When should a sorted table be used, according to SAP guidelines? (Choose 2 correct answers)

A sorted table is particularly useful when you want to retrieve records based on a specific subset of key fields without gaps. This scenario allows you to effectively leverage the sorted nature of the table, which enhances performance when seeking records. When dealing with a subset of the key from the left, the sorted structure means that the data is organized in order, enabling efficient access to the relevant data entries.

When you read a subset in a loop with part of the key from the left without gaps, the sorted table performs best due to its index structure. This enables the system to quickly navigate to the relevant entries that meet the given criteria, making it a good choice for this operation.

The other options, while discussing table types, don't align with the optimal usage described for sorted tables. For instance, reading a single record with non-key fields may not benefit from the ordered nature of a sorted table, as non-key fields do not take advantage of the sorting. Similarly, hashed tables are intended for scenarios where key-based access is needed, offering constant time complexity for retrieval by complete keys. Thus, understanding the operational contexts for sorted tables helps in optimizing data access patterns in ABAP programming.