Predefined Types in ABAP Dictionary The following table lists the predefined types in ABAP Dictionary. These types cannot be used directly in ABAP programs, and are therefore also known as external data types. Instead, they are used in ABAP Dictionary to define data types and database fields that can be referenced from ABAP programs. Each predefined data type in ABAP Dictionary is assigned to the predefined ABAP type listed in the last column of the table. TypePermitted Positions mMeaning ABAP Type ACCP6Posting period n , length 6 CHAR1-30000Character string c, length m CLNT3Clientc, length 3 CUKY5Currency key for currency fields c, length 5 CURR1-31Currency field in BCD format p, length (m+1)/2 DATS8 Dated DEC1-31Packed number BCD format p, length (m+1)/2 DF16_DEC1-15Decimal floating point number stored in BCD format decfloat16 DF16_RAW16Decimal floating point number stored in binary format decfloat16 DF16_SCL16Decimal floating point number stored in binary format with subsequent scaling decfloat16 DF34_DEC1-31Decimal floating point number stored in BCD format decfloat34 DF34_RAW34Decimal floating point number stored in binary format decfloat34 DF34_SCL34Decimal floating point number stored in binary format with subsequent scaling decfloat34 FLTP16Floating point numberf INT131-byte integerb INT252-byte integers INT4104-byte integeri INT8198-Byte-Integerint8 LANG1Languagec, length 1 LCHR256-...Long character string c, length m LRAW256-...Long byte string x, length m NUMC1-255Numeric text n, length m PREC2Obsolete data types QUAN1-31Quantity field in BCD format p, length (m+1)/2 RAW1-255Byte stringx, length m RAWSTRING256-...Byte string (BLOB )xstring SSTRING1-1333Character string string STRING256-...Character string (CLOB )string TIMS6Time t UNIT2-3Unit key of a quantity field c, length m
Notes
The ABAP types b and s, assigned to the types INT1 and INT2, cannot be specified either statically or dynamically in ABAP statements. These types only occur in ABAP programs, in relation to the types INT1 and INT2 from ABAP Dictionary.
The types RAWSTRING and STRING for LOBs have a variable length. A maximum length can be specified, but there is no upper limit.
The type SSTRING also has a variable length, but there is an upper limit. The maximum length is 1333. The benefit of using it, and not CHAR, is that it is assigned to the ABAP type string. Its advantage over STRING is that it can also be used for key fields in database tables and in WHERE conditions .
The maximum length of data types that are based on RAWSTRING, STRING, and SSTRING can be determined using the predefined function dbmaxlen.
The maximum number of characters of the types LCHR and LRAW is the value of a preceding INT2 field in a transparent database table. If the statement SELECT is used to read an LCHR field and an LRAW field, the preceding length field must also be read.
If a data type CURR, DEC, DF34_DEC, DF16_DEC , or QUAN has an even number of characters (not recommended), the length of the associated ABAP type p is rounded up and hence becomes the next highest uneven number.
The data type PREC is obsolete and should no longer be used. In ABAP Dictionary and in ABAP programs, it is handled like INT2, despite the predefined length (2). The length 2 is relevant only for screen fields of the type PREC, which can have two-character positive values at most. The property sign cannot be set for a domain of the type PREC
For more information and further tips, see Use of Predefined Types from ABAP Dictionary.
