Using SAP OData with IBM App Connect Enterprise

SAP is an enterprise storage system (ERP). By using SAP OData services, you can create a connection and import data from the data sources. IBM® App Connect Enterprise provides a SAP OData Request node, which enables you to connect to SAP and retrieve or create SAP OData resources, and then use the data for other activities in the flow.

1. In the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit, create a flow that contains a SAP OData Request node.
2. Select the SAP OData Request node in the flow to show the node properties in the editor.
3. On the Basic tab, click Launch Connector Discovery.
   A panel is displayed in which you specify the name of the policy project and vault details to be used during connector discovery.
4. Specify the details of the policy project and vault to be used during connector discovery:
   1. In the Policy Project field, specify the policy project that is used to store the policies that are created during connector discovery.
      Alternatively, you can create a new policy project by clicking New and then specifying the name of the new policy project. Then click Finish.
   2. Specify the vault to be used during connector discovery. By default, credentials that are used during connector discovery are stored in an external directory vault, which is an App Connect Enterprise vault that can be used by any integration server. Alternatively, you can store the credentials in an integration server vault, which is created in the integration server's work directory and can be used only by that specific integration server.
      To specify the vault to be used for storing the credentials, complete the steps in the Using the Connector Discovery wizard section of one of the following topics:

      • Configuring a shared vault
      • Configuring an integration server vault
   3. In the Vault key field, enter the vault key that is used to access the credentials stored in the vault. The vault key must be at least 8 characters in length.
   4. Optional: By default, the specified vault location and vault key are saved as preferences in the Toolkit so that the values are preset when you launch Connector Discovery. If you do not want the preferences to be saved, deselect Save in vault preferences.
5. Click Launch Discovery to start the Connector Discovery wizard for the SAP OData connector.
   The Connector Discovery window is displayed. If existing SAP OData connections (accounts) are available, a list of those connections is displayed. If there are no existing connections, the status of the SAP OData connector is shown as Not connected.
   • If one or more SAP OData connections (accounts) are available, elect the connection (account) that you want to use by clicking it. A list of actions is displayed.
   • If there are no existing connections (accounts), complete the following steps:
     1. Click Connect to create a new connection. A window is displayed in which you enter the details of your account.
     2. Enter the following details:
        1. In the SAP Gateway Service URL field, enter the URL to the SAP Gateway OData service. Use the URL value without an ending '/'; for example, http://9.111.222.34:8000/opu/odata/ZGW_ORDER_STATUS_SRV. For more information, see Managing accounts in App Connect.
        2. In the username field, enter the username to use when connecting to the SAP Gateway OData service access. For more information, see Creating a well-defined SAP Gateway OData service for use with IBM App Connect.
        3. In the Password field, specify the password to the username when connecting to the SAP Gateway OData service.
     3. Click Connect.

     The credential is then stored in the vault, and the other connection details are saved in the SAP OData policy.

     For more information about connecting to SAP OData, see How to use IBM App Connect with SAP (via OData) in the IBM App Connect Enterprise as a Service documentation.

6. When you are connected, a list of actions is displayed. Select the action that you want to perform, and then set the required connector properties.
   For example, you can retrieve a customer set by clicking Retrieve customer set, then set the properties in the wizard.

   • Set the Maximum number of items to retrieve by clicking the "+" or "-" symbols.
   • Select the action to be taken if the value of Maximum number of items to retrieve is exceeded by checking one of the following:
     • Throw an error.
     • Process Maximum number of items to retrieve from the above collection.
7. Optional: You can filter the retrieve operation by customer number, by clicking the "+" symbol next to Add condition and entering the customer number in the mandatory field for the condition Where Kunnr equals.

   KUNNR is a data element in SAP that is used for storing Customer Number data in table fields.

8. When you have finished specifying the connector properties in the SAP OData wizard, click Save.
9. After you finish with discovery and save the property values, exit the Connector Discovery wizard by clicking the X in the upper-right corner of the window.
10. Return to editing the SAP OData Request node in the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit.
    The connector properties that were set in the Connector Discovery wizard are now visible on the SAP OData Request node. The Basic tab shows the values of the Action and Object properties that you set in the wizard. For example, if you selected Retrieve customer set in the wizard, the following properties are visible on the Basic tab of the node:

    • Action - RETRIEVEALL
    • Object - Customer set

    The values of the Action and Object properties are displayed in read-only format. If you want to change these values, you can do so by clicking Launch Connector Discovery again and setting new values in the Connector Discovery wizard. You can modify other properties by clicking Edit next to the property.

    The Schema base name property specifies the base name of the schema files that describe the format of the request and response messages sent and received from the SAP OData connector. The schema base name is set automatically the first time you run discovery for the node, and it is based on the current flow name and node name. If you set this property manually before running discovery for the first time, the value that you set will be used. If you rename the schemas after discovery, you must edit this property so that it matches the schema base name used by the renamed schemas in the project. If you change this property after discovery, you must either rename the schema names to match or run discovery again.

    Depending on the action that was selected during discovery, the Connector Discovery wizard generates either a request schema and a response schema, or a response schema only. A request schema is generated only if the selected action and object require a request message. The generated request schema is used for validation of the request message. If the action was RETRIEVE or DELETE, only the response schema is returned by the connector.

    The generated schema files are added to the project and can be used by a Mapping node for transforming input or output data. The full filename of the schema is derived from the schema base name, suffixed with either response.schema.json or request.schema.json. You can open the schema by clicking Open request schema or Open response schema.

11. On the Connection tab of the SAP OData Request node, the Policy property shows the name of the policy that contains the details of the security identity to be used for the connection. The policy has a type of SAP OData and is defined in a policy project.
12. Optional: Set the Timeout property on the Connection tab to specify the time (in seconds) that the node waits for SAP OData to process the operation.
13. The Filter tab of the SAP OData Request node contains properties that control how in the message flow selects data. The initial values of these properties are taken from the property values that were set for the SAP OData connector in the Connector Discovery wizard, including any filter options that were specified. If you then return to the Connector Discovery wizard and change the values of any properties (by adding new conditions, for example) those updates are reflected in the properties set on the node.

    The Filter Options properties control which objects are to be operated upon when the SAP OData Request node executes. The Filter Limit properties control the maximum number of items to be retrieved and the action to be taken if the limit is exceeded.

    You can modify the values by clicking Edit next to the value that you want to modify in the Filter Options section, and by changing the property values that have been set in the Filter Limit section.

14. On the Request tab, set the Data location property to specify the location in the coming message tree that contains the object data to be created in SAP OData. This data forms the request that is sent from the SAP OData Request node to the SAP OData system.
15. On the Result tab, set the Result data location property to specify the message tree location to which the SAP OData Request node sends results, and the Output data location property to specify the location in the output message tree to contain the data of the record that is created in SAP OData.
16. On the Response message parsing tab, set the Message domain, Message model, Message, and Physical format properties as required. For more information, see SAP OData Request node.
17. On the Monitoring tab, use Add, Edit, and Delete to create, change, or delete monitoring events for the node. For more information, see Configuring monitoring event sources by using monitoring properties.
18. By default, request messages are validated against the request schema that was generated during connector discovery. You can turn off request validation or change the validation settings by using the Validation properties of the SAP OData Request node.
19. Check that the property settings on the SAP OData Request node are correct and then Save the message flow.