Interfaces to External Systems

Use

To enable the transfer of data between company headquarters and business locations within the retail network, interfaces based on Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI) technology have been developed. This makes it possible for external systems to access data in the SAP Oil & Gas System synchronously. Intermediate document (IDoc) technology provides asynchronous data access in an additional asynchronous layer around the BAPI interfaces.

See also:

ALE Integration Technology

Further Documentation on BAPIs

Prerequisites

In Customizing for the Industry Solution Oil & Gas (Downstream) , you must assign processes to BAPI interfaces and business types by choosing Start of the navigation path SSR Next navigation step Interface Configuration Assign process to BAPI interface and business type. End of the navigation path

Features

External systems can use BAPIs or IDocs to send data to the SAP Oil & Gas System. If IDocs are used, an IDoc converter can be used to translate the file format of the external system into the IDoc format of the Oil & Gas System. External systems can :

Post meter readings. For more information, see Transfer of Sales Meter Data .
Transfer payment card data. For more information, see Transfer of Payment Card Transaction Data .
Update dip readings. For more information, see Transfer of Dip Reading Data .
Transmit competitor price survey data. For more information, see Transfer of Price Survey Data .

External systems can receive data from the SAP Oil & Gas System in the form of IDocs or in XML format. Interfaces are provided for the transmission of:

Price conditions to an external system. For more information see Transfer of Pricing Data to an External System .
Master data from the Oil & Gas System to an external system. For more information, see Distribution of Business Location Master Data .
Payment card transaction data to clearing houses. For more information, refer to the documentation on defining clearing house settlement message structures in the Implementation Guide (IMG) for the Industry Solution Oil & Gas (Downstream) . To do this, choose SSR Interface Configuration Payment Card Clearing House Define clearing house settlement message structures.