One such example of additional functionality is the ability to enhance delivered integration content.

Recently, I had to make some modifications to an integration scenario where an SAP ERP system was sending data to an external custom solution.  The good news was the SAP ERP and PI objects were built and delivered by SAP!

SAP ERP Delivered Content

The bad news was that the interface, as designed, did not meet the business’ need…

How to add fields to delivered content?

So, the $64,000 question is, how do we add fields to delivered SAP PI content?

SAP PI Data Type Enhancement

SAP PI data type enhancements allow developers to customize delivered SAP PI content.  Here’s a quick rundown of how it works:

Step by Step SAP PI Data Type Enhancement Instructions

1. First, create a new data type enhancement in the SAP PI ESR:
   
2. Add the required fields to the required data elements and then save and activate your SAP PI changes.
3. The newly created data elements are now in message type:
4. Login to the SAP ERP system and activate the proxy changes via transaction SPROXY.  This will create/update the proxy structures that correspond to the newly created data elements in the ERP system:
5. Finally, create a BADI to populate the new data fields in the SAP ERP system:
   
6. Save and activate your ERP changes. Now you’re ready to rock and roll!

SAP PI data type enhancements blends the stability and functionality of delivered content with the flexibility of custom development. It is definitely one of my favorite advances in the SAP PI platform.

After I stopped laughing, I started to cry, because I realized that this happens all the time in SAP PI–it just looks a little different…

However, most of the time complex mappings can be simplified by using a different approach.  The mapping block FixValues is a great tool to reduce needless. So let’s expand on this example.

Reducing Complexity with FixValues Mapping Block

Let’s say I am developing an interface between a database with information about goods/materials  and a file for system that needs the database data in an easy to read format. To help visualize here is some pseudo-XML of the database:

<Database>
  <row>
    <goodName />
    <goodType />
    <goodQuantity />
  </row>
</Database>

And here is some pseudo-XML of the file layout:

<Report>
  <row>
    <goodNumberUOM />
    <goodName />
   </row>
</Report>

In this example, the database categorizes goods by a category code (A-Z). The type of good determines the unit of measure.  In this imaginary scenario, maybe all but 5 categories have unit of measure assignments.  Everything else has the unit of measure of furlongs.  If we were converting the values using code (ABAP, perhaps?), we could implement the logic using a case statement:

  CASE L_CATEGORY.
    WHEN 'D'.
      L_UOM = 'pounds'.
    WHEN 'C'.
      L_OUM = 'ounce'.
    WHEN 'B'.
      L_OUM = 'kilogram'.
    WHEN 'Y'.
      L_OUM = 'Units'.
    WHEN 'Q'.
      L_OUM = 'SQFT'.
    WHEN 'J'.
      L_OUM = 'Other unit of measure'.
    WHEN 'G'.
      L_OUM = 'Quarks'.
    WHEN 'F'.
      L_OUM = 'Kilograms'.
    WHEN 'E'.
      L_OUM = 'Units'.
    WHEN OTHERS.
      L_UOM = 'Furlongs'.
  ENDCASE.

But how would we accomplish the same using an SAP PI message mapping? Well, one option would be to implement the logic with nesting IF blocks, but that has the nasty side effect of producing the messy message mapping shown above.  Another option is to implement the case statement in a UDF.  But a simpler option exists.  Use a FixValues mapping block.

Here is the same mapping logic using a FixValues mapping block:

And here are the FixValues settings:

Another favorite trick of mine is to use FixValues to evaluate TRUE and FALSE. This can be useful on filtering at the root level (e.g. a requirement to not send a record when the good is a type not relevant to the report you are generating).  In this example mapping, the row will not get generated if the type isn’t a D, A, T, X, S, R, E, or M:

And here are the FixValues settings:

The FixValues mapping block is a very useful message mapping block that can be used to streamline complicated SAP PI message mappings.

• No documentation
• A different means of transport than standard SAP transports (need some training people used to ABAP transports)
• Manual audit accountability (what do you do if you lose an exported PI .tpz file)

To help resolve these issues, SAP released CTS+.  But, what is CTS+ and how can it help?

What is CTS+?

CTS (with out the plus) is stands for SAP’s Change and Transport System.  This is the transport capability of the SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP.   SAP has enhanced CTS with the capability to transport non-ABAP objects–hence CTS+.  Change management on SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP has been a strength of SAP Netweaver for a very long time. In SAP PI, CTS+ leverages this strength by allowing Enterprise Service Registry (ESR) development objects and Integration Directory (ID) objects on the Java stack to be exported and packaged into standard transports that reside on the ABAP stack.

How Can CTS+ Help?

Documentation

With CTS+ you have the ability to document your transport when you create your request. This is amazingly helpful when it’s time to go to production, as you can see what changes were imported and when they were imported. Documentation is also helpful for the Integration Directory (ID) transports, which require activation and input of values.  To get to transport organizer, export what you want to export (namespace, scenario, etc.) using CTS+ (which should be default once it is set up).  Click on create/modification of request and you will see a screen like this:

Here you can put in details of the transport in the description as well as configure various other parameters about the transport.

Additionally, if your project has transport naming standards that require RICEF ID, defect numbers, change request number, trouble ticket number, etc., you can add that information here.

Standardization of Transports

With CTS+ it is possible to configure a standard way of handling transports that is consistent with your ECC environment. This will improve the overall reliability and robustness of environment change management, and will make life a lot easier for the people responsible for handling transports.  Someone accustomed to ABAP transports in ECC but who hasn’t worked with PI can jump in and change management with CTS+ will make sense. CTS+ also allows SAP PI to be compliant with your standard SAP change management governance.

For More Information

CTS+ is available with AS ABAP and AS Java from SAP NetWeaver SPS 12 onwards, although you will have better results with SPS 14 or higher. The following OSS Notes will be helpful:

• 1003674 Enhancement for non-ABAP systems in CTS
• 1145268 CTS+: Changes from NW 7.0 SP12 -> NW 7.0 SP13
• 1146170 CTS+: Changes from NW 7.0 SP13 -> NW 7.0 SP14

In short, CTS+ is a great tool for transport management. It is totally integrated with SAP PI, it is easy to set up, and has huge advantages when it comes to documenting transports and maintaining consistency with ECC standards.

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!

Note: The steps outlined below assume a moderate understanding of SAP XI/PI and gives does not give comprehensive instructions for every step. Please post any questions to the comments section of this blog.

• Step 1 Before starting anything, make a safe copy of your message mapping. This will give you the ability to perform before and after comparisons and afford you some protection if something were to happen to your original mapping
• Step 2 Use the hidden menu command (<Ctrl> + <Shift> + right click for those of you not paying attention) to download the current version of your message mapping.  SAP PI will save a file with the extension .mte.
  The .mte file you just exported is really just an XML file. Opening the .mte file in Internet Explorer will yield something that looks like this
  
  The entire message mapping is contained in the file, including any user-defined functions, brick layout, and test cases.  This will be very useful!
• Step 2 Change the target occurrence in the message mapping. This is done on the Messages tab of the message mapping.
  
  Changing the occurrence on the target message appears to have little effect on the message mapping, until you switch back to the Design tab and you see this ugly message box:
  
  Oh noes! PI added <Messages> and <Message1> tags to the source and target messages! Since the target message structure changed,  all of my hard-fought mappings are lost! Who can save me from hours of tedious remapping?
  Fear not, plucky mapper, in a few steps, you can save the day by  converting the entire map without remapping a thing!
• Step 3 Use your favorite text editor to open the .mte mapping file.  We will use the find/replace functionality to mass change the source mappings.  You will need the services of the copy of the map you made in step 1.  To get the value to find, copy the path of the root node in the unscathed map. To get the value to replace, copy the path of the node just below the <Message1> node in the new map.
  
  Here is the find/replace text for the example in the graphic:

  Replace:
/ns0:Personnel_MT
with
/ns0:Messages/ns0:Message1/ns1:Personnel_MT

• Step 4 Repeat step 3 for the target message.Replace:
/ns1:Z_BAPI_II_KENEXA
with
/ns0:Messages/ns0:Message1/ns2:Z_BAPI_II_KENEXA

  Save the .mte file in the text editor

• Step 5 Providing you didn’t inadvertently screw something up, you should be able to import the .mte file to the Integration Builder
  
• Step 6 Now change the occurrence on the corresponding interface mapping to match the message mapping occurrence set in step 2.  Save and activate all of your changes.
• Step 7 The final step is to change the Interface Determination in the Integration Directory to utilize your new multi-mapping message split.

As you can see, the ability to export/import message mappings can really save you a lot of time. If you have any other tips regarding message mapping export/import, please share the in the comments.

Happy Mapping!!

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