ALE and Change Master

Hi all,
I'm using Tx CC92 to distribute Change Master.
It works fine, Change Master is available with Objects (BOM etc...) but the Change Number doesn't appear in the BOM (CS03) ?!?!?!
Any idea ?
Regards,
David

Solution :
1) Distribute Material Master Data
2) Distribute Change Data
3) Distribute the BOM :
3)a) Send the BOM with datuv = STKO-DATUV, using MASTER_IDOC_CREATE_BOMMAT.
3)b) Read all BOM-Positions (STPO) and check if Changes are active on a position (stpo-datuv > stko-datuv)
3)c) For each position with Changes, send the BOM with ale_datuv = stpo-datuv and ale_aennr = stpo-aennr, using MASTER_IDOC_CREATE_BOMMAT.
Regards,
David

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Try this. Delete the account and restart the iPad.
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Impacts in COPA of changing material and customer master data

Dear experts,
In my company we are considering following scenario:
Currently mySAPerp 6.0 is implemented for all modules for the mother company.
We have developed a new global template where there are significant changes versus the existing system, especially in the SD processes. Material and customer master also change significantly in terms of content in the tables/fields and/or values in the fields.
The idea was to build the template from scratch in a new machine and roll-out all group affiliates, but now we are considering the possibility of making an evolutionary of the current system and try to stretch it to the processes defined in the global template.
The scenario we want to analyze is: Keeping same organizational structure in terms of Company code, CO area and Operating Concern in existing SAP client and make an evolutionary of the existing settings to the global template processes.
The doubts we are having are the following:
Changing material & customer master data: Impact in COPA
Option 1: Material master data and customer master data codes are maintained but content in the tables/fields is changed substantially, both in terms of logical content of specific fields and/or the values in the specific fields. We have following examples of changes.
Case 1: source field in material master changes logical content. E.g. Material master field MVGR1 is currently used for product series (design line) and the content changes to be the Market Segment. The product series will be moved to a classification field. At least 5 other fields are affected by this. How can data in terms of COPA line items be converted so that they are aligned at time of reporting?
Case 2: the source field is not changed so that the logical content of the field remains but the values change, i.e. for the same concept there will be different codifications. How can data in terms of COPA line items be converted so that they are aligned at time of reporting?
Case 3: Characteristics where currently the source material master field is a Z field and the derivation is via table look up and where the Z field changes to a classification field. How can you convert the existing COPA line items to ensure that attributes are aligned? Should new characteristics be created or just change the derivation logic of the characteristic?
Option 2: Material master data and customer data codes are re-created (codification of records is changed), meaning that new material and customer codes will exist and content in tables/fields is changed (as in option 1)
Case: material and customer codes are changed. How can data in terms of COPA line items be converted so that they are aligned at time of reporting?
Iu2019ve never phased a similar scenario and I fear that maintaining operating concern while changing source master data and also SD flows (we have new billing types, item categories, sales doc. Types, order reasons) may lead to inconsistencies and problems in COPA.
I would like to ask you experts if you have come across a similar scenario and if from your experience, it is something feasible to do or there are many risks involved. What can be the impact of this scenario in existing Operating Concern for both option 1 and 2 and what would be the key activities to perform to adapt the existing operating concern. What will be the impact of the needed conversions on P&L reporting?
Sorry for the long story. I hope you can help me out.
Thanks and Regards,
Eric

Hi,
First i think you will need to test if it works for new COPA documents created via billing.
If it works fine then the issue is if you wish to apply these changes to the historical data already posted.
Normally there are transactions like KE4S where you can repost the billing document to COPA
However this may not be viable for bulk postings
You can perform realignment (KEND) but this only works at the PA segment level (table CE4XXXX)
regards
Waman

Creation and change customer master in same LSMW

Hi Experts,
I have a created customer master uploading using batch input recording in lsmw.
Now i have scenario like if the customer already exists i need to change that customer accordingly.
I hope most of u would have come across such issue,for time being i tried makin 2 recordings for creation(XD01) and change(XD02)
after assigning 2 structures for each creation and change, but i don know where to check whether the customer already exists and how to skip respective recordings....
Pl suggest steps after this, if this one correct........
Or if there any alter method pl do suggest me..
Pts will rewarded immly.
Regards,
Dilip

Hi,
In the begin of record, you can check whether a cust already exist in the system. Based upon the result you can change the Tab Name and Tcode.
Just give this a try.
Rehards,
Lalit

Bapi For creation and change for Vendor Master and Customer Master

I am looking for BAPI to create and change Vendor Master and Customer Master which will not take me to standard SAP transaction but will work in the background
Explanation: BAPI to delete material (BAPI_MATERIAL_DELETE) take you to standard SAP screen of T-Code MM06 but BAPI to create material (BAPI_MATERIAL_SAVEDATA) creates material in the background i.e. does not take you to standard SAP screen of T-Code MM01
So in my case (i.e. to create and change Vendor Master and Customer Master ) I want BAPI which would work like BAPI to create material (BAPI_MATERIAL_SAVEDATA)

For general information,to find BAPIs associated with any business object :
Transaction : BAPI - choose alphabetical tab - Find customer - (right side choose - tools - create bapi list and search ) , you will get all the BAPIs associated with this particular business object
Mathews

Trying to link large file to email. keep getting asked for master pw to security device. I have changed master pw on firefox and TB but still same response.

I have tried over and over to send this large file. I've never synced before so i got that all set up. Then asking for master passwork to security device. Don't think I had ever set up an account so did that and created password. When trying to send the email I ask to link it goes to 'box' and I authorize thunderbird to use use it. then it ask for master password and I type that in and it doesn't work. I have reset master pw for firefox and thunderbird and still can't get it to work. I really don't know what I am doing here so any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

In my previous response, I gave a link to this website page:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Master_password
It contained some information about what to do if TB keeps asking for a 'Master Password' which was never set. This was an old bug that was resolved years ago, so it is surprising you are getting it assuming the Thunderbird Master Password was never set.
However, your comments are confusing because they are conflicting; in your question you say:
'' I have changed master pw on firefox and TB ''
This implies you set a master password in Thunderbird and changed it, but in last comment you say you never defined it:
'' I have used the Firefox direction to eliminate the master password, which I never defined in the first place,''
I'm not sure what you mean by 'I have used the Firefox direction' - perhaps you mean the link I gave. As of course we are not talking about firefox :)
So, at this point, it is hard to know what you did because you are posting conflicting information.
Using info at the link, I presume you tried this:
quote
''Thunderbird: Choose Tools -> Error Console, paste the expression: openDialog("chrome://pippki/content/resetpassword.xul") and press the Evaluate button. That will open a dialog asking you if you want to reset your password. ''
quote
''If that doesn't work exit Thunderbird and delete the '''key3.db''' file in your profile.''
Did you do this? You do not say if you did this.
At no point does it say uninstall Mozilla Thunderbird program, so I do not know why you would do it. Uninstalling the Program has nothing to do with your Profile for very obvious reasons.
'''More clearer instructions on how to delete the '''key3.db''' file.'''
Make hidden files and folders visible:
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Show_hidden_files_and_folders
The AppData folder is folder is a hidden folder; to show hidden folders, open a Windows Explorer window and choose "Organize → Folder and Search Options → Folder Options → View (tab) → Show hidden files and folders".
Assuming your Profile was stored in the default place, it can be located here:
* C:\Users\Windows user name\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\Profile name\
Thunderbird must be closed before doing anything in the Profile folders.
If you have since reinstalled Thunderbird, you can also use it to get quick access to your Profile folders.
In Thunderbird
* Help > Troubleshooting Information
* click on 'show folder' button
* '''Close/Exit Thunderbird - this is important'''
* Look for and delete this file : '''key3.db''' file.
* Restart Thunderbird.

Extracting changes from Change Master and importing to another BOM

Dear All,
Our client uses ECM and manages two BOM's the Engineering BOM and Production BOM.
The Engineering BOM s are changed through change number. We need to import these changes to the production BOM, (only the changes) through another change number
This means,
We have the Engineering BOM (No plant, usage 2) and Production BOM (Plant BOM with usage 1)with the same structure (BOM header is Z)
Header : Z
Position 1 :A Qty 1
Postion 2 : B Qty 1
Both initially had components A and B, each with Qty 1.
Now with a change number, the Engineering BOM is changed, a new component C is added, the quantity of A is revised to 2.
Now the Engineering BOM is
Header : Z, Plant ( blank) and Usgae 2
Position 1 :A Qty 2
Postion 2 : B Qty 1
Position 3 : C Oty 1
Our requirement is to extract the changes from the Change master, ie, the extract should say BOM header Z is changed,
New position 3 : C Qty 1,
Modified Position 1, Qty 2.
This should have only the changed information and we want to input this to the Production BOM, through another change number to change the Production BOM.
We want this process to be automated, in the sense, user enters the Production BOM header, Plant and usgae 1 and the new change number, then the BOM will be updated with the changes in the engineering BOM.
My Questions are
1- How to get an extract from the Change master with only the changes file, to a txt or xml or any format?
2- Apart from manually updating the Prodcution BOM by seeing the changes from Environment ->Reporting ->BOM changes of the Change master of the Engineering BOM, is there any other way to update the Production BOM only with the changes?
3- Ideally we want to import the changes to the Production BOM rather than deleting the items and again copying from Engineering BOM. What is best practice used in this scenario?
Any suggestions would be helpful
Regards,
Aby Thomas

Dear Mario,
Got ur point.. This is of course possible.. Practicallyboth the BOM's are not exactly identical. Tere is one more BOM apart from the Production BOM.
And there is a need to transfer the changes ( changes alone ) between BOM's.
Further more, there are interface from SAP to other systems, where they alos requires the BOM changes.. So the requirement arises, how to transfer the changes between BOM and also to other systems from SAP.,
If we do not have any interface from legacy PDM, how to extract the changes from the change master?
What is the general practise followed?
Regards,
Aby Thomas

I tried resetting my Master Password using "chrome://pippki/content/resetpassword.xul", but when I click on "Change Master Password" it asks for my CURRENT password. I don't have a current password, because I don't remember it and am trying to reset it!

Using FF 4.01 for laptops & desktops, Windows XP 2002 SP3. I used "chrome://pippki/content/resetpassword.xul" to reset the Master Password. Then went to Tools/Options/Security, clicked on "Change Master Password". BUT it asks for my CURRENT password and new password. I don't know my current password. Is there a default Master Password that I need to input as the Current password?

If you still have a Master Password set then it looks that resetting the MP hasn't worked.
If using the chrome url (chrome://pippki/content/resetpassword.xul) doesn't work then delete the files [http://kb.mozillazine.org/key3.db key3.db] and signons.sqlite in the Firefox profile folder.
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox.
You need to set a new Master Password after renaming or deleting key3.db and all currently saved passwords are lost.

Link Between Change Master Table (AENR) and ChangeDocTable (CDHDR/CDPOS)

Dears,
I am using change documents to get the detailed list of changes applied to
BOM.
This works fine, but I need to know additionnaly whether a given change has
been done using Change Master ( can display change master in cc02), in reference with a change number.
This seems feasible, however I don't find any obvious link between AENR
table and change documents, does anybody have clues about it?

Hi Ji,
I am also having similar issue, if u have found the solution please reply. it will be very kind and appriciated.
Requirement:(Business need)
It has to be ensured that requested changes to a material, BOM or document carried out in the right order. Therefore, an automaticcheck for open change requests for a specific object record is required.
Desired Functionality:
- the user wants to maintain a material, bill of material or a document.
- on the initial screen of the respective transaction (eg: MM02, CS02). She enters a change request number.
- the system change whether the object record that the user wants to maintain is already assigned to other change request numbers.
- if this is the case, the system displays a warning, stating that there are other open change requests for this master data record.
- in addition, the system lists the relevant change request numbers.
- the user can continue the maintenance or leave the transaction and first check the mentioned change requests.
Thanks in advance
sham.

Bapi_material_savedata and material master change log

Hi,
The BAPI_MATERIAL_SAVEDATA is called to extend a part number to a storage location and change MRP4 Re-order point qty and Replenishment qty.
The material master (MM03) correctly shows that the part number was extended successfully and the Re-order point qty and Replenishment qty are reflected correctly in MRP4.
However, when I view the Change Documents (menu-Environment-Display Changes), only the extension to storage location is listed. There is no record for the quantities.
Is this as expected? Is there something that can be done to enable recording of the quantities as well?
Because it's a new part number in the storage location, I expect to see the usual as below, but there's none.
old value / new value
0 / 02
0 / 10
Many thanks,
Huntr

Hi,
The solution is to call the bapi twice: once to create the mrp view and once to change the values in the view.
The first call will generate a Create event in the document log and the second call will generate a field Change event.
Thanks,
Reyleene

Incident management and Critical Master data table change management.

Dears,
I need to configure Incident management and Critical Master data table change management on our solman 7.0 server.
I want to know how many days should be required for this activity and please share documents.
Shivam

Hi,
I faced a similar situation,
I tried all the possible ways like activating InfoObject manually, Through an activation program of aggregates,
Also ran RSRV check which was showing no negative results.
I raised an OSS note for the same but after that when SAP returned back the process chian ran again as it is a daily load which activated the record in 'M'.
I ask you to wait till the next process chian run, and try all possible ways to activate.
If it is not corrected then raise an oss to SAP.
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Vishnu

Program for customer and vendor master

Hi All,
I am working with ale-idocs. could you plese tell me the program name for transferring the customer and vendor master data.
thanks in adavance,
Sugeet.

Hi Sugeet,
You can transfer the Customer/Vendor master data by activating change pointers or by using RBDSEDEB/RBDSECRE programs manually by giving the customer or vendor number. But for both the methods you need to configure the partner profile settings.
Regards,
Rajesh

Working on IDOC OUTBOUND FOR Vendor Master and Customer Master

Hi Group,
I need to create IDOC's for Vendor master and customer master using ALE. Whenever they create vendor/customer or changes to vendor/customer should create IDOC's.
Can anyone please help me out how to proceed? I know that we can use CREMAS/DEBMAS and CREMAS04/CREMAS...But I would like to know how to use those.
Thank-You,
Venky

Hi Sai,
Welcome to group.
Related to CREMAS/DEBMAS, for your situation, you can use the change pointers. With this, when ever there is an change/create, it will create an entry in CDHDR & CDPOS and based on that it will create the IDOCs for these.
Activate the change pointers for these message types and run the application RBDMIDOC periodically (whenever you want). This application will create the IDOCs based on your entries.
To activate the change pointers, the TCODEs are
BD50 Checking change pointer is activated for Message Type
BD52 Checking which fields are configured change pointer to create. (please make sure, an entry will exist in BDCP table)
I hope you know the remaining configuration related to partner profile entries (WE20) i.e. to which system you want to send the idocs and Inbound or Outbound etc.
Let me know if you need further info.
shylesh

ALE AND EDI

hello,now,i want to send one PO from one cilent to another cilent and in another cilent creat one SALE ODER, A foundation upon which the PO.
how can i use ALE and EDI. thank you!

Hi Yang,
Your Requirement seems to be client-client communication, no communication with the external systems(i.e, Vendor/Customer), In these cases you have to use ALE.
Regards:-
<b>Santosh.D</b>
Just follow the procedure
Sending System(Outbound ALE Process)
Tcode SALE ? for
a) Define Logical System
b) Assign Client to Logical System
Tcode SM59-RFC Destination
Tcode BD64 ? Create Model View
Tcode BD82 ? Generate partner Profiles & Create Ports
Tcode BD64 ? Distribute the Model view
Message Type MATMAS
Tcode BD10 ? Send Material Data
Tcode WE05 ? Idoc List for watching any Errors
Receiving System(Inbound ALE )
Tcode SALE ? for
a) Define Logical System
b) Assign Client to Logical System
Tcode SM59-RFC Destination
Tcode BD64 ? Check for Model view whether it has distributed or not
Tcode BD82 -- Generate partner Profiles & Create Ports
Tcode BD11 Getting Material Data
Tcode WE05 ? Idoc List for inbound status codes
ALE IDOC Steps
Sending System(Outbound ALE Process)
Tcode SALE ?3 for
a) Define Logical System
b) Assign Client to Logical System
Tcode SM59-RFC Destination
Tcode BD64 !V Create Model View
Tcode BD82 !V Generate partner Profiles & Create Ports
Tcode BD64 !V Distribute the Model view
This is Receiving system Settings
Receiving System(Inbound ALE )
Tcode SALE ?3 for
a) Define Logical System
b) Assign Client to Logical System
Tcode SM59-RFC Destination
Tcode BD64 !V Check for Model view whether it has distributed or not
Tcode BD82 -- Generate partner Profiles & Create Ports
Tcode BD11 Getting Material Data
Tcode WE05 !V Idoc List for inbound status codes
Message Type MATMAS
Tcode BD10 !V Send Material Data
Tcode WE05 !V Idoc List for watching any Errors
STEP 1)a Goto Tcode SALE
Click on Sending & Receiving Systems-->Select Logical Systems
Here Define Logical Systems---> Click on Execute Button
go for new entries
-System Name : ERP000
-Description : Sending System
-System Name : ERP800
-Description : Receiving System
press Enter & Save
it will ask Request
if you want new request create new Request orpress continue for transfering the objects
B) goto Tcode SALE
Select Assign Client to Logical Systems-->Execute
000--> Double click on this
Give the following Information
-Client : ERP 000
-City :
-Logical System
-Currency
-Client role
Save this Data
Step 2) For RFC Creation
Goto Tcode SM59-->Select R/3 Connects
Click on Create Button
RFC Destination Name should be same as partner's logical system name and case sensitive
to create the ports automatically while generating the partner profiles
give the information for required fields
RFC Destination : ERP800
Connection type: 3
Description
Target Host : ERP000
System No:000
lan : EN
Client : 800
User : Login User Name
Password:
save this & Test it & RemortLogin
STEP 3) Goto Tcode BD64 -- click on Change mode button
click on create moduleview
short text : xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Technical Neme : MODEL_ALV
save this & Press ok
select your just created modelview Name :'MODEL_ALV'.
goto add message type
Model Name : MODEL_ALV
sender : ERP000
Receiver : ERP800
Message type :MATMAS
save & Press Enter
STEP 4) Goto Tcode BD82
Give Model View : MODEL_ALV
Partner system : ERP800
execute this by press F8 Button
it will gives you sending system port No :A000000015(Like)
STEP 5) Goto Tcode BD64
select the modelview
goto >edit>modelview-->distribute
press ok & Press enter
STEP 6) goto Tcode : BD10 for Material sending
Material : mat_001
Message Type : MATMAS
Logical System : ERP800
and Execute
STEP 7)goto Tcode : BD11 for Material Receiving
Material : 100-300
Message Type : MATMAS
and Execute --> 1 request idoc created for message type Matmas
press enter
Here Master Idoc set for Messge type MATMAS-->press Enter
1 Communication Idoc generated for Message Type
this is your IDOC
Change Pointers
how to change the description of a material using ALE Change Pointers.
I will give the following few steps
1) Tcode BD61---> check the change pointers activated check box
save and goback.
2) Tcode BD50---> check the MATMAS check box save and comeback.
3) Tcode BD51---> goto IDOC_INPUT_MATMAS01 select the checkbox save and comeback.
4) Tcode BD52---> give message type : matmas press ok button.
select all what ever you want and delete remaining fields.
save & come back.
5) 5) go to Tcode MM02 select one material and try to change the description and save it
it will effects the target systems material desciption will also changes
6) goto Tcode SE38 give program Name is : RBDMIDOC and Execute
give Message type : MATMAS and Executte
ALE/IDOC Status Codes/Messages
01 Error --> Idoc Added
30 Error --> Idoc ready for dispatch(ALE Service)
then goto SE38 --> Execute the Program RBDMIDOC
29 Error --> ALE Service Layer
then goto SE38 --> Execute the Program RSEOUT00
03 Error --> Data Passed to Port ok
then goto SE38 --> Execute the Program RBDMOIND
12 Error --> Dispatch ok
Inbound Status Codes
50 Error --> It will go for ALE Service Layer
56 Error --> Idoc with Errors added
51 Error --> Application Document not posted
65 Error --> Error in ALE Service Layer
for 51 or 56 Errors do the following steps
goto WE19 > give the IDOC Number and Execute>
Press on Inbound function Module
for 65 Error --> goto SE38 --> Execute the Program RBDAPP01 then your getting 51 Error
Message was edited by: Santosh (INDIA)

Study material on ALE and IDOCS

Hi
If anyone has some study material on ALE and IDOCS ,if you can please send it across to me , it would be very helpful to me .
My mail id is : [email protected]
Thanks in advance
Ankit

1. What is ALE?
Application Link Enabling (ALE) is a set of business processes and tools that allow applications on different computer systems to be linked. This can be done between different SAP systems as well as between SAP and non-SAP systems.
In a single SAP system different applications are integrated via a single database (e.g. finance, sales, production, human resources). However, many companies do not have just one integrated system but a distributed environment with different applications running on different systems. To run the whole business in such an environment the distributed applications have to be linked. This can be done through Application Link Enabling (ALE).
ALE provides distributed business processes that can be used to link the applications on different platforms. There are some ALE business processes delivered in the standard SAP system. Furthermore, there are tools that can be used to change the existing ALE business processes or to implement new distributed business processes.
Besides the business processes there are special ALE services that are required to set up and control a distributed environment. These services include a distribution model, business object synchronization and tools for monitoring or error handling.
ALE is a major part of SAP's Business Framework Architecture. Besides the basis middleware, that provides the communication between components, and the interfaces (BAPIs), ALE business processes and ALE services enable the cooperation of the single components within the framework. That makes ALE the glue of the Business Framework.
2. What are the benefits of ALE?
With ALE companies get the opportunity to improve business performance and to solve organizational or technical issues.
Through distribution you can decentralize your business, enabling local units to operate independently from each other. This flexibility enables the local units to return better business results than in a centralized environment. They have the necessary flexibility to optimize business processes in different organizational units and can ensure that information systems can handle the speed of change in rapidly expanding markets. Distribution allows a high level of freedom, provided that this level of freedom has been clearly defined.
On the other hand, some companies, that already have a distributed organization with different computer systems in the local units, have the opportunity to link their units through ALE business processes. This enables them for example to provide a 'one face to the customer' approach. Another area that can benefit through ALE are virtual organizations (partnerships between independent companies, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions).
Of course, in many cases an integrated solution based on a single system is not possible at all. Some applications used by a company can not run on the same computer system. This includes legacy systems or complementary software. It may also be possible that a company uses different SAP industry solutions or specific country solutions, which do not run on the same SAP System. If these applications run on different systems they can not be linked by a central database but have to use a special integration mechanism like ALE. In this way ALE also links SAP Core Systems to other SAP components like CRM, Business Information Warehouse or APO.
Besides the benefits of having an improved flexibility in setting up the whole business processes, ALE may also reduce costs, in particular costs of upgrading. If the whole business is run on one integrated system you have to upgrade the whole system, even if only one part of your company (e.g. human resources) requires an update. So the entire company is affected by the upgrade project and all users have to be trained for the new release. Within a distributed environment with release independent interfaces, like those provided by ALE, you can focus the upgrade project on that part of the company that has to be upgraded. The other parts of the company are not involved and need no training. This can save a lot of money. Furthermore, existing investments are protected.
Another cost factor for distribution might be communication costs. For an overseas connection it can be more expensive to provide online access to one central system (T1) than to connect distributed systems to each other (64K line).
There might also be some technical reasons for distributed systems. If some parts of the business have special requirements for security of data access (e.g. human resources), this can be set up much safer on a standalone system, which is, however, linked to other parts of the company through distributed business processes. A similar example is high availability. High availability is usually required by the operations part of the company (production, logistics) but not by other areas (e.g. financials, human resources). In a distributed environment high availability can be set up for specific parts of the environment instead of for the whole business. This can also reduce costs.
In a distributed environment you can not decrease the overall workload of the systems but you can separate the user workloads on different systems. Through this scalability you can improve performance. Another benefit of distributed systems is that if a technical failure occurs on one system, all other systems continue to operate. Only a small part of the business is disrupted by the error. On one central system such an error would disrupt the entire business.
3. When should ALE be used?
Besides the benefits of ALE there are also reasons not to distribute:
The functional scope in a distributed environment is restricted. Not all functionality that is available in an integrated SAP system can be used with distributed systems in the standard yet. Although ALE provides tools to create new ALE business processes or to enhance existing business processes, this does involve additional expenditure.
Each company needs some organizational standards and data harmonization. In a distributed environment less standards are required than on a single integrated system. However, in a distributed environment the maintenance of the standards and the data harmonization is more difficult than on a single system.
The administration of decentralized systems is more expensive. Support and service costs for hardware and software in decentralized systems are higher than these costs in a single centralized system.
ALE should be used in a company if the benefits of ALE for this company outweigh the reasons against distribution. For this you always need to carry out a company specific investigation, in which you also should consider the culture of the company. ALE is good for some companies but not for all.
4. What is the relationship between ALE and Middleware?
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is a term for the transfer of business messages between two systems. There are many such messages, the most common of these include a customer sending a purchase order message to a vendor, or a vendor sending an invoice message to a customer. Classic EDI is mainly restricted on the exchange of transactional data, no master data or configuration data. In most cases, EDI replaces the transfer of paper copies of these documents. Via the messages ALE business processes can be implemented between business partners. The EDI messages also use the ALE services.
For the communication between different types of systems special EDI messages are defined as standards for inter company communication. There are many standards for these messages - in the United States, the ANSI X.12 standard is the most prevalent, in Europe, the UN/EDIFACT standard is used. For sending EDI messages the information has to be converted into an EDI standard. With SAP systems this is done by EDI subsystems. This conversion is the only difference between EDI messages and other messages used in ALE business processes. The processing of these messages on the SAP System is the same as the processing of other ALE messages.
5. Which ALE business processes are available?
IDoc Types - Message Types
ALE business processes are integrated business processes that run across distributed systems. This can be two different SAP systems, links between SAP and non-SAP systems, SAP and Web-servers (Internet Application Components) or SAP and desktop applications. The links between the systems may be loosely (asynchronous) or tightly (synchronous) coupled. These business processes are release independent and can run between different release levels of the systems.
Many SAP applications offer ALE distribution processes. The following list gives some examples:
Master data replication (IDoc Types - Message Types - Master Data)
- Material
- Customer
- Vendor
- General Ledger accounts
- Bill of materials
Accounting (IDoc Types - Message Types -Accounting Business Processes)
- Links to logistic systems
- Distributed financial accounting
- Distributed cost center accounting
- Distributed special ledger
- Profitability analysis
- Distributed profit center accounting
- Consolidation
- Treasury
Logistics(IDoc Types - Message Types - Logistics Business Processes)
- Reallocation of materials
- Distribution of sales and shipping
- Product data management
- Purchasing contracts
- Sales and operations planning
- Warehouse management
- Links to warehouse control systems
- Links to production optimization systems
- Links to transport planning systems
Information systems (IDoc Types - Message Types - Logistics Business Processes)
- SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW)
- Exchange of data between information systems
- Web reporting
Human resources (IDoc Types - Message Types - HR Business Processes)
- Human resources as a single component
- Payroll results
- Travel expense accounting
- Links to time collecting systems
However, these standard solutions may not fit 100% for a company. There may be differentiation in the business process or a required distributed business process is not supported in the standard. If this happens, ALE provides tools that can be used to adapt a standard ALE business process or to create a new distributed business process.
6. Which ALE services are available and what do they do?
To integrate distributed systems you need more than a communication infrastructure and interfaces. Some additional services are required that are provided by ALE:
Business process harmonization:
Within system overlapping business processes multiple functions running on multiple systems are involved and connected through multiple interfaces. The processes are combinations of functions (sub-processes) running on the single systems.
(Example: A business process for customer order management involves functions in sales, manufacturing, warehouse management, finance, and so on. It is possible that the sales functions are carried out on another system than the manufacturing, the warehouse management or the accounting. Furthermore, some information exchange with the customer, a supplier or a bank may be involved in the process.)
ALE helps to coordinate the whole business process by defining it within a global model. In this model the business rules for the distribution are defined. Via the model the sub-processes get to know which part of the overall process they have to do themselves and when they have to pass the process over to another system. Through this the whole business process gets harmonized.
Receiver determination:
For distributed business processes a sub-process on one application (client) has to start another sub-process on another application (server). It is important that the new sub-process is started on the right server. Which server is the right one can not be defined by technical values, it depends on the business content of the process.
(Example: A sales system forwards customer orders to two different production systems. To which system a special sales order is forwarded depends on the entries in the sales order (this may depend, for instance, on the ordered material or on the customer). One sales order may also be split into two or more different orders that may be forwarded to different production systems.)
To notify the client which system is the receiver of the communication (server), ALE uses a distribution model. From this model the applications get the information about the right server. There are special ALE BAPIs and function modules available for this. The receiver determination makes sure that the information is sent to the right places.
Business object synchronization (semantic synchronization):
If business processes run across distributed systems, they have to share some data to be harmonized. This is data like business information data, master data or customizing data. If this data is changed in any of the distributed systems, other systems have to be informed about the change. There has to be some kind of subscription of the data.
ALE provides a special service for this data synchronization. This service can detect data changes and distribute the information to those systems that need to know about the change. This service also defines which data is shared. You can determine which fields of a data object shall be common and which fields may vary locally.
Consistency checks:
For a business process running across two distributed applications there has to be some harmonization of the sub-processes in the single applications. For making sure that the sub processes are harmonized there are special ALE consistency check tools. These tools help to find and repair inconsistencies. By this it can be ensured that the whole ALE business process works in the right way.
Monitoring:
For the monitoring of distributed processes it is not enough to monitor all activities on the single systems. The overall business process has to be monitored. The ALE monitoring services provide detailed information about the communication process, the sub-process on the other systems and its results. Database links are created between the business objects in question on the client and the server. This is especially important for loosely coupled applications with asynchronous links. In this case the server can not give return values back to the client directly so that the ALE monitoring is the only channel for feedback.
Error handling:
Another problem with asynchronous communication is error handling. If an error occurs on the server the calling process on the client may have finished already. So the server can not return the error message to the client. A special error handling process required. This process is one of the ALE services. It uses workflow functionality to identify the error and to start the required error handling.
7. Synchronous vs. asynchronous links?
When distributed applications are linked by ALE business processes, the question often arises as to how tight the link should be. Synchronous and asynchronous links have both advantages and disadvantages.
Synchronous links have the advantage that the sub-process on the server can return values to the sub-process on the client that has started the link. Problems with synchronous links occur if the communication line or the server is temporarily not available. If this happens, the sub-process on the client can not be finished (otherwise there would be data inconsistencies).
(Example: There is a logistics system and a financial system. Every stock movement in logistics has to be posted in the general ledger of the financial system. If the link between logistics and finance is synchronous, no stock movement can be recorded in the logistics system if the communication line to the financial system is down.)
Because of this, synchronous links are usually used if the client only wants to get some data from the server and the sub-processes on the server do not have to write any data to the database.
With asynchronous links the sub-process on the client can be finished even if the communication line or the server is not available. In this case the message is stored in the database and the communication can be done later. The disadvantage of asynchronous links is that the sub-process on the server can not return information to the calling sub-process on the client. A special way for sending information back to the client is required. In addition, a special error handling mechanism is required to handle errors on the receiving side.
Asynchronous links are used if a synchronous link is not applicable. For the problems with sending return information to the client and with error handling there is some support from the ALE services.
8. Which kind of interfaces do ALE business processes use?
ALE business processes are integrated processes across distributed systems, requiring interfaces between the systems. These interfaces have to be stable to enable the communication between different releases and to reduce the impact of release changes within the distributed environment.
In SAP R/3 release 3.0 and 3.1 ALE uses IDocs as interfaces. An IDocs is a data container for transferring messages asynchronously. They are release independent. Since SAP Release 3.1G BAPIs are a new type of object oriented, stable interfaces that can be called synchronously or asynchronously. Asynchronous BAPIs use IDocs as data containers. ALE business processes can use BAPIs as well. In the future new ALE business processes will use BAPIs as interfaces. But the existing IDocs will still be supported. In time, BAPIs will be created with similar functionality to existing IDoc interfaces.
9. Why does SAP uses ALE instead of database replication or distributed databases?
Database replication is another possibility for doing business object synchronization. However, there are some major disadvantages with database replication. At the moment database replication is database dependent and release dependent within one database. This makes database replication impossible for the use with non-SAP systems and even for the replication between SAP Systems you have to make sure that all systems are running on the same SAP release and the same database release of a single database vendor. Furthermore, with database replication you cannot do things like field conversions or version changes. ALE does not have these shortcomings because it offers application driven data replication independent of the underlying database.
Another technology, distributed databases, is no alternative for ALE at the moment, either. There are some good results of distributed databases available, but the performance is far from sufficient for using it with larger applications like SAP.
10. What is the relationship between ALE and middleware?
For distributed business processes many different services are required. Most of these services are offered by SAP. For some of these services you can also use products that are provided by SAP's complementary software partners or by other companies:
The communication service for doing the pure communication is usually done via Remote Function Call (RFC). RFC is provided by SAP for most platforms both for synchronous and asynchronous communication. There are other messaging systems for the communication service available as well, like IBM's MQSeries. However, the communication between SAP and the messaging system is still done via RFC.
For the serialization of asynchronous communication the RFC provides little functionality at the moment. The serialization has to be checked by the application. ALE offers some support to do these checks. The serialization of the RFC communication will be improved in the future. Serialization services are provided by some of the existing messaging systems, but even they can not guaranty a 100% serialization of the communication, since they use RFC for the connection to SAP.
The monitoring and error handling of the communication is done via services provided by the RFC and ALE. If messaging systems are used for the communication they also offer some monitoring and error handling functionality.
If a non-SAP system is involved in the ALE business scenario and this system does not understand SAP's BAPI or IDoc interfaces, the data has to be mapped to any interface structure that this system offers. For this mapping SAP does not provide a service but it certifies mapping tools from software partners. These tools are called ALE translator. The most known product in this area is probably Mercator from TSI International Software. The same kind of mapping can also be done by 'EDI converters'.
Another type of middleware products offer process ware. This is mainly a combination of the communication service, the mapping service and a set of rules for the mapping. Some ALE translator can be used for this as well.
Receiver determination is one of the ALE services (see above). Parts of this service can also be provided by some of the messaging systems, but you cannot use these systems without using ALE receiver determination.
For the other ALE services like application monitoring, application error handling, semantic synchronization and business process harmonization, there are no middleware products available as a replacement of ALE.
ALE is open for the use of middleware products for the distribution, but in most cases the additional middleware is not necessary. In a communication between different SAP systems usually the use of additional middleware makes no sense at all. For the communication between SAP and non-SAP systems there might be some benefits, especially if the middleware is used at the company already. The only middleware tool that is really required if the non-SAP system does not understand BAPIs or IDocs is an ALE translator.
Check different sites for more information.
Regards

ALE and Change Master

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