SAP FILE INTERFACE NAMING documentation, setup help and example usage

ARTICLE

Physical and Logical File Names
Files are addressed in all the statements of the file interface by using the physical file name by which they are known in the particular platform. This is why a file cannot be opened more than once in the same program. The physical name of a file is usually made up of a path description and the file name itself. File names with blank spaces are permitted where the blanks are part of the file name. The actual notation depends on the operating system of the application server. Any file names that do not contain an absolute path reference the directory defined using the profile parameter
DIR_HOME .
To write platform-independent and secure programs, it is best to create logical file names and logical paths that can be associated with the actual physical file names for every platform.

Non-client-specific logical file names with transaction

FILE .

Client-specific logical file names with Customizing activity SF01 .

The following function modules and methods are available for the use of logical file names in programs:

Using the FILE_GET_NAME function module it is possible to, for a logical file name, ascertain the physical file name valid for the current platform and use it in statements of the file interface.

Input fields for logical file names in SAP GUI are supported by the function modules FILE_LOGFILE_ALIAS_PBO

, FILE_LOGFILE_ALIAS_PAI , and
FILE_LOGFILE_ALIAS_F4 . These modules create an appropriate list box, check the value entered, and produce a suitable input help.

Notes

Logical file names also play an important role in the validation of file names .

For more information about logical file names and logical paths, see Logical File Names .

The class CL_FS_PATH contains methods to analyze, transform, or generate file names and path entries.

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