When you reference a database table in an ABL procedure, ABL provides you with a default buffer with the same name as the table. In this way, when you write a statement, such as FIND FIRST Customer, you are actually referring to a buffer with the name Customer. You can, of course, define additional buffers explicitly that have different names from the database table.
The same is true of temp-tables. When you define a temp-table, ABL provides you with a default buffer of the same name. Just as for database tables, you can define additional buffers with other names if you like. When you refer to the temp-table name in a statement such as FIND FIRST ttCust, you are referring to the default buffer for the temp-table just as you would be for a database table.
There is a temp-table attribute, DEFAULT-BUFFER-HANDLE, that returns the handle of the default buffer.
Note: With the changes made in Release 11.0 to provide support for expanded keys and temp-tables, the default block size for temp-tables has increased from a 1KB block size to a 4KB block size on all platforms. If you are creating very small temp-tables, you might notice a performance degradation with this change. You can set the default block size for a temp-table using the Temporary Table Database Block Size (-tmpbsize) startup parameter. For example, specifying "-tmpbsize 1" would create temp-tables with a 1KB block size. For more information about the Temporary Table Database Block Size startup parameter, see OpenEdge Deployment: Startup Command and Parameter Reference.
