You can use the iWay Application Adapter for SAP ERP to invoke an SAP ERP business process (for example, add/update account) or you can use the adapter as part of an integration effort to connect SAP ERP and non-SAP ERP systems.
All calls through the SAP JCo are synchronous, meaning both parties must be present to each other for the duration of the call. Some functions (specifically IDocs), are transmitted synchronously, but processing in ALE IDocs is done asynchronously.
In service mode, the iWay Application Adapter for SAP ERP can send requests to SAP ERP using the BAPI, RFC, or ALE interfaces.
The adapter quickly and easily integrates your SAP ERP IDocs, RFCs, and BAPIs with mission critical SAP ERP system applications and other enterprise applications. The benefits of the adapter include:
During event processing, the adapter receives RFCs and IDocs directly from SAP ERP. The SAP ERP system can be configured to send an IDoc or RFC to a logical system when a certain event occurs, in this case to the adapter. The output sent by SAP ERP can be in any of the following forms:
BAPIs have no external events, being reserved by SAP ERP for internal event processing. You can use the RFC form of the BAPI to send BAPI data outbound. You can also create IDocs from BAPIs inside SAP ERP, and then process these through regular IDoc channels. This is called asynchronous BAPI processing, and can be used for inbound and outbound processing. Configuring BAPIs for ALE is done by an SAP administrator through the BDBG transaction. BAPIs can then be added to regular ALE distribution models and partner profiles and sent through IDoc channels.