CRM Import

[Former Member]

What methods or tools are there to import data into SAP CRM?

How should the data be formatted for these imports?

Is the Database for SAP stored in a SQL DB

Is there an API for import?

[Former Member]

Stephen, Thank you!!

You asked for more information.

We have a 31 field pipe delimited HTML flat file. We can deliver the content in this file either in a delimited format or as individual HTML documents.

We are trying to find the best way to import this information into SAP CRM

v4 so that the content can be accessed through a search by Help Desk analysts and End Users.

[stephenjohannes]

Gail,

In general ABAP systems love either delimited or fixed length files. My recommendation is to use a delimited format. The LSMW is your best bet for handling this information. I guess my only other question is what type of data are you importing? You have 31 fields but what business object are they associated with? Is this master or transactional data?

Thank you,

Stephen

[Former Member]

Stephen,

The data we are importing is formatted technical articles- step by step

solutions to problems with desktop applications. Some of the fields are in

plain text and are used to identify and categorize each individual article. The primary field contains HTML formatting, image references and is built using cascading style sheet. The content is master data that is updated quarterly. Hope this give you what you need.

Many thanks,

Gail

[stephenjohannes]

Gail,

I take my original answer back and the LSMW may not be your best option. I haven't worked personally in this area, but it appears you may need to write a custom ABAP load program. I believe you are referring to the solution database functionality of SAP CRM. If that is the case, I did see a set of BAPI's to maintain this data. Look at the ABAP function groups ISBA, ISBF, and ISMD.

The BAPI's there appear to be related to what you need to do. I can't offer any tips on usage, but that is where I would start my investigation of the loading the information into the system.

Good luck,

Stephen

[stephenjohannes]

Gail,

For data stored in an SAP ERP system, the tool is the SAP CRM middleware. If your data comes from a non SAP ERP system then you have the following options:

1. Legacy Systems Migration Workbench(LSMW) using the XIF IDOC adapter

2. Custom ABAP programs calling CRM BAPI programs

3. Using a third party conversion tools to load the day.

The database for SAP CRM is stored in a "SQL-based" database system. Common database platforms including DB2, Oracle and SQL Server.

An abstraction layer sits over the database, which means you can only access and update the database through ABAP programs.

If you can tell us what you are trying to import into the CRM system, I can try to give you some general direction on what is feasible.

Good luck,

Stephen