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The ABAP Dictionary editors are provided for developing or editing classic objects of ABAP Dictionary in Eclipse.

Editor for Structures

Since SAP NetWeaver 7.5 SP00, a source-based editor is provided to create and edit structures in ABAP Development Tools (ADT).

Structures are persisted as metadata in several database tables. In the source-based structure editor, structures are represented as source code. The source code of a structure is generated when it is read from the database. When you save or activate a structure, the source code is converted to the existing persistence. Underneath the editor the same persistence is used as in ABAP Dictionary. This means, any individual formatting of the source code is overwritten after saving.

Example of functionalities that are provided in a source code editor for structures
Figure 1: Example of functionalities that are provided in a source code editor for structures
Note For further details about the syntax, see the related information.
Editor for Data Elements

Since SAP NetWeaver 7.5 SP00, a form-based editor is provided to create and edit data elements in ABAP Development Tools (ADT).

Example of a data element opened in the form-based editor
Figure 2: Example of a data element opened in the form-based editor

The form-based editor provides the following information of an opened data element:

  1. Toolbar that contains actions, such as duplicating, opening other data elements, or the context help, and so on
  2. Data Type Information for defining the type of the data element based on a predefined type, a domain, and so on.
  3. Field Labels for defining the relevant UI text and its maximum lengths as well as to add supplementary documentation
  4. Additional Properties for adding search helps or defining the reading direction of UI text and so on
  5. Properties view for defining the short description and for getting further details about the editing process of this data element
Other Classic ABAP Dictionary Objects

Currently, the remaining classic objects in ABAP Dictionary, such as database tables, domains, and so on, can be opened and edited in the integrated SAP GUI.