The BAPI result set interface

The WebSphere® Adapter for SAP Software supports outbound processing for BAPI result sets. In outbound processing, client applications call BAPIs and other RFC-enabled functions on the SAP server.

BAPI result set interface

BAPI result sets use the GetList and GetDetail functions to retrieve an array of data from the SAP server. The information returned from the GetList function is used as input to the GetDetail function.

For example, if you want to retrieve information about a set of customers, you use BAPI_CUSTOMER_GETLIST, which acts as the query BAPI, and BAPI_CUSTOMER_GETDETAIL, which acts as the result BAPI. The BAPIs perform the following steps:

The BAPI_CUSTOMER_GETLIST call returns a list of keys (for example, CustomerNumber).
Each key is mapped dynamically to the business object for BAPI_CUSTOMER_GETDETAIL.
BAPI_CUSTOMER_GETDETAIL is processed multiple times, so that an array of customer information is returned.

You use the external service wizard to discover the BAPI_CUSTOMER_GETLIST and BAPI_CUSTOMER_GETDETAIL functions and to build the key relationship between the two BAPIs. The wizard then generate business object definitions for these BAPIs along with other SCA service artifacts. At run time, the client sets the values in the BAPI_CUSTOMER_GETLIST business object, and the adapter returns the corresponding set of customer detail records from the SAP server.