ABAP Training

String Processing & Formatting

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 String Processing

• Concatenating Character Strings

• Condensing Field Contents
• Converting to Upper/Lower Case and Substituting
Characters
• Overlaying Character Fields
• Replacing Field Contents
• Searching for Character Strings
• Shifting
1. Shifting a Field String by a Given Number of Positions
2. Shifting a Field String According to the First or Last Character
3. Shifting a Field String up to a Given String
• Splitting Character Strings
• Obtaining the Length of a Character String

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 Concatenating Character Strings

Syntax:

CONCATENATE <c1> ... <cn> INTO <c> [SEPARATED BY <s>].

Examples: Output:

DATA: C1(10) VALUE ‘sum’,

C2(3) VALUE 'mer',
C3(5) VALUE 'holi ',
C4(10) VALUE 'day',
C5(30),
SEP(3) VALUE ' - '.
summerholiday

CONCATENATE C1 C2 C3 C4 INTO C5.

WRITE C5.

CONCATENATE C1 C2 C3 C4 INTO C5 SEPARATED sum - mer - holi - day

BY SEP.
WRITE / C5.

Note: If the result fits into <c>, SY-SUBRC is set to 0. However, if the result has to be truncated,
SY-SUBRC is set to 4.

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 Condensing Field Contents
Syntax:

CONDENSE <c> [NO-GAPS].

Examples: Output:
DATA: STRING(25) VALUE
' one two three four',
LEN TYPE I.
one two three four !
LEN = STRLEN( STRING ). Length: 25
WRITE: STRING, '!'.
WRITE: / 'Length: ', LEN.

CONDENSE STRING.
LEN = STRLEN( STRING ).
one two three four !
WRITE: STRING, '!'.
Length: 18
WRITE: / 'Length: ', LEN.

CONDENSE STRING NO-GAPS.

LEN = STRLEN( STRING ). onetwothreefour !
WRITE: STRING, '!'. Length: 15
WRITE: / 'Length: ', LEN.

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 Condensing Field Contents
QUESTION

What if I need an output:

one two three four !
Length: 20

with the following data declaration:

DATA: STRING(25) VALUE
' one two three four',
LEN TYPE I.

Code:
CONDENSE STRING.
CONCATENATE STRING ‘!’ INTO STRING SEPARATED BY SPACE.
LEN = STRLEN( STRING ).
WRITE: STRING.
WRITE: / 'Length: ', LEN.

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 Converting to Upper/Lower Case and Substituting Characters
Syntax:

TRANSLATE <c> TO UPPER CASE.

TRANSLATE <c> TO LOWER CASE.
TRANSLATE <c> USING <r>.
Examples: Output:
DATA: T(10) VALUE 'AbCdEfGhIj',
STRING LIKE T,
RULE(20) VALUE 'AxbXCydYEzfZ'.

STRING = T. AbCdEfGhIj
WRITE STRING.
TRANSLATE STRING TO UPPER CASE. ABCDEFGHIJ
WRITE / STRING.

STRING = T.
abcdefghij
TRANSLATE STRING TO LOWER CASE.
WRITE / STRING.

STRING = T.
xXyYzZGhIj
TRANSLATE STRING USING RULE.
WRITE / STRING.

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 Overlaying Character Fields
Syntax:
OVERLAY <c1> WITH <c2> [ONLY <str>]

Examples: Output:

DATA: T(10) VALUE 'a c e g i ',

STRING LIKE T,
OVER(10) VALUE 'ABCDEFGHIJ',
STR(2) VALUE 'ai'.
STRING = T. acegi
WRITE STRING. ABCDEFGHIJ
WRITE / OVER.
aBcDeFgHiJ
OVERLAY STRING WITH OVER.
WRITE / STRING.

STRING = T.
OVERLAY STRING WITH OVER ONLY STR. AcegI
WRITE / STRING.

Note: 1) If at least one character in <c1> was replaced, SY-SUBRC is set to 0. In all other cases,
SY-SUBRC is set to 4.
2) If <c1> is longer than <c2>, it is overlaid only in the length of <c2>.

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 Replacing Field Contents
Syntax:
REPLACE <str1> WITH <str2> INTO <c> [LENGTH <l>].
Examples: Output:
DATA: T(10) VALUE 'abcdefghij',
STRING LIKE T,
STR1(4) VALUE 'cdef',
STR2(4) VALUE 'klmn',
STR3(2) VALUE 'kl',
STR4(6) VALUE 'klmnop',
LEN TYPE I VALUE 2.
STRING = T. abcdefghij
WRITE STRING.

REPLACE STR1 WITH STR2 INTO

STRING. abklmnghij
WRITE / STRING.

STRING = T.
REPLACE STR1 WITH STR2 INTO STRING LENGTH LEN.
WRITE / STRING. abklmnefgh

Note:If the return code value of the system field SY-SUBRC is set to 0, this indicates that <str1>
was found in <c> and replaced by <str2>.

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 Replacing Field Contents
Syntax:
REPLACE <str1> WITH <str2> INTO <c> [LENGTH <l>].
Examples: Output:
DATA: T(10) VALUE 'abcdefghij',
STRING LIKE T,
STR1(4) VALUE 'cdef',
STR2(4) VALUE 'klmn',
STR3(2) VALUE 'kl',
STR4(6) VALUE 'klmnop',
LEN TYPE I VALUE 2.
STRING = T.
REPLACE STR1 WITH STR3 INTO abklghij
STRING.
WRITE / STRING.

STRING = T.
REPLACE STR1 WITH STR4 INTO abklmnopgh
STRING.
WRITE / STRING.

Note:If the return code value of the system field SY-SUBRC is set to 0, this indicates that <str1>
was found in <c> and replaced by <str2>.

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 Searching for Character Strings

Syntax:

SEARCH <c> FOR <str> <options>.

Note: If successful, the return code value of SY-SUBRC is set to 0 and SY-FDPOS is set to the
offset of the string in the field <c>. Otherwise SY-SUBRC is set to 4.

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 Searching for Character Strings
Examples:
DATA STRING(30) VALUE 'This is a little sentence.'.
WRITE: / 'Searched', 'SY-SUBRC', 'SY-FDPOS'.
ULINE /1(26). Output:
SEARCH STRING FOR 'X'. SEARCHED SY-SUBRC SY-FDPOS
WRITE: / 'X', SY-SUBRC UNDER 'SY-SUBRC', X 4 0
SY-FDPOS UNDER 'SY-FDPOS’.

SEARCH STRING FOR 'itt '.

itt 0 11
WRITE: / 'itt ', SY-SUBRC UNDER 'SY-SUBRC',
SY-FDPOS UNDER 'SY-FDPOS’.

SEARCH STRING FOR '.e .'.

WRITE: / '.e .', SY-SUBRC UNDER 'SY-SUBRC', .e . 0 15
SY-FDPOS UNDER 'SY-FDPOS'.

SEARCH STRING FOR '*e'.

WRITE: / '*e ', SY-SUBRC UNDER 'SY-SUBRC', *e 0 10
SY-FDPOS UNDER 'SY-FDPOS'.

SEARCH STRING FOR 's*'. s* 0 17

WRITE: / 's* ', SY-SUBRC UNDER 'SY-SUBRC',
SY-FDPOS UNDER 'SY-FDPOS’.

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 Different options
1. ABBREVIATED
2. STARTING AT <n1>
3. ENDING AT <n2>
4. AND MARK

Examples:
DATA: STRING(30) VALUE 'This is a fast first example.',
POS TYPE I,
OFF TYPE I.
Output:

WRITE / STRING. This is a fast first example.

SEARCH STRING FOR 'ft' SY-FDPOS: 10
ABBREVIATED.
WRITE: / 'SY-FDPOS:', SY-FDPOS.

POS = SY-FDPOS + 2.
SEARCH STRING FOR 'ft'
ABBREVIATED STARTING AT POS This is a fast FIRST example.
AND MARK. SY-FDPOS: 4
WRITE / STRING.: / 'SY-FDPOS:', SY- Off: 15
FDPOS.
OFF = POS + SY-FDPOS -1.: / 'Off:', OFF.

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 Shifting a Field String by a Given Number of Positions
Syntax:

SHIFT <c> [BY <n> PLACES] [<mode>].

Examples: Output:
DATA: T(10) VALUE 'abcdefghij',
STRING LIKE T. abcdefghij
STRING = T. bcdefghij
WRITE STRING.
SHIFT STRING.
WRITE / STRING.

STRING = T.
WRITE / STRING.
SHIFT STRING BY 3 PLACES
LEFT. abcdefghij
WRITE / STRING. defghij

STRING = T.
WRITE / STRING.
SHIFT STRING BY 3 PLACES abcdefghij
RIGHT. abcdefg
WRITE / STRING.

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 Shifting a Field String by a Given Number of Positions
Syntax:

SHIFT <c> [BY <n> PLACES] [<mode>].

Examples: Output:
DATA: T(10) VALUE 'abcdefghij',
STRING LIKE T. abcdefghij
STRING = T. defghijabc
WRITE STRING.
SHIFT STRING BY 3 PLACES
CIRCULAR.
WRITE / STRING.

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 Shifting a Field String According to the First or Last Character

Syntax:

SHIFT <c> LEFT DELETING LEADING <str>.

SHIFT <c> RIGHT DELETING TRAILING <str>.

Examples: Output:

DATA: T(14) VALUE ' abcdefghij

abcdefghij', abcdefghij
STRING LIKE T,
STR(6) VALUE 'ghijkl'.
STRING = T.
WRITE STRING.
SHIFT STRING LEFT DELETING
LEADING SPACE.
WRITE / STRING.

STRING = T.
WRITE STRING. abcdefghij
SHIFT STRING RIGHT DELETING abcdef
TRAILING STR.
WRITE / STRING.

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 Shifting a Field String up to a Given String
Syntax:
SHIFT <c> UP TO <str> <mode>.
Examples:
DATA: T(10) VALUE 'abcdefghij',
STRING LIKE T,
STR(2) VALUE 'ef'.
Output:
STRING = T.
abcdefghij
WRITE STRING.
efghij
SHIFT STRING UP TO STR.
WRITE / STRING.

STRING = T.
SHIFT STRING UP TO STR LEFT.
WRITE / STRING. efghij

STRING = T. abcdef
SHIFT STRING UP TO STR RIGHT.
WRITE / STRING.

STRING = T.
SHIFT STRING UP TO STR CIRCULAR. efghijabcd
WRITE / STRING.

Note: If <str> is not found in <c>, SY-SUBRC is set to 4 and <c> is not shifted. Otherwise, SY-
SUBRC is set to 0.

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 Splitting Character Strings
Syntax:
SPLIT <c> AT <del> INTO <c1> ... <cn>.
SPLIT <c> AT <del> INTO TABLE <itab>.
Examples:
DATA: STRING(60),
P1(20) VALUE '++++++++++++++++++++',
P2(20) VALUE '++++++++++++++++++++',
P3(20) VALUE '++++++++++++++++++++',
P4(20) VALUE '++++++++++++++++++++',
DEL(3) VALUE '***'.

STRING = ' Part 1 *** Part 2 *** Part Output:

3 *** Part 4 *** Part 5'. Part 1 *** Part 2 *** Part 3 *** Part 4
*** Part 5
WRITE STRING.

Part 1
SPLIT STRING AT DEL INTO P1 P2
P3 P4. Part 2
WRITE / P1. Part 3
WRITE / P2. Part 4 *** Part 5
WRITE / P3.
WRITE / P4.

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 Obtaining the Length of a Character String

Syntax:

[COMPUTE] <n> = STRLEN( <c> ).

Examples: Output:

DATA: INT TYPE I,

WORD1(20) VALUE '12345’,
WORD2(20),
WORD3(20) VALUE
' 4 '.
5
INT = STRLEN( WORD1 ).
WRITE INT.

INT = STRLEN( WORD2 ). 0

WRITE / INT.

INT = STRLEN( WORD3 ). 4

WRITE / INT.

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Formatting Options

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 Formatting

• Formatting Output
• Format reset
• Format Color
• Format Input

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 Formatting Outputs
Syntax:

WRITE .... <f> <option>.

Examples: Output

DATA: G(5) VALUE 'Hello',

F(5) VALUE 'Dolly'.
Hello Dolby
WRITE: G, F.
Hello
WRITE: /10 G, Dolby
/ F UNDER G.

HelloDolby
WRITE: / G NO-GAP, F.

DATA TIME TYPE T VALUE '154633'.

154633
WRITE: TIME,
15:46:33
/(8) TIME USING EDIT MASK '__:__:__'

WRITE: '000123', 000123

/ '000123' NO-ZERO. 123

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 Formatting options for all data types

Option Purpose

LEFT-JUSTIFIED Output is left-justified.

CENTERED Output is centered.
RIGHT-JUSTIFIED Output is right-justified.
UNDER <g> Output starts directly under the field <g>.
NO-GAP The blank after the field <f> is omitted.
USING EDIT MASK <m> Specifies a format template <m>.
NO-ZERO If a field contains only zeros, these are replaced by
blanks.
For type C and N fields, leading zeros are replaced
automatically.

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 Formatting options for numeric fields

Option Purpose

NO-SIGN The leading sign is not output.

DECIMALS <d> <d> defines the number of digits after the decimal point.

EXPONENT <e> In type F fields, the exponent is defined in <e>.

ROUND <r> Type P fields are multiplied by 10**(-r) and then

rounded.

CURRENCY <c> Format according to currency <c> in table TCURX.

UNIT <u> The number of decimal places is fixed according to the unit <u>specified in
table T006 for type P
fields.

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 Formatting options for date fields

Option Purpose

DD/MM/YY Separators as defined in user's master record

MM/DD/YY Separators as defined in user's master record
DD/MM/YYYY Separators as defined in user's master record
MM/DD/YYYY Separators as defined in user's master record
DDMMYY No separators.
MMDDYY No separators.
YYMMDD No separators.

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 Format Reset
Syntax:
To set formatting options statically in the program, use the FORMAT statement as follows:

FORMAT <option1> [ON|OFF] <option2> [ON|OFF] ....

To set the formatting options dynamically at runtime, use the FORMAT statement as
follows:

FORMAT <option1> = <var1> <option2> = <var2> ....

To set all formatting options to OFF in one go, use:

Syntax
FORMAT RESET.

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 Format, Color (Color in Lists)

Format Options:
• color
• intensified
• inverse

To set colors in the program, use:

Syntax

FORMAT COLOR <n> [ON] INTENSIFIED [ON|OFF] INVERSE [ON|OFF].

To set colors at runtime, use:

Syntax

FORMAT COLOR = <c> INTENSIFIED = <int> INVERSE = <inv>.

Note: Formatting options do not apply to horizontal lines created by ULINE.

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 Format, Color (Color in Lists)

<n> <c> Color Intended for

OFF or COL_BACKGROUND 0 depends on GUI background

1 or COL_HEADING 1 grey-blue headings
2 or COL_NORMAL 2 light grey list bodies
3 or COL_TOTAL 3 yellow totals
4 or COL_KEY 4 blue-green key columns
5 or COL_POSITIVE 5 green positive threshold value
6 or COL_NEGATIVE 6 red negative threshold value
7 or COL_GROUP 7 violet group levels

Note:
• The default setting is COLOR OFF.
• The default color for all text is COL_BACKGROUND
• The default setting is INTENSIFIED ON.
• For COLOR OFF INVERSE has no effect.

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 Outputting Fields as HOTSPOTS

To output areas as hotspots, use the following option of the FORMAT statement:

Syntax

FORMAT HOTSPOT [ON|OFF].

To designate fields as hotspots at runtime, use:

Syntax:
FORMAT HOTSPOT = <h>.

Note: 1. You cannot use the HOTSPOT option if INPUT ON is set

2. You cannot format horizontal lines created with ULINE and blank lines created with
SKIP as hotspots.

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 Format Input

The output fields can be made input enabled.

Syntax:

FORMAT INPUT [ON|OFF].

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