ALV Grid showing asterisks

Question

My object of class cl_gui_alv_grid is for some reason showing asterisks instread of the underlying itab data  Any hints where I might look to figure out what mystical combination of values I may have enabled.
I can say that the grid was editable at one point and this happens when it is in non-edit mode .
Thanks...
...Mike

Answer 1

Hi Michael,
Kuntal is right. This might be because of wrong table structure and its usage within control level statemnts (AT... ENDAT), but not only. To fix it, ensure you have structure correctly applied. Start defining your fields from the widest range data to the tightest ones (for key fields). I.e. you have such structure.
Field1 Field2 Field3 Field4 Field5
First three fields describe organizational assignment, the two latter keeps data for them (and are no imporant so I skipped them below).
Now field1 should be your enterprise level, field2 your company level, field3 department level.
Assuming above the table should have following data:
Enterprise Company1 Dep1
Enterprise Company1 Dep2
Enterprise Company2 Dep1
Enterprise Company2 Dep2
These four rows define Enterprise stucture, starting from the widest (left) to the tightest (right) units.
The table should be sorted according to field1, field2 and field3 respectively.
What you probably have in your table is something like this:
Enterprise Dep1 Company1
Enterprise Dep2 Company1
Enterprise Dep1 Company2
Enterprise Dep2 Company2
Which in turn produces **** in place of Company1 and Company2. Switching the columns solves the problem.
What is more, for ALV you can achieve similar results even with the correct strcuture. By setting wrong sort order (field1, field3, field2) and later subtotals you are likely to get similar results (with asterisk). Ensure this is also set properly.
Regards
Marcin