Create DataType and Message Type artifact in Cloud Integration capability of SAP Integration Suite

[radhika_javvaji]

Introduction

SAP Cloud Integration version 6.54.xx comes with new feature, where in one can create Datatype and Messagetype as reusable design time artifacts in Cloud Integration capability of SAP Integration Suite

This feature is available only in SAP Integration Suite standard and above service plans.

SAP Cloud Integration version 6.54.xx software update is planned on mid of July 2024  (date and time subjected to change).

Create DataType :

1. Open the Integration Suite Tenant and navigate to Design -->Integrations and API's

2. Create an Integration Package or open an existing one.

3. Navigate to the Artifacts tab and click on Edit in the top right corner

4. Click on Add drop down and select Data Type from the list

5. Add Data Type dialog is displayed with Create (radio button) selected by default.

6. Enter the values for the fields Name, ID,Target Namespace, Description ,select the category - Simple Type(selected by default) or Complex Type for the Datatype you want to create and click on Add or Add and Open in Editor

7. On Click of Add, the Data Type artifact with the provided name gets created and is listed in the Artifacts list page

8. On Click of Add and Open in Editor, the Data Type artifact gets created with the provided name and the artifact gets opened in the Editor in display mode. 

9. The Editor contains three tabs : Overview,Structure and XSD.The Structure is shown by default when the artifact is opened. It displays the structure of the datatype in a tree table with the following columns :

• Name : Contains the Name of the node(element or attribute).For Root node the name is same as the name of the Datatype and it cannot be edited.
• Category : This column shows whether the root element has subnodes or not . For root node it is either Simple type or Complex Type and for submodes it can be either Element or Attribute. You cannot change values in this column.
• Type: This column displays the type with which the node is defined.Here you select a built-in data type or reference to an existing data type for an element or attribute. You must specify a type for attributes.
• Occurrence: Determines how often elements occur.For attributes, you can determine whether the attribute is optional or required.
• Restrictions : This column displays the facets (if any) defined incase the node is defined by a built-in primitive type or a user defined Simple type Datatype 

9. Switch to edit mode and to define/build the Structure of the Datatype. On selecting the first row(rootnode),the Add drop down in the table header gets enabled (for category complex type) and also the details of the row are displayed in the right side section of the editor.

10. Simple Type Data Type :

• No child nodes can be added 
• Root node is defined by string built-in primitive datatype.
• Click on the root node and the Properties sheet  which contains the details of the node selected is displayed on the right side of the editor. In Edit mode ,user can edit the Type ,define the restrictions applicable for the Type selected.

11.Complex Type Data Type :

To add child nodes:

• Click on the root node and the Add drop down in the table header gets enabled.

              Add -->Element to add child element node

             Add -->Attribute to add attribute node

            Add -->Rows to add multiple Elements/Attributes

• Click on the newly added node and define the details in the Properties sheet

12. Once the Structure is defined,Click on Save to save the artifact as Draft, Save as Version to save the artifact as versioned artifact.

13. XSD tab displays the read only view of the xsd schema of the Datatype artifact

Create MessageType:

1. Open the Integration Suite Tenant and navigate to Design -->Integrations and API's

2. Create an Integration Package or open an existing one.

3. Navigate to the Artifacts tab and click on Edit in the top right corner 

4. Click on Add drop down and select Message Type from the list    

5. Add Message Type dialog is opened

6.Enter the values for the fields Name, ID, XMLNamespace, Datatype to be Used, Description, and click on Add or Add and Open in Editor

7. On Click of Add, Message Type artifact gets created and is listed in the Artifacts list page

8.On Click of Add and Open in Editor, MessageType artifact gets created and the artifact gets opened in the DataType Editor with Structure tab loaded by default in non-edit mode . The rootnode Name would be same as the Message Type name ,Category as Element and Type as Data Type Used (if selected in the Add Message Type dialog)

9. Overview tab in Edit mode is as shown below :

10 XSD tab :

11. Datatype Used to create a Message type can be changed in Overview tab or in Structure tab. Switch to edit mode and select the root node in the Structure tab.The properties sheet gets displayed on the right side of the page with Datatype Used field as editable.

12. No other nodes(child nodes) are editable in the Message Type artifact.

Next Steps: Deletion of element/Attribute nodes, Cut,Copy and Paste, Move up and Move Down,Drag and Drop actions to edit the structure of the Datatype

[EuricoBorges]

@radhika_javvajihow is this related with the Integration Advisor ?

Can it, or should it, be used instead of the Integration Advisor for creation of a source and target message type if we want to implement a format mapping directly in the Cloud Integration part with, for example, a Groovy script ?

[chris_75]

Thanks for the information. Long awaited feature! With that we have an option on creating xsd Files without using external tools or cGPT. Espacially for smaller requirements - very helpful.

@EuricoBorges I don't think that this has a direct impact to the IA. Because it depends on the MIGS and MAGS concepts and on the behavior of XSLT.

Greetings

Christian

[philippeaddor]

Can this be used to generate ABAP Proxies in the backend? In other words, does it serve as ESR repository for the ABAP system? 

Philippe

[radhika_javvaji]

Hi Philippe,

Generation of ABAP proxies is still not supported in SAP Integration Suite. It is part of our roadmap and the idea is to have SAP Cloud Integration serve as ES Repository for the ABAP system.

Regards,

Radhika

[radhika_javvaji]

Hi Christian,

Thanks for your feedback.

Regards,

Radhika

[radhika_javvaji]

Hi @EuricoBorges,

Currently it is not related to Integration Advisor though MIG's in Integration Advisor are similar to Message types in SAP Cloud Integration.

Yes, you can now create the Message Type artifacts and then use them to create Message Mapping directly in Cloud Integration .

Regards,

Radhika

[saurabhkumbhare]

Hi @radhika_javvaji @@ So on one hand SAP is pushing it's customers to keep the core clean but on the other hand also write classical proxy? 

How can customers achieve clean code by write Z proxy code in the proxy? 

Thanks 

Saurabh 

[christian_riesener2]

Hello @radhika_javvaji ,

First of all, I would like to thank you for introducing this feature, I have already utilized this functionality, and it is indeed very helpful.

However, I have encountered an issue where the target application has modified the structure, and I need to delete a field from the DataType. Unfortunately, I only see an option to add fields in the DataType Editor and have not found a way to remove them. Additionally, I hoped to directly manipulate the XSD, but this does not seem possible either.

Am I possibly missing something, or are these functions not yet available? If they are not available, could you please let me know when we might expect to use these features?

Thank you for your assistance.
Best regards,
Christian

[radhika_javvaji]

Hi @christian_riesener2 ,

Thank you for the positive feedback. Glad that you experienced the functionality and liked it. And to answer your query about delete functionality, it is not yet available . The deletion of the rows/nodes will be released by mid/end of Sep 2024.

Currently the xsd is only read-only as it is in SAP PI/PO ESR. Incase you find it helpful to make it(XSD) editable, please create an improvement request via SAP Customer Influence program.

Regards,

Radhika

[EuricoBorges]

@radhika_javvajiWhat is the BTP managment APIs associated with Integration Suite that allows us to extract the data type artifacts of a package ?

If we look at the SAP CLoud Integration - Integration Content API in the Business Accelarator Hub ( https://hub.sap.com/api/IntegrationContent/overview ) we can't find any API/method that allows us to extract the data types. We are able to get for a package the iflows, message mappings, value mappings, script collections and custom tags but we don't see anything for data types. Is this still work in progress at SAP ?

[radhika_javvaji]

Hi @EuricoBorges ,

Currently the API's are still not available for Datatype and message type artifacts. We will work on this in the near future.

Could you please let us know the use case on how the outcome of these API's will be used. Please elaborate your requirement.

Regards,

Radhika

[chris_75]

Hi @radhika_javvaji 

how can we transport those Data- and Messagetypes? There is now download option.

Also renaming should be possible or at least copy and rename.

Best regards

Christian

[radhika_javvaji]

Hi @chris_75,

It is possible to transport Datatypes and Message types via Package Transport. The Package containing the Data and Message Types can be exported and then the exported package can be imported.

I will add this(copy and rename) to our future increment list.

Regards,

Radhika

[amit777]

Thanks for the blog, but deletion of field ,editing the names of field or adding new fields are some basic requirements missing for now. Looking forward to have them in upcoming releases. 

[radhika_javvaji]

Hi @amit777 ,

Deletion of nodes will be available by Oct2024, Adding of new fields and editing the names of the fields(except for root node) is already possible.

Regards,

Radhika