Introduction to Interface Development (SAP Library - SAP Exchange Infrastructure (BC-XI))

Introduction to Interface Development

Interfaces are at the heart of every cross-system process. They are referenced almost constantly during design and configuration. For this reason, it is vital that an interface description can be accessed from a central point. Essentially, there are two types of Interface Descriptions that you can save in the Integration Repository, namely platform-independent message interfaces and imported interfaces, in which an XML representation of a BAPI, RFC or IDoc is generated in the Integration Repository (also see: Interface-Based Message Processing).

Both for message interfaces and for imported interfaces only information about their structure is saved in the Integration Repository (interface type, parameters used, data types) and not how the interfaces are implemented. By keeping this information separate, you can access the interface descriptions when defining scenarios, mappings or in routing, without having to communicate with the systems in which the interfaces are implemented.

Note

In the context of the Integration Builder and in this documentation, we only refer to interfaces (for example, message interfaces or imported interfaces) and not to interface descriptions.

Prerequisites

The interface types you use for the integration of your collaborative process depend on the process itself and your system landscape. Usually you will have to use different interface technologies for integration. The following technical restrictions exist:

Prerequisites for Proxy Generation from Message Interfaces

Target Language	Version of Platform Required to Implement Proxies
ABAP	SAP systems that have SAP Exchange Infrastructure Release 2.0 or higher installed.
Java	JDK 1.3.1 (either standalone or J2EE) or higher

To connect RFCs, BAPIs and IDocs originating from systems Release 3.1I or higher to SAP Exchange Infrastructure, you require either the RFC adapter or the IDoc adapter. RFCs, BAPIs and IDocs from systems Release 4.0 or higher can be imported into the Integration Repository. To integrate non-SAP systems you require the Adapter Engine, which can forward messages as files to the Integration Engine, for example.

It is of course still possible to develop RFCs, BAPIs and IDocs after SAP Web AS 6.20 and to use relevant adapters to integrate them. However, SAP recommends that you use message interfaces for new developments.