Running External Programs (SAP Library

Running External Programs

You can use a background job to start an external program, that is, any executable file on any host system that is accessible from the R/3 System.

The following sections describe the requirements for starting external programs and special techniques for working with external programs.

You can find an example of the JOB_SUBMIT call for starting an external program in Sample Program: Adding a Job Step for an External Command or Program.

Requirements

You can start external programs from a background job only if the following system requirements are met:

Gateway required: The R/3 gateway server must be running. It must be able to establish a CPI-C connection between the background processing server and the host system on which the external program is to be started.
Search path: You must specify the full pathname of the external program in your ABAP background job, or the external program must lie in the search path of the R/3 CPI-C user.

The gateway server starts the program with the CPI-C user. Usually, this is the R/3 host system user <R/3 System Name>adm (c11adm, for example).

R/3 executables in search path: The R/3 "executables" directory must lie in the search path of the R/3 CPI-C user. The external program is started by an R/3 control program, which also receives the return code issued by the external program.

The executables directory is as follows: