SAP ABAP - Reading Internal Tables


We can read the lines of a table by using the following syntax of the READ TABLE statement −

READ TABLE <internal_table> FROM <work_area_itab>.

In this syntax, the <work_area_itab> expression represents a work area that is compatible with the line type of the <internal_table> table. We can specify a search key, but not a table key, within the READ statement by using the WITH KEY clause, as shown in the following syntax −

READ TABLE <internal_table> WITH KEY = <internal_tab_field>.

Here the entire line of the internal table is used as a search key. The content of the entire line of the table is compared with the content of the <internal_tab_field> field. If the values of the <internal_tab_field> field are not compatible with the line type of the table, these values are converted according to the line type of the table. The search key allows you to find entries in internal tables that do not have a structured line type, that is, where the line is a single field or an internal table type.

The following syntax of the READ statement is used to specify a work area or field symbol by using the COMPARING clause −

READ TABLE <internal_table> <key> INTO <work_area_itab>
   [COMPARING <F1> <F2>...<Fn>].

When the COMPARING clause is used, the specified table fields <F1>, <F2>....<Fn> of the structured line type are compared with the corresponding fields of the work area before being transported. If the ALL FIELDS clause is specified, the SAP system compares all the components. When the SAP system finds an entry on the basis of a key, the value of the SY-SUBRC variable is set to 0. In addition, the value of the SY-SUBRC variable is set to 2 or 4 if the content of the compared fields is not the same or if the SAP system cannot find an entry. However, the SAP system copies the entry into the target work area whenever it finds an entry, regardless of the result of the comparison.


*/Creating an internal table 
DATA: BEGIN OF Record1, 
END OF Record1. 

DO 6 Times.
Record1-ColP = SY-INDEX. 
Record1-ColQ = SY-INDEX + 5. 
INSERT Record1 INTO TABLE mytable. 

Record1-ColP = 4. 
Record1-ColQ = 12. 
READ TABLE mytable FROM Record1 INTO Record1 COMPARING ColQ. 

WRITE: / Record1-ColP, Record1-ColQ.

The above code produces the following output −

SY-SUBRC =    2 

4         9

In the above example, mytable is an internal table of the hashed table type, with Record1 as the work area and ColP as the unique key. Initially, mytable is populated with six lines, where the ColP field contains the values of the SY-INDEX variable and the ColQ field contains (SY-INDEX + 5) values.

The Record1 work area is populated with 4 and 12 as values for the ColP and ColQ fields respectively. The READ statement reads the line of the table after comparing the value of the ColP key field with the value in the Record1 work area by using the COMPARING clause, and then copies the content of the read line in the work area. The value of the SY-SUBRC variable is displayed as 2 because when the value in the ColP field is 4, the value in the ColQ is not 12, but 9.