IDoc integration flows are only efficient if they are well designed. But to design them well, you have to know how to address the difficulties that can arise in various scenarios. So, to solve these problems, you have two possibilities: trial and error, or reading this book. The new edition of this best-selling guide has been completely updated and extended. It not only thoroughly explains the concepts behind IDocs, but also teaches you how to process IDocs via SAP NetWeaver Process Integration in different business scenarios.

1 Expert Advice
Learn about the usage, configuration, and administration of IDocs, and familiarize yourself quickly with all monitoring and error handling aspects.

2 Easy-to-Follow Examples
Discover how to use the best possible techniques through easy-to-follow examples based on MM (Materials Management) and SD (Sales & Distribution).

3 Technical Details and Business Background
Find out about the comprehensive technical details of IDocs, as well as the business background of their implementation — step by step and with the numerous code samples provided.

4 Key Integration Processes
Get to know central processes like IDoc monitoring within SAP NetWeaver landscapes and all aspects of exchange development (tunneling, packaging, serialization, mapping).

5 All-New Topics in this 2nd Edition
Explore the ALE distribution model, and two of the latest functionalities for IDoc monitoring: SAP Solution Manager and IDoc packaging.

Highlights

• IDoc Basics and Elemental Technical Configuration
• IDoc Monitoring
• SAP NetWeaver PI in IDoc Scenarios
• ALE Distribution Model
• IDoc Packaging

About the Author(s)

Michal Krawczyk is an SAP integration consultant focused mainly on message exchange between SAP systems through the use of ALE, IDocs, and SAP NetWeaver PI. Michal Kowalczewski is an SAP consultant for the Business Consulting Center (Poland). He works on corporate integration solutions.

Table of Contents

... Preface ... 9

1 ... IDoc Basics and Elemental Technical Configuration ... 11
... 1.1 ... Creating Connections Between Different Systems ... 13
... ... 1.1.1 ... RFC Type Connection ... 13
... ... 1.1.2 ... TCP/IP Type Connection ... 17
... 1.2 ... Port Definition ... 18
... 1.3 ... Partner Profile Maintenance ... 21
... ... 1.3.1 ... Parameters ... 22
... ... 1.3.2 ... Creating Logical Systems ... 23
... ... 1.3.3 ... Customizing ... 24
... 1.4 ... Summary ... 26

2 ... Business Scenario Configuration ... 27
... 2.1 ... Purchase Orders and Purchase Order Changes in the MM Component ... 30
... ... 2.1.1 ... Selecting the Appropriate Application and Procedure ... 31
... ... 2.1.2 ... Creating a New Output Type ... 33
... ... 2.1.3 ... Access Sequence ... 39
... ... 2.1.4 ... Creating a Condition Record ... 40
... ... 2.1.5 ... Defining a Partner Profile ... 42
... ... 2.1.6 ... Fine-Tuning Messages ... 45
... ... 2.1.7 ... Entering the Material Numbers from the Vendor’s Systems ... 46
... ... 2.1.8 ... Testing the Scenario ... 47
... 2.2 ... Receiving Purchase Order Confirmations ... 50
... ... 2.2.1 ... Creating an Appropriate Partner Profile ... 51
... ... 2.2.2 ... Setting Up Confirmation Control in Customizing for Purchasing ... 51
... ... 2.2.3 ... Setting Up Confirmation Keys in Material Infotypes ... 53
... ... 2.2.4 ... Testing the New Settings ... 54
... 2.3 ... Logistic Invoice Verification ... 54
... ... 2.3.1 ... Creating Appropriate Partner Profiles ... 55
... ... 2.3.2 ... Allocating Company Code, Tax Code Mapping, and “Special Program Parameters” ... 56
... ... 2.3.3 ... Testing the New Settings ... 58
... 2.4 ... Processing Inbound Orders in SD ... 59
... ... 2.4.1 ... Creating Suitable Partner Profiles with InboundParameters ... 60
... ... 2.4.2 ... Converting External Partner Numbers ... 62
... ... 2.4.3 ... Assigning a Customer to SD Organizational Data ... 63
... ... 2.4.4 ... Testing and Debugging Incoming IDoc Sales Orders ... 64
... 2.5 ... Outbound Order Confirmation ... 65
... ... 2.5.1 ... Selecting or Creating a New Output Type ... 66
... ... 2.5.2 ... Selecting a Proper Procedure ... 68
... ... 2.5.3 ... Creating Entries in Condition Record Tables ... 69
... ... 2.5.4 ... Configuring the Partner Profile ... 70
... ... 2.5.5 ... Testing the Configuration ... 71
... 2.6 ... Outbound Delivery ... 73
... ... 2.6.1 ... Selecting or Creating Output Types ... 73
... ... 2.6.2 ... Adding the Output Type to the Appropriate Procedure ... 75
... ... 2.6.3 ... Maintaining the Condition Records ... 76
... ... 2.6.4 ... Defining the Partner Profile ... 77
... ... 2.6.5 ... Testing the Configuration ... 79
... 2.7 ... Outbound Invoice ... 80
... ... 2.7.1 ... Selecting or Creating Output Types ... 80
... ... 2.7.2 ... Adding Output Types to the Appropriate Procedure ... 81
... ... 2.7.3 ... Creating a Condition Table ... 82
... ... 2.7.4 ... Creating Entries in Partner Profiles ... 84
... ... 2.7.5 ... Testing the Configuration ... 85
... 2.8 ... Extension of Condition Tables ... 86
... ... 2.8.1 ... Creating a Condition Table ... 88
... ... 2.8.2 ... Access Sequence ... 91
... ... 2.8.3 ... Output Type ... 94
... 2.9 ... Summary ... 94

3 ... Master Data Distribution ... 95
... 3.1 ... Change Pointers ... 97
... 3.2 ... Distribution Model ... 100
... 3.3 ... Partner Profile for the Distribution Model ... 103
... 3.4 ... Scheduling Reports ... 106
... 3.5 ... Configuring the Production System ... 109
... 3.6 ... The Receiving System ... 110
... 3.7 ... Summary ... 111

4 ... IDoc Monitoring ... 113
... 4.1 ... Searching for IDocs ... 113
... 4.2 ... IDoc Reprocessing ... 116
... ... 4.2.1 ... Inbound Documents ... 116
... ... 4.2.2 ... Outbound Documents ... 117
... 4.3 ... IDoc Editing ... 118
... 4.4 ... Automated IDoc Monitoring ... 119
... 4.5 ... Automated IDoc Monitoring with CCMS ... 120
... 4.6 ... IDoc Monitoring with Solution Manager ... 126
... ... 4.6.1 ... Creating a Business Process ... 127
... ... 4.6.2 ... Interface Scenario Creation ... 128
... ... 4.6.3 ... Configuring Interface Scenario Monitoring ... 131
... 4.7 ... Summary ... 137

5 ... SAP NetWeaver PI in IDoc Scenarios ... 139
... 5.1 ... SAP NetWeaver PI Introduction ... 139
... 5.2 ... IDoc Exchange Basics Using SAP NetWeaver PI ... 143
... ... 5.2.1 ... IDoc Metadata Inside the Integration Repository andIntegration Engine ... 145
... ... 5.2.2 ... IDoc Metadata Comparison ... 146
... 5.3 ... Sending IDocs to SAP NetWeaver PI ... 147
... ... 5.3.1 ... SAP Application System Configuration ... 148
... ... 5.3.2 ... SAP NetWeaver PI Configuration ... 149
... ... 5.3.3 ... Running a Test procedure for Sending IDocs to SAP NetWeaver PI ... 153
... ... 5.3.4 ... ALE Acknowledgments as SAP NetWeaver PI Request Messages ... 157
... 5.4 ... Sending IDocs from SAP NetWeaver PI ... 159
... 5.5 ... Monitoring IDocs Inside SAP NetWeaver PI ... 169
... 5.6 ... IDoc Control Record ... 169
... 5.7 ... IDoc Packages and Event-DrivenMessages ... 173
... ... 5.7.1 ... Setting Up IDoc Packages ... 174
... ... 5.7.2 ... Advanced Scheduling of Message Processing ... 176
... 5.8 ... Sender IDoc Adapter Packaging – Enhancement Package 1 for SAP NetWeaver PI 7.0 ... 177
... 5.9 ... IDoc Tunneling ... 180
... ... 5.9.1 ... Sending IDocs Without XML Conversion ... 181
... ... 5.9.2 ... Setting Up IDoc Tunneling ... 181
... 5.10 ... IDoc Acknowledgments ... 183
... ... 5.10.1 ... Sending Acknowledgments from an SAP Application System ... 184
... ... 5.10.2 ... Sending Acknowledgments from SAP NetWeaver PI ... 187
... 5.11 ... IDoc Serialization ... 189
... ... 5.11.1 ... Setting Up Standard IDoc Serialization ... 189
... ... 5.11.2 ... Removing IDocs from the Queues ... 193
... ... 5.11.3 ... Pseudo IDoc Serialization ... 194
... 5.12 ... IDoc Bundling ... 195
... 5.13 ... Turning Off IDoc Processing Within the Integration Engine ... 197
... 5.14 ... IDoc Message Mappings ... 197
... ... 5.14.1 ... Optimizing the IDoc’s Structure ... 197
... ... 5.14.2 ... Message Mapping Examples ... 200
... ... 5.14.3 ... Graphical Message Mapping ... 201
... ... 5.14.4 ... User-Defined Functions in Graphical Message Mapping ... 203
... ... 5.14.5 ... XSLT Message Mapping ... 205
... ... 5.14.6 ... Graphical Message Mapping ... 207
... ... 5.14.7 ... XSLT Mapping ... 209
... 5.15 ... Enabling ABAP Proxies From Every Outbound IDoc ... 210
... 5.16 ... Summary ... 222

6 ... Summary ... 223

A ... Tables ... 225

B ... The authors ... 237