SAP Invoke RFC activity

Use the SAP Invoke RFC activity to call a Remote Function Call (RFC), that is remotely enabled at the specified SAP endpoint, during run time.

Note: To connect to the SAP System from Studio, you must download and install the SAP Jar files and DLLs onto your Window's development machine. For more information, see Downloading and installing the SAP Jar Files and DLLs.

Adding a SAP Invoke RFC activity to the orchestration

  1. Create or open an orchestration. A graphical representation of the orchestration is displayed.
  2. Select the Activities tab and expand the SAP folder.
  3. Drag the SAP Invoke RFC activity onto the orchestration.
  4. Select the activity. The Checklist is displayed.

Creating, selecting, or editing a SAP endpoint

  1. Click Pick Endpoint task from the Checklist and choose from one of the following actions:
    • Select an existing endpoint:
      1. Select Browse. The Project Explorer is displayed.
      2. Select an existing endpoint and click OK. Go to the Configuring the activity procedure.
    • Select an existing endpoint and edit the endpoint:
      1. Select Browse. The Project Explorer is displayed.
      2. Select an existing endpoint and click OK.
      3. Click Edit. The Edit Endpoint panel is displayed.
    • Create a new endpoint: Select New. The Create Endpoint panel is displayed.
  2. Create or Edit a SAP endpoint.

Configuring the activity

  1. Select the Configure task from the Checklist. The Configure panel is displayed.
  2. In the RFC Name field, click Browse.... The RFC List dialog box is displayed.
  3. In the RFC Search Function field, enter a combination of characters and the * wildcard character to find the desired RFC name as shown in the following examples:
    • AB* —Finds all the RFC whose names begin with the AB prefix.
    • AB*TRANSACTION —Finds all the RFC whose begin with the AB prefix and end with the string: TRANSACTION.

      The SAP system is interrogated and the RFC names that match the wildcard expression are listed in the Matching SAP Functions table.

  4. From the Matching SAP Functions table, select one of the SAP Functions and click OK.

Specifying the retry options

  1. Select the Retry task from the Checklist. The Retry panel is displayed.
  2. Configure the retry options for connecting to an SAP System. The following table describes the retry options for connecting to an SAP System:  
    Retry options Description
    1) Wait ___ seconds between each retry. Specifies the number of seconds that the Integration Appliance waits before trying to establish a connection to the SAP System.
    2) Try to connect ___ times before failing. Specifies the maximum number of times the Integration Appliance attempts to establish a connection to the SAP System before issuing an error and stopping the processing of the current orchestration job. If you deploy an orchestration that contains an SAP Invoke RFC activity and the Integration Appliance cannot connect to the specified SAP System, the Integration Appliance logs the connections errors as warnings in the system and orchestration logs until the retry count value is reached. When the retry count is reached, the Integration Appliance logs an error in the system and orchestration logs and the stops processing the current orchestration job. For example, you set the retry count to 3. The first, second, and third connection errors appear in the system log as warnings. The Integration Appliance logs the fourth connection error as an error and stops processing the current orchestration job.

Mapping the inputs of the activity

  1. Select the Map Inputs task in the Checklist. The XML Schemas generated from the input parameters of the RFC are displayed as nodes under the request input parameter in the To Activity pane. In addition if the RFC contains tables, the XML Schemas representing the tables of the RFC, are displayed as nodes under the request input parameter in the To Activity panel.
  2. Create a map between orchestration variables and the RFC input parameters and tables. See Creating a map for general instructions on mapping.

    Values must be provided at run time for any mandatory elements of the RFC input parameters or tables. A value can be provided by specifying a default value for element or by linking the element with input node. During run time if no value is provided for a mandatory element, the activity throws an exception during run time which is reported by the Web Management Console (WMC). If a value is not provided at run time for an optional element of the RFC input parameters or tables, no exception is thrown during run time.

Mapping the outputs of the activity

  1. Select the Map Outputs task in the Checklist. The XML Schema generated from return types of the RFC are displayed as nodes under the request output parameter in the From Activity panel. In addition, if the RFC contains tables, the XML Schemas representing the tables are displayed as nodes under the request node in the From Activity.
  2. Create a map between the RFC output parameters and tables and orchestration variables. See Creating a map for general instructions on mapping.

Note about Deploying a SAP Orchestration

Before you can deploy an orchestration with SAP activities using the WMC, the Integration Appliance must first be able to establish a connection to the SAP System. If the Integration Appliance is unable to establish the connection to the SAP System, the orchestration is not deployed.