Bapi’s/Idoc’s : an overview

Mandeep Pal Singh

Bapi’s/idoc’s : an overview

• The keywords in this presentation is going to be rfc, bapi, idoc, function module, interface. And our discussion would revolve around these terms.

•BAPI as you know is an acronym for business application programming interface. Library of functions provided by SAP for public to do interface with SAP.

• BAPIs (Business Application Programming Interfaces) are open, business orientated interfaces for accessing R/3 business processes and data from external systems.

• In the Business Object Repository BAPIs are defined as methods of SAP Business Objects. They provide an object orientated view of R/3 application modules.

Bapi’s/idoc’s : an overview

Advantages of Using BAPIs

• Business Standard

• Standards Conformance

• Stability and Downward Compatibility

• Object Orientation

Bapi’s/idoc’s : an overview

What is rfc then ????• An RFC is the means by which the business object represented by

a BAPI is implemented. RFC is a protocol.

• rfc is based on cpi-c protocol

• If you are familiar with web developments , then we can safely say that rfc is http and bapi is cgi application

• For functions to be called from outside, they are to be tagged as rfc in SAP development workbench.

Bapi’s/idoc’s : an overview

• Comparision of bapi with bdc • Reduction in Development effort • Reduction in effort during upgrade• Improved performance and maintainability • BAPIs can be called using object-oriented interfacing technologies,

such as COM/DCOM, JCO thus enabling software components from SAP and third parties to interact freely.

• The Program coding for calling a BAPI is usually cleaner than setting up the screen flow etc for the Call Transaction or you popularly call bdc method.

Bapi’s/idoc’s : an overview

How does bapi looks• A BAPI interface is defined by:• Import parameters• Export parameters• Import/export (table) parameters

Bapi’s/idoc’s : an overview

Problems with bapi• The target system has to be online to work with BAPI.• Programming knowledge is required to work with BAPI.

Bapi’s/idoc’s : an overview

• IDOC = Intermediate Document• IDOC is simply a data container used to exchange information

between any two processes that can understand the syntax and semantics of the data.

• It is a data container (ASCII file format) used to exchange the information between any two systems.

• Each IDOC has its own unique identity number (within a client).

• IDOC’s are stored in database (table EDID4) as simple flat files with lines of text, where the lines are structured into data fields.

• IDOC are EDI standard of R/3.

Bapi’s/idoc’s : an overview

• You need the IDoc interface in the following scenarios:

· Electronic data exchange (EDI)

· Connect other business application systems (e.g. PC applications, external Workflow tools) by IDoc

· Application Link Enabling (ALE).

Bapi’s/idoc’s : an overview

Difference between ALE and EDI• R/3 uses IDocs for both EDI and ALE to deliver data to the receiving

system.

• ALE is basically the scheduling mechanism that defines when and between which partners and what kind of data will be exchanged on a regular or event triggered basis. Such a set-up is called an ALE-scenario.

• difference between EDI and ALE can be pinned as follows: If we send data to an external partner, we generally speak of EDI, while ALE is a mechanism to reliable replicate data between trusting systems to store a redundant copy of the IDoc data. The difference is made clear, when we think of a purchase order that is sent as an IDoc. If we send the purchase order to a supplier then the supplier will store the purchase order as a sales order. However, if we send the purchase order via ALE to another R/3 system, then the receiving system will store the purchase order also as a purchase order.

Bapi’s/idoc’s : an overview

BAPI & IDOC : a comparison• If there is no SAP standard IDoc available for your requirement, it's

harder to create a customized IDoc than a customized BAPI.

• IDoc data exchange is always an asynchronous process.

• The significant difference between simple RFC-calls and IDoc data exchange is the fact, that every action performed on IDocs are protocolled by R/3 and IDocs can be reprocessed if an error occurred in one of the message steps.

• Error handling better in IDOC.

• No programming required in idoc. Just need to set up the configurations

• You can tell if your sending was successful or not

• Sending to/processing on the other side is immediate

Bapi’s/idoc’s : an overview