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 SAP 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 SAP 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 SAP CPI-C user.

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

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

The executables directory is as follows:

–         UNIX: /usr/sap/<SAP system ID>/SYS/exe/run

–         Windows NT: \\<Host Name>\sapmnt\<SAP system ID>\SYS\exe\run

Special Techniques: Starting External Programs