You can link a variant table to a database table. The link between a variant table and a database provides new capabilities for accessing and processing data. System performance is improved considerably, especially when accessing individual points in large tables (for example, a dependency selects a specific table entry).

You can also buffer a database table, which can improve system performance even more.

To link a variant table to a database table, you need authorization C_LOVC_DBI in your user master record. This authorization can be restricted to tables within a certain name range.

You have the following options:

1. Use an existing database table and create a variant table to link to this database table.

2. Copy an existing variant table to a database table and link the variant table to the database table.

If you create a database table:

• Once the link is activated, the contents of the old variant table are ignored. However, you can use this feature to prepare a new status of the table contents in table maintenance (CU60). The new status is then used later to fill the database table, and only becomes active in the live system at this point.

• If you define the client as a key field, the table contents are client-dependent. This can be useful, because variant tables are client-dependent.

This means that changes in the test client, for example, do not affect the live client.

• Decide which key fields you want the database table to have. Make sure that they match the variant table and its characteristics.

When defining database tables, make sure that each characteristic matches the database table field to which you assign it.

• The data types of fields must match the data types of the characteristics, but the system only checks that data types DATE and TIME are not assigned to each other incorrectly. The system makes no other checks. If the conversion does not work, the field value is automatically 0.

• Check the technical settings to see whether buffering the table will be useful in your environment.

You create the link when maintaining the table structure.

The database table fields must be assigned to the characteristics of the table.