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 Inserting New FieldsLocate this document in the navigation structure

Procedure
  1. On the maintenance screen of the table, place the cursor on the field before where the new field should be inserted and choose  with the quick info text Insert line.

    An empty line appears, in which you can insert the new field. Creating Tables and Table Fields describes how to add a field to a table.

  2. Set the Initial values indicator if the new field must be created in the database as NOT NULL.

    In this case the system scans the entire table during activation and the new field is filled with the initial value .

    Note

    This can waste a lot of time for large tables.

    Key fields are always defined as NOT NULL. When you insert a new key field, the system builds the primary index of the table again in the database.

  3. Choose  with the quick info text Activate.
Result

The system adds the new field to the table when it is activated in the database. This does not depend on the position of the new field in the field list of the table. That is the order of the fields in the ABAP Dictionary does not have to be the same as in the database.

Note

If the table is a check table of a foreign key , new key fields can only be appended to the previous primary key. When you activate the table, the foreign keys concerned are defined as generic with regard to the new key fields. The foreign keys changed in this way are listed in the activation log.

Caution

Inserting a client field results in a table conversion (see Adjusting Database Structures ). The data in the table is copied to all the clients listed in client table T000.

If the table is a check table of a foreign key, you cannot insert a client field. In this case you must first delete the existing foreign keys.