The section below outlines some of the benefits of using BAPIs to access SAP business objects.

SAP business object types and their BAPIs are the standard for the business contents in the SAP Systems. They enable business functions in the SAP Systems to be integrated with business functions in non-SAP software.

The development of BAPIs is a part of a shared initiative between SAP, customers, partners and leading standards organizations. BAPIs have become a communication standard between business systems.

SAP business object types and their BAPIs can be accessed through object-oriented interface technologies, such as Microsoft COM/DCOM (Component Object Model/Distributed Component Object Model).

SAP business objects conform to the specifications laid down by the Open Applications Group (OAG) and, in cooperation with ObjectBridge from VisualEdge, meet the CORBA guidelines (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) established by the Object Management Group.

Once a BAPI has been developed and released by SAP, its interface definition and parameters remain stable in the long term. This ensures that an application program is not affected by changes in the underlying SAP software and data.

If BAPIs need to be enhanced, for example by adding optional parameters, SAP can do this without affecting the stability of existing applications. At the same time new applications can benefit from the enhanced functions.

As methods of SAP business objects, BAPIs provide access to SAP data and processes. They follow an object-oriented programming model. BAPIs can be called using object-oriented interface technologies such as COM/DCOM. In this way they enable free interaction between SAP and non-SAP software components.

Using BAPIs, you can access all development platforms which support the SAP Protocol Remote Function Call (RFC).