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SAP Table Types I. Transparent Tables (BKPF, VBAK, VBAP, KNA1, COEP)

This document discusses different types of SAP tables and internal tables in ABAP. It describes transparent tables, pool tables, cluster tables, and buffered tables. It also covers defining internal tables locally in a program using the TYPES statement, specifying the table type, line type, and key. Examples are provided to illustrate defining different types of internal tables.

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Mohamed Asif Ali H
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278 views

SAP Table Types I. Transparent Tables (BKPF, VBAK, VBAP, KNA1, COEP)

This document discusses different types of SAP tables and internal tables in ABAP. It describes transparent tables, pool tables, cluster tables, and buffered tables. It also covers defining internal tables locally in a program using the TYPES statement, specifying the table type, line type, and key. Examples are provided to illustrate defining different types of internal tables.

Uploaded by

Mohamed Asif Ali H
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SAP Table Types

I. Transparent tables (BKPF, VBAK, VBAP, KNA1, COEP)


Allows secondary indexes (SE11->Display Table->Indexes)
Can be buffered (SE11->Display Table->technical settings) Heavily updated
tables should not be buffered.
II. Pool Tables (match codes, look up tables)
Should be accessed via primary key or
Should be buffered (SE11->Display Table->technical settings)
No secondary indexes
Select * is Ok because all columns retrieved anyway
III. Cluster Tables (BSEG,BSEC)
Should be accessed via primary key - very fast retrieval otherwise very slow
No secondary indexes
Select * is Ok because all columns retrieved anyway. Performing an operation
on multiple rows is more efficient than single row operations. Therefore you
still want to select into an internal table. If many rows are being selected into
the internal table, you might still like to retrieve specific columns to cut down
on the memory required.
Statistical SQL functions (SUM, AVG, MIN, MAX, etc) not supported
Can not be buffered
IV. Buffered Tables (includes both Transparent & Pool Tables)
While buffering database tables in program memory (SELECT into internal table) is
generally a good idea for performance, it is not always necessary. Some tables are
already buffered in memory. These are mostly configuration tables. If a table is

already buffered, then a select statement against it is very fast. To determine if a table
is buffered, choose the 'technical settings' soft button from the data dictionary display
of a table (SE12). Pool tables should all be buffered.

Internal table types


This section describes how to define internal tables locally in a program. You can also define
internal tables globally as
data types in the ABAP Dictionary.
Like all
local data types in programs , you define internal tables using the TYPES statement. If you do not refer to
an existing table type using the TYPE or LIKE addition, you can use the TYPES statement to construct a
new local internal table in your program.
TYPES <t> TYPE|LIKE <tabkind> OF <linetype> [WITH <key>]
[INITIAL SIZE <n>].
After TYPE or LIKE, there is no reference to an existing data type. Instead, the type
constructor occurs:
<tabkind> OF <linetype> [WITH <key>]
The type constructor defines the table type <tabkind>, the line type <linetype>, and the
key <key> of the internal table <t>.
You can, if you wish, allocate an initial amount of memory to the internal table using the
INITIAL SIZE addition.

Table type
You can specify the table type <tabkind> as follows:

Generic table types


INDEX TABLE
For creating a generic table type with index access.
ANY TABLE
For creating a fully-generic table type.
Data types defined using generic types can currently only be used for
field symbols and for interface parameters in procedures . The generic type INDEX TABLE includes
standard tables and sorted tables. These are the two table types for which index access is allowed. You
cannot pass hashed tables to field symbols or interface parameters defined in this way. The generic type
ANY TABLE can represent any table. You can pass tables of all three types to field symbols and interface
parameters defined in this way. However, these field symbols and parameters will then only allow
operations that are possible for all tables, that is, index operations are not allowed.
Fully-Specified Table Types
STANDARD TABLE or
TABLE
For creating standard tables.
SORTED TABLE
For creating sorted tables.
HASHED TABLE
For creating hashed tables.
Fully-specified table types determine how the system will access the entries in the table in
key operations. It uses a linear search for standard tables, a binary search for sorted tables,
and a search using a hash algorithm for hashed tables.

Line type
For the line type <linetype>, you can specify:

Any

data type if you are using the TYPE addition. This can be a predefined ABAP type, a local type in the
program, or a data type from the ABAP Dictionary. If you specify any of the generic elementary types C,
N, P, or X, any attributes that you fail to specify (field length, number of decimal places) are automatically
filled with the default values. You cannot specify any other generic types.
Anydata object recognized within the program at that point if you are using the LIKE addition. The line
type adopts the fully-specified data type of the data object to which you refer. Except for within classes,
you can still use the LIKE addition to refer to database tables and structures in the ABAP Dictionary (for
compatibility reasons).
All of the lines in the internal table have the fully-specified technical attributes of the
specified data type.

Key
You can specify the key <key> of an internal table as follows:
[UNIQUE|NON-UNIQUE] KEY <col1> ... <col n>
In tables with a structured line type, all of the components <coli> belong to the key as
long as they are not internal tables or references, and do not contain internal tables or
references. Key fields can be nested structures. The substructures are expanded component
by component when you access the table using the key. The system follows the sequence of
the key fields.
[UNIQUE|NON-UNIQUE] KEY TABLE LINE
If a table has an elementary line type (C, D, F, I, N, P, T, X), you can define the entire line
as the key. If you try this for a table whose line type is itself a table, a syntax error occurs. If
a table has a structured line type, it is possible to specify the entire line as the key. However,
you should remember that this is often not suitable.
[UNIQUE|NON-UNIQUE] DEFAULT KEY
This declares the fields of the default key as the key fields. If the table has a structured line
type, the default key contains all non-numeric columns of the internal table that are not and
do not contain references or internal tables. If the table has an elementary line type, the
default key is the entire line. The default key of an internal table whose line type is an
internal table, the default key is empty.
Specifying a key is optional. If you do not specify a key, the system defines a table type with
an arbitrary key. You can only use this to define the types of
field symbols and the interface parameters of procedures . For exceptions, refer to Special Features of
Standard Tables.
The optional additions UNIQUE or NON-UNIQUE determine whether the key is to be unique or
non-unique, that is, whether the table can accept duplicate entries. If you do not specify
UNIQUE or NON-UNIQUE for the key, the table type is generic in this respect. As such, it can
only be used for specifying types. When you specify the table type simultaneously, you must
note the following restrictions:

You cannot use the UNIQUE addition for standard tables. The system always
generates the NON-UNIQUE addition automatically.

You must always specify the UNIQUE option when you create a hashed table.

Initial Memory Requirement


You can specify the initial amount of main memory assigned to an internal table object when
you define the data type using the following addition:
INITIAL SIZE <n>
This size does not belong to the data type of the internal table, and does not affect the type
check. You can use the above addition to reserve memory space for <n> table lines when
you declare the table object.
When this initial area is full, the system makes twice as much extra space available up to a
limit of 8KB. Further memory areas of 12KB each are then allocated.
You can usually leave it to the system to work out the initial memory requirement. The first
time you fill the table, little memory is used. The space occupied, depending on the line
width, is 16 <= <n> <= 100.
It only makes sense to specify a concrete value of <n> if you can specify a precise number
of table entries when you create the table and need to allocate exactly that amount of
memory (exception:
Appending table lines to ranked lists). This can be particularly important for deep-structured internal
tables where the inner table only has a few entries (less than 5, for example).
To avoid excessive requests for memory, large values of <n> are treated as follows: The
largest possible value of <n> is 8KB divided by the length of the line. If you specify a larger
value of <n>, the system calculates a new value so that n times the line width is around
12KB.

Examples
TYPES: BEGIN OF LINE,
COLUMN1 TYPE I,
COLUMN2 TYPE I,
COLUMN3 TYPE I,
END OF LINE.
TYPES ITAB TYPE SORTED TABLE OF LINE WITH UNIQUE KEY COLUMN1.
The program defines a table type ITAB. It is a sorted table, with line type of the structure
LINE and a unique key of the component COLUMN1.
TYPES VECTOR TYPE HASHED TABLE OF I WITH UNIQUE KEY TABLE LINE.
TYPES: BEGIN OF LINE,
COLUMN1 TYPE I,
COLUMN2 TYPE I,

COLUMN3 TYPE I,
END OF LINE.
TYPES ITAB TYPE SORTED TABLE OF LINE WITH UNIQUE KEY COLUMN1.
TYPES: BEGIN OF DEEPLINE,
FIELD TYPE C,
TABLE1 TYPE VECTOR,
TABLE2 TYPE ITAB,
END OF DEEPLINE.
TYPES DEEPTABLE TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF DEEPLINE
WITH DEFAULT KEY.
The program defines a table type VECTOR with type hashed table, the elementary line type I
and a unique key of the entire table line. The second table type is the same as in the
previous example. The structure DEEPLINE contains the internal table as a component. The
table type DEEPTABLE has the line type DEEPLINE. Therefore, the elements of this internal
table are themselves internal tables. The key is the default key - in this case the column
FIELD. The key is non-unique, since the table is a standard table.

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