Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands A

Contents

Overview................................................................................................................ A–3
Overview of SAPscript Control Commands........................................................A–4
Overview of Formatting Options..........................................................................A–5
Syntax of Control Commands..............................................................................A–6
ADDRESS: Formatting of addresses......................................................................A–6
BOTTOM: Define footer text in a window................................................................A–9
BOX, POSITION, SIZE: Boxes, lines, shading........................................................A–9
CASE: Case distinction......................................................................................... A–13
DEFINE: Value assignment to text symbols..........................................................A–13
HEX: Hexadecimal Data........................................................................................A–14
IF: Conditional text output.....................................................................................A–15
INCLUDE: Include other texts...............................................................................A–17
NEW-PAGE: Explicit form feed.............................................................................A–18
NEW-WINDOW: Next window MAIN.....................................................................A–19
PERFORM: Calling ABAP Subroutines.................................................................A–19
PRINT-CONTROL: Insert print control character..................................................A–21
PROTECT: Protect from page break.....................................................................A–22
RESET: Initialize outline paragraphs.....................................................................A–23
SET COUNTRY: Country-specific formatting........................................................A–25
SET DATE MASK: Formatting of date fields.........................................................A–26
SET SIGN: The Position of +/-..............................................................................A–27
SET TIME MASK: Formatting of time fields...........................................................A–28
STYLE: Change style............................................................................................ A–28
SUMMING............................................................................................................. A–29
TOP: Set header text in MAIN...............................................................................A–29

SAPscript Made Easy 1

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Syntax of Formatting Options............................................................................A–30

Changing the Value of a Counter..........................................................................A–30
Country Dependent Formattingn...........................................................................A–30
Date Mask............................................................................................................. A–31
Exponent for floating point numbers......................................................................A–32
Fill characters........................................................................................................ A–32
Ignoring conversion rules......................................................................................A–33
Leading sign to the left..........................................................................................A–33
Leading sign to the right........................................................................................A–33
Number of decimals.............................................................................................. A–34
Offset..................................................................................................................... A–34
Omitting leading zeros........................................................................................... A–35
Omitting the leading sign.......................................................................................A–35
Omitting the separator for “Thousands”.................................................................A–36
Output length......................................................................................................... A–36
Preceding and subsequent text.............................................................................A–37
Right-justified output.............................................................................................. A–38
Space compression............................................................................................... A–38
Suppressing initial values......................................................................................A–39
Time Mask............................................................................................................. A–39
System Variables................................................................................................ A–40

2 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Overview

The functionality of the SAPscript editor is determined by a number of

commands, which you can either choose from the menu or call with function
keys. These commands edit the text in the editor based on your requirements,
and commands are immediately executed.
In contrast, SAPscript recognizes another type of commands, the control
commands, which:
 Correspondingly influence the output formatting
 Are not interpreted by the SAPscript editor
 Only affect the SAPscript Composer
The Composer is a program that converts text from the editor display into the
print display. This program formats the line and pages where symbols are
replaced by their current values and text formatting is based on the paragraph
and the character style formats.

SAPscript Made Easy 3

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Overview of SAPscript Control Commands

SAPscript Control Commands Description

ADDRESS Formatting of addresses

BOTTOM, ENDBOTTOM Define footer text in a window
BOX, POSITION, SIZE Boxes, lines and shading
CASE, ENDCASE Case distinction
DEFINE Value assignment to text symbols
HEX, ENDHEX Hexadecimal values
IF, ENDIF Conditional text output
INCLUDE Include other texts
NEW-PAGE Explicit forms feed
NEW-WINDOW Next window MAIN
PERFORM Calling ABAP Subroutines
PRINT-CONTROL Insert print control character
PROTECT, ENDPROTECT Protect from page break
RESET Initialize outline paragraphs
SET COUNTRY Country-specific formatting
SET DATE MASK Formatting of date fields
SET SIGN Position of +/- sign
SET TIME MASK Formatting of time fields
STYLE Change style
SUMMING Summing variables
TOP Set header text in window MAIN

4 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Overview of Formatting Options

Formatting options format variables and override the format described in the Dictionary.
Formatting options are always specified within &-& variable brackets.

Formatting Options Description

Changing the value of a counter Increasing or decreasing the value of a

counter
Country dependent formatting Specifying formats for country dependent
values
Date mask Formatting date fields
Exponent for floating point Specifying an exponent for floating point
numbers values
Fill characters Replacing leading spaces with fill characters
Ignoring conversion rules Ignoring conversion rules from Dictionary
Leading sign to the left Leading sign of numeric values is on the left
Leading sign to the right Leading sign of numeric values is on the
right
Number of decimals Specifying the number of decimal places
Offset Specifying an offset of n characters
Omitting leading zeros Omitting the leading zeros
Omitting the leading sign Omitting the leading sign of numeric values
Omitting the separator for Omitting the separator for “Thousands” in
‘Thousands’ numeric values

SAPscript Made Easy 5

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Syntax of Control Commands

SAPscript control commands are entered, changed, or deleted in the SAPscript

editor in the same way as other text lines. However, they differ from normal
lines in the following ways:
 In the tag column, indicate control commands with the paragraph format
/:
 Enter the command in the line.
 All key words and specifications, not defined in quotes as literal, are
automatically converted to upper case.
 Enter the complete control command and the necessary parameters on
one line.
 Enter only one control command per line.
 Editor formatting does not affect lines with control commands.
If the control command is unknown or syntactically incorrect, the command line
is treated as a comment line, and is not interpreted or printed.

If a parameter of a control command is written in parentheses, [],

on the following pages, then this parameter is optional for the
command.

Some of the control commands are global settings, which are valid
until they are explicitly switched off. Therefore it is important to
know that, on a page, the MAIN window is always processed first.
For example, if you want to set the date format with the control
command SET DATE FORMAT and this format must be valid for the
entire form, then specify this command at the top of MAIN.

ADDRESS: Formatting of addresses

The command ADDRESS - ENDADDRESS formats an address according to the postal
standards of the destination country defined in the parameter COUNTRY. The reference fields
are described in the structure ADRS. Both constants and symbols can be assigned to the
parameters.

6 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Syntax:
/: ADDRESS [DELIVERY] [PARAGRAPH a] [PRIORITY p] [LINES l]
/: TITLE title
/: NAME name1[,name2[,name3[,name4]]]
/: STREET street
/: POBOX PO box [CODE zip code]
/: POSTCODE zip code
/: CITY town1[,town2]
/: REGION region
/: COUNTRY country
/: FROMCOUNTRY from country
/: ENDADDRESS
Both formatting data and address data are parameters. Address data is formatted for output
based on the COUNTRY, PRIORITY and LINES parameters. As the default, the P.O. Box is used,
if it is available, rather than the street address.
 DELIVERY defines the street address.
 If this parameter is selected, the system prints the street address on the layout output
instead of the P.O. Box.
 PARAGRAPH defines in which paragraph format the address is output.
 If the parameter is not defined, the address is output in the default paragraph format.
 PRIORITY defines which address lines can be omitted if there is not enough space on the
output.
 You can enter a combination of the following values:
 A form of address
 P mandatory blank line 1
 Q mandatory blank line 2
 2 name2
 3 name3
 4 name4
 L country name
 S line for the street
 O line for the city
 LINES define how many lines are available to format the address.
If the address data cannot be completely formatted due to an insufficient number of lines,
the data entered in the parameter PRIORITY is omitted. If the LINES specification is missing
and this command is in a form window whose type is not MAIN, the lines available for the
address layout are automatically calculated with the current output line item and window
size.
 TITLE is a required form of address.
 NAME means that up to four separate names, separated by commas, can be defined.
 STREET means the street specification, including address number.
 POBOX is the Post Office box number.
 CODE is the P.O. box, postal, or zip code, if this code is different from the postal code of
the city.

SAPscript Made Easy 7

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

 POSTCODE is city’s postal, or zip, code.

 CITY means that up to two place names can be defined.
 REGION determines the administrative area.
 COUNTRY specifies the country based on specific postal standards and the address format.
 FROMCOUNTRY defines in which language the destination country’s name is formatted. In
EEC countries, only the international country identification letter is placed, with a hyphen,
before the postal code.

Example:
/: ADDRESS
/: TITLE ‘Company’
/: NAME ‘Widget Technology, Inc.’, ‘All Kind of Widgets’
/: STREET ‘1005 Lido Lane’
/: POBOX ‘2935’ CODE ‘94400’
/: POSTCODE ‘94404’
/: CITY ‘Foster City’
/: REGION ‘CA’
/: COUNTRY ‘USA’
/: FROMCOUNTRY ‘USA’
/: ENDADDRESS
This list generates the following address:

Company
Widget Technology, Inc.
All Kind of Widgets
PO box 2935
Foster City, CA 94400
If the DELIVERY supplement is specified for the ADDRESS command, then the
street, not the P.O. Box, is entered.

Company
Widget Technology, Inc.
All Kind of Widgets
1005 Lido Lane
Foster City, CA 94404

SAPscript calls the ADDRESS_INTO_PRINTFORM function module to

format the address. If the display is not in the required form, check
the settings that are valid for this function module (see the
documentation on the function module).

8 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

BOTTOM: Define footer text in a window

For MAIN, determine the lines, also known as footer texts, which are always automatically
output at the bottom of that window.
Syntax:
/: BOTTOM
:
:
/: ENDBOTTOM
The text lines between the two commands are output at the bottom of MAIN.
To switch a footer text off, enter the command pair BOTTOM .. ENDBOTTOM with no text lines
in between:
/: BOTTOM
/: ENDBOTTOM
Footer text no longer appears at the bottom of the page from and including this page.

If there is sufficient space in the window, a footer text is output on

the current page.
Only use footer texts in texts that are not printed with application
programs, such as dunning texts, ordering texts. These application
programs also work with footer texts with the form interface, which
can lead to unwanted results.

BOX, POSITION, SIZE: Boxes, lines, shading

The BOX, POSITION and SIZE commands draw boxes, lines, and shadows. Within any
particular form, these commands specify window or passage of window text can be output in
a frame or with shadowing. The SAP printer drivers based on page-oriented printers (the HP
LaserJet PCL-5 driver HPLJ4, the Postscript driver POST, the Kyocera Prescribe driver PRES)
use these commands when creating output. Line printers and non-supported page-oriented
printers ignore these commands. The resulting output may be viewed in the SAPscript print
previewer.
Syntax:
1. /: BOX [XPOS] [YPOS] [WIDTH] [HEIGHT] [FRAME] [INTENSITY]
2. /: POSITION [XORIGIN] [YORIGIN] [WINDOW] [PAGE]
3. /: SIZE [WIDTH] [HEIGHT] [WINDOW] [PAGE]

SAPscript Made Easy 9

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

BOX
Syntax:
/: BOX [XPOS] [YPOS] [WIDTH] [HEIGHT] [FRAME] [INTENSITY]
This command draws a box of the specified size at the specified position. For each parameter
(XPOS, YPOS, WIDTH, HEIGHT, and FRAME), both a measurement and a unit of measure must
be specified. The INTENSITY parameter should be entered as a percentage between 0 and
100.
 XPOS, YPOS specify the upper left corner of the box, relative to POSITION command
values.
Default is the values specified in the POSITION command.
The following calculation is performed internally to determine the absolute output position
of a box on the page:
X(abs) = XORIGIN + XPOS
Y(abs) = YORIGIN + YPOS
 WIDTH determines the width of the box.
Default: WIDTH value of the SIZE command.
 HEIGHT determines height of the box.
Default: HEIGHT value of the SIZE command.
 FRAME determines the thickness of frame.
Default: 0 (no frame).
 INTENSITY determines the box contents as a grayscale percentage.
Default: 100 (full black)
When determining the measurements, use decimal numbers to specify literal values (like
ABAP numeric constants) and enclose these values in inverted commas. Use a period for the
decimal point character. See also the examples listed below.
Use the following units of measure:
 TW (twip)
 PT (point)
 IN (inch)
 MM (millimeter)
 CM (centimeter)
 LN (line)
 CH (character)
The following conversion factors apply:
 1 TW = 1/20 PT
 1 PT = 1/72 IN
 1 IN = 2.54 CM
 1 CM = 10 MM
 1 CH = height of a character relative to the CPI specification in the form header
 1 LN = height of a line relative to the LPI specification in the form header

Example:

10 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

/: BOX FRAME 10 TW
Draws a frame around the current window with a frame thickness of 10 TW (=
0.5 PT).
/: BOX INTENSITY 10
Fills the window background with shadowing having a gray scale of 10 %.
/: BOX HEIGHT 0 TW FRAME 10 TW
Draws a horizontal line across the complete top edge of the window.
/: BOX WIDTH 0 TW FRAME 10 TW
Draws a vertical line along the complete height of the left hand edge of the
window.
/: BOX WIDTH '17.5' CM HEIGHT 1 CM FRAME 10 TW INTENSITY 15
/: BOX WIDTH '17.5' CM HEIGHT '13.5' CM FRAME 10 TW
/: BOX XPOS '10.0' CM WIDTH 0 TW HEIGHT '13.5' CM FRAME 10 TW
/: BOX XPOS '13.5' CM WIDTH 0 TW HEIGHT '13.5' CM FRAME 10 TW
Draws two rectangles and two lines to construct a table of three columns with
a highlighted heading.

POSITION
Syntax:
/: POSITION [XORIGIN] [YORIGIN] [WINDOW] [PAGE]
This command sets the origin for the coordinate system used by the XPOS and YPOS
parameters of the BOX command. When a window is first started, the POSITION value is set to
refer to the upper left corner of the window (default setting). If a parameter value does not
have a leading sign, then its value is interpreted as an absolute value, which is a value that
specifies an offset from the upper-left corner of the output page. If a parameter value is
specified with a leading sign, then the new value of the parameter is calculated relative to the
old value. If a parameter specification is missing, then this parameter is unchanged.
 XORIGIN, YORIGIN is the origin of the coordinate system.
 WINDOW sets the values for the left and upper edges to be the same of those of the
current window (default setting).
 PAGE sets the values for the left and upper edges to be the same as the current output
page (XORIGIN = 0 cm, YORIGIN = 0 cm).

SAPscript Made Easy 11

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Example:
/: POSITION WINDOW
Sets the origin for the coordinate system to the upper-left corner of the
window.
/: POSITION XORIGIN 2 CM YORIGIN '2.5 CM'
Sets the origin for the coordinate system to a point 2 cm from the left edge
and 2.5 cm from the upper edge of the output page.
/: POSITION XORIGIN '-1.5' CM YORIGIN -1 CM
Shifts the origin for the coordinates 1.5 cm to the left and 1 cm up.

SIZE
Syntax:
/: SIZE [WIDTH] [HEIGHT] [WINDOW] [PAGE]
This command sets the values of the WIDTH and HEIGHT parameters used in the BOX
command. When a window is first started, the SIZE value is set to the same values as the
window (default setting). If one of the parameter specifications is missing, then no change is
made to its current value. If a parameter value does not have a leading sign, then its value is
interpreted as an absolute value. If a parameter value is specified with a leading sign, then
the new value of the parameter is calculated relative to the old value.
 WIDTH, HEIGHT sets the dimensions of the rectangle or line.
 WINDOW sets the values for the width and height relative to the values of the current
window (default setting).
 PAGE sets the values for the width and height to the values of the current output page.

Example:
/: SIZE WINDOW
Sets WIDTH and HEIGHT to the current window dimensions.
/: SIZE WIDTH '3.5' CM HEIGHT '7.6' CM
Sets WIDTH to 3.5 cm and HEIGHT to 7.6 cm.
/: POSITION WINDOW
/: POSITION XORIGIN -20 TW YORIGIN -20 TW
/: SIZE WIDTH +40 TW HEIGHT +40 TW
/: BOX FRAME 10 TW
A frame is added to the current window. The frame edges extends beyond the
window itself, to avoid obscuring the leading and trailing text characters.

12 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

CASE: Case distinction

The CASE command is a special case of multi-level case distinction with IF commands. As a
condition for the different cases, only one symbol can be queried for equality with different
values.
Syntax:
/: CASE symbol
/: WHEN value1
:
/: WHEN value2
:
/: WHEN value n
:
/: WHEN OTHERS.
:
/: ENDCASE
The symbol entered in the CASE line is formatted. If it has a value specified in the individual
WHEN lines, the text following the valid WHEN line is output. If none of the listed values
apply, the lines between the WHEN-OTHERS line and ENDCASE are output. The WHEN-
OTHERS case is optional. Comparison is always carried out as a literal comparison as for the
IF command.

ENDCASE must end a CASE command, but the WHEN-OTHERS

command is optional.

DEFINE: Value assignment to text symbols

Text symbols receive their value through an explicit assignment. This assignment can be
made interactively in the editor by choosing Include Symbols Text. This step lists all the
text symbols of a text module and those of the allocated form. If the transaction is exited, the
contents defined in this way are lost. To continue printing the text module, you would have to
enter the symbol values again.
The DEFINE command allows you to anchor this value assignment in the text and to have it
available when you next call up the text. Furthermore, you can allocate another value to a
text symbol in the course of the text.
Syntax:
/: DEFINE &symbolname& = ‘value’

SAPscript Made Easy 13

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Example:
/: DEFINE &re& = ‘Your correspondence of 3/17/94’
/: DEFINE &symbol1& = ‘xxxxxxx’
/: DEFINE &symbol2& = ‘yyy&symbol1&’
/: DEFINE &symbol1& = ‘zzzzzzz’
Result: &symbol2&  yyyzzzzzzz

The assigned value may have a maximum of 60 characters, but it can also contain more
symbols. When a symbol is defined using DEFINE, symbols which occur in the value are not
immediately replaced by their value. They are replaced only when the target symbol is
output.
If operator := is used in DEFINE, the symbols that occur in the value to be assigned are
immediately replaced by their current values. The resulting character string is only then
assigned to the target symbol when all occurring symbols have been replaced. The length of
the value is limited to 80 characters, and the target symbol must be a text symbol.
Syntax:
/: DEFINE &symbolname& := ‘value’

HEX: Hexadecimal Data

This command sends printer commands in a printer language directly to a printer that
supports that language. SAPscript does not interpret the data enclosed by the HEX and
ENDHEX command pair, but inserts unchanged data into the output stream. This technique
allows objects with a pixel-oriented format to be printed as part of a SAPscript text. The HEX
and ENDHEX command pair enclose the printer commands and data as hexadecimal text, so
that the printer formatting routines interpret each successive pair of characters as a single
hexadecimal value in the 0..255 range.
The characters 0..9 and A..F to represent the values 10..15 are valid hexadecimal characters.
The text may also include comment lines (these begin with /* in the format column), which
will not be interpreted as hexadecimal data but are simply passed over by the formatting
routines.
Syntax:
/: HEX [TYPE printer_language]
:
:
/: ENDHEX
HEX denotes the start of the hexadecimal data. Subsequent text lines are interpreted as
described above. If the TYPE parameter is present, the data will be sent to the printer only if
the printer understands the specified printer language. The following printer languages are
currently supported:
 POST (Postscript)

14 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

 PRES (Kyocera Prescribe)

 PCL (HP Printer Control Language)
/: HEX [TYPE printer_language] [XPOS x_position] [YPOS y_position]
Before the hexadecimal data is output, the output cursor is set to the absolute position
indicated by the specified X and Y position parameters. If either the X or the Y position is not
specified, then 0 will be assumed for this parameter.
/: HEX [TYPE printer_language] [HEIGHT height] [LEFT left_indentation]
The HEIGHT parameter determines the amount of space to be reserved on the page for the
output of the hexadecimal data. Any text after ENDHEX will be output below this point. If the
LEFT parameter is also specified, then the output of the hexadecimal data will be indented
from the left margin by the specified amount.

Example:
/* Creator: report ZQVNTE30 date 19940705 time 125129 user SAPSCRIPT
/= 1B2A7230461B2A743735521B2A7231411B2A62304D1B2A62343057FFFFFFFFFFFF
/= FF1B2A62343057FFFFFFFFFFFFC0007D00DFC0F7D0000000000000000000000017
/: ENDHEX
This data will be printed only by an HP PCL printer (7.5 cm of space will allocated
on the page for the output of the data and the output cursor will be indented 2.25
cm to the right of the form window edge).

The RSTXLDMC program uploads correctly formatted pixel data to

the R/3 system and prepares it as a HEX-ENDHEX control
command. This data can then be saved as normal SAPscript text.

IF: Conditional text output

With the IF control command, define those lines that are output under certain conditions. If
the logical expression entered for the IF command is fulfilled, the lines parenthesized by IF ...
ENDIF are output. If this expression is not enclosed in parentheses, the commands are
ignored.
Syntax:
/: IF Condition
:
:
/: ENDIF
In the condition, the following relational operators are possible:

SAPscript Made Easy 15

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Relational Operator Description

= or EQ equals
< or LT less than
> or GT greater than
<= or LE less than or equal to
>= or GE greater than or
equal to
<> or NE not equal

As logical link operators use OR, NOT, or AND.

The sequence of processing the logical operations and the sequence of processing the
conditions is always from left to right. There is no order of binding, and bracketing is not
allowed.
Comparison is always carried out as a literal comparison, that is, symbols are compared in
their formatted form as a character string and not with their internal representation. This
comparison must be taken into account for program symbols whose format depends on
different parameters. Examples include currency fields that are output with different number
of places after the decimal point depending on the currency key, or that use a comma or a
period as the decimal separator depending on the setting.
The IF command can be extended to make a two-sided case distinction with the ELSE
command. If the specified IF condition is true, then the lines listed between IF and ELSE are
formatted, otherwise the lines between ELSE and ENDIF are formatted.
Syntax:
/: IF Condition
:
/: ELSE
:
/: ENDIF
A multi-level case distinction is possible using the ELSEIF command.
Syntax:
/: IF Condition
:
/: ELSEIF Condition
:
/: ELSE
:

16 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

/: ENDIF
You can use as many ELSEIF commands as required. The specification of an ELSE command is
optional in this case.

 The condition must not extend over several lines, and must be
contained in one line with the IF or ELSEIF command.
 IF commands can also be nested.
 An IF command must always end with ENDIF. If this command is
forgotten, and if the condition is not true, nothing more is
output after the IF command.
 If a syntax error is found when interpreting these commands,
the corresponding command is not executed. This can have
various effects on the following text output. If, for example, the
IF statement is incorrectly structured, since IF is missing, the
following ELSEIF or ELSE commands are ignored. All lines are
output.

INCLUDE: Include other texts

Use INCLUDE to include the contents of another text into your text. The text to be included
exists separately from yours and is only copied at the time of the output formatting. With
INCLUDE, since the text is only read and inserted during the output formatting, the most
current version of the required text is always available.
Syntax:
/: INCLUDE name [OBJECT o] [ID i] [LANGUAGE l] [PARAGRAPH p] [NEW-PARAGRAPH np]
The name of the text to be inserted must be specified and can have up to 70 characters. If
the text name contains blanks, put it in quotes as a literal. It can also be specified with a
symbol. All further parameters of INCLUDE are optional. If these parameters are missing,
SAPscript uses default values based on the respective call environment for them.

Example:
/: INCLUDE MYTEXT
The text MYTEXT is included in the language of the calling text.
/: INCLUDE MYTEXT LANGUAGE ‘E’ PARAGRAPH ‘A1’
The text with the name MYTEXT and the language E is included, regardless of
the language in which the calling text is created. The paragraph format A1 is
valid as the standard paragraph for this call.

Optional specifications:
49. LANGUAGE
If a language is unspecified, the calling text’s language or the form is set for the text to be
included. If a language is specified, the text is always loaded in this language, regardless
of the language of the calling text.

SAPscript Made Easy 17

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

50. PARAGRAPH
The text to be included is formatted with its style allocation. With this parameter, the
standard paragraph of this style can be redefined for the current call. All * paragraphs of
the inserted text are formatted with the paragraph specified here.
51. NEW-PARAGRAPH
The first line of the included text has this format flag, provided it is not a command or
comment line. If the optional entry PARAGRAPH (see above) is empty, all * paragraphs of
the included text are formatted with the paragraph np specified with NEW-PARAGRAPH.
52. OBJECT
To completely specify a text, create additional specifications about the text object. There
are different rules and restrictions for this specification that depends on the calling text’s
object type. All texts can be included in a form. If no object is entered here, TEXT is used
(standard texts). With a documentation text (object DOKU), you can only include
documentation texts. This object is assumed even if no object is specified in this
environment.
Only hypertext or documentation text can be included into a hypertext (object DSYS). If
the OBJECT specification is missing, DSYS is set as a default value.
Only standard text (object TEXT), documentation text or hypertext can be included in any
other type of text. The default object is TEXT if nothing is entered.
53. ID
The text ID allows further text types within an object, is a further part of the text key. If the
ID is not entered, the default Include ID from table TTXID is used to call text. If the
specification is not in this table, the text ID of the calling text is used.
The ID and the object are now the basis of a further consistency check:
 All text IDs are allowed for a form.
 Only documentation texts with the text IDs TX (general texts), UO (authorization objects),
and documentation texts (with the same text ID as the calling documentation text) may be
included in documentation texts.
 All DSYS texts may be included in DSYS texts, regardless of their ID. Documentation texts
that will be inserted may only have IDs TX and UO.
 Standard texts with the allowed text IDs, DSYS texts with IDs, and documentation texts
with IDs TX and UO may be included in the text types.

NEW-PAGE: Explicit form feed

SAPscript automatically inserts a page break if MAIN of one page is filled. Using NEW-PAGE, a
page break can be forced at any point. The text after this command is written on a new page.
The form feed is independent of any conditions. The command now outputs the current page.
If you have entered NEW-PAGE without additional parameters, the page defined in the form
as the next page is accessed. If, however, there are various pages in your form, you can jump
to any particular next page by specifying the page name.
Syntax:
/: NEW-PAGE [page name]

18 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Example:
/: NEW-PAGE
The current page is completed and the text in the following lines is written on
the next page as determined in the form.
/: NEW-PAGE S1
Same as before, but S1 is accessed as the next page.

If an explicitly specified page for NEW-PAGE is not in the form, this

page specification is ignored. Make sure that there are no blank
lines immediately before a NEW-PAGE command. If an implicit form
feed was carried out within these blank lines, this step could lead to
an unwanted empty page being printed.

NEW-WINDOW: Next window MAIN

You can have up to 99 MAIN windows on one page. These windows are distinguished by a
serial number (0..98) and assigned in this order. So, with SAPscript, it is possible to print
labels or to output text in multiple columns. If one MAIN window is filled, then the next MAIN
window on the page is automatically accessed. A page break is inserted at the end of the final
MAIN window.
Using NEW-WINDOW, even if the current window is not completely filled, you can explicitly
call the next window MAIN. If you are currently in the last MAIN window of the page, the
command works as a NEW-PAGE.
Syntax:
/: NEW-WINDOW

PERFORM: Calling ABAP Subroutines

You can use the PERFORM command to call an ABAP subroutine (form) from any program,
subject to the normal ABAP runtime authorization checking. You can use such calls to
subroutines for carrying out calculations, for obtaining data from the database that is needed
at display or print time, for formatting data, and so on.
PERFORM commands, like all control commands, are executed when a document is formatted
for display or printing. Communication between a subroutine that you call and the document
is by way of symbols whose values are set in the subroutine.
Syntax in a form window:

SAPscript Made Easy 19

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

/: PERFORM <form> IN PROGRAM <prog>

/: USING &INVAR1&
/: USING &INVAR2&
......
/: CHANGING &OUTVAR1&
/: CHANGING &OUTVAR2&
......
/: ENDPERFORM
INVAR1 and INVAR2 are variable symbols and may be of any of the four SAPscript symbol
types.
OUTVAR1 and OUTVAR2 are local text symbols and must therefore be character strings.
The ABAP subroutine called via the command line stated above must be defined in the ABAP
report prog as follows:
FORM <form> TABLES IN_TAB STRUCTURE ITCSY
OUT_TAB STRUCTURE ITCSY.
...
ENDFORM.
The values of the SAPscript symbols passed with /: USING... are now stored in the internal
table IN_TAB . Note that the system passes the values as character string to the subroutine,
since the field Feld VALUE in structure ITCSY has the domain TDSYMVALUE (CHAR 80). See
the example below on how to access the variables.
The internal table OUT_TAB contains names and values of the CHANGING parameters in the
PERFORM statement. These parameters are local text symbols, that is, character fields. See
the example below on how to return the variables within the subroutine.

20 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Example:
From within a SAPscript form, a subroutine GET_BARCODE in the ABAP
program QCJPERFO is called. Then the simple barcode contained there (‘First
page’, ‘Next page’, ‘Last page’) is printed as local variable symbol.

Definition in the SAPscript form:

/: PERFORM GET_BARCODE IN PROGRAM QCJPERFO
/: USING &PAGE&
/: USING &NEXTPAGE&
/: CHANGING &BARCODE&
/: ENDPERFORM
/
/ &BARCODE&

Coding of the calling ABAP program:

REPORT QCJPERFO.
FORM GET_BARCODE TABLES IN_PAR STUCTURE ITCSY
OUT_PAR STRUCTURE ITCSY.

PRINT-CONTROL: Insert print control character

This command allows you call certain printer functions from SAPscript text. The control
characters for the printer cannot be directly entered into your text. First, with the spool
transaction SPAD, define a print control that contains the required printer commands. This
print control can now be called with the SAPscript command PRINT-CONTROL.
Syntax:
/: PRINT-CONTROL name
The name of the required print control can be entered with or without quotes.

SAPscript has no idea of what is contained in the print control. It

cannot check whether the printer commands hidden behind it are
functional. If problems result when printing such a text, first print
the text without the print controls, and then activate each PRINT-
CONTROL command to help you locate the error more easily.
On completion, make sure that the defined print control sequences
restore the printer to a defined status. When printing subsequent
texts, SAPscript assumes that certain settings are still valid (type
font, current page). If these settings are changed by the called
printer commands, this change can have unwanted effects.

After performing PRINT-CONTROL, SAPscript inserts a blank at the start of the following line. If
this is not required, this line must have the paragraph format “=.”

SAPscript Made Easy 21

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

PROTECT: Protect from page break

You can determine whether a paragraph should or should not be separated by a page break
in the style or form. If the attribute page protection is set, then all the lines of this paragraph
are always output together on one page. This attribute is linked to the respective paragraph.
It is not beneficial to provide all paragraphs with a page protection attribute to neutralize
unwanted page breaks. This event is too dynamic and only results from the current text.
Furthermore, you may also want to protect only parts of a paragraph from a page break.
In principle, this problem could be solved with NEW-PAGE by explicitly starting a new page
before the affected parts of the text. However, it is complicated to change this procedure.
Using NEW-PAGE, if your text is formatted to have no unwanted page breaks, and new lines
are inserted and existing ones are deleted, the NEW-PAGE commands inserted after this point
will have to be checked and can result in the movement of page breaks.
With the command pair PROTECT .. ENDPROTECT, SAPscript offers the option to individually
define protection from a page break. If you parenthesize text with these commands, SAPscript
automatically guarantees that all of its lines are printed on one page. If the lines fit on the
current output page, they are output there, as if PROTECT was not used. If, however, the
space is not sufficient, PROTECT works like a NEW-PAGE and generates a form feed.
So, you can view PROTECT/ENDPROTECT are conditional NEW-PAGE commands, that
determine whether the included lines fit into the current window MAIN or not.
Syntax:
/: PROTECT
:
:
/: ENDPROTECT
The lines to be protected lie between the two commands.

 An ENDPROTECT command without a preceding PROTECT

command is ineffective.
 If the last ENDPROTECT is missing, it is implicitly assumed at
the end of the text.
 PROTECT .. ENDPROTECT commands cannot be nested. If a
second PROTECT command is recognized while another is
active, the second is ignored.
 If the text between PROTECT and ENDPROTECT is so extensive
that it would not fit on an empty page, then only one form feed
is generated and the text is normally output. Thus, in this case,
the section to be protected is separated by a page break.

RESET: Initialize outline paragraphs

The RESET command resets the numbering of an outline paragraph to its initial value. If the
user does not use RESET, all the outline paragraphs of a text are sequentially numbered. If

22 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

the name of an outline paragraph is entered in RESET, the numbering of this paragraph, is
initialized with subordinate outline levels.
Syntax:
/: RESET paragraph format
The paragraph format specifies the outline paragraph to be initialized.

Example:
Assume that paragraph N1 is defined in the style that you are using. This
paragraph should be used for listings and it each time generates an output of
a list number. This is the SAPscript editor:
AS If you want to work with the SAP R/3 System, proceed as
follows:
N1 Make sure that you have a PC
N1 Switch on the PC
N1 Click on the SAP icon.
AS The SAP logon screen appears. To log on, you must carry out the
following steps:
/: RESET N1
N1 Enter your user ID
N1 Enter your password
N1 Choose the application you require
Result:
If you want to work with the SAP R/3 System, proceed as follows:
1. Make sure that you have a PC
2. Switch on the PC
3. Click on the SAP icon.
The SAP logon screen appears. To log on, you must carry out the following
steps:
1. Enter your user ID
2. Enter your password
3. Choose the application you require.

SAPscript Made Easy 23

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Example:
If the RESET command between the two lines in the previous example is
missing, then both of the listings would be sequentially numbered:
Result:
If you want to work with the SAP R/3 System, proceed as follows:
1. Make sure that you have a PC
2. Switch on the PC
3. Click on the SAP icon.
The SAP logon screen appears. To log on, you must carry out the following
steps:
4. Enter your user ID
5. Enter your password
6. Choose the application you require.

SET COUNTRY: Country-specific formatting

Some field types are formatted to be country-specific. This includes the display of a date, the
decimal point, or the thousands separator. Normally, the display types defined in the user
master record are used here. With the control command SET COUNTRY, a format alternative
to that in the user master record can be chosen, which is stored country-specifically in table
T005X.
Syntax:
/: SET COUNTRY Country key
This country key can be entered either directly in quotes or with a symbol.

Example:
/: SET COUNTRY ‘CAN’
/: SET COUNTRY &country key&
By entering an empty country name, you can return to the values set in the
user master record.
/: SET COUNTRY ‘ ‘
The corresponding ABAP command is called internally by SAPscript.

If the required formats are incorrect, check the settings in table

T005X.

24 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

SET DATE MASK: Formatting of date fields

Formatting date fields can be defined with the SAPscript command SET DATE MASK. After
executing this command, all the date fields are output with this display.
Syntax:
/: SET DATE MASK = ‘date mask’
In the date mask, the following edit formats can be used:

Edit format Description

DD Day (two-digit)
DDD Day name abbreviated
DDDD Day name in full
MM Month (two-digit)
MMM Month name
abbreviated
MMMM Month name in full
YY Year (two-digit)
YYYY Year (four-digit)

All other characters in the mask are interpreted as text and copied correspondingly.

Example:
Assume that the current system date is March 1 st 1994.
/: SET DATE MASK = ‘Walldorf, DD.MM.YY’
&DATE&
Result: Walldorf, 01.03.94
/: SET DATE MASK = ‘MMMM, DD. YYYY’
&DATE&
Result: March, 01. 1994

By specifying an empty string as the date mask, you can switch back to the default display:
/: SET DATE MASK = ‘ ‘
The texts for the month and day names, shortened or in full, are stored language-
dependently in table TTDTG under the following arguments:

SAPscript Made Easy 25

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Argument Description

%%SAPSCRIPT_DDD_dd abbreviated day name

dd = day number (01 = Monday … 07 = Sunday)
%%SAPSCRIPT_DDDD_dd full day name
%%SAPSCRIPT_MMM_mm abbreviated month name
mm = month number (01 = January … 12 =
December)
%%SAPSCRIPT_MMMM_mm full month name

SET SIGN: The Position of +/-

For commercial applications, it is common for the “+/-“ signs to be displayed to the right of
the number value. In certain cases, however, it is necessary for these signs to be displayed to
the left of the number value. This position can be determined with the control command SET
SIGN. All program symbols formatted using this command and that have a “+/-“ sign are
displayed in the required fashion.
Syntax:
/: SET SIGN LEFT
The +/- sign is displayed to the left of the number.
/: SET SIGN RIGHT
The +/- sign is displayed to the right of the number.

SET TIME MASK: Formatting of time fields

With the SAPscript command SET TIME MASK time fields can be alternatively formatted to the
standard display.
Syntax:
/: SET TIME MASK = ‘time mask’
The following edit formats can be used in the time mask:
 HH hours (two-digit)
 MM minutes (two-digit)
 SS seconds (two-digit)
All other characters in the mask are interpreted as text and printed correspondingly.

26 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Example:
Assume that the current time is 10:08:12.
/: SET TIME MASK = ‘HH:MM’
&TIME&
Result: 10:08
/: SET TIME MASK = ‘HH hours MM minutes’
&TIME&
Result: 10 hours 08 minutes

By specifying an empty string as a time mask, you can switch back to the default display:
/: SET TIME MASK = ‘ ‘

STYLE: Change style

The control command STYLE changes style within a text. This other style is used until a new
STYLE command is entered. If * is entered as a style name, switch back to the original style.
Syntax:
/: STYLE style
/: STYLE *
If another text module is inserted by choosing Include Text and immediately deleted,
STYLE is automatically set in the editor. The same occurs if the text contents included in
INCLUDE are copied into the text by choosing Edit Selected area Delete INCLUDE.

SUMMING
Program symbols can be added with the SUMMING command. The command needs to be
defined only once. Each time that the specified symbol is edited, its current value is added to
the sum field. Several program symbols can also be added in a sum field.
Syntax:
/:SUMMING program symbol INTO sum symbol
Since SAPscript can not dynamically define sum fields, the sum symbol must be in a calling
program structure that was declared with TABLES.

TOP: Set header text in MAIN

In MAIN, lines that are always automatically output at the top of the window, called header
texts, can be determined. Header texts can automatically repeat the table heading at the top
of every page for an extensive tabular list.
Syntax:
/: TOP
:
:

SAPscript Made Easy 27

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

/: ENDTOP
Those text lines between the two commands will be output at the top of MAIN.
To switch a header text off, enter the command pair TOP .. ENDTOP, with no lines in between:
/: TOP
/: ENDTOP
Header text will not appear on subsequent pages.

 If the document window contains text, then the header text is

effective from the next page.
 The same applies to deleting a header text. That is, a header
text that has already been output can no longer be canceled on
the current page.
 Only use header texts in texts that are not printed with
application programs, such as dunning texts and ordering texts.
These application programs can also work with header texts in
the form interface, which can lead to unwanted results.

28 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Syntax of Formatting Options

Changing the Value of a Counter

You can increase or decrease the value of SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_x (x=0.. 9) counter variable
by 1, before the current counter value is printed.
Syntax:
&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_x(+)& Increases by 1 the contents
of the counter variable x
(x=0.. 9)
&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_x(-)& Decreases by 1 the contents
of the counter variable x
(x=0.. 9)
If you want to change the value of a counter variable without actually printing the new value,
use this formatting option together with an additional option to set the output length to 0 (see
above). If you want to set a counter variable to some specific value, use the DEFINE control
command.

Example:
Assume that &SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_1& initially has the value 2.
&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_1&  2
&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_1(+)&  3
&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_1(-)&  2
&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_1(-)&  1
&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_1(+0)& 
&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_1(+)&  3

Country Dependent Formattingn

Certain fields are formatted specific to a particular country. These include fields for displaying
a date and numeric fields containing either a decimal point or a ‘thousands’ separator
character. The formatting applied is usually determined by the definitions contained in the
user master record. You can use the SET COUNTRY control command to choose a different
formatting operation. The various country-dependent formatting options are stored in table
T005X.
Syntax
/: SET COUNTRY country_key
You can specify this country key either by quoting it directly enclosed in inverted commas or
by using a symbol.

SAPscript Made Easy 29

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

/: SET COUNTRY 'CAN'

/: SET COUNTRY &KNA1-LAND1&
You can revert to the settings of the user master record by using the SET COUNTRY control
command again with an empty country name.
/: SET COUNTRY ' '
When SAPscript encounters this command it calls the corresponding ABAP command
internally. The effect of the SAPscript command is thus identical with that of the ABAP
command.
If the formatting turns out other than expected, check the settings in table T005X.

Date Mask
To format date fields, use the SAPscript SET DATE MASK command. Executing this command
causes all subsequent date fields to be printed with the specified formatting.
Syntax
/: SET DATE MASK = 'date_mask'
The following table provides templates may be used in the date mask:

Template Description

DD day (two digits)

DDD name of day (abbreviated)
DDDD name of day (written out in full)
MM month (two digits)
MMM name of month (abbreviated)
MMMM name of month (written out in full)
YY year (two digits)
YYYY year (four digits)
LD day (formatted as for the L option)
LM month (formatted as for the L
option)
LY year (formatted as for the L option)

Any other characters occurring in the mask are interpreted as simple text and are copied
directly to the output.

30 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Example:
Assuming a current system date of March 1st, 1997.
/: SET DATE MASK = 'Foster City, MM.DD.YY'
&DATE&  Foster City, 03.01.97
&DATE(Z)&  Foster City, 3.1.97
/: SET DATE MASK = 'MMMM DD, YYYY'
&DATE&  March 01, 1997

You can revert to the standard setting by using the SET DATE MASK command again with an
empty string in place of the date mask:
/: SET DATE MASK = ' '

Exponent for floating point numbers

How a floating point number is formatted depends on whether an exponent is specified. The
mantissa is adjusted by shifting the decimal point and, if necessary, introducing leading
zeros, based on the chosen exponent. An exponent value of 0 means that the exponent
representation will not be used to display the symbol.
Syntax:
&symbol(En)&

Example:
In this example the PLMK-SOLLWERT field is assumed to have the value
123456.78 and to be of data type FLTP.
&PLMK-SOLLWERT&  +1.23456780000000E+05
&PLMK-SOLLWERT(E3)&  +123.456780000000E+03
&PLMK-SOLLWERT(E6)&  +0.12345678000000E+06
&PLMK-SOLLWERT(E0)&  +123456.780000000
&PLMK-SOLLWERT(E)&  +123456.780000000

Fill characters
Leading spaces in a value can be replaced with a fill character. The character immediately
following the F in the specification is used as the fill character.
Syntax:
&symbol(Ff)&

SAPscript Made Easy 31

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Example:
The figure for customer sales in the KNA1-UMSAT field is $700. The Dictionary
description of the field specifies an output length of eight.
&KNA1-UMSAT&  700.00
&KNA1-UMSAT(F*)&  **700.00
&KNA1-UMSAT(F0)&  00700.00

Ignoring conversion rules

SAPscript conversion routines specified in the Dictionary are automatically recognized and
used when program symbols are formatted. These conversions can be prevented with the K
option.
Syntax:
&symbol(K)&

Leading sign to the left

The leading sign is normally displayed to the right of a numeric value, except when using a
floating point number. This option allows you to specify that the leading sign is placed to the
left of the number.
Syntax:
&symbol(<)&

Example:
&ITCDP-TDULPOS&  100.00-
&ITCDP-TDULPOS(<)&  -100.00

The SET SIGN LEFT control command specifies that all subsequent
symbols with a numeric value should have a left-justified leading
sign. Using this control command means that there is then no need
to repeat the < option for each individual symbol.

Leading sign to the right

The default setting outputs the leading sign to the right of a numeric value. If you used the
SET SIGN LEFT to specify that the leading sign should be output before the value, this
specification can be overridden for individual symbols to enable these values to be output
with the leading sign to the right.
Syntax:
&symbol(>)&

32 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Use the SET SIGN RIGHT control command to switch back to the
default setting to output the leading sign.

Number of decimals
A program symbol of one of the data types DEC, QUAN and FLTP can contain decimal place
data. This option overrides the Dictionary definition for the number of decimal places to
format this symbol value.
Syntax:
&symbol(.n)&

Example:
The EKPO-MENGE field contains the value 1234.56. The Dictionary definition
specifies three decimal places and an output length of 17.
&EKPO-MENGE&  1,234.560
&EKPO-MENGE(.1)&  1,234.6
&EKPO-MENGE(.4)&  1,234.5600
&EKPO-MENGE(.0)&  1,235

Offset
Specifying an offset of “n” causes the “n” left-most characters of the symbol value will not be
displayed. If the offset specified is greater than the length of the value, nothing is output.
Syntax:
&symbol+n&

Example:
If symbol has the value 123456789, the following will be displayed:
&symbol&  123456789
&symbol+3&  456789
&symbol+7&  89
&symbol+12& 
&symbol+0&  123456789

SAPscript Made Easy 33

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Omitting leading zeros

Certain symbol values are output with leading zeros. To suppress these values use the Z
option.
Syntax:
&symbol(Z)&

Example:
Assuming the current date is 1/1/1994.
&DAY&  01
&DAY(Z)& 1

Omitting the leading sign

Program symbols with numeric values can have a leading sign, which usually appears at the
right of the numeric value as a space for positive numbers, or as a minus sign for negative
numbers. The S option ensures that the value is formatted without the sign.
Syntax:
&symbol(S)&

Example:
The ITCDP-TDULPOS field contains the value -100.00. The ABAP Dictionary
definition for this field includes a leading sign.
&ITCDP-TDULPOS&  100.00-
&ITCDP-TDULPOS(S)&  100.00

Omitting the separator for “Thousands”

Symbols of the DEC, CURR, INT and QUAN data types are normally formatted with the
“thousands” separator character. The T option allows you to specify that this separator
character should be omitted.
Syntax:
&symbol(T)&

Example:
The EKPO-MENGE field contains the value 1234.56. The Data Dictionary
definition specifies three decimal places and the output length is set to 17.
&EKPO-MENGE&  1,234.560
&EKPO-MENGE(T)&  1234.560

34 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Output length
If you need only a part of the symbol value, or if the output has to fit in an on-screen box or
field without overlapping the edges of this area, use an output length specification to define
how many character positions should be copied from the value.
If a length is specified that is greater than the current value length, then spaces are
appended to the symbol value.
The character * specifies the program symbol length. This specification causes the symbol
value to be output based on the output length defined in the ABAP Dictionary.
Syntax:
&symbol(l)&

Example:
If symbol has the value 123456789.
&symbol(3)&  123
&symbol(7)&  1234567
An output length specification can be combined with an offset specification.
The specified length is then counted from the specified offset position.
&symbol+4(3)&  567
Example:
The SYST-UNAME field contains the logon name of a user called Einstein. The
ABAP Dictionary entry for this field contains an output length of 12.
&SYST-UNAME&... Einstein...
&SYST-UNAME(9)&... Einstein ...
&SYST-UNAME(*)&... Einstein ...

Preceding and subsequent text

In addition to using initial symbol values, additional texts that are output only when the
symbol value is no longer the initial value can be specified. You can specify a text to be
output immediately before the symbol value (the pretext), and text to be output immediately
after it (the posttext). If the symbol has its initial value, these texts are suppressed.
Syntax:
&'pre-text'symbol'post-text'&

SAPscript Made Easy 35

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Ensure that the symbol, the pretext and the posttext, all appear on
a single line of the editor. This may mean that you have to use a
long line (paragraph attribute = or /= ) in the editor.
The apostrophe character delimits these texts. If this character also
appears as part of one of these texts, then it must be written twice
at this point to avoid misinterpretation. A pretext or posttext may
contain symbols in addition to normal text. These symbols are
subject to the restriction that these symbols may not have a
pretext or a posttext.

Example:
The KNA1-PFACH field contains a customer PO Box number. Since “PO Box” is
not stored in the field with the value, you would normally write the following
for the PO Box line of an address:
PO Box &KNA1-PFACH&
However, if no “P.O. Box” has been specified then “PO Box” would still appear
on its own in the address. Prevent this step by using pretext and/or posttext
(in this case pretext).
PO Box &KNA1-PFACH&  PO Box
&'PO Box 'KNA1-PFACH&
If “P.O. Box” is specified, then this information will be displayed with the
appropriate text in the usual way.
&'PO Box 'KNA1-PFACH&  PO Box 123456

Right-justified output
Symbol values other than numeric values are normally formatted to be left-justified. Right-
justified formatting can be specified with the R option. This option has to be used with an
output length specification.
Syntax:
&symbol(R)&

Example:
If symbol has the value 1234.
&symbol&  1234
&symbol(8R)&  1234

Space compression
The symbol value is viewed as a sequence of “words,” each separated from the next by either
one or a string of space characters. The C option replaces each string of space characters

36 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

with a single space and shifting “words” to the left to close gaps. Leading spaces are
completely removed. The results are the same as if the ABAP command CONDENSE was used.
Syntax:
&symbol(C)&

Example:
Assuming ' Albert Einstein ' is the symbol value.
&symbol& Albert Einstein
&symbol(C)& Albert Einstein

Suppressing initial values

The I option suppresses the output of symbols that still contain their initial value.
Syntax:
&symbol(I)&

Example:
Assuming KNA1-UMSAT contains the value 0 and the currency is USD.
&KNA1-UMSAT& 0.00
&KNA1-UMSAT(I)&
If the field contains an amount other than 0, this value will be output in the
usual way.
&KNA1-UMSAT& 700.00
&KNA1-UMSAT(I)& 700.00

Time Mask
You can use the SAPscript SET TIME MASK command to format time fields in a way that differs
from the standard setting. Executing this command causes all subsequent time fields to be
printed with the specified formatting.
Syntax:
/: SET TIME MASK = 'time_mask'
The following tables provides templates may be used in the time mask:

Template Description

HH hours (two digits)

MM minutes (two digits)
SS seconds (two digits)

SAPscript Made Easy 37

Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Any other characters occurring in the mask are interpreted as simple text and are copied
directly to the output.

Example:
Assuming the current time is 10:08:12.
&TIME& -> 10:08:12
/: SET TIME MASK = 'HH:MM'
&TIME& -> 10:08
/: SET TIME MASK = 'HH hours MM minutes'
&TIME& -> 10 hours 08 minutes
&TIME(Z)& -> 10 hours 8 minutes
You can revert to the standard setting by using the SET TIME MASK
command again with an empty string in place of the time mask:
/: SET TIME MASK = ' '

System Variables
&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_x& (x = 0.. 9):
These fields represent ten counter variables that you can use in your text and forms for any
counting purposes. You can use the ‘+’ and ‘-’ formatting options to increment or decrement
a counter before its value is printed. You can use the DEFINE control command to assign any
specific value to a counter.
&SAPSCRIPT-DRIVER&:
SAPscript formats a text for a specific output device. The initial formatting is independent of
the specific language of this device. SAPscript then calls a driver to convert the device-
independent format to device-specific control commands. This field contains the name of the
driver.
POST Postscript driver
HPL2 HP Laserjet driver for the PCL4/PCL5 languages
PRES Driver for output devices using the PRESCRIBE language
The available drivers are stored in table TSP09.
&SAPSCRIPT-SUBRC&
After executing an INCLUDE statement, this contains a value that indicates whether the
INCLUDE was found or not. This value can be queried with IF....
INCLUDE found = 0 and INCLUDE not found = 4
&SAPSCRIPT-FORMPAGES&
This contains the total number of pages output in a SAPscript form (all output between the
functions START_FORM and END_FORM). The state of the page counter on the individual form
pages (START,HOLD,INC) is not taken into account.

38 Release 4.0B
 Appendix A: SAPscript Control Commands
Syntax of Control Commands

Using this symbol impairs performance, since all output data for
every form must be retained internally to fill the symbol.

The CONDENSE option cannot be used on the program icon

SAPSCRIPT-FORMPAGES (C) without an explicit length specification.
This symbol is replaced with a value only after the form has been
completely edited, since the total number of pages of a form is first
known in the program function END_FORM or CLOSE_FORM.

However, the symbol size (number of characters) is reserved

correctly when the symbol first occurs, with the current page
number. Therefore, only one character is reserved for option C
(CONDENSE) on pages 1-9, two characters on pages 10-99, and so
on.

&SAPSCRIPT-JOBPAGES&
This contains the total number of pages output in a SAPscript print run (all output between
the functions OPEN_FORM and CLOSE_FORM). The state of the page counter on the individual
form pages (START,HOLD,INC) is not taken into account.

Using this symbol impairs performance, since all output data for
every print job must be retained internally to fill the symbol.

&SAPSCRIPT-TELELAND&
This contains the country identifier for the fax destination with fax output with SAPscript (field
ITCPO-TDTELELAND for the parameter OPTIONS of function OPEN_FORM).
&SAPSCRIPT-TELENUM&
This contains the local fax number for the fax destination with fax output with SAPscript (field
ITCPO-TDTELENUM for the parameter OPTIONS of function OPEN_FORM).
&SAPSCRIPT-TELENUME&
This contains the complete fax number for the fax destination with fax output with SAPscript
(field ITCPO-TDTELENUME for the parameter OPTIONS of function OPEN_FORM).
Variables of Structure SYST
All variables of structure SYST, called system variables, can be used in the form. Of particular
interest are the variables for the system date and time. These variables indicate the date and
time that the output was created. For the system date, use SYST-DATUM variable, for the
system time, use SYST-UZEIT. Note that you have the formatting options for date and time
variables.

SAPscript Made Easy 39