ABAP BOOLC and XSDBOOL use-cases

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 In the previous post ABAP Convert Logical Expressions Into Boolean Values, I talked about BOOLC and XSDBOOL functions and their respective features. I thought I would elaborate on their use cases with examples.

BOOLC:

  • Set boolean flag:

    • "Set boolean using logical expression.
    "if the table is empty, set the flag to true.
    lv_istab_empty = boolc( lines( lt_mytab[] ) = 0 ).
    view raw BOOLC_set_boolean.abap hosted with ❤ by GitHub

  • Set custom flags like Y/N or 0/1 using ABAP built-in processing functions.

    • REPORT syst-repid.
    DATA:
    lt_tab TYPE string_table.
    DATA:
    lv_myflag TYPE char1.
    START-OF-SELECTION.
    " Use BOOLC to set custom flags.
    "sets to Y
    lv_myflag = TRANSLATE( val = boolc( lines( lt_tab[] ) = 0 ) from = `X ` to = `YN` ) .
    write: lv_myflag.
    " add record to itab.
    append `Record` to lt_tab.
    "sets to N
    lv_myflag = TRANSLATE( val = boolc( lines( lt_tab[] ) = 0 ) from = `X ` to = `YN` ) .
    write:/ lv_myflag.
    DATA:
    lv_myintflag TYPE i.
    "sets to 1
    lv_myintflag = strlen( condense( val = boolc( lines( lt_tab[] ) = 0 ) ) ).
    write:/ lv_myintflag.
    CLEAR: lt_tab."clear records.
    "sets to 0
    lv_myintflag = strlen( condense( val = boolc( lines( lt_tab[] ) = 0 ) ) ).
    write:/ lv_myintflag.
    view raw BOOLC_set_flag_YN,01.abap hosted with ❤ by GitHub

  • Pass return to methods expecting ABAP_BOOL parameters,

    • PARAMETERS word TYPE c length 30.
    DATA result_tab TYPE cl_abap_docu=>search_results.
    "Show dialog or return tab value depending on batch/foregorund mode.
    cl_abap_docu=>start( EXPORTING word = word
    no_dialog = boolc( sy-batch IS NOT INITIAL )
    IMPORTING search_results = result_tab
    ).
    view raw boolc_docu_hlp.abap hosted with ❤ by GitHub

When not to use BOOLC:

    Comparison against ABAP_BOOL types:

    Despite the name BOOL and C, the function doesn't return ABAP_BOOL type nor a C.
    Instead, it returns a STRING like result.
    Due to ABAP comparison rules when STRING is compared against type ABAP_BOOL( type 
    C length 1 internally), the later gets converted from C to STRING and ignores any blanks.

This leads to unexpected behavior, for example, this code prints "instead I will be printed."
"Run the code to beleive the output.
IF boolc( 1 = 2 ) = ABAP_FALSE.
WRITE: / `I should be preinted logically.`.
ELSE.
WRITE: / `instead I will be printed.`.
ENDIF.
view raw boolc_false_compare.abap hosted with ❤ by GitHub
Even though 1 = 2 is false , boolc returns a string with space which is compared to a converted string with ignored spaces( BLANK) hence the comparison fails.

XSDBOOL ( available from ABAP 740 SP08 )

  •    Set boolean flag:

    "Set boolean using logical expression.
    "if the table is empty, set the flag to true.
    lv_istab_empty = xsdbool( lines( lt_mytab[] ) = 0 ).
    view raw xsdbool_set_boolean.abap hosted with ❤ by GitHub

  •    Pass return to methods expecting ABAP_BOOL parameters.

    PARAMETERS word TYPE c length 30.
    DATA result_tab TYPE cl_abap_docu=>search_results.
    "Show dialog or return tab value depending on batch/foregorund mode.
    cl_abap_docu=>start( EXPORTING word = word
    no_dialog = xsdbool( sy-batch IS NOT INITIAL )
    IMPORTING search_results = result_tab
    ).
    view raw xsdbool_docu_hlp.abap hosted with ❤ by GitHub

  •    Comparison against ABAP_BOOL.

    "This works as expected
    IF xsdbool( 1 = 2 ) = ABAP_FALSE.
    WRITE: / `I should be preinted logically.`.
    ELSE.
    WRITE: / `I should not be printed.`.
    ENDIF.
    view raw xsdbool_false_compare.abap hosted with ❤ by GitHub

When not to use XSDBOOL:

    Comparison with STRING types:( Hope you see the pattern here)

    As discussed above,
    Due to ABAP comparison rules when STRING is compared against type ABAP_BOOL(                    type C length 1 internally), the latter gets converted from C to STRING and ignores any blanks.

Since XSDBOOL returns ABAP_BOOL, the false results get ignored.

"Run the code to beleive the output.
IF boolc( 1 = 2 ) = ABAP_FALSE.
WRITE: / `I should be preinted logically.`.
ELSE.
WRITE: / `instead I will be printed.`.
ENDIF.
view raw boolc_false_compare.abap hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Passing its return to ABAP built-in processing functions that take string type argument as input such as TRANSLATE would have an unexpected behaviour,
Picking the same example from BOOLC to set a custom flag,
This code doesn't work as expected due to conversion rules being at play.
report syst-repid.
DATA:
lt_tab TYPE string_table.
DATA:
lv_myflag TYPE char1.
START-OF-SELECTION.
" Use BOOLC to set custom flags.
"sets to Y
lv_myflag = TRANSLATE( val = xsdbool( lines( lt_tab[] ) = 0 ) from = `X ` to = `YN` ) .
write: lv_myflag.
" add record to itab.
append `Record` to lt_tab.
"sets to N
" Doesnt work as trailing space is removed when passing to VAL of translate function.
lv_myflag = TRANSLATE( val = xsdbool( lines( lt_tab[] ) = 0 ) from = `X ` to = `YN` ) .
write:/ lv_myflag.
DATA:
lv_myintflag TYPE i.
"sets to 1
lv_myintflag = strlen( condense( val = xsdbool( lines( lt_tab[] ) = 0 ) ) ).
write:/ lv_myintflag.
CLEAR: lt_tab."clear records.
"sets to 0
lv_myintflag = strlen( condense( val = xsdbool( lines( lt_tab[] ) = 0 ) ) ).
write:/ lv_myintflag.
view raw XSDBOOL_set_flag_YN,01.abap hosted with ❤ by GitHub

I hope you liked the BOOLC and XSDBOOL use cases.

Both of the Boolean functions have their use cases and should be used appropriately. The pitfalls around their usage come due to the nature of  ABAP comparison rules and should be kept in mind.

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