Avoid Obsolete Inline Length Specifications (var(len))

WarningAnti-Patterns & Bad PracticesQuickFix Ready#EC NO_INLINE_LENRemote Enabled

Overview

Avoid inline length specification in declarations.

ATC Finding Message: Avoid length in parentheses; use TYPE ... LENGTH ...

Rationale

The legacy lv_name(10) syntax mixes the identifier and its length and is easy to misread as a substring or function call. Modern ABAP writes the type and length as separate, explicit tokens. Use TYPE c LENGTH n or a named type so the declaration is unambiguous.

Non-Compliant

DATA lv_country(2) TYPE c.

Compliant

DATA lv_country TYPE c LENGTH 2.

Automated QuickFix

This rule provides an automated QuickFix directly in Eclipse ABAP Development Tools (ADT):

1. Position the cursor on the flagged statement.
2. Press Ctrl + 1 (Quick Assist).
3. Select the automated refactoring to apply the clean syntax immediately.

Suppression

To suppress findings for this rule, append the pseudo-comment to the statement:

" Standard pseudo-comment:
... "#EC NO_INLINE_LEN

" SAP CI_ prefix format:
... "#EC CI_NO_INLINE_LEN

Related Rules

• Prefer Modern Inline Declarations in ABAP 7.40+ — #EC PREF_INLINE
• Avoid Chained Declarations (DATA:, CONSTANTS:, TYPES:) — #EC NO_CHAINED_DECL
• Avoid Chained Assignments (a = b = c = 1) — #EC NO_CHAINED_ASSIGN

Technical Details

• Native ATC Class: ZCL_SKYLINT_NO_INLINE_LEN
• Implementation File: zcl_skylint_no_inline_len.clas.abap