The R/3 Adapter (SAP Library - The R/3 Adapter)

The R/3 Adapter
Purpose

Adapters are interfaces between different systems.

The R/3 Adapter is the interface between the CRM Server and OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) R/3 Systems.

The R/3 Adapter is used for:

Exchanging data between the CRM System and OLTP R/3 Systems (e.g. with the SD module)
Synchronizing and completing keys between the individual systems
Transforming data structures (synchronizing, mapping) at field, table and data model level

Implementation Considerations

Refer to collective note 156102, which contains all current notes on the R/3 Adapter.

Features

The R/3 Adapter consists of four main components, which are used as synchronization mechanisms between the OLTP R/3 System and the CRM Server.

These are:

Initial download component

This transfers all the defined objects from the OLTP R/3 System.

Delta download component

This provides change information from the OLTP R/3 System for the CRM Server. Delta download means that once the initial download has been completed, the CRM Server is supplied with the permanent data from the OLTP R/3 System.

OLTP users may make changes to existing customer master data or can create new orders. This delta information must be forwarded to all mobile employees.

Upload component

With the upload component the OLTP R/3 System is supplied with information from the CRM Server.

Synchronization component

This component compares the dataset of the OLTP R/3 System and the dataset of the CRM Server and then provides the CRM Server with the changed information. This can be controlled in time slots or can be triggered manually. (If you want, you can restrict the synchronization criteria, for example, to a single order). The data synchronization component can be used everywhere where delta download cannot be used. It can also be used to clean up inconsistent data.