SAP Interfaces

[Former Member]

Brief overview on SAP Interfacing and how does it actually work

SAP system interacts with several other legacy systems (sending and receiving systems) through various middleware tools like XFB, UNIX, Dataware, and EAI.

One best example is the client SAP system interacting with the Banks for sending and receiving payments, bank statements updation etc. SAP receives files / data from the external system here in this case the Bank through XFB and the files are stored in the SAP In directory. The SAP file storage directory can be checked through the Transaction code AL11. All the data coming into SAP and going out of SAP are stored and can be traced in the SAP directory. To differentiate, all the files / data going out of SAP are stored in one particular directory and all the files / data coming into SAP are stored in a particular directory.

File processing – The files are processed into SAP via an automatic job scheduling. Jobs are created for specific programs (could be a standard program or a customized program) to process / integrate the incoming files. The job will pick the file based on the parameters maintained and process the files. If there exists any error during the file processing either due to format issue or amounts mismatch etc., the third party system team has to be approached to send a correct file.  There are specific programs created (standard or customized) to send data out of SAP for which the jobs are scheduled.

Flat files upload in SAP – CG3Z is the SAP standard transaction code for file upload into SAP. We have the option of copying files from the Front end system into SAP via this code. You can specify either ASC or BIN for transfer format for the data.