Analyzing Specific Performance Problems

The workload monitor is an analysis tool used for both technical analysis and application analysis, with which you can check the performance of individual transactions.

Is There a Performance Problem with a Transaction?

Transaction profile

The transaction profile is of primary importance for application analysis Transaction profile. To change over to the transaction profile, select TRANSACTION
PROFILE UNDER ANALYSIS VIEWS in the lower-left window of the workload monitor. The transaction profile contains a list of all transactions (or programs) started in the selected period. The number of transaction steps for each transaction is recorded (NUMBER OF STEPS) and is a measure of the activity of a transaction. Other columns in the transaction profile show the total and average response times and the proportions of CPU time, dispatcher wait time, and database time. Using the tabs in the menu
interface, you can select other screens with information about database accesses and so on.

Activity

From the number of transaction steps (NUMBER OF STEPS), you can estimate how frequently the transaction was executed if you know how many transaction steps (screen changes) each regular user requires on average per procedure. For example, if a regular user requires an average of five transaction steps to create a sales order (Transaction VA01), and the transaction profile shows 100,000 transaction steps for the selected time period,you can calculate that 20,000 sales orders were created.
To see which transaction had the most activity, sort by the NUMBER OF STEPS column.

Load

The TOTAL RESPONSE TIME column displays a measure for the entire load on the system.  To find out which transactions produced the most load on the system, sort the list by the columns TOTAL RESPONSE TIME, TOTAL CPU TIME, and/or TOTAL DB TIME. After each sort, the programs at the top of the list are likely candidates for performance optimization.

Average response time

For users. the average response time of transactions is an important index of performance. Monitor and create guideline values for the average response times of core transactions - that is, transactions in which performance is central to business operations. In general, when analyzing the transaction profile, consider the following questions:

->Sort the transaction profile according to TOTAL DB TIME. Which transactions cause the greatest database load?

->Sort the transaction profile according to TOTAL CPU TIME. Which transactions cause the greatest CPU load?

->Are there transactions for which the proportion of database time or CPU time is significantly higher than 60% of the total response time? Analyze these transactions using an SQL trace or ABAP trace. 

->Are there any customer-developed programs or transactions that produce a large load?

Monitor and save a copy of the transaction profile at regular intervals. This enables you to determine whether the response times of individual transactions grow continuously over time or whether there is a sudden worsening of response times after a program modification. By recognizing these trends early in the transaction profile, you can initiate a detailed program analysis before a program causes bottlenecks for the entire process chain -or worse, reduces the performance of the entire SAP system due to heavy CPU or database loads.

Guideline values for response times

provides explanations and guideline response times for common Guideline values system transactions. These programs can usually be ignored during the for response times performance analysis

System Programs in the Transaction Profile (Cont.)

Transaction/ProgramDescription/CommentGuideline Response TimeMainMenuActions in the menu. MainMenu 
frequently appears near the top of the
list if sorted according to Transaction
Steps.< 100 msLogin_Pw/LogoffLogon or logoff screen. AutoABAPThe AutoABAP runs periodically in the 
background and executes actions like
those required by the Alert Monitor.< 1,000 msBuf . SyncBuffer synchronization.< 1,000 msRep_EditActions in the ABAP Editor. (B)SCHDLThe batch scheduler runs periodicallly
and checks whether background
programs are due to be started. RSCOLL00The performance collector runs
periodically and collects data on
performance. This program is
frequently near the top of the list
of expensive programs for the total
response time. However, the CPU
TIME TOTAL and DB TIME TOTAL
columns indicate that this program
requires very little CPU or database
time. Most of the response time for
this program occurs when it is waiting
in work processes for performance
data. RSM13000The update program is used to
summarize all update module
statistics that cannot be ascribed to a
transaction. < 3.000 ms