Remote Function Call

Remote Function Call (RFC ) is a term from the field of SAP software ( specifically the SAP - ABAP systems, such as R/100 and its successors).

RFC is both a synonym for the remote procedure call concept ( short RPC). This refers to methods by which functions on a remote system are called. RFC on the other hand also the term for the SAP-specific protocols and interfaces for handling such function calls through to their implementation.

Communication is possible only between SAP systems or between an SAP system and a non-SAP system. The latter used here typically provided by SAP RFC library for the corresponding execution environment or programming language.

A distinction is made between the sRFC that performs synchronous communication, the tRFC (transactional RFC) for asynchronous communication and the qRFC (queued RFC). The qRFC is a further development of the tRFC, which ensures that the application-defined order of processing of individual units is maintained.

The possibilities are endless. Data can be transported to or from an SAP system and made available as in almost any environment. An important purpose is the processing of transactions across system boundaries, eg for replication / synchronization of data ( see SAP ALE).

All RFC types are transmitted via the standardized interface CPI- C ( Common Programming Interface Communication) or TCP / IP. The latter is nowadays used for communication between different systems. In detail: SAP RFC server accept connections among TCP ports 33nm (NM here is the two-digit instance number / system number of the SAP system, entry in services file: sapgwNM ) to. That is, the TCP port range 3300-3399 is provided by SAP for this purpose; but there is no IANA registry for this.