Interface Detailed Design
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION 3
1.1. Purpose of this Document 3
1.2. EDI System Configuration 3
2. INTERFACE DESIGN GUIDE 4
2.1. Interface Configuration 4
2.2. Outbound Batch Processing 4
2.3. Inbound Batch Processing 5
2.4. Interface Housekeeping 5
2.5. Potential Errors and Recovery 6
2.6. Archiving and Backup 6
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Purpose of this Document
The purpose of this document is to outline the technical design of the EDI interface from SAP to the EDI subsystem. The high-level details of the proposed solution may be found in the EDI Scope document, as well as the EDI Functional Specification document. Further information on the interface may be obtained by reading the EDI Production Setup Guide.
1.2. EDI System Configuration
The EDI system configuration will initially consist of a SAP client reading in and writing out IDoc format files to a UNIX directory. This will occur at a time defined by the interchange agreements set up by the business.
2. INTERFACE DESIGN GUIDE
The diagram above gives a diagrammatic representation of the EDI process, including the interfacing with the subsystem. A technical overview of the process is described in the following sections.
2.1. Interface Configuration
The details of the interface configuration is described in the documents “EDI Production Setup Guide” and “NFS Setup Guide”.
2.2. Outbound Batch Processing
A SAP outbound batch job will need to be scheduled to run on a daily basis at a fixed time. This job will need to be run before a corresponding inbound job executes on the EDI subsystem translation software, allowing sufficient time to allow the outbound job to be completed
The transaction that needs to be run is transaction WE14, running program RSEOUT00 with a variant, specifying the receiver port (such as SAPF01) and the message type (ORDERS, ORDCHG).
Since a fixed outbound IDoc filename (as opposed to dynamic naming using a SAP function) will be used for processing, it is not essential that the file be deleted after being read in by the subsystem. This file will be overwritten when the next run of the outbound batch job occurs.
Note that the EDI system administrator will be able to check on the date and time of a particular file, either by examining the SAP log (using transaction WE05), or alternatively, examining the date and time stamp of the file at the Unix level using the Unix ‘ls -l’ command in the EDI subdirectory (/home/edi). This outbound IDoc file may be copied at the Unix system level for diagnostic or archiving purposes.
The main routine monitoring activity for outbound jobs requires that the shared EDI directory is examined after every scheduled batch job to ensure that the batch job has run, and that a file with a date stamp that corresponds to the time of the batch job exists.
Transaction BD88 is useful for resubmitting IDocs which have not been correctly processed. Note that IDocs can be manually edited if required, using transaction WE02 or WE05.
2.3. Inbound Batch Processing
A SAP Inbound processing job will need to be run on a daily basis at a fixed time. Ideally, inbound and outbound processing should not be scheduled at the same time to prevent any confusion, though this is possible should it be required. This process should only be run after the corresponding EDI subsystem processing has been completed. Transaction BD87 can be used to read in IDocs if required. IDocs can be manually edited if required, using transaction WE05, or transaction WE19.
2.4. Interface Housekeeping
Interface housekeeping is minimal, since all files handled at the interface level are overwritten or deleted after each exchange. Therefore, no maintenance is required at the interface level.
2.5. Potential Errors and Recovery
Due to limitations of the Gentran Director software being used, the integration of SAP and the EDI subsystem is very limited. No status information is communicated from the subsystem to SAP or vice-versa. Therefore regular monitoring after each batch job (and before each subsequent batch job in the same direction of transfer) is required to ensure that no files are overwritten.
If jobs have not been successfully executed, a manual job should be scheduled immediately. If files are accidentally overwritten, all EDI messages that were transferred in a particular direction will have to be rewritten by the originating system (SAP or Gentran).
2.6. Archiving and Backup
There will be no archiving or backup of data files at the interface level, but strategies for this will have to be in place for SAP and Gentran.
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