Automating Integrations

When configuring an integration with SAP Fieldglass, you must choose the manner in which the two systems will communicate with each other. These are the protocols for file transfer; the technical methods by which the systems connect.

SAP Fieldglass uses 3 different methods of file transfer:

• Manual,
• SFTP, and
• Webservices.

We already talked about manual integrations, so let’s look at the first of the two automated methods: SFTP.

SFTP might sound a little familiar. FTP--or File Transfer Protocol--is one of the oldest methods of transferring files between systems, established early on in the life of the Internet. It’s a standard network protocol used transferring files between a client and server.

SFPT uses what's called the Secure Shell—or SSH—file security protocol, hence the 'S,' which stands for 'secure.' SFTP ensures that files are transferred using full security and authentication functionality of the SSH standard.

With SFTP, SAP Fieldglass sends a download connector file to an organization’s file server, which saves it for processing by whichever enterprise system it is intended.

For an upload, the opposite occurs: SAP Fieldglass retrieves the data file from the organization’s file server and processes it.

There are three components for SFTP transferred integrations:

• the connector itself,
• the End Point, and
• the Subscription.

The end point defines the properties of the server that SAP Fieldglass will communicate with to complete an SFTP transferred integration.

It defines the server, its access & authentication credentials, file location, and file name, as well as any encoding required.

So Nelson, for instance, would require the server for WorkingNet’s HR system be set as the logical end point for that integration. The server’s authorization information would also be included so that SAP Fieldglass can access the server to routinely place a connector file called ‘HRConnector.csv’ into a folder on the server called ‘SAPFG.’

A subscription is the SAP Fieldglass service that triggers the delivery or retrieval of a data file on a predefined schedule.

The subscription controls the time and frequency at which the integration will be initiated and links the data file with the end point—the SFTP Server—acting as the conduit for the file transfer.

The subscription is determined at the same time that the end point is set, so the SAP Fieldglass administrator will indicate when the integrations will occur while determining the server, file name, and where the connector will be placed.

However, if WorkingNet preferred to use a Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure method instead of an FTP method, the SAP Fieldglass administrator would configure a Webservices connector.

Webservices connections allow the integrated systems to call directly to each other using this common web-based communication protocol, recognizable as the "HTTPS" that precedes most website URLs.

The SAP Fieldglass application uses the web service to exchange master data and transactional data between the application and a client system, using download and upload connectors that bypass the SFTP server.

For instance, for a download, WorkingNet’s HR system would send a request to SAP Fieldglass, which then sends data back to the HR system, which extracts and loads the data.

For an upload request, the call sends formatted data to SAP Fieldglass, which immediately sends the HR system an HTTP response indicating confirmation of the connector file.

But that’s a general example. The actual connection process depends on which of the two webservices methods WorkingNet would use:

• SOAP, or
• API.

SOAP, or Simple Object Access Protocol, is an XML-based messaging protocol for exchanging the data that Fieldglass uses for batch integrations.

Specifically, SOAP uses an XML protocol called Web Services Description Language, or WSDL. The WSDL is basically the format and ‘instructions’ for how to connect or integrate; it describes the specific web service as collections of network endpoints.

Basically, SOAP is the manner in which the systems will use the web to connect, and WSDL provides the instructions for how SAP Fieldglass will connect with the specific WorkingNet system.

But both SFTP and SOAP are batch methods; they transfer large volumes of data at set intervals. The REST API method utilizes the HTTPS protocol as well, but is for smaller, single-record transfers conducted in near real time.

An API is an Application Programming Interface, a customizable part of a server that receives requests and sends responses.

Basically, it's an interface that allows specific types of data to be interpreted by other systems.

The REST API is an API that applies what's called the REST framework, which is a flexible protocol that is not constrained by particular formats and allows for real-time data transfers.