- The document discusses using Mule ESB for SAP integration. Mule ESB supports SAP integration through a certified Java connector. The connector uses SAP Java Connector (JCo) libraries to enable bidirectional communication with SAP via interfaces like IDocs and BAPIs. - The connector allows invoking SAP BAPIs and transmitting IDocs to and from SAP. For BAPIs, it supports synchronous and asynchronous RFC calls. For IDocs, it can receive and send documents to SAP. - Integrating SAP with other applications via Mule ESB provides benefits like increased business efficiency, improved visibility, and cost savings. It allows automating and streamlining business processes across different systems

1. SAP INTEGRATION
BY MULE ESB

2. OVERVIEW
-As one of the most widely used enterprise resource planning solutions on
the market, SAP plays a central role in the most critical business processes
for many companies. In order to fully automate and optimize these business
processes, companies need to integrate SAP with other applications within
their organization. This article discusses SAP integration with other
applications like Salesforce, e-POS, e-Commerce SharePoint etc. including
uses and benefits, challenges, and new approaches.
-An alternative approach to point-to-point quick fixes and expensive SOA
stacks is integrate SAP using an (Enterprise Service Bus).
-Mule’s SAP Enterprise Connector provides bidirectional communication and
works with existing SAP technologies such as:
Intermediate Documents (IDocs)
Business Application Programming Interfaces (BAPIs)
SAP Java Connector (JCo)
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3. MULE ESB SAP CONNECTOR-Mule ESB supports SAP integration
through an SAP-certified Java
connector. With the Mule Enterprise
Gateway for SAP, integration between
applications with SAP ECC is faster
and easier.
-Mule SAP JCo Connector is a
transport developed to provide bi-
directional connectivity between SAP
and other applications or tools.
Using SAP JCo connector we can
easily invoke BAPIs (Business
Application Programming Interface)
and iDocs (Intermediate Document
Interface) in SAP. The SAP JCo
connector is built using SAP Java
Connector libraries provided by SAP.
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4. MULE ESB SAP CONNECTOR
(CONT ...)
The connector leverages the SAP Java Connector (JCo) libraries, which enable
Mule applications to:
Send and receive iDocs over tRFC and qRFC
Transform all SAP objects (JCoFunction & IDocs) both to and from XML
Execute Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI) functions using
all of the following types of Remote Function Calls (RFC) like sRFC
(synchronous RFC), tRFC (transactional RFC) and qRFC (queued RFC)
Act as a JCo Server to be called as a BAPI over the following protocols like
sRFC, tRFC, qRFC
The SAP connector establishes connection to SAP system using JCO libraries
(provided by SAP). The Connector supports the option to configure SAP
connection details, connection pooling and max limit of active connections.
If the connector is used for outbound data from SAP, then ESB registers the
current Mule ESB instance as JCO destination/Gateway Server.
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5. INTEGRATION FOR SAP BAPI FUNCTION
A simple BAPI performs a single
operation, such as retrieving a list of
Product master data. The adapter
supports simple BAPI calls by
representing each with a single
business object schema. Simple
BAPIs can be used for outbound or
inbound processing. You can specify
synchronous RFC processing or
asynchronous transactional RFC
(tRFC) processing when you
configure a module for a simple
BAPI. In addition, for outbound
processing, you can specify
asynchronous queued RFC (qRFC)
processing, in which BAPIs are
delivered to a predefined queue on
the SAP server.
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6. INTEGRATION FOR SAP BAPI FUNCTION
(CONT ...)In synchronous RFC processing, the SAP server and the adapter must be
available during processing.
In outbound processing, the message flow sends a request, then waits for a
response from the SAP server.
In inbound processing, the SAP server sends a request through the adapter
to an endpoint and waits for a response from the adapter.
In asynchronous tRFC outbound processing, the adapter associates a
transaction ID with the function call to the SAP server. The adapter does not
wait for a response from the SAP server. If the delivery is unsuccessful, the
message flow can use the SAP transaction ID (TID) to make the request
again. The TID is a field in your message.
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7. INTEGRATION FOR SAP BAPI FUNCTION
(CONT ...)In asynchronous tRFC inbound processing, the adapter does not have to be
available when the SAP server runs the function call. The function call is
placed on a list of functions to be invoked, and the call is attempted until it
is successful. To send function calls from a user-defined outbound queue
on the SAP server, you also specify asynchronous tRFC inbound processing.
In asynchronous qRFC outbound processing, the process is similar to
asynchronous tRFC outbound processing. A TID is associated with the
function call, and the adapter does not wait for a response from the SAP
server. In addition, the BAPIs are delivered to a predefined queue on the
SAP server. By sending BAPIs to the predefined queue, you can ensure the
order in which they are delivered.
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8. INTEGRATION FOR SAP IDOCS
DOCUMENTSThe IDoc adapter is part of the
Integration Server. Essentially, the
IDoc adapter comprises two parts,
namely an adapter at the Integration
Server inbound channel, and an
adapter at the Integration Server
outbound channel.
The metadata for the IDoc types
involved is shared. The adapter at
the inbound channel is located
before the Integration Server pipeline
and calls this pipeline. The adapter
at the outbound channel, however, is
called by the pipeline, and can
therefore be regarded as part of the
pipeline.
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9. INTEGRATION FOR SAP IDOCS DOCUMENTS
(CONT ...)
As part of ESB flow definition, a SAP inbound endpoint was used to
receive iDocs from SAP. A new destination (Program ID) was created in
SAP, the iDocs created in SAP were also published to the new
destination.
There are two processes in IDOC processing one is INBOUND PROCESS
(IDOC coming to the system and its handling at various stages) and the
other is OUTBOUND PROCESS (IDOC is send to other system. Outbound
data from SAP, in case of Price/VAT data from SAP, ESB receives iDocs
as JCO iDocDocumentList elements. Each iDocDocument contains iDoc
metadata and Segments which internally had the Segment data (Price or
VAT information). ESB can receive multiple iDocs at any time.
Inbound data to SAP, in case of Sales/Return Order from other
application to SAP, Mule ESB converted payload to iDoc XML format
using XML-to-iDoc transformer and posted the request to SAP.
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10. BENEFITS
When SAP is properly integrated with other applications, companies are able
to streamline and fully automate their business processes. Companies
further benefit from SAP integration in the following ways:
Increased Business Alignment: The ability to create an integrated agile
software infrastructure for changing business needs
Better Business Efficiency: The ability to streamline, automate, and enable a
better tracking and visibility to business processes
Improved Business Visibility: Ability to integrate systems and to aggregate
data for a consistent and accurate view of business as a whole
Significant cost savings by using low cost Mule ESB Enterprise
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11. BENEFITS (CONT ...)
Support for functional and non-functional requirements
Ability to generate reports in SAP based on regions and evaluate the sale
across the world
Improved customer interactions by automating direct communications
Elimination of the need for dual data entry, saving time and money
Fewer data redundancies and errors caused by manual data entry
Enhanced agility to act on new information quickly
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12. MULE EXAMPLE
I will be publishing a new PPT to get more details on how the actually
end to end flow works with iDocs and Bapi.
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