IDoc and SAP ALE

IDoc (Intermediate Document) is a data structure used by SAP to exchange data between R/3, R/2 and external systems.

The SAP Service allows Lobster_data to exchange IDocs with SAP systems via the ALE protocol. From Lobster_data's point of view, an IDoc is a fixed record data structure with a control record and a larger number of data records of different types. The exact structure is described by the IDoc type. There are a large number of different IDoc types with a unique name for different message types. The structure templates for these IDoc types can be read directly from the connected SAP system. Lobster_data also supplies all standard IDoc types in versions 46C and 700 as structure templates.

IDoc and SAP Process Integration/Exchange Infrastructure

The SAP Process Integration (SAP-PI) is an advancement of the SAP Exchange Infrastructure (SAP-XI) and is available in all current SAP systems. The data exchange is based on XML. Consequently, there is an XML representation for each IDoc type. From Lobster_data's point of view, this is a normal XML file treated with the same concepts as other XML files. In particular, the structure of these XML IDocs is described by an XML schema file (XSD).

The provided IDoc structure templates cannot be used for XML IDocs. Instead, the XML schema file (XSD) must be generated in the SAP system (e.g. with transaction WE60, see section Loading Templates from SAP), which can then be used to create the source or destination structure in a profile.

Distinction

Unfortunately, SAP users and consultants do not always exactly distinguish between ALE IDocs and XML IDocs. Since XML IDocs are treated as normal XML files in Lobster_data, make sure to clarify if you are dealing with XML IDocs before you start implementing any profiles in your project.