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 > Overview of WebSphere Adapter for SAP Software > Technical overview
Business objects
The business object is a structure or a container to exchange data between application components and the adapter. The data can represent either a business entity, such as an invoice or an employee record, or unstructured text.
For outbound processing, the application component uses business objects to send data to SAP or to obtain data (through the adapter) from SAP. In other words, the application component sends a business object to the adapter and the adapter converts the data in the business object to a format that is compatible with an SAP API call. The adapter then invokes the SAP API with this data.
For inbound processing, the SAP server sends a function call through the adapter to an endpoint. The adapter converts the function call into a business object.
The adapter uses the metadata that is generated by the external service wizard to construct a business-object definition. This metadata contains information such as the operation of the business object and import or export parameters.
How data is represented in business objects
The way data is represented in a business object depends on the interface to SAP that you are using.
For example, a BAPI business-object definition, which is generated by the external service wizard, is modeled on the BAPI function interface in SAP. The business-object definition represents a BAPI function.
Figure 1. A sample business object
For the ALE interface, the business-object definition is based on standard or extension IDocs available on the SAP server.
For the Query Interface for SAP Software, the data in the business object represents the columns of the associated table in SAP.
For the advanced event processing interface, business objects are based on custom IDocs, standard IDocs, or extension IDocs available on the SAP server.
How business-object definitions are created
You create business-object definitions by using the external service wizard, launched from IBM Integration Designer. The wizard connects to the application, discovers data structures in the application, and generates business-object definitions to represent them. It also generates other artifacts needed by the adapter, such as the interface information that indicates the input and output parameters.
During adapter configuration, you can optionally choose to generate a business graph. In version 6.0.2, each top-level business object is contained in a business graph, which includes a verb that an application can use to specify additional information about the operation to be performed. Beginning version 7.0, business graphs are optional; they are required only when you are adding business objects to a module created with an earlier version.
If business graphs exist, they are processed, but the verb is ignored.
The following figure displays an example of a BAPI business graph, which contains a verb and the wrapper.
Figure 2. Example of a BAPI business graph
Technical overview of WebSphere Adapter for SAP Software
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