SAP NEWS-46-DATA-REFERENCES documentation, setup help and example usage

Data Objects and Data References in Release 4.6A

In ABAP_99A , references to data objects have been introduced in the following variants:

1 Reference variables for data objects
2 Creating data objects and getting references
3 Assignment of referenced fields


ABAP_MODIFICATION_1 Reference Variables for Data Objects

Previously, reference variables were only available in ABAP Objects . In Release 4.6A, DATA f TYPE REF TO DATA can be used to declare f as a reference variable that points to a different data object.


ABAP_MODIFICATION_2 Creating Data Objects and Getting References

CREATE DATA dref ... can be used to create a new data object (field) at runtime, where dref can be any reference variable with type REF TO DATA
. Furthermore, GET REFERENCE can be used to get a reference to a data object (field).


ABAP_MODIFICATION_3 Assignment of Referenced Fields

The statement ASSIGN dref- * TO fs makes the field symbol fs point to the same content as the data reference dref at runtime. If the field symbol is typed, the type is checked when the assignment is made.