Overview

Available triggers for events:

• SAP Business Object events
• SAP Business Transaction Events (‘BTE’)
• SAP Change Documents (CDHDR/CDPOS): SAP Change Documents can trigger a custom SAP Business Object event (works for both custom or standard Business Objects)
• IDoc: IDoc payload will be message payload and IDoc number will be used as event key
• SAP Output Determination
• Custom-code trigger:
  • Call standard SAP Business Object events using FM SWE_EVENT_CREATE (recommended approach)
  • Call ASAPIO Framework directly

SAP Business Object events

A lot of the application modules in SAP use Business Objects to provide different functionalities. A Business Object can also provide events that can be used as triggers for our framework.

For a list of all available SAP Business Objects and their events, you can use transaction SWO3. It shows a structured list of available objects.

Please also see section How to create custom events in case your desired SAP Business Object does not come with standard events.

Most searched SAP Business Objects

The following list is just a small extract from the over 2.500 available business objects in SAP NetWeaver systems:

Object Name	Object Type
Material	BUS1001
Sales Order	BUS2032
Purchase Order	BUS2012
Delivery	LIKP
Business Partner	BUS1006

 

How to identify event triggers?

If the correct Business Object / Event is not obvious you can use the following process to find out if there is a Business Object event for the business process you want to capture.

• Activate event trace transaction SWELS

• Switch Off and On.

Important: Activating event traces increases system load. Therefore we recommend to make use of the ‘Restrictions’ settings, at least to the user name.

• Perform an action in your desired business process — e.g. go to a typical business transaction or SAP Fiori app and perform the changes you are considering to trigger the change.

• After that, display event trace in transaction SWEL

• Look at the triggered Object Type.

Business Transaction Events (BTE)

In some modules and Business Objects the available events are not always active out of the box.
A BTE has a predefined interface that allows to add additional functionality through a custom function module defined in BTE customizing (e.g. filtering when the event should be triggered). BTE conifguration is checked by SAP standard functionality and executes the configured FMs if present. There are two types of BTEs available:

• Publish and Subscribe Interface
• Process Interface

For triggering outbound events the Publish and Subscribe interfaces are used.
A typical sign that there might be a Business Transaction Event (BTE) is that the Business Object shows events in transaction SWO1 but when recording the event trace they are not triggered by the typical transactions for this Business Object.

Which BTEs are available in each functional component of SAP has to be checked in the SAP Help for that component.

How to find BTEs

To get a list of available Business Transaction Events you can go to transaction FIBF and then in the menu select Environment / Info system (P/S):

You can list either all available BTEs or use one of the available search options to filter the list. In our example we search for BTEs related to the Business Object BKPF (Accounting document):

From the list of the available BTEs we will use 1030 and 1050 as we know that these are triggered when an accounting document is created:

From here we also can access the sample function modules for each BTE that serves as an example to copy in order to get the interface correct.

Implement BTEs

To implement a BTE you have to:

1. Create a “Product”
2. Create a copy of the sample FM of the BTE to implement
3. Register the FM with the BTE

For some BTEs this process can be simplified by standard wizard with transaction code SWU_EWBTE. Unfortunately this does not work for all BTEs, so we describe the manual process here.

Create Product

To configure a BTE implementation a product has to be defined. A product can bundle multiple BTE implementation that go together.
To create a new product go to transaction FIBF go to Settings / Products / … of a customer :

Copy sample Function Module

After identifying the BTE you can also get to the sample FM and a interface description from transaction FIBF.

You can copy the sample FM and implement the triggering of the BO event (typically using FM SWE_EVENT_CREATE). If you want to filter the evens to only trigger for a subset of the objects then this is the best place to implement it.

Register Function Modules with BTE

To complete the implementation the new function module has to be assigned to the BTE.
This is done in transaction FIBF under Settings / P/S Modules / … of a customer:

 

Further info

How to filter events?

To implement a filter in ASAPIO Integration Add-on, you can use the standard ASAPIO Check function module.
It allows to filter on attributes of the Business Object.

The Example shows how to react only to events from a Material master data change, for a specific Material Group (table MARA, field MATKL).

1. Search the Business Object in transaction SWO1

2. Add the Attribute ID to your Header Attribute customizing in ASAPIO Add-on:

BOR_ATTRIBUTE_<BOR Attribute from SWO1>

​Example:

Here we only trigger a material group with value “004”:

BOR_ATTRIBUTE_MaterialGroup

 

3. Add the Check Function Module /ASADEV/ACI_EVENTS_CHECK to the Event Linkage customizing.

Set-up outbound messaging

For outbound messaging, you can use and even combine the following methods:

• Simple Notifications
• Message Builder (Generic View Generator)
• IDoc capturing
• Custom-built triggers and extractors

Pre-requisite for all methods is to create a message type, which will be used throughout the configuration process.

The following articles explain the individual possibilities.

Create a Message Type

For each ‘Object’ you are going to configure in ASAPIO Integration Add-on, please create a message type.

Note: In the example below, we use the Sales Order (BUS2032) event. Please use suitable data for your use-case as required.

• Transaction: WE81
• Add New Entry and specify:
  • Message Type: unique name for the integration
  • Description: description of the purpose

Activate Message Type

• Transaction: BD50
• Add New Entry and specify:
  • Message Type: the created message type
  • Active: tick the checkbox

Simple Notifications

Create Outbound Object configuration

• Transaction: SPRO
• Goto ASAPIO Cloud Integrator – Connection and Replication Object Customizing
• Or go directly to transaction: /ASADEV/68000202
• Select the created Connection
• Go to section Outbound Objects
• Add New Entry and specify:
  • Object: name of the outbound configuration
  • Extraction Func. Module: /ASADEV/ACI_SIMPLE_NOTIFY
  • Message Type: the created message type
  • Load Type: Incremental Load
  • Trace: activate for testing purposes

This example uses the built-in notification event.

Set-up target endpoint in ‘Header Attributes’

Configure the topic / queue / event hub name to send the events to:

• Go to section Header Attributes
• Add New Entry and specify:
  • Header Attribute: AZURE_TOPIC (mandatory)
  • Header Attribute Value: the topic/queue/event hub

Set up ‘Business Object Event Linkage’

Link the configuration of the outbound object to a Business Object event:

• Transaction: SWE2
• Add New Entry and specify:
  • Object Category: BO BOR Object Type
  • Object Type: the Business Object Type sending the event
  • Event: the event to react to
  • Receiver Type: the message type of the outbound object (this is the link to the Addon configuration)
  • Receiver Call: Function Module
  • Receiver Function Module: /ASADEV/ACI_EVENTS_TRIGGER
  • Linkage Activated: tick the checkbox

Test the outbound event creation

In the example above, please pick any test sales order in transaction /nVA02 and force a change event, e.g. by changing the requested delivery date on header level.

Message Builder (define payload as database views)

Message Builder uses SAP Data Dictionary Views (database views) to model the payload of a message. It can extract and format data based on the table and field selection of the database view. The formatter nests the data based on the relations of the tables.

Create database view

For the data events also configure the DB view that is used to define the extraction:

• Transaction: SE11 (for SAP ERP or S/4HANA on-prem deployments with SAP GUI access)
• Alternatively, you can use other supported development environments, e.g. WebIDE, Business Application Studio, Eclipse with ABAP Development Tools, or the SAP Fiori App “Create Custom CDS Views” to create a database view.

Example: Material master view (e.g. to be used for Material Master (BUS1001) change events)

Create Outbound Object configuration

• Transaction: SPRO
• Goto ASAPIO Cloud Integrator – Connection and Replication Object Customizing
• Or go directly to transaction: /ASADEV/68000202
• Select the created Connection
• Go to section Outbound Objects
• Add New Entry and specify:
  • Object: name of the outbound configuration
  • Extraction Func. Module: /ASADEV/ACI_GEN_VIEW_EXTRACTOR
  • Message Type: the created message type
  • Load Type: Incremental Load
  • Trace: activate for testing purposes
  • Formatting Function: /ASADEV/ACI_GEN_VIEW_FORMATTER
  • Extraction View Name: name of the DB view

Set-up ‘Header Attributes’

Configure the topic / queue / event hub name to send the events to:

• Go to section Header Attributes
• Add New Entry and specify the header attributes and values

Please note the header attributes are endpoint/platform specific. Here are examples:

Header attribute	Header attribute value	Example	required for Connector
AZURE_TOPIC	the topic/queue/event hub	MaterialMaster	Microsoft Azure
ACI_ADD_LOGSYS	To add the logical system to the top level of the payload. Only works for the generic view extractors / formatters	X	All connectors – optional
SWITCH_OFF_LASTRUN_TIMESTAMP	To improve performance in high-frequency / high-load scenarios set this to ‘X’	X	All Connectors

Set up ‘Business Object Event Linkage’

Link the configuration of the outbound object to a Business Object event:

• Transaction: SWE2
• Add New Entry and specify:
  • Object Category: BO BOR Object Type
  • Object Type: the Business Object Type sending the event
  • Event: the event to react to
  • Receiver Type: the message type of the outbound object (this is the link to the Addon configuration)
  • Receiver Call: Function Module
  • Receiver Function Module: /ASADEV/ACI_EVENTS_TRIGGER
  • Linkage Activated: tick the checkbox

Test the outbound event creation

In the example above, please pick any test sales order in transaction /nVA02 and force a change event, e.g. by changing the requested delivery date on header level.

How to change the payload

General modification options

Adjust payload with following options:

• Rename table: renaming for the tables involved
• Rename field: better and more JSON friendly names for the fields
• Append a new field: e.g. a custom computed field or some additional fixed values
• Skip a field: e.g. a key field like client/mandt
• Camel Case Style: change field and table names into a camelCase style
• Parent-Child relationship: change the hierarchy of tables inside the JSON

To rename a table you:

• Go to Field Mapping, add New Entry and specify:
  • Target structure: TABLE_RENAME
  • Target field: the original name of the table (e.g. MARA)
  • Default value: the new name as it should appear in the JSON (e.g. MATERIAL_MASTER)

To rename a field you:

• Go to Field Mapping, add New Entry and specify:
  • Target structure: FIELD_RENAME
  • Target field: the original name of the field (e.g. EAN11)
  • Default value: the new name as it should appear in the JSON (e.g. articleNo)

 

In an older version before 9.32304 the configuration of the field mapping used the “Source field” instead of “Default value”. A program is now provided which automatically changes the old configuration to the new configuration.

• Go to program /asadev/aci_conv_field_mapping and specify:
  • Instance: Instance to be changed
  • Object: Object to be changed
• Execute.

 

 

To append a new field you:

• Go to Field Mapping, add New Entry and specify:
  • Target structure: APPEND_<tablename> (e.g. APPEND_MAKT); the table name is used to determine the level where the new field is added to the JSON
  • Target field: the name of the field as it should appear in the JSON (e.g. CustomField)
  • Default value: if the field should be set to a fixed value
  • Conversion class/method name: name of a class and method used to determine the value of the field; the class must implement interface /ASADEV/ACI_CONVER_IF

Skip field:

• Go to Field Mapping, add New Entry and specify:
  • Target structure: SKIP_FIELD
  • Target field: field to skip, e.g. key fields client/mandt

 

Activate camel casing:

• Go to Header Attributes, add New Entry and specify:
  • Header Attribute: FIELD_CAMELCASE_ACTIVE
  • Header Attribute Value: Activate with X. This will transform all letters in the character string to lowercase letters from the first position. After a separator as underscore (_) it will remove the separator and start the next character after the separator in upper case and then lower case in all occurrences. Example: MY_STRING -> myString

 

Parent-Child Relationship Between Tables:

• Go to Field Mapping, add New Entry and specify:
  • Target structure: TABLE_PARENT
  • Target field: Child table
  • Source structure: Parent table

Modify Change Pointers in Table BDCP2

 

Description:

The /ASADEV/TRIGGER_BADI enables the integration of custom logic into the function module /ASADEV/ACI_EVENTS_TRIGGER

which is located inside the Event Linkage.

It allows modification of the key for a specific Instance and Object while writing change pointers to the BDCP2 table.

 

Implementation Guidelines:

• BAdI Name: /ASADEV/TRIGGER_BADI
• Method: /ASADEV/TRIGGER_IF~SET_BDCP_LINES
  • Method parameters:

 

• Filter Val.: Use the filter value to use your custom logic only on a specific Instance and Object.

 

Example Usage:

• There are scenarios where a key translation is required before writing the key into table BDCP2.
• Another use case for the BAdI is ATP
  • Example ATP

Set-up Batch Job (Job processed messaging)

Set-up synchronous call for message type

Note: With the following settings change pointers will be set but not being sent directly.

• Transaction: SPRO
• Goto ASAPIO Cloud Integrator – Connection and Replication Object Customizing
• Or go directly to transaction: /ASADEV/68000202
• Click on Synchronous call for message type
• Or go directly to transaction: /ASADEV/ACI_SYNC
• Add New Entry and specify:
  • Message Type: the created message type
  • Sync. On: Clear checkbox (Change Pointers will be set and the event is not being send)

Define Variant

• Transaction: n/ASADEV/ACI
• Select the Connection and hit enter
• Select Upload Type: I
• Select Replication Object 
• Save Variant

Schedule background job

• Transaction: SM36
• ABAP Program: /ASADEV/AMR_REPLICATOR
• Variant that was previously created and saved in transaction /ASADEV/ACI

Test background job

• Create an Event
• Run the job
• Check the ACI_Monitor in transaction /ASADEV/ACI_MONITOR: You will be able to see the variant and a trace. For troubleshooting, check the SLG1-Log.

  

Set-up Packed Load/Initial load (split large data)

Create Outbound Object configuration

• Transaction: SPRO
• Goto ASAPIO Cloud Integrator – Connection and Replication Object Customizing
• Or go directly to transaction: /ASADEV/68000202
• Select the created Connection
• Go to section Outbound Objects
• Add New Entry and specify:
  • Object: name of the outbound configuration
  • Extraction Func. Module: /ASADEV/ACI_GEN_VIEW_EXTRACTOR
  • Message Type: the created message type(optional)
  • Load Type: Packed Load
  • Trace: activate for testing purposes
  • Formatting Function: /ASADEV/ACI_GEN_VIEW_FORMATTER (depending on your use case)

Create database view

Note
Please also refer to section Message Builder

For the data events also configure the DB view that is used to define the extraction:

• Transaction: SE11 (for SAP ERP or S/4HANA on-prem deployments with SAP GUI access)
• Alternatively, you can use Eclipse with ABAP Development Tools, or the SAP Fiori App “Create Custom CDS Views” to create a database view if you have this app available in SAP S/4HANA.

Example: Material master view

Set-up ‘Header Attributes’

• Go to section Header Attributes of the outbound object created previously
• Add New Entry and specify the header attributes and values

Header attribute	Header attribute value	Example
ACI_PACK_BDCP_COMMIT	Flag for changepointer creation. If set, changepointers will be generated for every entry. IF this flag is set, a messagetype has to be maintained in the outbound object. Caution: This may heavily impact performance.	X
ACI_PACK_TABLE	Name of the table to take the keyfields from. This is typically different then the db view specified in ‘ACI_VIEW‘ as we only want to build packages based on the header object and the db view typically contains sub-objects as well	MARA
ACI_PACK_RETRY_TIME	Time in seconds. This is the duration in which the framework will attempt to get a new resource from the servergroup	300
ACI_PACK_WHERE_COND	Condition that is applied to the table defined in ‘ACI_PACK_TABLE‘
ACI_PACK_SIZE	Number of entries to send	500
ACI_PACK_KEY_LENGTH	Length of the key to use from the ACI_PACK_TABLE (e.g. MANDT + MATNR)	13
ACI_VIEW	name of a SAP database view that is key compatible with the ACI_PACK_TABLE	Z_MARM_TEST

Test the initial load

Warning

depending on the amount of data this can stress the SAP system servers immensely.
Please always consult with your basis team for the correct server group to use.

• Transaction: /ASADEV/ACI
• Select the Connection and hit enter
• Select Upload Type: P
• Select Replication Object 
• Select a Servergroup (this is mandatory)

 

Set up packed reprocessing

When an interface had connection issues or other problems for an extended period of time or just accumulated a lot of change pointers to reprocess (e.g. during a cut-over period) the standard way of reprocessing can fall down.
To improve capabilities on reprocessing large amounts of unprocessed change pointers the “Packed Load” processing mode can be used to reprocess these change pointers.

Reprocessing outbound object

Configuration is similar to the normal packed (or incremental) loads:

The key settings are:

• Load Type: Packed Load
• Full Obj. Reference: the incremental object for which to do the reprocessing
  This is the most important setting as this will determine which change pointers are read and reprocessed.

The extractor and formatter settings have to be the same as for the referenced incremental outbound object.

Header Attributes

In general, the same attributes are required as for initial loads based on “Packed Load” mode, but there are a few tweaks:

• ACI_PACK_TABLE: this must be BDCP2 because this is where we get the keys from for the reprocessing
• ACI_PACK_KEY_LENGTH: 43 (number of characters in the BDCP2 key)

Header attributes for the topic or other connector specific attributes have to be the same as for the referenced incremental outbound objects.

Custom Extractor Changes

If you are using a custom extractor it will contain some coding to handle the different styles of change pointers for incremental and packed load. This piece of coding has to be adapted to treat packed load with reference object like it treats incremental configurations, otherwise the extraction will not find any data and the reprocessing will not work.