ABAP/4 Dictionary: Deletion of Dictionary objects is integrated into the
mass activation program for all object types.
As a result, deletions of ABAP/4 Dictionary objects can be transported.
Using the mass activation program, you can delete domains, data elements, structures, tables, indexes, views, lock objects, matchcode objects and matchcode IDs if these objects are entered in the corresponding request with the function D (= Delete). An independent deletion of the technical attributes of tables is not possible. The technical attributes can only be deleted together with the entire table.
If an ABAP/4 Dictionary object is to be deleted and this deletion is to be transported, the following steps are necessary:
1. Delete the object in the ABAP/4 Dictionary maintenance transaction in
the source system
You must first delete all references to the object. Existing references can be
determined using the where-used list. For example, a domain can only be
deleted if it is no longer used in data elements. Deleting a table in the
ABAP/4 Dictionary maintenance transaction produces an entry with the function
D (= Delete) in the correction/request.
2. Transport release
For all ABAP/4 Dictionary objects except tables, the export leads to the
delete entry D in the transport request or request,
if the object no longer exists in the source system. To give you special
protection against deleting tables (data loss), the deletion flag in the
transport request or request is not automatically set during the export except
if the table was deleted in the maintenance transaction. This ensures that a
table deletion, and therefore a data deletion, can only be started in the
original system or the repair system during repairs.
A deletion entry D for a table in the transport
request or request produces an error when exporting the transport if the table
also exists in the source system. If entries are included in a transport
request or request for a table both with and without the deletion entry
D, the table entries that are actually valid are
determined during export: If the table does not exist in the source system
then the deletion is transported, otherwise the other entries of the table are
transported. It is possible that entries may exist for a table both with and
without the deletion entry D in a transport request
or request if to the same table is changed or deleted in two different
corrections/requests for one request.
3. Deleting in the target system
Deletion of the ABAP/4 Dictionary objects pending deletion in the transport
request or request is started in the target system during mass activation. The
deletions are logged in the mass activation log. The references available for
the target system are also determined here, but the deletion is always carried
out. Using the log with the help of the ABAP/4 Repository Information System,
you can then determine the objects which became inconsistent with the deletion
and adapt them appropriately where necessary.