Validation 

Use

SAP Supply Network Collaboration (SAP SNC) can validate business objects in inbound messages or during editing in SAP SNC. Within validation, SAP SNC performs various validation checks on a business object. The validation checks check the following, for example:

●      Does the business object contain all required data?

●      Is the master data referenced in the business object valid; in other words, is it created in SAP SNC?

●      Is the data consistent?

If a validation check determines that a business object does not have the property that is being checked, SAP SNC can respond with a check-specific alert and an entry in the application log. Depending on the severity of an error, SAP SNC even terminates validation and rejects the business object (in other words, it does not save the business object).

Certain validation checks can also execute a function, for example:

●      Determine missing master data that is not specified in the business object

●      Calculate data, for example, by using forward scheduling to calculate the delivery date from the shipping date for an ASN

SAP SNC performs validation for specific processes of a business object; for example, after an XML message has arrived or during saving of a business object in SAP SNC.

By default, SAP SNC checks ASNs when saving. SAP SNC performs the saving process in the following situations:

●        The supplier has sent an ASN by DespatchedDeliveryNotification to SAP SNC from his or her backend system.

●        The supplier creates an ASN manually in SAP SNC and saves the ASN.

The validation can be configured with regard to the scope of check and the system responses. You can therefore make your own settings for validation depending (as required) on the process, the partners, locations, and products involved. For example, you can set it so that SAP SNC does not generate an alert if a validation check detects an exception.

Features

The settings for validation are defined in validation profiles in Customizing for Validation. In the standard system, the scope of check and system responses to exceptions are the same for all instances of a business object. Therefore, SAP SNC performs the same validation checks in all processes and for all instances of a business object and responds to exceptions in the same way. The following supply relationship parameters do not determine the scope of check and the system responses in the standard system:

●      Supplier

●      Ship-from location

●      Customer

●      Ship-to location

●      Product

If you want to use other validation settings for specific supply relationships or in specific processes, you define your own validation profiles.

You can, for example, set checks and system responses for saving an ASN that are different to the checks you set for publishing an ASN. You can also set it so that SAP SNC, on publishing ASNs, performs different validation checks for ASNs of supplier A than for the ASNs of supplier B.

For more information, see the implementation guide for Supply Network Collaboration under Basic Settings ® Validation.

Checking XML-Messages in Inbound Messages

In addition to validation using validation checks, SAP SNC also checks all inbound XML messages in inbound message processing. Here, SAP SNC restricts the checks to basic checks for the correctness and completeness of the data in the XML message. These checks always run automatically before the validation checks and cannot be influenced by Customizing. For more information, see Checks in Inbound Message Processing.