SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP Release 740, ©Copyright 2014 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
Use Only Character-Type Fields When Processing Strings
In ABAP Objects, the following syntax causes an error message:
DATA int TYPE i.
SHIFT int BY 3 PLACES.
Correct syntax:
DATA int(4) TYPE c.
SHIFT int BY 3 PLACES.
Reason:
The statements for character string processing treat their operands as character-like
irrespective of their actual type, which may lead to undefined results in connection with fields that are not character-like.