Data Lookup Optimized

[Former Member]

In all xi project I worked on, lookup operations in message mapping were always an important issue with the risk to become a bottleneck. A possible solution is to use the library I developed to manage mapping lookups. The library provide a common point of access to any remote lookup function module, and provide a cache mechanism to store each result and avoid to repeat identical lookups within the same message mapping.

Prerequisite

- The system providing data lookup is a SAP system or it is able to expose a function module.
- Function modules to be called are remote enabled.
- The type of importing and exporting parameters of the function modules is char.

How the library works

1 – Internal logical flow of the Lookup Library

How to use the library in your Message Mapping

Step 1: In the Integration Directory create an RFC Receiver Communicational Channel to the System that contains lookup function modules.

Step 2: Import DataLookupOptimized.jar into Integration Repository (SWCV -> Your Namespace -> Mapping Objects -> Imported Archive)

Step 3: In the graphical mapping editor create a simple function and import the package it.techedge.sap.xi.utils.datalookup

Step 4: Retrieve the data look up provider object from the globalContainer

GlobalContainer globalContainer = container.getGlobalContainer(); DataLookUpProvider dlp = (DataLookUpProvider) globalContainer.getParameter("DATA_LOOKUP_PROVIDER"); if(dlp == null) dlp = DataLookUpProviderFactory.getDataLookUpProvider();dlp.setContainer(container);

Step 5: Create the list of parameters to be provided to the RFC:

ArrayList rfcParams = new ArrayList(); rfcParams.add(secondParameterValue);

Step 6: Execute the data look up by calling the method provideDataLookUp with the following parameters:
- String systemName: name of the system that exposes the RFC;
- String remoteFunctionName: name of the remote function that resolve data look up;
- String outputFieldName: name of the output field to be retrieved (the RFC can return more than one output value);
- ArrayList rfcParams: array of params to be provided to the RFC. Note that the order of parameters in the array must respect the order defined in the RFC. If a parameter is not provided the value null must be added to the array.
The method returns a String corresponding to the RFC exporting parameter named outputFieldName.

String result = dlp.provideDataLookUp(systemName, remoteFunctionName, outputFieldName, rfcParams);

Step 7: Store the dataLookUpProvider object in the global container

globalContainer.setParameter("DATA_LOOKUP_PROVIDER", dlp);

Example

In this example a data look up is performed to retrieve the FLIGHT_DESCRIPTION_SHORT associated to the field FLIGHT_CODE of the outbound message interface.

RFC details:
- Name: “Z_FLIGHT_CODE_TO_DESCRIPTION”
- Importing parameters
     - FLIGHT_CODE
     - LANGUAGE
- Exporting

     - FLIGHT_DESCRIPTION_LONG
     - FLIGHT_DESCRIPTION_SHORT

Mapping:

2- Mapping Overview using Lookup UDF

User defined function:
- Name: “transcodeCodeToFlightDescription”
- Parameters:
     - SystemName(String): BS_EP1CL010
     - remoteFunctionName(String): Z_FLIGHT_CODE_TO_DESCRIPTION
     - outputFieldName(String): FLIGHT_DESCRIPTION_SHORT
     - flightCode(String): flight code from outbound interface
     - languageCode(String): language code from outbound interface
     - container(container, automatically added)
-Imports: it.techedge.sap.xi.utils.datalookup


3 – Lookup User Defined Function Code

Lookup User Defined Function Code Snippet

//Retrieve the data look up provider object from the globalContainerGlobalContainer globalContainer = container.getGlobalContainer();DataLookUpProvider dlp = (DataLookUpProvider) globalContainer.getParameter("DATA_LOOKUP_PROVIDER");if(dlp == null) dlp = DataLookUpProviderFactory.getDataLookUpProvider();dlp.setContainer(container);//Create the list of parameters to be provided to the RFCArrayList rfcParams = new ArrayList();/******************************************************************************//**** BEGIN OF CUSTOM CODE ****************************************************//******************************************************************************/rfcParams.add();rfcParams.add();rfcParams.add();/******************************************************************************//**** END OF CUSTOM CODE ******************************************************//******************************************************************************///Execute the data look upString result = dlp.provideDataLookUp(systemName, remoteFunctionName, outputFieldName, rfcParams);//Store the dataLookUpProvider object in the global containerglobalContainer.setParameter("DATA_LOOKUP_PROVIDER", dlp);//Return the resultreturn result;

Reference

You can download my library here.

The library is based on SAP Lookup Library API:
https://help.sap.com/javadocs/NW04S/SPS09/pi/index.html

Special thanks to my colleagues Sandro Garofano and Sergio Cipolla, with their suggestions they really helped me.