ABAP Date Calculations: Adding, Subtracting, and Formatting Dates

SAP ABAP Date Calculations

SAP ABAP provides various ways to perform date calculations, including adding/subtracting days, months, or years, calculating differences, and formatting dates.

1. Adding/Subtracting Days

You can directly add or subtract days using simple arithmetic.

DATA: lv_date TYPE sy-datum.

lv_date = sy-datum + 10.  " Adds 10 days
WRITE lv_date.

lv_date = sy-datum - 5.   " Subtracts 5 days
WRITE lv_date.

2. Adding/Subtracting Months

Since months have variable lengths, direct arithmetic won’t work. Instead, use function modules or classes.

Using `SCAL` Class (Recommended)

DATA: lv_date    TYPE sy-datum,
      lv_newdate TYPE sy-datum.

lv_date = sy-datum.

lv_newdate = cl_abap_datfm=>add_to_date(
              i_date   = lv_date,
              i_months = 2 ).  " Add 2 months

WRITE lv_newdate.

Using `RP_CALC_DATE_IN_INTERVAL` Function Module

DATA: lv_date    TYPE sy-datum,
      lv_newdate TYPE sy-datum.

lv_date = sy-datum.

CALL FUNCTION 'RP_CALC_DATE_IN_INTERVAL'
  EXPORTING
    date      = lv_date
    months    = 2   " Add 2 months
    signum    = '+'
  IMPORTING
    calc_date = lv_newdate.

WRITE lv_newdate.

3. Adding/Subtracting Years

Using the same methods as above:

lv_newdate = cl_abap_datfm=>add_to_date(
              i_date   = lv_date,
              i_years  = 1 ).  " Adds 1 year

or using RP_CALC_DATE_IN_INTERVAL:

CALL FUNCTION 'RP_CALC_DATE_IN_INTERVAL'
  EXPORTING
    date    = lv_date
    years   = 1
    signum  = '+'
  IMPORTING
    calc_date = lv_newdate.

4. Calculating Date Difference (Days Between Two Dates)

DATA: lv_date1 TYPE sy-datum,
      lv_date2 TYPE sy-datum,
      lv_diff  TYPE i.

lv_date1 = '20240301'.  " March 1, 2024
lv_date2 = '20240201'.  " February 1, 2024

lv_diff = lv_date1 - lv_date2.  " Difference in days
WRITE: 'Difference:', lv_diff.

✅ Works with standard date format
✅ Returns positive or negative values depending on date order

5. Checking Weekday Name

DATA: lv_weekday TYPE char10.

CALL FUNCTION 'DATE_GET_WEEKDAY'
  EXPORTING
    date     = sy-datum
  IMPORTING
    weekday  = lv_weekday.

WRITE: 'Today is:', lv_weekday.

✅ Returns weekday (1 = Monday, 7 = Sunday)

6. Converting Date Formats

DATA: lv_date    TYPE sy-datum,
      lv_date_txt TYPE char10.

lv_date = sy-datum.
WRITE lv_date TO lv_date_txt DD/MM/YYYY.

WRITE: 'Formatted date:', lv_date_txt.

✅ Converts YYYYMMDD → DD/MM/YYYY format

7. Checking if a Date is Valid

DATA: lv_valid TYPE abap_bool.

CALL FUNCTION 'DATE_CHECK_PLAUSIBILITY'
  EXPORTING
    date   = '20240230'  " Invalid date (Feb 30)
  IMPORTING
    result = lv_valid.

IF lv_valid = abap_true.
  WRITE: 'Valid date'.
ELSE.
  WRITE: 'Invalid date'.
ENDIF.

✅ Prevents invalid date processing errors

8. Calculating End of the Month

DATA: lv_date    TYPE sy-datum,
      lv_enddate TYPE sy-datum.

lv_date = sy-datum.

CALL FUNCTION 'LAST_DAY_IN_PERIOD_GET'
  EXPORTING
    i_date = lv_date
  IMPORTING
    e_date = lv_enddate.

WRITE: 'End of month:', lv_enddate.

✅ Finds the last day of the given month

9. Getting the First Day of the Month

DATA: lv_first_day TYPE sy-datum.

lv_first_day = sy-datum - sy-datum+6. " Sets day to 01
WRITE: 'First day:', lv_first_day.

✅ Quick way to get the first day of the current month

10. Getting the Current System Timestamp

DATA: lv_timestamp TYPE timestamp.

CALL FUNCTION 'SYST_TIMESTAMP_GET'
  IMPORTING
    syst_timestamp = lv_timestamp.

WRITE: 'Current timestamp:', lv_timestamp.

✅ Useful for logging and real-time processing

Summary of Key Methods

Task	Method
Add/Subtract Days	`sy-datum + N`
Add/Subtract Months	`SCAL=>add_to_date`, `RP_CALC_DATE_IN_INTERVAL`
Add/Subtract Years	`SCAL=>add_to_date`, `RP_CALC_DATE_IN_INTERVAL`
Date Difference	`date1 - date2`
Get Weekday	`DATE_GET_WEEKDAY`
Format Date	`WRITE ... TO ...`
Validate Date	`DATE_CHECK_PLAUSIBILITY`
End of Month	`LAST_DAY_IN_PERIOD_GET`
First Day of Month	`sy-datum - sy-datum+6`
Current Timestamp	`SYST_TIMESTAMP_GET`