

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LOOP AT gt_ships INTO gs_ship WHERE route = 'R0001'.

gs_city = gs_ship-city.
APPEND gs_city TO gt_citys.
ENDLOOP.
With 7.40
DATA(gt_citys) = VALUE ty_citys( FOR ls_ship IN gt_ships
WHERE ( route = 'R0001' ) ( ls_ship-city ) ).
Note: ls_ship does not appear to have been declared but it is declared implicitly.
FOR with THEN and UNTIL|WHILE
FOR i = ... [THEN expr] UNTIL|WHILE log_exp
Populate an internal table as follows:
TYPES:
BEGIN OF ty_line,
col1 TYPE i,
col2 TYPE i,
col3 TYPE i,
END OF ty_line,
ty_tab TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF ty_line WITH EMPTY KEY.
Before 7.40
DATA: gt_itab TYPE ty_tab,
j

TYPE i.

FIELD-SYMBOLS <ls_tab> TYPE ty_line.

j = 1.
DO.
j = j + 10.
IF j > 40. EXIT. ENDIF.
APPEND INITIAL LINE TO gt_itab ASSIGNING <ls_tab>.
<ls_tab>-col1 = j.
<ls_tab>-col2 = j + 1.
<ls_tab>-col3 = j + 2.
ENDDO.

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With 7.40
DATA(gt_itab) = VALUE ty_tab( FOR j = 11 THEN j + 10 UNTIL j > 40
( col1 = j col2 = j + 1 col3 = j + 2 ) ).

Reduce
Definition
... REDUCE type(
INIT result = start_value
...
FOR for_exp1
FOR for_exp2
...
NEXT ...
result = iterated_value
... )

Note
While VALUE and NEW expressions can include FOR expressions, REDUCE must include at least one
FOR expression. You can use all kinds
of FOR expressions in REDUCE:
with IN for iterating internal tables
with UNTIL or WHILE for conditional iterations

Example 1
Count lines of table that meet a condition (field F1 contains XYZ).
Before 7.40
DATA: lv_lines TYPE i.
LOOP AT gt_itab INTO ls_itab where F1 = XYZ.
lv_lines = lv_lines + 1.
ENDLOOP.
With 7.40
DATA(lv_lines) = REDUCE i( INIT x = 0 FOR wa IN gt_itab

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Where( F1 = XYZ ) NEXT x = x + 1 ).

Example 2
Sum the values 1 to 10 stored in the column of a table defined as follows
DATA gt_itab TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF i WITH EMPTY KEY.
gt_itab = VALUE #( FOR j = 1 WHILE j <= 10 ( j ) ).
Before 7.40
DATA: lv_line TYPE i,
lv_sum TYPE i.
LOOP AT gt_itab INTO lv_line.
lv_sum = lv_sum + lv_line.
ENDLOOP.
With 7.40
DATA(lv_sum) = REDUCE i( INIT x = 0 FOR wa IN itab NEXT x = x + wa ).

Example 3
Using a class reference - works because write method returns reference to instance object
With 7.40
TYPES outref TYPE REF TO if_demo_output.

DATA(output) = REDUCE outref( INIT out = cl_demo_output=>new( )

text = `Count up:`
FOR n = 1 UNTIL n > 11
NEXT out = out->write( text )
text = |{ n }| ).

output->display( ).

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Conditional operators COND and SWITCH

Definition
... COND dtype|#( WHEN log_exp1 THEN result1
[ WHEN log_exp2 THEN result2 ]
...
[ ELSE resultn ] ) ...
... SWITCH dtype|#( operand
WHEN const1 THEN result1
[ WHEN const2 THEN result2 ]
...
[ ELSE resultn ] ) ...

Example for COND

DATA(time) =
COND string(
WHEN sy-timlo < '120000' THEN
|{ sy-timlo TIME = ISO } AM|
WHEN sy-timlo > '120000' THEN
|{ CONV t( sy-timlo - 12 * 3600 )
TIME = ISO } PM|
WHEN sy-timlo = '120000' THEN
|High Noon|
ELSE
THROW cx_cant_be( ) ).

Example for SWITCH

DATA(text) =
NEW class(
)->meth(
SWITCH #( sy-langu
WHEN 'D' THEN `DE`

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WHEN 'E' THEN `EN`

ELSE THROW cx_langu_not_supported( ) ) ).

Strings
String Templates
A string template is enclosed by two characters "|" and creates a character string.
Literal text consists of all characters that are not in braces {}. The braces can contain:
data objects,
calculation expressions,
constructor expressions,
table expressions,
predefined functions, or
functional methods and method chainings

Before 7.40
DATA itab TYPE TABLE OF scarr.
SELECT * FROM scarr INTO TABLE itab.

DATA wa LIKE LINE OF itab.

READ TABLE itab WITH KEY carrid = 'LH' INTO wa.

DATA output TYPE string.

CONCATENATE 'Carrier:' wa-carrname INTO output
SEPARATED BY space.

cl_demo_output=>display( output ).
With 7.40

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SELECT * FROM scarr INTO TABLE

@DATA(lt_scarr).
cl_demo_output=>display( |Carrier: { lt_scarr[ carrid
= 'LH' ]-carrname }| ).

Concatenation
Before 7.40
DATA lv_output TYPE string.
CONCATENATE 'Hello' 'world' INTO lv_output SEPARATED BY space.
With 7.40
DATA(lv_out) = |Hello| & | | & |world|.

Width/Alignment/Padding
WRITE / |{ 'Left'

WIDTH = 20 ALIGN = LEFT PAD = '0' }|.

WRITE / |{ 'Centre' WIDTH = 20 ALIGN = CENTER PAD = '0' }|.

WRITE / |{ 'Right'

WIDTH = 20 ALIGN = RIGHT PAD = '0' }|.

Case
WRITE / |{ 'Text' CASE = (cl_abap_format=>c_raw) }|.
WRITE / |{ 'Text' CASE = (cl_abap_format=>c_upper) }|.
WRITE / |{ 'Text' CASE = (cl_abap_format=>c_lower) }|.

ALPHA conversion
DATA(lv_vbeln) = '0000012345'.
WRITE / |{ lv_vbeln ALPHA = OUT }|. or use ALPHA = IN to go in other direction

Date conversion
WRITE / |{ pa_date DATE = ISO }|. Date Format YYYY-MM-DD
WRITE / |{ pa_date DATE = User }|. As per user settings

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WRITE / |{ pa_date DATE = Environment }|. Formatting setting of language environment

Classes/Methods
Referencing fields within returned structures
Before 7.40
DATA: ls_lfa1 TYPE lfa1,
lv_name1 TYPE lfa1-name1.

ls_lfa1 = My_Class=>get_lfa1( ).
lv_name1 = ls_lfa1-name1.
With 7.40
DATA(lv_name1) = My_Class=>get_lfa1( )-name1.

Methods that return a type BOOLEAN

Before 7.40
IF My_Class=>return_boolean( ) = abap_true.

ENDIF.
With 7.40
IF My_Class=>return_boolean( ).

ENDIF.
NB: The type BOOLEAN is not a true Boolean but a char1 with allowed values X,- and <blank>.
Using type FLAG or WDY_BOOLEAN works just as well.

NEW operator
This operator can be used to instantiate an object.
Before 7.40
DATA: lo_delivs TYPE REF TO zcl_sd_delivs,

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lo_deliv TYPE REF TO zcl_sd_deliv.

CREATE OBJECT lo_delivs.

CREATE OBJECT lo_deliv.
lo_deliv = lo_delivs->get_deliv( lv_vbeln ).
With 7.40
DATA(lo_deliv) = new zcl_sd_delivs( )->get_deliv( lv_vbeln ).

Meshes
Allows an association to be set up between related data groups.

Problem
Given the following 2 internal tables:
TYPES: BEGIN OF t_manager,
name TYPE char10,
salary TYPE int4,
END OF t_manager,
tt_manager TYPE SORTED TABLE OF t_manager WITH UNIQUE KEY name.

TYPES: BEGIN OF t_developer,

name

TYPE char10,

salary TYPE int4,

manager TYPE char10, "Name of manager
END OF t_developer,
tt_developer TYPE SORTED TABLE OF t_developer WITH UNIQUE KEY name.
Populated as follows:
Row

Name[C(10)]

Salary[I(4)]

Jason

3000

Thomas

3200

Row

Name[C(10)]

Salary[I(4)

Manager[C(10)]

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Bob

2100

Jason

David

2000

Thomas

Jack

1000

Thomas

Jerry

1000

Jason

John

2100

Thomas

Tom

2000

Jason

Get the details of Jerrys manager and all developers managed by Thomas.

Solution
With 7.40
TYPES: BEGIN OF MESH m_team,
managers TYPE tt_manager ASSOCIATION my_employee TO developers
ON manager = name,
developers TYPE tt_developer ASSOCIATION my_manager TO managers
ON name = manager,
END OF MESH m_team.

DATA: ls_team TYPE m_team.

ls_team-managers = lt_manager.
ls_team-developers = lt_developer.

*Get details of Jerry's manager *

"get line of dev table
ASSIGN lt_developer[ name = 'Jerry' ] TO FIELD-SYMBOL(<ls_jerry>).
DATA(ls_jmanager) = ls_team-developers\my_manager[ jerry ].

WRITE: / |Jerry's manager: { ls_jmanager-name }|,30

|Salary: { ls_jmanager-salary }|.

"Get Thomas' developers

SKIP.
WRITE: / |Thomas' developers:|.

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"line of manager table

ASSIGN lt_manager[ name = 'Thomas' ] TO FIELD-SYMBOL(<ls_thomas>).
LOOP AT ls_team-managers\my_employee[ thomas ]
ASSIGNING FIELD-SYMBOL(<ls_emp>).
WRITE: / |Employee name: { <ls_emp>-name }|.
ENDLOOP.

Output
Jerry's manager: Jason

Salary: 3000

Thomas' developers:
Employee name: David
Employee name: Jack
Employee name: John

Filter
Filter the records in a table based on records in another table

Definition
... FILTER type( itab [EXCEPT] [IN ftab] [USING KEY keyname]
WHERE c1 op f1 [AND c2 op f2 [...]] )

Problem
Filter an internal table of Flight Schedules (SPFLI) to only those flights based on a filter table that contains the
fields Cityfrom and CityTo.

Solution
With 7.40
TYPES: BEGIN OF ty_filter,
cityfrom TYPE spfli-cityfrom,
cityto TYPE spfli-cityto,

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f3

TYPE i,

END OF ty_filter,
ty_filter_tab TYPE HASHED TABLE OF ty_filter
WITH UNIQUE KEY cityfrom cityto.
DATA: lt_splfi TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF spfli.

SELECT * FROM spfli APPENDING TABLE lt_splfi.

DATA(lt_filter) = VALUE ty_filter_tab( f3 = 2

( cityfrom = 'NEW YORK' cityto = 'SAN FRANCISCO' )
( cityfrom = 'FRANKFURT' cityto = 'NEW YORK' ) ).

DATA(lt_myrecs) = FILTER #( lt_splfi IN lt_filter

WHERE cityfrom = cityfrom
AND cityto = cityto ).

Output filtered records

LOOP AT lt_myrecs ASSIGNING FIELD-SYMBOL(<ls_rec>).
WRITE: / <ls_rec>-carrid,8 <ls_rec>-cityfrom,30
<ls_rec>-cityto,45 <ls_rec>-deptime.
ENDLOOP.
Note: using the keyword EXCEPT (see definition above) would have returned the exact opposite
records i.e all records EXCEPT for those those returned above.

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