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WHERE Clause

A WHERE clause can be used to filter table records, see SAP ABAP Documentation: SELECT-WHERE. Enter WHERE clauses manually in Text mode or use the WHERE Clause Editor in Editor Mode.

Create a WHERE Clause

  1. Open a Table extraction type.
  2. Navigate to the tab WHERE Clause.
    Extraction-Settings-01
  3. Enter a WHERE clause manually or use the WHERE Clause Editor.
  4. Click [Load live preview] to display the results in the Preview section.

WHERE Clause Text Mode

The WHERE clause text mode allows you to directly enter a WHERE clauses. The text mode of the WHERE clause supports script expressions.

Warning

Extraction fails due to incorrect syntax.
The extractions fail, if incorrect syntax is used in the WHERE clause.
Make sure to use correct SAP OpenSQL syntax. Several important syntax rules are listed in this help section.

Tip

To check the syntax of the WHERE clause, click [Load live preview]. This way there is no need to run an extraction to see, if the syntax is correct.

WHERE Clause Syntax

The WHERE Clause syntax generally uses the following structure:

[Table]~[Column][Space][Operator][Space][Filter-Value]

Examples: 

KNA1~LAND1 = 'US'
Rule Correct Wrong
Enter a space before and after the equal sign ✅ YEAR = '1999' ❌ YEAR= '1999 ', YEAR ='1999' or YEAR='1999'
Set floating point numbers in single quotation mark ✅ KMENG > '10.3' ❌ KMENG > 10.3
Values must use the internal SAP representation:
Date: YYYYMMDD
Year Period: YYYYPPP
Numbers with leading zeroes, e.g., customer numbers
✅ 19990101
✅ 1999001
✅ 0000001000
❌ 01.01.1999
❌ 001.1999
❌ 1000

The following operations are supported in the WHERE clause:

Operator Description
=, EQ True if the content of operand1 is equal to the content of operand2.
<>, NE True if the content of operand1 is not equal to the content of operand2.
<, LT True if the content of operand1 is less than the content of operand2.
>, GT True if the content of operand1 is greater than the content of operand2.
<=, LE True if the content of operand1 is less than or equal to the content of operand2.
>=, GE True if the content of operand1 is greater than or equal to the content of operand2.
(NOT) LIKE True if the value of operand1 matches (does not match) the pattern in operand2.
(NOT) IN True if the content of operand1 is (not) part of the content of operand2. Operand2 must be of type LIST or SQL.

For more details on the OpenSQL syntax, see SAP Help: Select WHERE

Tip

To increase extracting performance, make sure to place the indexed fields as the first selection filter operation in the WHERE clause.

Note

When fields with the same name exist in different tables, the field names must be formatted as [table name]~[field name], e.g., MARC~MATNR. This can be the case when extracting multiple tables.

Script Expressions

The [Text Mode] of the WHERE clause supports script expressions. Script expressions are usually used to determine a dynamic date based on the current date. When using script expressions in a WHERE Clause, the value must be entered in single quotation marks.

Syntax:

[Table]~[Column][Space][Operator][Space]'#[Script-Expression]#'

BKPF~BUDAT >= '#{DateTime.Now.AddYears(-5).ToString("yyyyMMdd")}#'

Examples:

Input Description 
#{ DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd") }#
 Current date in SAP format (yyyyMMdd) 
#{ String.Concat(DateTime.Now.Year.ToString(), "0101") }#
 Current year concatenated with "0101" (yyyy0101) 
#{ String.Concat(DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy"), "0101") }#
 Current year concatenated with "0101" (yyyy0101) 
#{ String.Concat(DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd").Substring(0,4), "0101") }#
 Current year concatenated with "0101" (yyyy0101)

For more information on script expression, see Script Expressions.

Subqueries

Note

The usage of subqueries is only possible as of SAP Release 7.40, SP05.

A subquery is an SQL query nested inside a larger query. Subqueries are nested queries that provide data to the enclosing query. Subqueries need be enclosed with parenthesis and can return individual values or a list of records. Get more details about subqueries on the SAP help site - Conditions.

In the following example a subquery is used with the IN operator. The following statement returns all the active customers (rows in the table KNA1) that have i.e. a sales document in the table VBAK for sales document header data.

WHERE Clause Subquery

WHERE Clause Editor

The WHERE clause editor offers a toolkit for those who are not familiar with the syntax of the WHERE clause. Click [Editor mode] to open the editor. WHERE-Clause-Builder-01

There are 2 options for adding criteria to the WHERE clause:

  • [Add Criteria] adds single criteria.
    • The default structure for a single criteria with static values is [Table~Column][Operator][Filer-Value] e.g., MARC~WERKS = 1000.
    • The default structure for a single criteria with parameters is [Column][Operator][Parameter] e.g., MARC~WERKS = [p_WERKS].
  • [Add Criteria Group] adds a group of criteria.
    • The default structure for a criteria group is ([Table~Column1][Operator1][Filter-Value1][Boolean][Table~Column2][Operator2][Filter-Value2]) e.g., (MARC~PSTAT = 'L' OR MARC~PSTAT = 'LB').

Tip

Combine multiple criteria and criteria groups to create complex filters e.g., MARC~WERKS = 1000 AND (MARC~PSTAT = 'L' OR MARC~PSTAT = 'LB') extracts only data where the column WERKS equals 1000 and the column PSTAT equals either 'L' or 'LB'.

Components of the WHERE Clause Editor

WHERE-Clause-Builder-Example

The following buttons and options are available in the WHERE Clause Editor:

Icon Component Function
Delete row deletes a criteria.
Move row up changes the sequence of the criteria. The selected criteria moves up.
The sequence of criteria can also be changed with Drag and drop.
Move row down changes the sequence of the criteria. The selected criteria moves down.
The sequence of criteria can also be changed with Drag and drop.
Column adds a column. Click on the component to select a column from the available tables.
SQL adds an Open SQL statement, see SAP Help: Open SQL.
Operator adds an operator e.g., =, <, >, etc.
Value adds a static value of type String, Number, Flag or List. List offers a separate editor to create lists of type String, Number or Select. Select enables usage of SELECT statements. For more information, see Working with Lists in the WHERE-Clause Editor.
Criteria adds a new criteria after the selected criteria.
Group adds a new group of criteria the selected criteria.
Parameter adds a previously defined runtime parameter, see Runtime Parameters.

Note

When adding or editing a criteria only the relevant components are displayed e.g., Add Operator is only available if there is a column or SQL statement to use an operator on.

Edit and Delete Components

  • Click on a component to edit it. All areas that are marked green can be edited.
  • To delete a component, click the (x) icon above the component.

SAP System Fields

You can use SAP system fields for date and time in a WHERE clause. The usage of SAP system fields requires SAP NW 7.4 SP5 or higher and the custom function module /THEO/READ_TABLE.

Example:

  1. Navigate to WHERE Clause Editor and select a column of the type Date here: BUDAT .
    img-01
  2. Delete the criterion "Value" and use the criterion "SQL" .
    img-02
  3. Within the "SQL" criterion, use the supported system fields for date and time with a preceding "@" character, here: @sy-datum .
    img-03
  4. Click [Load live preview] to check the result.
Last update: September 17, 2024