sravya.talanki2

Thesis on enabling publish/subscribe model in SAP PI 7.1(JMS)

Sravya Talanki — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 02:42:44 GMT

h1. Objective

The objective of this document is to develop proof of concept (POC) to demonstrate that SAP PI 7.1 can publish/subscribe JMS Topics though the standard JMS PI adapter doesn’t support that. Please note that I had used Hermes JMS just to prove that SAP PI can act as the publisher and subscriber of the messages but if we want to use this concept in in the real time we need to develop java client and server proxy programs using the code snippets provided in the blog. We are using the JMS provider of the SAP PI WAS system to accomplish the task.

Set Up Communication between HERMES JMS and SAP PI WAS J2EE JMS Provider

About Hermes JMS

HermesJMS is an extensible console (http://www.hermesjms.com/confluence/display/HJMS/Python) that helps you interact with JMS providers making it easy to browse or search queues and topics, copy messages around and delete them. It fully integrates with JNDI letting you discover administered objects stored, create JMS sessions from the connection factories and use any destinations found. Many providers include a plugin that uses the native API to do non-JMS things like getting queue depths (and other statistics) or finding queue and topic names

Installing Hermes JMS

It is very easy to install Hermes JMS if you are installing it on the systems that have access to SAP PI. Java Web Start is the pre-requisite for installing Hermes JMS. The document assumes that java web start is already available on the machine where you plan to install HERMES JMS for simplicity. We can install and launch the HERMES JMS online using through the launch button in the website ttp://www.hermesjms.com/confluence/display/HJMS/Home (http://www.hermesjms.com/confluence/display/HJMS/Home).

If the installation is successful then a new screen like below will be opened:

Set UP Class PATH in HERMES JMS

Step 1: Download the below jars from SAP PI 7.1 into your local directory by searching the files in /usr/sap/ sap.com_tcbl_{pj_jmx}api.jar

sap.com_tcexception_{impl.jarsap.com}tc_jeclientlib_{impl.jarsap.com}tc_loggingjava~impl.jar

*Step 2: Upload the above Jar files in the Hermes JMS under class path group SAP_CP as shown below:Click the configuration button using the options menu!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/4.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/4.JPG! It should open up a window as shown below after clicking the configuration button. Click the Provider tab after that as shown below to create class path group.!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/5.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/5.JPG! Create class path group SAP_CP by choosing Add Group option as shown below. !https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/32.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/32.JPG!After pressing Add Group, the below screen should be popped up,!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/6.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/6.JPG!Upload the jar files that you downloaded from SAP PI 7.1 from your local directory by choosing the Add Jar(s) menu option as shown below. Press Apply at the bottom of the screen.!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/8.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/8.JPG!Step 2: Create SAP JNDI Context in HERMES JMS. Create new context by clicking menu option New Context on the context node as shown below.!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/9.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/9.JPG!Create the SAP JNDI Context SAPCtx.!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/10.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/10.JPG!You need to pass the following parameters in the JNDI Initial Context for communicating with SAP PI 7.1 WAS J2EE. loader: SAP_CPsecurityCredentials :< your password>securityPrincipal: <SAP PI User Name> (Please ensure that user has SAP_J2EE_ADMIN role).providerURL* :< ip address>:P4 port (SAP PI IP Address: J2EE P4 port-Use SMICM transaction)

*initialContextFactory: *com.sap.engine.services.jndi.InitialContextFactoryImpl

Browse the JNDI Context to list SAP PI 7.1 JMS Topics/Queues and SAP PI JMS 7.1 connection factories.

If the connection is successful then you should see the below message at the bottom of your screen. It takes 15 minutes to display all the JNDI resources and hence please wait with patience.

If the HERMES JMS console finished searching then you should see the screen as below

Enable SAP PI as subscriber

Create Subscriber Topic in SAP PI

*Step 1: Login into SAP NWA using http://<PI Host Name>:<J2EE Port>/nwa with the user that has J2EE admin access. Step 2:** Navigate to configure the JMS server in PI as shown below:!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/15.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/15.JPG! Step 3: *Create JMS Topic POCDemoSubscriber

Create JMS session in HERMES JMS

Step 1: Create JMS session PublishMessagetoSAPPI for publishing to a PI Topic

!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/19.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/19.JPG!

Assign PI topic to Hermes JMS Session

Step 1: Assign PI Topic POCDemoTopic to Hernes JMS Session !https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/20.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/20.JPG!

Publish JMS Message to SAP PI

Step 1: Create sample JMS.xml on your desktop and publish the message to the SAP PI system as shown below:

!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/23.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/23.JPG!

View JMS Message in SAP PI

*Step 1: Login into SAP NWA using http://<PI Host Name>:<J2EE Port>/nwa with the user that has J2EE admin access.Step 2:** Navigate to Java System Reports in PI as shown below:!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/24.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/24.JPG!Step 3:** Navigate to java monitoring browser in PI as shown below:!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/25.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/25.JPG!Step 4:** * Navigate to java services as show below:

!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/26.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/26.JPG!

Step 5:* * Navigate to services->jms->default->TopicMessages as shown below

*Step 6: *You can see the message is published to POCDemoTopic as show below

Code Snippets for subscribing/reading JMS Message in SAP PI

You can’t read the message directly from SAP PI 7.1 JMS Adapter because native JMS adapter doesn’t support JMS Topics. We need to create a java client proxy to read the JMS messages from SAP PI 7.1 WAS J2EE JMS provider 1.x. The following code snippets can be useful to build the java client proxy.* import* java.util.Properties;

import javax.naming.;import* javax.jms.;/*

This class creates a topic connection, and then

receives messages from the Topic.

/public* class AsynchTopic implements javax.jms.MessageListener {

private static final String USER = "Administrator";

private static final String PASSWORD = "admin_pass";

private static final String SAP_NAMING_PROVIDER_URL = "localhost:50004";

private static final String SAP_INITIAL_CONTEXT_FACTORY_IMPL =

"com.sap.engine.services.jndi.InitialContextFactoryImpl";

TopicConnectionFactory topicConnectionFactory = null;

TopicConnection topicConnection = null;

Topic topic = null;

TopicSession topicSession = null;

TopicSubscriber topicSubscriber = null;

TextMessage textMessage1 = null;

Boolean flag = “true”;

/**

Get InitialContext with default values.

private InitialContext getInitialContext() {

try {

// set the properties for the InitalContext

Properties properties = new Properties();

properties.put(

Context.INITIAL_CONTEXT_FACTORY,

SAP_INITIAL_CONTEXT_FACTORY_IMPL);

properties.put(Context.PROVIDER_URL, SAP_NAMING_PROVIDER_URL);

properties.put(Context.SECURITY_PRINCIPAL, USER);

properties.put(Context.SECURITY_CREDENTIALS, PASSWORD);

// initialize and return the InitalContext with the specified

properties

return new InitialContext(properties);

} catch (NamingException ne) {

System.out.println("NamingException: " + ne);

}

return null;

}

/**

Initializes JMS.

private void initJMS() {

try {

InitialContext context = getInitialContext();

// look up the TopicConnectionFactory

topicConnectionFactory =

(TopicConnectionFactory) context.lookup(

" jmsfactory/default/TopicConnectionFactory");

// create topic connection

topicConnection = topicConnectionFactory.createTopicConnection();

// start the connection

topicConnection.start();

} catch (NamingException ne) {

System.out.println("NamingException: " + ne);

} catch (JMSException jmse) {

System.out.println("JMSException: " + jmse);

}

/**

Closes all resorces used in this test. This should be called

when you want to finish using JMS.

private void closeJMS() {

try {

//closes the jms topic session

topicSession.close();

//closes the jms topic connection

topicConnection.close();

} catch (JMSException jmse) {

System.out.println("JMSException: " + jmse);

}

/**

Create a topic and receive messages

and then close the connection.

public void aMethod() {

try {

// initializes all important data that will be used.

initJMS();

// create topic session

topicSession =

topicConnection.createTopicSession(

false,

Session.AUTO_ACKNOWLEDGE);

// topic session's topic

topic = topicSession.createTopic("POCDemoTopic");

//create subscriber

topicSubscriber = topicSession.createSubscriber(topic);

topicSubscriber.setMessageListener(this);

//topic subscriber is waiting for messages.

while (flag) {

try {

Thread.sleep(1000);

} catch (Exception e) {

break;

}

// clears all resources used by JMS

closeJMS();

} catch (JMSException e) {

e.printStackTrace();

}

/**

Implemented from the MessageListener interface.

Allows for asynchronous message receipt. Here you can

unpack the message.

@param message the newly received message

public void onMessage(Message message) {

// do something with the message received.

try {

System.out.println(

"Message reveived: " + ((TextMessage) message).getText());

flag = false;

} catch (JMSException jmse) {

jmse.printStackTrace();

}

Enabling SAP PI as publisher

Create JMS session in HERMES JMS

!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/28.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/28.JPG!

Assign PI Topic to HERMES JMS Session

Please note that I have used the same topic POCDemoTopic for simplicity. It is not a mandatory requirement for publishing messages.

Subscribe HERMESJMS Topic to PI JMS Message

View the SAP PI JMS Messages in HERMESJMS

!https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/31.JPG|alt=|src=https://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/weblogs/images/18344/31.JPG!</body>

Speaking Widget: Warns you about Error Messages in SAP XI

Sravya Talanki — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:31:42 GMT

The term

Widget

gave me an impression that it is very hi-fi to try it out when I heard it for the first time..! I don't feel the same after I started working with it. It is relatively very simple to grasp it with a petite knowledge of XML and JavaScript. Here we will look at a Widget
that speaks and warns you about the error messages in SAP XI.

We shall try to create a simple widget which reads the message statistics file on your desktop to display the message processing information and warns you in person about the error messages in SAP XI. Are you thinking it is time consuming to do it? No! You don't need to climb up a mountain for doing it..! .. Do you believe me that it can be done in 3 sweet steps?...You need not! Try the 3 steps below and watch the beauty of the tiny gadget below!

Step 1:

Download the yahoo widget engine Yahoo Widget Engine that is required to run our widget.

Step 2:

Download the image background.png onto your desktop. I have also created a simple ABAP report in SAP XI for generating the XI message statistics file on the desktop every 1 hour. It automatically downloads the message statistics onto your desktop with the file name

Final Outlook: Speaking Widget

Hurrrray! Over and done !..Speakers on !..You have Mr.Strange speaking and warning you about the volume of error messages in SAP XI..!

Note :
Widget speaks in the default voice of the computer which can be set using the Speech panel
in the System Preferences

. You can also refer to SAP NetWeaver Administration Gadgets - Getting Started and SAP XI Quick Launcher Widget for trying out few more widgets.

Ripping off SAP XI Stack Sharing the goodies of ABAP APIs..!!

Sravya Talanki — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 07:57:22 GMT

I heard behind the walls some one is making too much noise as he is not able to access the metadata of integration repository. I thought of finding a way out and started exploring the options of accessing the repository objects from the ABAP stack .I found out some goodies that will be shared here. I still remember bothering the tutors of SAP XI about the debugging option to exploit the SAP XI stacks during my SAP XI certification probably because I jumped into SAP XI typically from an ABAP back ground. Unfortunately as the training was conducted when SAP XI product is in the nascent state so I could not get a straight answer from any of the tutors though they are wonderful. But now you donot need to bother anyone !!!! Just read this !!!!!!!!

I exploited the stack by understanding the internal working of cache and mapping components as depicted in the blogs SXI_CACHE - Ripped Off and Skelton of Mapping Runtime in SAP XI .Now lets see how we can access the integration repository objects from the ABAP Stack.

Repository APIs : Please find the repository APIs in the SE24 class builder that can be used for accessing repository objects from the ABAP stack of SAP XI. Check CL_SRAPI* in the SE24 transactions for digging further.

System Packages : We have seen lot of developments from XI 3.0 to PI 7.0 but did we ever dig what is happening inside the SAP XI box?. If not, go to SE80 transaction and dig the below packages to appreciate the effort that has been put for the forth coming releases.

Note: Dont panic if some of the packages are not available in your system as this list reflects SAP XI NW 2004S SP07 version.

Gratitude for Rocking response on the SAP XI Solid Starter Material!

Sravya Talanki — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:43:05 GMT

Though this blog is not the one that is eligible to claim points but there is a need for me to express my gratitude for appreciation mails that I am receiving around every corner of the World! I have to thank both the SDN community and readers for making me so popular ..!! I have blogged it as an answer to one of the college student but am very happy that it has attracted many. The fantastic part of the exercise is the college student calling me as sister whom I never know or met him face to face. I guess I found a new brother due to SDN@@@@@@@@@ and I never know I can inspire college students as well .!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heart Touching Mail :
Hi Sravya
Greetings
I am very sorry for not being in a regular touch as I lost my pass for gmail account, some one stole it and I am unable to recover it. I had sent you couple of messages on yahoo messenger and had not got any reply, thought that you might have ignored me. But sister thanks a million you awoke my inner spirits in learning XI by posting one simple blog for all my queries.
I now have SAP XI system with me, recently I visited bangalore and purchased HP PC also got SAP XI installed, I am spending around 3-4 hrs daily on it. I am now through with File-File, File-IDOC, RFC-File-RFC, file-mail.
Sis a very good news is that I am gonna give a seminar on SAP XI to about 300 students (engineering, MCA, BSC students from colleges around Tirupati) the coming week. I am preparing adetailed presentation using Flash, my lecturers said they would also lookinto to forward my presentation to HR's of MNC's at the time of campus recruitments. I want to seek permission from you to use your name at guidelines page, also I need your help in preparing the first few steps for the presentation.
How do we start on with SAP XI project, is it waterfall method or anyother, do we prepare documentation on we have any documentum specialist who do the job for us, do we deliver the project (if yes how), or do we have delivery heads.
please explain me one business scenario in detail (if you have some time... but please :) ), I prefer something from an automobile domain as I have my previous projects developed on automobiles and I want to stick on to this domin (do you suggest any other domain that might suit my intrest..?)
Thanks a Lot Sis
Awaiting your reply,
Rajesh

Skelton of Mapping Runtime in SAP XI

Sravya Talanki — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 09:01:36 GMT

Most of the forum questions are about the errors that occur while mapping source to the target! Did we bother to understand what is happening inside? If you did then you can skim this. Did we bother to understand why the RFC Destination AI_RUNTIME_JCOSERVER is very important? If we did not then please read this aloud.

CL_MAPPING_XMS_PLSRV3 is the object that has to be focussed for understanding the complete flow. CALL_RUNTIME is the method which will be executed during the mapping run time. Now if you can go through the method you understand that depending on the mapping type the appropriate mapping methods CALL_JAVA_RUNTIME,MAP_BY_XSLT, MAP_BY_ABAP are called. If you dig dip into the method CALL_JAVA_RUNTIME then you can see that we use the RFC Destination AI_RUNTIME_JCOSERVER while calling Java Runtime FM SMPP_CALL_JAVA_RUNTIME3.

What next? Does it help in knowing this? How we will see which mapping program is getting executed appropraitely? You will understand by digging but let me be modest by sharing the tables SMPPMAP3 and SMPPREL3 and SMPPSPLIT.Please find the screenshot of mapping table SMPPMAP3 which provides the mapping type , mapping program and interface mapping program and name space of each interface developed in SAP XI.

It is also worth looking at the ABAP objects CL_XMS_EPCACHE for getting exchane profile parameters at the ABAP runtime,CL*XMS* and CL*PLSRV*.

Aspirant to learn SAP XI...You won the Jackpot if you read this!-Part III

Sravya Talanki — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 06:36:45 GMT

I guess this might be lemon squeezing blog that I have ever engraved! I don’t like to prolong the series further so stretching myself to pen this one. With this I assume that all the mails in my inbox are answered and the series is complete. If you have any queries mail me .It will be addressed here.

Finish thisAspirant to learn SAP XI...You won the Jackpot if you read this!-Part IIbefore you read on further. In the last blog I have not yet completed the mastering the XI components section so I will continue it here.

Mastering Components of SAP XI

We have finished the Integration Repository Objects in the previous blog and it is time to start with the next component of the Integration Builder.

Integration Directory: Integration Directory is nothing but the technical directory of Integrating Systems. Integration Directory allows you to bind the system technical routing information to the interfaces through a communication protocols or adapters The most critical activity in the Integration Directory is configuring the communication channels or deploying modules or deploying your own adapters. I will address that exactly here.

Adapters: The task of an Adapter in SAP XI is to translate from the sender message format to XI message format or XI message format to receiver message format and can also be a called as a communication protocol between sender/receiver and SAP XI. Let us discuss various adapters which are widely and commonly used.

File Adapter: This is easiest adapter to start your hand on with SAP XI. You have the option to receive XML files or flat files. We use file content conversion to handle flat files like CSV files etc.To start with refer Introduction to simple(File-XI-File)scenario and complete walk through for starters(Part1)and Introduction to simple (File-XI-File)scenario and complete walk through for starters(Part2).Now you are an expert and want to handle flat files then refer How to send a flat file with various field lengths and variable substructures to XI 3.0and File Receiver with Content Conversion. If you still have a complicated case and confusion in the content conversion then search using Advanced Search Option with the Keyword file and Author Shabarish.Shabarish almost covered many scenarios in the file content conversion. Also additionally you need to know configuring the file adapter dynamically. If you want to achieve that then read this XI/PI: how to exclude files in a sender File adapter?and The specified item was not found..Most of times we need to generate the file name at the receiver based on a global counter, If you have the same problem refer Dynamic File Name using XI 3.0 SP12 Part - I. In case of file content conversion there can be a problem due to the nested structures and hierarchies , If you encountered that refer Java Mapping to handle flat files in SAP XI.

Idoc Adapter: The next most commonly used adapter is Idoc adapter for sending and receiving Idocs from SAP XI. The foremost step before configuring the idoc adapter is the system settings that have to be done. Refer How to Sample Idoc Scenarios in SAP XI contains exhaustive list and Configuration steps required for posting idoc's(XI).Refer Configuration steps required for sending idoc's (XI) .Configure Introduction to IDoc-XI-File scenario and complete walk through for starters..Refer this master piece if you an expert in Java Convert any flat file to any Idoc-Java Mapping. The most irritating part is manipulating the control records in the Idoc Adapter. Refer The specified item was not found.and The specified item was not found.and Manipulating Idoc Control Records from Payload.You can tunnel the idocs through XI incase of Idoc to Idoc using The specified item was not found.. Refer XI:Idoc Message Packagesfor bundling Idocs. What if you are stuck with a wierd error? Learn by yourself to do things without raising a forum thread for every small thing using Troubleshooting of ALE Process.

RFC Adapter: RFC adapter allows SAP XI to communicate with Integrating Systems using remote function call. It is nothing but a wrapper of SAP JCO. Refer The specified item was not found. and HTTP to RFC - A Starter Kit. Now tell me what you will do if you encounter an error in the RFC scenario or you want to handle multiple RFC destinations in various integrating systems. Refer The specified item was not found. and The specified item was not found..Refer XI : RFCAdapter ReConnect Issue as this is the most common issue in real time.

JDBC Adapter: We use this adapter to connect database systems using the JDBC driver. We need to deploy JDBC driver Deploy JDBC Driver using the link .Start your hands on with FILE to JDBC Adapter using SAP XI 3.0 and Tips and Tutorial for Sender JDBC Adapter.Try out JDBC Receiver Adapter -- Synchronous Select – Step by Stepfor synchronous case. One more thing is to try out Calling stored procs in MaxDb using SAP Xiand JDBC Stored Procedures. Visit this RDBMS system integration using XI 3.0 JDBC Sender/Receiver adapterfor an architectural perspective and XI : Recent Enhancements to JDBC Adapter if you want to be upto date.

Mail Adapter: We can send and receive mails in SAP XI using mail adapter or by configuring SAP Connect and using SAP XI RFC Adapter. Use The specified item was not found. for sending mails from SAP XI and The specified item was not found. and The specified item was not found. for dynamic configurations of mail adapter. Once sender is done try understanding receiver using Mail Adapter scenarios – SAP Exchange Infrastructure. Using SAP Connect you can send mails by referring the link e-Mail XML messages in PDF format from SAP XI..Also check this How to use SAP XI Mail Adapters for detailed explanation.

SOAP Adapter: SOAP Adapter converts the SOAP messages into SAP XI message format that is SOAP with header attachments. This in an area many needs to really concentrate as it is heart of the ESA literature going forward. Refer Testing XI exposed Web-Servicesand Invoke Webservices using SAPXI.Shabarish also done a good job by posting the blogs RFC -> XI -> WebService - A Complete Walkthrough (Part 1) and RFC -> XI -> WebService - A Complete Walkthrough (Part 2). You can down load a sample SOAP Client tool from SAP SOAP Client Tool.Please refer How to Set Up a Web Service-Related Scenario with SAP XI for delving more deep.

HTTP Adapter: The first thing any one need before starting is HTTP client for testing their scenarios. You can find that here Sample HTTP Client .Refer HTTP to RFC - A Starter Kit and Must fire a HTTP GET from XI?? - - Try this!!! . You can use the handy HTTP tools provided here Some handy HTTP toolsby Robert.

JMS Adapter: I really don’t have a fair idea on this adapter and only help you in providing the links. You need JMS drivers before you start your interface so please refer here Deploy JMS driver and How to use SAP's WebAS J2EE's JMS Queue in Exchange Infrastructure. Do you want to do content conversion in JMS? If yes, Refer How to Use the Content Conversion Module in JMS Adapter .You need to use JMS in synchronous manner then read How to Correlate JMS ?.

Proxies: Proxies are used while communicating with systems like SAP WAS >= 6.20 as they are provided with inbuilt integration engines. You will usually create a message interface in the repository and then generate a proxy in the application system. Proxy executables reside either in sender or receiver systems. Proxies are used only when sender/receiver and SAP XI understand XI message format. The one most important difference between a proxy and adapter is that the adapter converts the sender/receiver format to the XI message format but where as proxy does not need to do that as they natively understand the XI message format. ABAP proxies and Java proxies are available in SAP XI which can be used depending upon the requirements. For ABAP refer ABAP Proxies in XI(Client Proxy) and ABAP Server Proxies and for java refer Java Proxy . Donot forget to activate your proxies using the link How do you activate ABAP Proxies?! What is an error occurs?Donot tell me that you will raise a forum thread! Make a difference! Refer XI: Debug your inbound ABAP Proxy implementation and Monitoring for Processed XML messages in ABAP Proxy.

Creating Adapter Modules: SAP XI Adapter Framework is based on open standards and JCA. So we can customize the modules for our project specific needs.Isnot it? So let us learn that using How to Create Modules for the J2EE Adapter Engine . Michal has gone one step further for configuring the modules dynamically which is documented here The specified item was not found..

Develop SAP XI Adapters : What if SAP XI does not provide the adapter I require for my project? Why cannot we do that if it is based on open standards? Who told you can’t? Need an example? Refer Testing Sample Adapter. Don’t create it simply. Use this guide To Create Or Not To Create An SAP XI Adapter to evaluate your adapter.

Let me to take a long breath for finishing Integration Directory which is really tedious to get all the required and qualitative information.

SAP XI Runtime :It consists of three components Adapter runtime (J2EE) runtime, Integration Server Runtimes (ABAP) and Business Processes Engine runtime. Integration server runtime communicates with the other components for mapping, routing and stateful message processing (BPM).Once the development is complete when we send a sample message from the sender then it has to be sent to the receiver. We can monitor this at the runtime using the runtime workbench and using SAP ABAP transactions. Please refer How to Monitor SAP XI and How to Monitor Integration Processes - ccBPM .

Testing the interfaces : The most critical factor in any successful EAI projects is handling the errors and testing the interfaces effectively. You have lot of info here for many errors. Refer to this blogs The specified item was not found.and Test Your XI Configuration With The New Test Tool.Use this XI : Simulating Extreme Concurrent Message Volume and Simulating XI Messages-Protofor simulating SAP XI messages. We always know however rigorously we test errors will happen as we are no super human beings. Errors are not a problem but we need to handle it in a proper way. Read Error Handling Framework XI(Out-of the box)-Episode 1and Error Handling Framework XI(Out-of the box)-Episode 2.

Transactions: We need to remember many URL’s and transactions while working on SAP XI. Remember this cheat sheet Getting started with XI, part 1: XI 3.0 cheat sheet.

Transport of SAP XI Objects : We know that SAP has usually 3 landscapes for DEV, QA and PRD and SAP XI is no exception. ABAP transport of objects remains the same as like in any SAP landscape and you can transport java object through CMS or File. Refer Overview of Transition from Dev to QA in XIand Transport XI Content using CMS.

Real Time Projects : Many of them want to know what are the activities performed in the SDLC of the SAP XI. It always depends on number of interfaces, complexity of integrating systems and the client time lines. Refer this sheet for a generic overview XI Implementation Methodology Worksheet .

Real World Scenarios: Many people are shooting me e-mails for examples in real time projects. Please refer Real time Scenarios in SAP XI for the same.

Design Patterns, Naming Standards & Best Practices : You need some handy guide for designing better solutions in SAP XI?Isn't it? Do you like to make a difference than a normal XI developer? If yes then read this Important documentation for your process integration projects.I encourage you to take a look at these documents prior to start your process integration project, because they will provide you interesting information that could help you prevent design errors, improve the solution robustness and simplify future maintenance resulting in higher quality software.

Release Notes : SAP XI has major enhancements for the last two year and released various SP levels. If you want to know the new features and be upto date then refer Release Notes of SAP XI.

Importing SAP XI Content: Please refer SAP notes 836200 and 705541.

Training Materials: There are many questions on getting trained on SAP XI and the training material. Refer Training Material for Sap Netweaver XI.

Attending Interviews : This is the question that cannot be answered exactly as it varies on many factors and type of the position applied for. The best thing in an interview is to project your potential before the panel tests your skills. If you are fundamentals are strong then you can face any interview. Abstract Description! Isn’t it? Refer /message/2701952#2701952 [original link is broken]. Too many links might confuse! Search in the forum if you need more!

Certification: You can pass the certification if you have worked on the BOX with the sample scenarios and you have read all the training material thoroughly. Refer this blog where the author shares his experiences. Refer A Beginners Guide to XI Certification Details and Getting Started :: Getting XIted where the authors shares their experiences. I know you will beat me up if I don’t provide info on Sample Questions /thread/25311 [original link is broken].

Books & FAQ: For FAQ refer The specified item was not found.an exhaustive list from miche and XI : FAQ's Provided by SAP (Updated). Who else can you trust for buying a book other than our SAP XI little Master?. Speak to michal for costs..Hehe!..Refer SAP XI Book and SAP Exchange Infrastructure The Official Guide to Integrating Business Processes using SAP XI Technology and Mastering SAP XI Administration.

Closing the Chapter : Finally I am closing the chapter and Mrs.XI gives this series a gift for New Year. Happy New Year to all!

Aspirant to learn SAP XI...You won the Jackpot if you read this!-Part II

Sravya Talanki — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 06:55:37 GMT

Some of the requests that I received are about certifications, facing interviews, books and real time SDLC methodologies in SAP XI .I will try to address those aspects in the upcoming series by providing the focused path for working in SAP XI. This is the continuation of the blog Aspirant to learn SAP XI...You won the Jackpot if you read this!-Part I .Read the PART I before! Here we will discuss the various components of SAP XI and provide useful information for mastering the components.

Mastering Components of SAP XI

I assume that architecture is blue printed before you read on! If not then read that first otherwise you will get lost onto a dense forest.

System Landscape Directory: System Landscape Directory is the place where you register the meta data about integration systems in the landscape. You create software components, products, technical and business systems. Integration Repository uses the details of software component created here as a shipment unit for developing the message interfaces and mapping objects etc. Integration Directory uses the details of business systems for configuring the adapters and technical routing.Refer this The specified item was not found. by our little muse Michal. Use this to delve deep Creating Products and SWCV .
Many a times we need to re-use repository objects like message types, data types across various software components. We achieve this in SAP XI by creating dependencies. Refer this The specified item was not found.
The most familiar thing with SAP XI is kind of weird errors that might occur due to incorrect settings and authorization problems. In the previous blog I provided the configuration information and system readiness check that has to be done for your safety and not breaking your head. Refer this Resolving SLD Authentication Problem.

Integration Repository: We use this tool to develop the integration scenarios, message types, data types, interfaces and mapping objects and designing integration processes. I dont cover all the objects information as it is very much available in SAP Help but cover the most complex objects of the Integration Repository.

Integration Scenarios: This is the place where you model the integration scenario and process flow from sender system to the receiver system in your project landscape. It is pictorial representation of what we are going to work in SAP XI. Refer to Companion Guide to Integration scenario. I dont think you need any more info after reading this blog.

Integration Processes: We design a ccBPM if we need to do the stateful message processing that is you need to manipulate the message once it reaches SAP XI and before sending it to the receiver. Refer Walkthrough with BPM which is a very well compiled blog and The specified item was not found. which provides a way to see what actually happens at the runtime.One of the most confusing things in BPM is to understand about the correlation but as a guide I have to explain that too. Refer Do you like to understand correlation in XI? . Dont miss to read out aloud as it is important in real time projects XI ccBPM Performance: under-perform or out-perform? .

Message Interfaces: The message interfaces in the integration repository are Outbound Interface,Inbound interface and Abstract Interface.Outbound interfaces are used to recieve messages from sender ,Inbound interfaces to send messages to the recievers and the Abstract interfaces are used to communicate from integration server to ccBPM or vice versa.

Mapping Objects: The most complicated for the new comer is to learn the mapping in SAP XI and am sure many will love this section. SAP XI supports four kinds of mapping Message Mapping, Java Mapping, ABAP Mapping and XSLT mapping to map the source message to the receiver message.

Message Mapping : Here we map the source message to the target using the graphical editor of SAP XI. Refer Message Mapping Simplified - Part I and Message Mapping Simplified - Part II.Read this for advanced concepts of message mappings New functions in the Graphical Mapping Tool XI 3.0 SP13 and Introduction to queues in message mapping.We can enhance the message mapping using the user defined functions and please refer The specified item was not found. . Refer the SAP help for more examples Mapping Examples.

XSLT Mapping : XSLT is an open standard for mapping source XML and Target XML. Refer Generic XSLT Mapping in SAP XI, Part I and Generic XSLT Mapping in SAP XI, Part II .

Java Mapping: We can also map the source messages to target messages using JAVA API. Refer Using JAXP to both parse and emit XML in XI Java mapping programs and also Testing Java Mapping outside SAP XI.

ABAP Mapping: Using ABAP APIs also we can map the source and target messages .Refer ABAP Mapping.

Multi Mapping: This is not a type of mapping but a kind of mapping that has to be used when you need to map a source message to multiple target messages or vice versa. We have to do it in ccBPM for previous SP levels but now we can do it without ccBPM for 1: N messages .Refer Multi-Mapping without BPM - Yes, its possible! for 1:N or N:1 messages and Illustration of Multi-Mapping and Message Split using BPM in SAP Exchange Infrastructure for M:N messages.This blog Various multi-mappings and Optimizing their Implementation in Integration Processes (BPM) in XI. provides optimization techniques.

Evaluate Mapping Techniques: When I shop for chocolates I really take time to choose one good brand if I shown wide range and I choose the brand based on my priorities. Similarly you have to evaluate the mapping relevant to your project ! How do you do that? Refer Comparing Performance of Mapping Programs.

Value Mapping and Mapping Lookups : Value mapping is nothing but mapping the values of source message to the target message at the runtime.For Ex: Source system represents the male gender as 1 and target system represents the gender as Mr.We map th source to target using value mapping.Refer value mapping.We use a mapping look up if the representation mapping is dynamic and doesnot remain the same everytime. Refer The specified item was not found. and JDBC Mapping Lookup and Webservice Calls From a User Defined Function..

Acessing the System Parameters : The most frequently raised question is about acessing the system parameters during the runtime.Refer Accessing System Parameters in Mapping Runtime .

Arghhhhhhhh! I thought I will complete the series in two episodes but was not able to cover all the information. With this I completed Integration Repository and System Landscape Directory objects and I will try my best to complete the series in next episode. If not then dont beat me. It will be useful if it covers all the aspects of SAP XI aspirants.

Aspirant to learn SAP XI...You won the Jackpot if you read this!-Part I

Sravya Talanki — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 04:43:50 GMT

My inbox is flooding with many mails soliciting the direction to start their career into SAP XI. I am too lethargic to reply for everyone as it is a bit lengthy process to explicate it in a mail. You can ask me, Why am blogging so late? I told you already am lazy to pen lengthy stuff:)ButOne day I got a mail from an graduate student asking me to guide him!!....Alas! I am amazed and impressed with that mail.I guess SDN Community has accomplished its goal in global marketing and inspiring all sorts of people across the globe...Kudos to SDN!...You get many experts working on a product then expect it to be more matured and robustGOOGLE has set an example by delivering a product that is the breath of any IT professionals from two college studentsIsnt it?. Probably it might work out same for SAP XI as wellWho Knows?... ..Read it!

Introduction

Mail Extract :
Dear Sravya:
Greetings!!
This is Rajesh, an engineering graduate I spend a lot of my time on internet reading resources, I am an SAP XI aspirant. I have gone through a lot of your articles published by you and Michal on SDN.SAP.com. I want to learn SAP XI, but the possibilities from where I hail are NIL. I am completely depending on Internet and most of the time I get lost to nowhere.
Please help me out; I would kindly request you to assist me in learning XI. Please mail me few documents that could get me knowledge on XI.
Thanks in advance,
Regards
Rajesh

Question me! Why I need to blog now when plenty of information is available in SDN? Imagine you have gone to a new place on a tour! Is not it better to have a guide who can direct you better? If you want a guide then read through otherwise please feel free to skim it as you wish. I have structured the blog in such a way that guides any kind of reader to start working on SAP XI and guide all the aspects that are requested by many people through e-mails and forum requests.

Projected Trends

Before we learn SAP XI we will try to see the projected market and estimate whether it is worth enough to put our time to learn a new technology. I guess the reason many mail me for learning SAP XI is the high billing and demand in the market.

Companies across the globe will increase their budgets for enterprise resource planning solutions by 12.3 percent in 2007, according to a recent report from AMR Research. "This year and next will experience levels of ERP investment that we haven't seen since the late 1990s," said Jim Shepherd, senior vice president at AMR. "At that time, new customers were replacing legacy systems with ERP suites.

SAP and Oracle will maintain their foothold in the ERP space, AMR predicted, noting that 55 percent of respondents in the process of making ERP system selections said SAP was on the list of vendors they were considering, while 43 percent of respondents said Oracle was on their list. On top you have Oracle customers selecting the safe passage to SAP. SAP says that 73 customers have signed on to Safe Passage to date, including the likes of Samsonite and Waste Management.

According to AMR Research The story around Net Weaver is more real at this point than Oracle's story is around Fusion."

Going by these estimates as customers around the globe choose SAP you will have an insatiable demand for SAP Net Weaver consultants who can integrate the diverse applications installed within an enterprise using SAP XI.

Prerequisites :

Now lets start with pre-requisites to learn SAP XI. I get many mails stating their backgrounds and asking me whether they can start working on SAP XI with those skills. So there is really a need to express the pre-requisites here. SAP XI product supports both ABAP stack and Java stack which clearly draws out a conclusion that either a good ABAP or JAVA professional can learn SAP XI. SAP XI is an EAI tool that clearly gives out a message and path for EAI professional that they can start working on SAP XI. SAP XI predominantly used in the integration of SAP landscapes in the real time and runtime is entirely dependant on the ABAP stack which creates a passage for leveraging the existing ABAP resources to jump in. As the design and configurations of the interfaces that is critical in an EAI SDLC even Java experts can plunge in and master the tool. I dont like to chart out a boundary that SAP XI can only be used by EAI Architects or Java Professional or an ABAP Professional. You are a 3 in 1 expert professional then no one can beat you in mastering the tool.
If you are open to learn new technology then you can learn SAP XI.It is no rocket science! The only thing that varies is the time taken to master the tool (Probably might take little more if you have not worked in SAP or Java or EAI or ABAP) and depth of understanding of the tool. It totally depends on your grasping ability and interests of learning to work on the SAP XI. We need to have an access to SAP XI system for working sample scenario that helps you in understanding things better. Without the access to the system you can only know high level architecture of SAP XI probably might not be beneficial if you want to work in SAP XI projects.

Terminologies :

I remember myself finding it hard to understand and remember the terminologies that are used in SAP XI and hence forth sharing the links that can be useful. I might not be able to explain all the terminologies but can help you in locating places. I have to work with michal to make an extensive list for SAP XI on wiki page.
Navigate SAP XI Terminologies link by clicking SAP Exchange Infrastructure in the major areas section and then check the Glossary and Definitions Section.Also many forum threads are raised to understand the definitions like EDI,UTF etc. Use this link to search generic terms that clearly states the definition without raising it in the forum or asking anyone by just typing the search word in the link Define Terms.

Sweet Heart in SAP XI

Do you know the sweetheart of SAP XI? If not then please put your effort to learn it now. I never understood the four letter word SOAP but loved it when I have read the blog An Overview of SOAP. Dont miss the reading!

Architecture :

A blueprint plan is drawn before building a house similarly the architecture of SAP XI has to be blueprinted in your brains before starting work on SAP XI projects. I am not going to coach you the architecture in this section as I dont like spoon feeding when lot of efforts are already put by publishing various articles. Refer Architecture of SAP XI.Also refer SAP XI in Nutshell.You can refer SAP help if you want to delve deep.

Virtual Class Room :

Many a times we dont get time to attend training classes due to tight working schedules of the current projects but there is no one free to teach you when you have time. This is the most common scenario for any IT professional to learn new technologies. SAP has addressed that by providing virtual classes through e-learning. Refer e-learning material and you are not dependant on anyone.

Start working with SAP XI :

I divided this into various sections that allow any reader to understanding SAP XI step by step.
A. High Level Process Flow : I assume you already know the components and terminologies before we proceed into this section. In a nutshell the end to end process flow of SAP XI is depicted over here:
1. Create products, software component versions, technical systems, business systems in the System Landscape Directory (SLD).
2. Import the software component version into the Integration Repository (IR) from the SLD and start developing the source/target messages, source/target message interfaces and mapping between source and target systems.
3. Import the business systems into the Integration Directory (ID) and start configuring the sender/receiver communication channels, agreements, receiver and interface determination that binds the interfaces and the routing.
4. Once the configuration is complete we need to test the interface and see if the message is sent from the sender to the receiver successfully or correct the error if it occurred. You do it through the monitoring the tools Runtime Work Bench in the Integration Builder and using sxmb_moni transaction code in the ABAP stack of SAP XI.

B. Rationale for isolating various components in SAP XI : One of the most frequent questions that might arise about the architecture is that rationale behind isolating various components. The reason is simple Reusability of the Integration Content. I need an example whenever some one enlightens me with their knowledge. The best example for this case is the separation of integration repository and integration directory allows you to re-use the message interfaces and mapping logics for any system landscape. All you just need to do is to import the .tpz file into any repository and configure it according to the customer system landscape. Do you agree with me?

C. What happens when a message reaches SAP XI? This is some thing who wants to learn SAP XI has to understand for trouble shooting the errors that might occur in the message life cycle. Refer Understanding message flow in XI

D. Configurations that has to be set in SAP XI system : After the SAP XI system is installed by your SAP Basis you need to do some configuration and system readiness check before the starting the developments of SAP XI. Configurations are usually done by SAP basis but these links might be handy to understand weird errors that occur commonly in SAP XI.
Refer the links SAP XI configuration and the SAP note 817920 for system readiness check.

E. Develop Sample End to End scenarios at a single shot : There are two kinds of readers one who understands the box and then work and another who base their experience of working for having the clarity. This section is for those who want to develop the interfaces in one shot and then understand the underlying system.
Refer Sample scenarios for building end to end solution in SAP XI.-Part I and Sample scenarios for building end to end solution in SAP XI.-Part II

Before I provide info to start working on various components of SAP XI in an elaborative manner let me take a break! I will provide the info on certification, SDLC activities in SAP XI, training and experiences of projects in real-time in the next blog. Please wait for the next episode that can be even more interesting answering many of frequently asked questions!

Accessing System Parameters in Mapping Runtime

Sravya Talanki — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 05:14:28 GMT

Some times it happens we cannot fix the payload element for generating the filename and hence forth variable substitution does not work. We have Michal pointing out to get the same filename from sender file adapter and update the file name using the Dynamic Configuration class during the mapping. But what if I have Idoc as sender adapter? Do I need to do it in custom module? This was the issue raised by Bikram Paul in the forum that has triggered me to share this with everyone as it is useful to all.

Many forum posts deal with accessing the system parameters in mapping which can be easily achieved.If we can understand the system classes then we can implement it in UDF.

System classes are documented at

http://help.sap.com/javadocs/pi/SP3/xpi/com/sap/aii/mapping/api/package-summary.html%3E%20System%20Classes%20for%20accessing%20system%20parameters%20in%20the%20mapping%20runtime%3C/a%3E%3C/body%3E%3C/html%3E

with sample examples also.

You observe that we use get method incase of accessing sender information and the put method for setting receiver adapter specific information. The thorough reading of the system classes avoids you raising a forum thread and waiting for a response.

Unable to read INTEGRATION_DIRECTORY_HMI:Undocumented Bug-SXI_CACHE

Sravya Talanki — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 06:04:31 GMT

Blog discusses the root cause of the error that is undocumented and shows a way to troubleshoot it for indulging the error.

I have got all the RFC destinations rights and all the configurations in the How to handle Cache are perfect but still I am getting an error in the SXI_CACHE as shown below.

I dont like unreadable errors that I never understand so I started debugging the FMSAI_CACHE3_REFRESH_HTTP and found out that error is due to the authorization object S_RFC_ADM that is missing for my user. If you want to get a meaningful error at least try executing the function module RFC_READ_HTTP_DESTINATION giving INTEGRATION_DIRECTORY_HMI as the RFC destination that shows the appropriate error as given below.

After assigning the S_RFC_ADM authorization object the stupid error insxi_cache vanished.

Blogging it so that it can be useful to troubleshoot stupid errors like this.

Business Case-Integration Need of BI and SAP XI?-Episode2

Sravya Talanki — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 03:51:05 GMT

This is the continuation of the series Business Case-Integration Need of BI and SAP XI?-Episode1.Needless to say you have read the business case before reading the solution approaches. This solution is based on SAP NW 2004S.Most of the middleware tools like Tibco had already come up with the ETL as one of message layer. For more info visit Tibco Website . Here we see how we leverage the same solution using the SAP XI+BI dual stack on single instance of SAP WAS NW 2004S.

Solution Approach1-(SAP dual stack XI+BI) + (SAP Standalone BI): In this approach we use ETL layer of SAP XI+BI dual stack for pushing the full employee data load and an ABAP Proxy for sending employee delta records to the business partners and standalone SAP BI with cleansed records that are apt for business analysis.
The solution approach is designed two folded:
1. Sending Delta Employee Records.
2. Sending Up-To Date all Employee Records and searching the employee information.

Sending Delta Employee Records: Employee information data is extracted from SAP, Oracle and the four legacy systems through SAP XI. SAP XI pulls the information from SAP, Oracle and the other 4 legacy systems using the relevant adapters who send it to the business partners and SAP standalone BI simultaneously. If there are any errors users are alerted appropriately as required by the business.
In addition to sending the data it also can validate/transform the data that is required by the target system. SAP XI pulls the employee data from SAP, Oracle and four legacy systems through an ABAP proxy and file adapter respectively. The data is then consolidated and transformed into the format required by the 3 business partners and SAP BI. Data is zipped as an e-mail with password protected and sent to the business partners by SAP XI using an e-mail adapter. Now data is also transformed into the format required by the SAP Standalone BI and sent using an ABAP proxy or SOAP adapter.

Send complete dump/Search Employee Information: On an adhoc basis any of the 3 business partners can request the complete employee info through an ABAP Webdynpro user interface that takes the request and pulls the file for them. We use the ETL Layer of SAP XI for pulling the complete employee dump and file adapter to push the complete employee dump in groups of records to the business partners. The same ABAP Webdynpro UI can also be used for searching the employee information. IS team can also search the employee information using the ABAP Webdynpro that pulls the relevant employee information from the Oracle, 4 legacy systems and SAP. After successfully sending the data we will delete the data from PSA tables of SAP XI+BI dual stack.

Solution Approach Advantages/Disadvantages :
1. Solution is completely automated and doesnt require any manual intervention.
2. Redundant data that is not used for business reporting is not stored in the SAP standalone BI.
3. Standalone BI is shielded from the regular ETL process (as it is done by SAP dual stack XI + BI and sends it to SAP Standalone BI) that directly improves the performance of the BI which is predominantly used for huge historical data analytics.
4. Helps IS team to carryout their activities efficiently as the solution is fully automated.
5. Robust error handling can be done in SAP XI for alerting the required support group if any error occurs while loading the data or dumping the delta files.
6. Files can also be archived for some days for re-processing when an error occurs during the data load or pushing the relevant files.
7. Enables the IS team to take business decisions by storing only relevant information in BI and not simply dumping the files in the same format as received by the source systems.
8. Enables future integration to be easy if one more systems have to be plugged in with this architecture.
9. System failures can also be notified that enables business to act quickly.
10. Building cross component applications on top of SAP XI using SAP CAF is matter of hours.
Disadvantages :
1. POC has to be built and tested for the feasibility.

Solution Approach Assumptions :
1. Complete employee information dump is not requested only on adhoc basis.
2. The volume of the delta and complete employee information is not very huge.
3. The employee information complete dump file is pushed only to the business partner who requested.
4. There are not too many fields that are to be picked up additionally for SAP standalone BI reporting.
5. We dont require any additional information then the current GED functionality.
6. SAP, Oracle and four legacy systems are responsible for the data integrity.
7. BI will hold only the necessary fields used for analytical reporting.

Conclusion: This is strictly a solution for the given business case and probably have to be tested for high volume data as SAP XI has to be highly available for these kind of scenarios. We just try to demonstrate an example business case where we need to fit SAP XI and use the ETL layer of SAP XI in a BI landscape. Note that solution approach should be based on various business factors and have to be evaluated for feasibility.
In the next series we propose a solution without SAP XI and then draw out a comparison matrix that concludes the recommended approach for the given business case. Thanks for reading!

Business Case-Integration Need of BI and SAP XI?-Episode1

Sravya Talanki — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 06:24:12 GMT

It answers bunch of forum posts that question the real integration need for SAP XI and SAP BI. Do we really require? Can we not surpass that? What benefits?Most of the times business asks to use BI open hub architecture/extraction mechanisms rather than using SAP XI due to the extra costs and budget involved. Here potential solution approaches for the business case is proposed that leverages SAP XI and open hub architecture/extraction mechanisms of SAP BI that does not use SAP XI. We draw out a comparison matrix that concludes the recommended approach.

Business Drivers: The organization mission of Global Business Processes for all the subsidiaries of Org A had piloted to replace and merge most of the back office solutions into SAP. IT landscape is the most critical factor that drives the organization to meet the strategic goals and hence we propose solution approach for one of the GED (Global Employee Data base) business case that can help the business to achieve its maximum benefits.

Business Case Description :GED (Global Employee Database) is a legacy system that is used for storing the employee data of numerous subsidiaries in the organization Org A. The IS team needs to load the data by collecting the changed records from the HR and payroll on a monthly basis. Each company provides the delta files in either excel or fixed width formats. These files have to be reconciled by the IS team and loaded into the GED. These files are sent to the 3 external business partners on a monthly basis by the IS team using export routines, to create a file for each of the business partners. The files are then password protected, zipped and sent out via e-mail to 3 external business partners for upload to their systems. Partner 1 receives a text file whilst the other 2 partners receive spreadsheets. IS team is not able to send the files in the right time due to the problems that might occur in data load or data reconciliation. GED is occasionally used to search the employee information by the IS team for internal purposes.
Apart from this the GED is also used to collate, on an annual basis, diversity information from all of the businesses as at 31 March. This is to provide an overall company profile for input to the Annual Report. IS team has to manually pull the data from GED and use lookups and pivot tables to produce the info required as the crystal reports are not working. On an adhoc basis, business partners may request for the complete dump, the IS team needs to pull up the employee data from the GED manually and send it to the business partners.
This is the current landscape in the organization:

Bottle Necks :
1.Manual intervention by IS team effects business to perform key activities.
2.Consumes time and effort by the IS team for collating the employee data, loading the data into the GED and sending to the business partner It can hamper IS team to carry out their critical day to day activities that are required for the business to run smoothly.
3.Manual processes are more error-prone and effort intrinsic.
4.No mechanism to slice and dice across the data to come up with KPIS.
5.Unable to monitor and track the business across various subsidiaries.
6.Might curtail the business to take important decisions that helps the business.
7.Business partners have to wait for some time after requesting the complete employee information data as IS team has to pull the large volume of data reconcile and send to the them that might disrupt the business.
8.No automated mechanism to inform the failure of data load.
9.Process is human dependant and there is every possibility for loss of information when the person leaves the organization.

To overcome the bottlenecks I propose a solution approach that facilitates the IS team to carry out their work smoothly and make business critical solutions that helps organization to achieve the mission. I hope the series would be interesting. Today is friday evening and not in a mood to pen any further! Wait for the upcoming series that proposes the solution approach and recommnded approach for the business case presented here.

ABAP Webdynpro as a Client Proxy

Sravya Talanki — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 07:23:32 GMT

Depicts the steps required to configure an ABAP Webdynpro as a client proxy. Question me, Why an integration experts need to use ABAP Webdynpro for a client proxy? Have the answer!

I have been asked by the customer to provide an application that can pull up the employee information from SAP and 5 legacy systems based on search term that will be fed by her. The user is from MI team and she does not want to login to SAP nor see the ABAP SE38 Screens. Immediately solution that I bestowed her is to use ABAP Webdynpro that allows her to search the information by shielding her logging onto various systems. Objective is to make the customers happy, Isnt it?

Do you agree with me that learning ABAP Webdynpro and using it as a client proxy will be beneficial to you as an integration expert? If you disagree then please abort then the blog might not be useful for you.

I assume that you know how to create ABAP Webdynpro components, views, context structures and bind the UI elements to the context structure of the view.If you dont know then it is not a danger. Read this series Unleashing ABAP Webdynpro for generating XSD in SAP XI-Episode 3.

I am going to take the same interface that is provided by ravi in the blog ABAP Proxies in XI(Client Proxy) for simplicity with the only difference being the files is simulated only when user enters the employee number, employee name and department name and press simulate file.I donot discuss the configuration and mapping details here as they remain exactly same. You need to just plug an ABAP Webdynpro in place of a proxy.
Steps Required :
1 .Create a Webdynpro Component ZABAPWDClientProxy.
2. Create ContextStruture as shown below.

3. Create View InitialView and create 7 UI elements Label for Employee Number, Label for Employee Name, Label for Department Name, InputTextbox for Employee Number, InputTextbox for Employee Name, and InputTextbox for Department Name and Simulate file button that triggers the proxy. After creating the UI elements, bind them to the context structures and associate event SIMULATEFILE to the button.

4. Now paste the source code provided below in the method SIMULATEFILE by selecting action tab.
data prxy type ref to zblogco_proxy_interface_ob.create object prxy.data it type zblogemp_profile_msg1.wd_context->get_attribute( exporting name = 'CEMPNO' importing value = it-emp_profile_msg-empno ).wd_context->get_attribute( exporting name = 'CENAME' importing value = it-emp_profile_msg-emp_name ).wd_context->get_attribute( exporting name = 'CDEPTNAME' importing value = it-emp_profile_msg-department_name ).try. call method prxy->execute_asynchronous exporting output = it. . catch cx_ai_system_fault . data fault type ref to cx_ai_system_fault . create object fault. write :/ fault->errortext.endtry.
5. Create Webdynpro application and feed in the sample data and you can see the file in the folder you configured if your configuration is correct.

e-Mail XML messages in PDF format from SAP XI.

Sravya Talanki — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 09:47:37 GMT

I propose one more way to send xml messages from XI as a PDF attachment that does not exploit spool. It can be easy to use and probably be handy too.

Pre-Requsite: SAPConnect has to be configured appropriately on SAP XI.
Validity : If you are using WAS >=6.10 AND WAS <6.40 then implement the note 633265.For WAS>=6.40 note need not be implemented.
Settings to be done in SCOT :Double click the SMTP node in the SCOT transaction and set the internet address as shown below.

Set the output format of SAP for RAW Text as PDF .

Create RFC: Create RFC YXI_SEND_MAIL_ PDF_ATT in SE37 with the following parameters and source code:
Import Parameters :
SUBJECT type SO_OBJ_DES //Subject of the Mail
ATTACH_NAME1 type SOOD-OBJDES //Attachment Name
Tables Parameter :
IT_CONTENT type SOLI_TAB //Content of the Mail
IT_ATTACH type SOLI_TAB //Attachment data that has to be sent in PDF Format
Source Code Extract:
function yxi_send_mail_pdf_att.*"----------------------------------------------------------------------*"*"Local Interface:*" IMPORTING*" VALUE(SUBJECT) TYPE SO_OBJ_DES OPTIONAL*" VALUE(ATTACH_NAME1) TYPE SOOD-OBJDES OPTIONAL*" TABLES*" IT_CONTENT TYPE SOLI_TAB OPTIONAL*" IT_ATTACH TYPE SOLI_TAB OPTIONAL*"---------------------------------------------------------------------- data: send_request type ref to cl_bcs. data: document type ref to cl_document_bcs. data: sender type ref to cl_sapuser_bcs. data sendername like sy-uname. data: recipient type ref to if_recipient_bcs. data: exception_info type ref to if_os_exception_info, bcs_exception type ref to cx_document_bcs. data i_attachment_size type sood-objlen. data spoolid type ref to tsp01-rqident. data tline like tline occurs 0 with header line.* Creates persistent send request send_request = cl_bcs=>create_persistent( ). try.******Create txt mail document*************************** document = cl_document_bcs=>create_document( i_type = 'HTM' i_text = it_content[] i_subject = subject ).*************************************************************************Creates Attachment 1************************ call method document->add_attachment exporting i_attachment_type = 'RAW' i_attachment_subject = attach_name1 i_att_content_text = it_attach[].* Add document to send request call method send_request->set_document( document ).* Get sender object sender = cl_sapuser_bcs=>create( sy-uname ).* Add sender call method send_request->set_sender exporting i_sender = sender.************e-mail list************************** translate it_recv-mailid to lower case. recipient = cl_cam_address_bcs=>create_internet_address( <a class="jive-link-email-small" href="mailto:'sravya.talanki@uk.ngrid.com">'sravya.talanki@uk.ngrid.com</a>'). call method send_request->add_recipient exporting i_recipient = recipient i_express = 'U' i_copy = ' ' i_blind_copy = ' ' i_no_forward = ' '.***********Trigger e-mails immediately***************************** send_request->set_send_immediately( 'X' ). call method send_request->send( ). commit work. catch cx_document_bcs into bcs_exception. endtry.endfunction.

That is all! Test this using SE37 editor by passing sample content and attachment data and check whether you are able to view the PDF in your mail box before you configure a scenario in Integration Builder. We are ready to trigger XML messages as e-mails in the PDF format. Just map this RFC message to the XML message that has to be sent as an email from the integration repository. Map the content of mail to the node IT_CONTENT and attachment data to the node IT_ATTACH in the message mapping.

Error Handling Framework XI(Out-of the box)-Episode 2

Sravya Talanki — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 02:27:21 GMT

As rightly pointed out my SDN pal Naveen this blog is not for those eagerly awaiting for a solution to address the pain points of existing error handling framework but for those who are combating with bits and pieces of zigzag puzzle for getting a complete picture of error handling supported by SAP. I get lots of requests to give a single shot info for error handling mechanisms and various tactics to handle errors. Hence the blog is here! I will also come up with a solution approach for addressing the pain points of existing framework in the coming few days. Read through Error Handling Framework XI(Out-of the box)-Episode 1.

III.Restart Capabilities

This framework provides with mechanisms to resubmit failed transactions at the correct point in the message flow cycle. This is often a critical requirement in case of transactional data wherein it is undesirable or in some cases even impossible to regenerate data at source for either technical or business reasons. Another important benefit of being able to resubmit transactions at the correct point is that data duplication is avoided.

Messages in XI can fail due to many reasons. Most of the common failures are due to connection failure to end systems, wrong or missing configuration settings, exceptions that weren't handled or lack of disk space for processing messages. These errors can be categorized as those generated in:
1. Integration Engine.
2. Adapter Engine.
3. Business Process Engine.

We should be able to restart the failed messages through numerous ways in XI through the ABAP and JAVA stack depending at the point of the error. Some times for adhoc errors we might need to reconcile them through a ccBPM or develop a custom report for re-starting the messages at the correct point of failure if the standard re-start mechanism cannot be used. Further Details are enclosed in the appendix which provides a detailed guide for re-starting the failed messages.

IV. Monitoring

Error handling does not end with logging the errors and tracing .The production support team won't be looking at the logs every now and then to check if an error got logged. Agreed that most of the time your users would be the ones raising the issue, but having a "monitoring" tool that looks at your log and notifies you has immense benefits. So, it is an essential part of the error handling approach.

The central monitoring of SAP Exchange Infrastructure (XI) offers you the option of executing various monitoring activities. Primarily, you use the Runtime Workbench, the central tool for accessing XI monitoring. The Runtime Workbench gives you the option of navigating to the monitoring functions of the Integration Engine, as well as integration with the Computing Center Management System (CCMS), and the Process Monitoring Infrastructure (PMI) of SAP. The CCMS and PMI needs to be configured by the SAP administration team if we have to use this as a mode of monitoring the ABAP and JAVA Stack of SAP XI

The monitoring of Messages in the Integration Engine can be done using transaction SXMB_MONI and SXMB_MONI_BPE.
SAP XI monitoring offers you the following options:
1. Component monitoring
2. Message monitoring
3. End-to-end monitoring
4. Performance monitoring
5. Index administration
6. Alert configuration
7. Cache monitoring

By using the monitoring tool we can establish the stats of what errors are happening most frequently and ask your developers to fix them. For Ex: The monitor sees that in the last few minutes 50 errors have been logged and realises that business is about to raise a high severity issue and might send a threshold error to the production support team. This feature can be configured as per the criticality requirements of the business.

Appendix

sravya.talanki2

Thesis on enabling publish/subscribe model in SAP PI 7.1(JMS)

Set Up Communication between HERMES JMS and SAP PI WAS J2EE JMS Provider

About Hermes JMS

Installing Hermes JMS

Set UP Class PATH in HERMES JMS

Enable SAP PI as subscriber

Create Subscriber Topic in SAP PI

Create JMS session in HERMES JMS

Assign PI topic to Hermes JMS Session

Publish JMS Message to SAP PI

View JMS Message in SAP PI

Code Snippets for subscribing/reading JMS Message in SAP PI

Enabling SAP PI as publisher

Create JMS session in HERMES JMS

Assign PI Topic to HERMES JMS Session

Subscribe HERMESJMS Topic to PI JMS Message

View the SAP PI JMS Messages in HERMESJMS

Speaking Widget: Warns you about Error Messages in SAP XI

Step 1:

Step 2:

Final Outlook: Speaking Widget

Ripping off SAP XI Stack Sharing the goodies of ABAP APIs..!!

Gratitude for Rocking response on the SAP XI Solid Starter Material !

Skelton of Mapping Runtime in SAP XI

Aspirant to learn SAP XI...You won the Jackpot if you read this!-Part III

Mastering Components of SAP XI

Aspirant to learn SAP XI...You won the Jackpot if you read this!-Part II

Mastering Components of SAP XI

Aspirant to learn SAP XI...You won the Jackpot if you read this!-Part I

Introduction

Projected Trends

Prerequisites :

Terminologies :

Sweet Heart in SAP XI

Architecture :

Virtual Class Room :

Start working with SAP XI :

Accessing System Parameters in Mapping Runtime

Unable to read INTEGRATION_DIRECTORY_HMI:Undocumented Bug-SXI_CACHE

Business Case-Integration Need of BI and SAP XI?-Episode2

Business Case-Integration Need of BI and SAP XI?-Episode1

ABAP Webdynpro as a Client Proxy

e-Mail XML messages in PDF format from SAP XI.

Error Handling Framework XI(Out-of the box)-Episode 2

III.Restart Capabilities

IV. Monitoring

Appendix

Ripping off SAP XI Stack Sharing the goodies of ABAP APIs..!!

Gratitude for Rocking response on the SAP XI Solid Starter Material!