Table Operation Expression

The table operation expression provides numerous functions for accessing and maintaining the data stored in a BRFplus data object of type table.

With this expression type, you can carry out a number of different administrative tasks as well as retrieve statistical data about a table data object. The available features resemble those offered by the aggregation and existence check modes of the DB lookup expression, but the scope is slightly different. The following table aims at clarifying the differences between the two expression types:

Criterion	Table Operation	DB Lookup
Context data object	BRFplus table data object	DDIC table
Usage	Business-oriented approach	Database-oriented approach
Access style	read/write (various delete operations available)	read only

Features

Supported Table Functions

The following table shows the different functions provided by the table operation expression for accessing table data objects:

Name	Comment
Has at least	Returns True if the specified table contains at least the given number of rows matching the given condition.
Has exactly	Returns True if the specified table contains exactly the given number of rows matching the given condition.
Has not exactly	Returns True if the specified table contains either more or less than the given number of rows matching the given condition.
Has less than	Returns True if the specified table contains less than the given number of rows matching the given condition.
Has more than	Returns True if the specified table contains more than the given number of rows matching the given condition.
Has no more than	Returns True if the specified table contains no more than the given number of rows matching the given condition.
Count	Returns the number of rows matching the given condition in the specified table.
Minimum	Returns the lowest value found in the specified table column matching the given condition.
Maximum	Returns the highest value found in the specified table column matching the given condition.
Total	Returns the total of all values found in the specified table column matching the given condition.
Average	Returns the average of all values found in the specified table column matching the given condition.
First line	Returns the first row matching the given condition in the specified table.
Last line	Returns the last row matching the given condition in the specified table.
All lines	Returns all rows matching the given condition in the specified table.
Sort	Sorts the rows of the specified table by the values in the given columns and sort order. Note Unlike most other table operations, the Sort operation does not return a value. Rather, the sorting is done directly on the table data object specified in the expression context. The sorting result is kept in memory only and not permanently stored in the database. You can sort a table by a maximum of five different columns. End of the note.
Delete first line	Removes the first row in the specified table matching the given condition. The changed table (without the removed row) is returned as the result.
Delete last line	Removes the last row matching the given condition in the specified table. The changed table (without the removed row) is returned as the result.
Delete all lines	Removes all rows matching the given condition in the specified table. The changed table (without the removed rows) is returned as the result.

Note Note

For all operations, it is also possible not to provide a selection condition. In that case, the operation is applied to all the rows in the specified table.

End of the note.

Of the operations listed above, the following can only be used together with a numeric table field:

Minimum
Maximum
Total
Average

The BRFplus workbench supports you in finding the appropriate columns of a given table by only offering those fields that match the requirements of a particular operation.

More Information

Data Object

DB Lookup Expression