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 The Package ConceptLocate this document in the navigation structure

Whenever changes are made to currently existing ABAP software, the implications of such changes often cannot be fully foreseen. As a result, these changes may later have to be made at a higher cost.

The package concept provides the technology to make the impact of changes on the software more foreseeable and to protect it against malicious changes. It recommends strictly encapsulating a package's contents and verifiably documenting dependencies. These recommendations are supported by the following principles of the package concept:

  • The principle of encapsulation: an object can only be used when the package containing the object allows the use.
  • The principle of dependency control: an object can only be used if the package containing the using object allowed dependency on the used object.

This concept will apply to every use of an object, including use through dynamic techniques during the execution of ABAP programs, and to package access by tools.

In the following topics we introduce the primary terms of the package concept: