So you're an experienced ABAP programmer wanting to leverage off the fantastic new functionality available to you in ABAP 7.40!

However, searching for information on this topic leads you to fragmented pages or blogs that refer to only a couple of the new features available to you.

What you need is a quick reference guide which gives you the essentials you need and shows you how the code you are familiar with can be improved with ABAP 7.40.

The below document contains exactly this!

It gives examples of "classic" ABAP and its 740 equivalent. It goes into more details on the more difficult topics normally via examples. This allows the reader to dive in to the level they desire. While this document does not contain everything pertaining to ABAP 740 it certainly covers the most useful parts in the experience of the author.

The document has been compiled by drawing on existing material available online as well as trial and error by the author. In particular the blogs by Horst Keller have been useful and are the best reference I have found (prior to this document ). He has a landing page of sorts for his various blogs on the topic here:

ABAP Language News for Release 7.40

Credit also goes to Naimesh Patel for his useful explanations and examples on ABAP 7.40. Here is his example of the "FOR iteration expression" which I leaned on (links to his other 740 articles can be found at the bottom of the link):

http://zevolving.com/2015/05/abap-740-for-iteration-expression/

I compiled the below document to make the transition to using ABAP 740 easier for myself and my project team. It has worked well for us and I hope it will do the same for you.

Regards,

Jeff Towell

ABAP 7.40 Quick Reference  

Contents

1. Inline Declarations

2. Table Expressions

3. Conversion Operator CONV

     I.  Definition

     II. Example

4. Value Operator VALUE

     I.   Definition

     II.  Example for structures

     III. Examples for internal tables

5. FOR operator

     I.   Definition

     II.  Explanation

     III. Example 1

     IV. Example 2

     V. FOR with THEN and UNTIL|WHILE

6. Reduction operator REDUCE

     I.   Definition

     II.  Note

     III. Example 1

     IV. Example 2

     V.  Example 3

7. Conditional operators COND and SWITCH

     I.   Definition

     II.  Example for COND

     III. Example for SWITCH

8. CORRESPONDING operator

     I.   Definition

     II.  Example Code

     III. Output

     IV. Explanation

     V.  Additions MAPPING and EXCEPT

9.Strings

     I.   String Templates

     II.  Concatenation

     III. Width/Alignment/Padding.

     IV. Case

     V.  ALPHA conversion

     VI.  Date conversion

10. Classes/Methods

     I.   Referencing fields within returned structures

     II.  Methods that return a type BOOLEAN

     III. NEW operator

11. Meshes

     I.   Problem

     II.  Solution

     III. Output

12. Filter

     I.   Definition

     II.  Problem

     III. Solution

1. Inline Declarations

2. Table Expressions

If a table line is not found, the exception CX_SY_ITAB_LINE_NOT_FOUND is raised. No sy-subrc.

NB: There will be a short dump if you use an inline expression that references a non-existent record.

        SAP says you should therefore assign a field symbol and check sy-subrc.

ASSIGN lt_tab[ 1 ] to FIELD-SYMBOL(<ls_tab>).
IF sy-subrc = 0.
...
ENDIF.

NB: Use itab [ table_line = … ] for untyped tables.

3. Conversion Operator CONV

I.  Definition

CONV dtype|#( ... )

dtype = Type you want to convert to (explicit)

#     = compiler must use the context to decide the type to convert to (implicit)

II. Example

Methodcl_abap_codepage=>convert_toexpects a string

4. Value Operator VALUE

I. Definition

     Variables:    VALUE dtype|#( )

     Structures:  VALUE dtype|#( comp1 = a1 comp2 = a2 ... )

     Tables:         VALUE dtype|#( ( ... ) ( ... ) ... ) ...

II. Example for structures

     TYPES:  BEGIN OF ty_columns1,“Simple structure
                     cols1 TYPE i,
                     cols2 TYPE i,
                   END OF ty_columns1.

      TYPES: BEGIN OF ty_columnns2,  “Nested structure
                     coln1 TYPE i,
                     coln2 TYPE ty_columns1,
                  END OF ty_columns2.

      DATA: struc_simple TYPE ty_columns1,
                struc_nest    TYPE ty_columns2.

     struct_nest   = VALUE t_struct(coln1 = 1
                                                  coln2-cols1 = 1
                                                  coln2-cols2 = 2 ).

     OR

     struct_nest   = VALUE t_struct(coln1 = 1
                                                   coln2 = VALUE #( cols1 = 1
                                                   cols2 = 2 ) ).

III. Examples for internal tables

Elementary line type:

TYPES t_itab TYPE TABLE OF i WITH EMPTY KEY.

DATA itab TYPE t_itab.

itab = VALUE #( ( ) ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ).

Structured line type (RANGEStable):

DATA itab TYPE RANGE OF i.

itab = VALUE #( sign = 'I'  option = 'BT' ( low = 1  high = 10 )
( low = 21 high = 30 )
( low = 41 high = 50 )
option = 'GE' ( low = 61 )  ).

5. FOR operator

I. Definition

     FOR wa|<fs> IN itab [INDEX INTO idx] [cond]

II. Explanation

This effectively causes a loop at itab. For each loop the row read is assigned to a work area (wa) or field-symbol(<fs>).

This wa or <fs> is local to the expression i.e. if declared in a subrourine the variable wa or <fs> is a local variable of

that subroutine. Index like SY-TABIX in loop.

Given: 

TYPES: BEGIN OF ty_ship,
           tknum TYPE tknum,     "Shipment Number
           name  TYPE ernam,     "Name of Person who Created the Object
           city  TYPE ort01,     "Starting city
           route TYPE route,     "Shipment route
       END OF ty_ship.
TYPES: ty_ships TYPE SORTED TABLE OF ty_ship WITH UNIQUE KEY tknum.
TYPES: ty_citys TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF ort01 WITH EMPTY KEY.

GT_SHIPStypety_ships. -> has been populated as follows:

III. Example 1

Populate internal table GT_CITYS with the cities from GT_SHIPS.

IV. Example 2

Populate internal table GT_CITYS with the cities from GT_SHIPS where the route is R0001.

Note: ls_ship does not appear to have been declared but it is declared implicitly.

V. FOR with THEN and UNTIL|WHILE

FOR i = ... [THEN expr] UNTIL|WHILE log_exp

Populate an internal table as follows:

TYPES:
  BEGIN OF ty_line,
    col1 TYPE i,
    col2 TYPE i,
    col3 TYPE i,
  END OF ty_line,
  ty_tab TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF ty_line WITH EMPTY KEY.

6. Reduction operator REDUCE

I. Definition

... REDUCE type(

INIT result = start_value

           ...

FOR for_exp1

FOR for_exp2

...

NEXT ...

           result = iterated_value

... )

II. Note

     While VALUE and NEW expressions can include FOR expressions, REDUCE must include at least one FOR expression. You can use all kinds      of FOR expressions in REDUCE:

• with IN for iterating internal tables
• with UNTIL or WHILE for conditional iterations

III. Example 1

Count lines of table that meet a condition (field F1 contains “XYZ”).

IV. Example 2

Sum the values 1 to 10 stored in the column of a table defined as follows

DATA gt_itab TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF i WITH EMPTY KEY.
gt_itab = VALUE #( FOR j = 1 WHILE j <= 10 ( j ) ).

V. Example 3

Using a class reference - works because “write” method returns reference to instance object

7. Conditional operators COND and SWITCH

I. Definition

... COND dtype|#( WHEN log_exp1 THEN result1
[ WHEN log_exp2 THEN result2 ]
...
[ ELSE resultn ] ) ...

... SWITCH dtype|#( operand
WHEN const1 THEN result1
[ WHEN const2 THEN result2 ]
...
[ ELSE resultn ] ) ...

II. Example for COND

DATA(time) =

  COND string(

    WHEN sy-timlo < '120000' THEN

      |{ sy-timlo TIME = ISO } AM|

    WHEN sy-timlo > '120000' THEN

      |{ CONV t( sy-timlo - 12 * 3600 )

TIME = ISO } PM|

    WHEN sy-timlo = '120000' THEN

      |High Noon|

    ELSE

      THROW cx_cant_be( ) ).

III. Example for SWITCH

DATA(text) =
NEW class( )->meth(
                     SWITCH #( sy-langu
                              WHEN 'D' THEN `DE`
                              WHEN 'E' THEN `EN`
                               ELSE THROW cx_langu_not_supported( ) ) ).

8. Corresponding Operator

I. Definition

... CORRESPONDING type( [BASE ( base )] struct|itab [mapping|except] )

II. Example Code

III. Output

IV. Explanation

Given structures ls_line1 & ls_line2 defined and populated as above.

1.   The contents of ls_line1 are moved to ls_line2 where there is a matching column name. Where there is no

            match the column of ls_line2 is initialised.

  2.This uses the existing contents of ls_line2 as a base and overwrites the matching columns from ls_line1.

            This is exactly like MOVE-CORRESPONDING.

  3.This creates a third and new structure (ls_line3) which is based on ls_line2 but overwritten by matching

             columns of ls_line1.

V. Additions MAPPING and EXCEPT

   MAPPING allows you to map fields with non-identically named components to qualify for the data transfer.   

   ... MAPPING  t1 = s1 t2 = s2

   EXCEPT allows you to list fields that must be excluded from the data transfer

   ... EXCEPT  {t1 t2 ...}

9. Strings

I. String Templates

A string template is enclosed by two characters "|" and creates a character string.

Literal text consists of all characters that are not in braces {}. The braces can contain:

• data objects,

• calculation expressions,

• constructor expressions,

• table expressions,

• predefined functions, or

• functional methodsand method chainings

II. Concatenation

III. Width/Alignment/Padding

WRITE / |{ 'Left'     WIDTH = 20 ALIGN = LEFT   PAD = '0' }|.
WRITE / |{ 'Centre'   WIDTH = 20 ALIGN = CENTER PAD = '0' }|.
WRITE / |{ 'Right'    WIDTH = 20 ALIGN = RIGHT  PAD = '0' }|.

IV. Case

WRITE / |{ 'Text' CASE = (cl_abap_format=>c_raw) }|.
WRITE / |{ 'Text' CASE = (cl_abap_format=>c_upper) }|.
WRITE / |{ 'Text' CASE = (cl_abap_format=>c_lower) }|.

V. ALPHA conversion

DATA(lv_vbeln) = '0000012345'.
WRITE / |{ lv_vbeln  ALPHA = OUT }|.     “or use ALPHA = IN to go in other direction

VI. Date conversion

WRITE / |{ pa_date DATE = ISO }|.           “Date Format YYYY-MM-DD
WRITE / |{ pa_date DATE = User }|.          “As per user settings
WRITE / |{ pa_date DATE = Environment }|.   “Formatting setting of language environment

10. Classes/Methods

I. Referencing fields within returned structures

II. Methods that return a type BOOLEAN

NB: The type “BOOLEAN” is not a true Boolean but a char1 with allowed values X,- and <blank>.

       Using type “FLAG” or “WDY_BOOLEAN” works just as well.

III. NEW operator

This operator can be used to instantiate an object.

11. Meshes

Allows an association to be set up between related data groups.

I. Problem

Given the following 2 internal tables:

TYPES: BEGIN OF t_manager,
name   TYPE char10,
salary TYPE int4,
END OF t_manager,
tt_manager TYPE SORTED TABLE OF t_manager WITH UNIQUE KEY name.

TYPES: BEGIN OF t_developer,
name    TYPE char10,
salary  TYPE int4,
manager TYPE char10,   "Name of manager
END OF t_developer,
tt_developer TYPE SORTED TABLE OF t_developer WITH UNIQUE KEY name.

Populated as follows:

Get the details of Jerry’s manager and all developers managed by Thomas.

II. Solution

III. Output

     Jerry's manager: Jason          Salary: 3000

     Thomas' developers:

     Employee name: David

     Employee name: Jack

     Employee name: John

12. Filter

Filter the records in a table based on records in another table.

I. Definition

... FILTER type( itab [EXCEPT] [IN ftab] [USING KEY keyname]
           WHERE c1 op f1 [AND c2 op f2 [...]] )

II. Problem

Filter an internal table of Flight Schedules (SPFLI) to only those flights based on a filter table that contains the fields Cityfrom and CityTo.

III. Solution

Note: using the keyword “EXCEPT” (see definition above) would have returned the exact opposite records i.e all records EXCEPT for those those returned above.