Screen Attributes

Like all objects in the Repository, screens have attributes that both describe them and determine how they behave at runtime. The following are Important screen attributes in ABAP programming:

• Program:

  The name of the ABAP program (executable program, module pool or function group) to which the screen belongs.

• Screen number

  A four-digit number, unique within the ABAP program, that identifies the screen within the program. If your program contains selection screens , remember that the screen numbers of selection screens and Screen Painter screens both use the same namespace. For example, if you have a program with a standard selection screen, you may not create any further screens with the number 1000. Lists, on the other hand, have their own namespace.

• Screen type

  • A normal screen occupies a whole GUI window.

  • Modal dialog boxes only cover a part of a GUI window. Their interface elements are also arranged differently. - Selection screens are generated automatically from the definition in the ABAP program. They cannot be generated using the Screen Painter.

  • A subscreen is a screen that you can display in a subscreen area on a different screen in the same ABAP program.

• Next screen

  Statically-defined screen number, specifying the next screen in the sequence. By entering zero or leaving the field blank, you define the current screen as the last in the chain. If the next screen is the same as the current screen, the screen will keep on calling itself. You can override the statically-defined next screen in the ABAP program.

• Cursor position

  Static definition of the screen element on which the cursor is positioned when the screen is displayed. By default, the cursor appears on the first input field. You can overwrite the static cursor position dynamically in your ABAP program.

• Screen group

  Four-character ID, placed in the system field sy-dyngr while the screen is being processed. This allows you to assign several screens to a common screen group. You can use this, for example, to modify all of the screens in the group in a uniform way. Screen groups are stored in table TFAWT.

• Holding data

  If the user calls the screen more than once during a terminal session, he or she can retain changed data as default values by choosing  System  User Profile  Hold Data .