SAP NetWeaver Process Integration

The SAP Process Integration ( SAP PI development of Exchange Infrastructure SAP XI) is a proprietary SOA implementation in the form of a software package that allows data exchange between SAP and external systems. It is available as part of the SAP NetWeaver middleware component, which serves as an Enterprise Application Integration platform.

Here XI supported from version 3.0, which has been available since the end of 2004, a process integration, which can be represented graphically and WS- Business Process Execution Language uses.

In addition to connecting applications of different companies XI also supports message queuing, as ( for example, IBM MQSeries ) offer classic middleware products of other manufacturers, which persists the messages and, for example, a system failure prevents data loss.

Technical structure

Technically the XI 3.0 on SAP Web Application Server 6.40, which combines an ABAP and a JEE runtime environment together. Certain parts of the XI run in the Java runtime environment, others in the ABAP runtime environment. Also future versions XI ( PI) will include both runtime environments. Tools are to be used from both runtime environments for monitoring.

Internal SAP XI operates largely on the basis of XML technologies, even in the cases where the input and output messages are not in XML format. To avoid the biggest performance disadvantages in Intermediate Document (IDoc), an IDoc can be routed even without XML transformation only on XI (but then is no mapping, no conversion and no process processing possible).

SAP XI, attempts to use as many web standards, even if they are not specified at the time for SAP XI in sufficient detail. SAP expands on this occasion the open Web to proprietary elements, such as the " SOAP XI ", in which the SAP SOAP protocol, among others has extended to functions from Remote Function Call ( RFC).

Compared to XI 3.0, the Admin GUI where the EP were adjusted noticeable feature. The jump from 3.0 to 7.0 was with the direct appointment of the release levels of all NetWeaver components justified (eg BI 7.0). The current version is PI 7.31 part of SAP Netweaver 7:31.

From PI 7.3, the system can also act as pure JAVA version (only integration) are used, an ABAP stack is no longer necessary ( but then with limited features ).