Data Distribution Using IDocs
Use
To transfer data from the SAP system to stores, the SAP system has to reduce the complexity of the data structures to suit the capacity of the recipient systems. The system runs a check on the recipient-specific formatting, and a recipient-specific status check is made available in the POS interface monitor.
The following graphic illustrates the information flow in POS outbound processing:
Integration
The SAP system uses ALE technology and the standard messages defined in ALE to distribute data. This way it can send all the messages that are exchanged between SAP systems to the store systems.
Features
The SAP system prepares the following special data for distribution using the POS interface - outbound.
The POS master data provides the store systems with all the master data required for smooth and efficient trading.
The assortment list provides store systems with their article master data and any changes made to it. This enables store retailing systems to support business processes independently in the stores.
Special messages and intermediate documents (IDocs) for POS systems are defined for the following objects.
Some of these objects are time-dependent which means that their data can change within the lead time. Other objects have data that does not change during the lead time. The lower-level sections of this documentation contain a short description of the objects and the conditions that need to be met before the object can be transferred to the POS systems.
The SAP system prepares the data in IDoc format at POS outbound and transfers it to the ALE layer.
If the recipients were not defined by the application, they can then be defined in the ALE layer using the distribution model. The data can also be filtered.
The ALE layer transfers the IDocs to the IDoc interface. Here, they are saved to the IDoc database and transferred to the assigned port. Customizing settings are made for each port to determine whether the IDoc is saved as a file in the file system or transferred directly to the recipient system.
A converter that prepares them for the store system and transfers the data to the store picks up the files in the file system. The converter reports the status to the SAP system when the whole process is completed.
Activities
Data is normally distributed automatically. You can use the program, RWDPOSAN (direct request), to send very specific data that isnot included in the planned distribution to the POS systems. You can also prepare deletion records, which do not send the requested data to the POS system but rather delete the data contained from these POS systems.
See also:
POS Converter
CA:
ALE – Introduction and Administration