Analyzing Trace Records 

Prerequisites

You have displayed the trace records that you want to analyze in a basic or extended list.

Functions

Sorting the Trace List and the Extended Trace List

You can sort the list by any of the parameters in the list heading, that is, transaction name, process identification number, process type, client, and user name. To sort the list, position the cursor on the relevant column and choose the pushbutton  Sort or the appropriate menu option.

Switching from the Trace List to the Extended Trace List

To switch from the basic simple list to the extended list, choose the pushbutton  Extended List or choose the appropriate menu option.

Detailed Display and Replacing Placeholders

When the logged statement is formatted, you can specify whether to replace the placeholders in the statement by the current variables or leave them in the statement and list the variables separately. If there are no variables, the two display forms are identical. To display the statement, double-click its short form or the menu option Detail, or click the magnifying glass icon.

 

To replace the placeholders with the current variables, choose the pushbutton  Replace Placeholder in the SQL Statement, or choose the appropriate menu option.

Displaying Information about DDIC Objects

If you wish to look at the Dictionary description for the object (table or lock object) to which the statement refers, position the cursor on the object and choose DDIC info. Alternatively, you can choose the same function from the menu. If the current statement contains several DDIC object (for example, a join), the Object Name row contains the first object to appear in the statement.

If the log entry is an RFC entry, the column contains a shortened version of the name of the instance on which the function module is executed. In this case, you cannot display a Dictionary definition.

You can display further DDIC Dictionary information by opening the actual definition of the object in the DDIC. For more information, refer to Finding Dictionary Information.

Execution Plan for SQL Statements

To display the execution plan of a selected SQL statement, place the cursor on the statement and choose the pushbutton  Explain SQL Statement. The SQL statements for which an execution plan can be displayed depends on the database system that you are using. The execution plan for a SELECT statement under the Oracle database system looks like this:

Displaying the Source Code

To switch to the ABAP source code containing the current statement in the log, position the cursor on the short form display of the statement and choose the pushbutton  Display Call Positions in the ABAP Program or the menu option of the same name.

Note that the source code cannot always be displayed. For example, if the call comes from the SAP kernel, you cannot branch to the program code.

Identical Selects

When you are analyzing a trace log, it can be particularly useful to find out if there are any identical select statements. You can do this by choosing the menu option Identical selects in the menu Trace List. The system compiles a list of any SQL statements that are executed more than once. You can then eliminate any SQL statements that are repeated or superfluous.

Summarizing the Trace List

You can summarize the select statements in order to get an overview of the total execution time and the total number of records found. To do this, use the menu option Trace List->Summarize Trace by SQL Statement. You can also group the trace records by table access using the menu option Trace List->Combined Table Accesses.