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ABAP - Keyword Documentation → ABAP - Dictionary (DDIC) → DDIC - Built-In Data Types →DDIC - Overview of All Built-In Dictionary Types
The following tables show the built-in types in ABAP Dictionary and their fundamental technical attributes. For each built-in data type in ABAP Dictionary, the last column specifies the built-in ABAP type to which the built-in type is mapped in type references from an ABAP program to ABAP Dictionary. An initial value is assigned to most built-in data types. These initial values are applied, for example, when initial dynpro fields are displayed, when database fields are initialized, and in the ABAP SQL condition IS INITIAL. The initial value of ABAP Dictionary types is not used, for data objects declared in ABAP programs by referring to these types. There, the initial value of the mapped built-in ABAP types are used.
General Types
Built-in data types without special .semantic attributes.
Numeric Types
| Type | Valid Places m | Decimal Places n | Initial Value | Meaning | ABAP Type |
| INT1 | 3 | - | 0 | 1-byte integer, 0 to 255 | b |
| INT2 | 5 | - | 0 | 2-byte integer, -32,768 to 32,767 | s |
| INT4 | 10 | - | 0 | 4-byte integer, -2,147,483,648 to +2,147,483,647 | i |
| INT8 | 19 | - | 0 | 8-byte integer, -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to +9,223,372,036,854,775,807 | int8 |
| DEC | 1-31 | 0-m, maximum 14 | 0 | Packed number in BCD format | p, length m DIV 2 + 1, decimal places n |
| DECFLOAT16 | 16 | - | 0 | Decimal floating point number | decfloat16 |
| DF16_DEC | 1-15 | 0-m, maximum 14 | 0 | Decimal floating point number stored in BCD format | decfloat16 |
| DF16_RAW | 16 | - | 0 | Decimal floating point number stored in binary format | decfloat16 |
| DECFLOAT34 | 34 | - | 0 | Decimal floating point number | decfloat34 |
| DF34_DEC | 1-31 | 0-m, maximum 14 | 0 | Decimal floating point number stored in BCD format | decfloat34 |
| DF34_RAW | 34 | - | 0 | Decimal floating point number stored in binary format | decfloat34 |
| FLTP | 16 | 16 | 0 | Binary floating point number | f |
See Integers, Packed Numbers, Binary Floating Point Numbers and Decimal Floating Point Numbers.
Character-Like Types
| Type | Valid Places m | Initial Value | Meaning | ABAP Type |
| CHAR | 1-30000, maximum of 1333 for table fields | m blanks | String | c, length m |
| LCHR | 256-32000 | None | Long character string | c, length m |
| SSTRING | 1-1333 | Empty string | Character string | string |
| STRING | 256-... | Empty string | Character string (CLOB) | string |
See Character-Like Types and Byte-Like Types.
Byte-Like Types
| Type | Valid Places m | Initial Value | Meaning | ABAP Type |
| RAW | 1-32000 maximum of 255 for table fields | None | Byte string | x, length m |
| LRAW | 256-32000 | None | Long byte string | x, length m |
| RAWSTRING | 256-... | Empty string | Byte string (BLOB) | xstring |
See Character-Like Types and Byte-Like Types.
Special Types
Built-in data types with special semantic attributes.
Date Fields, Time Fields, and Time Stamp Fields
| Type | Valid Places m | Initial Value | Meaning | ABAP Type |
| DATN | 8 | 0 | Date in internal format of database | d |
| DATS | 8 | 00000000 | Date in the format YYYYMMDD | d |
| TIMN | 6 | 0 | Time in internal format of database | t |
| TIMS | 6 | 000000 | Time in the format HHMMSS | t |
| ACCP | 6 | 6 blanks | Posting period in the format YYYYMM | n, length 6 |
| UTCLONG | 27 | 0 | Time stamp (exact to 100 ns) | utclong |
See Date Fields, Time Fields, and Time Stamp Fields.
Character-Like Types with Special Semantics
| Type | Valid Places m | Initial Value | Meaning | ABAP Type |
| NUMC | 1-255 | m zeros | Numeric text | n, length m |
| CLNT | 3 | 000 | Client | c, length 3 |
| LANG | 1 | Blank | Language key | c, length 1 |
See Special Character-Like Types.
Currency Fields and Quantity Fields
| Type | Valid Places m | Decimal Places n | Initial Value | Meaning | ABAP Type |
| CURR | 1-31 | 1-m, maximum 14 | 0 | Currency field in BCD format | p, length m DIV 2 + 1, decimal places n |
| CUKY | 5 | - | 5 blanks | Currency key for currency fields | c, length 5 |
| QUAN | 1-31 | 0-m, maximum 14 | 0 | Quantity field in BCD format | p, length m DIV 2 + 1, decimal places n |
| UNIT | 2-3 | - | 2 or 3 blanks | Unit key of a quantity field | c, length m |
See Currency Fields and Quantity Fields.
Geodata Types
| Type | Valid Places m | Initial Value | Meaning | ABAP Type |
| GEOM_EWKB | - | Empty string | Geometric data in EWKB representation | xstring |
See Geodata Types.
Obsolete Types
| Type | Valid Places m | Initial Value | Meaning | ABAP Type |
| DF16_SCL | 16 | 0 | Decimal floating point number stored in binary format with scaling specified (obsolete) | decfloat16 |
| DF34_SCL | 34 | 0 | Decimal floating point number stored in binary format with scaling specified (obsolete) | decfloat34 |
| PREC | 2 | 0 | Obsolete data type | s |
| VARC | 1-... | None | Obsolete data type | c, length m |
See Obsolete Types.