ABAP New Syntax Lecture 4: FOR Expressions with VALUE, WHERE and INDEX INTO

ABAP NEW SYNTAX

LECTURE 4

FOR EXPRESSIONS

FOR expressions let you map, filter and build internal tables inside constructor expressions without a separate result table and APPEND loop.

Learning outcome: Use table and conditional iterations with VALUE, WHERE and INDEX INTO, and know when a normal LOOP is clearer.

1. Replace LOOP + APPEND

DATA(lt_ids) = VALUE ty_ids(
  FOR ls_order IN lt_orders
  ( ls_order-id ) ).

2. Map rows to a new structure

DATA(lt_summary) = VALUE ty_summaries(
  FOR ls_order IN lt_orders
  ( id = ls_order-id
    amount = ls_order-amount
    category = COND #( WHEN ls_order-amount >= 1000
                       THEN 'HIGH' ELSE 'NORMAL' ) ) ).

3. Filter during iteration

CODE SCREEN 1 — MAP + FILTER

DATA(lt_open) = VALUE ty_orders(
  FOR ls_order IN lt_orders
  WHERE ( status = 'O' )
  ( ls_order ) ).

4. Capture the loop index

DATA(lt_ranked) = VALUE ty_ranked_tab(
  FOR ls_order IN lt_orders INDEX INTO lv_index
  ( rank = lv_index id = ls_order-id ) ).

5. Conditional iteration

CODE SCREEN 2 — UNTIL

DATA(lt_numbers) = VALUE ty_numbers(
  FOR i = 1 THEN i + 1 UNTIL i > 5
  ( i ) ).

Conditional iterations also support WHILE. Keep the termination condition obvious.

6. Nested FOR

DATA(lt_pairs) = VALUE ty_pairs(
  FOR ls_header IN lt_headers
  FOR ls_item IN lt_items
  WHERE ( header_id = ls_header-id )
  ( header_id = ls_header-id item_id = ls_item-id ) ).

7. FOR or LOOP?

• Use VALUE ... FOR to construct one clear result.
• Use LOOP for side effects, early exit or complex debugging.
• Helper variables belong only to the expression.
• Modern syntax does not automatically improve performance.

8. Practice exercises

1. Create a table containing only order IDs.
2. Keep only open orders.
3. Add a sequential rank with INDEX INTO.
4. Generate 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 using conditional FOR.

9. Interview quick checks

Where can FOR be used?

Inside constructor expressions such as VALUE, NEW and REDUCE.

What are its main variants?

Table iteration with IN and conditional iteration with UNTIL or WHILE.

Official SAP references

• FOR Iteration Expressions — SAP Help
• FOR with Internal Tables

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Educational examples; verify syntax availability for your ABAP release.