Using the SAP Ariba Master Data Retrieval API for Sourcing

When extracting data via the GET /entityTypes/{EntityName} method, it is possible to $select fields, $expand certain fields, $filter, and do pagination with $top, $skip query parameters. Also, we can $includeInactive records, $includeFlexFields and $includeNullValues. In essence, this API kinda follows the OData system query options.

ℹ️ This is a read-only API, it is not possible to create master data through it.

Reporting use case

In SAP Ariba, it is possible to assign a user delegate for a period of time, e.g. when someone goes on vacation, a delegate will be able of doing that user’s approvals. We have a requirement to report on who are the users responsible for this delegations.

We can use the Master data retrieval API for Sourcing if we want to know who is the delegatee for whom. This is something that was not possible to before and it can easily be retrieved by using the API.

Request:

curl --location --request GET 'https://openapi.ariba.com/api/mds-search/v1/prod/entities/users?$filter=CanActAs.Name%20ne%20null&$count=true&$includeNullValues=false&$top=250&$select=UniqueName,Name,Active,TimeUpdated,CanActAs.Name&$expand=CanActAs' \
--header 'Accept-Language: en' \
--header 'X-Realm: YOURREALM-T' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer ea97d123-1234-1234-1234-3f96b8ce1234' \
--header 'apiKey: dAAW72hKXfwTFdxCfA2JZ4Wk3o8fsWaLY'

Response:

As you can see in the response above, we are able to retrieve all the users that can act as someone else in the system. This is achieved by specifying the query parameter $filter=CanActAs.Name ne null.