Day 2

Data Dictionary

We will learn about…

• What is Data Dictionary• Data Dictionary Objects• System Fields• Creating custom table• Internal Tables• Foreign Keys & Cardinality• Structures• Views

What is Data Dictionary

• is a system independentinterface to the database

• is a virtual database ( dataabout data)

• provides data for datamanipulation and dataprocessing

• Also called as DDIC and ABAPDictionary

Data Dictionary Objects

• Data Element

• Domain

• Tables

• Structures

• Views

SE16

Elementary Data Types

Type Explanation

C Text (Character)

N Numeric text

D Date (DDMMYYYY)

T Time (HHMMSS)

X Hexadecimal

I Integer

P Packed Number

F Floating point number

Domain• A Domain describes the technical structure of a field that is its size and

its data types.• Domains are attached to Data Elements• Fields which refer to the same domain (with the assigned data

elements), are also changed when the domain is changed. This ensuresthat the fields are consistent

• Defines a value range which describes the valid data values for all thefields which refer to this domain

Table MARACLNT 9MATNR

Data Element

Domain

Creating a Domain

Enter a description (short text)

Enter data type and length

Creating a domain (contd.)

Enter fixed value and description.

Value table may be entered

Data Element

• A data element gives the description of the field of theTable

• Examples of predefined data elements in SAP– LIFNR– KUNNR– MATNR– CLNT

Creating a Data Element

Enter a description (short text)

Enter domain name

Creating a Data Element

Maintain field labels and column headers.

Difference between Domain & Data Element

Defines Technical Attributes such asdata type, length, allowed values, etc.

Defines semantic attributes such asdisplay length, short text, long text, etc

A domain can be part of several dataelements

A Data Element can point to only onedomain

Used to define data elements, restrictvalues (using value range, value table,etc)

Used to define fields of tables andscreens

A Holistic view

Table A Table B Table C

Data element Data element

Domain

Tables

• Tables are containers which stores data in the form ofrecord

• They are a central component of the SAP R/3 Application• One or more fields form a data record (also known as tupel)• A number of data records of the same type form a table• Examples of few SAP defined tables

– MARA : Material Master

Tables Contd…

The table definition contains the following components

Table fields: defines the field names and data types ofthe fields contained in the table.

Foreign Keys: defines the relationships between thetable and other tables.

Technical Settings: control how the table should becreated on the database.

Indexes: speed up the selection of data from the table.

Tables Contd…

• Types of Tables

Transparent

ABAPDictionary Cluster

Pool

ABAPProgram

Internal

Tables Contd…

Enter the Name of thetable (should beginwith “Z” or “Y”)

Press the Create Button

Creating a Transparent Table – Step 1 of 6

Enter the Name of thetable (should beginwith “Z” or “Y”)

Press the Create Button

After making all entries,Press the “Fields” Tab

Creating a Transparent Table – Step 2 of 6

Enter a description (short text)

After making all entries,Press the “Fields” Tab

Maintain delivery class

Table maintenance attribute

After making all entries,Press the “TechnicalSettings” Button

Creating a Transparent Table – Step 3 of 6

After making all entries,Press the “TechnicalSettings” Button

Maintain field attributes

Maintain data elements

After making all entries,Press the Save Button.Once Technical Settingsare save, Press the“Back” Button (F3)

Creating a Transparent Table – Step 4 of 6

After making all entries,Press the Save Button.Once Technical Settingsare save, Press the“Back” Button (F3)

Save, Check andActivate the Table. Afterthat Press the “Indexes”Button on theApplication Toolbar

Creating a Transparent Table – Step 5 of 6

Save, Check andActivate the Table. Afterthat Press the “Indexes”Button on theApplication Toolbar

After entering the IndexFields and otherparameters, save andactivate the index, Z01

Creating a Transparent Table – Step 6 of 6Steps to create an index

After entering the IndexFields and otherparameters, save andactivate the index, Z01

SAP Transparent Tables

• Example of few SAP Transparent Tables– MARA : General Material Data– VBAK : Sales Document: Header Data– KNA1 : General Data in Customer Master

• Example of SAP Cluster Table– BSEG : Accounting Document Segment

Tables Contd…

• Foreign Keys– Uses

• Maintain data integrity• Provide help texts• Create aggregate dictionary objects

– Prerequisites• The foreign key text field and primary key of the check table must

share the same domain• A value table must exist for that domain

Tables Contd…

• Cardinality– Cardinality defines the type of

relationship between two tables

– The cardinality of a foreign key

indicates how many dependent

records a record in a check

table may have

Cardinality Types

1 : 1

1 : C

1 : N

1 : CN

System fields

• SAP has a system table named syst. It stores all thesystem related data

• Examples of few fields in this table are– Sy-datum : System Date– Sy-langu : System Language– Sy-subrc : System check– Sy-uzeit : System time

SAP Data

MasterData

TransactionData

• G/L Accounts• Vendors• Materials• Stock Locations

• Sales Orders• Purchase Orders• Journal Entries• Goods Receipts

SystemData

ConfigurationData

• Metadata• Programs• Documentation• System Settings

• Currency Codes• Order Types• Payment Terms• Field Status Codes

Structures

• A structure is defined like a table in the ABAP Dictionaryand can then be accessed from within ABAP programs

• Contain data temporarily during program runtime• The same data elements and domains can be used in

structures as in tables

Views

• A view combines the data distributed in several tables• Views allow to gather information from fields of different

tables and present it to the users in form they requirewhen working in the R/3 system