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 > Advanced event processing interface > Outbound processing

ABAP handler overview

An ABAP handler is a function module that gets data into and out of the SAP application database. For each business object definition that you develop, you must support it by developing a custom ABAP handler.

ABAP handlers reside in the SAP application as ABAP function modules. ABAP handlers are responsible for adding business-object data into the SAP application database (for Create, Update, and Delete operations) or for using the business-object data as the keys to retrieving data from the SAP application database (for the Retrieve operation).

You must develop operation-specific ABAP handlers for each hierarchical business object that needs to be supported. If you change the business-object definition, you must also change the ABAP handler.

The ABAP handler can use any of the SAP native APIs for handling the data. Some of the native APIs are listed below.

• Call Transaction

  Call Transaction is the SAP-provided functionality for entering data into an SAP system. Call Transaction guarantees that the data adheres to the SAP data model by using the same screens an online user sees in a transaction. This process is commonly referred to as screen scraping.

• Batch data communication (BDC)

  Batch Data Communication (BDC) is an instruction set that SAP can follow to process a transaction without user intervention. The instructions specify the sequence in which the screens in a transaction are processed and which fields are populated with data on which screens. All of the elements of an SAP transaction that are exposed to an online user have identifications that can be used in a BDC.

• ABAP SQL

  ABAP SQL is the SAP proprietary version of SQL. It is database- and platform- independent, so that whatever SQL code you write, you can run it on any database and platform combination that SAP supports. ABAP SQL is similar in syntax to other versions of SQL and supports all of the basic database table commands such as update, insert, modify, select, and delete. For a complete description of ABAP SQL, see your SAP documentation.

  Using ABAP SQL, an ABAP handler can modify SAP database tables with business object data for create, update, and delete operations. It can also use the business object data in the ’Where’ clause of an ABAP select statement as the keys.

  Use of ABAP SQL to modify SAP tables is not recommended, because the integrity of the database might get corrupted . Use ABAP SQL only to retrieve data.

• ABAP Function Modules and Subroutines

  From the ABAP handler, you can call ABAP function modules or subroutines that implement the required function.

The adapter provides the following tools to help in the development process:

• The adapter includes the Call Transaction Recorder Wizard to assist you in developing the ABAP handlers that use call transactions or BDC sessions.

• The external service wizard generates the required business objects and other artifacts for Advanced event processing. The business objects are based on IDocs, which can be custom or standard.

• The adapter provides samples that you can refer to for an understanding of the Advanced event processing implementation.

Outbound processing for the Advanced event processing interface