Defining IBC References

Use

Outside of the original system, the IBC is described as an Identifiable Business Context reference (IBC reference). This means that to address an IBC that resides in a remote system, it is necessary to create an IBC reference in the local system. You also need an IBC reference for local communication. The IBC reference contains all properties of the IBC, the information of its original system, and (within a central system), an assignment to the domain system in which the IBC resides. An IBC reference can be created from scratch in the back-end system, by representing a business entity in a remote system (even in cases where the remote system does not use IBCs), or on the basis of the original IBC it is referring to. The IBC information can, for example, be retrieved directly from the back-end system or be provided by a services registry. Like the IBC, the IBC reference is created in the NW layer and so all IBCs and IBC references are known among applications that use SAP NetWeaver.

Since the name and type of an IBC reference may differ depending on the perspective of the application that uses it, you can specify a unique alias for an IBC reference. For example, a sending application might want to communicate with a certain business partner and uses the company's name for it, but in fact it might communicate with a business application entity, for example a specific plant on the receiver's side. To be able to provide a navigation path from the IBC reference that is imported from the receiver side (in this case, the plant name) back to the application entity representing the consumer view (in this case the company name) you can define this alias for the IBC reference.

Prerequisites

If you want to use an alias for the IBC reference, a class for the IBC reference must have been implemented in the application. For more information, see Implementing a Class for IBC Reference Usage.

Procedure

Creating IBC References

You can create IBC references in five different ways. In SOA Manager (transaction code SOAMANAGER), choose Identifiable Business Context Reference on the Service Administration tab, and then choose Create. Choose one of the following and proceed accordingly.

  • From a local IBC or from an IBC file

    1. If you have defined an alias, specify the class name of the IBC reference. In this case, select the correct alias type and alias name.

    2. Choose an IBC ID from the field help or enter the path to the IBC file.

    3. Choose Create.

      The IBC reference is opened for editing.

  • From the IBC reference file

    1. Enter the path to the IBC reference file.

    2. Choose Create.

      The IBC reference is opened for editing.

  • From IBC URL

    1. If you have defined an alias, specify the class name of the IBC reference. In this case, select the correct alias type and alias name.

    2. Enter the URL of the IBC.

    3. Optionally, enter the user and password needed to access the IBC file.

    4. Choose Create.

      The IBC reference is opened for editing.

  • Manually

    An IBC reference needs to be created manually when you do not have an XML description of the IBC. In this case, you have to enter all properties of the IBC and the IBC reference manually.

    1. If you have defined an alias, specify the class name of the IBC reference. In this case, select the correct alias type and alias name.

    2. Specify an IBC reference ID. If you create an IBC reference for an IBC, you have to specify this IBC's ID.

    3. Enter the type, name, system, application component and validity of the IBC.

    4. You can add optional IBC descriptions and type descriptions.

    5. Choose Create.

      The IBC reference is opened for editing.

Editing Identifiable Business Context References (IBC References)

  1. In SOA Manager (transaction code SOAMANAGER), choose Identifiable Business Context Reference on the Service Administration tab.

  2. Search for the IBC reference that you want to edit.

    In the search results, you will see the Display (Display) icon for those IBC references whose IBC exists in the local system. Choose this icon to display the IBC.

  3. Click the IBC reference name in the table to open it.

    The IBC reference is displayed with all of its properties. You can carry out the following activities:

    • You can add, edit, or delete aliases.

    • You can add, edit, or delete descriptions, contact details, and notes.

    • You can export an XML description of the IBC reference.

    • If the corresponding IBC exists in the local system, you can display it using the menu bar.

Related Information