In the R/3 standard, tables and structures can be delivered containing special Customizing includes. If enhancements are already planned in the standard using customer-specific fields, Customizing includes are created in the standard table or standard structure.

A Customizing include might be contained in several tables or structures, so that they remain consistent when the include is changed. The customer can insert new fields in the include if necessary, but does not need to. An empty Customizing include does not cause errors.

The name of a Customizing include begins with ‘CI_’ and the include resides in the customer namespace. SAP delivers empty Customizing includes which are filled in the customer system by special customizing transactions.

This permits the tables to be enhanced without their being modified. Furthermore, these enhancements cannot be overwritten when upgrading. Customer enhancements are therefore automatically included when upgrading.