Establishing a Target for mySAP

In this section:

To browse mySAP business objects, you must create a target for the system you intend to use. The target serves as your connection point and is automatically saved after you create it. You must establish a connection to this system every time you start iWay Explorer or after you disconnect from the system.

A list of supported application systems appears in the left pane of iWay Explorer. The list is based on the adapters that you installed and have licenses to use.


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Creating a New Target

To connect to an mySAP system, you must define a new target. The target holds your logon parameters for the mySAP system.



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Procedure: How to Create a New Target

The following image shows a window with a navigation pane on the left that lists supported adapters. The right pane displays information about a selected adapter.

To create a new target:

  1. In the left pane, click the MySAP node.

    Descriptive information (for example, title and product version) about the iWay Application Adapter for mySAP ERP appears in the right pane.

  2. In the right pane, move the pointer over Operations.

    The Define a new target menu option appears as well as title and product version information for the adapter in the right pane as shown in the following image.

  3. Select Define a new target.

    The Add a new MYSAP target pane opens on the right as shown in the following image.

    1. In the Target Name field, type a name for the target, for example, mySAPTarget.
    2. In the Target Description field, type a brief description (optional).
    3. From the Target Type drop-down list, select the type of target to connect to.

      The default value is Application Server.

  4. Click Next.

    The Set connection info pane opens on the right. The following tabs are available: User, System, Advanced, and Security. The User tab is active as shown in the following image.

    The User (required) tab enables you to provide authentication information for the mySAP system to which you are connecting.

    Note: For systems based on 6.40 UNICODE, all parameter values are case sensitive. As a result, the values you specify using iWay Explorer must match those that have been configured on your system. This also applies to user names and passwords.

    1. In the Client field, type the client number defined for the mySAP application for client communications.
    2. In the User field, type a valid user ID for the mySAP application.
    3. In the Password field, type a valid password for the mySAP application.
    4. In the Language field type a language key.

      EN (English) is the default.

    5. In the Codepage field, type a character code page value.
    6. From the Authentication mode drop-down list, select Password, Logon ticket (SSO2), or Logon ticket (X509).

      Secure Network Communications (SNC) provides protection for the communication links between the distributed components of an ERP System. Using SNC, mySAP ERP can support products that adhere to the GSS-API Version 2 standard. SNC supports application level (end-to-end security), Smartcard authentication, and Single Sign-On (SSO).

      Note: Depending on the mySAP system release, logging on using SSO or X.509 certificates is supported.

      For SSO, specify the user to be $MYSAPSSO2$ and pass the base64 encoded ticket as the passwd parameter.

      For X509, specify the user to be $X509CERT$ and pass the base64 encoded certificate as the passwd parameter.

      For more information, see your mySAP system documentation.

  5. Click the System tab.

    The System tab becomes available as shown in the following image.

    The System (required) tab enables you to provide the application server name, system number, and connection pooling information for the mySAP system to which you are connecting.

    Note: The mySAP connection parameters are consistent with those found in your mySAP system. For more information on parameter values that are specific to your mySAP configuration, consult your mySAP system administrator.

    1. In the Application Server field, type the host name or IP address for the computer that is hosting the mySAP application.
    2. In the System Number field, type the system number defined to mySAP for client communications.
    3. In the Connection pool name field, enter the name of your mySAP connection pool. A default value (p1) is already provided.
    4. In the Connection pool size field, specify the number of client connections in a pool you want to make available to mySAP for Web service calls. A default connection pool size of 2 is available by default.

      Note: A value of 1 does not create a connection pool. Instead, a single mySAP connection with sequential processing is shared. A pooled connection invokes multiple connections to SAP with parallel processing.

      If you are using iWay Explorer to create Web services, the connection pool size value is used by your Web service during runtime. As a result, ensure that the connection pool size is sufficient for your purposes.

    5. In the Connection timeout (min) field, specify a timeout value for your connection pool in minutes. 10 minutes is the default value.
    6. In the Connection wait time (sec) field, specify a wait time for your connection pool in seconds. 30 seconds is the default value.

      Connections to an ERP server take up valuable resources on both the client and the remote server. You can create a pool of connections to minimize the resource and time constraints. In estimating the size of the pool, you may calculate pool size by the amount of server resources to be consumed, the number and size of the documents to be received, and the size of your Java Virtual Machine. The section of mySAP documentation "Memory Management (BC-CST-MM)" explains in detail the resources required on the mySAP system.

  6. To view the Advanced tab, click Advanced.

    The Advanced tab becomes available as shown in the following image.

    The Advanced tab enables you to specify your EDI and IDoc versions, and configure error handling. The following fields are available:

    1. From the EDI version drop-down list, select the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) document version you are using with the iWay Application Adapter for mySAP ERP.

      Version 3 is the default value.

    2. In the IDOC release field, specify the IDOC versioning you want to use for your connection.
    3. From the IDOC release provider drop-down list, select, IDOC DOCREL field (default), SAP release, or user input.
    4. From the Error Handling drop-down list:

      If your application is Java centric, select Throws Exception so that code components can catch the exception and react accordingly.

      If your application is document based, select Creates Error Document to create an XML document that contains the Java exception.

      It is up to your application to read the XML document and obtain the error.

    5. If a high degree of accuracy is required in your application, select the Commit with Wait check box.

      The adapter waits until all records are physically written to the database before returning from the function call. The "Commit With Wait" has a performance impact on adapter performance, so consider carefully before selecting it. The commit behavior of BAPIs is described in the mySAP documentation under "BAPI Programming Guide and Reference (CA-BFA)."

      All mySAP Business Objects that change data must commit work to the database. Some BAPIs developed in version 3.1 of the ERP system use an internal commit behavior, and their commit behavior cannot be changed by the adapter. As soon as they are called, they commit the work they did.

      BAPIs developed since release 3.1 use the external commit method. The adapter issues a commit command, and the commit is put in the database queue. If there is an application error in the first part of the commit, the error message "Posting could not be carried out" is returned, and the adapter rolls back the transaction. If in writing to the database, a database error occurs, a short dump is issued in the database records of mySAP, but no message is returned to the adapter about the failure.

      This option is disabled by default.

    6. To enable SAP traces, select the SAP trace check box
  7. To view the Security tab, click Security.

    The Security tab becomes active as shown in the following image.

    The Security tab enables you to specify Secure Network Communication (SNC) information for the mySAP system to which you are connecting.

    SNC provides protection for the communication links between the distributed components of an ERP System. Using SNC, mySAP ERP can support products that adhere to the GSS-API Version 2 standard. SNC supports application level (end-to-end security), Smartcard authentication, and SSO.

    If you are using SAP Enterprise Portal, the J2EE engine generates the SAP logon ticket automatically. A possible SNC scenario would be from SAP Enterprise Portal to the iWay Application Adapter for mySAP ERP.

    If you want to use SAP logon tickets to enable SSO to non-SAP components, consult the SAP documentation regarding Pluggable Authentication Services. A possible SNC scenario in this case would be from a non-SAP Enterprise Portal to the iWay Application Adapter for mySAP ERP.

    1. To enable SNC, select 1 from the SNC mode drop-down list.

      By default, SNC is disabled.

    2. In the SNC partner field, type the name of the RFC server or message server (load balancing) that provides the SNC services.
    3. From the SNC level drop-down list, select the version of the SNC library.
    4. In the SNC name field, type the name of the SNC library you are using.
    5. In the SNC library path field, type the path to the SNC library.
  8. After you provide all the required information for your target, click Finish.

    The mySAP target appears below the sap node in the left pane as shown in the following image. You are now ready to connect to your mySAP target.


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Connecting to a Target

To connect to mySAP, you use a target you defined, for example, the one in the previous procedure, mySAPTarget.



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Procedure: How to Connect to a Target

To connect to a target:

  1. In the left pane, expand the sap node and select the target you defined, for example, mySAPTarget.
  2. In the right pane, move the pointer over Operations.

    The following image shows the target, with a red 'x', selected in the left pane. In the right pane, the Operations menu appears in its expanded form.

  3. Select Connect.

    The Connect to mySAPTarget pane opens on the right, which contains fields with information for a client, user, and language, as well as fields for entering a password and a code page as shown in the following image. Additionally, you can select to enable an mySAP trace and to enable security.

  4. In the Password field, type a valid password and click OK.

    The mySAPTarget node in the left pane changes (the red 'x' disappears) to reflect that a connection was made as shown in the following image.

  5. Expand the mySAPTarget node.

    The following mySAP business objects appear:

    • Business Object Repository
    • Remote Function Modules
    • ALE (IDOCs)

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Disconnecting From a Target

Although you can maintain multiple open connections to different application systems, it is a good practice to close connections when you are not using them.



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Procedure: How to Disconnect From a Target

To disconnect from a target:

  1. From the left pane, click the target, for example, mySAPTarget, to which you are connected.
  2. In the right pane, move the pointer over Operations.

    The following image shows the target selected in the left pane. In the right pane, the Operations menu appears expanded to display options.

  3. Select Disconnect.

    Disconnecting from the application system drops the connection, but the node remains.

    In the left pane, the mySAPTarget node changes to reflect that a connection was closed (a red 'x' appears) as shown in the following image.


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Modifying a Target

After you create a target for mySAP using iWay Explorer, you can edit the information that you provided previously.



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Procedure: How to Edit a Target

To edit a target:

  1. In the left pane, click the target, for example, mySAPTarget.

    The Operations menu appears in the right pane, as shown in the following image.

  2. Move the pointer over Operations and select Edit.

    The Edit pane opens on the right with the target name, a description and a target type selected from the drop-down list as shown in the following image.

  3. Modify the connection information.
  4. To continue modifying additional information, click Next.
  5. When you are finished making all of your edits, click Finish.

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Deleting a Target

In addition to closing a target, you can delete a target that is no longer required. You can delete it whether or not it is closed. If open, the target automatically closes before it is deleted.



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Procedure: How to Delete a Target

To delete a target:

  1. In the left pane, click the target, for example, mySAPTarget.

    The Operations menu appears in the right pane, as shown in the following image.

  2. In the right pane, move the pointer over Operations.
  3. Select Delete.

    A confirmation dialog box opens, asking if you want to delete the target.

  4. To delete the target you selected, click OK.

    The mySAPTarget node disappears from the left pane.


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