The type of RETURNING parameter must be fully specified

Question

Hello,
I want to program a locall class, a method to return a table of a local type:
TYPES:
BEGIN OF ty_line,
   id   TYPE char10,
   txt  TYPE string,
END OF ty_line,
ty_line_tt type standard table of ty_line.
CLASS cl_html DEFINITION FINAL CREATE PRIVATE.
  PUBLIC SECTION.
    CLASS-METHODS parse importing fdata        type string_table
                        returning value(fmeta) type ty_line_tt.
ENDCLASS.                    "cl_rep DEFINITION
Got an error as in the subject. Does that mean that the table type MUST be declared in the ABAP dictionary?
Regards,
Michal

Answer 1

Hello Michal
Since your static method is PUBLIC you cannot use local types in its interface. The type of the RETURNING parameter must be public as well. Thus, you have to define it in the DDIC.
Alternatively, you could switch to the more flexible EXPORTING parameters. Or you could return you itab as data reference, e.g.:
*& Report  ZUS_LOCAL_CLASS                                             *
REPORT  zus_local_class                                             .
TYPES:
BEGIN OF ty_line,
id TYPE char10,
txt TYPE string,
END OF ty_line,
ty_line_tt TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF ty_line.
*       CLASS cl_html DEFINITION
CLASS cl_html DEFINITION FINAL CREATE PRIVATE.
  PUBLIC SECTION.
    CLASS-METHODS parse IMPORTING fdata TYPE string_table
*    RETURNING value(fmeta) TYPE ty_line_tt.
    RETURNING value(data_obj) TYPE REF TO data.
ENDCLASS. "cl_rep DEFINITION
*       CLASS cl_html IMPLEMENTATION
CLASS cl_html IMPLEMENTATION.
  METHOD parse.
*   define local data
    DATA:
      lt_line_tt    TYPE ty_line_tt.
    APPEND INITIAL LINE TO lt_line_tt.
    GET REFERENCE OF lt_line_tt INTO data_obj.
  ENDMETHOD.                    "parse
ENDCLASS.                    "cl_html IMPLEMENTATION
Regards
  Uwe