IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Authoring services in Integration Designer > Services and service-related functions > Access external services with adapters > Configure and using adapters > IBM WebSphere Adapters > SAP Software > SAP interfaces
The BAPI work unit interface
WebSphere Adapter for SAP Software supports outbound processing for BAPI units of work. A BAPI work unit consists of a set of BAPIs that are processed in sequence to complete a task.
For example, to update an employee record in the SAP system, the record needs to be locked before being updated. This is accomplished by calling three BAPIs, in sequence, in the same work unit. The following three BAPIs illustrate the kind of sequence that forms such a work unit:
- BAPI_ADDRESSEMP_REQUEST
- BAPI_ADDRESSEMP_CHANGE
- BAPI_ADDRESSEMP_APPROVE
The first BAPI locks the employee record, the second updates the record, and the third approves the update. The advantage of using a BAPI work unit is that the client application can request the employee record change with a single call, even though the work unit consists of three separate functions. In addition, if SAP requires that the BAPIs be processed in a specific sequence for the business flow to complete correctly, the work unit supports this sequence.
- Outbound processing for the BAPI work unit interface
In BAPI work unit outbound processing, a client application sends a request to the SAP server. Processing is handled synchronously (the client application waits for a response from the SAP server).- Business object structure for a BAPI work unit
A business object that represents a BAPI work unit (also known as a BAPI transaction) is actually a wrapper object that contains multiple child BAPI objects. Each child BAPI object within the wrapper object represents a simple BAPI.