Integration with SAP Software By Calling RFC Functions

The general principle of interaction between Foresight Analytics Platform and various SAP products is given in the Connecting to SAP subsection. This article describes setup of interaction using remote function call (RFC). RFC is a standard interface of communication and data exchange between various SAP products. To connect, to call RFC functions, and process obtained data, develop a user application in the Fore.NET language.

Connection

To connect to SAP RFC, use SAP.Net Connector 3.0. It is important to have sapnco.dll and sapnco_utils.dll libraries. To get library data, go to SAP Market Place, you should have identifier and password for download. If there is no identifier and password, contact SAP Basis support to get specified libraries. Bitness of installed Foresight Analytics Platform version and obtained libraries must match.

If everything for the SAP.Net Connector 3.0 is ready, execute one of the following operations:

Create a new .NET assembly in Foresight Analytics Platform repository.
Add a link to SAP sapnco.dll and sapnco_utils.dll libraries:
In the code of created .NET unit add strings to import library contents:

Imports SAP.Middleware.Connector;

Add a code for SAP connection and calling various RFC functions specified below.

Code to Work with RFC Functions

When the Main procedure is started, two operations are executed:

The Connection procedure, which connects to SAP server, is called.
The executeSAPFunction function, which executes RFC function and returns the result, is called. The list of parameters generated by SAPParams variable and the RFC function name and returned table name specified in the executeSAPFunction procedure must correspond to the signature of called RFC function.

The result of function execution will be available in the DataTable variable and can be further used to get and process data using various Foresight Analytics Platform tools.

Imports System;
Imports Prognoz.Platform.Interop.Metabase;
Imports SAP.Middleware.Connector;

Public Class StartParams
    Private m_Metabase: Prognoz.Platform.Interop.Metabase.IMetabase;
    Public Property Metabase: Prognoz.Platform.Interop.Metabase.IMetabase
        Get
        Begin
            Return m_Metabase
        End Get
        Set
        Begin
            m_Metabase := Value;
        End Set
    End Property Metabase;
End Class;

Public Class Program
    Public Shared ConfigInitialized: boolean;
    Public Shared rfcDestination: RfcDestination;

    [STAThread]
    Public Shared Sub Main(Params: StartParams);
    Var
        SAPParams: array[2] Of SAPParam;
        DataTable: IRfcTable;
        config: IDestinationConfiguration;
    Begin
        Connection();
        SAPParams[0] := New SAPParam("Country", "Russia");
        SAPParams[1] := New SAPParam("Retail", "Food");
        DataTable := executeSAPFunction("GetData", "Table", SAPParams);
        //...
        //Further use of DataTable to communicate with Foresight analytics Platform objects
        //...
    End Sub;

    Private Shared Sub Connection();
    Var
        config: IDestinationConfiguration;
    Begin
        If Not ConfigInitialized Then
            config := New SAPDestinationConfig();
            config.GetParameters("TEST");
            RfcDestinationManager.RegisterDestinationConfiguration(config);
            ConfigInitialized := True;
        End If;
        rfcDestination := RfcDestinationManager.GetDestination("TEST");
        rfcDestination.Ping();
    End Sub;

    Private Shared Function executeSAPFunction(functionName: string; resultTableName: string; Paramarray params: array Of SAPParam): IRfcTable;
    Var
        func: IRfcFunction;
    Begin
        func := getSapFunction(functionName, params);
        Try
            func.Invoke(rfcDestination);
            Return func.GetTable(resultTableName);
        Except On e: RfcBaseException Do
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(e.Message);
        Finally
        End Try;
    End Function;

    Private Shared Function getSapFunction(functionName: string; Paramarray params: array Of SAPParam): IRfcFunction;
    Var
        func: IRfcFunction;
        param: SAPParam;
    Begin
        func := rfcDestination.Repository.CreateFunction(functionName);
        For Each param In params Do
            func.SetValue(param.name, param.value);
        End For;
        Return func;
    End Function;
End Class;

Public Class SAPParam
    Public name: string;
    Public value: object;

    Public Constructor SAPParam(_name: string; _value: object);
    Begin
        name := _name;
        value := _value;
    End Constructor;
End Class;

Class SAPDestinationConfig: IDestinationConfiguration
    Public Function ChangeEventsSupported(): boolean;
    Begin
        Return False;
    End Function;

    Public Event ConfigurationChanged: RFCDestinationManager.ConfigurationChangeHandler;

    Public Function GetParameters(destinationName: string): RfcConfigParameters;
    Var
        params: RfcConfigParameters;
    Begin
        params := New RfcConfigParameters();
        params.Add(RfcConfigParameters.Name, "TEST");
        params.Add(RfcConfigParameters.AppServerHost, "ServerName");
        params.Add(RfcConfigParameters.SystemNumber, "0");
        params.Add(RfcConfigParameters.SystemID, "100");
        params.Add(RfcConfigParameters.User, "username");
        params.Add(RfcConfigParameters.Password, "password");
        params.Add(RfcConfigParameters.Client, "100");
        params.Add(RfcConfigParameters.Language, "EN");
        params.Add(RfcConfigParameters.PoolSize, "10");
        Return params;
    End Function;
End Class;