ABAP Keyword Documentation →  ABAP − Reference →  Declarations →  Declaration Statements →  Data Types and Data Objects →  Declaring Data Objects →  DATA → 

DATA - BEGIN OF

Short Reference

Syntax

DATA BEGIN OF struc [READ-ONLY].
  ...
   INCLUDE TYPE|STRUCTURE ...
  ...
DATA END OF struc.

Effect

Declaration of a new structure struc. This starts with a DATA statement with the addition BEGIN OF and must end with a DATA statement with the addition END OF.

The following can be included between these DATA statements:

The meaning of these statements is the same as in the definition of structured data types in the section TYPES - BEGIN OF, but here it is used to generate a bound structured data type. No structure can be created without at least one component.

A component of type struc cannot be declared by referencing struc itself. If the name struc is specified after LIKE in the declaration of a component, the next object of this name is searched for in a higher visibility area, and used if found. If a more global object of this name does not exist, a syntax error occurs.

Notes

Example

In this example, a structure spfli_struc is declared with an elementary component index and a substructure spfli_wa. The SELECT loop shows a possible use of the nested structure.

DATA: BEGIN OF spfli_struc,
         index  TYPE i,
         spfli_wa TYPE spfli,
      END OF spfli_struc.

SELECT *
       FROM spfli
       INTO spfli_struc-spfli_wa.
  spfli_struc-index = spfli_struc-index + 1.
  cl_demo_output=>next_section( |{ spfli_struc-index }| ).
  cl_demo_output=>write_data( spfli_struc-spfli_wa ).
ENDSELECT.
cl_demo_output=>display( ).