Offset and length specifications are generally critical since the length of each character is platform-dependent. As a result, it is initially unclear as to whether the byte unit or the character unit is referred to in mixed structures. This forced us to put in place certain considerable restrictions. However, access using offset or length specifications is still possible to the degree described in the following. The tasks subject to this rule include accessing single fields and structures, passing parameters to subroutines and working with field symbols.

Offset- or length-based access is supported for character-type single fields, strings and single fields of types X and XSTRING. For character-type fields and fields of type STRING, offset and length are interpreted on a character-by-character basis. Only for types X and XSTRING, the values for offset and length are interpreted in bytes.

Offset- or length-based access to structured fields is a programming technique that should be avoided. This access type results in errors if both character and non-character-type components exist in the area identified by offset and length.

Offset- or length-based access to structures is only permitted in a UP if the structures are flat and the offset/length specification includes only character-type fields from the beginning of the structure. The example below shows a structure with character-type and non-character-type fields. Its definition in the ABAP program and the resulting assignment in the main memory is as follows:

BEGIN OF STRUC,
  a(3)  TYPE C,   "Length: 3 characters
  b(4)  TYPE N,   "Length:  4 characters
  c     TYPE D,   "Length:  8 characters
  d     TYPE T,   "Length:  6 characters
  e     TYPE F,   "Length:  8 bytes
  f(26) TYPE C,   "Length: 28 characters
  g(4)  TYPE X,   "Length: 2 bytes
END OF STRUC.

Internally, the fragment view contains four fragments. Offset- or length-based access in this case is only possible in the first fragment. Statements like struc(21) or struc+7(14) are accepted by the ABAP interpreter and treated like a single field of type C. By contrast, struc+57(2) access is now only allowed in an NUP. If offset-/length-based access to a structure is permitted, both the offset and length specifications are generally interpreted as characters in a UP.

Up to now, parameter passing with PERFORM has allowed you to use cross-field offset and length specifications. In future, this will no longer be allowed in a UP. In a UP, offset and length-based access beyond field boundaries returns a syntax or runtime error. For example, access types c+15 or c+5(10) would trigger such an error for a ten-digit C field c.

In addition, in a UP, you can continue to specify the remaining length starting from the offset off for parameters using the form field+off(*).

A UP ensures that offset- or length-based access with ASSIGN is only permitted within a predefined range. Normally, this range corresponds to the field boundaries in case of elementary fields or, in case of flat structures, to the purely character-type starting fragment. Using a special RANGE addition for ASSIGN, you can expand the range beyond these boundaries.

Field symbols are assigned a range allowed for offset/length specifications. If the source of an ASSIGN statement is specified using a field symbol, the target field symbol adopts the range of the source. If not explicitly specified otherwise, the RANGE is determined as follows:

In a UP, the field boundaries of field are assigned to <fs> as the range, where field is no field symbol.

ASSIGN <g> TO <f>.

<fs2> adopts the range of <fs1>.

In a UP, the field boundaries of the elementary field elfield are assigned to <fs> as the range.

ASSIGN <elfld>+off(len) TO <f>.

<fs> adopts the range of the elementary field <elfield>.

ASSIGN struc+off(len) TO <f>.

ASSIGN <struc>+off(len) TO <f>.

In a UP, the purely character-type starting section of the flat structures struc or <struc> determines the range boundaries.

If the assignment to the field symbol is not possible because the offset or length specification exceeds the range permitted, the field symbol is set to UNASSIGNED in a UP. Other checks such as type or alignment checks return a runtime error in a UP. As a rule, offset and length specifications are counted in characters for data types C, N, D, and T as well as for flat structures, and in bytes in all other cases.