ALE & EDI

[Former Member]

In which cases we should use EDI and in which cases we should go for ALE ? How to deceide ?

[Former Member]

ALE is used for SAP to SAP data transfer where as EDI is for SAP to NON-SAP and SAP to SAP.

[Former Member]

Hi,

ALE is used for only master data transfer between 2 SAP systems and preferably only with in the same landscape.

EDI can be used in both SAP to SAP and as well between SAP and non SAP and for both Master & transaction data as well. Moreover systems also need not be in the same landscape.

Thanks,

Mahesh.

[Former Member]

Hi Mahesh,

As EDi is flexible then we can go for EDi only naaa instead of ALE ?

[Former Member]

Hi Manjunath,

Please check this link

http://www.sap-basis-abap.com/bc/difference-between-ale-and-edi.htm

http://www.allinterview.com/showanswers/23913.html

http://www.sap-img.com/basis/difference-between-edi-and-idoc.htm

Best regards,

raam

[Former Member]

Hi Kodand,

I have recently posed a question in this thread. Can you have a look ?

[uwe_schieferstein]

Hello Manjunath

Our data exchange with external partners (customers, vendors) is based on two principles:

1) No external partner will gain direct access to our ERP systems (i.e. no direct IDoc transfer via ALE)
2) All inbound / outbound messages are IDocs (whenever possible)

I case of outbound invoices we send them either as INVOIC IDoc (to a clearing center which processes the IDoc into the message required by the customer) or as EDI message (type INVOIC) to another clearing center which just forwards this message to the customer.

All messages are sent or received by an intermediate system (either Business Connector or SAP-XI ). This "EAI" layer is always inbetween our ERP and the external partner systems.

Advantage: Decoupling of the communicating systems.

If you want to establish electronic trading relationships with your partners you may use the direct exchange of IDocs via ALE.

Requirement: Your partner has SAP as well.

If your partner does not have SAP IDoc/ALE is no option but here you must go for EDI.

Regards

Uwe

[Former Member]

Hi Uwe,

Let me know if my understanding is wrong or add any info if i missed anything.

ALE(direct exchange of IDocs) can be used for both Master & Transactional Data. This can be used either in our landscape or among with our Business Partners (If they have SAP).

EDI can be used for only for Transactional Data. If we want to exchange our business documents with trading partners who doesnt have SAP, then we have to go for EDI.

Also here are some of my queries for the your previous reply.

1. Consider the case of Master data distribution. Since we are dealing with the Master data(so going for ALE), no external business

partner will come into picture(say ex: Vendor, Customer). So we dont have the Business connecter in this case -

---

Am i Right ?

2. Now consider we want to exchange a Business Document with one of our Business Partner.

- Consider our Business Partner has SAP. So we can go for ALE option.

Now in this case do we have the Business Connectors ?

Also do we send the IDoc to the our Clearing center or to the Business Partner directly ?

- Consider our Business Partner doesnt have SAP. So defenetly we have to go for EDI. => we have business connector.

CASE-1: Say we have sent the IDoc to the Clearing center. Now the clearing center adds the messages to that IDoc and sends

them to the Business partner.

CASE-2: In this case we can send the IDoc to our Business Partner with suitable Message control. Here also we have the

Business Connector.

[Former Member]

Hi,

ALE is technolgy for SAP mainly use to transfer data in SAP.

EDI is the independent technology use to transfer data between two systems, they can be SAP systems or non SAP systems.

The philosophical difference between EDI and ALE can be

pinned as follows: If we send data to an external partner,

we generally speak of EDI, while ALE is a mechanism to

reliable replicate data between trusting systems to store a

redundant copy of the IDoc data. The difference is made

clear, when we think of a purchase order that is sent as an

IDoc. If we send the purchase order to a supplier then the

supplier will store the purchase order as a sales order.

However, if we send the purchase order via ALE to another

R/3 system, then the receiving system will store the

purchase order also as a purchase order.

Regards,

Priyanka.

[abdul_hakim]

Hi,

ALE Can be used within an organisation.

EDI can also be used outside of the organisation(For eg,Between the customer and the vendor(3rd parties)

Cheers,

Hakim

[Former Member]

Hi,

ALE is SAP proprietary technology that enables data communications between two or more SAP R/3 systems and/or R/3 and external systems. When a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution such as R/3 is implemented, companies have to interface the ERP system with legacy systems or other ERP systems.

ALE provides intelligent mechanisms where by clients can achieve integration as well as distribution of applications and data.

ALE technology facilitates rapid application prototyping and application interface development, thus reducing implementation time.

The ALE components are inherently integrated with SAP applications and are robust, leading to a highly reliable system.

ALE comes with application distribution/integration scenarios as well as a set of tools, programs, data definitions, and methodologies that you can easily configure to get an interface up and running.

The interface concept of the classic R/3 is based on two different strategies: Remote Function Calls (RFC) and data exchange through IDoc message documents. RFC makes direct and synchronous calls of a program in the remote system. If the caller is an external program it will call an RFC-enabled function in R/3 and if the calling program is the R/3 system it will call an

RFC-function in another R/3-system or it will call a non-R/3 program through a gateway-proxy (usually rfcexec.exe). BAPIs are a subset of the RFC-enabled function modules, especially designed as Application Programming Interface (API) to the SAP business object, or in other words: are function modules officially released by SAP to be called from external programs.

IDocs are text encoded documents with a rigid structure that are used to exchange data between R/3 and a foreign system. Instead of calling a program in the destination system directly, the data is first packed into an IDoc and then sent to the receiving system, where it is analyzed and properly processed. Therefore an IDoc data exchange is always an

asynchronous process. The significant difference between simple RFC-calls and IDoc data exchange is the fact, that every action performed on IDocs are protocolled by R/3 and IDocs can be reprocessed if an error occurred in one of the message steps.

While IDocs have to be understood as a data exchange protocol, EDI and ALE are typical use cases for IDocs. R/3 uses IDocs for both EDI and ALE to deliver data to the receiving system. ALE is basically the scheduling mechanism that defines when and between which partners and what kind of data will be exchanged on a regular or event triggered basis. Such a set-up is called an ALE-scenario.

The philosophical difference between EDI and ALE can be pinned as follows: If we send data to an external partner, we generally speak of EDI, while ALE is a mechanism to reliable replicate data between trusting systems to store a redundant copy of the IDoc data. The difference is made clear, when we think of a purchase order that is sent as an IDoc. If we send the purchase order to a supplier then the supplier will store the purchase order as a sales order. However, if we send the purchase order via ALE to another R/3 system, then the receiving system will store the purchase order also as a purchase order.

cheers,

sowjanya.