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ABAPprogrammingperformancetipsandtricks|SAPapplicationperformance

SAPapplicationperformance

ABAPprogrammingperformancetips
andtricks
PostedonMay11,2014
WhenyouarecodinganABAPprogram,youoftenfindthattheABAPprogramcanbecoded
indifferentwaystodothesamejob,youarewonderingwhichwaywouldgiveabetter
performance.WhenyouaretuningtheABAPprogramperformance,youencounteran
expensiveABAPstatementinSAPST12/SE30trace,youarewonderingwhyitisso
expensiveandwhatareotherBAPcodingalternativestoreplacetheexpensiveoneto
improvetheABAPprogramperformance.TipsandtricksutilitybuiltinstandardSAP
transactionSAT/SE30mighthelpyouwiththosequestions.SAPSAT/SE30iscomparing
performanceofcommonABAPtechniques/statementsusedbyABAPdevelopersviaABAP
performanceexamples.SounderstandingthosetripsandtrickscanhelpABAPdevelopersto
avoidcommonperformancepitfallsduringABAPprogramdevelopmentphase.Itcanalso
helpyouwhenyouneedtotuneABAPprogramperformance.Thispostwouldcover
1. IntroductionofABAPperformancetipsandtricks,
2. HowtoaccessABAPperformancetipsandtricksexamples,
A. PreferredcodingtechniquesforSAPSQLinterfacedatabasetable
access,
B. PreferredcodingtechniquesforABAPinternaltableaccess,
3. HowtouseperformancetipsandtricksexamplesinABAPprogramdevelopmentand
performancetuning.
1IntroductionofSAPABAPperformancetipsandtricks
SAPSE30/SATorganizesABAPcodingperformancetipsandtricksintofollowinggroupsor
categoriestomakeiteasierforyoutoidentifyspecificABAPcodetechniques.SeeTable1
forgroupsandtheirexplanation.

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Table1ABAPperformanceTipsandTricksGroup

Performance

Explanation

Tips/Tricks
Group
SQLinterface

Explainwhichdatabaseaccesstechniquewouldgivebetter
performancebycomparingpairsofDatabasetableaccess
techniques:Select+checkvsSelect+Where,SelectandExitvs
SelectUpto1Rows,Find,SelectArrayselectvssingleselect,
readwithoutindexvsreadwithindex,individualoperationandmass
operationetc.

Context

Obsoleted.Ifapplicableinyourversion,usingcontextisbetterthan
selectsincecommonaccesseddataisstoredinthememoryand
sharedacrossSAPtransactions.

InternalTables

Explainwhichinternaltableaccesstechniquewouldgivebetter
performancebycomparingpairsofkillslikebinaryreadvskeyread,
individualtableoperationvsmassinternaltableoperationetc.

Typing

Explainthatparameters/fieldsymbolswhosetypesarespecifiedis
moreefficientthanparameterswhosetypesarenotspecified.

If,Case

ExplainthatcasestatementismoreefficientthanIFstatement

FieldConversion

Explainthatweshouldavoidunnecessaryfieldconversionbyusing
thesamedatatype.

Character/String

Explainthatusingstringisbetterthancharacterfromperformance

Manipulation

pointview

ABAPObjects

Explainthatcallmethodandcallsubroutinehasnomaterial
performancedifferencebutcallingFMisslowerthanMethod.

Ifyouneedtoreadarecordfrombiginternaltable,youcanreaditviakeyorbinarysearch,
thenyoucangotointernaltablegrouptowhichoneisbettertoyoursituation.
TwogroupsinefficientSQLstatementsandinefficientABAPinternaltableoperationare
highlightedbasedonmyexperience.TheyareoftenculpritofbadABAPprogram
performancerelatedtocoding.Sofamiliarwithperformancecodingtechniquesunderthese
twogroupsshouldhavepriorityoverothergroups.
2HowtoaccessABAPperformanceTipsandTricks
ToaccessSAPABAPperformancetipsandtricks,youneedtoexecuteSAPtransaction
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SAT/SE30,thenclickonbuttonTips&Tricks.

Figure1SE30/SATinitialscreen

IfyouclickbuttonTipsandTricksbuttonhighlightedinFigure1,performancetipsand
tricksforABAPobjectsscreenlikebelowFigure2wouldbedisplayed.

Figure2Se30/SATPerformanceTipsandTrickInitialscreen

IwouldcovermoredetailsrelatedtohighlightedgroupsSQLinterfaceandInternaltable
below.
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2.1PreferredPerformancecodingtechniquesforSAPSQLinterface/databasetable
access
Thisgroupwouldexplainpreferredcodingtechniqueoutoftwodifferentwaysoftable
access.PleaserefertoTable2fordetails
Table2SQLinterfacepreferredSQLcodingstrategy

ITEM

Performance

Explanation

preferred
Select+checkVS.

Selectwithwhere

Useasmuchfieldsaspossibleinwhere

Selectwithwhere

conditions

clause:indexmightbepossiblewiththe

conditions

fieldsandfilterearliertoavoid
unnecessarydatatrafficbetweenDB
serverandapplicationserver

Select+exitVs.

Selectwithupto1

Selectwithupto1rowswouldincurless

SelectwithUpto1

rows

trips/trafficbetweenDBandApplication

rows

server.

Select+checkVS.

Selectusing

AvoidroundtripbetweenDBserverand

Selectusing

Aggregatefunction

applicationserver,reducetraffic

Select*Vs.Select

Selectwithalistof

Reduceroundtripandtrafficbetween

withalistoffields

fields

applicationserveranddatabaseserver

UpdateonerowVS

Updatewith

Reducenetworktraffic

updatespecifiedfield

specifiedfields

Selectwithoutindex

Selectwithindex

Aggregatefunction

VSSelectwithindex

UsinganIndexwouldreducenumberof
logicalDBreads,soitwouldbefaster
thanafulltablescanwhenlimited#of
recordsarefetched.

Selectwithoutbuffer

Selectwithbuffer

supportVSselectwith

Readingbuffercouldbeupto100time
fasterthanreadfromdbdisc.

buffersupport
SelectwithAppend

Selectintotable

statementVSselect

ReduceroundtripsbetweenDBand
applicationserver

intotable
Manyindividualinserts

Arrayinsert

VSArrayinsert
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ReduceroundtripsbetweenDBand
applicationserver
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Select+EndselectVS

Selectintotable+

Reduceroundtripsbetweendbserver

Selectintotable+

looptable

andapplicationserversaswellas

looptable
NestedSelect

networktraffic
Selectwithview

Reduceroundtripsbetweendbserver

StatementVSSelect

andapplicationserversaswellas

withview

networktraffic

NestedSelect

Selectwithjoin

Reduceroundtripsbetweendbserver

statementVSSelect

andapplicationserversaswellas

withJoin

networktraffic

UsingtwoSelectsVS

Selectwith

Reduceroundtripsbetweendbserver

Selectusinga

subquery

andapplicationserversaswellas

subquery

networktraffic

Infollowingsection,IwouldgothroughsomeSQLperformanceexamples.
2 . 1 . 1 S E L E CT + CHE CK V S S E L E CT WI TH WHE RE CO NDI TI O NS

IclickedSQLinterfacegroupandallchildgroupsunderSQLinterface,thenIclicked
SelectWhereVs.Select+Check,IgotscreenlikeFigure3.

Figure3ABAPperformanceexampleSELECT+CheckVsSelect+Whereclause

Thedisplayisdividedinto3portionsinFigure3,leftpanelnavigationtodifferentgroupand
ABAPcodeperformancetechniques,RightupperwindowisshowingtwosampleABAP
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codesusingtwocodesolutionswhichachievesameresult.Rightbottomwindowexplains
whatistheperformancepreferredABAPcodingtechnique.
BasedonexplanationinFigure3,itisclearthatselectwithwhereconditionshasbetter
performancethanselect+check.Inanotherword,thesamplecodeatrightinfigure3
shouldhavebetterperformancethanABAPsamplecodeintheright.Isthattrue?Youcan
actuallytestthistogetafeelingbyclickingMeasureRuntimebuttoninFigure3.Upon
clickingit,IgotFigure4screen.

Figure4ABAPperformanceexampleSelect+checkvsselectwithwhereconditions

Inthisparticularcare,timespentbySelect+checkexamplecodeis10timeslongerthan
timespentbyselectwithwhereclauseexamplecode.
Inthesamefashion,youcannavigatetootherSQLcodingtechniquestogetafeelingof
performancedifferencecreatedbydifferentABAPcodingtechniquesviasamplecodes.
2 . 1 . 2 S E L E CT WI THO UT B UFFE R S UP P O RT V S S E L E CT WI TH B UFFE R S UP P O RT

Figure5showsthatReadingdatafromapplicationbufferis10timesfasterthanreadingdata
fromdatabasesystem.

Figure5ABAPperformanceexampleSelectwithoutbuffersupportvsSelectwithbuffer
support

2 . 1 . 3 S E L E CT I NTO TA B L E + L O O P A T TA B L E V S . S E L E CT E NDS E L E CT

SelectintotableismuchmoreefficientthanSelectEndselect.Selectintotableneeds
morememorytoholdtheresultset.Innormalsituation,thisisnotaconcern.When
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memoryisaconcern,youcandividetheresultsetintosmallersets.

Figure6ABAPperformanceexampleSelectIntotable+loopattableVSSelect..ENDSelect.

2 . 1 . 4 A RRA Y / MA S S I NS E RT V S S I NG L E RO W I NS E RT

Array/MassInsertisalwaysbetterfromperformancepointviewsinceitcanreduce
unnecessaryroundtripsbetweendatabaseandapplicationserverbyutilizingfullcapacityof
datacommunicationbusbetweendatabaseandapplicationserver.Itcanalsoallow
database

Figure7ABAPperformanceexampleSinglelineinsertVSArrayInsert

2 . 1 . 5 NE S TE D S E L E CTS V S S E L E CT WI TH V I E W

SelectwithviewalwaysperformancesbetterthanNestedSelect.

Figure8ABAPperformanceexampleNestedSelectVSSelectwithView

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2 . 1 . 6 NE S TE D S E L E CT V S S E L E CT WI TH J O I N

SelectwithjoinalwaysperformancesbetterthanNestedselected.

Figure9ABAPperformanceexampleNestedSelectVsSelectjoin

2.2PreferredPerformancecodingtechniquesforABAPinternaltableoperation
PleaserefertoTable3forsomeABAPcodetechniqueswhichareimportanttoapplication
performance.TheyareselectedfromwhatofferedbySAPSAT/SE30tipsandtricksbased
onmyperformanceexperience.
Table3SAT/SE30ABAPinternaltablehandlingperformancetipsandtricks

ITEM

Performance

Explanation

preferred
LinearsearchVS

Binarysearch

Binarysearch

Ifinternaltablesareassumedtohavemany
(>20)entries,alinearsearchthroughallentries
isverytimeconsuming.Trytokeepthetable
orderedandusebinarysearchorusedatableof
typeSORTEDTABLE.IfTABhasnentries,linear
searchrunsinO(n)time,whereasbinarysearch
takesonlyO(log2(n)).

SecondaryindexVs

Usingsecondary

Whenaninternaltableisaccessedwithdifferent

NoSecondary

indexforrepeated

keysrepeatedly,createyourownsecondary

accesses

index.Withasecondaryindex,youcanreplacea
linearsearchwithabinarysearchplusanindex
access.

LOOPinternaltable

Loopwhere

LOOPWHEREisfasterthanLOOP/CHECK

andCHECKVS

becauseLOOPWHEREevaluatesthespecified

LOOPWHERE

conditioninternally.Aswithanylogical
expressions,theperformanceisbetterifthe
operandsofacomparisonshareacommontype.

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Theperformancecanbefurtherenhancedif
LOOPWHEREiscombinedwithFROMi1
and/orTOi2,ifpossible.

SortedtableVS

Sortedtablefor

Hashedtablesareoptimizedforsingleentry

HashedTable

repeated

access.Theentrieshavenospecificorder.

accesses.Hashed

Therefore,apartialsequentialaccesscannotbe

tableforsingle

optimized.Everyentrymustbecheckedtomatch

access

thecondition(fulltablescan).Sortedtablesare
orderedascendinglybytheirkeycomponents.If
apartialkeyoftheformk1=v1ANDANDkn
=vnwherek1..knmatchesaleftpartofthe
tablekey,theaccessisoptimizedbythekernel.
Inthatcase,onlythematchingentriesare
visited.

Copyingatablevia

Equaloperation

InternaltablescanbecopiedbyMOVEjustlike

loopVSequal

better

anyotherdataobject.
Ifaninternaltableitabhasaheaderline,the
tableitselfisaccessedbyitab[].

JointableLoop

Looptable1then

IfITAB1hasn1entriesandITAB2hasn2entries,

table1thenread

read2nd tablewith

thetimeneededforjoiningITAB1andITAB2

table2VSloop

anindex

withthestraightforwardalgorithmisO(n1*

table1thenread

log2(n2)),whereastheparallelcursor

table2withindex

approachtakesonlyO(n1+n2)time.The
aboveparallelcursoralgorithmassumesthat
ITAB2isasecondarytablecontainingonlyentries
alsocontainedinprimarytableITAB1.Ifthis
assumptiondoesnothold,theparallelcursor
algorithmgetsslightlymorecomplicated,butits
performancecharacteristicsremainthesame.

Infollowingsections,performancecodeexamplesfromSAT/SE30arecoveredforselected
topics.
2 . 2 . 1 RE A D I NTE RNA L TA B L E V I A K E Y V S RE A D I NTE RNA L TA B L E V I A B I NA RY S E A RCH

Figure10showItismoreefficienttoreadaninternaltableviabinarysearchifthetable
entriesishuge.Thisbenefitmightbemoresignificantifyouneedtoreadthetablemany
times.

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Figure10ABAPperformanceexampleLinearagainstBinarysearchinaninternaltable

2 . 2 . 2 RE A D I NTE RNA L TA B L E WI THO UT S E CO NDA RY I NDE X V S S E CO NDA RY I NDE X

Readinganinternaltableusingasecondaryindexcouldbemoreefficientthanreadviaa
key.

Figure11ABAPperformanceexampleReadinternaltableusingindexVSnoindex

2 . 2 . 3 RE A D I NTE RNA L TA B L E V I A CO MB I NA TI O N O F L O O P A ND CHE CK V S RE A D I NTE RNA L

TA B L E V I A L O O P WHE RE

Readinganinternaltablewithloopwherestatementsismoreefficientthanloop+check
statements.

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Figure12ABAPperformanceexampleLoopandCheckVSLoopwhere

2 . 2 . 4 RE A D I NTE RNA L TA B L E HA S HE D TA B L E V S S O RTE D TA B L E

Whenyouneedtoreadtheinternaltablemanytimes,usingsortedtableismoreefficient
thanusinghashedtable.

Figure13ABAPperformanceexampleSortedtableVSHashedtable

2 . 2 . 5 CO P Y I NTE RNA L TA B L E L O O P + A P P E ND A ND CO P Y V S =

Using=tocopytableismoreefficientthanusingLoop+appendtocopyaninternaltable.

Figure14ABAPperformanceexamplecopyinternaltable
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2 . 2 . 6 JO I N I NTE RNA L TA B L E S L O O P TA B L E 1 A ND RE A D TA B L E 2 A G A I NS T L O O P TA B L E 1
A ND RE A D TA B L E 2 V I A I NDE X

Usingmethodofloopingtable1thanreadingtable2viaINDEXismoreefficientthanmethod
ofloopingtable1thenreadingtable2withoutindex.

Figure15ABAPperformanceexamplejoininternaltables

3TestingperformanceofyourownABAPcodes
IhaveseenABAPdevelopertocompareperformanceoftwodifferentsetsofABAPcode
whichachievethesamepurposeviaSE30.ItlookslikethatthiscanbedoneviaSAT/SE30
menupathEDIT>Editing>LEFThand/RightHandasshowedinFigure16.Idonothave
authorizationtodothisinthesystemIowned..Readerslikeyoucanexplorethismore
shouldyoubeinterestedinit.

Figure16SAT/SE30yourownsamplecodes

4FurtherInformation
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ASAPABAPprogramperformancecanhavemanycontributingfactorslikesolutiondesign,
functionalconfigurationandprogramcodefromapplicationperformancepointview.An
applicationperformanceissuecanberootedfromdatabaseperformance,systemcapacity,
network,IOdesignaswell.SAPperformancetipsandtrickscannothelptoimproveABAP
programperformanceissuewhichisrootedfromsolutiondesign,functionalconfiguration,
databaseperformanceissueandetc.Itcanhelptoverifywhetheraprogramperformance
issueisrootedfromprogrammingtechniques.Inmyexperience,over50%ofABAPprogram
performanceissuesarerelatedtoprogramcode.SoitisimportantforaSAPdeveloperto
becomefamiliarwiththoseperformanceexamplesandperformancepreferredABAPcoding
techniques.
Again,notallperformanceexamplesfromSAPSAT/SE30arecoveredhere.Myintentionis
tocovermostcommon/criticalexamplesbasedonmyexperiences.YoucanrunSAP
SAT/SE30onlinetoreviewtheremainingABAPperformanceexamples.Also,SAT/SE30
coverscommonperformancesexamples.TherearemanywaystoputABAPstatement
togetherforthesamepurpose.ItisnottheexpectationthatSAT/SE30providesaexamples
foreachsituation.
SE30allowsyoutodoABAPruntimeanalysisbutitwouldnotprovidemuchdatatosupport
SQLperformance.MypreferredtooltodoABAPprogramruntimeanalysisisSAP
transactionST12whichIfindefficienttodoperformanceanalysisonABAPlogicoperation
anddatabaseaccess.ImightcomeoutapostonhowtouseSE30todoABAPruntime
analysisinthefuture.
IhavefollowingpostsrelatedtoSAPprogramperformance:howtoimproveaSAPABAP
programperformancehowtorunSAPST12todoaperformancetracehowtoanalyze
ABAPtracehowtoanalyzeSQLtrace
ThisentrywaspostedinSAPdevelopmentandtaggedSAPABAPprogramming
performancetipsandtricksSAPABAPprogramperformanceexamplesSAPABAP
performancecodingtechniquesbyeric.Bookmarkthepermalink[http://www.sap
perf.ca/abapprogrammingperformancetipsandtricks/].

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