Field symbols allow you to access and modify the value of variables without moving the data between memory locations. They point to the memory location of a variable. You can declare a field symbol to be of a specific type or generic. Assignment of a field symbol to a variable is done using ASSIGN. Care must be taken to check if a field symbol is assigned before using it to avoid runtime errors. Field symbols provide a performance gain when accessing internal tables by pointing to records rather than copying them to work areas. They also allow dynamic access to structure components by name or number at runtime using ASSIGN COMPONENT.