Diagnosis
In access sequence &V1& &V2&, the systemdetermined an unfavorable sequence of the fields.
In addition, there is a header field after an item field. This may bedisadvantageous to performance when you use the prestep.

System Response
The system tries to avoid future performance problems.

Procedure
Consider whether the fields of access sequence &V1& &V2& or theunderlying condition table can or should be changed.

Defining the prestep
Specifies whether the system searches for valid condition records by atfirst only checking the document header data.

Usage
This function improves the performance. Using the prestep, youdetermine whether the system at first only uses the document headerdata to search for condition records. This preliminary searchdetermines whether it is necessary to check the item data. Thisfunction does not influence the result of the search. It may speed upthe search process. The function should only be used for accesses ofaccess sequences whose key combination includes header and item data(e.g. customer-material discounts).

Procedure
In order to determine whether you should use the prestep function, youcan consider the following factors:

• average number of items in a document (the more items, the greater the
benefit of the prestep)

• degree of probability that the system finds valid records during the
search of the header data (the lower the probability, the greater thebenefit of this function - see the following example)

Example
In pricing, you use a customer-material discount. The condition recordsthat you created are based on customer data from the document headerand material data from each document item. However, the discount isonly valid for 2% of your customers. This means that in 98% of allcases, the system does not find a valid condition record, not takinginto account the items in the document. In this case, the system shouldcarry out a preliminary search, only taking into account the headerdata.