diff b/w rfc and idoc adapters..

[Former Member]

if RFC is used for both syn & asyn . communication then what is the purpose of using IDOC which is used for aysn .. communicaton..

plz explin me in when both are senders .. & when both are recievers..

[Former Member]

Hi,

Find the details below:

RFC Adapter :

The RFC adapter enables you to use the functions of the Integration Engine or the PCK in existing SAP landscapes. It is used by SAP systems to connect to the Integration Engine or the PCK by using the RFC interface. It supports SAP systems as of version 3.1x.

For FAQs about the RFC adapter, see SAP Note 730870

The RFC adapter is provided by the Adapter Engine and the PCK. It essentially comprises two parts, namely a sender adapter at the Integration Engine inbound channel, and a receiver adapter at the Integration Engine outbound channel.

The adapters are configured in the configuration part of the Integration Builder, or in the configuration part of the PCK. You use the SAP Java Connector (JCo), which enables you to manage metadata. This in turn enables you to map RFC data generically to RFC XML and the other way around.

The receiver RFC adapter can be used for mapping lookups.A communication channel with a receiver RFC adapter can be created automatically for business systems that are defined in the System Landscape Directory.

The RFC adapter maps the following RFC calls to XML messages and the other way around:

Synchronous RFC calls (sRFCs) in messages with quality of service Best Effort (BE)

● Transactional RFC calls (tRFCs) in messages with quality of service Exactly Once (EO)

● The receiver RFC adapter can also process messages with quality of service Exactly Once In Order (EOIO). They are mapped to transactional RFC calls (tRFC).

You require the sender adapter if you want to use the Integration Engine or the PCK to process RFCs. The RFC adapter converts the incoming RFC data to XML message format (RFC XML) so that it can be processed by the Integration Engine or the PCK.

You require the receiver adapter if the determined receiver system expects the data from the Integration Engine or the PCK to arrive in RFC format. In this case, the Integration Engine or the PCK must transfer the received XML message (RFC XML) to the RFC adapter. The RFC adapter converts the RFC XML message to a valid RFC call and executes the call.

Proxy :

Generally speaking, interfaces are where functions in a system can be executed. In the context of SAP Exchange Infrastructure, only the following interfaces are relevant:

· Interfaces designed for message exchange between application systems

· Interfaces used by a cross-component integration process to receive or send messages, or both

Starting with a cross-system integration process, you can then derive the corresponding interfaces required. SAP Exchange Infrastructure supports this process by using an integration scenario to describe the collaborative process. The integration scenario summarizes the interfaces required for this collaborative process.

You can use SAP interfaces that already exist in systems, non-SAP interfaces that are connected to SAP Exchange Infrastructure using adapters, or define new interfaces called message interfaces in the Integration Repository. Both worlds can also be interconnected in a collaborative process.

Interfaces are an essential component of SAP Exchange Infrastructure:

· You define the interfaces to be used in an integration scenario.

· Cross-component integration processes use interfaces to exchange messages.

· You define the XML transformations for messages that are to be exchanged between two interfaces in a mapping.

· You assign an interface in a sender system to one or more interfaces in a receiver system in logical routing.

· You generate proxies to implement your scenario based on message interfaces.

You save interface descriptions (message interfaces, BAPIs, RFCs, and IDocs) in the Integration Repository so that they can be referenced throughout SAP Exchange Infrastructure. However, adapters for external systems do not normally use interfaces; instead they access files or database tables in order to function, for example. For this reason, it is not necessary to import these interfaces into the Integration Repository. If the structure of the message is described using a WSDL, XSD, or DTD schema, you can import the schema as an external definition.

Hope this will help you.

Please go througt these links:

1. Difference ALE IDOC/BAPI:

http://www.sap-img.com/abap/ale-bapi.htm

2. Difference BAPI/IDOC.

http://www.sap-img.com/fu033.htm

3. IDOC vs BAPI

http://abapprogramming.blogspot.com/2007/08/difference-between-idocs-and-bapi.html

4. Diff and Simi between BAPI/IDOC:

http://www.saptechies.com/difference-andor-similarities-between-bapi-and-idocs/

How To Configure IDoc Adapters

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/servlet/prt/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/d19fe210-0d01-0010-4094-a6f...

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/46759682-0401-0010-1791-bd1972bc...

Regards,

Nithiyanandam

[Former Member]

Hi,

Good Question,,,,,))))

Idoc and BAPI are both are SAP-objects.

Idoc adapter used for ASync- communication.

Rfc adapter used for sync-async communication

Check this For choosing the Right Adapter while dealing with the SAP Systems

/people/ravikumar.allampallam/blog/2005/08/14/choose-the-right-adapter-to-integrate-with-sap-systems

Regards

Seshagiri

[nisarkhan_n]

Coming to your questions

if RFC is used for both syn & asyn . communication then what is the purpose of using IDOC which is used for aysn .. communicaton..

IDOC are the intermidate docs between the SAP systems only, they are the standrds means of data exchange between the 2 SAP systems, the IDOC run on the ABAP stack using the TRFC port.

when IDOC and RFC are senders:

IDOC sender: rceiving is an SAP system

usess the trfc port for communication

No XML convsersion neede if webAS6.20+

Async

RFC sender : Receiber might be SAP o NON SAP

usess TCPIP channel for communication

XML conversion is needed.

Sync

When RFC and IDOC receiver more or less same as above.

[Former Member]

if one is SAP and another is NON_SAP then in this case what is diff b/w these two..

[Former Member]

Hi,

As per as i know Idoc Adapter can process Large number of data than RFC.

& again it depends on ur requirement.

If u want to send Material to other system( it can be anything...... even Non SAP) then its better if u use IDOC at sender side bcoz sap provide standard transaction(BD10) to send material........... this transaction sends data in Idoc format.............. this is one example.

Thanks,

Maheshwari

[former_member335553]

When information is sought out from R/3 system( for eg giving an emp id and retreiving all the details ) RFC's are used

and as such IDOC's are the intermediate documents for exchanging messages.Synchrounous communication for RFC and IDOC on async communication

[nisarkhan_n]

RFC:

Remote Function Call (RFC) is a call to a function module running in a system different from the caller's. The remote function can also be called from within the same system, but usually caller and callee will be in differene system. RFC allows for remote calls between two SAP Systems (R/3 or R/2) or between an SAP System and a non-SAP System

IDOC

IDoc (for intermediate document) is a standard data structure for electronic data interchange (EDI) between application programs written for the popular SAP business system or between an SAP application and an external program. IDocs serve as the vehicle for data transfer in SAP's Application Link Enabling (ALE) system. IDocs are used for asynchronous transactions: each IDoc generated exists as a self-contained text file that can then be transmitted to the requesting workstation without connecting to the central database. Another SAP mechanism, the Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI) is used for synchronous transactions.

A large enterprise's networked computing environment is likely to connect many geographically distributed computers to the main database. These computers are likely to use different hardware and/or operating system platforms. An IDoc encapsulates data so that it can be exchanged between different systems without conversion from one format to another.

IDoc types define different categories of data, such as purchase orders or invoices, which may then be broken down into more specific categories called message types. Greater specificity means that an IDoc type is capable of storing only the data required for a particular transaction, which increases efficiency and decreases resource demands.

An IDoc can be generated at any point in a transaction process. For example, during a shipping transaction process, an IDoc may be generated that includes the data fields required to print a shipping manifest. After a user performs an SAP transaction, one or more IDocs are generated in the sending database and passed to the ALE communication layer. The communication layer performs a Remote Function Call (RFC), using the port definition and RFC destination specified by the customer model. The IDoc is transmitted to the receiver, which may be an R/3, R/2, or some external system.

please have a look here:

/people/ravikumar.allampallam/blog/2005/08/14/choose-the-right-adapter-to-integrate-with-sap-systems

There are already a lot of threads about this topic!

For example here:

[prateek]

Idocs runs directly on the Integration Engine and hence bypasses the adapter engine processing at XI for both sender and receiver case. So Idocs may provide u performance advantage.

Also SAP has certail Idoc formats ready in which data transfer is easy and convenient. e.g. ORDERS, DELVRY

Regards,

Prateek