Restrictions and Recommendations for Table Buffering

Only transparent tables and pooled tables can be buffered. Cluster tables cannot be buffered.

The following two points speak against table buffering:

• The data read by the application must always be up-to-date. Delays caused by the synchronization mechanism cannot be accepted (see Synchronization of Local Buffers ).
• The table data is frequently modified. In this case, the cost of synchronization could be greater than the gain in performance resulting from buffering. We do not recommend you to buffer a table if more than 1 percent of the accesses to the table are modifying accesses.
  Tip

  The table containing currency exchange rates is updated only once a day, but it is read frequently. Buffering is recommended in this case.

Typical candidates for buffering include customizing and system tables. In certain cases, master data with Customizing character can also be buffered.

The contents of buffered tables are not always up-to-date in a distributed system. You can bypass the buffer and read the data directly from the database table with the ABAP command "SELECT ... BYPASSING BUFFER". If a buffered table is accessed frequently with this command, you must consider whether it is really necessary for the table to be buffered or whether it is essential to have the current state of the database.

You must define whether and how a table is buffered in its technical settings. For more information, see Technical Settings .