ARTICLE
Object Component Selector
A component comp of an object is accessed using the name
ref- comp
In this case, the character - is the object component selector.
The name ref of a reference variable must be to the left of the
object component selector. The name ref can itself be composite.
The name comp of the component must be to the right of the object
component selector. If an attempt is made to access an object component
with a reference variable that contains the
null reference , a non-handleable
exception is raised. Dereferencing of a data reference in the statement
ASSIGN is an exception to this.
The object component selector dereferences the reference variable
ref and makes the components of the referenced object accessible.
If ref is an object reference variable, the components comp
of the object (attributes and methods) to which the object reference
variable points are addressed using the object component selector.
If ref is a data reference variable that is typed as a structure,
the components comp of the structure to which the data reference
variable points are addressed using the object component selector.
Note
If ref is a data reference variable, the character * can
be specified after the object component selector - . This creates
the general dereferencing operator - * . The expression ref- *
labels the entire data object to which the data reference variable
points. The dereferencing operator is the only way to dereference data
references. In the case of untyped data reference variables, this was
only possible using the statement ASSIGN . The dereferencing
operator cannot be specified after object reference variables. The
instance components of classes can only be accessed using the expression
ref- comp .
Example
Access to the public attribute a1 of a class c1 by using
the object reference variable oref .
CLASS c1 DEFINITION.
PUBLIC SECTION.
DATA a1 TYPE string READ-ONLY.
ENDCLASS.
...
DATA oref TYPE REF TO c1.
... oref- a1 ...
Example
The data reference variable dref is typed as a structure and the
component carrid of the referenced structure is accessed using
the object component selector. The expression dref- carrid has
the same meaning as the chaining dref- *-carrid .
DATA dref TYPE REF TO sflight.
...
... dref- carrid ...
Documentation extract taken from SAP system, � Copyright SAP AG. All rights reserved