Declaring a sorted table from a dbtab

[Former Member]

In the public section of my class, I have:

TYPES: ty_t_tadir_detail TYPE SORTED TABLE OF dbtab.

In the private section, I have:

DATA: gt_tadir_detail TYPE ty_t_tadir_detail.

When I try to activate, I get the error:

"TY_T_TADIR_DETAIL" is a generic type. Use this type only for typing field symbols and formal parameters.

How do I make a sorted table gt_tadir_detail from my dbtab, to be used as a class attribute?

[Former Member]

You have to explicitly specify the keys for the table type, otherwise it will be considered generic:

... TYPE SORTED TABLE OF dbtab [ WITH UNIQUE | NON-UNIQUE ] KEY components. 

It's irrelevant that the line type is a structure defined by a database table.

[Former Member]

...TYPE SORTED TABLE OF dbtab WITH UNIQUE KEY f1 f2 f3.

This works perfectly.
I have a follow-up question: what would be the correct way to add new records into GT_TADIR_DETAIL table, while keeping the table sorted? (I've read in places that APPEND statements break the sorting/result in a dump)

[Former Member]

aveekbaruah

Forget about APPEND in case of non-standard tables (more so, I recommend to never use it), use INSERT instead. It will insert the new entry in the appropriate position respecting the keys.

[Former Member]

gabmarian Will the insert statement take care of duplicate entries too?

[Former Member]

aveekbaruah

Yes. Refer to the documentation.

[ThangaPrakash]

aveekbaruah I have considered it as MARA table and tried below.

DATA: ty_t_tadir_detail TYPE SORTED TABLE OF mara WITH NON-UNIQUE KEY matnr.
DATA: gt_tadir_detail LIKE ty_t_tadir_detail.