SAP Process Integration (PI) and Process Orchestration (PO) are cornerstone middleware technologies in the SAP ecosystem that enable seamless communication and integration between heterogeneous systems. A fundamental building block in SAP PI/PO architecture is the concept of Adapters — components that facilitate connectivity and data exchange between SAP and non-SAP systems using various protocols and standards.
Adapters in SAP PI/PO act as translators or connectors that bridge the communication gap between different systems, formats, and protocols. They enable SAP PI/PO to receive and send messages to external systems by converting the proprietary data formats and communication methods into a standardized form that PI/PO can process, and vice versa.
In essence, adapters provide the technical connectivity layer that abstracts protocol and format differences, allowing business processes to integrate smoothly without requiring each system to directly understand the other's technology stack.
- Protocol Bridging: Different systems communicate using various protocols (e.g., HTTP, FTP, JMS, SOAP). Adapters allow PI/PO to connect to these systems without changing the systems themselves.
- Data Format Conversion: Adapters transform messages from native formats (IDoc, XML, EDI) into formats understood by PI/PO and target systems.
- Simplified Integration: By encapsulating protocol and format complexities, adapters allow integration developers to focus on business logic rather than low-level connectivity.
- Support for Multiple Scenarios: SAP PI/PO can handle synchronous and asynchronous communications, file transfers, web services, and more — all enabled by appropriate adapters.
SAP provides a rich set of adapters categorized mainly into:
¶ 1. Standard Adapters
These adapters come out-of-the-box with SAP PI/PO and cover the most common integration protocols:
- SOAP Adapter: For web service communications using SOAP protocol.
- IDoc Adapter: Supports SAP IDoc format, widely used in SAP to SAP communications.
- File Adapter: Reads/writes files from/to file systems (FTP, SFTP, local directories).
- JMS Adapter: Connects to messaging systems like IBM MQ, ActiveMQ.
- HTTP Adapter: Supports synchronous/asynchronous HTTP communications.
- RFC Adapter: For SAP Remote Function Calls, enabling direct RFC-based interactions.
- SFTP Adapter: Secure file transfer over SSH.
- JDBC Adapter: Connects to relational databases via JDBC.
- Mail Adapter: For sending/receiving emails as part of the integration.
Available with SAP PO and higher versions, these adapters support more complex scenarios:
- REST Adapter: Supports RESTful services, widely used in modern APIs.
- ODATA Adapter: Enables communication with OData services.
- Business Systems Adapter: For integrating SAP Business Suite components.
- Proxy Adapter: Enables communication with SAP backend systems using ABAP proxies.
Organizations can develop custom adapters if their integration scenarios require protocols or transformations not supported by standard adapters.
Adapters operate within the Integration Engine of PI/PO. Depending on the message flow direction:
- Inbound Adapter: Converts incoming messages from an external system into the internal PI message format.
- Outbound Adapter: Converts processed PI messages into the required format and protocol for the target system.
This conversion includes protocol handling, message parsing, mapping, and transformation as required by the integration scenario.
¶ Key Features and Capabilities
- Protocol Conversion: Converts between communication protocols like FTP, HTTP, JMS, SOAP, etc.
- Message Transformation: Supports format conversions, e.g., IDoc to XML or XML to flat file.
- Security: Supports secure protocols (SFTP, HTTPS) and authentication mechanisms.
- Error Handling: Includes retry mechanisms, logging, and alerting for message failures.
- Performance: Optimized for high throughput and scalable enterprise integrations.
- Choose the appropriate adapter based on protocol and message format requirements.
- Leverage built-in security features to safeguard data in transit.
- Monitor adapter performance and message processing through SAP NetWeaver Administrator or Solution Manager.
- Use advanced adapters for REST and modern web services integration.
- Design idempotent and error-tolerant message flows to handle transient failures gracefully.
SAP PI/PO adapters are critical enablers of enterprise integration, providing the essential connectivity layer between diverse systems and technologies. Understanding the types, features, and best practices for using these adapters equips SAP architects and developers to design robust, scalable, and secure integration solutions that drive business process automation and digital transformation.