Overview of Information Sources

You can also use the following information sources:

Implementation Guidelines/SAP Reference IMG (Online)

Tools Customizing Implementation projects SAP Reference IMG Sales and distribution Transportation Interfaces External transportation planning systems

The overview shows you which settings you must carry out in the SAP system in order to activate and configure the transportation planning interface. The following individual points will give you more detailed help.

Master Menu (Online)

Logistics Sales and distribution Transportation External systems Transportation planning ALE monitoring

The ALE functions allow you to monitor received and sent IDocs.

For more in-depth knowledge, the following written documentation is available:

RFC manual

Exact technical description of programming interface.

ALE consultancy manual

General information on ALE and its functions

Workflow manual

General information on the Workflow concept (see error processing)

Standard Error Processing with ALE

Transferring IDocs using Remote Function Call takes place on the TCP/IP basis. An error occurring will break the link between the transmitter and recipient. The transmitter can use the return codes of the RFC functions used to control whether the function was successfully called up in the recipient system or not. If there are any TCP/IP errors the link must be unconnected and the IDoc must be retransmitted.

Errors in the ALE service layer, occurring during transmitting or receiving the IDoc are indicated as technical errors. The SAP system generates a work item for every incorrect IDoc when technical or logical errors occur (see below). A work item is part of workflow processing and functions as an error message that is sent to all the users in the system who are assigned to a certain position. The error message contains an error text. If one of the users fetches the message from the inbox, analyses the error and posts the document the error message will disappear from all inboxes.

On receipt the IDoc is saved in the database before any processing begins, thus unlinking the communication from processing. If an error occurs during processing (for example, updating with impermissible or incorrect transaction type, that is, a logical application error) SAP creates a work item with the appropriate error text.

Activating Standard Error Processing

If a logical error occurs when processing an IDoc a message is sent to one or several users. The following text describes how the error processing is set up.

Technically the system triggers a standard task specific to the message category. The standard task has to be assigned to a position that has either a user or holder.

You can create one or more positions that are enclosed in a central organizational unit.

The following options then occur:

You can enter an organizational unit in the partner definition but no further specifications in the partner profile per message category. All the messages will then go to the users assigned to that organizational unit who have a position where the standard task appeared.

You enter a defined point instead of the organizational unit in the partner definition.

You override the entry in the partner definition with entries in the partner profile for a message category.

Normally you would use the first alternative. However if you have two subsystems which serve two different transportation planning points, where the administrators for the errors are two different people, you could use the second alternative to send the same error via the two different partner numbers.

Display in Inbox

The display in the inbox can be individually adjusted. The following describes a setting that allows you to display the messages by IDoc category:

Call up transaction SIN1. Choose Configuration under settings and create a new configuration. Choose Start Configuration to ensure that this configuration is always automatically used. Save.

Choose Settings Group and double click on the required field in the right-hand column for sorting in the overview display. Appropriate fields are 1.„Task“ und 2. „Creation date“

Choose Settings Select columns and double click on the fields that you want to see in the detail screen. Appropriate fields are 1. “Read“, 2. “Process“, 3. “Description“, 4. “Author“, 5. “Entry date“, 6. “Entry time“, and 7. „Status“.