EDI - B2B or A2A??

[Former Member]

Hello guys.

I have a conceptual question regarding the configuration of a business scenario with an outside partner using EDI.

As general ones would say that because the partner is outside the LAN its a B2B scenario ,but what if the EDI box sits inside my LAN...what then?

does XI adds additional elements to the XML structure(except for security and agreements) when we configure the service with party for a b2b scenario at configuration time??

Appriciate your opinion...

Regards.

Nimrod

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hello Nimrod,

generally speaking I don't classify a scenario by the place where the components are located.

E.g. here I have a scenario where company A orders goods at company B via EDI messages. All systems and components are located in the same Intranet (LAN) because both companies are part of the same corporate group.

--> I still call this a B2B scenario

So I think no component will make any change (on the application layer, e.g. XML structure) by virtue of the location.

Regards

Juergen

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks Jurge.

Your example a bit clearified the subject for me.

I'll reward points the minutes awarding will be available.

Best regards.

Nimrod

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

And therfor you configured the XI for a B2B scenario using EDI?

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Actually we are using XI just for three scenarios: Two of them for intercompany processes (all concerned systems are located in the local intranet) and one to send invoices to an external provider (SAP R/3 -> XI -> external provider).

All our other scenarios with partners (internal and/or external) are based on other technics like ALE, RFC, transfer of flat files, mail, SAP Business Connector, edimanager (e.g ATOS), etc.

Call it B2B, B2A, B2C, A2A or whatever. One the one hand I call them all <b>Business Processes</b> and on the other hand there stands the technology.

Regards

Juergen

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

So did you or didn't configure on Configuration time of XI the -"send invoices to an external provider (SAP R/3 -> XI -> external provider)" as a B2B scenario service with party...?????????

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hello Nimrod,

to be honest: I can't tell you in detail because I just configured the connection of the backend system to XI but I didn't make the configuraiton on XI itself. For details on configuration of XI I'm sure some other guys in the forum will assist you.

Regards

Juergen

P.S.: In the past (as the configuration was on the SAP Business Connector), yes, there I configured it as a B2B scenario...

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

I'm gonna let you go with this one....

tnx for the effort.

[Former Member]

Hi Sam,

I had the same problem as Aravindh mentioned, your solution to it really worked. Thanks a lot.

regards,

Sundar.

[sam_raju]

Hi Sundar,

I am glad that I was able to help.

Rgds,

Sam Raju

[Former Member]

hi Sam,

We have a scenario which is exactly reverse scenario to what you have explained .

i.e the scenario is IDOC>xi>fileshare(file to third party business system).

We have created parties and imported sender and receiver business systems.

We are getting the following error:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>

- <!--

Technical Routing

-->

- <SAP:Error xmlns:SAP="http://sap.com/xi/XI/Message/30" xmlns:SOAP="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" SOAP:mustUnderstand="">

<SAP:Category>XIServer</SAP:Category>

<SAP:Code area="OUTBINDING">OUTBOUND_BINDING_NOT_FOUND</SAP:Code>

<SAP:P1>-D_SALESORDER_KI_R3_BS</SAP:P1>

<SAP:P2>party_one-,urn:sap-com:document:sap:idoc:messages.ORDRSP.ORDERS05.Z1TDORDERS05_EXT</SAP:P2>

<SAP:P3 />

<SAP:P4 />

<SAP:AdditionalText />

<SAP:ApplicationFaultMessage namespace="" />

<SAP:Stack>No receiver agreement found for sender -D_SALESORDER_KI_R3_BS to receiver party_one-,urn:sap-com:document:sap:idoc:messages.ORDRSP.ORDERS05.Z1TDORDERS05_EXT</SAP:Stack>

<SAP:Retry>M</SAP:Retry>

</SAP:Error>

Do i need to fill up the identifiers for file adapters??

Kindly help me out.

regards,

aravindh.

[sam_raju]

Hi Aravindh,

You dont' have fill up the identifiers for file adapter.

Try the following steps:

========================

1) Create two parties

a) Party_one (your partner)

b) Party_two (SAP R/3)

2) Specify alternative identifiers like DUNS Number for both parties if necessary.

3) Create Business Service under each party

Party_one

Orders_855_V4010_Buyer( follow naming convention )

Party_two

Orders_855_V4010_Seller( follow naming convention )

4) Create Communication Channel under Party_one

Party_one

Orders_855_V4010_Buyer

File_orders_receiver( no need to fill up identifier values for file adapter)

Party_two

Orders_855_V4040_Buyer

No Communication channel needed

5) Under the "Service without party" add r/3 Business system( not really needed )

6) Receiver Determination: Since R/3 to XI is A2A you don't have to specify the Party in the Sender info.

Sender

Service: SRS_100 (BS for R/3)

interface: ORDRSP.ORDERS05

Namespace: urn:sap-com:document:sap:idoc:messages

Configured Receivers

Party : Party_one

Service: Orders_855_V4010_Buyer

7)Specify ID

8)Specify RA with file CC.

Hope this helps.

Rgds,

Sam Raju

[sam_raju]

Hi Nimrod,

When configuring a Scenario for exchanging messages with your external partner using EDI, it is a B2B scenario. It doesn't matter if you are sending it to EDI box(sub-system) inside your LAN or sending it directly to your Partner outside the LAN.

As suggested by other posts, the config for B2B scenarios is different than A2A scenarios.

See the sample config for B2B involving EDI. The same procedure applies to other B2B scenarios (like RosettaNet, CIDX, PIDX and so on) for exchanging messages with external partners.

The scenario is sending an ANSI X12 850 xml file to XI. XI then transforms the file into Orders05 Idoc and posts it in the backend R/3 system.

Steps for the config.

1) Create two parties.

a) Cust_1000( Your Partner)

b) SAP_R/3( Your company )

2) Specify unique identifiers for these parties like DUNS number, backend R/3 partner number and so on.

a) Cust_1000 with unique identifier

Agency: SRS_100(Business system for backend R/3

Scheme: ALE#KU#AG( Where KU is the partner role

AG is the partner function)

Number:CUST_1000(Cusomer number same as R/3 Partner

in the partner profile)

b) SAP_R3 with unique identifier

3) Create Business Service underneath each party. Best practice is to follow the naming convention in naming them

a) CUST_100

EDI_850_V4010_Buyer(Business Service)

b) SAP_R3

EDI_850_V4010_Seller(Business Service)

4) Create Communication Channel for under each Business Service if necessary.

a) CUST_1000

EDI_850_V4010_Buyer(BS)

EDI_HTTP_Receiver(CC)

b) SAP_R3

EDI_850_V4010_Seller(BS)

(No need to create cc here as you are making an A2A call to backend R/3)

3) Under Service without Party create an Idoc communication channel to communicate to the backend R/3.

Service without Party

SRS_100( Business System )

EDI_IDoc_Receiver( CC )

4) Edit "EDI_Idoc_Receiver" cc and set the "Apply control record values from the Payload". In the "Identifiers" Tab, enter the Values "SRS_100" for Agency and "ALE#KU#AG" for Schema.

5) Create Receiver Determination

6) Interface Determination

7) Sender Agreement

😎 Receiver Agreement

The steps 5 thru 8 are similar to A2A config except for using party in the Sender info.

Hope this helps.

Rgds,

Sam Raju

[stefan_grube]

Hi Nimrod,

Look at the documentation:

"A communication party (...) represents a larger unit, which is involved in a collaborative process. Using a communication party, you generally address a company within a cross-company process."

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/81/104bb1fbab254c8644877c7f856bbf/frameset.htm

That means, using a party is not a technical issue, it has more to do with organizing your environment. (But some adapters (RNIF) and scenarios (XI - PCK) require a party.)

In your case I recommend using a party for your EDI partner. It does not matter how the connection to your partner is done technically.

Regards

Stefan

[Former Member]

tnx stefan.

Is there a special information added to the XML header when party is selected?

tnx

Nimrod