Open SQL

Open SQL consists of a set of ABAP statements that perform operations on

the central database in the SAP Web AS ABAP. The results of the operations
and any error messages are independent of the database system in use.
Open SQL thus provides a uniform syntax and semantics for all of the
database systems supported by SAP. ABAP programs that only use Open
SQL statements will work in any SAP system, regardless of the database
system in use. Open SQL statements can only work with database tables that
have been created in the ABAP Dictionary.
In the ABAP Dictionary, you can combine columns of different database tables
to a database view (or view for short). In Open SQL statements, views are
handled in exactly the same way as database tables. Any references to
database tables in the following sections can equally apply to views.
Overview
Open SQL contains the following keywords:
Keyword Function

SELECT Reads data from database tables

INSERT Adds lines to database tables

UPDATE Changes the contents of lines of database tables

MODIFY Inserts lines into database tables or changes the contents of existing lines

DELETE Deleting Lines from Database Tables

OPEN CURSOR, Reads lines of database tables using the cursor

FETCH,
CLOSE CURSOR

Return Codes
All Open SQL statements fill the following two system fields with return codes:
sy-subrc
After every Open SQL statement, the system field sy-subrc contains
the value 0 if the operation was successful, a value other than 0 if not.
sy-dbcnt
 After an open SQL statement, the system field sy-dbcnt contains the
number of database lines processed.
Client Handling
A single SAP system can manage the application data for several separate
areas of a business (for example, branches). Each of these commercially
separate areas in the SAP system is called a client, and has a number. When
a user logs onto the SAP Web AS ABAP, they specify a client. The first
column in the structure of every database table containing application data is
the client field (MANDT, from the German word for client). It is also the first
field of the table key. Only universal system tables are client-independent, and
do not contain a client name.
By default, Open SQL statements use automatic client handling. Statements
that access client-dependentapplication tables only use the data from the
current client. You cannot specify a condition for the client field in
the WHERE clause of an Open SQL statement. If you do so, the system will
either return an error during the syntax check or a runtime error will occur.
You cannot overwrite the MANDT field of a database using Open SQL
statements. If you specify a different client in a work area, the ABAP runtime
environment automatically overwrites it with the current one before processing
the Open SQL statement further.
Should you need to specify the client specifically in an Open SQL statement,
use the addition
... CLIENT SPECIFIED ....
directly after the name of the database table. This addition disables the
automatic client handling and you can use the field MANDT both in
the WHERE clause and in a table work area.
Reading data
Changing data
Performance Notes