Setting Up OData Connection

OData (Open Data Protocol) is a standardized protocol for building and consuming RESTful APIs. It allows for the creation and consumption of queries and updates for various data sources through a standard set of operations.​

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Let’s walk through the steps to set up an OData service connection using SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP).​

Navigate to your SAP BTP subaccount where you manage your environment.​

Create Destination ​

Destination Type: Choose OData service.​

URL: Input the URL of the OData service. For example, https://services.data.org.​

Proxy Type: Select Internet.​

Authentication: For services that do not require authentication (like services.data.org, which is open and free), set No Authentication. However, most real-world connections to partners or other cloud systems require some form of authentication, such as OAuth, Basic Authentication, or API Key.​

Save your connection setup and test it to ensure it is correctly configured and reachable.​

Practical Insight: A Business Example​

Imagine you are working for a logistics company that must integrate shipment tracking data from a third-party provider.​

Integration: Use OData to connect to the shipment provider's API, retrieve shipment statuses, and update your internal tracking system.​

Secure Access: Implement OAuth authentication to ensure secure access to the third-party data.​

The Reader function is a vital feature that allows you to extract data from your model entity. By configuring this function, you can seamlessly query and retrieve the data from your established OData connection.

Let’s walk through the process of setting up and using the Reader function to read data from your OData connection:​

Environment Name: Specify the name of the environment that you are working within.​

Function Name: Assign a meaningful name to your Reader function to help identify its purpose.​

Function Type: Select Reader as the function type.

Configure the Reader Function ​

Select Reader Type: Click on the Type field and select Reader.​

Specify Connection Name: Input the name of the OData connection you established earlier. This ensures that the Reader function pulls data from the correct source.​

Input Model Entity: Define the model entity that represents the data structure you want to read from. It acts as the source entity for your data.​

Select the specific fields within the model entity that you want to retrieve. You can choose multiple fields based on your data requirements.​

Example: If your connection is linked to a customer database, you might choose fields such as CustomerID, CustomerName, E-mail, and OrderHistory.​

After configuring the Reader function, activate your environment to ensure that all settings are applied correctly.​

Navigate to the Functions screen within your model entity.​

Select your model entity and the configured Reader function.​

Click on Show Data to view the data retrieved from the OData connection.​

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Once you pull in the data via Reader function, you will see the three airlines that were selected in ODATA connection. Finaly, data can be displayed in a Reader or Model Entity functions. This was a walk through the ODATA integration steps.

Follow these steps to configure an outbound OData connection and set up the necessary components to write data back to the OData service:​

Choose an OData Service That Supports Writing ​

Ensure the OData service that you are connecting to accepts data write operations. For example, the airline OData service supports writing data back.​

Create a New Model Entity ​

Model Entity Creation: Begin by creating a new model entity within your SAP environment. This model entity houses the data that you intend to write back to the OData service.​

Example: If writing back airline data, your model entity might include fields such as FlightID, PassengerName, DepartureTime, and Status.​

Configure the Writer Function ​

Fill in Required Information: Set up the Writer function with the necessary details to enable data writing to the OData service.​

Environment Name: Enter the name of the environment that you are working within.​

Function Name: Choose a descriptive name for your Writer function.​

Function Type: Select Writer as the function type.​

Specify OData Connection: Input the name of the outbound OData connection that you have established.​

Input Model Entity: Define the newly created model entity as the data source to be written back.​

Map Fields to Write: Identify and map the fields in your model entity that are to be written back to the OData service.​

After configuring the Writer function, save your settings and activate the model entity to apply the changes.​

Navigate to the Functions screen within your model entity.​

Select the Writer function you configured and execute it to write data to the OData service.​

As you can see in the ODATA form we can see the new data inserted.

In our writer, we can only use insert writer we can`t delete or update some data in our ODATA.