ABAP 7.40 SELECT .. ENDSELECT UP TO n ROWS syntax?

Question

Update: The question should be withdrawn, the grammar is correct. Apparently, SAP defines ABAP via a grammar, which is then modified by additional rules in plain text. I missed this second part.

I'm looking at the ABAP Keyword Documentation 7.40, SELECT -> SELECT additions. For addition UP TO n ROWS, it gives the example

DATA: wa_scustom TYPE scustom.

SELECT *
       FROM scustom
       WHERE custtype = 'B'
       ORDER BY discount DESCENDING
       INTO @wa_scustom
       UP TO 3 ROWS.
ENDSELECT.

I verified that code in an SAP 7.40 system and got the error

Row 7: "INTO" is not valid here. '.' is expected

On the other hand, the following code is accepted, although it is not covered by the grammar of SELECT as given in the document: UP TO n ROWS should be after the FROM.

SELECT COUNT(*) UP TO 1 ROWS
    FROM MARC
    WHERE matnr eq 100.

As we are writing a tool that automatically generates ABAP code, it would be nice to know what's legal and what's not. Is there a "definitive" document? In general, is it worth the try to contact someone at SAP for corrections? (You see, I'm somewhat alien to the SAP world) If yes, who could that be?

Ah, I think I found some info regarding the second code piece: according to the ABAP Keyword Documentation 7.31, the given code is legal. So, maybe SAP changed the grammar but let the parser silently accept the old grammar. — Ulrich Scholz, Dec 21 '15 at 14:13
It looks like the abap compiler wants the "up to" instruction before the where/group by/order by part. But I haven't found any documentation regarding those rules. — Dirk Trilsbeek, Dec 21 '15 at 14:23
Yes, it's the usual SAP policy. In newest documentation it enforces to use only the newest syntax, however legacy syntax is always supported. — Suncatcher, Dec 24 '15 at 09:10

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 21 '15 at 21:35

I can't check it right now, but I suspect that you have "INTO ..." and "UP TO ..." parts placed after "WHERE ..." and "ORDER BY ..." parts. Documentation states that the syntax of SELECT is:

SELECT result 
 INTO target
 FROM source 
 [WHERE condition]
 [GROUP BY fields] 
 [HAVING  cond]
 [ORDER BY fields].

with remark "The FROM clause ... can also be placed before the INTO clause." There are no remarks that you can insert WHERE/GROUP BY/HAVING/ORDER BY between SELECT/INTO/FROM.

So, give a try to:

SELECT *
   FROM scustom
   INTO @wa_scustom
   UP TO 3 ROWS
   WHERE custtype = 'B'
   ORDER BY discount DESCENDING.
ENDSELECT.

As I said, the code piece is taken from an official SAP publication for ABAP 7.40. Your correction works. And I have seen the failing code piece to work in another 7.40 system. But that's what the question is about: Which system setups are possibly out there and which is the precise valid syntax for each of those? — Ulrich Scholz, Dec 22 '15 at 11:07

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 23 '15 at 15:08

Indeed, there's a syntax imposed by SAP that only allows "UP TO n ROWS" and other arguments to come BEFORE the WHERE clause. However, there are more flexibility to it in newer ABAP server releases.

When generalizing, please use the older syntax. It will still work on newer versions, as SAP has a strong backward compatibility policy.

"Be conservative in what you send, be liberal in what you accept".

Something like that:

SELECT {fields}
  FROM {db table}
  INTO {work area}
  UP TO {n} ROWS
  WHERE {field} {condition} {value}
  ORDER BY {field} {ASCENDING/DESCENDING}.
ENDSELECT.

Hope it helps.

ABAP 7.40 SELECT .. ENDSELECT UP TO n ROWS syntax?

2 Answers2