Alert Container

Definition

The alert container is a container for the exchange of (application-specific) variables, such as company code or material number, between the local systems (alert providers) and the central alert server. It is therefore the interface between the application that triggers the alert and the central Alert Framework.

Use

When you use application-specific variables in your container definition, you supply the values for these variables by writing them into the container as name-value pairs. These are then interpreted by the Alert Framework on the central system. The runtime container is implemented as an internal table of the structure SWCONT with only the columns Element Name and Value being relevant.

For more information on using containers in general, see Macro Instructions for Processing a Container in the SAP Business Workflow documentation.

Internal Usage of the Container

The Alert Framework uses the alert container not only for the exchange of application-specific variables, but also for the exchange of internal information. The following variables are used for this purpose.

Name

Meaning

Typing

_ALERT_RECIPIENTS

Recipient list

type salrttrcp

_ALERT_ACTIVITIES

Subsequent activities

type table of salrtsacti

_ALERT_EXPIRATION

Expiry date/time (time stamp)

type timestamp

_ALERT_DYNAMIC_SHORTTEXT

Short text

type salrtdcatd (CHAR60)

_ALERT_DYNAMIC_LONGTEXT

Long text

type table of CHAR255

_EVT_OBJECT

Triggering object

type BORIDENT

_ALERT_LOGICAL_SYSTEM

Logical system in which the alert is triggered

type RFCDEST

It may sometimes be appropriate to write variables used internally directly into the container. If, for example, you want to pass URLs to the Alert Framework as subsequent activities, you could instead fill an internal table of the structure SALRTSACTI and write the table into the container with the element name _ALERT_ACTIVITIES.

Integration

The alert container is the main component of the interface between the alert provider (triggering application) and the central alert server.