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Creating and Maintaining Context AttributesLocate this document in the navigation structure

Prerequisites

The Workbench must be in change mode if you want to create and maintain context attributes.

Create

To create a new context attribute, select the node where the attribute should be inserted and open its context menu.

The following options are available when you create a context attribute:

Attribute Name

Name of the attribute to be created (unique within the node, all uppercase letters).

Mandatory

Typing

If you want to use a data type or a type from the ABAP Dictionary, do not change the default Type.

Alternatively, you can also reference a data object. In this case, select the type ref to type.

Optional

Type

Specify either a data type for the attribute, or the referenced object.

When you select the data type, you can select Data Dictionary data elements as well as data types for the Web Dynpro runtime. The latter are a set of data types that have been especially composed to design interface element properties (example: data type WDUI_VISIBILITY to describe the property Visible).

Mandatory

Read-only

Here you decide whether or not the attribute should be write-protected.

Optional

Null Value

Here you define how an empty entry is to be handled by the data container entry handler.

  • If Null Value is set, an empty entry is interpreted (as an undefined value whose comparison with a special value is always undefined) as such, and not as a type-related initial value.

  • If Null Value is not set, an empty entry is interpreted as a type-related initial value.

Example

If Null Value is not set, then it is interpreted as an empty entry for an attribute of type TIMS (time field) for the time 00:00:00. If Null Value is set, then the empty space is interpreted as an acutal empty entry.

  

Default value

The attribute can have a preconfigured value.

Optional

Input Help Mode

You can select different possible entries modes:

  • Deactivated:

    No possible entries mode was selected

  • ( automatic:

    If available, an appropriate ABAP Dictionary is selected automatically.

  • Dictionary Search Help:

    You determine manually that an ABAP Dictionary Search Help is linked to this attribute.

  • Object Value Selection:

    You determine manually that a component usage for system component WDR_OVS is linked to this attribute (see WDR_OVS Object Value Selector (OVS)).

Depending on which mode you select, you can then decide in the subsequent row which Dictionary search help or which component usage of system component WDR_OVS should be linked to the attribute.

If you selected the option Automatic as the possible entries mode, the automatically determined search help is displayed in this row.

When you confirm the dialog, the attribute is added to the context hierarchy.

Creation Using a Wizard

If you create a new attribute using the wizard, you can select components from an existing structure that is stored in the ABAP Dictionary.

  1. In the context menu of the selected node, select the entry Start of the navigation path Create Using Wizard Next navigation step Attribute from Components in a Structure End of the navigation path.

  2. In the dialog that follows, specify a structure from the ABAP Dictionary using F4 help.

  3. You can then select the required components in the structure that is displayed.

  4. When you confirm the dialog box, the attribute is copied to the context you processed.

Properties Table of the Context Attributes

Once you have created an attribute for a context node, its properties are listed in a table at the bottom of the editor - provided that the attribute is selected in the context hierarchy. You have the option of changing these attribute properties as long as the Workbench is in change mode.