Connection to SAP IPC

Use

SAP Internet Pricing and Configurator (SAP IPC) is used in numerous SAP applications to configure products via the Internet. Technically speaking, SAP IPC belongs to SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM), but it can also be installed separately on its own database ("standalone").

As of SAP CRM 5.0, SAP IPC 7.0 is a component of the Application Platform (AP). Compared to the previous release (SAP IPC 4.0), the technology has been switched to SAP Virtual Machine Container (VMC), which is part of the SAP Web Application Server (SAP Web AS) and SAP NetWeaver 2004s. Installation of a separate database is not required since SAP IPC 7.0 has been moved to SAP Web AS. This was done in order to use VMC.

Note Note

This is not a J2EE Server, which is also a part of the SAP Web AS.

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Note Note

The use of SAP IPC for vehicle configuration was mandatory up to SAP enhancement package 4 for SAP ERP 6.0. As of SAP enhancement package 5 for SAP ERP 6.0, you can use SAP IPC as an alternative to the characteristic value assignment screen .

Based on your requirements, you must decide if you want to use SAP IPC or the characteristic value assignment screen for vehicle configuration.The advantage of the characteristic value screen is that you do not have to install any additional software components and connect them to the VMS.

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Prerequisites

  • If you want to use SAP IPC 7.0, you must have made the following settings:

    You have created an Extended Configuration Management (XCM) scenario in the relevant J2EE server and set up an RFC connection to the J2EE server.

  • If you want to use SAP IPC 4.0 (IPC standalone scenario), you have installed it and implemented the BAdI VLC_IPC_SELECT.

    Note Note

    For more information, see SAP Service Marketplace at Start of the navigation path service.sap.com/instguides Next navigation step SAP Business Suite Applications Next navigation step SAP CRM End of the navigation path .

    You can use the BAdI VLC_CALL_CONFIG to connect to another, external configurator. For more information, see Customizing for the Vehicle Management System (VMS) under Start of the navigation path Business Add-Ins (BAdIs) Next navigation step Vehicle Configurations Next navigation step BAdI: Connection to External Configurator End of the navigation path .

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  • You have connected VMS to SAP IPC if that is the configurator you wish to use.

  • You have carried out an initial load for the IPC, which fills the relevant IPC database tables in the ERP system.To do this, the system reads data from the tables of the LO-VC component and writes them to the IPC tables. For each vehicle model you want to configure in the IPC, the initial load and the delta load (see below) require a knowledge base object and a runtime version of the knowledge base object.

Features

  • The connection between VMS and the IPC database area remains intact even after the initial load. As soon as there are changes to the configuration master data in VMS, the changed data is automatically replicated to the IPC database area (delta load).

  • You can change the parameters with which SAP IPC is called by using BAdI VLC_SCE_PARAMETERS.

  • SAP IPC is called for every configuration transaction in VMS, that is, every time you choose Configure when you execute an action.

    Note Note

    You can configure the user parameter VELO_SCE_FULLSCREEN to define that SAP IPC is called in full-screen mode and not integrated into the Action tab page.

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