Diff. b/t ale & edi

[Former Member]

Hello,

Tell me exact difference between ALE and EDI in Idoc's.which is used for sap to sap and sap to non-sap.

[Former Member]

The diff betn EDI and ale can be as follow,

1) ALE = Application Link Enable: Initially developed for SAP as an abstract layer to extract master and transactional data to be sent ellectronically to other SAP systems. These days is also being used to send data no non-SAP systems. ALE is not a protocol or anything like that, it's just abstract layer composed by a set of applications which are capable of extracting aplication data on a 1-time basis or periodically, by selection criteria or incrementally by deltas.

2) In contrast, EDI = Electronic data interface, this is a comunication protocol not designed by SAP but it´s an industry standard. Of course most SAP software supports EDI, but EDI it's no software but the specification of the protocol in itself

Check the link below:

ALE:

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp2005/helpdata/en/78/217e1c51ce11d189570000e829fbbd/frameset.htm

http://help.sap.com/printdocu/core/Print46c/en/data/pdf/BCSRVEDI/CAEDI.pdf

Please check this online document for ALE and IDoc.

http://help.sap.com/printdocu/core/Print46c/en/data/pdf/BCMIDALEIO/BCMIDALEIO.pdf

http://help.sap.com/printdocu/core/Print46c/en/data/pdf/BCMIDALEPRO/BCMIDALEPRO.pdf

http://help.sap.com/printdocu/core/Print46c/en/data/pdf/CABFAALEQS/CABFAALEQS.pdf

http://help.sap.com/printdocu/core/Print46c/en/data/pdf/BCSRVEDISC/CAEDISCAP_STC.pdf

http://help.sap.com/printdocu/core/Print46c/en/data/pdf/BCSRVEDI/CAEDI.pdf

Also check this links for additional information.

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp2004/helpdata/en/dc/6b835943d711d1893e0000e8323c4f/content.htm

http://www.sapgenie.com/sapgenie/docs/ale_scenario_development_procedure.doc

http://edocs.bea.com/elink/adapter/r3/userhtm/ale.htm#1008419

http://www.netweaverguru.com/EDI/HTML/IDocBook.htm

http://www.sapgenie.com/sapedi/index.htm

IDOCS

http://idocs.de/www5/books/IDocBook/IDOCS_CHAP09-11.pdf

http://idocs.de/cookbooks/idoc/cb12_idoc_20_outbound/idoc_outbound_45_rsnast00/docu.htm

IDOC / ALE Blogs

/people/raja.thangamani/blog/2007/07/19/troubleshooting-of-ale-process

/people/kevin.wilson2/blog/2006/11/13/ale-scenario-development-guide

EDI:

Advanced guide to EDI configuration

http://www.erpgenie.com/sapgenie/docs/advanced_guide_to_edi_configuration.doc

EDI Architecture

http://www.cs.jyu.fi/el/tjtl63/Antin_esitys/sld003.htm

Overview of EDI and the IDoc Interface in SAP

http://sap-idoc2edi-consulting.com/pdfFiles/EDI_IDoc_Overview.pdf

How to Build a Basic EDI Interface Using an Imported Schema and Map

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/818a20be-0601-0010-e3b8-ac3d5f97...

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/d98675ca-0d01-0010-c5a0-c70389f1...

EDI Functional Design

http://www.erpgenie.com/sapgenie/docs/interface_function_specification.doc

Thoughts on EDI in an SAP XI Environment

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/135b0b94-0701-0010-f6a9-86a14057...

Reward points if this helps.

[amit_khare]

Refer the links -

Regards,

Amit

Reward all helpful replies.

[abdulazeez12]

Hi...

These are the main differences ..

ALE: Application Link Enabling

1. It is SAP Proprietary technology

2. It is used to distribute the data between Different SAP and NonSAP systems within the Organization. i.e for Distributed processing.

3. Always the Partner type in case of ALE will be Logical System

4. We will use tRFC Port incase of ALE to send or Receive IDOCS.

EDI: Electronic data interchange

1. It is not an SAP Proprietary technology. Its a 3rd party tool (Eg: Merctar, Gentran)

2. It is used to distribute the data between Different SAP and NonSAP systems outside the Organization. i.e With Business partners like Vendors , Customers etc..

3. Always the Partner type in case of EDI will be Customer(KU) , Vendor(LI) etc...

4. We will use File Port incase of EDI to send or Receive IDOCS.

[Former Member]

Hi Krishna,

1) ALE = Application Link Enable: Initially developed for SAP as an abstract layer to extract master and transactional data to be sent ellectronically to other SAP systems. These days is also being used to send data no non-SAP systems. ALE is not a protocol or anything like that, it's just abstract layer composed by a set of applications which are capable of extracting aplication data on a 1-time basis or periodically, by selection criteria or incrementally by deltas.

2) In contrast, EDI = Electronic data interface, this is a comunication protocol not designed by SAP but it´s an industry standard. Of course most SAP software supports EDI, but EDI it's no software but the specification of the protocol in itself.

Thankyou,

Regards.

[Former Member]

Hi Krishna,

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.