What is a data dictionary (DDIC) in SAP?

The ABAP Data Dictionary (DDIC) is SAP's central repository for defining and managing database structures — tables, views, data elements, domains, and structures — accessed primarily through transaction SE11. It's the single source of truth for what a table's fields look like, what type each field is, and what validation rules (like foreign keys) apply.

//  SE11 lets you define, e.g.:
//  Table: ZCUSTOMER
//    Field: KUNNR    Data Element: KUNNR   (references Domain KUNNR, type CHAR, length 10)
//    Field: NAME1    Data Element: NAME1_GP

Because the Data Dictionary is shared and centrally defined, a change to a field's type or length in one place (a domain) automatically propagates to every table and structure that reuses it, keeping definitions consistent across the entire system rather than needing to be manually updated in every place that field appears.

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