A Persistence Class is a special ABAP Objects class generated by the Persistence Service that maps database tables to ABAP objects, allowing you to read, modify, and save table data in an object-oriented way instead of writing SQL manually; it is always created from a Persistence Object (PO) in Class Builder (SE24) and acts like an ABAP ORM (Object Relational Mapping) layer.

How to Implement a Persistence Class

Step 1: Prepare a Database Table

• Example: Table ZEMPLOYEES with fields EMPID, ENAME, DEPT.
• Make sure it has a primary key (mandatory).

Step 2: Create a Persistence Object

• Go to transaction SE24.
• Create a new class → select Persistent Class type.
• Enter database table name (e.g., ZEMPLOYEES).
• Save and activate.

SAP will automatically generate:

• Persistence Class (ZCL_EMPLOYEES)
• Agent Class (ZCA_EMPLOYEES)

Step 3: Use in ABAP Program

DATA: lo_employee TYPE REF TO zcl_employees,
lo_agent TYPE REF TO zca_employees.

” Get the agent class
lo_agent = zca_employees=>agent.

” Create new employee object
CREATE OBJECT lo_employee.

” Set values
lo_employee->set_empid( ‘1001’ ).
lo_employee->set_ename( ‘John Doe’ ).
lo_employee->set_dept( ‘IT’ ).

” Save to DB
lo_employee->update( ).

” Fetch existing employee by key
lo_employee = lo_agent->get_persistent( ‘1001’ ).
WRITE: / ‘Employee:’, lo_employee->get_ename( ).

Advantages of Persistence Classes

• Encapsulation – No need to expose SQL, use methods instead.
• Consistency – Follows object-oriented principles.
• Reusability – Same persistence class can be reused across programs.
• Error Handling – Provided by framework methods (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE).