Fun With SAP PI Message-Mapping

My previous post discussed the “hidden” menu in the SAP PI message mapping tool that can only be unlocked by pressing <Ctrl> + <Shift> while right clicking in the data flow editor area.  Hands down, the best feature of this menu is the import/export functionality.  I have no idea why the SAP developers buried such a useful feature in such a hard-to-find menu.  Whatever the reason, now that we know that we can import and export message mappings, we can exploit this fact to make our map-developing lives easier.

Most SAP PI developers have had a situation where a relatively minor change to the target message causes real havoc to the entire message mapping.  For relatively small maps, it may not be a big deal. For maps with complex logic, this can be a big deal requiring hours of tedious rework.  Recently, I was faced with a requirement change that required my message mapping to change correlations from 1:1 to 1:N. Since this interface used the RFC adapter (which supports multiple messages), I was able to implement a 1:N multi-mapping message split. In the new interface design, the file adapter will process one file and pass it to the integration engine. The integration engine will perform a multi-mapping message split to break-up the message. The new, individual messages will be sent via one adapter engine call to the RFC adapter. The RFC adapter will handle each message individually, calling each in a separate logical unit of work (LUW).

The steps below will detail how to switch a message mapping from a 1:1 correlation to a 1:N correlation without remapping anything! Read more

PI Message Mapping Editor “Hidden” Menu

When I was young, one of my favorite Nintendo games was Contra by Konami Corporation (old-skool NES).  Standard play with Contra afforded you with 3 lives.  I was not particularly adept at Contra (I only excel at driving games) and 3 lives was not nearly enough for me.  The only way the game was fun for me was to enter the Konami “cheat code”.  This cheat code gave me 3o lives!  I could get 10x the Contra playing excitement before I got obliterated by one of the many end-of-level “bosses”.  It was with the help of that cheat code that my friend Jeff and I were able to beat the game during a marathon, overnight Contra session.  It has been over 20 years since I played Contra, but I still remember the cheat code key sequence: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start

Now that I’m a little older, I’ve graduated from NES to SAP PI.  It’s not nearly as fun, but every bit as challenging.  And at least I get paid to do it.  I looked, but could not find anybody to pay me to play Contra.  Instead of the many end of level “bosses” the only boss I have to worry about is my project manager–I don’t know which one is more evil.

Similar to Contra, the message mapping editor in XI/PI has a menu with helpful items that is “hidden.”  Unless, that is, you know the secret key combination to unlock it. In PI, open any message mapping in edit mode.  While holding the <Ctrl>+<Shift> keys, right click in the data flow editor window.  You will be rewarded with this menu.

Here is a short rundown of some of the menu options:

• Last Used This menu keeps track of recently used mapping functions. It can be a real time saver if you are using mapping functions from multiple function groups.
• Tools\Export Tools\Import The import/export functionality of the message mapping editor is, single handedly, the best feature of the hidden menu.  The import functionality allows you to transfer message mappings from disparate SAP PI systems.  The import/export functions also can reduce work in other ways that I will discuss in detail in later blogs.
• Tools\Export Tools\Export The export function downloads the source of your message mapping to your local hard drive.  The file includes the map’s header data, data flow logic, user-defined functions, test cases, and documentation.
• Tools\Color schema\Schema XI20 SP3 This option changes the data flow editor color scheme to look like it did in XI2.0 SP3. I never used XI 2.0, so I don’t know if this color scheme is accurate. I can tell you, however, that the brick colors are brighter in this color scheme
  
• Tools\Color schema\Schema XI30 “accessible” Personally, I really like this color scheme. The data flow editor’s ugly grey background is replaced with a more eye-pleasing white. I switch to this color scheme whenever I am capture screen grabs of the data flow editor for documentation purposes.
  
• Tools\Local Compilation While I’m not quite sure exactly what this option does, I would assume that it changes on which system the compilation of the map occurs.  When checked I think the compilation of the map would occur on your workstation instead of the server, but I have not been able to confirm this thru testing, nor have I found any documentation to support this claim.
• Tools\JarClassTest This togges the JarClassTest option.  I have yet to detect a difference in the behavior when compiling/testing, nor have I found any documentation on this item.  If anybody out there has any information, please post a comment.
• Tools\Autosize Bricks This function is useful, especially if you have fields or user-defined functions (UDFs) that have long names.  By selecting this menu, you no longer have to guess what field or function each brick is for.
  vs.  
• Encoding This option allows you to change the encoding in the XML tag of the target message