transparent table

[Former Member]

Hey folks

I was trying to learn and do a small project myself to learn ABAP. So I wanted to create tables and then create RFC/BAPI to pick data from these tables.

I was able to find some screenshots of transparent table and got the below error when I activated the table.

1) Do I need to create a transparent table or an internal table ? I dont know exactly the difference b/w the two.

2 ) Error when I created the transparent table using se 11 :

Enahancement category missing.

Enhancement category for include or subtype missing.

Could someone help me in the 2 questions I have asked above.

Thank You

[Former Member]

In SE11 for your new table, Goto Extras -> Enhancement Category and specify the appropriate option whether the new table can be enhanced or not in future.

Basically it is asking you whether you can enhance the table in future and if so, whether it would be with deep structures (includes) or char/numeric fields.

[MarcinPciak]

Hi,

1) You need transparent table which is visible to all programs in the system. As you noticed it is created in se11 as this is too (DDIC so called ABAP Dictionary) for creating central types and tables available in entire system. It also provides some services like search helps and defines semantic attributes of data elements, like label and possibly input help. DDIC replaces standard DDL (Data Definition Language) of SQL. In SAP system each table has to be created this way (you can use Native SQL of particular DB but it will be not visible in se11).

Conversely internal tables are just these created in your ABAP program. Its lifetime ends with the end of program executions. It is no longer available nor seen to other programs. You can consider them as temporary tables to work with some data inside the program. Therefore you can't store any data inside them, which later you would like to use in other program. Always you transparent table to store globaly visible data (after program ends these are still available)

2) When creating transparent table you always have to assing and Enhacement cathegory to it. This is how the table an whether could it be extended by other programmers in the future. They can use and append strucutre then or customizing include to add their fields to the table strucutre without influencing programs currently using this table. For more information see [this|http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/6e/e3806dd38911d5994400508b6b8b11/frameset.htm]

To assign this cathegory expand top menu Extras -> Enhacement cathegory.

Regards

Marcin

Edited by: Marcin Pciak on Jan 30, 2009 5:57 PM

[Former Member]

Thank You Marcin and Sri.

Awarded the points and closed the thread.