scope-of-variable.md

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Scope of Variable

What is the Intent of the Check?

If a variable is declared in a statement, it should be used/referred to inside this statement only (not outside).

How does the check work?

It searches for DATA and FIELD-SYMBOLS declaration inside of IF, ELSEIF, ELSE, DO, CASE/WHEN, LOOP, and WHILE statements, and for its usage/reference outside this statement.

ABAP lacks of proper scope handling. If a variable is declared in a IF-Block, it should only be used/referred inside this IF-block (not outside). The same applies for LOOP, DO, WHILE or any block structure. In other words, it is not allowed the usage of a variable outside the block/scope where it was declared. Thus, it is still possible to make usage of dynamic declarations inside of blocks with a single statement:

IF condition = abap_true.
  DATA(entry) = method().
ENDIF.
entry = abap_true. "no longer accepted

How to solve the issue?

Relocate the declaration.

What to do in case of exception?

In exceptional cases, you can suppress this finding by using the pseudo comment "#EC SCOPE_OF_VAR which should be placed right after the variable usage/reference:

IF has_entries = abap_true.
  DATA(value) = 1.
ELSE.
  value = 2. "#EC SCOPE_OF_VAR
ENDIF.

Example

Before:

IF has_entries = abap_true.
  DATA(value) = 1.
ELSE.
  value = 2.
ENDIF.

After:

DATA value TYPE i.

IF has_entries = abap_true.
  value = 1.
ELSE.
  value = 2.
ENDIF.

Further Readings & Knowledge

• Clean ABAP