Return binary data via RFC

Question

I want to return binary data in ABAP, for example a PNG image file.

Which data type should I use? string, xstring, ...?

In ABAP, bytes are to be stored in variables of type X or XSTRING. But the answer may vary depending on the RFC SDK you use (with NCO, XSTRING variables are mapped to STRING C# variables with hexadecimal format, knowing that it's more interesting to pass bytes in base64 strings!) — Sandra Rossi, May 03 '19 at 11:57
We are currently investigating GetByteArray in NCO, if it works then XSTRING are supported nicely even in NCO. If I understand well pyRFC, it's based on the API from NWRFCSDK, thus RfcGetBytes should do the job too. Answer: XSTRING. But that's simply a guess. — Sandra Rossi, May 03 '19 at 14:31

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered May 11 '19 at 09:12

4

Sidenotes if you have large data:

max size of an xstring is 2GB (depending also on profile parameter ztta/max_memreq_MB)
If you use an internal table of xstrings (e.g. dictionary type XSTRINGS_TABLE), dynamic memory allocation is easier because it will not be requested in one go, as is the case for a flat xstring

answered May 11 '19 at 09:12

Pilot

Is rawstring the same? – guettli May 11 '19 at 09:28
Yes, `RAWSTRING` is the dictionary built-in type which maps to the `XSTRING` ABAP built-in type – Pilot May 11 '19 at 10:05
For PyRFC it's good. Beware that some external systems wouldn't be able to receive it. we tried a lot with informatica without success. – Dorad May 16 '19 at 15:35

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