SAP S/4HANA Cloud: Custom CDS View - extract last 7 days delta

[Alexander_Korne]

Introduction

In this Blog post will be described, how to extract list of Journal Entries, created for the last week from S/4HANA Cloud via CDS View.

For this scenario following apps will be used:

1. View Browser


2. Custom CDS View


3. Customer communication scenario


4. Communication user


5. Communication system


6. Communication agreement

Additional we will Postman for testing.

Preparation

First of all we will check, which standard CDS view fits perfectly to extract data about Journal Entries. For this we can use View Browser app and make a search by "Journal Entry". We also need to filter only released views:

I_JournalEntryOperationalView CDS View will fit perfectly for the scenario:

 

Then we can move to Custom CDS View app.

Before start with the main custom CDS View we have to prepare one, which will help us to extract delta. It will be of Standard type and also will have I_JournalEntryOperationalView CDS View as data source:

In the Elements we can leave all Key fields, and then we need one additional field to calculate time detla:

Expression for Delta field would be as following:

DATS_DAYS_BETWEEN(cast( $session.system_date as ABAP.DATS ), I_JournalEntryOperationalView.ClearingDate)

Now we can save and publish the CDS View.

Creating main CDS View

Now let´s create custom CDS view for data extraction. It will be of External API type and contain 2 data sources: I_JournalEntryOperationalView and recently created CDS view for delta calculation.

These data sources will be joined by the following conditions:

In the Elements tab we will need all key fields and 2 additional: Clearing date and DeltaClearingDate from earlier created Delta CDS View:

As the final step for this part we need to provide filter: we need to check, if DeltaClearingDate greater or equal 7 days. It is important to mention, that entry should be "-7", as we calculate the difference. Additionally we can add filter to exclude records with empty clearing date:

You can check, if the logic works correctly with Preview button in bottom right corner.

Now you can save and publish CDS View.

Preparing communication environment

The first step of this part is to add created CDS View to custom communication scenario. So in the app Custom Communication Scenarios press New, provide meaningful Scenario ID and Description, and on the next screen add created CDS View as Inbound Service:

Check and publish the scenario.

As the next step – we need communication system with communication user. These settings we can do in the app Communication Systems:

Provide any name to the System and on the next screen fill fields Host Name, Logical System and then Scroll down to the part Users for Inbound Communication:

Click on the “+” symbol and select then “New user“:

Provide any User Name and Description, click Propose Password and note down entered User name and the proposed password:

Then click Create and Ok. Save the Communication System.

Going further we need communication arrangement. To create it we will use the app Communication Arrangements:

Here we need to enter the name of the Custom Communication Scenario, we created earlier.

And the only thing we need to provide in the Communication Arrangement further is Communication System, which we created. Corresponding Communication User will be mapped automatically. Copy OData V2 link from this page.

Testing in Postman

Create new Tab in Postman and enter the copied link. Provide credentials on Authorization tab of the Inbound Communication User, you created earlier. Click Send to test the API:

If the response status is 200 OK, extend the URL with “/$metadata” and send the request again. Find EntityType Name in the response and copy it:

Extend the URL with the copied name and delete “Type” in the end of the URL, send the request again:

Finally, in the reply you can find the Journal Entries, created for the last week. Make sure, that such data is available in the system before testing.