About SAP Data Sources
For installation requirements, see the TDV Installation and Upgrade Guide.
See the TDV User Guide Chapter “Configuring Advanced Adapters” section “Installing the SAP Java Connector Library” for more details on where to download SAP JCo connection library and how to install it.
The SAP data source provides access to four types of resources: ABAP Queries, Functions, InfoSets, and Tables:
| • | ABAP Queries are organized by query area and functional area. |
| • | InfoSets are organized by query area. |
| • | Tables are organized by the first two characters of their name. |
Note: If the SAP system is Unicode, RFC and BAPI resources support Unicode. However, such support for table resources requires SAP Note 758278.
Application Views for SAP
The organization of the views and folders mirrors that of SAP’s Business Object Repository (BOR). Field names are aliased to provide human-readable names. In some cases several objects in BOR are synthesized in a single query to produce a more detailed, unified view of the data.
A common pattern employed in application views is that of List and Details. Views with names ending in “List” return a minimal set of columns that serve to uniquely identify an object. The identifiers are passed as arguments into a corresponding view, its name ending in “Details,” to produce a more extensive set of columns.
Filter Data from Application Views
There are two ways to filter data from SAP using application views: using a filter provided by SAP itself, or by filtering within TDV. Both methods are used by application views depending on the view and the capabilities of SAP.
SAP Functions
In this document, the word “function” means any RFC-enabled function in SAP. The resources located in the BAPI and RFC folders are all functions for the purposes of query processing.
SAP functions are represented as table resources in TDV to aid interoperability with SQL, but the best way to think of an SAP function is as a stored procedure, with inputs and outputs. Invoking it is a discrete event. SAP functions can have scalar, structure, and table-type parameters. In TDV these are mapped to a single virtual table representing the SAP function. To call SAP functions within SQL, TDV maps the SQL WHERE clause to SAP function inputs, and SAP function outputs are mapped to relational columns.
SAP Tables
SAP tables resemble ordinary relational database tables, with one or more primary keys. SAP foreign keys are not visible in TDV. TDV interprets SQL table queries and translates them into SAP API calls. For joins. TDV pulls necessary data from SAP and processes the query outside of SAP, slowing TDV and SAP performance.
ABAP Queries
ABAP queries are views defined within SAP. An ABAP query in TDV consists of columns with no primary key defined. Columns with names starting with an underscore character are input parameters to the query, and can be used to filter data.
| • | InfoSets in TDV perform identically to ABAP queries, except that they are not divided by functional area, and during introspection an InfoSet query (ABAP query) is generated in SAP by TDV. |
Use in a load balanced environment
If you are using TDV and SAP in a load balanced environment, then you must specify these fields when defining the SAP data source:
| • | On the Basic tab, specify Client, User, Password, and Language. Application Server, SAP Router String, and System Number are not applicable. |
| • | On the Advanced tab, specify Message Server, System ID, and Logon Group. |
When setting up your SAP data source you can define pass-through login information. The operations you can and cannot perform in pass-through mode depend on whether or not Save Password is checked.
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Save password? |
Operations you can perform |
Operations you cannot perform |
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Yes |
Introspection. You do not have to resupply the password. |
N/A |
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No |
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Schedule reintrospection. |