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DDIC modeling

Goal​

Model a minimal Customer entity in the Data Dictionary: create a domain for the ID, a data element that documents it, a transparent table that stores customers, and a structure we can reuse in signatures. Each layer depends on the previous, so activation order matters.

Prerequisites​

export TR=DEVK900001

The dependency chain​

ZDOMA_CUSTOMER_ID     (domain — primitive type + value range)
       ↓
ZDTEL_CUSTOMER_ID     (data element — semantic name + label + F1 help)
       ↓
ZT_CUSTOMER           (table — persistent storage)
ZS_CUSTOMER           (structure — reusable in-memory shape)

Steps​

1. Domain — the primitive type​

adt domain create ZDOMA_CUSTOMER_ID "Customer ID" ZMYPKG -t $TR

Domains are metadata-only in ADT — there is no write subcommand. Default domain ships as CHAR(10); to set length, type, conversion routine etc. you edit the serialised XML and reapply via checkin (see abapGit roundtrip):

adt checkout domain ZDOMA_CUSTOMER_ID ./src
$EDITOR ./src/zdoma_customer_id.doma.xml   # set <DATATYPE>NUMC</DATATYPE>, <LENG>10</LENG>
adt checkin ./src -p ZMYPKG -t $TR

Activate:

adt domain activate ZDOMA_CUSTOMER_ID

2. Data element — semantic layer​

adt dataelement create ZDTEL_CUSTOMER_ID "Customer ID" ZMYPKG -t $TR

Again, edit-via-checkout to wire the data element to the domain and set labels:

<!-- zdtel_customer_id.dtel.xml -->
<ROLLNAME>ZDTEL_CUSTOMER_ID</ROLLNAME>
<DOMNAME>ZDOMA_CUSTOMER_ID</DOMNAME>
<SCRTEXT_S>Cust.</SCRTEXT_S>
<SCRTEXT_M>Customer</SCRTEXT_M>
<SCRTEXT_L>Customer ID</SCRTEXT_L>
adt checkin ./src -p ZMYPKG -t $TR
adt dataelement activate ZDTEL_CUSTOMER_ID

3. Table — persistent storage​

adt table create ZT_CUSTOMER "Customer master" ZMYPKG -t $TR
adt checkout table ZT_CUSTOMER ./src

Add fields to ./src/zt_customer.tabl.xml:

<DD03P>
  <FIELDNAME>CLIENT</FIELDNAME>
  <KEYFLAG>X</KEYFLAG>
  <ROLLNAME>MANDT</ROLLNAME>
</DD03P>
<DD03P>
  <FIELDNAME>CUSTOMER_ID</FIELDNAME>
  <KEYFLAG>X</KEYFLAG>
  <ROLLNAME>ZDTEL_CUSTOMER_ID</ROLLNAME>
</DD03P>
<DD03P>
  <FIELDNAME>NAME</FIELDNAME>
  <ROLLNAME>NAME_TEXT</ROLLNAME>
</DD03P>
adt checkin ./src -p ZMYPKG -t $TR
adt table activate ZT_CUSTOMER

4. Structure — signature shape​

adt structure create ZS_CUSTOMER "Customer DTO" ZMYPKG -t $TR
adt checkout structure ZS_CUSTOMER ./src
# edit ./src/zs_customer.tabl.xml to add fields using ZDTEL_CUSTOMER_ID
adt checkin ./src -p ZMYPKG -t $TR
adt structure activate ZS_CUSTOMER

5. Verify​

adt table read ZT_CUSTOMER --json | jq '.fields[].name'
adt wb where-used ZDTEL_CUSTOMER_ID    # should list ZT_CUSTOMER, ZS_CUSTOMER

Preview data (empty table at this point, but the path works):

adt datapreview osql 'SELECT * FROM zt_customer UP TO 5 ROWS'

Troubleshooting​

ErrorCauseFix
DD4: Data element ZDTEL_CUSTOMER_ID is inactiveActivated table before data elementActivate in order (domain → dtel → table), or activate all together: adt table activate ZT_CUSTOMER ZDTEL_CUSTOMER_ID ZDOMA_CUSTOMER_ID
Database table adjustment required on activationField layout changed after first activationIn GUI this is SE14; there's no CLI equivalent yet — do a drop-and-recreate on dev systems or use SE14
TABL ZS_CUSTOMER does not exist after createStructures use the same TABL URI space as tablesThat's expected — adt structure ... uses the same backend endpoints as adt table ...

See also​