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C1 Contract Rules for Consuming Structures

API providers can add or change non-key elements in global types as structured DDIC types or CDS entities. These types can be released APIs themselves or can be used for typing attributes or method parameters of released classes or interfaces. Also the position of non-key elements can be changed. This impacts all operations with APIs that rely on a certain number of components of a structure and on their position. Main examples are:

• Includes
• Assignments and Comparisons
• Unstructured Access
• Field Symbols
• RFC

Includes  

Including a released structure into another structure.

Possible Problems

Error, when a component is added that already exists.

Mitigation

Include a released structure only by renaming its components with suffixes.

Assignments and Comparisons  

Assignments and comparisons between data objects that are typed with the released structured type and data objects that are typed otherwise can occur for:

• Logical Expressions
• Assignments
• Working with internal tables
• ABAP SQL
• Working with data clusters

Possible Problems

Depending on the change all kinds of errors might occur. The following allowed changes in particular can affect the rules for processing structures fundamentally:

• Adding numeric components to a formerly character-like structure.
• Adding deep components to a formerly flat structure.
• Shifting the positions of numeric or deep components to formerly character-like sections.

Mitigation

No assignments or comparisons between released structures and data objects that are typed otherwise. No usage of otherwise defined structures in ABAP SQL. The various CORRESPONDING mechanisms can be used to mitigate the problem, but they are not failsafe in all situations.

Unstructured Access  

Processing the content of a released structure without addressing single components as for example:

• Offset/Length Specifications
• String processing (on complete structure)

Possible Problems

Depending on the change (see above) all kinds of errors might occur.

Mitigation

No processing of released structures without accessing single components.

Field Symbols  

Addressing released structures with field symbols by using:

• ASSIGN
• ASSIGNING addition when working with internal tables

Possible Problems

When the addition CASTING is used, deep components must appear with exactly the same type and position in the assigned structure.

Mitigation

No casting assignment of released structures to field symbols.

RFC  

Passing released structures to remote RFMs.

Possible Problems

Deep components are not supported in RFC.

Mitigation

No passing of released structures to remote RFMs.