Purpose of Row type, line type and Table Type..

[Former Member]

Hi All,

Just I’m started working with OOABAP. Whenever I open some structures, most of the components in the structures have the below three words. What is the exact difference b/w the below words. What is purpose those?

Row type, line type

Table type:

Please let me know.

[Former Member]

hi,

Line Type

The line type of an internal table can be any data type. The data type of an internal table is normally a structure. Each component of the structure is a column in the internal table. However, the line type may also be elementary or another internal table.

Table type

The table type determines how ABAP will access individual table entries. Internal tables can be divided into three types:

Standard tables have an internal linear index. From a particular size upwards, the indexes of internal tables are administered as trees. In this case, the index administration overhead increases in logarithmic and not linear relation to the number of lines. The system can access records either by using the table index or the key. The response time for key access is proportional to the number of entries in the table. The key of a standard table is always non-unique. You cannot specify a unique key. This means that standard tables can always be filled very quickly, since the system does not have to check whether there are already existing entries.

Sorted tables are always saved sorted by the key. They also have an internal index. The system can access records either by using the table index or the key. The response time for key access is logarithmically proportional to the number of table entries, since the system uses a binary search. The key of a sorted table can be either unique or non-unique. When you define the table, you must specify whether the key is to be UNIQUE or NON-UNIQUE. Standard tables and sorted tables are known generically as index tables.

Hashed tables have no linear index. You can only access a hashed table using its key. The response time is independent of the number of table entries, and is constant, since the system access the table entries using a hash algorithm. The key of a hashed table must be unique. When you define the table, you must specify the key as UNIQUE.

The key identifies table rows. There are two kinds of key for internal tables - the standard key and a user-defined key. You can specify whether the key should be UNIQUE or NON-UNIQUE. Internal tables with a unique key cannot contain duplicate entries. The uniqueness depends on the table access method.

At tables with structured row type, the standard key is formed from all character-type columns of the internal table. If a table has an elementary line type, the default key is the entire line. The default key of an internal table whose line type is an internal table, the default key is empty. At tables with non-structured row type, the standard key consists of the entire row. If the row type is also a table, an empty key is defined.

The user-defined key can contain any columns of the internal table that are no internal table themselves, and do not contain internal tables. References are allowed as table keys. Internal tables with a user-defined key are called key tables. When you define the key, the sequence of the key fields is significant. You should remember this, for example, if you intend to sort the table according to the key.

Internal tables are always completely specified regarding row type, key and access type

Hope this helps.

[Former Member]

Hi,

A line type refers to the structure of an internal table,whereas row type is the actual part that contains the data and it refers to the table body.creating internal table using line type and row type concept is for reusability purpose.Line type and Row type are defined at DDIC LEVEL.

A table type describes the structure and... functional attributes of an internal table in ABAP.

refer to this link

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/cf/21ea0b446011d189700000e8322d00/frameset.htm