Determining the Conversion Routine

Determining the Conversion Routine

To determine whether a conversion routine exists for a field in the ABAP Dictionary, and, if so, what it is called, use the EDIT MASK parameter with the DESCRIBE FIELD statement as follows:

Syntax

DESCRIBE FIELD <f> EDIT MASK <m>.

If a conversion routine exists for the field <f> in the ABAP Dictionary, the system writes it to the field <m> and sets the return code value in the system field SY-SUBRC to 0.

You can then use the field <m> directly as a format template in a WRITE statement, as shown in the following:

WRITE <f> USING EDIT MASK <m>.

For further information, see The WRITE Statement.

If the field <f> has no conversion routine, the system sets the return code to 4.