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ABAP - Keyword Documentation →  ABAP - Reference →  Processing Internal Data →  Assignments →  Assignment and Conversion Rules →  Conversion Rules for Elementary Data Objects →  Character-Like Source Fields → 

Source Field Type c

• Numeric Target Fields

• Character-Like Target Fields

• Byte-Like Target Fields

• Date/Time Fields as Target Fields

Numeric Target Fields

Target	Conversion
i, int8, (b, s)	The source field must contain a number in mathematical or commercial notation. If not, the handleable exception CX_SY_CONVERSION_NO_NUMBER is raised. Exception: A source field that contains only blank characters is interpreted as the number zero. Scientific notation is not allowed, unless it can be interpreted as a mathematical notation. Decimal places are rounded commercially to integer values. If the number is in the value range of data types i, int8, (b, s), it is converted to the corresponding internal representation of an integral number, otherwise the handleable exception CX_SY_CONVERSION_OVERFLOW is raised.
p	The source field must contain a number in mathematical or commercial notation. If not, the handleable exception CX_SY_CONVERSION_NO_NUMBER is raised. Exception: A source field that contains only blank characters is interpreted as the number zero. Scientific notation is not allowed, unless it can be interpreted as a mathematical notation. Decimal places are rounded commercially to the number of decimal places in the target field. If the number is in the value range of the data type of the target field, it is converted to the internal representation of a packed number, otherwise the handleable exception CX_SY_CONVERSION_OVERFLOW is raised.
decfloat16, decfloat34	The source field must contain a number in mathematical, scientific, or commercial notation. If not, the handleable exception CX_SY_CONVERSION_NO_NUMBER is raised. Exception: A source field that contains only blank characters is interpreted as the number zero. If the number of digits is greater than 16 or 34, it is rounded commercially to 16 or 34 places. If the absolute value of the number is less than 1E-398 or 1E-6176, it is rounded to 0. If the number is in the value range of the data types decfloat16 or decfloat34, it is converted to the internal representation of a decimal floating point number, otherwise the handleable exception CX_SY_CONVERSION_OVERFLOW is raised. If the mantissa of the target field is long enough, the scaling of the source field is preserved. The sign is always preserved, even if the number has the value 0.
f	The source field must contain a number in scientific notation, with the first blank after a number ending this number. If not, the handleable exception CX_SY_CONVERSION_NO_NUMBER is raised. Exception: A source field that contains only blanks or that starts with blanks not followed by a valid number is interpreted as zero. Mathematical or commercial notation is not permitted unless it can be interpreted as scientific notation. Exception: Commercial notation where the sign on the right is not separated by blanks is valid if the character string starts directly with the string of digits. If the mantissa contains more than 17 digits, surplus digits are rounded up or down. If the number is in the value range of data type f, it is converted to the internal representation of a binary floating point number, otherwise the handleable exception CX_SY_CONVERSION_OVERFLOW is raised. If the decimal number cannot be represented as a binary floating point number, the nearest value is used.

Note

• The CL_ABAP_DECFLOAT class contains the methods READ_DECFLOAT34 and READ_DECFLOAT16, to convert character strings into floating point numbers. The exceptions of these methods are more significant than those of a normal assignment. Furthermore, the methods return a return value that reveals information about the roundings carried out.

Character-Like Target Fields

Target	Conversion
c	The characters in the source field are passed left-justified to the target field. Trailing blanks in the source field are not passed. If the target field is longer than the number of characters passed, it is padded with blanks on the right. If the target field is shorter, it is truncated on the right.
n	The characters in the source field that represent digits are passed right-justified to the target field. Other characters are ignored. If the target field is longer than the number of digits in the source field, it is padded on the left with the character "0". If the target field is shorter, the characters are cut off on the left.
string	The characters in the source field are passed left-justified to the target field. Trailing blanks in the source field are not passed. The length of the target field is determined by the number of characters passed.

Notes

• In ABAP, the trailing blanks in source fields of type c are ignored, by default. An assignment from source type c to target type t is an exception to this rule.

• To assign source fields of type c to target fields (particularly target fields of type string) and respect the trailing blanks, the addition RESPECTING BLANKS of the statement CONCATENATE can be used.

Byte-Like Target Fields

Target	Conversion
x	The characters in the source field are interpreted as the representation of the value of a half-byte in hexadecimal representation. If the valid characters "0" to "9" and "A" to "F" appear, the corresponding half-byte values are passed left-justified to the memory of the target field. If the target field is longer than the number of half-bytes passed, it is padded on the right with hexadecimal 0. If it is too short, the number is truncated on the right. The first invalid character terminates the conversion from the position of this character and the half-bytes not filled up to that point are padded with hexadecimal 0.
xstring	The same conversion rules apply as to a field of type x. Half-bytes are passed to the target field, and the length of the target field is determined by the number of valid characters in the source field. If number of valid characters in the source field is odd, the last remaining half-byte in the target field is padded with hexadecimal 0.

Date/Time Fields as Target Fields

Target	Conversion
d	The same conversion rules apply as to a field of type c of length 8. If the source field does not contain a valid date in the first eight places, in the format "yyyymmdd", an invalid date is created in the target field.
t	The same conversion rules apply as to a field of type c with the length 6, with the exception that trailing blanks are passed and if the target field is longer than the number of characters passed, the field is padded on the right with the character "0".