Naming a Variable

Naming a Variable

The variable name <f> may be up to 30 characters long. You can use any alphanumeric characters except those listed below.

Do not use the following characters:

plus sign +
period.
comma,
colon :
parentheses ()

Do not create a name consisting entirely of numeric characters.

ABAP contains predefined data objects with reserved names which you are not allowed to use (see System-defined Data Objects). In addition, do not use variable names in a statement if they could be confused with the parameters of the keyword introducing the statement.

Follow these guidelines when writing DATA statements:

Use meaningful field names which do not require additional comments.

Do not use hyphens because they indicate structures (see The DATA Statement for Structures).

Use underscores to split up long names.

Avoid all other special characters.

Always use a letter as the first character of a field name.

Examples of self-explanatory field names:

GROUP_TOTAL
ACCOUNT_NO
FOREIGN_CURRENCY
BANK_CODE