SAP XI - Concepts

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Date created:July 17, 2013

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Concepts

This part of the documentation introduces the concepts and capabilities of SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (PI).

This section is relevant for both, the dual-Stack and the Advanced Adapter Engine Extended installation option.

Basics

Provides the basics in one place.

Is suitable for beginners to get a quick understanding of the basic capab ilities and concepts.

Advanced Concepts

Covers advanced concepts like, for example, mapping and content-based routing.

Basics

This part of the documentation introduces the concepts and capabilities of SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (PI).


Introduction

Key Capabilities

Installation Options

Describes the available installation options of SAP NetWeaver PI as well as the connectivity options that they support (for example, the supported adapters).

Phases of an Integration Project

Describes the phases design time, configuration time, and runtime . These phases constitute the main framework along which all concepts and procedures are

oriented.

Process Integration Landscapes

Describes the different options how to design landscapes of PI components.

Introduction

Integration of Processes

SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (SAP NetWeaver PI) facilitates the integration of business processes that span different departments, organizations, or

companies. Think of an app lication component being part of the value chain of a business application or a business process.

The termprocess componentis also used to describe this entity.

If we assume that a business application ranges over different departments of one company, then an application component usually represents one part of the

process that is performed in one department.

An integration scenario is used to model the process flow and the separation of a business application into its application components. Application components

can run on different systems, can be hosted in different departments of a company, or can be implemented in completely different companies that have a

business relationship with each other. The application components exchange data with each other and thereby ensure that the value chain of the business

process as a whole is maintained.

The focus of SAP NetWeaver PI is not on the inner-life of the individual application components, or how the business logic is implemented within an application

component, but rather on how the application components exchange data with each other. Process integration is all about choreographing the exchange of data

between app lication components.

Mediation

Technically, the business logic of different application components in an integration scenario is implemented on different systems. Let us assume that the

systems involved in an integration scenario communicate directly with each other. For example, if the application components run on different SAP systems, one

SAP system calls another using a remote function call. We call this kind of communication point-to-point or direct communication. However, an upgrade to onepart of the system landscape would, for example, entail that all individual connections that are affected also have to be adapted as part of the upgrade. In the case

of large system landscapes, this approach could easily get out of control since the number of connections grows to the square of the number of systems.

However, consider a situation where a central instance or middleware interconnects the systems. We call this type of communication mediated communication

and refer to the middleware as the SAP NetWeaver PI runtime engine. With a central instance interconnecting the systems, you then have the option to have all

Note

Note

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integration-relevant information accessible at one central location. In contrast to the point-to-point scenario (where there is a spaghetti-like arrangement of

connections), in a mediated scenario the number and arrangement of connections remains manageable.

The following figure illustrates the difference between mediated and point-to-point communication:

Point-to-Point Communication (Left) Compared to Mediated Communication (Right)

Mediated communication is executed by exchanging XML messages. Accordingly, in the context of SAP NetWeaver PI we usually speak of message-based

integration. The messages contain the business data exchanged between the systems involved in a cross-component process. The message protocol of SAP

NetWeaver PI (which the runtime engine can process) is based on the W3C standard SOAP Messages with Attachments.

More information: Messages

Key Capabilities

This section provides a summary of the key capabi lities of SAP NetWeaver PI.

More information:

Connectivity

Mapping

Routing

Connectivity

Overview

Connectivity is the capability to connect systems or applications that have different technical communication capabilities to each other using SAP NetWeaver PI.

Examples for technical communication capabilities are the HTTP protocol or a remote function call (RFC). The transformations of messages that are required at a

technical level and that are necessary to connect the system to the runtime engine of SAP NetWeaver PI are performed by adapters. SAP NetWeaver PI provides

a variety of adapters to connect applications that are based on completely different technical or application-specific protocols. The runtime engine transforms each

incoming message into an internal message format first before the message can be processed. This is done by an adapter at the inbound side (also referred to

as: sender adapter). Depending on the characteristics of the receiver system, an adapter at the outbound side (a receiver adapter) then transforms the internal

message format into the format or protocol the receiver system can handle.

Do not confuse connectivity with mapping: Connectivity implies transformations between the technical or industry-specific protocols of the connected

applications. A technical protocol can, for example, be a simple file format, or an IDoc format. An industry-specific protocol can be RosettaNet or EDI. In

contrast to that, mapping is the transformation of the business data in the payload of the message, which can, for example, include the transformation of one

data field format (YYYYMMDD) to another (YYYY-MM-DD).

In particular, SAP NetWeaver PI provides connectivity to:

Technical protocols such as JDBC, JMS, HTTP, and many more

Industry-specific protocols, for example, RosettaNet or CIDX

SAP applications that send or expect their data with IDoc and RFC

To ensure greatest possible spec trum of connectivity options, SAP p rovides a large set of own-developed adapters, and also accep ts adapters developed by

partners.

Additionally, customers can develop their own adapters with SAP NetWeaver PI in case they do not find the adapter to fit their needs.

The following figure illustrates the connectivity capabilities of SAP NetWeaver PI.

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Connectivity Capabilities of SAP NetWeaver PI

Mapping

In scenarios spanning different application systems, or even different organizations and enterprises, it is most likely that the structure of the data exchanged

between two process components differs on both sides of a connection due to business-related reasons. To enable a seamless exchange of data, the data

structures on both sides of a connection have to be transformed into each other.

Mapping determines the following aspects:

How structure nodes (or elements) in a source structure are assigned to structure nodes in a target structure

Which conversion rules apply for the transformation between source elements and target elements

Mapping describes transformations at the level of the business data that is exchanged between process components. This can also include special formats

for particular business entities, for example, the format of a time field in a message. Transformations at the level of the technical transport protocol are handled

by adapters (that form the connectivity capabilities of SAP NetWeaver PI).

The following figure illustrates a simple mapping step. Note that the figure illustrates what happens both at configuration time and at runtime, and shows systems

connected to each other rather than process components. But keep in mind that mappings can already be defined at design time.

Simple Mapping Concatenating two Fields of a Source Structure into one Single Target Structure Field

Routing

Routing covers all rules that define the flow of messages between different systems at runtime. SAP NetWeaver PI supports in particular routing that depends on

the content of the exchanged message. For example, you can define a routing rule of the form that all messages with a specific value of one particular message

field will be sent to a specific receiver system.

For example, the runtime engine of SAP NetWeaver PI detects messages where the customer number field has a specific value and forwards them to specific

receiver systems, which are intended to handle requests coming from the corresponding customer.

The following figure shows a scenario where a message is forwarded to three different receivers:

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Routing a Message to Three Different Receiver Systems


When you run a scenario based on SAP NetWeaver PI, multiple systems or applications (shortly referred to as application system orbusiness system)

communicate with each other using an interconnected system that hosts one or more runtime engines. Connectivity and message processing capabilities are

technically based on the runtime engines. When you install SAP NetWeaver PI, you install one or more runtime engines on a host system. SAP NetWeaver PI

provides different installation options, each of them offering different options for setting up the runtime engines.


Basically, you can install SAP NetWeaver PI in the following ways.

Installation Option Description

Dual-stack installation Is technically based on both AS ABAP and AS Java and comprises the complete functional range of SAP NetWeaver PI.

Provides tools for designing and configuring integration content (Enterprise Services Repository, Integration Directory and System

Landscape Directory), as well as the following runtime engines:

Integration Engine

Business Process Engine

Advanced Adapter Engine

More information: SAP NetWeaver PI Dual-Stack Installation

Advanced Adapter

Engine Extended

(AEX)

Is technically based on AS Java only.

Provides tools for designing and configuring integration content (Enterprise Services Repository, Integration Directory and System

Landscape D irectory), as well as the Advanced Adapter Engine as runtime engine.

However, when using this installation option, the functional range of these tools is slightly restricted as compared to an SAP

NetWeaver PI installation.

In releases prior to SAP NetWeaver 7.3, an SAP NetWeaver PI installation was always based on both AS ABAP and AS Java

(dual-stack). As of SAP NetWeaver 7.3, you have the option to choose an AS Java-only installation option, the AEX.

More information:Advanced Adapter Engine Extended

You have also the option to combine the Process Integration capabilities of the AEX with SAP NetWeaver Business Process Management by installing

Process Orchestration.

For more information, see SAP NetWeaver Library at help.sap.com under SAP NetWeaver Library: Function-Oriented View Process Orchestration .

Do not mistake cross-component Business Process Management (ccBPM) for Process Orchestration.

Process Orchestration is based on AS Java only, and modeling is performed using the Process Composer. In contrast to that, ccBPM contains functions for

enhanced service orchestration as part of a dual-stack SAP NetWeaver installation. It is based on both Application Server Java and Application Server

ABAP. Modeling in the context of ccBPM is performed using the Enterprise Services Repository (based on integration processes as design time objects).

Runtime Engines

Note

Note

Note

Caution


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Depending on the used installation option, SAP NetWeaver PI provides the following runtime engines:

Integration Engine (IE) (only for dual-stack installation option)

Based in Application Server ABAP and contains the following adapters: IDoc (IE), XI (connectivity to proxy runtime), HTTP (IE), as well as the connectivity to

systems or applications based on Web Services Reliable Messaging (WS channel).

Advanced Adapter Engine

Based on AS Java and provides the following adapters: RFC Adapter, SAP Business Connector Adapter, File/FTP Adapter, JDBC Adapter, JMS Adapter,

SOAP Adapter, Marketplace Adapter, Mail Adapter, RNIF Adapter, CDIX Adapter, IDoc Adapter (AAE) (adapter type DOC_AAE), HTTP Adapter (AAE)

(adapter type HTTP_AAE).

Business Process Engine (only for dual-stack installation option)

Based in AS ABAP and comes into play when you execute scenarios that contain integration processes (cross-component Business Process Management).

Connectivity Options

The following figure shows an overview of the available connectivity options for both dual-stack and AEX installation option.

Connectivity Options of SAP NetWeaver Dual-Stack and AEX

Phases of an Integration Project

Decoupling Business Semantics from Implementation Details

If we assume the different parts of a cross-system business application and their interactions are hard-coded on the individual systems that the process spans,

then every change at the technical implementation level (such as changing a server address) entails a change to the whole business process. This is time-

consuming, error prone, and does not scale for complex business processes and large system landscapes. Therefore, one basic princip le of SAP NetWeaver PI

is to de-couple the business semantics from the technical details of the concrete system landscape. Business semantics are, for example, the business flow of a

process and its separation into individual application components, as well as the structure of exchanged data. These aspects of a business process are merely

determined by business considerations rather than by details of the implementation or of the concrete system landscape.

Design Time, Configuration Time, and Runtime

Based on this de-coupling, it is possible to describe the integration-relevant aspects of a business process at an abstract level first irrespective of the details of

a particular system landscape. We call the corresponding phase of an integration project the design time. In other words, at design time, you can specify an

integration scenario independent from any technical details that are implementation-relevant or system landscape-relevant.

In a later phase at configuration time the integration scenario will be configured such that it runs in a specific system landscape. The phase when the

integration scenario is executed is referred to as runtime. You can consider one and the same integration scenario being deployed on completely different system

landscapes. For example, in one case there is a material management integration scenario that spans only a few systems within a midsize company, whereas in

another case the same integration scenario spans several hundreds of systems located in the different departments of a large enterprise. The same scenario in

this case involves the execution of the same business logic - just on a different scale. The scenario is finally executed at runtime and can be monitored by an

administrator.

The following figure illustrates the relationship of the design time and runtime view:


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Comparison of Design Time and Runtime View

The upper part of the figure shows an interaction of two application components as modeled at design time. As an example, the left application component sends

a request to the right one. You can consider this interaction as one little part of an integration scenario.

At configuration time, this interaction is configured in a way that it runs in a specific system landscape.

The lower part of the figure shows the runtime view which results out of the configuration time activities.

The system landscape in general is composed of many business systems. For the request-response interaction outlined in the figure, the business logic of the

requestor application component is deployed on (one or more) sender systems, and the business logic of the responding application component is deployed on

(one or more) receiver systems. The communication of sender and receiver systems is mediated by the SAP NetWeaver PI runtime.

The three phases introduced here can be considered to be phases of an integration project.

More Information

Design Time

Configuration Time

Runtime

Design Time

At design time, an integration developer designs the integration-relevant aspects of a business process at an abstract level, independent from any

implementation-relevant details.

The following aspects of a business process can already be sp ecified at design time:

The process flow and its separation into individual process components (or application components)

The Enterprise Services Repository (ES Repository) allows you to outline the integration-relevant aspects of business processes, for example, using a process

integration scenario model type.

The interfaces that determine the data exchange between application components and the detailed structure of the data of the messages that is being

exchanged

The mapping or transformation of data structures on both sides of a connectionIn a mediated communication step, the sender normally uses a data format and structure for sending out a message that is different to the one that the receiver

can handle. The data structure and format used by the sender therefore has to be transformed into the structure and format that the receiver can handle. This

type of transformation is called mapping. You specify the corresponding transformation rules in the ES Repository in the form of mapping objects.

The design time-relevant aspects are specified and stored in the ES Repository. The corresponding content is referred to as integration content.

It is recommended to design integration content using the top-down design approach.

More information: Top-Down Design

Note

Recommendation


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Top-Down Design

When you apply the top-down design approach, you first define the overall integration scenario at a high level, in particular, its separation into individual process

components and how these are connected with each other. This gives you a birds eye view of the integration. You do this in a model, as we will show below.

Based on the model, you then specify the other relevant integration content objects like interfaces, data types, and mappings in more detail.

These are the main tasks when you design integration content top-down:

Design Task Design Objects

Modeling the integration-relevant aspects of a

cross-component process or how process

components interact with each other

Process models

You define a process model to start with (for example, a process integration scenario). Based on the model,

you create the corresponding integration content that specifies the integration in more detail (interface

objects, mapp ing objects, and communication channel templates).

Specifying how one process component (or

application component) exchanges messages

with another

Interface objects

There are different interface object types available that describe these aspects from the communication

mode of message exchange down to the detailed data structure of a message.

Specifying how data structures are transformed

into each other

Mapping objects

Pre-configuring connectivity/adapters Communication channel templates

You use communication channel templates to specify those adapter settings for connectivity that are already

known at design time.

After having finished the design tasks in the ES Repository, you need to generate proxies for the interface objects in the corresponding back-end systems The

interface objects defined in the ES Repository are merely metadata that are independent from any programming language. Using proxy generation, you convert

non-language-specific interface descriptions into executable interfaces.

Configuration Time

At configuration time, an integration expert (for example, an integration consultant) configures the integration scenario specified at design time for a speci fic sys tem

landscape to enable the scenario to run in this system landscape.

The first configuration task is to identify the players of the game at runtime the systems that actually communicate with each other and relate them to the

corresponding p rocess components.

At configuration time, the interaction of abstract application components is typically broken down into sys tem-to-sys tem interactions.

Based on this assignment, an integration expert specifies further details on how the messages are to be exchanged between the systems:

How the messages are routed by the runtime engine from a sender system to one or multiple receiver systems

How the individual systems (each may be based on different technical characteristics) can be connected to the runtime engine (connectivity and adapters)

Which security-relevant settings apply to the data exchange (for example, if messages are s ecured using digital signatures)

Configuration Settings in the Integration Directory

The relevant configuration settings in Integration Directory are structured in the following way:

Collaboration Profile

Defines those entities that interact with each other based on the exchange of XML messages.

These are typically sys tems or appli cations and are represented at configuration time by communication components. In addition to that, you define the

communication capabilities of the components. These are represented by communication channels.

Optionally, you can also define communication parties as additional entities, typ ically suitable in b usiness-to-business scenarios.Configuration of Message Exchange

Specifies how messages are exchanged between communication components.

At configuration time individual sys tem-to-sys tem interactions are spec ified. As a configuration expert has to provide all the information necessary for the runtime

engine to handle the exchange of messages, it is most natural to take up the position of the runtime engine. This means, for each incoming message (which

arrives at the runtime engine), the configuration expert has to determine what should happen with this message - for example, which receiver systems it is to

be sent to, or how it is to be mapped.

Configuration of Message Exchange

The following figure illustrates what happens with an incoming message:

Processing of an Incoming Message

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For an incoming message the following aspects have to be specified:

Inbound p rocess ing

Defines how the incoming message is to be transformed technically to the XML message format that the runtime engine (PI runtime) understands.

Inbound processing might also include additional security-relevant aspects, for example, how to handle the signature of the incoming message, or how to

decrypt the incoming message, if these special s ecurity standards have b een applied by the sender of the message.

Routing

Defines which receivers the incoming message is to be forwarded to.

The figure indicates the fact that in general multiple receivers can be configured for an incoming message.

The configuration of routing may also include routing conditions.

Mapping

Defines how the business data of the message is to be transformed with regard to a particular receiver (in contrast to the technical XML message format that is

handled during inbound processing).

For an incoming message sent to a particular receiver you select a predefined mapping from the ES Repository.

Outbound processing

Defines how a message should be transformed technically with regard to a specific receiver. Outbound processing again implies a technical transformation

step: A transformation from the XML message format that the runtime engine speaks to the protocol or standard that the receiver system can handle.

Outbound processing may also cover additional security-relevant aspects, for example, how to sign or encrypt an outgoing message in case these security

standards are agreed on with the receiver.

Use of the Terms Outbound and Inbound

When used in the context of design time objects, the terms outbound/inbound refer to the perspective of the application component. When used in the

context of configuration time objects, the terms outbound/inbound refer to the perspective of the runtime engine.

For example: An outbound service interface (a design time entity) is a service interface whereby a message is sent out from the application (where the

interface is implemented) to another application. In mediated scenarios, such a message is sent first to the runtime engine of SAP NetWeaver PI

(interconnected between the two applications) and then sent from there to the other application. Therefore, a message sent by an outbound interface is the

incoming (or inbound) message as seen from the perspective of the runtime engine. In other words: The incoming message (as used in the configuration time

context) is then determined by an outbound interface implemented on a sender system.

The procedure and the relevant configuration objects needed to configure the message exchange depend on the chosen installation and connectivity option.

Configuration data maintained in Integration Directory is made available to the involved runtime engines by a cache refresh mechanism.

Based on these configuration settings, the message is processed at runtime by the involved runtime engines.

More Information


Runtime

Runtime

The business p rocess is executed in the sys tem landscape at runtime, which means that the process is executed and messages are exchanged between the

systems involved. In mediated scenarios, messages are processed b y a central instance or: runtime engine that interconnects the systems.

This section provides detailed information on how a message is processed by the involved runtime engines.

At runtime, a message passes through the following steps:

1. Sender adapter processingBased on the configuration of the sender adapter, the message is transformed technically to the XML message format the PI runtime can process (XI

message format). In case also additional security-related configuration settings apply, the message is handled accordingly.

2. Runtime engine pipeline processing

Processing of the message in the pipeline contains the following steps:

1. Inbound XML validation

Based on the configuration settings, the inbound message is checked with regard to validity of its XML schema.

2. Receiver determination

Based on the configuration setting (routing configuration) that is found in the runtime cache for the message, the receivers of the message and the routing

conditions are evaluated. The receiver is written into the message header. In case multiple receivers are configured, for each receiver, a separate message

is created.

3. Mapping

Based on the configuration setting (mapping configuration) that is found in the runtime cache for the message, the assigned mapping program is performed

and the content of the message transformed accordingly.

4. Interface determination

Based on the inbound interface configuration that is found for the message, the assigned inbound interface (at the receiver side) is evaluated.

More sophisticated scenarios can be configured where a message is sent to multiple inbound interfaces or where a large message is split into several

Note

Note

Note


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message chunks which are then sent to different inbound interfaces. For sakes of simplicity we do not consider these cases here. .

5. Outbound XML validation

Based on the configuration settings, the outbound message (to be sent to the receiver) is checked with regard to validity of its XML schema.

3. Receiver adapter processing

Based on the configuration of the receiver adapter, the message is transformed technically from the XI message format to the format the receiver can process.

In case also additional security-related configuration settings apply, the message is handled accordingly.

Messages

The message format used by the SAP NetWeaver PI runtime engines is based on XML. Since a message can also have binary attachments in addition to the

business data in XML, this documentation refers predominantly to messages in general and not specifically toXML messages.

XML Properties

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) allows the description of data in a form that is legible for people. An XML schema definition specifies which elements may

be used, which attributes have these elements, and what structure they have. More than one instance (a document that matches an XML schema definition) can

exist for each schema. The following example of an instance illustrates that the elements in a schema are ordered hierarchically:

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Confirmed

These elements (for example, ) are also known as tags in HTML.

You can describe the structure of a schema by us ing anXML schema. As well as the description of the structure of an XML document (elements, attributes,

hierarchy), this language allows you to define simple and complex data types. Note the following difference:

XML schema language provides a series of language constructs that you can use to describe an XML schema.

XML schema definition describes exactly oneXML schema and is defined using theXML schema language.

More than one schema instance can exist for an XML schema. A schema instance is anXML document; its structure and values are defined using a

corresponding XML schema definition. The process whereby the system checks whether an XML document matches a schema definition is called validation.

The termsXML instance orschema instance are often used instead of XML document. Whereas the term XML document is normally used to refer to a

document on a file system, the storage medium is less important in the other two terms.

The W3C recommendation for XML schema dated May 2, 2001 comprises three parts: HYPERLINK "http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-0/", HYPERLINK

"http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-1/" und HYPERLINK "http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-2/".

Message Protocol

The message protocol used by SAP NetWeaver PI is based on the W3C note SOAP Messages with Attachments. For more information, see

www.w3.org/TR/SOAP-attachments. The runtime engine of SAP NetWeaver PI expects a message that has the following structure:

Note

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Message Structure

The SOAP header of a message contains all the important information that the runtime engine of SAP NetWeaver PI requires to forward the message, while the

Payloadcontains the actual business data (such as in the example above). You can also append an unlimited number ofattachments to

the message before it is sent. Attachments typically comprise non-XML data, for example, pictures, text documents, or binary files.

The information in the message header must have the correct format for the message to be processed by the runtime engine of SAP NetWeaver PI. The payload

is not touched unless a mapping needs to be executed.

Discussion

Using XML technology has, among others, the following advantages:

XML is the standard exchange format in the Internet. Before this standard was created, there were practically no open exchange formats, which made

communication in heterogeneous system landscapes very difficult.

Further standards and tools now exist that make working with XML even easier, examples being XML Schema, XSLT and XPath. XSLT (eXtensible

Stylesheet Language for Transformations), for example, enables you to define mappings for messages with different structures. XPath expressions enable

conditions to be evaluated depending on values in the payload. Evaluations of this type are required for receiver determination in logical routing.

As a standardized format, XML also enables you to connect to external systems. Once data from an external system has been converted to XML using an

adapter, then it is a simple step to convert the data to other XML formats for other receivers.

Web Services Protocol

Aside from the message protocol, SAP NetWeaver PI supports the Web services protocol. A Web service is a modularized, executable unit. It can be called in

heterogeneous system landscapes and is not restricted to a single host system. Based on the given input parameters, output is determined by the system. This

is then passed back to the caller subsequently. SOAP, WSDL, UDDI, and WS-RM are the core standard for all Web service approaches.

Process Integration Landscapes

Central Versus Federated Landscape Design

SAP NetWeaver Process Integration landscapes can be designed in the following ways:

One s ingle SAP NetWeaver PI instance (PI instance) is used as integration middleware for the complete system landscape.

Multiple PI instances are used in conjunction with each other. In this case, each PI instance covers either different kinds of scenarios or different parts of the

system landscape.

This kind of landscape design is called federated PI. Federated landscapes are the medium of choice in situations where you need to strictly separate parts of

your business according to different needs.

A globally-acting enterprise designs its PI landscape in such a way that a central PI instance (for example, a dual-stack PI installation) is used for

business-to-business processes that span several countries. In addition to this, local PI ins tallations (for example, in that case, Advanced Adapter Engine

Extended installations) are used to cover processes that run within individual countries.

As a second example, an enterprise can also separate landscapes for different organizational units.

You can use both dual-stack PI instances and Advanced Adapter Engine Extended (AEX) instances (based on AS Java only) in a federated way.

You can also mix both installation options in a federated landscape design.

The following figure shows an example of a federated PI landscape with mixed usage of PI dual-stack installation and AEX installation.

Example of a Federated PI Landscape (one Dual-Stack PI Instance is Used Centrally and Multiple AEX Instances are Used Locally)

For each landscape design, you need to consider how to set up the individual PI components namely, the Enterprise Services Repository, the Advanced

Adapter Engine, and the System Landscape Di rectory.

The following section provides an overview of the possible constellations of the PI components for different landscape design.

Using Different Landscapes for Development, Test and Productive Usage

Consider the following, additional dimension of landscape design: In general it is recommended to set up separate landscapes for development, test, and

Example


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productive usage.

In particular, it is recommended to design the landscapes in such a way that the test landscape is as s imilar to the productive landscape as possible. That way,

it can be made sure that the most important productive scenarios can be anticipated and covered by the test cases.

More information:

Using Local and Central Enterprise Services Repositories

Using Central and Non-Central Advanced Adapter Engines

Using Local and Central System Landscape Directories

Using Local and Central Enterprise Services Repositories

In a federated landscape design, you can choose between the following constellations with regard to the Enterprise Services Repository (ES Repository):

Using a separate local ES Repository for each PI instance

In this setup, on each PI instance within the landscape, one ES Repository is hosted and directly connected to the local Integration Directory and runtime

engines (Advanced Adapter Engine, Integration Engine in case of dual-stack installation).

One disadvantage of this setup is that ESR content needs to be synchronized between different local ES Repositories and transport scenarios have to be

scheduled accordingly.

Using one central ES Repository and connecting each local PI instance to the central ES Repository

In this setup, only one ES Repository is hosted on the central PI instance. The Integration Directory and the runtime engines (Advanced Adapter Engine,

Integration Engine in case of dual-stack installation) of the local PI instance are directly connected to the central ES Repository.

The advantage of this option is that you can minimize total cost of ownership as the number of ES Repositories is minimized. You can minimize the need for

transport scenarios and administration tasks like user management.

The following figure illustrates for the dual-stack installation option how the most relevant PI components interact in a central ES Repository landscape design.

Constellation of PI Components when a Central ES Repository Is Used (for Dual-Stack Installation)

When you use a central ES Repository, the involved PI components communicate with each other in the following ways:

Integration Directory (local and central one) calls central ES Repository in order to access design objects for input helps.

This communication is needed in order to enable an Integration Directory user to open a (central) ES Repository object from the (local or central) Integration

Directory. In the following, examples for this kind of access are given:

Creating any configuration object (for example, integrated configuration) with a service interface as key element: select service interface from ES Repository

(for example, to specify the receiver interface key field in an integrated configuration).

Editing integrated configuration: select operation mapping from ES Repository.

Creating communication component (type integration process): Select integration process from ES Repository.

Central ES Repository sends cache notification to the central Integration Directory after a design object in ES Repository has been activated or after an import.

As indicated in figure above, the central Integration Directory then sends a cache notification to the relevant local Integration Directories (as necessary).

Local Integration Directories cannot be notified directly be the central ES Repository.

Central ES Repository calls central Integration Directory in order to access a list of communication channels in case mappings with mapping look-ups are

tested.

In order to perform cache connectivity tests, the central ES Repository calls the central Integration Directory in order to obtain cache connectivity test data.

Note


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Central Integration Directory calls the local Integration Directories to obtain the relevant test data (to be forwarded to the ES Repository).

It is mandatory to use a central System Landscape Directory (SLD) in case you configure your PI instance to use a central ES Repository. All PI systems

sharing the same central ES Repository must be registered in the same (central) SLD.

Be careful when switching a PI landscape with a lot of existing content to central ES Repository usage. It is recommended to configure usage of central ESRepository once when the PI landscape is set up and not during productive usage. Note that switching to a central ES Repository can invalidate existing

configurations in the Integration Directory (because ESR objects might be missing in the central ES Repository).

Using Central and Non-Central Advanced Adapter Engines

You can set up the Advanced Adapter Engine in the following ways, depending on the chosen installation option.

More information: Installation Options

Dual-Stack PI Installation

In a dual-stack PI installation, you have the following options how to set up the Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE).

You can use the AAE as part of the Integration Server.

This option is called central Adapter Engine.

You can use the AAE stand-alone, next to the Integration Server.

That means, the AAE can be installed on a system with a different SAP system ID (SID) than the Integration Server and can be used as an independent

integration hub. However, note that you need an ES Repository and an Integration Directory as design and configuration tools in order to set up the scenarios.

This option is called non-central Advanced Adapter Engine.

The following figure illustrates the constellations of PI components in a non-central AAE setup for a PI dual-stack installation:

Using a Non-Central AAE within a Dual-Stack PI Installation

By default, the non-central AAE uses the user management of the Integration Server. In order to decouple the non-central AAE from the Integration Server also

with regard to user management, you have also the option to configure a local user management on the host of the non-central AAE.

This setup enables you a more robust usage of the non-central AAE.

More information: User Management for Non-Central AAE (PI-AF)

Advanced Adapter Engine Extended (AEX) Installation

In an AEX installation, you also have the option of using an AAE non-centrally.

The design and configuration environment (ES Repository and Integration Directory) resides on the system of the central AAE. Both central and non-central AAE

register themselves at the same Sys tem Landscape Directory (SLD).

The following figure illustrates the constellations of PI components in a non-central AAE setup for an installation of the Advanced Adapter Engine Extended (AEX):

Caution

Recommendation

Note


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Using a Non-Central AAE Within an AEX

With regard to user management, the non-central AAE works completely autarkic because it uses a local User Management Engine.

More information:Advanced Adapter Engine Extended

Using Local and Central System Landscape Directories

The System Landscape Directory (SLD) is a key component in each PI landscape.

It stores information of software components, products and systems that needs to be accessed to during different phases of an integration project.

Role of the SLD in PI Landscapes

The SLD is used in PI landscapes in the following way.

At design time, the SLD needs to be accessed for the following purposes: It provides a software catalog that stores information of products and software

components. A software component is a shipment unit for design objects in the ES Repository, for example, integration scenarios or interface objects. When youcreate design objects in the ES Repository for productive usage, as a prerequisite you need to import an SLD-based software component into the ES Repository.

At configuration time and runtime, the SLD needs to be accessed for the following purposes: It stores information on business systems and technical systems. A

business system represents a logical system that is used as sender or receiver of messages in an integration scenario. A technical system represents the

phys ical system as identified by a server address and other attributes. When you configure an integration scenario for a specific sys tem landscape us ing the

Integration Directory as configuration tool, you rely on the SLD data. At runtime, the correlation between business systems and assigned technical systems also

needs to be evaluated.

For performance reasons, relevant SLD data is hold in an SLD cache to allow faster access from Integration Directory or runtime engines to SLD data. In order to

allow SLD cache refresh, the availability of the SLD is critical.

SLD also contains the mapp ing of business system names as used in the development, test and productive landscapes. To evaluate this mapp ing, availability

of the SLD is also critical when transporting Integration Directory content from a development to a test environment, for example.

To summarize, availability of the SLD is critical for the following activities:

Creation of products and software components (as basis for further design tasks in ES Repository)

Creation of business and technical systems (as basis for further configuration tasks in Integration Directory)

Cache refresh

(Re)start of PI components

Recommendations for SLD Landscapes

The general recommendation is to set up one (central) SLD for each productive PI landscape.

As availab ility of the SLD is critical for productive usage of PI, in a federated PI landscape you can set up additional (local) SLDs for each local PI instance.

In addition to that depending on the individual requirements of your business you can set up a separate SLD for each non-productive landscape like

development or test landscape, for example.

In order to come to a final decision of your SLD landscape design, you need to trade the advantages of one single central SLD (low hardware requirements and low

operation costs) off against the needs of high availability of SLD data.

More information: Planning Guide System Landscape Directory available underhttp://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/nw-sld (How to Plan Your SLD

System Landscape)

Advanced Concepts


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This section covers advanced concepts like, for example, mapping and content-based routing.

The individual sub sections serve as background information and are linked to from the relevant procedures (for example, under Developing and Configuring

Integration Scenarios (Dual-Stack) and Developing and Configuring Integration Scenarios (AEX)).


More information:

Advanced concepts related to design time:Using Predefined Integration Content

Interface Objects

Mapping Objects

Advanced concepts related to configuration time:

Describing the System Landscape in the SLD

Separation of Business Systems and Technical Systems


Content-Based Routing

B2B Configuration

Using Predefined Integration Content

You have the option to start an integration development project using integration content predefined by SAP. There is a lot of predefined content already available

that can be reused and which helps customers to save time and effort in their integration development projects. Typically, customers do not use predefined

content 1:1 without adapting it to their needs. A typ ical use case is that customers use data types, service interfaces, and mappings provided by SAP and build

their own process model based on these entities, enriched by interfaces and mappings developed on their own. Another option is to use a predefined process

model (and all underlying entities) where only one side of the communication is specified, and to specify the other part of the communication at the customer side.

The central location to browse for predefined integration content is the Enterprise Services Workplace (ES Workplace). You can access the ES Workplace in SAP

Community Network at https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/explore-es.

The term enterprise service is used to emphasize the fact that the ES Repository contains services that were designed according to SAPs SOA design

princip les. Technically, this term summarizes interface objects. In this document, we intend to name these objects in particular, that is, as service interface,

message type, or data type. Integration content published on the ES Workplace was designed based on integration scenario models and process componentsinteraction models. In addition to this content, SAP also provides integration content that was designed based on classic process integration scenarios.

Procedure

Before customers can use and enhance predefined content, they have to download it from SAP Service Marketplace and import it into the ES Repository installed

in their landscape. The corresponding location on SAP Service Marketplace is the SAP Software Distribution Center at http://service.sap.com/swdc Support

Packages and Patches Browse our Download Catalog SAP Content ESR Content (XI Content).

Customer modifications of predefined integration content must not be executed in an imported SAP software component: They must be performed in a separate

software component instead.

This avoids conflicts with subsequent SAP software updates since changes to an SAP software component will be immediately overwritten when SAP

software updates are imported.

Therefore, to be able to use predefined integration content provided by SAP, you have to create an own software component version for your developments.

The new software component version has to include the SAP software component (that contains the predefined content) as the underlying software component

version. To do this, define a based-on relationship between the new software component and the SAP software component.

More information: Underlying Software Component Version

When you use process integration content for SAP applications, make sure that there is an unambiguous (1:1) relationship between the corresponding

software component version in the ES Repository and the corresponding software component version in the SAP system. This is the same for the support

package. This means, the versions of both, software component version and support package number, need to be kept in sync in ES Repository and the

SAP system. They have to be installed and maintained synchronously.

More information: Managing Enterprise Services Delivered by SAP

Note

Note

Note

Note


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Interface Objects

Interface objects provide all details on how one process component exchanges data with another, for example, the mode of communication and the data structures.

The following table summarizes the interface object types:

Object

Type

Description

Service

interface

Defines a set of functions that is either provided by an application or used by an application; contains one or multiple operations. Each operation

refers to one or more message types.

Message

type

Defines the root element of a message and refers to a data type.

Data type Defines a data structure.

External

definition

Externally-defined data structure that is imported into the ES Repository.

Imported

object

RFC or IDoc interface that is imported into the ES Repository.

Context

object

Design object that can be used as an abbreviated expression for an XPath expression to address a specific payload element. Context objects

are used in routing conditions.

Interface objects can reference each other in a specific way. The possible object references are shown in the following figure.

Object References Between Interface Ob jects

More information: Interface Objects in the ES Repository

Service Interfaces, Operations and Message Types

As interface objects also encapsulate each other (as illustrated in the figure above), a top-down design approach is also feasible, starting with the definition of a

service interface.

A service interface represents a set of functions that is either provided by an app lication (inbound service interface) or used by an application (outbound service

interface). You can consider the set of functions a service interface represents as a subset of the functions implemented by a process component. However, a

service interface in the ES Repository contains merely the metadata of a service, abstracted from any implementation details.

Service interfaces are based on Web Services Description Language (WSDL), an XML-based language for describ ing Web services and how to access them.

However, when you create interface objects in the ES Repository, you do not need to be familiar with the syntax of WSDL because you can use the relevant editor

to specify the interface attributes.

The Categoryservice interface attribute determines whether the service interface is an outbound or an inbound service interface.

Only for dual-stack installation option: TheAbstractcategory is only intended for communication with an integration process (cross-component BPM).

A service interface groups one or multiple operations. An operation represents the smallest, separately-callable function, described by a set of data types used

as input or output. You can specify the Communication Mode for each operation. This attribute determines if the communication defined by the operation is

synchronous or asynchronous. In a synchronous communication step, a response is expected for each call or request message that is sent out. In an

asynchronous communication step, a request message is sent out but no response is expected.

You assign one or multiple message types for each operation depending on the communication mode.

A message type defines the root element of a message. You use a message to exchange data between systems. A message type refers to exactly one data type

that defines the structure of this data.

For a synchronous operation, you ass ign three message types: A request, a response, and a fault message type. A fault message type represents the message

that is expected in case an error occurs. For an asynchronous operation, you only assign one request message type. The following figure shows the role the

different interface objects play for the message exchange. The example shows an asynchronous message exchange where a request message is sent from the

service consumer to the service p rovider.

Note


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Asynchronous Message Exchange Between a Service Consumer and a Service Provider

The following figure shows a synchronous message exchange including a request and a response message being defined for the service interface operation:

Synchronous Message Exchange Between a Service Consumer and a Service Provider

In a lot of scenarios, the application forces that a specific communication sequence and transactional behavior is maintained during message exchange. With the

attribute Interface Pattern you can design this behavior in the ES Repository. An interface pattern describes the type of communication that is to be executed on

the message when the interface is used. It determines what kind of operations can be defined for a service interface. The interface pattern that you select has an

impact on the activities related to the programming of the business logic in the related back-end system (task of application developer).

For mediated communication using an integration broker, the interface patterns that fit most use cases are Stateless orStateless (XI 3.0-compatible).

The interface pattern Stateless (XI 3.0-compatible) is used by default for all interfaces migrated from earlier releases of SAP NetWeaver PI

(namely, SAP NetWeaver PI 7.0 and SAP NetWeaver XI 3.0) to SAP NetWeaver PI 7.1 (called message interfaces in earlier releases). Additionally, this

interface pattern is recommended for scenarios that use the common technical adapters such as the File/FTP, JDBC, JMS adapter. However, using this

pattern limits the service interface to use only one operation.

The default pattern for developing new service interfaces is Stateless.

The interface pattern Tentative Update & Confirm/Compensate (TU &C/C) has been developed to improve the transactional behavior when using

synchronous messages. TheTU &C/C pattern ensures that - in cases of system or communication failure - one of more synchronous update calls in one

transactional context are executed and ensure a consistent dataset on both sides of the communication.

More information: Service Interface

Data Types

A data type determines the data structure for a spec ific business entity, for example, an address. Data types are referenced by message types and thereforedefine the structure of a message.

As defined in the ES Repository, data types are based on XML Schema (also referred to asXSD). Data types can reference other data types which enables you

to build up complex data types out of simpler ones. The basis for all data types are XSD types contained in XML schema and app roved by W3C, (for example,

xsd:string, xsd:decimal, xsd:integer). These data types define the properties of an element at a technical level.

More information: Data Types in the Enterprise Services Repository

External Definitions

If you would like to reuse existing XML definitions as message definitions described in either WSDL or XSD, you can import these XML definitions into the ES

Repository, rather than re-enter them manually using the data type editor. You then encapsulate the imported definition in the form of an external definition.

Context Objects

With a context objects, you can specify an XPATH express ion that can be used to access a field in an XML message.

These expressions can then be used at configuration time to configure content-based routing and in integration processes (ccBPM)

More information: Context Objects

Imported Objects

If you would like to reuse XML definitions of existing functions - RFCs or IDocs - so that you can call these functions using the Integration Server, you can import

IDocs and RFCs into the ES Repository and make the interface signature known there.

Note


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Mapping Objects

In a mediated communication step of an integration scenario, the sender normally uses a data format and structure for sending out a message that is different to the

one that the receiver can handle. The data structure and format used by the sender therefore has to be transformed into the structure and format that the receiver

can handle. This type of transformation is called mapping. You specify the corresponding transformation rules in the ES Repository in the form of mapping

objects.

From the runtime engine's perspective, the incoming message (sent from a sender) has to be transformed into an outbound message that is sent to a specific

receiver.

The term mappingdescribes transformations on the level of the bus iness data that is exchanged between process components. This can inc lude special

formats for particular business entities, such as the format of a time field in a message. Transformations on the level of the technical transport protocol are

handled by adapters (configured at configuration time).

Since mappings are determined by business needs and describe data transformations on a business level, they can be defined at design time. Therefore, most

tasks related to mapping are performed in the ES Repository. At configuration time, in the Integration Directory, you merely have to select the right mapping for a

specific communication step (or interaction).

Mapping Prog rams

A mapp ing is implemented by a mapping program.

More information: Mapping Programs

Overview of Mapping O bjects

The following object types are available in the ES Repository for designing mappings:

Object

Type

Description

Operation

mapping

Assigns a mapping p rogram for a pair of service interface operations.

An operation mapping encapsulates the mapping program that has to be executed at runtime.

Message

mapping

Mapping object created when you use the graphical mapping editor. A message mapping has to be referred to by an operation mapping.

Imported

archive

Encapsulates an externally developed Java or XSLT (Java) mapping program. An imported archive has to be referred to by an operation mapping.

Mapping

template

Contains parts of a message mapp ing that can be used as a copy template to create new message mappings. Mapping templates can refer to

other mapping templates, thus enabling maximum reuse in mapp ing development.

Value

mapping

group

A value mapp ing transforms values of message elements.

A value mapp ing group is a configuration object (Integration Directory) that contains mapp ings between different representations of one and the

same object. Mapping programs (developed at design time) can refer to a value mapp ing table; however, since the actual values in many

scenarios are not known at design time, the value mapping table content is maintained in the Integration Directory (see also Value Mappings).

The following figure shows the most important object references between mapping objects (also including the object references to interface objects):

Object References Between Mapping Objects

Mapping Programs

Note


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A mapp ing is implemented by a mapping program. You use a mapping program to define:

How structure nodes (or elements) in the source structure are assigned to structure nodes in the target structure

Usually, elements with the same semantic meaning are assigned to each other. This part of the mapping is usually referred to as structure mapping.

How the source element is transformed into a value target element

SAP NetWeaver Process Integration supports the use of different kinds of mapping programs:

Message mapping

With a message mapping, you map one message type to another by using a graphical editor in the ES Repository. A mapping program is generated from the

graphical design.

Java program and XSLT (Java) program

These mapping programs are developed in Java and XSLT (eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) respectively, and imported into the ES

Repository as an archive.

XSLT(eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) is a language that enables you to convert an XML document to another document. You can

develop mappings with XSLT and import them to the ES Repository.

ABAP program and XSLT (ABAP) program

These mapping programs are developed using the ABAP Workbench. At runtime, these programs are executed on the ABAP Engine of the Application Server

on which the Integration Server is running.

These kinds of mapping programs cannot be imported into the ES Repository and therefore are not shipped by SAP. They have to be developed in theSAP system at the customers site.

For usability reasons, it makes sense to design message mappings because you can use the graphical editor.

Operation Mapping

You use an operation mapping to relate an outbound service interface operation with an inbound service interface operation. You can also relate IDoc and RFCinterfaces with entities of the same type or with service interface operations. This is illustrated in the following figure:

Assigning Service Interface Operations with an Operation Mapping

You define the assignment of the operations related to each other in an operation mapping, whereas in a mapping program you define the detailed transformation

rules for the transformation of a source structure (representing the message sent by the outbound operation) into a target structure (representing the message

received by the inbound operation).

The number of mapping programs or transformation rules you need to define for an operation mapping depends on the communication mode:

Synchronous communication

A synchronous operation (see section Defining Interface Ob jects) refers to a request, a response, and in some cases a fault message. Therefore, in general

you have to define a mapping program for both request and response messages. If fault messages are used, you have to define an additional mapping

program for the fault message.

Asynchronous communication

You only need one mapping program.

An operation mapp ing encapsulates the used mapping program (either defined graphically by a message mapp ing or contained in an imported archive).

Message Mappings (Overview)

In a message mapping, you assign a source and a target message type (according to the source and target operation of the operation mapping the message

mapping is assigned to). Using a graphical editor, you can define the mapping between the source and target message type.

Note

Note

Recommendation


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Java source code is generated from the message mapping and compiled in a .jar file. At runtime, the .jar file is executed.

The graphical mapping editor is composed of three main areas (see Message Mappings (Detailed Information)). The left area shows the structure of the source

message assigned to the message mapping, the right area the structure of the target message. Below this is the data flow editor.

If you have created the message mapping based on an operation mapping, the source and target structures are already loaded according to the operations

you have chosen in the operation mapping.

You use the graphical editor to do the following:

Design a structure mapping between the elements of the source and the target structure

App ly a function to transform the source and target fields into each other, if necessary

A simple assignment between source and target fields is generally not sufficient.

In the data flow editor, you define target field mappings. A target field mapping describes how one or more source fields are mapped to a target field.

A message mapp ing is constructed from individual target field mappings.

The following kinds of function can be used to specify target field mappings:

Standard functions

These functions are already available in the mapping editor. There are several kinds of standard function available in the mapping editor. For text mappings, for

example, these include simple calculations or Boolean operations, and date format conversions.

More information:

User-defined functions

You can define your own functions if standard functions do not fulfill your requirements.

More information: User-Defined Functions and Function Libraries

More information:

Data-Flow Editor

Target Field Mappings

User-Defined Functions and Function Libraries

You can create your own user-defined function in Java source code. A user-defined function created in a message mapping or mapping template is stored in a

local function library belonging to the corresponding mapping object. To use a user-defined function in more than one message mapping or mapping template, you

have the option to create the user-defined functions in function libraries in the ES Repository.

A function library is created and maintained as a separate design object in the ES Repository.

A message mapp ing can only use function libraries that are defined in the same software component version as the message mapping, or in an underlying

version.

More information:

User-Defined Functions

Function Libraries

Describing the System Landscape in the SLD

The SAP System Landscape Directory (SLD) is the central information provider in a system landscape.

The SLD contains two types of information relevant for SAP NetWeaver Process Integration:

Component information: Information about all available SAP products and components, including their versions. If there are any third-party products in the

system landscape, they are also registered hereAt design time of the integration objects, the component information is extracted from the SLD to define process integration scenarios.

For more information, see: Enterprise Services Repository

Landscape description: This contains all installed systems in a system landscape.

At configuration time, the landscape descriptions are needed to determine the system information of the business partners involved. It consists of business

Note

Note

Note

Note

Note


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systems.

Business systems are logical sy stems that communicate with each other by sending and receiving messages. They can be SAP or third-party sys tems.

An SAP system has one or more clients that function independently of each other as logical units at runtime. Each of these clients represents a business

system in Process Integration.

A third-party sys tem is also a logical unit that functions as a sender or receiver. Therefore, third-party systems are also business systems in this sense.

Business systems are based on technical systems. More information: Separation of Business Systems and Technical Systems

If you have more than one SLD instance, you must ensure that all content is synchronized. The SLD has export and import functions for this purpose.

For more information, see:

Planning Guide System Landscape DirectoryThis guide is published in SAP Community Network at http://sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/nw-sld. The Planning Guide contains recommendations on how

to set up landscapes including the SLD and SAP NetWeaver Process Integration.

System Landscape Directory

Procedure

Configure Business Systems in the SLD

First, define and configure all business sys tems involved in the process in the SLD.

For more information, see: Configuring Business Systems in the SLD

Only once you have done so can you define the business systems as communication components in the Integration Directory and address them as the senders

and receivers of messages in later configuration steps.

You create communication components of type Business System for those systems that you are familiar with.

Configure Gr oups and Transport Targets in the SLD

An Integration Server enables communication between business systems at runtime. It cannot execute business logic.

You can assign a group of business systems to an Integration Server. A business system group is a logical grouping of business systems that use an Integration

Server to communicate with each other.

For more information, see: Configure Groups and Transport Targets in the SLD

Tasks for Changes in SLD

After you have made any changes in the SLD, always ensure that you clear the cache for SLD data in the Integration Directory. Only once you have done so can

you access up-to-date SLD content (for example, by us ing input help).

For more information, see: Delete SLD Data Cache

Example of Changes in the SLD

Change in the SLD Effect in Integration Di rectory

Create/delete a business

system

The input help for business sys tems (for example, when you define a business sys tem component) is only updated once you

clear the SLD cache.

Delete an Adapter Engine The input help for Adapter Engines in the communication channel is only updated once you clear the SLD cache.

In the following cases, ensuring that a change made in the SLD has also taken effect in the Integration Directory requires manual effort.

Changes in SLD and Additional Activities in the Integration Directory

Change in the SLD Effect in Integration Directory

Change a business system (registered as an SAP or non-SAP)

system

For more information, see: Technical System Landscape

For this change to take effect in the relevant business system service, you must

compare the data with the SLD.

For more information, see: Business System (Communication Component)

Change a business system (adapter-specific identifiers, for

example, the logical system)

For this change to take effect in the relevant business system service, you must

compare the data with the SLD.

For more information, see: Communication component

Separation of Business Systems and Technical Systems

Business systems represent logical systems, whereas technical sys tem descriptions contain information about the technical details of a sys tem. This is

information such as the server address. When the message flow that is, the routing in a system landscape is defined (in the receiver determination), this is

done based on business systems, that is, at the level of the logical systems. This separation of the routing definition from the technical details has the advantage

that the configuration is independent from any changes to the technical details of the system landscape. If, for example, a server address is changed, this has no

impact on the routing configuration.

Nevertheless, at runtime a message needs to be forwarded to a real (physically) installed system. That means that the server address has to be known at

runtime. Therefore, in addition to the logical receiver determination (as mentioned above), a technical receiver determination is performed at runtime. This

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technical receiver determination is accomplished by a mapp ing of the business system to the underlying technical system. This dependency is already defined

in the SLD since you always have to assign a technical system when creating a business system.

As an example, this mapping of a business system and technical system shows up in the configuration data in the Integration Directory in the attributes of

receiver communication channels that usually contain the server name of the receiving system. The server name is part of the technical system description

that is maintained in the SLD. On the other hand, the communication channel is assigned to a (receiver) communication component which is mapped directly

to a business system from the SLD.


In a collaboration profile you can do the following:

Model the units that you want to address as the sender or receiver of a message

Define the available communication channels for the inbound and outbound processing of the messages

Addressing Senders and Receivers

You have the following options for addressing the sender or receiver of a message:

Communication party (party for short)Communication component (component for short)

The message protocol supports the addressing of senders and receivers on two levels: The first level corresponds to a company unit, the second to a technical or

semantic unit within a company unit or company. You represent the first addressing level with the Communication Partyobject, and the second by the

Communication Componentobject.

Depending on the scenario, you can define the sender and receiver of a message very flexibly with these objects. The options are listed in the following table.

Types of Addr essing and Typical Usages

Addressing Typical Usages

Party with assigned

communication components

You use this type of addressing when configuring collaborative processes in which whole companies communicate with

each other.

You then use a communication party to represent each company. A communication component represents a business or

technical entity within a company.

In business-to-business p rocesses (or cross-company p rocesses) the companies involved usually p rovide a variety of

communication components for communicating with other companies.

Communication components

independent of a party

You use this type of addressing when configuring processes in which the system landscape is known to you. This is

usually the case in application-to-application processes.

The definition of communication parties is not mandatory. This enables you instead to specify the known communication

components directly as either the sender or receiver of a message.

Note that it may sometimes be necessary to use communication parties when configuring internal company processes, for example in the case of IDoc

communication. If the IDoc partner is not of type logical system, you must map the IDoc partner to a communication party in the Integration Directory.

Communication Components

You define the systems involved in the process as communication components in the Integration Directory.

Create communication components of type Business System for those systems that you are familiar with (using the integration expert role). These are based on

business systems that are described in the System Landscape Directory.

The system landscape descrip tion in the SLD is b ased on the following entity types:

Business sy

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