HCI/HCP-IS: IDoc Adapter Deciphered - Part 4 - Trigger IDoc from HCI to SAP ERP Using Basic Authentication

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Background

In Part 1 of this blog series, we looked at steps to trigger an IDoc from SAP ERP to HCI from the scratch using Basic Authentication.

In Part 2, we looked at how to use IDoc Numbers to search for IDocs in HCI Message Monitoring.

In Part 3 , we looked at how to use Client Authentication aka Certificate Based Authentication when triggering IDocs from ERP to HCI.

In Part 4 (this blog), we will look at how to trigger IDocs from HCI to SAP ERP using Basic Authentication.

Configure SAP ERP Settings

martin.dejl2 in his blog SOAP for IDOC demystified has explained how you can use SOAP messages to send IDoc's to a SAP ERP system.

Well, guess what, the HCI IDoc adapter uses the same logic. Due credit to Martin Dejl for his blog as that lays the foundation to understand how IDoc's can be sent over SOAP protocol. Firstly, we will also look at some of the prerequisite that need to be taken care of on ECC to enable IDoc communication over SOAP Protocol.

Configuration	Screenshot
Ensure SAP Note: 1487606 is implemented in your SAP ERP System. As per this note this feature is supported from SAP ERP 6.20 onwards. If the note is not implemented please make sure that you get this note implemented in your SAP ERP system.
System : ERP Transaction: SRTIDOC Execute with the default values in the transaction with the option "Register Service" selected Registration should be successful with the message "Registration Successful" If this service has already been registered, you may get the error message - "Access Address already used for Webservice ...". In such a case, this step can be ignored as the SOAP Service is already registered and running.
System: ERP Transaction: SICF Hierarchy Type: SERVICE & Execute Navigate to Default Host --> sap --> bc --> srt --> IDoc. Right Click & Test Service Note the URL that comes in your browser. This is the URL where your IDoc adapter in HCI needs to point. The URL will be of format, http://host:port/sap/bc/srt/idoc?sap-client=<clientnumber> Do note - When you use HCI the URL can change as HCI will be accessing your ERP system from the Internet http or https - depending on what you network admin has allowed Hostname - either a Reverse Proxy / Web-dispatcher or HANA Cloud Connector Host Name  etc. Port - either a Reverse Proxy / WebDispatcher or HANA Cloud Connector Port etc.
Configure your Partner Profile in SAP ERP in Transaction WE20 We use the same partner that was defined in previous blog series and add an inbound entry for ORDERS05 IDoc.

Test Configuration using SOAP UI

Before we look at how to configure a receiver IDoc adapter, lets get this working from SOAP UI considering this works using SOAP

Configuration	Screenshot
Create a SOAP UI Project with any WSDL. In the SOAP URL, provide the SOAP URL from the previous step. Add the Basic Authentication in SOAP UI and add your user name / password for SAP ERP In the SOAP Payload, provide your IDoc XML within the SOAP Body The IDoc Control Record parameters that need to be populated are, IDOCTYP - IDoc Type MESTYP  - Message Type SNDPOR - Sender Port SNDPRT - Sender Partner Type SNDPRN - Sender Partner Name RCVPOR - Receiver Port RCVPRT - Receiver Partner Type RRVPRN - Receiver Partner Name The response will be contain the IDoc Number in SAP ERP.	Click on image where required
Submit the request now with 2 IDoc's in the request XML You will see both IDoc's are accepted and 2 IDoc numbers returned back confirming that IDoc Packaging is also supported.

HCI Configuration

Configuration	Screenshot
Integration Flow The Integration Flow being developed is a File to IDoc Point to Point Integration Flow. There is no Mapping that is being done and the input File is a IDoc XML file with all the EDI_DC40 Control Record filled in as described in the previous section
IDoc Adapter Configuration As mentioned previously your host name and port will need to be provided by your Network Admin / Basis Admin as to the Host name and port accessible via the Internet by HCI. Make sure a Credentials with your SAP user name and password is deployed to your HCI tenant and the same is used here. IDoc Content Type Application/x-sap.idoc : This will make sure that the IDoc that is sent is processed in Exactly Once Order with an ARCKEY being added by the HCI IDoc Adapter to ensure EO processing. In this mode, IDoc Packaging is not supported Text/XML : This supports multiple IDoc's in the IDoc Payload. HCI IDoc Adapter will not add the ARCKEY to the Control Record in this case. HCI will always add the SERIAL and DOCNUM field to the Control Record (We will see this when we test the flow)

Test Your Configuration

Scenario	Results
Scenario 1 Input File - Contains 1 IDoc XML IDoc Receiver Content Type: Application/x-sap.idoc Expected Results IDoc sent to ECC IDoc Control Record Contains below fields populated by the IDoc Adapter ARCKEY SERIAL DOCNUM Message Log in HCI will contain the ARCKEY Details and the associated IDoc Number Info
Scenario 2 Input File - Contains 2 IDoc XML IDocReceiver Content Type: Application/x-sap.idoc Expected Results IDoc not sent to ECC as Application/x-sap.idoc does not support IDoc Packaging Error occurs in HCI.
Scenario 3 Input File - Contains 1 IDoc XML IDoc Receiver Content Type: text/xml Expected Results IDoc sent to ECC IDoc Control Record Contains below fields populated by the IDoc Adapter SERIAL DOCNUM Message Log in HCI will contain the  the associated IDoc Number Info ARCKEY will be blank in the IDoc as the ARCKEY is no more populated by the HCI IDoc Adapter
Scenario 4 Input File - Contains 2 IDoc XML IDoc Receiver Content Type: text/xml Expected Results 2 IDoc's sent to ECC IDoc Control Record Contains below fields populated by the IDoc Adapter SERIAL DOCNUM Message Log in HCI will contain the  the associated IDoc Number Info ARCKEY will be blank in the IDoc as the ARCKEY is no more populated by the HCI IDoc Adapter

Application/x-sap.idoc vs Text/XML recommendation

• If IDoc Packaging is required, use Text/XML ( as it is the only supported way )
• If IDoc Packaging is not required,use Application/x-sap.idoc as it provides End to End Tracking of IDoc using ARCKEY.

IDoc Receiver Adapter using Client Authentication

I had blogged previously about using IDoc Receiver Adapter and Client Authentication using HANA Cloud Connector - HCI: Integrate On Premise ERP with HCI IDoc Adapter using HANA Cloud Connector & Client Authenticati...

In case you would like to use IDoc Receiver Adapter directly with Client Authentication but without HANA Cloud Connector, the previous blog of mine still holds true. The only difference being ,

• No HANA Cloud Connector Configuration is required.
• All the ECC Configuration remains the same.
• HCI Configuration - IDoc Receiver Adapter
  • URL will contain URL of ECC ( Not HCC URL )
  • Channel will have Client Authentication Selected and Private Key for Client Authentication provided.

Final Summary

With this blog and my reference to HCI: Integrate On Premise ERP with HCI IDoc Adapter using HANA Cloud Connector & Client Authenticati... , this blog series comes to a end. The Key Message that is required from this series is HCP-IS/ HCI uses IDoc over SOAP as its protocol for IDoc communication and this demands additional configuration / changes in your ECC as with compared to SAP PI.

Feel any info is missing? Any scenario for the IDoc adapter is not covered feel free to drop in a comment and will see if the gap can be addressed.

Hope this series was as enjoyable to read as was to blog on :smile: