System Optimizer?
I have been curious about this for a few days now. I own a MacBook now and notice upon start up it's super slow. I'm not sure if this is because I am doing my daily Software Update check while the computer is automatically Syncing with MobileMe and backing up onto an external HD through Time Machine. Afterwards, it runs find but every now and then while using Safari the pages take a longer to load up than usual. So, if this isn't hardware is there some type of Mac Optimizer Software I can use to speed up my laptop?
Hi, thanks for the reply.
I bought my computer in November 2008 with the basic memory configuration: 2GB (two 1GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM. Since then I have 2 Western Digital External Hard Drives going into the mac. (1. 500GB Time Machine 2. 350GB) In addition, I have a MobileMe account that syncs to the 10GB internet hard drive upon start up. Also, I just installed iLife '09 and my internal has about 92GB of free space left.
So, I am wondering if upgrading my memory to 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 (PC3-8500) - 2x2GB SO-DIMMs will help with it's performance. Starting up my mac is usually pretty fast but shutting down can take up to a minute sometimes. For a fairly new mac I am a bit surprised it's already dragging.
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I love Arch. It's fast, convenient and easy to understand. However i sometimes feel the system should be faster.
So maybe i'm missing something... i'd like to hear system optimization techniques in this thread.
Let me start:
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* use light desktop env/wmDusty wrote:
kensai wrote:Still a custom compiled archck kernel uses less memory and is more cpu efficient than archck from repo.
The point is, the time it takes to compile that kernel (7-20 minutes, I've heard) will never be recovered in terms of *noticeable* responsiveness to the user. You can quote numbers saying its more efficient or uses less memory, but these resources are certainly not scarce in modern systems.
Dusty
Well, that's what I thought so i've been using standard kernel with adapted mkinitrd.conf for almost a year with great success. Also when I bought a new computer, I made sure I got plenty of (unexpansive) DDR400 SDRAM + the fastest rather than the biggest SATA(II) HDD along an AMD64 & a cool Mobo.
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Suave!Unfortunately such tools have just as great a likelihood of requiring a backup to recover from errors they make as not. Cache cleaning is one example. We get so many people come into these boards whose applications no longer launch, or unexpectedly quit. What is the cause? LaunchServices cache files have gone south. And guess what sent them there? Tools such as Onyx, Macaroni, Applejack.
The Mac OS does all the cache cleaning I have ever done on this computer.
I am sure that some people have over-zealously applied some of these tools unwisely, but most of the references I have seen to cache cleaning and deletion on these forums in the past year or so have been as solution recommendations (which sometimes work) to people who already have existing computer problems rather than being caused by them toying with their computers. Again, my main reason for mentioning Onyx was not for its prophylactic "maintenance" capabilities but as a tool for dealing with specific issues that already exist. I use it, rarely, but only in response to specific issues.
Disk Warrior while it is great, will not fix a dying hard drive.
Agreed, but I think a dying hard drive is a very different issue from the "maintenance" about which the OP was asking. A dying hard drive is when anybody will need a backup (though I once made it through a dying hard drive case without using my backups or special tools, but that's another story).
Free backup solutions exist.
Software, yes, but the reality of the situation is many people do not consider another $100 for a backup drive to be part of a computer purchase.
Suffice it to say, priority should be placed on backing up before any "maintenance" tools are used.
Uh, again, didn't I say, "Your first priority"???
Since failure of drives can happen at anytime without any warning, due to mechanical issues which no maintenance tool can fix, backing up is still a priority. It should be a part of one's regular routine, and as such is more routine than general maintenance. Maintenance implies a routine practice. Thus backup is maintenance in an indirect way. It is maintenance of your data's integrity.
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Performance optimization during database selection.
hi gurus,
pls any explain about this...
Strong knowledge of performance optimization during database selection.
regards,
praveenHi Praveen,
Performance Notes
1.Keep the Result Set Small
You should aim to keep the result set small. This reduces both the amount of memory used in the database system and the network load when transferring data to the application server. To reduce the size of your result sets, use the WHERE and HAVING clauses.
Using the WHERE Clause
Whenever you access a database table, you should use a WHERE clause in the corresponding Open SQL statement. Even if a program containing a SELECT statement with no WHERE clause performs well in tests, it may slow down rapidly in your production system, where the data volume increases daily. You should only dispense with the WHERE clause in exceptional cases where you really need the entire contents of the database table every time the statement is executed.
When you use the WHERE clause, the database system optimizes the access and only transfers the required data. You should never transfer unwanted data to the application server and then filter it using ABAP statements.
Using the HAVING Clause
After selecting the required lines in the WHERE clause, the system then processes the GROUP BY clause, if one exists, and summarizes the database lines selected. The HAVING clause allows you to restrict the grouped lines, and in particular, the aggregate expressions, by applying further conditions.
Effect
If you use the WHERE and HAVING clauses correctly:
There are no more physical I/Os in the database than necessary
No unwanted data is stored in the database cache (it could otherwise displace data that is actually required)
The CPU usage of the database host is minimize
The network load is reduced, since only the data that is required by the application is transferred to the application server.
Minimize the Amount of Data Transferred
Data is transferred between the database system and the application server in blocks. Each block is up to 32 KB in size (the precise size depends on your network communication hardware). Administration information is transported in the blocks as well as the data.
To minimize the network load, you should transfer as few blocks as possible. Open SQL allows you to do this as follows:
Restrict the Number of Lines
If you only want to read a certain number of lines in a SELECT statement, use the UP TO <n> ROWS addition in the FROM clause. This tells the database system only to transfer <n> lines back to the application server. This is more efficient than transferring more lines than necessary back to the application server and then discarding them in your ABAP program.
If you expect your WHERE clause to return a large number of duplicate entries, you can use the DISTINCT addition in the SELECT clause.
Restrict the Number of Columns
You should only read the columns from a database table that you actually need in the program. To do this, list the columns in the SELECT clause. Note here that the INTO CORRESPONDING FIELDS addition in the INTO clause is only efficient with large volumes of data, otherwise the runtime required to compare the names is too great. For small amounts of data, use a list of variables in the INTO clause.
Do not use * to select all columns unless you really need them. However, if you list individual columns, you may have to adjust the program if the structure of the database table is changed in the ABAP Dictionary. If you specify the database table dynamically, you must always read all of its columns.
Use Aggregate Functions
If you only want to use data for calculations, it is often more efficient to use the aggregate functions of the SELECT clause than to read the individual entries from the database and perform the calculations in the ABAP program.
Aggregate functions allow you to find out the number of values and find the sum, average, minimum, and maximum values.
Following an aggregate expression, only its result is transferred from the database.
Data Transfer when Changing Table Lines
When you use the UPDATE statement to change lines in the table, you should use the WHERE clause to specify the relevant lines, and then SET statements to change only the required columns.
When you use a work area to overwrite table lines, too much data is often transferred. Furthermore, this method requires an extra SELECT statement to fill the work area. Minimize the Number of Data Transfers
In every Open SQL statement, data is transferred between the application server and the database system. Furthermore, the database system has to construct or reopen the appropriate administration data for each database access. You can therefore minimize the load on the network and the database system by minimizing the number of times you access the database.
Multiple Operations Instead of Single Operations
When you change data using INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE, use internal tables instead of single entries. If you read data using SELECT, it is worth using multiple operations if you want to process the data more than once, other wise, a simple select loop is more efficient.
Avoid Repeated Access
As a rule you should read a given set of data once only in your program, and using a single access. Avoid accessing the same data more than once (for example, SELECT before an UPDATE).
Avoid Nested SELECT Loops
A simple SELECT loop is a single database access whose result is passed to the ABAP program line by line. Nested SELECT loops mean that the number of accesses in the inner loop is multiplied by the number of accesses in the outer loop. You should therefore only use nested SELECT loops if the selection in the outer loop contains very few lines.
However, using combinations of data from different database tables is more the rule than the exception in the relational data model. You can use the following techniques to avoid nested SELECT statements:
ABAP Dictionary Views
You can define joins between database tables statically and systemwide as views in the ABAP Dictionary. ABAP Dictionary views can be used by all ABAP programs. One of their advantages is that fields that are common to both tables (join fields) are only transferred once from the database to the application server.
Views in the ABAP Dictionary are implemented as inner joins. If the inner table contains no lines that correspond to lines in the outer table, no data is transferred. This is not always the desired result. For example, when you read data from a text table, you want to include lines in the selection even if the corresponding text does not exist in the required language. If you want to include all of the data from the outer table, you can program a left outer join in ABAP.
The links between the tables in the view are created and optimized by the database system. Like database tables, you can buffer views on the application server. The same buffering rules apply to views as to tables. In other words, it is most appropriate for views that you use mostly to read data. This reduces the network load and the amount of physical I/O in the database.
Joins in the FROM Clause
You can read data from more than one database table in a single SELECT statement by using inner or left outer joins in the FROM clause.
The disadvantage of using joins is that redundant data is read from the hierarchically-superior table if there is a 1:N relationship between the outer and inner tables. This can considerably increase the amount of data transferred from the database to the application server. Therefore, when you program a join, you should ensure that the SELECT clause contains a list of only the columns that you really need. Furthermore, joins bypass the table buffer and read directly from the database. For this reason, you should use an ABAP Dictionary view instead of a join if you only want to read the data.
The runtime of a join statement is heavily dependent on the database optimizer, especially when it contains more than two database tables. However, joins are nearly always quicker than using nested SELECT statements.
Subqueries in the WHERE and HAVING Clauses
Another way of accessing more than one database table in the same Open SQL statement is to use subqueries in the WHERE or HAVING clause. The data from a subquery is not transferred to the application server. Instead, it is used to evaluate conditions in the database system. This is a simple and effective way of programming complex database operations.
Using Internal Tables
It is also possible to avoid nested SELECT loops by placing the selection from the outer loop in an internal table and then running the inner selection once only using the FOR ALL ENTRIES addition. This technique stems from the time before joins were allowed in the FROM clause. On the other hand, it does prevent redundant data from being transferred from the database.
Using a Cursor to Read Data
A further method is to decouple the INTO clause from the SELECT statement by opening a cursor using OPEN CURSOR and reading data line by line using FETCH NEXT CURSOR. You must open a new cursor for each nested loop. In this case, you must ensure yourself that the correct lines are read from the database tables in the correct order. This usually requires a foreign key relationship between the database tables, and that they are sorted by the foreign key. Minimize the Search Overhead
You minimize the size of the result set by using the WHERE and HAVING clauses. To increase the efficiency of these clauses, you should formulate them to fit with the database table indexes.
Database Indexes
Indexes speed up data selection from the database. They consist of selected fields of a table, of which a copy is then made in sorted order. If you specify the index fields correctly in a condition in the WHERE or HAVING clause, the system only searches part of the index (index range scan).
The primary index is always created automatically in the R/3 System. It consists of the primary key fields of the database table. This means that for each combination of fields in the index, there is a maximum of one line in the table. This kind of index is also known as UNIQUE.
If you cannot use the primary index to determine the result set because, for example, none of the primary index fields occur in the WHERE or HAVING clause, the system searches through the entire table (full table scan). For this case, you can create secondary indexes, which can restrict the number of table entries searched to form the result set.
You specify the fields of secondary indexes using the ABAP Dictionary. You can also determine whether the index is unique or not. However, you should not create secondary indexes to cover all possible combinations of fields.
Only create one if you select data by fields that are not contained in another index, and the performance is very poor. Furthermore, you should only create secondary indexes for database tables from which you mainly read, since indexes have to be updated each time the database table is changed. As a rule, secondary indexes should not contain more than four fields, and you should not have more than five indexes for a single database table.
If a table has more than five indexes, you run the risk of the optimizer choosing the wrong one for a particular operation. For this reason, you should avoid indexes with overlapping contents.
Secondary indexes should contain columns that you use frequently in a selection, and that are as highly selective as possible. The fewer table entries that can be selected by a certain column, the higher that columns selectivity. Place the most selective fields at the beginning of the index. Your secondary index should be so selective that each index entry corresponds to at most five percent of the table entries. If this is not the case, it is not worth creating the index. You should also avoid creating indexes for fields that are not always filled, where their value is initial for most entries in the table.
If all of the columns in the SELECT clause are contained in the index, the system does not have to search the actual table data after reading from the index. If you have a SELECT clause with very few columns, you can improve performance dramatically by including these columns in a secondary index.
Formulating Conditions for Indexes
You should bear in mind the following when formulating conditions for the WHERE and HAVING clauses so that the system can use a database index and does not have to use a full table scan.
Check for Equality and Link Using AND
The database index search is particularly efficient if you check all index fields for equality (= or EQ) and link the expressions using AND.
Use Positive Conditions
The database system only supports queries that describe the result in positive terms, for example, EQ or LIKE. It does not support negative expressions like NE or NOT LIKE.
If possible, avoid using the NOT operator in the WHERE clause, because it is not supported by database indexes; invert the logical expression instead.
Using OR
The optimizer usually stops working when an OR expression occurs in the condition. This means that the columns checked using OR are not included in the index search. An exception to this are OR expressions at the outside of conditions. You should try to reformulate conditions that apply OR expressions to columns relevant to the index, for example, into an IN condition.
Using Part of the Index
If you construct an index from several columns, the system can still use it even if you only specify a few of the columns in a condition. However, in this case, the sequence of the columns in the index is important. A column can only be used in the index search if all of the columns before it in the index definition have also been specified in the condition.
Checking for Null Values
The IS NULL condition can cause problems with indexes. Some database systems do not store null values in the index structure. Consequently, this field cannot be used in the index.
Avoid Complex Conditions
Avoid complex conditions, since the statements have to be broken down into their individual components by the database system.
Reduce the Database Load
Unlike application servers and presentation servers, there is only one database server in your system. You should therefore aim to reduce the database load as much as possible. You can use the following methods:
Buffer Tables on the Application Server
You can considerably reduce the time required to access data by buffering it in the application server table buffer. Reading a single entry from table T001 can take between 8 and 600 milliseconds, while reading it from the table buffer takes 0.2 - 1 milliseconds.
Whether a table can be buffered or not depends its technical attributes in the ABAP Dictionary. There are three buffering types:
Resident buffering (100%) The first time the table is accessed, its entire contents are loaded in the table buffer.
Generic buffering In this case, you need to specify a generic key (some of the key fields) in the technical settings of the table in the ABAP Dictionary. The table contents are then divided into generic areas. When you access data with one of the generic keys, the whole generic area is loaded into the table buffer. Client-specific tables are often buffered generically by client.
Partial buffering (single entry) Only single entries are read from the database and stored in the table buffer.
When you read from buffered tables, the following happens:
1. An ABAP program requests data from a buffered table.
2. The ABAP processor interprets the Open SQL statement. If the table is defined as a buffered table in the ABAP Dictionary, the ABAP processor checks in the local buffer on the application server to see if the table (or part of it) has already been buffered.
3. If the table has not yet been buffered, the request is passed on to the database. If the data exists in the buffer, it is sent to the program.
4. The database server passes the data to the application server, which places it in the table buffer.
5. The data is passed to the program.
When you change a buffered table, the following happens:
1. The database table is changed and the buffer on the application server is updated. The database interface logs the update statement in the table DDLOG. If the system has more than one application server, the buffer on the other servers is not updated at once.
2. All application servers periodically read the contents of table DDLOG, and delete the corresponding contents from their buffers where necessary. The granularity depends on the buffering type. The table buffers in a distributed system are generally synchronized every 60 seconds (parameter: rsdisp/bufreftime).
3. Within this period, users on non-synchronized application servers will read old data. The data is not recognized as obsolete until the next buffer synchronization. The next time it is accessed, it is re-read from the database.
You should buffer the following types of tables:
Tables that are read very frequently
Tables that are changed very infrequently
Relatively small tables (few lines, few columns, or short columns)
Tables where delayed update is acceptable.
Once you have buffered a table, take care not to use any Open SQL statements that bypass the buffer.
The SELECT statement bypasses the buffer when you use any of the following:
The BYPASSING BUFFER addition in the FROM clause
The DISTINCT addition in the SELECT clause
Aggregate expressions in the SELECT clause
Joins in the FROM clause
The IS NULL condition in the WHERE clause
Subqueries in the WHERE clause
The ORDER BY clause
The GROUP BY clause
The FOR UPDATE addition
Furthermore, all Native SQL statements bypass the buffer.
Avoid Reading Data Repeatedly
If you avoid reading the same data repeatedly, you both reduce the number of database accesses and reduce the load on the database. Furthermore, a "dirty read" may occur with database tables other than Oracle. This means that the second time you read data from a database table, it may be different from the data read the first time. To ensure that the data in your program is consistent, you should read it once only and then store it in an internal table.
Sort Data in Your ABAP Programs
The ORDER BY clause in the SELECT statement is not necessarily optimized by the database system or executed with the correct index. This can result in increased runtime costs. You should only use ORDER BY if the database sort uses the same index with which the table is read. To find out which index the system uses, use SQL Trace in the ABAP Workbench Performance Trace. If the indexes are not the same, it is more efficient to read the data into an internal table or extract and sort it in the ABAP program using the SORT statement.
Use Logical Databases
SAP supplies logical databases for all applications. A logical database is an ABAP program that decouples Open SQL statements from application programs. They are optimized for the best possible database performance. However, it is important that you use the right logical database. The hierarchy of the data you want to read must reflect the structure of the logical database, otherwise, they can have a negative effect on performance. For example, if you want to read data from a table right at the bottom of the hierarchy of the logical database, it has to read at least the key fields of all tables above it in the hierarchy. In this case, it is more efficient to use a SELECT statement.
Work Processes
Work processes execute the individual dialog steps in R/3 applications. The next two sections describe firstly the structure of a work process, and secondly the different types of work process in the R/3 System.
Structure of a Work Process
Work processes execute the dialog steps of application programs. They are components of an application server. The following diagram shows the components of a work process:
Each work process contains two software processors and a database interface.
Screen Processor
In R/3 application programming, there is a difference between user interaction and processing logic. From a programming point of view, user interaction is controlled by screens. As well as the actual input mask, a screen also consists of flow logic. The screen flow logic controls a large part of the user interaction. The R/3 Basis system contains a special language for programming screen flow logic. The screen processor executes the screen flow logic. Via the dispatcher, it takes over the responsibility for communication between the work process and the SAPgui, calls modules in the flow logic, and ensures that the field contents are transferred from the screen to the flow logic.
ABAP Processor
The actual processing logic of an application program is written in ABAP - SAPs own programming language. The ABAP processor executes the processing logic of the application program, and communicates with the database interface. The screen processor tells the ABAP processor which module of the screen flow logic should be processed next. The following screen illustrates the interaction between the screen and the ABAP processors when an application program is running.
Database Interface
The database interface provides the following services:
Establishing and terminating connections between the work process and the database.
Access to database tables
Access to R/3 Repository objects (ABAP programs, screens and so on)
Access to catalog information (ABAP Dictionary)
Controlling transactions (commit and rollback handling)
Table buffer administration on the application server.
The following diagram shows the individual components of the database interface:
The diagram shows that there are two different ways of accessing databases: Open SQL and Native SQL.
Open SQL statements are a subset of Standard SQL that is fully integrated in ABAP. They allow you to access data irrespective of the database system that the R/3 installation is using. Open SQL consists of the Data Manipulation Language (DML) part of Standard SQL; in other words, it allows you to read (SELECT) and change (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE) data. The tasks of the Data Definition Language (DDL) and Data Control Language (DCL) parts of Standard SQL are performed in the R/3 System by the ABAP Dictionary and the authorization system. These provide a unified range of functions, irrespective of database, and also contain functions beyond those offered by the various database systems.
Open SQL also goes beyond Standard SQL to provide statements that, in conjunction with other ABAP constructions, can simplify or speed up database access. It also allows you to buffer certain tables on the application server, saving excessive database access. In this case, the database interface is responsible for comparing the buffer with the database. Buffers are partly stored in the working memory of the current work process, and partly in the shared memory for all work processes on an application server. Where an R/3 System is distributed across more than one application server, the data in the various buffers is synchronized at set intervals by the buffer management. When buffering the database, you must remember that data in the buffer is not always up to date. For this reason, you should only use the buffer for data which does not often change.
Native SQL is only loosely integrated into ABAP, and allows access to all of the functions contained in the programming interface of the respective database system. Unlike Open SQL statements, Native SQL statements are not checked and converted, but instead are sent directly to the database system. Programs that use Native SQL are specific to the database system for which they were written. R/3 applications contain as little Native SQL as possible. In fact, it is only used in a few Basis components (for example, to create or change table definitions in the ABAP Dictionary).
The database-dependent layer in the diagram serves to hide the differences between database systems from the rest of the database interface. You choose the appropriate layer when you install the Basis system. Thanks to the standardization of SQL, the differences in the syntax of statements are very slight. However, the semantics and behavior of the statements have not been fully standardized, and the differences in these areas can be greater. When you use Native SQL, the function of the database-dependent layer is minimal.
Types of Work Process
Although all work processes contain the components described above, they can still be divided into different types. The type of a work process determines the kind of task for which it is responsible in the application server. It does not specify a particular set of technical attributes. The individual tasks are distributed to the work processes by the dispatcher.
Before you start your R/3 System, you determine how many work processes it will have, and what their types will be. The dispatcher starts the work processes and only assigns them tasks that correspond to their type. This means that you can distribute work process types to optimize the use of the resources on your application servers.
The following diagram shows again the structure of an application server, but this time, includes the various possible work process types:
The various work processes are described briefly below. Other parts of this documentation describe the individual components of the application server and the R/3 System in more detail.
Dialog Work Process
Dialog work processes deal with requests from an active user to execute dialog steps.
Update Work Process
Update work processes execute database update requests. Update requests are part of an SAP LUW that bundle the database operations resulting from the dialog in a database LUW for processing in the background.
Background Work Process
Background work processes process programs that can be executed without user interaction (background jobs).
Enqueue Work Process
The enqueue work process administers a lock table in the shared memory area. The lock table contains the logical database locks for the R/3 System and is an important part of the SAP LUW concept. In an R/3 System, you may only have one lock table. You may therefore also only have one application server with enqueue work processes.
Spool Work Process
The spool work process passes sequential datasets to a printer or to optical archiving. Each application server may contain several spool work process.
The services offered by an application server are determined by the types of its work processes. One application server may, of course, have more than one function. For example, it may be both a dialog server and the enqueue server, if it has several dialog work processes and an enqueue work process.
You can use the system administration functions to switch a work process between dialog and background modes while the system is still running. This allows you, for example, to switch an R/3 System between day and night operation, where you have more dialog than background work processes during the day, and the other way around during the night.
ABAP Application Server
R/3 programs run on application servers. They are an important component of the R/3 System. The following sections describe application servers in more detail.
Structure of an ABAP Application Server
The application layer of an R/3 System is made up of the application servers and the message server. Application programs in an R/3 System are run on application servers. The application servers communicate with the presentation components, the database, and also with each other, using the message server.
The following diagram shows the structure of an application server:
The individual components are:
Work Processes
An application server contains work processes, which are components that can run an application. Work processes are components that are able to execute an application (that is, one dialog step each). Each work process is linked to a memory area containing the context of the application being run. The context contains the current data for the application program. This needs to be available in each dialog step. Further information about the different types of work process is contained later on in this documentation.
Dispatcher
Each application server contains a dispatcher. The dispatcher is the link between the work processes and the users logged onto the application server. Its task is to receive requests for dialog steps from the SAP GUI and direct them to a free work process. In the same way, it directs screen output resulting from the dialog step back to the appropriate user.
Gateway
Each application server contains a gateway. This is the interface for the R/3 communication protocols (RFC, CPI/C). It can communicate with other application servers in the same R/3 System, with other R/3 Systems, with R/2 Systems, or with non-SAP systems.
The application server structure as described here aids the performance and scalability of the entire R/3 System. The fixed number of work processes and dispatching of dialog steps leads to optimal memory use, since it means that certain components and the memory areas of a work process are application-independent and reusable. The fact that the individual work processes work independently makes them suitable for a multi-processor architecture. The methods used in the dispatcher to distribute tasks to work processes are discussed more closely in the section Dispatching Dialog Steps.
Shared Memory
All of the work processes on an application server use a common main memory area called shared memory to save contexts or to buffer constant data locally.
The resources that all work processes use (such as programs and table contents) are contained in shared memory. Memory management in the R/3 System ensures that the work processes always address the correct context, that is the data relevant to the current state of the program that is running. A mapping process projects the required context for a dialog step from shared memory into the address of the relevant work process. This reduces the actual copying to a minimum.
Local buffering of data in the shared memory of the application server reduces the number of database reads required. This reduces access times for application programs considerably. For optimal use of the buffer, you can concentrate individual applications (financial accounting, logistics, human resources) into separate application server groups.
Database Connection
When you start up an R/3 System, each application server registers its work processes with the database layer, and receives a single dedicated channel for each. While the system is running, each work process is a user (client) of the database system (server). You cannot change the work process registration while the system is running. Neither can you reassign a database channel from one work process to another. For this reason, a work process can only make database changes within a single database logical unit of work (LUW). A database LUW is an inseparable sequence of database operations. This has important consequences for the programming model explained below.
Dispatching Dialog Steps
The number of users logged onto an application server is often many times greater than the number of available work processes. Furthermore, it is not restricted by the R/3 system architecture. Furthermore, each user can run several applications at once. The dispatcher has the important task of distributing all dialog steps among the work processes on the application server.
The following diagram is an example of how this might happen:
1. The dispatcher receives the request to execute a dialog step from user 1 and directs it to work process 1, which happens to be free. The work process addresses the context of the application program (in shared memory) and executes the dialog step. It then becomes free again.
2. The dispatcher receives the request to execute a dialog step from user 2 and directs it to work process 1, which is now free again. The work process executes the dialog step as in step 1.
3. While work process 1 is still working, the dispatcher receives a further request from user 1 and directs it to work process 2, which is free.
4. After work processes 1 and 2 have finished processing their dialog steps, the dispatcher receives another request from user 1 and directs it to work process 1, which is free again.
5. While work process 1 is still working, the dispatcher receives a further request from user 2 and directs it to work process 2, which is free.
From this example, we can see that:
A dialog step from a program is assigned to a single work process for execution.
The individual dialog steps of a program can be executed on different work processes, and the program context must be addressed for each new work process.
A work process can execute dialog steps of different programs from different users.
The example does not show that the dispatcher tries to distribute the requests to the work processes such that the same work process is used as often as possible for the successive dialog steps in an application. This is useful, since it saves the program context having to be addressed each time a dialog step is executed.
Dispatching and the Programming Model
The separation of application and presentation layer made it necessary to split up application programs into dialog steps. This, and the fact that dialog steps are dispatched to individual work processes, has had important consequences for the programming model.
As mentioned above, a work process can only make database changes within a single database logical unit of work (LUW). A database LUW is an inseparable sequence of database operations. The contents of the database must be consistent at its beginning and end. The beginning and end of a database LUW are defined by a commit command to the database system (database commit). During a database LUW, that is, between two database commits, the database system itself ensures consistency within the database. In other words, it takes over tasks such as locking database entries while they are being edited, or restoring the old data (rollback) if a step terminates in an error.
A typical SAP application program extends over several screens and the corresponding dialog steps. The user requests database changes on the individual screens that should lead to the database being consistent once the screens have all been processed. However, the individual dialog steps run on different work processes, and a single work process can process dialog steps from other applications. It is clear that two or more independent applications whose dialog steps happen to be processed on the same work process cannot be allowed to work with the same database LUW.
Consequently, a work process must open a separate database LUW for each dialog step. The work process sends a commit command (database commit) to the database at the end of each dialog step in which it makes database changes. These commit commands are called implicit database commits, since they are not explicitly written into the application program.
These implicit database commits mean that a database LUW can be kept open for a maximum of one dialog step. This leads to a considerable reduction in database load, serialization, and deadlocks, and enables a large number of users to use the same system.
However, the question now arises of how this method (1 dialog step = 1 database LUW) can be reconciled with the demand to make commits and rollbacks dependent on the logical flow of the application program instead of the technical distribution of dialog steps. Database update requests that depend on one another form logical units in the program that extend over more than one dialog step. The database changes associated with these logical units must be executed together and must also be able to be undone together.
The SAP programming model contains a series of bundling techniques that allow you to group database updates together in logical units. The section of an R/3 application program that bundles a set of logically-associated database operations is called an SAP LUW. Unlike a database LUW, a SAP LUW includes all of the dialog steps in a logical unit, including the database update.
Happy Reading...
shibu -
Black Screen During Update Optimization
I have read as much as I can about update problems and I have yet to see my specific problem, nor a solution.
While updating to 10.4.9 through "software update" my computer screen went black in the middle of system optimization. I originally assumed it went to sleep and tried the normal methods to wake it from sleep. When that did not work, and the computer screen remained black, I assumed it shutdown (instead of restarting like it said it would after update). So, I tried to restart it.
When I first tried to power on the laptop, it did not work. I figured out that the computer was in deep sleep mode where I must hold down the power button to force it to quit. Then, I pushed the power on button again and it started up. The first startup quit while the thing was spinning. The next startup quit right after the blue screen popped up. The following right after the computer fully started up. The following same.
So, I booted from the installation disks that came with the MacBook and ran disk utility. It repaired the permissions. On reboot it worked.
Then, today I tried to load a word document and the computer went to black screen death again. I decided that maybe I never fully updated the OS so I decided to download the combo updater and to install from the file instead of the software updater.
Installation went fine until I hit optimization again. Same errors as above and same problems. However, when running disk utility this time, no problems detected.
So, I am online now, computer is working, but I haven't tried any applications other than firefox. I am afraid to try Word or any other application.
I have read about the black screen errors of the past. I have never had these errors prior to updating to 10.4.9. My computer was not overheated on either update occasion. The fans weren't even on and the computer was not being exerted.
As a 4 time Mac owner since the first Powerbooks were released in the 90's, I am baffled. I have never experienced such a blatant flaw in the OS or updates. I am even more confused as to why Apple is mum about this.
I need help. My computer was flawless before and wouldn't you know it my support just ran out last month.Thanks for the tips... but here is what I have done and some of the recent problems I have encountered.
1. While using the HD as the startup volume, I have:
-Verified and repaired disk permissions
-Verified disk for the Hard Drive
-Verified disk for the Startup Volume
-Verified that the build # is current with the new update 10.3.9 build 8P2137
-Checked S.M.A.R.T. status = verified
-checked RAM in hardware profile = ok for both slots
-reinstalled update using combo intell installer (screen went black about halfway through system optimization)
-reinstalled Java update to be sure it wasn't the culprit
To better clearly describe the black screen issue... I shall elaborate:
1. the computer screen instantly goes black
2. the computer is in a state of sleeping not completely shutdown because if you close the lid the little white light glows.
3. Cannot be woken from this sleep mode like normal, forced to hardboot by pushing power button down and holding it until you can hear disconnect.
This has happened 3 times while writing this
I cannot boot from installation disk using option at startup. It allows me to select the install disk, but the screen goes black right after the loading screen turns blue.
I can boot into Hardware test holding D on startup with the install CD and it reports everything is fine in both normal test and extended tests.
Edited to add: I do not understand where to start doing the more intensive stuff here. Apple has several suggestions all depending upon specific symptoms which mine does not meet. and I am not savy enough to understand half of it anyway (i.e. command line, fsk, etc..) Here people have suggested numerous technical steps in various orders.
I am not able to utilize apple care... computer 4+ months old and I don't have the extended support package.
And, paying for tech support is really not an option for me right now.
If you have tips, please be specific in order and steps (or provide links to detailed steps) Sorry to be so picky, but in my research over the past few days I have uncovered about 50 different suggestions from apple and mac gurus. -
Any tool to optimize my windows
My laptop won't start. Probably it sends information through the original native VAIO monitor, which is not there anymore, because it burnt and I removed it. I am using now the laptop as desktop with an external Samsung flat monitor instead. Please, take this into consideration when giving me any indication. I am discussing this because i have used an optimizer but it can't optimize -and turned the PC useless- somebody suggest what to do now....
hi terry
well I do agree with Bernd , coz u may get many other answers if u queried it @microsoft forums . If u r going for optmization tools I can suggest u many like advanced system optmizer,try it as it works well on my pC. I optimized my PC with very frequently .U may find it on google or try download it from http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-System-Optimizer/3000-2094_4-10147659.html?tag=mncol
Use it , as it has many other useful application.
Feel free to contact me , if u find the info useful
Thanks -
Partition optimizations for install
I'm still new to the open *nix world as a whole, and I'm trying to wrap my head around the multiple mounted partitions approach (/, /var, /tmp, etc). I was wondering if someone could give me a brief rundown of why this is beneficial, and suggest a good layout for a 50 GB laptop hdd.
Thanks in advance.A quick search of the forums should yield quite a few helpful threads about partitioning, but I can go over the basics. The advantage to spliting up mount points on different partitions is basically protection and/or file system optimization. What I mean by that is certain directories in the filesystem are special depending on what you're doing with your machine. For instance, the <code>/var</code> directory contains files that change while the system is running. That includes log files, mail is stored here if you have that running, etc. So if you're running your machine for a long time and get spammed with mail, you may happen to fill up your harddrive...that will cause major issues and you might not be able to log in or do any real work to fix it.
If you separate the <code>/var</code> directory and put it on another partition, it's almost like putting it on another hard drive all together, so if you fill it up, it won't effect all the other areas and you'll still be able to log on and fix the problem. Likewise, if you ever want to completely reinstall the operating system or switch distributions, you can protect all of your personal data if you put your <code>/home</code> directory on another partition as well.
Aside from protection in that sense, some file systems are better at dealing with large files, and some are better at dealing with small files; some are journaling, and others are not. Due to these variances, you can use different file systems for different mount points depending on what kind of files it will contain.
So it basically all comes down to how you want to use your machine. If this is just your personal desktop, I would suggest splitting up the space something like this:
Size Mount Filesystem
100MB /boot ext2 (ext2 is not journaled, but the boot partition doesn't need to be since it rarely changes)
1GB swap swap (the size should be 2-3 times the amount of RAM you have)
3GB /var ext3
15GB / ext3
~32GB /home ext3
That is a simple setup that should be great for your needs. <code>ext3</code> is well-established as the norm, and if this is your first *nix system, I'd put off messing with more extravagent file systems until later (xfs, jfs, reiserfs, reiser4, etc.).
The exact amounts are hard to tell since everyone uses their machine in different ways. The best way to tell what's best for you is to set a machine up and use it for a while and see what you've used. If you're curious, my machine has been set up the same way for a little over a year, and this is what it looks like:
$ df -Th
Filesystem Type Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/hda7 reiserfs 23G 9.0G 14G 40% /
/dev/hda1 ext2 92M 18M 70M 21% /boot
/dev/hda6 reiserfs 3.9G 805M 3.1G 21% /var
/dev/hda8 reiserfs 46G 1.7G 45G 4% /home
Good luck matey! -
System Preferences Pane "Sharing" is slow
The System Preferences "Sharing" panel of my new (just out of the box) MacMini 1.83Ghz/Core Duo/10.4.8 is very very slow (the spinning ball appears for 30-40 seconds). All other panels open instantaneously.
The console system log says "System Preferences[346] state: SCGetServer Attribute returned 268435460" while the ball is spinning.
On my MacBook Pro (same OS) I don't get this issue, the console log don't write anything when I access "Sharing" panel and all panels are ok.
What happen? ThanksSolved! I updated pre-bindings with System Optimizer X software and that's all right! Bye!
-
What are some system performance tweaks to maximize speed?
I would like to maximize the speed of my 2.0ghz 2gbRAM macbook. What can i do?
The question also includes:
what are some unnecessary files i can delete?Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on system optimization.
Deleting files won't make your computer run any faster.
Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.0 is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.5.2 is Intel Mac compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. The current version, 1.5.1, is Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep.
OS X automatically defrags files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old logfiles and archives, clearing caches, etc.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is significant):
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. Carbon Copy Cloner (Freeware - not universal binary.)
6. LaCie SilverKeeper (Freeware - not universal binary)
7. PsynchX 2.1.1 and RsyncX 2.1 (Freeware)
The following utilities can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:
1. Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
2. Toast
3. Impression
Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of also backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility as are the other two.
Impression and Toast are disk image based backups, only. Particularly useful if you need to backup to CD/DVD across multiple media.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at www.versiontracker.com and www.macupdate.com.
Why reward points?(Quoted from Discussions Terms of Use.)
The reward system helps to increase community participation. When a community member gives you (or another member) a reward for providing helpful advice or a solution to their question, your accumulated points will increase your status level within the community.
Members may reward you with 5 points if they deem that your reply is helpful and 10 points if you post a solution to their issue. Likewise, when you mark a reply as Helpful or Solved in your own created topic, you will be awarding the respondent with the same point values. -
How to select the data efficiently from the table
hi every one,
i need some help in selecting data from FAGLFLEXA table.i have to select many amounts from different group of G/L accounts
(groups are predefined here which contains a set of g/L account no.).
if i select every time for each group then it will be a performance issue, in order to avoid it what should i do, can any one suggest me a method or a smaple query so that i can perform the task efficiently.Hi ,
1.select and keep the data in internal table
2.avoid select inside loop ..endloop.
3.try to use for all entries
check the below details
Hi Praveen,
Performance Notes
1.Keep the Result Set Small
You should aim to keep the result set small. This reduces both the amount of memory used in the database system and the network load when transferring data to the application server. To reduce the size of your result sets, use the WHERE and HAVING clauses.
Using the WHERE Clause
Whenever you access a database table, you should use a WHERE clause in the corresponding Open SQL statement. Even if a program containing a SELECT statement with no WHERE clause performs well in tests, it may slow down rapidly in your production system, where the data volume increases daily. You should only dispense with the WHERE clause in exceptional cases where you really need the entire contents of the database table every time the statement is executed.
When you use the WHERE clause, the database system optimizes the access and only transfers the required data. You should never transfer unwanted data to the application server and then filter it using ABAP statements.
Using the HAVING Clause
After selecting the required lines in the WHERE clause, the system then processes the GROUP BY clause, if one exists, and summarizes the database lines selected. The HAVING clause allows you to restrict the grouped lines, and in particular, the aggregate expressions, by applying further conditions.
Effect
If you use the WHERE and HAVING clauses correctly:
There are no more physical I/Os in the database than necessary
No unwanted data is stored in the database cache (it could otherwise displace data that is actually required)
The CPU usage of the database host is minimize
The network load is reduced, since only the data that is required by the application is transferred to the application server.
Minimize the Amount of Data Transferred
Data is transferred between the database system and the application server in blocks. Each block is up to 32 KB in size (the precise size depends on your network communication hardware). Administration information is transported in the blocks as well as the data.
To minimize the network load, you should transfer as few blocks as possible. Open SQL allows you to do this as follows:
Restrict the Number of Lines
If you only want to read a certain number of lines in a SELECT statement, use the UP TO <n> ROWS addition in the FROM clause. This tells the database system only to transfer <n> lines back to the application server. This is more efficient than transferring more lines than necessary back to the application server and then discarding them in your ABAP program.
If you expect your WHERE clause to return a large number of duplicate entries, you can use the DISTINCT addition in the SELECT clause.
Restrict the Number of Columns
You should only read the columns from a database table that you actually need in the program. To do this, list the columns in the SELECT clause. Note here that the INTO CORRESPONDING FIELDS addition in the INTO clause is only efficient with large volumes of data, otherwise the runtime required to compare the names is too great. For small amounts of data, use a list of variables in the INTO clause.
Do not use * to select all columns unless you really need them. However, if you list individual columns, you may have to adjust the program if the structure of the database table is changed in the ABAP Dictionary. If you specify the database table dynamically, you must always read all of its columns.
Use Aggregate Functions
If you only want to use data for calculations, it is often more efficient to use the aggregate functions of the SELECT clause than to read the individual entries from the database and perform the calculations in the ABAP program.
Aggregate functions allow you to find out the number of values and find the sum, average, minimum, and maximum values.
Following an aggregate expression, only its result is transferred from the database.
Data Transfer when Changing Table Lines
When you use the UPDATE statement to change lines in the table, you should use the WHERE clause to specify the relevant lines, and then SET statements to change only the required columns.
When you use a work area to overwrite table lines, too much data is often transferred. Furthermore, this method requires an extra SELECT statement to fill the work area. Minimize the Number of Data Transfers
In every Open SQL statement, data is transferred between the application server and the database system. Furthermore, the database system has to construct or reopen the appropriate administration data for each database access. You can therefore minimize the load on the network and the database system by minimizing the number of times you access the database.
Multiple Operations Instead of Single Operations
When you change data using INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE, use internal tables instead of single entries. If you read data using SELECT, it is worth using multiple operations if you want to process the data more than once, other wise, a simple select loop is more efficient.
Avoid Repeated Access
As a rule you should read a given set of data once only in your program, and using a single access. Avoid accessing the same data more than once (for example, SELECT before an UPDATE).
Avoid Nested SELECT Loops
A simple SELECT loop is a single database access whose result is passed to the ABAP program line by line. Nested SELECT loops mean that the number of accesses in the inner loop is multiplied by the number of accesses in the outer loop. You should therefore only use nested SELECT loops if the selection in the outer loop contains very few lines.
However, using combinations of data from different database tables is more the rule than the exception in the relational data model. You can use the following techniques to avoid nested SELECT statements:
ABAP Dictionary Views
You can define joins between database tables statically and systemwide as views in the ABAP Dictionary. ABAP Dictionary views can be used by all ABAP programs. One of their advantages is that fields that are common to both tables (join fields) are only transferred once from the database to the application server.
Views in the ABAP Dictionary are implemented as inner joins. If the inner table contains no lines that correspond to lines in the outer table, no data is transferred. This is not always the desired result. For example, when you read data from a text table, you want to include lines in the selection even if the corresponding text does not exist in the required language. If you want to include all of the data from the outer table, you can program a left outer join in ABAP.
The links between the tables in the view are created and optimized by the database system. Like database tables, you can buffer views on the application server. The same buffering rules apply to views as to tables. In other words, it is most appropriate for views that you use mostly to read data. This reduces the network load and the amount of physical I/O in the database.
Joins in the FROM Clause
You can read data from more than one database table in a single SELECT statement by using inner or left outer joins in the FROM clause.
The disadvantage of using joins is that redundant data is read from the hierarchically-superior table if there is a 1:N relationship between the outer and inner tables. This can considerably increase the amount of data transferred from the database to the application server. Therefore, when you program a join, you should ensure that the SELECT clause contains a list of only the columns that you really need. Furthermore, joins bypass the table buffer and read directly from the database. For this reason, you should use an ABAP Dictionary view instead of a join if you only want to read the data.
The runtime of a join statement is heavily dependent on the database optimizer, especially when it contains more than two database tables. However, joins are nearly always quicker than using nested SELECT statements.
Subqueries in the WHERE and HAVING Clauses
Another way of accessing more than one database table in the same Open SQL statement is to use subqueries in the WHERE or HAVING clause. The data from a subquery is not transferred to the application server. Instead, it is used to evaluate conditions in the database system. This is a simple and effective way of programming complex database operations.
Using Internal Tables
It is also possible to avoid nested SELECT loops by placing the selection from the outer loop in an internal table and then running the inner selection once only using the FOR ALL ENTRIES addition. This technique stems from the time before joins were allowed in the FROM clause. On the other hand, it does prevent redundant data from being transferred from the database.
Using a Cursor to Read Data
A further method is to decouple the INTO clause from the SELECT statement by opening a cursor using OPEN CURSOR and reading data line by line using FETCH NEXT CURSOR. You must open a new cursor for each nested loop. In this case, you must ensure yourself that the correct lines are read from the database tables in the correct order. This usually requires a foreign key relationship between the database tables, and that they are sorted by the foreign key. Minimize the Search Overhead
You minimize the size of the result set by using the WHERE and HAVING clauses. To increase the efficiency of these clauses, you should formulate them to fit with the database table indexes.
Database Indexes
Indexes speed up data selection from the database. They consist of selected fields of a table, of which a copy is then made in sorted order. If you specify the index fields correctly in a condition in the WHERE or HAVING clause, the system only searches part of the index (index range scan).
The primary index is always created automatically in the R/3 System. It consists of the primary key fields of the database table. This means that for each combination of fields in the index, there is a maximum of one line in the table. This kind of index is also known as UNIQUE.
If you cannot use the primary index to determine the result set because, for example, none of the primary index fields occur in the WHERE or HAVING clause, the system searches through the entire table (full table scan). For this case, you can create secondary indexes, which can restrict the number of table entries searched to form the result set.
You specify the fields of secondary indexes using the ABAP Dictionary. You can also determine whether the index is unique or not. However, you should not create secondary indexes to cover all possible combinations of fields.
Only create one if you select data by fields that are not contained in another index, and the performance is very poor. Furthermore, you should only create secondary indexes for database tables from which you mainly read, since indexes have to be updated each time the database table is changed. As a rule, secondary indexes should not contain more than four fields, and you should not have more than five indexes for a single database table.
If a table has more than five indexes, you run the risk of the optimizer choosing the wrong one for a particular operation. For this reason, you should avoid indexes with overlapping contents.
Secondary indexes should contain columns that you use frequently in a selection, and that are as highly selective as possible. The fewer table entries that can be selected by a certain column, the higher that columns selectivity. Place the most selective fields at the beginning of the index. Your secondary index should be so selective that each index entry corresponds to at most five percent of the table entries. If this is not the case, it is not worth creating the index. You should also avoid creating indexes for fields that are not always filled, where their value is initial for most entries in the table.
If all of the columns in the SELECT clause are contained in the index, the system does not have to search the actual table data after reading from the index. If you have a SELECT clause with very few columns, you can improve performance dramatically by including these columns in a secondary index.
Formulating Conditions for Indexes
You should bear in mind the following when formulating conditions for the WHERE and HAVING clauses so that the system can use a database index and does not have to use a full table scan.
Check for Equality and Link Using AND
The database index search is particularly efficient if you check all index fields for equality (= or EQ) and link the expressions using AND.
Use Positive Conditions
The database system only supports queries that describe the result in positive terms, for example, EQ or LIKE. It does not support negative expressions like NE or NOT LIKE.
If possible, avoid using the NOT operator in the WHERE clause, because it is not supported by database indexes; invert the logical expression instead.
Using OR
The optimizer usually stops working when an OR expression occurs in the condition. This means that the columns checked using OR are not included in the index search. An exception to this are OR expressions at the outside of conditions. You should try to reformulate conditions that apply OR expressions to columns relevant to the index, for example, into an IN condition.
Using Part of the Index
If you construct an index from several columns, the system can still use it even if you only specify a few of the columns in a condition. However, in this case, the sequence of the columns in the index is important. A column can only be used in the index search if all of the columns before it in the index definition have also been specified in the condition.
Checking for Null Values
The IS NULL condition can cause problems with indexes. Some database systems do not store null values in the index structure. Consequently, this field cannot be used in the index.
Avoid Complex Conditions
Avoid complex conditions, since the statements have to be broken down into their individual components by the database system.
Reduce the Database Load
Unlike application servers and presentation servers, there is only one database server in your system. You should therefore aim to reduce the database load as much as possible. You can use the following methods:
Buffer Tables on the Application Server
You can considerably reduce the time required to access data by buffering it in the application server table buffer. Reading a single entry from table T001 can take between 8 and 600 milliseconds, while reading it from the table buffer takes 0.2 - 1 milliseconds.
Whether a table can be buffered or not depends its technical attributes in the ABAP Dictionary. There are three buffering types:
Resident buffering (100%) The first time the table is accessed, its entire contents are loaded in the table buffer.
Generic buffering In this case, you need to specify a generic key (some of the key fields) in the technical settings of the table in the ABAP Dictionary. The table contents are then divided into generic areas. When you access data with one of the generic keys, the whole generic area is loaded into the table buffer. Client-specific tables are often buffered generically by client.
Partial buffering (single entry) Only single entries are read from the database and stored in the table buffer.
When you read from buffered tables, the following happens:
1. An ABAP program requests data from a buffered table.
2. The ABAP processor interprets the Open SQL statement. If the table is defined as a buffered table in the ABAP Dictionary, the ABAP processor checks in the local buffer on the application server to see if the table (or part of it) has already been buffered.
3. If the table has not yet been buffered, the request is passed on to the database. If the data exists in the buffer, it is sent to the program.
4. The database server passes the data to the application server, which places it in the table buffer.
5. The data is passed to the program.
When you change a buffered table, the following happens:
1. The database table is changed and the buffer on the application server is updated. The database interface logs the update statement in the table DDLOG. If the system has more than one application server, the buffer on the other servers is not updated at once.
2. All application servers periodically read the contents of table DDLOG, and delete the corresponding contents from their buffers where necessary. The granularity depends on the buffering type. The table buffers in a distributed system are generally synchronized every 60 seconds (parameter: rsdisp/bufreftime).
3. Within this period, users on non-synchronized application servers will read old data. The data is not recognized as obsolete until the next buffer synchronization. The next time it is accessed, it is re-read from the database.
You should buffer the following types of tables:
Tables that are read very frequently
Tables that are changed very infrequently
Relatively small tables (few lines, few columns, or short columns)
Tables where delayed update is acceptable.
Once you have buffered a table, take care not to use any Open SQL statements that bypass the buffer.
The SELECT statement bypasses the buffer when you use any of the following:
The BYPASSING BUFFER addition in the FROM clause
The DISTINCT addition in the SELECT clause
Aggregate expressions in the SELECT clause
Joins in the FROM clause
The IS NULL condition in the WHERE clause
Subqueries in the WHERE clause
The ORDER BY clause
The GROUP BY clause
The FOR UPDATE addition
Furthermore, all Native SQL statements bypass the buffer.
Avoid Reading Data Repeatedly
If you avoid reading the same data repeatedly, you both reduce the number of database accesses and reduce the load on the database. Furthermore, a "dirty read" may occur with database tables other than Oracle. This means that the second time you read data from a database table, it may be different from the data read the first time. To ensure that the data in your program is consistent, you should read it once only and then store it in an internal table.
Sort Data in Your ABAP Programs
The ORDER BY clause in the SELECT statement is not necessarily optimized by the database system or executed with the correct index. This can result in increased runtime costs. You should only use ORDER BY if the database sort uses the same index with which the table is read. To find out which index the system uses, use SQL Trace in the ABAP Workbench Performance Trace. If the indexes are not the same, it is more efficient to read the data into an internal table or extract and sort it in the ABAP program using the SORT statement.
Use Logical Databases
SAP supplies logical databases for all applications. A logical database is an ABAP program that decouples Open SQL statements from application programs. They are optimized for the best possible database performance. However, it is important that you use the right logical database. The hierarchy of the data you want to read must reflect the structure of the logical database, otherwise, they can have a negative effect on performance. For example, if you want to read data from a table right at the bottom of the hierarchy of the logical database, it has to read at least the key fields of all tables above it in the hierarchy. In this case, it is more efficient to use a SELECT statement.
Work Processes
Work processes execute the individual dialog steps in R/3 applications. The next two sections describe firstly the structure of a work process, and secondly the different types of work process in the R/3 System.
Structure of a Work Process
Work processes execute the dialog steps of application programs. They are components of an application server. The following diagram shows the components of a work process:
Each work process contains two software processors and a database interface.
Screen Processor
In R/3 application programming, there is a difference between user interaction and processing logic. From a programming point of view, user interaction is controlled by screens. As well as the actual input mask, a screen also consists of flow logic. The screen flow logic controls a large part of the user interaction. The R/3 Basis system contains a special language for programming screen flow logic. The screen processor executes the screen flow logic. Via the dispatcher, it takes over the responsibility for communication between the work process and the SAPgui, calls modules in the flow logic, and ensures that the field contents are transferred from the screen to the flow logic.
ABAP Processor
The actual processing logic of an application program is written in ABAP - SAPs own programming language. The ABAP processor executes the processing logic of the application program, and communicates with the database interface. The screen processor tells the ABAP processor which module of the screen flow logic should be processed next. The following screen illustrates the interaction between the screen and the ABAP processors when an application program is running.
Database Interface
The database interface provides the following services:
Establishing and terminating connections between the work process and the database.
Access to database tables
Access to R/3 Repository objects (ABAP programs, screens and so on)
Access to catalog information (ABAP Dictionary)
Controlling transactions (commit and rollback handling)
Table buffer administration on the application server.
The following diagram shows the individual components of the database interface:
The diagram shows that there are two different ways of accessing databases: Open SQL and Native SQL.
Open SQL statements are a subset of Standard SQL that is fully integrated in ABAP. They allow you to access data irrespective of the database system that the R/3 installation is using. Open SQL consists of the Data Manipulation Language (DML) part of Standard SQL; in other words, it allows you to read (SELECT) and change (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE) data. The tasks of the Data Definition Language (DDL) and Data Control Language (DCL) parts of Standard SQL are performed in the R/3 System by the ABAP Dictionary and the authorization system. These provide a unified range of functions, irrespective of database, and also contain functions beyond those offered by the various database systems.
Open SQL also goes beyond Standard SQL to provide statements that, in conjunction with other ABAP constructions, can simplify or speed up database access. It also allows you to buffer certain tables on the application server, saving excessive database access. In this case, the database interface is responsible for comparing the buffer with the database. Buffers are partly stored in the working memory of the current work process, and partly in the shared memory for all work processes on an application server. Where an R/3 System is distributed across more than one application server, the data in the various buffers is synchronized at set intervals by the buffer management. When buffering the database, you must remember that data in the buffer is not always up to date. For this reason, you should only use the buffer for data which does not often change.
Native SQL is only loosely integrated into ABAP, and allows access to all of the functions contained in the programming interface of the respective database system. Unlike Open SQL statements, Native SQL statements are not checked and converted, but instead are sent directly to the database system. Programs that use Native SQL are specific to the database system for which they were written. R/3 applications contain as little Native SQL as possible. In fact, it is only used in a few Basis components (for example, to create or change table definitions in the ABAP Dictionary).
The database-dependent layer in the diagram serves to hide the differences between database systems from the rest of the database interface. You choose the appropriate layer when you install the Basis system. Thanks to the standardization of SQL, the differences in the syntax of statements are very slight. However, the semantics and behavior of the statements have not been fully standardized, and the differences in these areas can be greater. When you use Native SQL, the function of the database-dependent layer is minimal.
Types of Work Process
Although all work processes contain the components described above, they can still be divided into different types. The type of a work process determines the kind of task for which it is responsible in the application server. It does not specify a particular set of technical attributes. The individual tasks are distributed to the work processes by the dispatcher.
Before you start your R/3 System, you determine how many work processes it will have, and what their types will be. The dispatcher starts the work processes and only assigns them tasks that correspond to their type. This means that you can distribute work process types to optimize the use of the resources on your application servers.
The following diagram shows again the structure of an application server, but this time, includes the various possible work process types:
The various work processes are described briefly below. Other parts of this documentation describe the individual components of the application server and the R/3 System in more detail.
Dialog Work Process
Dialog work processes deal with requests from an active user to execute dialog steps.
Update Work Process
Update work processes execute database update requests. Update requests are part of an SAP LUW that bundle the database operations resulting from the dialog in a database LUW for processing in the background.
Background Work Process
Background work processes process programs that can be executed without user interaction (background jobs).
Enqueue Work Process
The enqueue work process administers a lock table in the shared memory area. The lock table contains the logical database locks for the R/3 System and is an important part of the SAP LUW concept. In an R/3 System, you may only have one lock table. You may therefore also only have one application server with enqueue work processes.
Spool Work Process
The spool work process passes sequential datasets to a printer or to optical archiving. Each application server may contain several spool work process.
The services offered by an application server are determined by the types of its work processes. One application server may, of course, have more than one function. For example, it may be both a dialog server and the enqueue server, if it has several dialog work processes and an enqueue work process.
You can use the system administration functions to switch a work process between dialog and background modes while the system is still running. This allows you, for example, to switch an R/3 System between day and night operation, where you have more dialog than background work processes during the day, and the other way around during the night.
ABAP Application Server
R/3 programs run on application servers. They are an important component of the R/3 System. The following sections describe application servers in more detail.
Structure of an ABAP Application Server
The application layer of an R/3 System is made up of the application servers and the message server. Application programs in an R/3 System are run on application servers. The application servers communicate with the presentation components, the database, and also with each other, using the message server.
The following diagram shows the structure of an application server:
The individual components are:
Work Processes
An application server contains work processes, which are components that can run an application. Work processes are components that are able to execute an application (that is, one dialog step each). Each work process is linked to a memory area containing the context of the application being run. The context contains the current data for the application program. This needs to be available in each dialog step. Further information about the different types of work process is contained later on in this documentation.
Dispatcher
Each application server contains a dispatcher. The dispatcher is the link between the work processes and the users logged onto the application server. Its task is to receive requests for dialog steps from the SAP GUI and direct them to a free work process. In the same way, it directs screen output resulting from the dialog step back to the appropriate user.
Gateway
Each application server contains a gateway. This is the interface for the R/3 communication protocols (RFC, CPI/C). It can communicate with other application servers in the same R/3 System, with other R/3 Systems, with R/2 Systems, or with non-SAP systems.
The application server structure as described here aids the performance and scalability of the entire R/3 System. The fixed number of work processes and dispatching of dialog steps leads to optimal memory use, since it means that certain components and the memory areas of a work process are application-independent and reusable. The fact that the individual work processes work independently makes them suitable for a multi-processor architecture. The methods used in the dispatcher to distribute tasks to work processes are discussed more closely in the section Dispatching Dialog Steps.
Shared Memory
All of the work processes on an application server use a common main memory area called shared memory to save contexts or to buffer constant data locally.
The resources that all work processes use (such as programs and table contents) are contained in shared memory. Memory management in the R/3 System ensures that the work processes always address the correct context, that is the data relevant to the current state of the program that is running. A mapping process projects the required context for a dialog step from shared memory into the address of the relevant work process. This reduces the actual copying to a minimum.
Local buffering of data in the shared memory of the application server reduces the number of database reads required. This reduces access times for application programs considerably. For optimal use of the buffer, you can concentrate individual applications (financial accounting, logistics, human resources) into separate application server groups.
Database Connection
When you start up an R/3 System, each application server registers its work processes with the database layer, and receives a single dedicated channel for each. While the system is running, each work process is a user (client) of the database system (server). You cannot change the work process registration while the system is running. Neither can you reassign a database channel from one work process to another. For this reason, a work process can only make database changes within a single database logical unit of work (LUW). A database LUW is an inseparable sequence of database operations. This has important consequences for the programming model explained below.
Dispatching Dialog Steps
The number of users logged onto an application server is often many times greater than the number of available work processes. Furthermore, it is not restricted by the R/3 system architecture. Furthermore, each user can run several applications at once. The dispatcher has the important task of distributing all dialog steps among the work processes on the application server.
The following diagram is an example of how this might happen:
1. The dispatcher receives the request to execute a dialog step from user 1 and directs it to work process 1, which happens to be free. The work process addresses the context of the application program (in shared memory) and executes the dialog step. It then becomes free again.
2. The dispatcher receives the request to execute a dialog step from user 2 and directs it to work process 1, which is now free again. The work process executes the dialog step as in step 1.
3. While work process 1 is still working, the dispatcher receives a further request from user 1 and directs it to work process 2, which is free.
4. After work processes 1 and 2 have finished processing their dialog steps, the dispatcher receives another request from user 1 and directs it to work process 1, which is free again.
5. While work process 1 is still working, the dispatcher receives a further request from user 2 and directs it to work process 2, which is free.
From this example, we can see that:
A dialog step from a program is assigned to a single work process for execution.
The individual dialog steps of a program can be executed on different work processes, and the program context must be addressed for each new work process.
A work process can execute dialog steps of different programs from different users.
The example does not show that the dispatcher tries to distribute the requests to the work processes such that the same work process is used as often as possible for the successive dialog steps in an application. This is useful, since it saves the program context having to be addressed each time a dialog step is executed.
Dispatching and the Programming Model
The separation of application and presentation layer made it necessary to split up application programs into dialog steps. This, and the fact that dialog steps are dispatched to individual work processes, has had important consequences for the programming model.
As mentioned above, a work process can only make database changes within a single database logical unit of work (LUW). A database LUW is an inseparable sequence of database operations. The contents of the database must be consistent at its beginning and end. The beginning and end of a database LUW are defined by a commit command to the database system (database commit). During a database LUW, that is, between two database commits, the database system itself ensures consistency within the database. In other words, it takes over tasks such as locking database entries while they are being edited, or restoring the old data (rollback) if a step terminates in an error.
A typical SAP application program extends over several screens and the corresponding dialog steps. The user requests database changes on the individual screens that should lead to the database being consistent once the screens have all been processed. However, the individual dialog steps run on different work processes, and a single work process can process dialog steps from other applications. It is clear that two or more independent applications whose dialog steps happen to be processed on the same work process cannot be allowed to work with the same database LUW.
Consequently, a work process must open a separate database LUW for each dialog step. The work process sends a commit command (database commit) to the database at the end of each dialog step in which it makes database changes. These commit commands are called implicit database commits, since they are not explicitly written into the application program.
These implicit database commits mean that a database LUW can be kept open for a maximum of one dialog step. This leads to a considerable reduction in database load, serialization, and deadlocks, and enables a large number of users to use the same system.
However, the question now arises of how this method (1 dialog step = 1 database LUW) can be reconciled with the demand to make commits and rollbacks dependent on the logical flow of the application program instead of the technical distribution of dialog steps. Database update requests that depend on one another form logical units in the program that extend over more than one dialog step. The database changes associated with these logical units must be executed together and must also be able to be undone together.
The SAP programming model contains a series of bundling techniques that allow you to group database updates together in logical units. The section of an R/3 application program that bundles a set of logically-associated database operations is called an SAP LUW. Unlike a database LUW, a SAP LUW includes all of the dialog steps in a logical unit, including the database update.
Happy Reading...
shibu -
MacBook-Random Shutdowns After Update
(Note: I posted that I had solved this problem by deleting an older version of Microsoft Office, but a day later the problem resurfaced)
1st Indication of a Problem--
While using "Software Update" to upgrade from 10.4.8 to 10.4.9, the computer screen went black about 1/2 way through the "system optimization" part of the installation. I thought it had just gone to sleep since the white sleep indicator light was glowing on and off. However, I could not wake it from sleep and the only solution I found was to hold the power button down to fully stop the computer. Then, I powered on again to have the computer try to start up, and then go black during the gray screen. I repeated the process and each time it would get a little further into the startup process, but it would never finish loading.
Troubleshooting Steps Taken-
After reading about the proper troubleshooting methods, I booted from the install disks and ran "disk utility" and repaired the disk permissions as recommended, and ran the "verify disk" part of disk utility. The permissions were corrected and the disk verification process indicated the disk was ok.
I restarted the computer and everything appeared to be fine until I opened MS Word. The screen went black again.
Concerned that maybe the update never fully loaded, I downloaded the combo intel updater and tried to reinstall it. The computer screen went black at the exact same point during the "system optimization" stage.
At this point, I decided to try to boot from the installation disk again and run disk utility. However, the computer now would not boot from CD, while holding down C. However, it would perform the Hardware Test by holding down D. So, I ran the hardware test and it indicated no problems.
After restarting computer, the same black screen crash occurred while trying to use various applications. Not all would cause the crash, some crashed it, some didn't. The error was not consistent. The same program that appeared to cause the crash one time would run fine the next. Other times I would let it sit without opening a program and it would crash after a random period of time. It is important to note the fans aren't even running when this occurs, nor does the processor seem to be running fast.
Since I could not boot from the installation CD, I decided to run disk utility while logged in normally. Again, no problems found with the disk and this time no permissions were corrected.
So, I continued the troubleshooting process:
*I verified the S.M.A.R.T. status = verified.
*I checked the build number of the OS to ensure the update was complete (build = 8P2137)
*Checked the RAM in the hardware profile, both slots indicated OK
*Turned off all non-system fonts
*re-installed Java just in case
*Downloaded Cocktail and ran:
1)all cron tasks
2)cleared the caches
3)rebuilt launch services database
4)updated locate and whatis databases
*ran FSCK
*reset the PRAM
*Reset the system Management Controller (SMC)
*tried to login in verbose mode- crashed
*tried to login to safe mode- crashed
None of this worked, so when I could get the computer to stay up and running for a few minutes, I decide to delete unnecessary programs including MS Office.
Immediately after deleting Office, I stopped having problems. I could now boot from the install cd, boot into safe mode, run without crashes so to speak. That was yesterday... Everything seemed fine so I re-ran some of the cleanup processes above to be sure that things were clean.
Today, I used the computer for over two hours without problems. Then instant crash out of nowhere. Same problems above reappeared. It took several cycles to get the computer to load. I opened iTunes to see if that might be the cause since I upgraded that yesterday after the problem ceased. Sure enough the computer crashed. So, I deleted all of itunes except my music library. Still random crashes occur.
I resorted to opening my RAM slots and resitting the RAM to be sure it was secure and it was fine, no change... still crashes.
Two Important Notes:
1)I have never experienced the black screen of death before.
2)I updated the firmware shortly after I got the MacBook because I heard of the potential problems. So, the SMC is up-to-date.
At this point, I am going to schedule an appointment with the Genius Bar for Tuesday. However, I am sure they will merely jump to an "archive and install" which I can do myself if I have to or they will try to check the RAM which I already did.
Is there anything else I can possibly do to fix this myself before handing over my baby to them?I mention this because you have done such a thorough job of troubleshooting and documenting your problem. According to the link below, the system optimization step in Apple's software installation has a bug that can delete arbitrary file(s) from your system.
http://www.unsanity.org/archives/macos_x/shock_andawe.php
FYI.
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