Avoid Obsolete String and POSIX Regex Statements

WarningAnti-Patterns & Bad Practices#EC NO_OBS_STRINGSRemote Enabled

Overview

Obsolete String and Regex Statements.

ATC Finding Message: Avoid obsolete string statements (PACK, UNPACK, POSIX REGEX, etc.)

Rationale

Statements such as PACK, UNPACK, REPLACE ... INTO, and FIND/REPLACE with REGEX / OCCURENCES (along with POSIX regular expression classes like CL_ABAP_REGEX=>CREATE_POSIX) are legacy constructs superseded by modern PCRE (Perl-Compatible Regular Expressions via PCRE keywords / XCO regex) and standard string expressions / built-ins.

Non-Compliant

PACK lv_source TO lv_packed.
FIND REGEX 'pattern' IN lv_text.

Compliant

FIND PCRE 'pattern' IN lv_text.

Configuration & Thresholds

This check can be fine-tuned directly in the ATC Check Variant Editor (CHKV) in Eclipse ADT:

Parameter Name	Data Type	Default Value	Description & Guidance
CHECK_PACK	Boolean	true	Detect obsolete PACK statement (prefer numeric assignment)
CHECK_UNPACK	Boolean	true	Detect obsolete UNPACK statement
CHECK_REGEX	Boolean	true	Detect obsolete POSIX regex statements in favour of PCRE
CHECK_OCCURENCES	Boolean	true	Detect obsolete OCCURRENCES addition syntax
CHECK_REPLACE_INTO	Boolean	true	Detect obsolete REPLACE ... WITH ... INTO syntax

Suppression

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

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

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

Related Rules

• Avoid Obsolete Arithmetic and Assignment Statements — #EC NO_OBS_ARITH
• Avoid Obsolete Control Flow and Procedural Forms — #EC NO_OBS_CONTROL
• Avoid Obsolete Declarations and Table Headers — #EC NO_OBS_DECL

Technical Details

• Native ATC Class: ZCL_SKYLINT_NO_OBS_STRINGS
• Implementation File: zcl_skylint_no_obs_strings.clas.abap