SAP R/3 : ABAP/4 Development Code Efficiency Guidelines

ABAP/4 (Advanced Business Application Programming 4GL) language is an "eventdriven", "top-down", well-structured and powerful programming language. !e ABAP/4 processor controls t!e e"ecution of an event. Because t!e ABAP/4 language incorporates man# "event" $e#words and t!ese $e#words need not %e in an# specific order in t!e code, it is wise to implement in-!ouse ABAP/4 coding standards. &AP-recommended customer-specific ABAP/4 development guidelines can %e found in t!e &AP-documentation. !is page contains some general guidelines for efficient ABAP/4 Program 'evelopment t!at s!ould %e considered to improve t!e s#stems performance on t!e following areas(

P!#sical )*+ - data must %e read from and written into )*+ devices. !is can %e a potential %ottle nec$. A well configured s#stem alwa#s runs ,)*+-%ound, - t!e performance of t!e )*+ dictates t!e overall performance. -emor# consumption of t!e data%ase resources eg. %uffers, etc. .P/ consumption on t!e data%ase and application servers 0etwor$ communication - not critical for little data volumes, %ecomes a %ottle nec$ w!en large volumes are transferred.

Policies and procedures can also %e put into place so t!at ever# &AP-customer development o%1ect is t!oroug!l# reviewed (2ualit# 3 program correctness as well as code-efficienc#) prior to promoting t!e o%1ect to t!e &AP-production s#stem. )nformation on t!e &AP 4*5 ABAP/4 'evelopment 6or$%enc! programming tools and its features can %e found on t!e &AP Pu%lic 6e%-&erver.

.LA&&). G++' 4GL P4+G4A--)0G .+'7-P4A. ).7& G/)'7L)07&

Avoid dead-code 4emove unnecessar# code and redundant processing &pend time documenting and adopt good c!ange control practices &pend ade2uate time ana#8ing %usiness re2uirements, process flows, data-structures and data-model

9ualit# assurance is $e#( plan and e"ecute a good test plan and testing met!odolog# 7"perience counts

&7L7. : ;4+- < ABL7= .>7.?( <.+0') )+0= 70'&7L7. vs.

&7L7. : ;4+- < ABL7= 6>747 <.+0') )+0= 70'&7L7.

)n order to $eep t!e amount of data w!ic! is relevant to t!e 2uer# t!e !it set small, avoid using &7L7. @.>7.? statements w!erever possi%le. As a general rule of t!um%, alwa#s specif# all $nown conditions in t!e 6>747 clause (if possi%le). )f t!ere is no 6>747 clause t!e 'B-& !as no c!ance to ma$e optimi8ations. Alwa#s specif# #our conditions in t!e 6!ere-clause instead of c!ec$ing t!em #ourself wit! c!ec$statements. !e data%ase s#stem can also potentiall# ma$e use a data%ase inde" (if possi%le) for greater efficienc# resulting in less load on t!e data%ase server and considera%l# less load on t!e networ$ traffic as well. Also, it is important to use 79 (A) in t!e 6>747 clause w!erever possi%le, and anal#8e t!e &9L-statement for t!e optimum pat! t!e data%ase optimi8er will utili8e via &9L-trace w!en necessar#. Also, ensure careful usage of "+4", "0+ " and value range ta%les ()0 are used inappropriatel# in +pen &9L statements. AB) t!at

&7L7. : vs.

&7L7. &)0GL7 :

)f #ou are interested in e"actl# one row of a data%ase ta%le or view, use t!e &7L7. &)0GL7 statement instead of a &7L7. : statement. &7L7. &)0GL7 re2uires one communication wit! t!e data%ase s#stem w!ereas &7L7. : re2uires two.

&7L7. : ;4+- < ABL7= )0 + <)0 AB= APP70' <)0 - AB= 70'&7L7. vs.

&7L7. : ;4+- < ABL7= )0 + ABL7 <)0 - AB=

)t is usuall# faster to use t!e )0 + ABL7 version of a &7L7. statement t!an to use APP70' statements

&7L7. ... 6>747 @ .>7.? vs.

&7L7. using aggregate function

)f #ou want to find t!e ma"imum, minimum, sum and average value or t!e count of a data%ase column, use a select list wit! aggregate functions instead of computing t!e aggregates wit!in t!e program. !e 4'B-& is responsi%le for aggregated computations instead of transferring large amount of data to t!e application. +verall 0etwor$, Application-server and 'ata%ase load is also considera%l# less.

&7L7. )0 + ABL7 <)0 - AB= @ L++P A BBBB &7L7. : ;4+- < ABL7= )0 + ABL7 <)0 - AB=. L++P A <)0 - AB=. 70'L++P. vs.

&7L7. : ;4+- < ABL7= BBB. 70'&7L7.

)f #ou process #our data onl# once, use a &7L7. -70'&7L7. loop instead of collecting data in an internal ta%le wit! &7L7. ... )0 + ABL7. )nternal ta%le !andling ta$es up muc! more space

0ested &7L7. statements( &7L7. : ;4+- < ABL7-A= &7L7. : ;4+- < ABL7-B= BB.. 70'&7L7. . 70'&7L7. vs.

&elect wit! view &7L7. : ;4+- <C)76= 70'&7L7.

o process a 1oin, use a view w!erever possi%le instead of nested &7L7. statements. /sing nested selects is a tec!ni2ue wit! low performance. !e inner select statement is e"ecuted several times w!ic! mig!t %e an over!ead. )n addition, fewer data must %e transferred if anot!er tec!ni2ue would %e used eg. 1oin implemented as a view in ABAP/4 4epositor#. D &7L7. ... ;+4- ALL 70 4)7& D 7"plicit cursor !andling (for more information, goto ransaction &75E 3 ips F ric$s)

0ested select( &7L7. : ;4+- pers 6>747 condition. &7L7. : ;4+- perspro1 6>747 person A pers-persnr. ... process ... 70'&7L7. . 70'&7L7. . vs.

&7L7. persnr ;4+- pers )0 + ABL7 ipers 6>747 cond. BBB. &7L7. : ;4+- perspro1 ;+4 ALL 70 4)7& )0 ipers 6>747 person A ipers-persnr BBB... process .BBBBB 70'&7L7. .

)n t!e lower version t!e new +pen &9L statement ;+4 ALL 70 4)7& is used. Prior to t!e call, all interesting records from ,pers, are read into an internal ta%le. !e second &7L7. statement results in a call loo$ing li$e t!is (ipers containing( PEG, PEH, PE5)( (&7L7. : ;4+- perspro1 6>747 person A ,PEG,) /0)+0 (&7L7. : ;4+- perspro1 6>747 person A ,PEH,) /0)+0 (&7L7. : ;4+- perspro1 6>747 person A ,PE5,) )n case of large statements, t!e 4*5,s data%ase interface divides t!e statement into several parts and recom%ines t!e resulting set to one. !e advantage !ere is t!at t!e num%er of transfers is minimi8ed and t!ere is minimal restrictions due to t!e statement si8e (compare wit! range ta%les).

&7L7. : ;4+- < ABL7= vs.

&7L7. <column(s)= ;4+- < ABL7=

/se a select list or a view instead of &7L7. :, if #ou are onl# interested in specific columns of t!e ta%le. )f onl# certain fields are needed t!en onl# t!ose fields s!ould %e read from t!e data%ase. &imilarl#, t!e num%er of columns can also %e restricted %# using a view defined in ABAP/4 'ictionar#. +verall data%ase and networ$ load is considera%l# less.

&7L7. wit!out ta%le %uffering support vs.

&7L7. wit! ta%le %uffering support

;or all fre2uentl# used, read-onl#(few updates) ta%les, do attempt to use &AP%uffering for eimproved performance response times. !is would reduce t!e overall 'ata%ase activit# and 0etwor$ traffic.

&ingle-line inserts L++P A <)0 - AB= )0&74 )0 + < ABL7= CAL/7& <)0 -

AB= 70'L++P vs.

Arra# inserts

6!enever possi%le, use arra# operations instead of single-row operations to modif# t!e data%ase ta%les ;re2uent communication %etween t!e application program and data%ase s#stem produces considera%le over!ead

&ingle-line updates &7L7. : ;4+- < ABL7= <.+L/-0-/P'A 7 & A 7-70 = /P'A 7 < ABL7= 70'&7L7. vs.

.olumn updates /P'A 7 < ABL7= &7 <.+L/-0/P'A 7 & A 7-70 =

6!erever possi%le, use column updates instead of single row updates to update #our data%ase ta%les

'+....70''+ loop wit! ;ield-&#m%ol vs.

/sing .A operator

/se t!e special operators .+, .A, .& instead of programming t!e operations #ourself )f ABAP/4 statements are e"ecuted per c!aracter on long strings, .P/ consumprion can rise su%stantiall#

/se of a .+0.A 70A 7 function module vs.

/se of a .+0.A 70A 7 statement

&ome function modules for string manipulation !ave %ecome o%solete, and s!ould %e replaced %# ABAP statements or functions

& & & & &

4)0GI.+0.A 70A 7... ---= .+0.A 70A 7 4)0GI&PL) ... ---= &PL) 4)0GIL70G >... ---= strlen() 4)0GI.70 74... ---= 64) 7.. +. ...70 747' 4)0GI-+C7I4)G> ---= 64) 7... +...4)G> -J/& );)7'

-oving wit! offset vs.

/se of t!e .+0.A 70A 7 statement

/se t!e .+0.A 70A 7 statement instead of programming a string concatenation of #our own

/se of &7A4.> and -+C7 wit! offset vs.

/se of &PL) statement

/se t!e &PL) statement instead of programming a string split #ourself

&!ifting %# &K-;'P+& places vs

/sing &>); ...L7; '7L7 )0G L7A')0G...

)f #ou want ot delete t!e leading spaces in a string use t!e ABAP/4 statements &>); ...L7; '7L7 )0G L7A')0G... +t!er constructions (wit! .0 and &>); ... BK &K-;'P+& PLA.7&, wit! .+0'70&7 if possi%le, wit! .0 and A&&)G0 .LA@&K-;'P+&(L70) ...) are not as fast

Get a c!ec$-sum wit! field lengt! vs

Get a c!ec$-sum wit! strlen ()

/se t!e strlen () function to restrict t!e '+ loop to t!e relevant part of t!e field, eg.

w!en determinating a c!ec$-sum

Quick ote on Desi!n of second"#y d"t"$"se inde%es

;irst it must %e stated t!at ta%le design is a more logical wor$ w!ile inde" design is rat!er tec!nical. )n ta%le design it mig!t ma$e sense to place certain fields (client, compan# code, ...) in t!e %eginning. )n inde" design, t!is is not advisa%le. Cer# important for an inde" is t!at it contains ver# selective fields in t!e %eginning. !ose are fields li$e o%1ect num%ers. 0ot selective are client, compan# code, ...

)nde"es s!ould %e small (few fields). more inde"es to e"ecute a 2uer#.

!e 'ata%ase optimi8er can com%ine two or

)nde"es of one ta%le s!ould %e dis1oint (!ave few common fields), in order not to confuse t!e optimi8er w!ic! inde" to use.

0ote t!at eac! inde" slows t!e inserts into t!e ta%le down. /pdates are onl# slowed down if inde"ed fields are updated. )n general, !eav# inserted ta%les s!ould !ave onl# few inde"es w!ile !eav# selected ta%les mig!t !ave more.

Quick ote on Desi!n of lo!ic"l d"t"$"ses

/sing logical data%ases is a good met!od to write reports. Logical data%ases can %e optimi8ed centrall#. But ensure t!at t!e structure of t!e logical data%ase fits well to #our report. +t!erwise t!e effect can %e t!e opposite. ;or more information a%out more &AP ABAP/4 'evelopment code-efficienc# standards, esp. on non-data%ase related tips and tric$s, please goto transaction &75E and clic$ on ips F ric$s section, w!ic! served as t!e main source of reference for t!is section of t!is document.

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