Solved: ALE & EDI

Former Member · ‎2008 Apr 16

hii,

wat is the difference between ALE & EDI?

Give me some overview for EDI with SAP relation.

Former Member · ‎2008 Apr 16

HI,

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.

Thanks,

Sriram Ponna.

Former Member · ‎2008 Apr 16

HI,

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.

Thanks,

Sriram Ponna.

Former Member · ‎2008 Apr 16

Hi,

Differences :

ALE(Application Link Enabling) refers to the losely coupled systems whereas the EDI speaks about the Electronic Document Exchange. We need to enable ALE in order to use the EDI feature. ALE builds the bridge and EDI is the means by which the data moves in and out of the SAP system just like vehicles moving over the bridge. IDOC(Intermediate Documents) are the data containers which will be moving in and out of SAP carrying data.

Thus summarising we need to establish ALE between the systems in order to use EDI between them. In case we need to use EDI between SAP and someother target system then we need a EDI subsystem which understands these IDOCs and converts into the format understood by the target system.

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.

also check the link:

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_46c/helpdata/en/0b/2a655d507d11d18ee90000e8366fc2/frameset.htm

Regards,

Raj.

Former Member · ‎2008 Apr 16

ale is for the sap to sap systems

and edi is for sap to non-sap or sap to sap or non-sap to sap

check this..

regards,

venkat.

Former Member · ‎2008 Apr 16

Hi,

ALE and EDI are basically used in cross application linking.

ALE - is used in scenarios between R/3 and R/3

EDI - is used in scenarios between R/3 and non R/3

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.

Check this link

http://expertanswercenter.techtarget.com/eac/knowledgebaseAnswer/0,295199,sid63_gci983331,00.html

Application Link Enabling (ALE)

You distribute data using ALE if you want to communicate from one system to one or more other (mostly internal) systems. ALE transfers data in IDoc format and uses the methods of tRFC for data transfer.

· ALE enables the integration of business processes across several SAP or non-SAP systems.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

You use EDI if you want to exchange business application documents with an (external) partner system (for example, a customer or vendor). The SAP system sends EDI messages in IDoc format to an EDI subsystem, where they are converted to a universal EDI standard (UN/EDIFACT or ANSI/X12). This enables communication with non-SAP systems.

· By definition, two partners are involved in the process in an EDI application scenario: The sender and the recipient of an EDI message.

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp2004/helpdata/en/6f/1bd5bea85b11d6b28500508b5d5211/frameset.htm

Regards,

Satish