Bookshelf v7.5: Siebel EAI Architectural Overview

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Siebel EAI Architectural Overview

The Siebel EAI Architecture provides the foundation for the development, modification and execution of both standard integrations and custom integrations. This section provides an overview of this architecture. For more information, read Overview: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume I.

Business Data Flow

Each Standard Integration or Custom Integration is based on the creation of Business Data Flows. A Business Data Flow controls the complete transformation of an SAP data object to a Siebel data object and a Siebel data object to an SAP data object. Figure 1 illustrates inbound and outbound Business Data Flows. The outbound dataflow starts when the EAI Siebel Adapter extracts a record from the database, processes it through a Business Service data map, and then uses a BAPI or an IDOC to pass the record to SAP. SAP processes the record, and returns it through a BAPI or an IDOC to the inbound dataflow, which uses a Business Service data map, and the EAI Siebel Adapter.

Figure 1. General Architecture of the Integration Process

As Figure 1 shows there are two types of Business Data Flows possible, Outbound to SAP (Send) and Inbound from SAP (Receive). The processing flow for each is largely contained within a Siebel Workflow.

Outbound Business Data Flows generally contain a call to the EAI Siebel Adapter to first extract data from the Siebel Database corresponding to a Siebel Business Object. This data is then used to populate a corresponding Siebel Integration Object. The Siebel Integration Object is passed to a Business Service whose job is to transform the Siebel Integration Object structure into an SAP Integration Object structure. The data transformation within the Business Service Data Map can be written using Siebel eScript or can be done through the use of Siebel Data Mapper. SAP integration objects can represent either an IDOC structure in SAP or a BAPI function interface. The IDOC Adapter converts the IDOC data into a special format and then passes that data to the BAPI Adapter. The BAPI Adapter then interfaces to the SAP Application Server directly. All data passing into SAP passes through the BAPI Adapter.

Inbound Business Data Flows must start with the tRFC BAPI Receiver Component. The tRFC BAPI Receiver runs in the background continuously waiting for data from SAP. This data can be in the form of an IDOC or RFC function call. When the tRFC BAPI Receiver receives an IDOC, it calls the IDOC Workflow Processor to convert the raw SAP IDOC data into an IDOC Integration Object. The IDOC Workflow Processor then invokes a workflow to process the data further. When the tRFC BAPI Receiver receives an RFC call, it creates a BAPI Integration Object that it sends to a workflow for processing. The workflow typically contains a Business Service Data Map to transform the data into a Siebel Integration Object. The Siebel Integration Object is then passed to the EAI Siebel Adapter where it can be processed as a business object into the Siebel Database.

Workflow Integration

Siebel Workflow is the center of the Business Data Flow. Workflows control the flow and transformation of data into and out of the Siebel applications. You create them using a graphical user interface provided within the Siebel applications called the Workflow Designer. Workflow provides many capabilities beyond what is described in this guide. For more information about Siebel Workflow, read Siebel Business Process Designer Administration Guide.

Integration Objects

Integration Objects are the data containers used within the Workflow environment. They represent the data structure of either a Siebel Business Object or an external application's data object. You can create Integration Objects with the Integration Object Wizard provided in Siebel Tools. The Integration Object wizard can create Siebel Integration Objects from Siebel Business Objects, IDOC Integration Objects from SAP IDOCs, and BAPI Integration Objects from SAP BAPI Interfaces. This document describes how to create IDOC and BAPI Integration Objects with the wizard. For more information on the Integration Object Wizard, read Integration Platform Technologies: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume II.

Business Services

Business services execute predefined or custom actions in a workflow process. Examples of business services include the Siebel Adapter, BAPI Adapter, IDOC Workflow Processor, Business Service Data Map, and tRFC BAPI Receiver. These business services act on Integration Objects passed to them. They perform such functions as interfacing to the Siebel Database, interfacing to SAP, or transforming one integration object into another. Siebel Systems, Inc., provides many business services but you can also create your own.

Although business services can be used to perform many different functions, they all have a standard interface. Business services have object-like qualities, such as methods, method arguments, and user properties. These elements define how a business service can be used. Business services are defined in Siebel Tools. This guide describes those business services used to interface to SAP. For more information on business services in general, read Integration Platform Technologies: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume II.

Server Components

Some Business Services run within the context of Server Components. Two such components are the tRFC BAPI Receiver Component (BAPIRcvr) and the Business Integration Manager (BusIntMgr). For information on other components that control the use of the EAI Queue, read EAI Queue.

tRFC BAPI Receiver Component

The BAPIRcvr Server Component executes as a background task that calls a method of the tRFC BAPI Receiver Service repeatedly to look for data SAP may be sending. Component parameters may be set prior to the start of the server to control processing. Component parameters may have the same names as the underlying Business Service User Properties or Method Arguments, providing many different options for configuration. The relationship between User Properties, Method Arguments and Component Parameters for SAP Components and Business Services is defined more fully later in this document. For more information on Server Components, read Integration Platform Technologies: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume II and Siebel Server Administration Guide.

Business Integration Manager Component

The Business Integration Manager is a server component that processes requests from Siebel applications in real time. The BAPI Adapter Business Service and workflow usually execute within the context of the Business Integration Manager Server Component. In this guide, Business Integration Manager is covered only with respect to the execution of the BAPI Adapter. For more information about the Business Integration Manager, read Overview: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume I.

Siebel Connector for SAP R/3
Published: 22 August 2003