Integration
Processes (Enhanced)
Use
There are the following enhancements for integration processes in SAP NetWeaver.
Inbound Processing
Inbound processing is a runtime component that delivers messages to integration processes, or that starts new integration process instances.
You can now choose between two settings for the delivery mode:
● Classic setting (default) Inbound processing with buffering
● Inbound processing without buffering
You can now configure the qRFC queue that is assigned to a particular process type individually. For example, you can define which server the qRFC queue of a particular process type is to be processed on. For example, you can specify a particular server for executing the qRFC queue of a particularly time-critical process type.
Depending on the semantics of the particular process, you can enable load balancing. To do this, you define that messages for a process type are distributed to several qRFC queues. Messages in different qRFC queues are then processed in parallel. This enables you to improve message throughput.
More information:
Configuring
Inbound Processing
Transactional Behavior
You can now influence transactional behavior in the definition of an integration process in the process editor. This enables you to improve performance.
More information:
Transactional
Behavior of an Integration Process
New and Enhanced Step Types
The following new step types are now available for integration processes:
● User decision (new)
You use this step type to define decision options in the process definition for a particular situation. The user responsible can select one of the defined decision options at runtime and determine how the process is to be continued.
More
information:
User
Decision
● Transformation step (enhanced)
You can now use parameterized mapping programs in a transformation step. You can use parameterized mapping programs to transfer values from the process container and values from configurable parameters to the mapping program.
You can also use parameterized mapping programs for lookups to query business intelligence data in an integration process, for example.
More
information:
Transformation
Step
Step Group
You can merge a frequently used sequence of steps into a step group. You can reuse this step group in the same process or in other processes. You can hide the steps in a step group to simplify the display of the process definition.
More information:
Defining Step
Groups
Monitoring Process
A monitoring process is a special integration process that you can implement within the IT scenario variant Monitoring Milestones. You use a monitoring process to monitor the milestones in a business process. The business process can be distributed across multiple applications. When a milestone is reached, the applications each publish events, to which a central monitoring process is subscribed. In monitoring processes you can define that alerts are triggered if particular events occur or deadlines are missed.
More information:
Alert Categories and Condition Editor
When you define an integration process, you can specify that if a specific situation occurs at runtime, an alert is to be triggered using Alert Management. To do this, you must first define an alert category. You can define the alert category directly in the Enterprise Services Builder.
More information:
Triggering Alerts in
Integration Processes
Language-Specific Texts
You can define language-specific texts in integration processes, for example when defining alerts or describing steps. You can translate these texts.
More information:
Displaying and
Editing Language-Specific Texts
Process Editor
The process editor has a new view in the overview area that displays the objects used by the integration process, such as interfaces or mapping programs. You can generate a where-used list for dependent objects. The results of the where-used list are displayed in the output area.
More information:
Process
Editor
Configurable Parameters
You can now use configurable parameters in integration processes. A configurable parameter is a parameter with a value that you configure in the Integration Directory. You can use configurable parameters in conditions, for example, or to specify the agent of a user decision.
More information:
Defining
Configurable Parameters
WS-BPEL Export and Import
You can now also export and import integration processes to and from WS-BPEL 2.0.
More information:
WS BPEL:
Importing or Exporting an Integration Process.
Starting and Stopping the Business Process Engine
A special transaction is now available for starting and stopping the Business Process Engine. The transaction SWF_XI_ADM_BPE allows you to start and stop the Business Process Engine in a simple and controlled way.
More information:
Starting and
Stopping a Business Process Engine
CCMS Monitors for Business Process Engine
Additional CCMS monitors are now available for the central monitoring of the Business Process Engine. It is now possible to see the status of the Business Process Engine at a glance. If an error occurs, detailed descriptions about causes, remedies, and functions for troubleshooting are also available.
More information:
Current Status
of the Business Process Engine
Displaying and Processing Work Items
You can display the messages that an integration process is currently processing. To do so, use the work-item display function.
In particular error situations, you may be required to edit the payload of the message before continuing the process. In this case, you can switch to an editor to edit the message from within the work-item display.
The work item display now shows all XML messages that are processed in a process on a separate XML Messages tab page. This makes the display quicker and clearer, especially for more complex processes. The tab page also allows you to display additional information for a particular XML message, for example, the corresponding message proxy.
The XML Messages tab page is visible when you have selected User View or Classic User View for the workflow display in the personal workflow settings.
In particular error situations, you may be required to edit the payload of the message before continuing the process. In this case, you can switch to an editor to edit the message from within the work-item display.
More information: Message Monitoring (Enhanced)
qRFC Monitor
In the qRFC monitor, you can now display information about the process definition, runtime, and inbound processing settings of a process for an LUW processing an integration process (function module SWF_XI_MSG_RAISE_EVENT).
More information:
Queues for
Asynchronous Message Processing
Message Packaging
To improve the performance of inbound processing in the Business Process Engine (BPE), you can combine messages into packages and process them together (as a package).
Message packaging in the BPE is different from message packaging in SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (PI). Both message packagings can be implemented together.
More
information about message packaging in PI: Message Packaging
(New),
Message
Packaging.
Scenarios with high loads profit from message packaging in the BPE. These are scenarios in which there is a throughput of a large number of messages. You can activate message packaging at the process type level.
Using message packaging in BPE can have the following advantages:
● Improvement in performance and increase in throughput
● Reduction of database space required
The transactions SWF_INB_MON and SWF_INB_ADM are available for monitoring message packaging. There are various functions in the BPE administration that can be used for troubleshooting (transaction SWF_INB_ADM).
More information:
Message
Packaging for Integration Processes
Principal Propagation
Principal propagation can be implemented in the Business Process Engine (BPE) for correlating messages, such as simply sending messages.
More information:
Activating Principal
Propagation in the BPE
Configuring Principal
Propagation.