ALE IDOC Training-Day 1

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ALE / IDoc Training

Disha Jain

Mumbai,26th September, 2007

2 ALE./IDOC Technical Training

Table of Contents

» Introduction to ALE Development/ Integration Technology

» EDI and The ALE Example

» Introduction to IDoc and Types


» ALE - Application Link Enabling is SAP proprietary technology that enables data communication between 2 or more SAP systems and/or SAP and external systems.

» Advantages» Integration » distribution of application and data.

» ALE scenarios » Master Data -> Change Pointers and as when required.» Transactional Data -> Message control with Output determination.» Control data -> Distribution.

ALE/EDI Concept


» A subset of these scenarios is supported by SAP for purposes of Electronic Data Interchange(EDI).

» EDI is mostly restricted to transfer and receiving the transactional Data.

» EDI documents such as an invoice, remittance advice and purchase order are industry standards which provide connectivity with business partners

such as customers, banks, and vendors. » Both use IDOCs interface for communication.

ALE/EDI Concept


» IDoc stands for Intermediate DOCument.

» The IDoc Interface is used to exchange business data between SAP - SAP or SAP - LEGACY systems.

» The main component of the IDoc interface is the IDoc type.

» And IDoc is an instance of IDoc type.

IDoc Concept


IDoc Concept

» An IDoc type has the following characteristics» It is partner-independent.» It is identical for inbound and outbound processing.» It is dependent only on message types.

SAP Document IDOC

LEGACY system

SAP System

EDI Subsystem

Customer/Vendor Systems


Typical Scenarios


Typical Scenarios

» The system landscape represented here can be used for explaining many

typical scenarios:

» Processing a sales order

» Central maintenance of master data in one central system with replication in local systems

» Processing a purchase order


Typical Scenario-1 : Sales Order Processing


Typical Scenario-1 : Sales Order Processing

» When a sales order is created in the sales system,- A purchase requisition is created.- An internal order is automatically created from the purchase requisition.- This is completed by confirmation of the internal order. - The order confirmation is then sent to customer.- If no delivery confirmation is sent, the invoice is triggered in the sales

system by the internal invoice .- It is possible to have multiple production systems. In the standard, there is

only one component supplier for a specified material. The programs have customer exits for customer-specific enhancements.


Typical Scenario- 2 :Central Administration of Material Master


Typical Scenario- 2: Central Administration of Material Master

» If, for example, you want to maintain material master data in head office and replicate the changes in sales and production, there are several technical possibilities:

- If head office and sales and production are all connected to a central system, consistency is automatically guaranteed.

- If head office, sales, and production all have their own systems, head office must regularly send messages containing the changes to the sales and production systems.


Typical Scenario- 3 : Purchase Order Processing


Typical Scenario- 3: Purchase Order Processing

» A purchase order from an external supplier cannot normally be processed with SAP-specific technology This is why EDI standards exist (EDI: Electronic Data Interchange).

» A document in SAP format is sent from an SAP system to an EDI subsystem.

» The EDI subsystem converts this document to an EDI document, and sends it to the supplier.


Typical Scenario- 4 :Separate System for Human Resources


When is an IDoc created?


When is an IDoc Created?There are various mechanisms involved in the creation of an IDoc:

» Master data replication using Shared Master Data (SMD) based on change documents. Using a scheduled report, IDocs for changed master data can be created at regular intervals, and replicated in one or more systems.

» Message control: In many applications, message sending is included in standard scenarios, for example, creating an order. For this reason, there is a generic service known as message control. In message control, the system settings determine whether the message is to be sent to a printer, or sent in electronic format.

» Application program: Some applications directly trigger the creation of IDocs. - There are two methods by which this is technically enabled:

- The application program fills an internal table in IDoc format and transfers this to an ALE service.

- The application uses a BAPI with an ALE interface.

» Whichever technology is used, the next step uses an ABAP program to create an internal table in IDoc format, known as the master IDoc. The application data is formatted in rows according to the IDoc type, and inserted in the internal table.


IDoc Record Types

Status Record IDoc-IDStatus information

Data Record IDoc-IDSequence/HierarchySegment Format definition for

• header data• item data

Control Record IDoc-IDSender-IDReceiver-IDIDoc type and logical messageExternal structure


Control Record


Data Records and Segment Structures


Status Records


Status Reference Numbers


IDoc Types


IDoc Types

» Each business process (for example a purchase order) usually corresponds to a certain IDoc type, which can include the relevant data.

» An IDoc type is defined by the segments, their hierarchy, sequence and frequency of use. This information is contained in the control part of the data records.

» The segment hierarchy can be represented in tree form as parent and child segments. This allows the application data to be structured.

» Summary: IDoc types are special data structures for special applications or messages. If such a structure contains application data, an IDoc is created (the instance of the IDoc type).


Structure of an IDoc



» If a business process extends across two SAP systems, the information can be sent using an IDoc (intermediate document).

» The structure of an IDoc is described by the IDoc type. The IDoc type contains, among other information, which data is stored where (lines and offset). The IDoc is assigned to the message type.

» The message type only contains the semantics of a message (for example, material master data), whereas the IDoc type for a message type contains the exact structure of the document.


Status Reference Numbers

» A value is assigned to each different possible status. The values of the former statuses of the IDoc are recorded in the status record.

» This information can be evaluated by different monitors.

» The status values for outbound processing are between 0 and 50, and for inbound processing between 50 and 100.

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Thank You

ALE IDOC Training-Day 1

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