Formatting output in write statement of SAP ABAP

You can position the output of a WRITE statement on the screen by making a format specification before the field name as follows:

Syntax:

WRITE AT [/][][()] ,
Where

• ‘the slash’/‘ denotes a new line,
• is a number or variable denoting the position on the screen,
• is a number or variable long denoting the output length.

For variables you need to mention the AT, for direct values it is not necessary.

DATA: LEN TYPE I VALUE 10,
POS TYPE I VALUE 11,
TEXT (10) VALUE ‘1234567890’
WRITE AT POS (LEN) TEXT.

This produces the following output on the screen;
The text – 1234567890 – appears in the text.

If the output length is too short, fewer characters are displayed. Numeric fields are truncated on the left and prefixed with an asterisk (*). All other fields are truncated on the right, but no indication is given that the field is shorter.

DATA: NUMBER TYPE I VALUE 1234567890,
TEXT (10) VALUE ‘abcdefghij’.

WRITE: (5) NUMBER, /(5) TEXT.

This produces the following output:
7890
abcde

In the default setting, you cannot create empty lines with the WRITE statement.
WRITE: ‘One’,
/‘ ’,
/ ‘Two’

The output looks as follows:
One
Two

The system suppresses lines that contain nothing but empty spaces.

You can use various formatting options with the WRITE statement.

Syntax

WRITE…………

Formatting options for all data types

Option Purpose
LEFT-JUSTIFIED Output is left justified.
CENTERED Output is centered.
RIGHT-JUSTIFIED Output is right justified.
NO-GAP The blank after the field is omitted.
NO-ZERO If a field contains only zeros, these are replaced by blanks. For type C and N fields, leading zeros are replaced automatically.
Formatting options for numeric fields

Option Purpose
NO-SIGN The leading sign is not output.
DECIMALS defines the number of digits after the decimal point.
EXPONENT In type F fields, the exponent is defined in
ROUND Type P fields are multiplied by 10**(-r) and then rounded
CURRENCY Format according to currency in table TCURX.
UNIT The number of decimal places is fixed according to the unit
specified in table T006 for type P fields.


Horizontal lines
You can generate horizontal lines on the output screen by using the following syntax:
Syntax
ULINE
Will draw a horizontal line.
ULINE (10)
Will start drawing horizontal line from 10th column position.
WRITE at 10(40) SY-ULINE
This statement draws a horizontal line from 10th position.

Vertical lines
You generate vertical lines one the output screen by using the following syntax:
Syntax
WRITE [AT [/] []] SY-VLINE.

Blank lines
You can generate blank lines on the screen by using the following syntax :
Syntax
SKIP []
Starting on the current line, this statement generates blank lines on the output screen. If no value is specified for , one blank line is output. In the standard setting, you cannot create empty lines with the WRITE statement alone.
To position the output on a specific line on the screen use:
Syntax
SKIP TO LINE
This statement allows you to move the output position upwards or downwards.