Understanding Compound Employee API - Focus

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to recall general aspects of the SAP SuccessFactors Compound Employee API.

Introduction

The CompoundEmployee application programming interface (API) for SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central is used to extract employee data out of Employee Central.

The CompoundEmployee API is based on the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). It replicates employee master data from Employee Central to SAP systems, payroll systems, and benefits systems.

Key Features

The API returns all requested data of an employee in a single call providing a hierarchically structured response.

The query response comprises all time slices of all entities specified in the request. You can apply filters in the query request.

The API replicates only data that has been approved in Employee Central.

Only employees that have an employment are considered. Employees that don't have an employment, such as technical users aren't considered.

To improve the performance and due to the focus of the API, only those fields are extracted by the API that are needed for the respective replication process.

Supported Fields

Before you start implementing, please take the time to check which of the fields you need are supported by this API. We’re continually adding from release to release. You can also combine the CompoundEmployee API with other Employee Central APIs to cover any additional fields you need.

Transmission Modes

  • Snapshot Transmission Mode: In this mode, the API returns the data as it was on the snapshot date, considering all changes, corrections, and deletions.
  • Delta Transmission Mode: In this mode, the API only returns employee data that was created, changed, or deleted since the last replication.

The delta transmission mode of the CompoundEmployee API makes it possible to determine the concrete data changes of employees that have happened since a given point in time. In contrast to full transmission, consumers only get the changed data for an employee including the previous values, with a clear indication on how to process the data.

Compound Employee API

Compound Employee API - Focus Basis

The Compound Employee API is based on the Employee Central data model and returns multiple SAP SuccessFactors objects like person information and employment information. Compound Employee focuses on employee resources that simply returns the standard model of employees, this means that a person can also maintain information in the system. If we run the Compound Employee API queries then we have the ability to provide some parameters which are called Select Parameters to restrict the data selection and not always have an initial load but we also supported with some SAP SuccessFactors API parameters that control the behavior of the API.

Compound Employee API

  • Is based on the EC data model
  • Selects multiple SAP SuccessFactors objects
  • Employee is focus object
  • Returns all data in a hierarchically structured response XML
  • Supports selection parameters to restrict data selection
XML structure displaying employee data.

Compound Employee API - Focus Partners

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Compound Employee API - Focus Applications

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Documentation

SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite Help Portal Page:

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Integration to SAP Business Suite Help Portal Page:

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Integration to SAP Business Suite | SAP Help Portal

From these portals you can search for the following topics and guides:

OData API Developer Guide

  • General documentation about OData usage independent from Entity

OData API Reference Guide

  • OData APIs from other modules than Employee Central

Employee Central - OData API

  • Employee central specific OData reference guide

Implementing the Compound Employee API

  • EC Compound Employee API guide