In principle, there are several ways to add an entry to an SAP table. One is in the form of standardized transactions (for example, VOE4 for editing the EDPAR table) or using maintenance transactions such as SM30. However, both options are not always available. Either there is no separate transaction for maintaining a table or no maintenance dialog has been created for a particular table. This often occurs with Z tables.
Sometimes it can be useful to add a few entries to a table quickly for test purposes, so that a particular functionality can be tested. One possibility is presented below. This type of data change should only be performed on test systems and not on production environments. In most cases, however, this is prevented anyway by the lack of access to the corresponding transactions in production environments.
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Add entry to an existing SAP table
Option A): Using the standard transaction SE16 or SE16n
This option is the “cleanest” approach, but is only available if a maintenance dialog is created for the table and table processing is allowed. To check whether there is a maintenance dialog, call transaction SE11, enter the table name and press F8. Click on “Delivery and Maintenance” to display the editing option.
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If “Display/Maintenance Allowed with Restrictions” or “Display/Maintenance Not Allowed” is activated, only options B), C) or D) come into consideration – see below.
If “Display/Maintenance Allowed” is activated, however, entries can be created using transaction SE16 or SE16n. To change existing entries, you can use transaction SM30, for example.
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The newer transaction SE16n provides its own maintenance dialog, which can be called via “View Maintenance”. You can use this to change existing entries and create new entries.
Transaction SE16n
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Option B) Via transaction SE37
If it is not possible to add entries by default using transaction SE16, the following approach can also be chosen.
First, open transaction SE37 and choose the function module SE16N_INTERFACE. Then start the dialog with F8 or by clicking on “Test/Execute”.
If it is not possible to access transaction SE37, continue with option C or D (see below).
The following dialog will then open.
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In the first line, instead of <THE_TABLE_NAME>, enter the name of the table for which new entries are to be added. Enter an X for each of the parameters I_EDIT and I_SAPEDIT. Then execute with F8.
This opens the selected table and new entries can be added with the function “New entry”. Furthermore, existing entries can also be changed very easily.
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The tabular display allows easy editing, as seen in programs like Excel, for example.
Option C): Using transaction SE16 with debug mode
In the first step, start transaction SE16 and select the desired SAP table. Then press F8 to execute the transaction so that the individual table entries are displayed.
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Double-click on one of the existing SAP table entries to open the detailed view of an entry.
Transaction SE16: Detail view of an entry
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Then enter “/h” in the command field to start the debug mode. Click once more in the command field and press Enter to start a debug session.
![Eintrag in eine SAP Tabelle hinzufüge Transaktion Debug Mode](https://ecosio.com/app/uploads/2020/07/debug-mode.jpg" "Eintrag in eine SAP Tabelle hinzufüge Transaktion Debug Mode"){kind=small}
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The ABAP code under the transaction then opens. Double-click on the variable “code” in the ABAP code (left arrow). Then change the value of the variable in the right-hand window to “EDIT” (for editing) or “INSR” (for inserting) and confirm with Enter.
Debug mode to change a variable
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Then press F8 to finish the code. The entry can now be edited or a new entry can be added.
Option D): Using transaction SE16N with debug mode
Start transaction SE16n, enter SAP table name and press F8.
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Start the debug mode in the detail view by entering /h in the command field. Then press Enter again in the command field to start a new debug session. In the debug session, add the following two variables, set the value to “X” and finish the execution with F8.
- GD-SAPEDIT
- GD-EDIT
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The entries can now be edited or a new entry can be added.
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