 - Application Link Enabling (ALE) is a mechanism for the exchange of business data between loosely-coupled R/3 applications built by customers of SAP, the enterprise resource management program. ALE provides SAP customers with a program distribution model and technology that enables them to interconnect programs across various platforms and systems.
There are three layers in the ALE system: application services, distribution services, and communication services. The vehicle for data transfer is called an IDoc (intermediate document), which is a container for the application data to be transmitted. After a user performs an SAP transaction, one or more IDocs are generated in the sending database and passed to the ALE communication layer. The communication layer performs a Remote Function Call (RFC), using the port definition and RFC destination specified by the customer model. The IDoc is transmitted to the receiver, which may be an R/3, R/2, or some external system. If the data is distributed from a master system, the same transaction performed by the sender will be performed by the receiving system, using the information contained in the IDoc.
Changes made to fields in master data tables can be set to trigger distribution of the changes to slave systems, so that multiple database servers can update the same information simultaneously. IDocs carry information directly between SAP systems. In order to communicate with a non-SAP system, an IDoc is first transmitted to an intermediary system that translates the data to a format that will be understood by the receiver. Return data also passes through the translating system, where it is again encapsulated into an IDoc.
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Learn more about SAP Web applications |
| The stars of TechEd: SAP application demos: These screencasts show new applications for SAP, created by SAP developers, customers and partners, and demonstrated at TechEd 2007. |
| EDI & IDoc advice: IDocs are standard data structures for electronic data interchange(EDI) between SAP and external programs. This week we have advice, tips and webcasts to help ease your EDI issues. |
| How to do additional dialog processing after SAP COMMIT WORK statement: Learn how to make your own developed screens appear once a standard SAP transaction has finished with an SAP COMMIT WORK statement. |
| Generic Web Dynpro Java table filter: Want a SAP Web Dynpro filtering tool that's as easy to implement and to use as the Table Sorter Java Class? This article by Peter Vignet, reposted from SDN, provides such a tool. |
| Final countdown: Create a mechanism that reduces delay from the initial value for any server-side action invocation in the TimedTrigger command in WebDynpro. |
| LAST UPDATED: |
20 Jun 2007
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