Examining the Functions of SAP S/4HANA Cloud APIs

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to outline the steps to enable an SAP S/4HANA Cloud API.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud API

When we talk about SAP S/4HANA Cloud integration with other SAP or non SAP products, SAP S/4HANA Cloud API plays a major role in exchanging data between two systems. The APIs provide the capability to process input and output for a business object.

Note

  • By default, the APIs are not accessible in your SAP S/4HANA Cloud tenant. Before you can use an API, you need to activate the API and define one or more (SAP S/4HANA Cloud) users with permission to use the APIs.
  • Before you can activate an API, you need to identify a related communication scenario. The communication scenario is a logical object that bundles a number of inbound and outbound communication design-time artifacts.
  • Every API can be bound to one or more communication scenarios.

For a particular example of an SAP S/4HANA Cloud API, please visit this link: Product Master - Replicate from SAP S/4HANA Cloud to Client. In this sample, the information can be found inside the SAP API Business Hub, within the API specific page. When searching for a specific communication scenario in the SAP API Business Hub, you can find the list of the APIs that relate to a specific communication scenario.

The APIs provide the capability to process data input and output for a business object. You need to perform these tasks:

  • To expose an API of SAP S/4HANA Cloud system to an external system, a key user needs to create and activate a Communication Arrangement for a corresponding communication scenario.
  • To consume an API of SAP S/4HANA Cloud system, an external system needs to authenticate to it. A technical Communication User is needed to enable certificate-based and basic (user-name and password) authentication types.

For more information, please visit Setting up Communication Management in SAP S/4HANA Cloudin SAP Community.

Tasks to enable an SAP S/4HANA Cloud API

To enable an SAP S/4HANA Cloud API, use Fiori apps to configure the following steps.

  • Create Communication Users for inbound communication using the Maintain Communication Users App.

    You can use this app to create and edit Communication Users. These users are used by solutions to authenticate themselves to be able to post data. This app allows you to manage these users for integrating with other solutions. Key features of this app include creating or editing these Communication Users, and displaying Communication Systems/Arrangements.

    SAP Fiori app used for creating a communication user to enable an SAP S/4HANA Cloud API. The screen presents sections for Contact Information, User for Inbound Communication, User for Outbound Communication, and Communication Arrangements. The Communication Arrangements section lists different arrangements with their names, communication scenarios, and draft statuses. One arrangement is marked Active while others are in Draft status. The screen also includes options for editing the configurations.
  • Create a Communication System using the app to transfer data to a secondary system.

    This app allows you to create Communication Systems to establish Communication Arrangements. You can register different systems in the app to enable communication between them. The system represents the communication partner in a communication. For inbound communication, this system calls services while for outbound it provides them.

    SAP Fiori app used for creating a communication system to enable an SAP S/4HANA Cloud API. The interface contains sections for contact information, user details for inbound and outbound communication, and the communication arrangements that includes fields for communication scenarios and the draft status.
  • Assign users to the Communication System. If the selected scenario contains inbound services, select the user for inbound communication created earlier. If the selected scenario contains outbound services, create a new user for outbound communication.
  • Create a Communication Arrangement

    This app allows you to create and edit Communication Arrangements for inbound and outbound communication with your company's partners. You can set up how business documents are received and sent, along with authorizations and authentication methods required for the communication.

    SAP fiori app that helps to create communication arrangements. The screen displays sections for HANA Cloud Platform details with system ID, system name, and active status. Technical Data is shown, including the host name account.neo.ondemand.com, log system ID, and client name. The Contact Information section is present but not filled out. The User for Inbound Communication section lists authentication methods and user names HCPEXTENSION and SEC_LOAD_USER. The interface indicates the process of configuring an SAP S/4HANA Cloud communication system.
  • Activate the Arrangement to Enable the Communication, and then save.

Refer to this link in the SAP Community that gives a detailed outlook of the steps discussed earlier: Setting up Communication Management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud

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