During the processing of the hierarchy, data is stored in the global work areas. These work areas are the central interface of the hierarchy to the read data in the application form.
In the print program, there is one work area for each form level and each 1:1 level and this has the name WA_<Level name>. You have several options for inserting symbols into a text:
· In the SAPscript text editor, choose Insert ® Symbols ® Program Symbols and select the required symbols. All of the application form symbols that you can use based on the position of the text in the application form hierarchy appear.
·
Place the
cursor on the text, or on a form level or 1:1 level, and choose Extras ® Display
Symbols. Select the
symbol you require from the list and choose Enter.
The selected symbol is placed in the buffer and can be inserted again at any
point. Alternatively, you can copy the symbol into the buffer by
double-clicking on it in the list.
·
Choose Utilities® Display
Hierarchy.
A new amodal window containing the form class hierarchy appears. By
double-clicking on one of the levels you can display the appropriate symbol,
as described in point 1. Choose the symbol you want to transfer and choose
Enter. Unlike in point 2, the selected symbols
are not copied directly to the buffer unless you choose Copy to Buffer.
You can also carry out a cross-level search. To do this, place the cursor on a form level and choose Find Variable. All the variables found are listed. The search includes both the names of the variables and their short text.
The global data area that you can access in a text or a user exit depends on the position in the hierarchy. See also Flow Logic of the Hierarchy.
In the example above, the work areas are:
· WA_CUSTOMER
· WA_BOOKING
· WA_FLIGHT
In these
work areas you can access the texts and the user exits. A table or structure
from the ABAP Dictionary is hidden behind each work area. You can ascertain
the dictionary structure concerned in the attributes for the relevant form
levels or 1:1 levels.
In our example, the customer’s number is to be printed in the text
PWB_FLIGHT_BOOKINGS. You can see from the attributes of the form level that
the table SCUSTOM is masked by CUSTOMER. When you double-click on the table,
you can see that there is a field ID that contains the customer number. To
output the customer number of the current business partner, you must include
the symbol &WA_CUSTOMER-ID&
in the text. The
character & at the beginning and at the end of the instruction
distinguishes SAPscript symbols (variables) from normal text. The variable is
replaced with the current content in the print program at the time of
printing.
The Smart Forms and PDF-based forms contain own methods for accessing the data
in the data categories packed. However, in this case, the global variables
WA_* are still available for use in user exits.