ALE, EDI, & IDoc Technologies for SAP
Authors: Arvind Nagpal
Venue:  (1999)

From the Book:In any SAP implementation, integration between business processes within a company and across companies is very important for a successful implementation. Within a company integration needs include interfacing with legacy systems, communicating with third party products, and integrating business processes across distributed SAP systems. The two most commonly deployed technologies for this type of integration are ALE (Application Link and Enabling) and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) technologies, which make use of the popular IDoc (Intermediate Document) interface for exchanging data. EDI provides business process integration across companies by exchanging business documents such as purchase orders, invoices, and shipment notices in electronic form, using industry standard formats such as ANSI X.12 (American National Standards Institute) and EDIFACT (Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce, and Transport). ALE, which is SAP's proprietary technology for integrating distributed business processes within a company, has been available in SAP since release 3.0. ALE was designed to link one SAP system to another SAP system, but the ALE architecture lent itself to being used in linking SAP systems to non-SAP systems without any modification. The flexibility of ALE technology has proliferated into several application areas, and today most third-party products use it to exchange data with SAP. ALE technology is also the basis for SAP's Business Framework architecture, introduced in release 4.0. The underlying architecture of the ALE and EDI technologies are quite similar. Both make use of SAP's proprietary IDoc interface, which defines the formatand structure of the data that is exchanged between two systems. Although ALE and EDI are the two biggest users of the IDoc interface, this interface can also be used by any two applications that need to exchange data. For example, it can be readily used to integrate SAP with Web applications. As cross-application technologies, ALE and EDI are used in various modules of SAP such as SD (Sales and Distribution), MM (Materials Management), and F1 (Financials). The wide- ranging application of these technologies has created an ever-increasing need for ALE, EDI, and IDoc skills. Mastery of these skills is a necessity for anyone involved in the technical or functional side of an SAP implementation. Who Should Read this Book? Because ALE, EDI, and IDoc are cross-application technologies, a wide audience can benefit from this book. EDI and ALE team members, support providers, data-interfacing and workflow experts, EDI and ALE programmers, aspiring EDI and ALE experts, e-commerce experts, and curious readers alike will find useful information in this book. EDI team member. This book provides you with a good foundation by explaining the concepts behind EDI and IDoc technologies. Tips throughout Part 3, "Configuring the EDI Interface," show you how to tweak certain parameters to achieve a particular effect without doing an enhancement. Message control is used very widely in the EDI process. You learn to customize the message control component and set up workflow for error handling. If you cannot satisfy business requirements by configuring the existing components, then you need either to enhance those components or to build from ground zero. Section III, "IDocs," covers all the steps required to extend or create IDocs, along with programs to support the extensions and configuration to make these components known to the system. ALE team member. This book provides you with a good foundation by explaining the need and concepts behind ALE and IDoc technologies. You learn about the various configuration components involved in enabling any ALE process. Tips throughout Part 8, "Configuring the ALE Interface," show you how to tweak certain parameters to achieve a particular effect without doing an enhancement. Master data distribution and Distributed business processes are explained with real-world business scenarios. You learn how to set up workflow for error handling. If you cannot satisfy the business requirements by configuring the existing components, then you need either to enhance the existing components or to build from ground zero. Section III, "IDocs," covers all the steps required to extend or create new IDocs, along with the programs to support the extensions and configuration to make these components known to the system. Support provider. If you are or anticipate being in a support role for the ALE and the EDI process, then Part 4, "Operating and Administering the EDI Interface," and Part 9, "Operating and Administering the ALE Interface," will be especially useful in understanding the various tasks and challenges that you will face in a live environment and the various kinds of problems that you can expect. These parts of the book also provide common remedies to those problems. In addition, you learn about utilities that help you accomplish your everyday tasks. Data-interfacing expert. If you are a systems analyst and are contemplating various technologies for integrating external systems, you have several choices. Your decision does not rest simply on the capabilities of the various technologies; it also concerns ongoing support and maintenance, as well as restart and recovery options. This book helps you in making an informed decision as to whether ALE and IDoc technologies are appropriate alternatives for your environment. Section 111, "IDocs," is a great place to start. Complementary software partner. You either have a complementary product or are developing a product that will interface with SAP. Most third-party business systems (external warehouse management systems, EDI translators, production planning optimizers, and so on) interface with SAP via ALE and IDocs. Workflow expert. You are an expert in developing complex business workflows and have been given the task of setting up the workflow system for error handling in ALE and EDI. To understand various points in the ALE/EDI process where workflow is triggered and to familiarize yourself with various workflow tasks, turn to Chapter 9, "Configuring Workflow." EDI/ALE programmer. You are part of the technical team. You are responsible for writing or modifying ABAP/4 programs used by the IDoc interface. These programs have a certain structure, organization, and flow that is important to integrate seamlessly with the various components of the ALE or EDI process. You will find details about the structure of these programs in Section III. Aspiring EDI and ALE expert. You have been programming in ABAP/4 for a long time and want to jump to the next step without forsaking your technical roots. You can easily turn yourself into an EDI/ALE programmer as long as you understand how these programs fit in the overall process; this book provides the knowledge you need, such as locating and developing user exits in the EDI/ALE process and developing new programs from scratch. Curious reader. You have heard a lot about the ALE, EDT, and IDoc technologies, but have never found any book that described them in simple language yet provided all the details. You can use this book to learn at your own pace, moving from a very high-level overview of the process into a detailed description of each component. You can select the level of detail that you are comfortable with. If you have access to the SAP system, then you can try out some of the example EDT and ALE scenarios discussed in this book. E-commerce expert. If you have worked on EDT projects in the past, you won't have any trouble grasping the EDT concepts in SAP. Section I of this book explains how SAP carries out the EDT process and is an excellent guide to help you build on the knowledge you've gained by working with EDT in other systems. What This Book Covers This book covers the full breadth and depth of ALE, EDT and IDoc technology. You will learn the concepts behind these technologies and then configure some commonly used business ALE and EDT scenarios. You'll develop custom scenarios by either extending or developing new IDocs from scratch for different business situations. You will learn how to utilize user-exits for the extended IDocs and develop new programs for custom IDocs. Part 1 - EDI Basics Part 1 begins with a discussion of general EDT technology and then moves on to the basics of SAP EDT architecture. The goal is to provide a high-level overview of the various components used in the EDT process, benefits of EDT, and EDT's advantages to corporations. Part 2 - The SAP EDI Interface Part 2 examines the more advanced technical and functional details of the inbound and outbound SAP EDT process, including the interface with the EDT subsystem. Although this part is mainly for technical people, functional users can also benefit from this material. You will grasp the contents quickly with the aid of the flowcharts included throughout the chapters. Part 3 - Configuring the EDI Interface An SAP EDI process uses several components to generate and process EDI transactions. These components are highly configurable to meet the varying needs of several corporations. Part 3 provides the technical details of the concept, role, and options available for each component in the process; this material is designed for readers who are responsible for setting up the EDI interface. In a step-by-step manner, you learn to do the complete setup, which includes setting up the basic EDI infrastructure, building partner profiles, configuring Message control, and setting up the workflow component for error handling. The steps are illustrated with screen shots, tips, and tricks to make the learning process more fun. Part 4 - Operating and Administering the EDI Interface Part 4 covers the operational aspects of the EDI interface. After you have configured the system, you need to test your process inside and out to make sure it works as desired. You learn about various testing techniques and tools that you can use. After testing the interface, you can start running the process. The various monitoring tools available in the system and how to interpret the information logged in the system is also discussed. Sooner or later you will run into problems and need an efficient way to troubleshoot them. The troubleshooting process is described in detail. A set of flowcharts has been provided to help you quickly get to the cause of a particular problem and then fix it. Finally, you'll also be involved in managing the performance and throughput of the system. The various ways to manage performance and throughput at the same time are discussed. Part 5 - EDI Scenarios In Part 5, you will apply the knowledge that you have gained in the previous chapters to create actual outbound and inbound EDI transactions using real-world business scenarios. For outbound, you learn the complete setup required to send purchase orders to your vendors via EDI, and to send payment orders and remittance advice to your bank via EDI. For inbound, you learn the complete setup required to bring sales orders into the system via EDI, and sales order changes via workflow The primary focus of this part is to present a methodology so that you can tackle any EDI transaction. Part 6 - ALE Basics In Part 6, you are introduced to the ALE process, why it was invented, why some of the existing technologies do not suffice, its architecture, and its benefits. This is a general introduction and provides a high-level overview of the capabilities of the ALE process. Part 7 - The SAP ALE Interface Part 7 is an advanced technical and functional reference section for inbound and outbound ALE processes. You will grasp the contents quickly with the aid of several flowcharts included throughout the chapters. Part 8 - Configuring the ALE Interface The material in Part 8 is designed for readers who are responsible for setting up the ALE interface. First you learn how to set up the basic ALE infrastructure required by all ALE processes. Then you learn about one of the most widely used application of ALE-the distribution of master data. You learn about the various distribution techniques, business issues, and strategies used by large organizations to keep master data under control. The material master data is used as an example to illustrate the various points. Another major application of ALE, the distribution of business processes, is described in complete detail using the distributed purchasing process. Part 9 - Operating and Administering the ALE Interface Part 9 covers the operational matters of the ALE Interface. Once you have configured the system, you need to test your process to make sure it is working as desired. The various testing tools and techniques are discussed. Once you have tested the process, you can start executing it. The monitoring tools described in the EDI section are used for ALE processes. The monitoring tools describe how to interpret the information logged in the system. Sooner or later you will run into problems, and you need an efficient way to troubleshoot the problem and restart the process from the point of failure. A set of flowcharts has been provided to help you quickly get to the cause of the problem. Last but not the least, you will be involved in managing the performance and throughput of the ALE system. The possible approaches to manage performance and throughput are described. Part 10 - IDoc Basics In Part 10, you will be introduced to the basics of the IDoc from an end-user perspective, and then you'll move into the more technical details required in the development and design of IDocs. The concepts cover data transfer via IDocs versus data transfer using flat files. This simple analogy will help you become an expert in a very short time. Part 11 - Customer Modifications to the IDoc Interface A good understanding of the IDoc development process and programming of the IDocs is one of the important skills needed in an SAP implementation. In this part of the book, you will learn about the enhancement process to the IDoc interface. The enhancement process is effectively a three-step process. First you create new IDocs or extend existing IDocs. Next you develop programs for the new and extended IDocs. Finally you customize the ALE/EDI interface layer to recognize the IDocs and their programs. There are three chapters in this part devoted to each step of the enhancement process. Part 12 - Archiving in the IDoc Interface When your system is operational and in production, the number of IDocs and workflow run-time logs can grow quickly. If your transaction volume is high, you need a strategy to archive IDocs. SAP provides archiving programs and deletion programs for several documents in the system, and you'll learn how to archive IDocs and delete work items and work item history. Appendix - FAQs, User Exits, and Miscellaneous Resources The appendix provides answers to frequently asked questions, a cross- reference chart for EDI transaction-to-SAP messages, a list of standard user-exits in the system, a comparison between release 3.x and 4.x systems, and other miscellaneous resources such as useful Web sites and Internet discussion groups. Conventions Used in This Book To comfortably absorb the information this book presents, you should be familiar with the teaching tools you'll find throughout. Most notably, there are many SAP screen images, which help you to follow along with the instruction on an active SAP session of your own. Using the screen images, you can determine the pace at which you would like to progress, assuring yourself that you can clearly identify each activity being described. Throughout the text, you'll encounter several explanatory techniques that will make the lessons easier to understand and apply. These techniques will help you quickly determine what action needs to be taken or which keyboard functions are required for the execution of each task. When you need to go through more than one menu to get where you're going, the path shows up as a series of monospaced words separated by commas. You'll also see some special typographical devices to call your attention to certain points in the text: TIP: Tips present helpful information in an attention-getting format. These tips reinforce key concepts and explanations, making them easier to remember and use. NOTE: Notes provide additional related information, alternatives, or commentary that might help you better understand the topic under discussion or lead you to additional sources of information to make you more successful in SAP usage. CAUTION: Cautions warn of potential hazards and pitfalls you should be aware of. These conventions will serve as your signposts throughout this text. Use them to help you identify critical elements and information about SAP. The lessons throughout this book will increase in pace and relative complexity to match your growing knowledge, and the conventions described will help you keep up. Contacting the Author You will learn something new about SAP practically every day, and working through this book probably won't be enough to make you perfectly comfortable with every SAP function you may need to use. If you find you can't locate the information you seek in SAP's help utilities, feel free to contact me via e-mail at anagpal@bacusa.com I hope to help you become more proficient with SAP, and I'll strive to apply my experience in ways that will help you achieve SAP proficiency at a faster rate. Good luck!