READ_TEXT similar function in CDS View

Question

I need to read text stored for invoice, order, etc. In ABAP we can use READ_TEXT function module, but I need to read it within a CDS view. Is there a way to read text from database tables directly in a SELECT statement?

Answer 1

The main problem is converting binary to text, I think. Because, sap script texts are stored in an encoded binary format. There is sap HANA SQL function which is BINTOSTR. It may help. I do not have Hanna platform. Unfortunately, I cannot try it out.

@AbapCatalog.sqlViewName: 'ZMYSELECT'
@AbapCatalog.compiler.CompareFilter: true
@AccessControl.authorizationCheck: #CHECK
@EndUserText.label: 'BinToStr'
define view ztmp_cds_demo
as select from vbak as k 
left outer join stxh as h on k.mandt = h.mandt
           and h.tdobject = 'VBBK'
           and k.vbeln = h.tdname
           and h.tdspras= 'T' 
inner join stxl as l on h.tdobject = l.tdobject  
            and h.tdname  = l.tdname
            and h.tdid    = l.tdid 
            and h.tdspras = l.tdspras   {

    //cast(BINTOSTR(cast(CLUSTR as binary)) as varchar) as id,
    cast(BINTOSTR(cast(CLUSTD as binary)) as varchar) as text
} 

NOTE: You may need to change the joins, add some parameters etc. for your case. Useful links: https://blogs.sap.com/2014/02/25/alternative-to-readtext-function-module/

How to convert BLOB to varchar with SAP HANA database using SQL