Handling Free-Form Text in SAP CPI: Segmenting Long Text into 132-Character Chunks with Groovy

[Arpit_Verma1]

In Application-to-Application (A2A) integrations, it’s common to encounter scenarios where the sender system is non-SAP (like Coupa, Salesforce, etc.) and the receiver is an SAP ECC or S/4HANA system. One specific challenge that often arises is handling free-form text.

• Non-SAP platforms may allow free-form text of unlimited length.
• SAP systems, however, have strict character limits—for example, 132 characters per segment in IDocs or BAPI text fields.

This blog explains how to dynamically split long text strings into SAP-compatible segments using a Groovy UDF (User Defined Function) in SAP Cloud Integration (CPI).

Scenario Overview

Component	Description
Sender	Non-SAP system (e.g., Coupa, STIBO)
Receiver	SAP ECC or S/4HANA
Problem	Free-form text exceeds SAP's 132-character limit
Solution	Use a Groovy script in message mapping to split long text into 132-character segments

Why 132 Characters?

In SAP systems, particularly in IDocs like ORDERS05, fields like E1EDKT1/E1EDKT2-TDLINE are limited to 132 characters per line. Any text longer than that must be broken into multiple lines—each forming a new segment.

Solution:
Groovy UDF in Message Mapping

We created a Groovy script that:

1. Accepts any length of input text

2. Dynamically breaks it into lines no longer than 132 characters

3. Adds each line as a new segment in the target SAP structure

This approach avoids hard-coding or static loops and adapts to any input length

import com.sap.it.api.mapping.*;
import com.sap.gateway.ip.core.customdev.util.Message  
import java.util.HashMap  
 
def void createItems(String[] nonsaptext, String[] fieldlength, Output output, MappingContext context) {  
  
 // Iterate over each text block  
int lineLength= Integer.parseInt(fieldlength[0])  
 // int lineLength=textlength  
// def valu1int=Integer.parseInt(linelength[0])  
 for (String text : nonsaptext) {  
  
 // Calculate the number of lines needed for the current text block  
  
int length = text.length();  
  
//int lineLength = 132;  
  
// Split the text into lines of up to 132 characters  
 
for (int i = 0; i < length; i += lineLength) {  
  
// Ensure we don't go out of bounds  
  
int end = Math.min(length, i + lineLength);  
  
// Extract the substring for the current line  
String line = text.substring(i, end);  
  
 output.addValue(line);  

 }  
  
 }  
  
}  

 Step-by-Step

1. Receives Two Inputs:

• nonsaptext: A long text string (from the sender system).

• fieldlength: The maximum allowed characters per segment (usually "132").

---

2. Parses the Max Length

• Converts the fieldlength string to an integer using Integer.parseInt.

---

3. Iterates Over the Input Text

• It loops through each character of the input text in increments of lineLength (e.g., 132 characters at a time).

---

4. Splits the Text

• In each loop:

  • It extracts a substring from the current position to the next lineLength.

  • This ensures no segment is longer than allowed.

---

5. Adds Segments to Output

• Each substring is added to the output object as a new value.

• In CPI mapping, this translates into multiple entries for the target repeating structure (e.g., TDLINE in an IDoc).

Source Payload:



Message Mapping

Message Mapping Result:

Results

This approach ensures:

• Data Integrity: No truncation or loss of message content.

• SAP Compliance: Respects SAP's 132-character-per-line constraint.

• Flexibility: Can process any length of input text without needing hard-coded splits.

Thanks
Arpit