Before you can invoke a BAPI to manipulate an SAP business object, you have to create a local instance of that business object. To do this, use the GetSAPObject method. When you have done this, you must supply the export parameters with data.

BAPI methods expect a large number of structured data types and/or tables. To help you pass properly typed parameters when calling these methods, the R/3 desktop integration components therefore provide a set of objects encapsulating structures and tables. Using DimAs method is a convenient way to create such objects in order to pass data easily to BAPI methods.

For each BAPI method, the BAPI ActiveX control maintains a collection of R/3 tables represented by a tables collection object. To get the definition of a specific table or structure, you call the DimAs method and specify the business object type, the BAPI method and the parameter name. This returns the table or structure object requested. The object hides the internal table from the native RFC interface and handles the data read from or written to the R/3 System. It also provides a full two-dimensional view of the internal table.