
When you create a database table definition, the editor starts from a template which illustrates the basic layout of the source code. It consists of the following three parts:
- Semantic Table Attributes
The code lines starting with the @ sign, are called annotations, and they define semantic table attributes. The semantic attributes are preset to the most common values. We will discuss them a later in this course.
- Define Table Statement
The define table statement is followed by the name of the database table. You specify this name when you create the development object. Changing it in the source code leads to a syntax error.
- Field List
The pair of brackets after the table name contains the field list of the table. Each field definition ends with a semi-colon ( ; ), and consist of a field name and a field type separated by a colon ( : ). The template for database table definitions suggests a first table field with name client and type abap.clnt. Keep this field to make sure your table remains client-dependent.