difference between ALE and EDI

[Former Member]

hi,

Can anyone tell me any difference between ALE and EDI ?

are there any relation between them?

[Former Member]

hi,

Can anyone tell me any difference between ALE and EDI ?

are there any relation between them?

[Former Member]

Hi,

If we send data to an <b>external partner</b>, we generally speak of <b>EDI</b>, while <b>ALE</b> is a mechanism to <b>reliable</b> replicate data between trusting (internal)systems to store a redundant copy of the IDoc data.

Check also R/3 help :

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw2004s/helpdata/en/6f/1bd5bea85b11d6b28500508b5d5211/content.htm

Erwan

Message was edited by:

Erwan LE BRUN

[Former Member]

Hi,

<b>1)EDI</b>

Electronic Data Interchange

Cross-company exchange of electronic data (for example business documents) between domestic and international business partners who use a variety of hardware, software, and communication services. The data involved is formatted according to predefined standards. In addition to this, SAP ALE technology is available for data exchange within a company.

Refer

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

<b>2) ALE</b>

A means of creating and operating distributed applications.

Application Link Enabling (ALE) guarantees a distributed, but integrated, R/3 installation. This involves business-controlled message exchange using consistent data across loosely linked SAP applications.

Applications are integrated using synchronous and asynchronous communication - not by using a central database.

ALE consists of the following layers:

Application services

Distribution services

Communication services

Refer

http://www.sappoint.com/abap/ale.pdf

http://www.sappoint.com/abap/ale2.pdf

Rgds,

Prakash

[Former Member]

EDI is a industry standard that allows partners to exchange data electronically using a standard format or message. It is not a SAP term. There are two major EDI standards, EDIFACT and ANSI X12. There is a non-profit organization that keeps coming up with new message formats based on industry needs. There are some industry specific EDI standards in place.

Since EDI is a constantly changing one and the focus of EDI is exchange of data between the systems of partners, SAP did not try to implement EDI compatability in SAP. Instead, SAP came up with its own IDOC technology. So if EDI has a EDI 850 stabdard for order acknowledgement, SAP has an IDOC for the data format and a message for identifying its meaning. So IDOC is SAP's proprietery answer for EDI. But since partners still need to exchange data using EDI standards and the data they want to exchange is in SAP, some third party tools have come into existence. Gentran is one such tool (collectively called as EDI subsystems) that maps a SAP IDOC to a EDI message and vice-versa.

ALE uses IDOCs to exchange data, but it is primarily the technology to transfer data from one SAP system to another.

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,

Santosh

[Former Member]

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.

[p291102]

Hi,

Just to give you basic knowledge about those:

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.

n lookout the SALE and WEDI transaction for them.

Thanks,

Shankar