2 sap abap new syntax inline data declarations

abap new syntax: inline data declarations - a comprehensive tutorial

inline data declarations are a cornerstone of abap's modern syntax, significantly improving code readability, maintainability, and conciseness. instead of declaring variables separately at the beginning of a procedure or class, you can declare them directly where they are first used. this feature dramatically reduces code clutter and makes it easier to understand the context and purpose of a variable. this tutorial will delve deep into inline data declarations, covering various scenarios, best practices, and potential pitfalls.

**1. what are inline data declarations?**

inline data declarations allow you to declare a variable directly within an abap statement that uses it, typically an assignment or a function call. instead of declaring `data: lv_string type string.` at the top of your code block, you can declare it directly when you use it.

**2. syntax and basic usage**

the core syntax for inline declarations utilizes the `data()` construct on the *left-hand side* of an assignment or as a parameter in a function call.

**example 1: simple assignment**

the old way requires you to declare `ls_customer` before using it. with inline declarations:

in this example, `data(ls_customer)` declares the variable `ls_customer` directly where it's assigned a value. the type of `ls_customer` is inferred from the type of the right-hand side of the assignment (`value zcl_customer(...)`).

**example 2: returning a value from a function call**

with inline declarations:

here, `data(lv_customer_name)` declares the variable `lv_customer_name` and assigns it the value returned by the function `get_customer_name_from_id`. the type of `lv_customer_name` is inferred from the `returning` parameter's type of the function. `lv_customer_id`'s type is inferred from the literal value (integer in this case).

**example 3: reading from a database table**

with inline declarations:

`into data(ls_customer) ...

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