In the ABAP Dictionary, four field names of different length have already been predefined:

• Short keywords, length 10 (field name)
• Medium keywords, length 15 (field name)
• Long keywords, length 20 (field name)
• Header, maximum length 55 (table headings)

Field names for table headings are entered under header. The length of the header is determined by the length of the output field.

Field names before input/output fields are entered under keywords. The basic guideline is that the entered words should always be two letters shorter than the displayed or entered length. In this case, you should whenever possible use the proposed lengths to facilitate the translation.

The difference between the length entered in the ABAP Dictionary and the length of the field name itself may be smaller than two in cases where the word can be written out and where you cannot abbreviate usefully by omitting two letters (this particularly occurs in case of the 10-character keywords).