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Function Module for Tables

SAP customization for the Table extraction type is optional. The installation of the custom function module /THEO/READ_TABLE is recommended to improve performance and to bypass restrictions of the SAP standard function module RFC_READ_TABLE.

RFC_READ_TABLE Restrictions

Especially with older SAP releases you may encounter a few restrictions when using the SAP standard function module (RFC_READ_TABLE) for table extraction:

  • The overall width of all columns to be extracted must not exceed 512 bytes.
  • It is not possible to extract data from tables that contain one or more columns of the data type f (FLTP, floating point), DEC (decimal, e.g. for percentage) or x (RAW, LRAW).
  • Poor extraction performance with larger tables. Can cause also duplicates.
  • Depending on the SAP version there may be other restrictions.

When facing restrictions, install the Theobald Software custom function module /THEO/READ_TABLE on your SAP system.

Warning

Converting issues
Error while converting value '*.0' of row 1530, column 3.
The SAP standard module RFC_READ_TABLE for table extraction can only extract the ABAP data type DEC to a limited extent. This leads to the mentioned example error during extraction. Use the function module /THEO/READ_TABLE.

Download /THEO/READ_TABLE

SAP transport requests for installing /THEO/READ_TABLE are available for download in the Customer Portal or you can copy them from the installation directory of Xtract Universal, e.g., C:\Program Files\XtractUniversal\ABAP\Table\. There are multiple transport requests for /THEO/READ_TABLE. Which transport request you can use depends on your SAP system:

SAP_ABA version Transport Request
SAP_ABA 7.40 SP08 and higher (unicode systems) THEO_READ_TABLE_740SP08.zip
SAP_ABA 4.6C and higher (unicode and non-unicode systems) THEO_READ_TABLE_46C.zip

To select the correct transport request, verify the SAP_ABA version of your SAP system:

  1. In the SAP GUI, go to System > Status.
  2. In the SAP System Data section, click the [] (Details) button next to the Product Version field. The window "Installed Software" opens.
  3. Find the SAP_ABA component in the list of installed software. The version is listed in the Release columns.

You can now select the correct transport request for your SAP_ABA version.

Install /THEO/READ_TABLE

Import the transport request that matches your SAP_ABA version into your SAP system using the SAP Transport Management System (TMS).

For more information, see Knowledge Base: Import an SAP Transport Request.

Note

When importing transport requests on older SAP releases, a syntax error may occur. In this case, contact Theobald Support and include the exact error message in the support ticket.

Warning

Generating short dumps.
You cannot test the function modules on an SAP system. Only Theobald Software products can call the function module /THEO/READ_TABLE, because it uses a callback function. Do not call /THEO/READ_TABLE directly from an SAP system.

Upgrade /THEO/READ_TABLE

/THEO/READ_TABLE gets occasional updates to improve functionality, see Changelog.

Before upgrading /THEO/READ_TABLE, it is recommended to delete the existing custom function module from the SAP system. Xtract Universal provides deletion transport requests to support clean upgrades from Z_THEO_READ_TABLE or /THEO/READ_TABLE V3 to /THEO/READ_TABLE V4. The deletion transport requests remove all repository objects contained in the package, while leaving the package itself intact.

You can download the following deletion transport requests in the Customer Portal or you can copy them from the installation directory of Xtract Universal, e.g., C:\Program Files\XtractUniversal\ABAP\Table\Deletion-TR:

Installed Function Module Deletion Transport Request
Z_THEO_READ_TABLE (deprecated) Z_THEO_READ_TABLE-deletion_request.zip
THEO_READ_TABLE_46C THEO_READ_TABLE_V3_46C_DELETE_TR.zip
THEO_READ_TABLE_640 (deprecated) THEO_READ_TABLE_V3_640_DELETE_TR.zip
THEO_READ_TABLE_710 (deprecated) THEO_READ_TABLE_V3_710_DELETE_TR.zip
THEO_READ_TABLE_740SP05 THEO_READ_TABLE_V3_740SP05_DELETE_TR.zip

To check which /THEO/READ_TABLE function module is installed in your SAP system:

  1. Go to transaction SE37.
  2. Enter /THEO/READ_TABLE, and click [ Display].
  3. In the tab Source code, the first include element indicates which function module is installed, e.g., INCLUDE /theo/read_table_740sp05 refers to the function module THEO_READ_TABLE_740SP05 which requires the deletion transport request THEO_READ_TABLE_V3_740SP05_DELETE_TR.zip.
  4. To check the version number of the installed function module, double click the include element. The ABAP code of the function module opens and displays the version history in the comment section at the beginning. The first entry of the version history represents the current version of the function module.

You can now select the correct deletion transport request.

After deleting the existing function module, you can then install the new version of /THEO/READ_TABLE.

Supported Features

The following table gives an overview of the features supported by the different versions of /THEO/READ_TABLE.

Supported Features THEO_READ_TABLE_740SP08 THEO_READ_TABLE_46C
WHERE clause ✅ ✅
HAVING clause ✅ ❌
INNER JOIN ✅ ✅
LEFT OUTER JOIN ✅ ✅
Conversion exits ✅ ✅
Aggregate functions ✅ ✅
ABAP SQL strict mode features (this includes SQL expressions, subqueries and string functions like CONCAT in WHERE/HAVING clauses) ✅ ❌
Table extractions as background jobs ✅ ✅
Extract CDS Views with parameters ✅ ❌
Last update: January 7, 2026