What Information is Stored in the ABAP Dictionary?

Purpose of ABAP Dictionary
􀂾
What Information is Stored in the ABAP Dictionary?
􀂾
Integration in the ABAP Development Workbench
•Tables
•Table Fields
•Assignment of the Data Type, Field Length and Short Text
•Technical Settings
•Data Class
•Size Category


ABAP DICTIONARY

Purpose of ABAP Dictionary
Data definitions (metadata) are created and managed in the ABAP Dictionary. The ABAP Dictionary permits a central description of all the data used in the system without redundancies. New or modified information is automatically provided for all the system components. This ensures data integrity, data consistency and data security. You can create the corresponding objects (tables or views) in the underlying relational database using these data definitions. The ABAP Dictionary therefore describes the logical structure of the objects used in application development and shows how they are mapped to the underlying relational database in tables or views.
The ABAP Dictionary also provides standard functions for editing fields on the screen, for example for assigning a screen field an input help.

What Information is Stored in the ABAP Dictionary?
The most important object types in the ABAP Dictionary are tables, views, types, domains, search helps and lock objects.
Tables are defined in the ABAP Dictionary independently of the database. A table having the same structure is then created from this table definition in the underlying database.
Views are logical views on more than one table. The structure of the view is defined in the ABAP Dictionary. A view on the database can then be created from this structure.
Types are used in ABAP program. The structure of a type can be defined globally in ABAP programs. Changes to a type automatically take effect in all the programs using the type. Lock objects are used to synchronize access to the same data by more than one user. Function modules that can be used in application programs are generated from the definition of a lock object in the ABAP Dictionary.
Different fields having the same technical type can be combined in domains. A domain defines the value range of all table fields and structure components that refer to this domain.
The ABAP Dictionary also contains the information displayed with the F1 and F4 help for a field in an input template. The documentation about the field is created for a data element that describes the meaning of the contents of a table field. The list of possible input values that appears for the input help is created by a foreign key or a search help .
Integration in the ABAP Development Workbench
The ABAP Dictionary is completely integrated in the ABAP Development Workbench. The R/3 System works interpretatively, permitting the ABAP Dictionary to be actively integrated in the development environment. Instead of the original objects, the interpreters see only internal representations of these objects.
These internal representations are adjusted automatically when the system finds that changes have been made in the ABAP Dictionary. This ensures that the screen and ABAP interpreters, input help, database interface, and development tools always access current data.
When

You must be Loged in to download file