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Loading data to SAP

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 3:54 pm
by dganeshm
Hi

Is it possible to load data directly into SAP tables using Idocs ?

-Ganesh

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 6:36 pm
by ray.wurlod
I'm not really sure what you're asking here. Yes it's possible to load data into SAP using IDOCs, but there's not really any such thing as "SAP tables" - SAP sits atop a database. Your SAP licence explicitly prohibits your accessing these tables directly.

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:38 pm
by dganeshm
We are trying to move from Legacy systems to SAP , what I am trying to understand is , can we load the data from Legacy system to SAP using IDocs via DataStage. For eg can I load materials into MARA table.

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 2:21 am
by BI-RMA
The DataStage Pack for SAP-R3 boasts an IDoc-Load Stage.

Here is the link to the documentation:

http://publibfp.boulder.ibm.com/epubs/pdf/c1899541.pdf

Guess what the Stage mentioned is supposed to do:

"Use this stage to generate IDocs from source stages to load data into R/3 Enterprise."

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 2:26 am
by BI-RMA
I forgot: The DataStage Pack for SAP R/3 is an add-on feature that has to be licensed separately from IBM Infosphere Information Server.

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 11:31 am
by dganeshm
Correct, we have the license of the SAP Adaptor.

As I mentioned earlier we have an Integration partner who is trying to load to SAP using LSMW , which I feel is very inefficient, takes days to load 1 million rows , hence the approch of using DataStage to load SAP.

So if we use Idocs, the integrator has to design an IDoc format for us to use it in DataStage ?

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 11:32 am
by dganeshm
Correct, we have the license of the SAP Adaptor.

As I mentioned earlier we have an Integration partner who is trying to load to SAP using LSMW , which I feel is very inefficient, takes days to load 1 million rows , hence the approch of using DataStage to load SAP.

So if we use Idocs, the integrator has to design an IDoc format for us to use it in DataStage ?

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 12:14 pm
by BI-RMA
I have to admit I never implemented a load to SAP with DataStage using the Pack for SAP R/3. We were concerned with getting data out of SAP in the project where I used it.

But basically I would think so, yes. Be prepared that loading SAP via DataStage may not be overly quick as well. SAP checks constraints while loading and that kills speed.

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 5:45 am
by singhald
dganeshm wrote:We are trying to move from Legacy systems to SAP , what I am trying to understand is , can we load the data from Legacy system to SAP using IDocs via DataStage. For eg can I load materials into MARA table.
Yes you can Load data to sap table using IDoc Stage, but you need to choose right Message Type and segments which you need to map from legacy to SAP, you definitely need a SAP Functional perosn to help you with the mapping.

we have done it for HR master tables.

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 9:31 am
by ShaneMuir
Short answer: Yes - that is exactly what the Idoc Load stage is for.


Long Answer: IDocs do not directly load SAP tables - direct loading of SAP tables is a big no-no.
Also, I would be doubtful that the Idoc would be any quicker than the LSMW. They both are probably doing very similar processes to load the data (ie calling the screens in the background, or a function module). You could do speed tests to ascertain. From previous experience, the SAP system we loaded to struggled to process more than 3-5 idocs / second, which would still take you 2 days to load 1 million records. (really 1 million materials?)