Change field length afterwards

Question

TABLES: VBRK.

DATA: BEGIN OF it_test,
      BUKRS LIKE VBRK-BUKRS,
      FKDAT LIKE VBRK-FKDAT,
END OF it_test.

DATA: wa_test LIKE it_test.


SELECT * FROM VBRK INTO CORRESPONDING FIELD OF wa_test.

IF wa_test-BUKRS = 'xxxx'.
   wa_test-BUKRS = 'XXXXX' "Problem occurs here as the BUKRS allow 4 value
   APPEND wa_test TO it_test.
ENDIF.

Then I want to map the internal table to output as ALV table. Is they any way to change the field length afterwards?

Answer 1

Apart from multiple issues in your code, you can't. If you need something similar to that, add an additional field to the structure with whatever size you require and copy the values over.

Answer 2

Expanding the answer of vwegert:

The MOVE-CORRESPONDINGcommand (and SELECT ... INTO CORRESPONDING FIELDS) don't need the same field type. The content is converted. So you could define a 5-character field in your internal structure and copy the BUKRS-value into this 5-character field:

TABLES: VBRK.

DATA: BEGIN OF it_test,
      BUKRS(5), "longer version of VBRK-BUKRS,
      FKDAT LIKE VBRK-FKDAT,
END OF it_test.
DATA: tt_test TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF it_test.

* I would strongly recommend to set a filter!
SELECT * FROM VBRK INTO CORRESPONDING FIELD OF it_test.

  IF it_test-BUKRS = 'xxxx'.
     it_test-BUKRS = 'XXXXX'.
     APPEND it_test to tt_test.
  ENDIF.
ENDSELECT.

A pitfall: When you use it with ALV you will loose the field description. (on the other side, the field description of the original field will not fit any longer the new field.)

Answer 3

If the objective is to output something to the screen that is different(or differently formatted) that what is stored internally(or in the database), then the use of a data element with a conversion exit maybe the way to go.

For an example, look at the key fields of table PRPS.