Correct Way For Selection
Instead of selecting all the data and doing the processing during the selection, it is advisable to restrict the data to the selection criteria itself, rather than filtering it out using the ABAP code.
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One more point to be noted here is of the select *. Often this is a lazy coding practice. When a programmer gives select * even if one or two fields are to be selected, this can significantly slow the program and put unnecessary load on the entire system. When the application server sends this request to the database server, and the database server has to pass on the entire structure for each row back to the application server. This consumes both CPU and networking resources, especially for large structures.
Thus it is advisable to select only those fields that are needed, so that the database server passes only a small amount of data back.
Also it is advisable to avoid selecting the data fields into local variables as this also puts unnecessary load on the server. Instead attempt must be made to select the fields into an internal table.
How To use aggregate functions
Using the already provided aggregate functions, instead of finding out the minimum/maximum values using ABAP code.
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The other aggregate functions that can be used are min (to find the minimum value), avg (to find the average of a Data interval), sum (to add up a data interval) and count (counting the lines in a data selection).
Using Views in place of tables
Many times ABAP programmers deal with base tables and nested selects. Instead it is always advisable to see whether there is any view provided by SAP on those base tables, so that the data can be filtered out directly, rather than specially coding for it.
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Use of the into table clause of select statement
Instead of appending one record at a time into an internal table, it is advisable to select all the records in a single shot.
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Modify cluster of lines
Use the variations of the modify command to speed up this kind of processing.
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Binary Search
When a programmer uses the read command, the table is sequentially searched. This slows down the processing. Instead of this, use the binary search addition. The binary search algorithm helps faster search of a value in an internal table. It is advisable to sort the internal table before doing a binary search. Binary search repeatedly divides the search interval in half. If the value to be searched is less than the item in the middle of the interval, the search is narrowed to the lower half, otherwise the search is narrowed to the upper half.
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Appending 2 internal tables
Instead of using the normal loop-endloop approach for this kind of programming, use the variation of the append command. Care should be taken that the definition of both the internal tables should be identical.
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Table Buffering
Use of buffered tables is recommended to improve the performance considerably. The buffer is bypassed while using the following statements
- Select distinct
- Select ... for update
- Order by, group by, having clause
- Joins
Use the Bypass buffer addition to the select clause in order to explicitly bypass the buffer while selecting the data.
FOR ALL Entries
Outer join can be created using this addition to the where clause in a select statement. It speeds up the performance tremendously, but the cons of using this variation are listed below
- Duplicates are automatically removed
from the resulting data set. Hence care should be taken that the unique key of the detail line items should be given in the select statement. - If the table on which the For All
Entries IN clause is based is empty, all rows are selected into the destination table. Hence it is advisable to check before-hand that the first table is not empty. - If the table on which the For All
Entries IN clause is based is very large, the performance will go down instead of improving. Hence attempt should be made to keep the table size to a moderate level.
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where cntry = int_cntry-cntry.
Append int_fligh.
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Structure of Where Clause
When a base table has multiple indices, the where clause should be in the order of the index, either a primary or a secondary index.
To choose an index, the optimizer checks the field names specified in the where clause and then uses an index that has the same order of the fields. One more tip is that if a table begins with MANDT, while an index does not, there is a high possibility that the optimizer might not use that index.
In certain scenarios, it is advisable to check whether a new index can speed up the performance of a program. This will come handy in programs that access data from the finance tables.
Move Statement
Instead of using the move-corresponding clause it is advisable to use the move statement instead. Attempt should be made to move entire internal table headers in a single shot, rather than moving the fields one by one.
Inner Join
When multiple SAP tables are logically joined, it is always advisable to use inner join to read the data from them. This certainly reduces the load on the network.
Let us take an example of 2 tables, zairln and zflight. The table zairln has the field airln, which is the airline code and the field lnnam, which is the name of the airline. The table zflight has the field airln, the airline code and other fields which hold the details of the flights that an airline operates.
Since these 2 tables a re logically joined by the airln field, it is advisable to use the inner join.
In order to restrict the data as per the selection criteria, a where clause can be added to the above inner join.
Using ABAP Sort in place of Order By
The order by clause is executed on the database server, while the sort statement is executed on the application server. Thus instead of giving the order by in the select clause statement, it is better to collect the records in an internal table and then use the sort command to sort the resulting data set.