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Data integration using IDocs

You can generate an IDoc mapplet to

Data Integration

. You can then use the mapplet in an outbound mapping to read IDocs from SAP or inbound mapping to write IDocs to SAP.

IDocs electronically exchange data between SAP applications or between SAP applications and external programs. IDoc is a message-based integration interface that processes data asynchronously.

IDoc is a component of Application Link Enabling (ALE) module within SAP that can send and receive Intermediate Documents (IDocs) over RFC protocol.

ALE Layers

The message-based architecture of ALE comprises three layers:

Application layer that provides ALE an interface to SAP to send or receive messages from external systems.

Distribution layer that filters and converts messages to ensure that they are compatible between different SAP releases.

Communications layer that enables ALE to support synchronous and asynchronous communication. You use IDocs for asynchronous communication.

The architecture of ALE provides a way to send IDocs as text files without connecting to a central database. Applications can communicate with each other without converting between formats to accommodate hardware or platform differences.

IDoc Record Types

IDocs contain three record types:

Control record, which identifies the message type.

Data records that contain the IDoc data in segments.

Status records that describe the status of the IDoc. Status record names are the same for each IDoc type.

ALE Components

ALE has the following components:

Component	Description
Logical System	All systems that need to communicate using ALE/IDoc must be setup as a Logical System within SAP. An SAP administrator can setup logical systems in transaction BD54.
Distribution Model	Defines an agreement between two logical systems on the messages that can be exchanged and identifies the sender and the receiver. An SAP administrator can setup distribution models in transaction BD64.
Partner Profile	Stores the IDoc type and processing logic related to the distribution model. An SAP administrator can setup partner profiles in transaction WE20.
RFC Destination	Defines the protocol and access to the logical system. An SAP administrator can setup RFC destinations in transaction SM59.
Message Type	Representation of a business object.
IDoc Type	Representation of a message type. SAP uses IDoc types to support backward compatibility across various SAP releases.
IDoc	An instance of an IDoc type that contains business data.