Using the HTTP_AAE Adapter as Sender

You store configuration data for the runtime of integration scenarios in the Integration Directory (ID). This data includes representatives of the sender and receiver systems of messages.

There are two types of senders or receivers of a message in SAP Process Integration (PI).

The communication components group the following object types:

• Business system
• Business component

Communication components in the form of business systems refer to business systems in the System Landscape Directory (SLD) and are imported from there.

To execute the import, select the Communication Component node (in most cases, on the Objects tab page) of the ID and select the Assign Business System option using the right mouse button. The list of business systems in the SLD for which there are currently no assignments in the ID displayed.

Business Systems and Business Components can be the sender and receiver of messages.

Information that specifies how the sender or receiver communication components can be contacted must be stored in the ID. In addition, a message must either be converted into a format that the target system understands or transformed into a process integration XML message that is then delivered to the Integration Server. This task is performed by an adapter and the configuration object in which you define the adapter for the inbound or outgoing message is called the communication channel.

The main tasks involved in creating a communication channel are as follows:

1. Select the communication component.

   Specify the communication component for which you want to create the communication channel (for example, the business system).

2. Enter the name.

   Enter the name of the communication channel. If possible, choose a name that is self-explanatory, for example, RFC_Sender.

3. Select the adapter type.

   Specify the connection details (for example, file adapter for file access) and whether it is sender or receiver.

4. Select the adapter engine and the protocol.

   In addition to the Central Adapter Engine (CAE), you can also have other local adapter engines. You need to enter details for the transport and message protocols, such as Exchange Infrastructure (XI) 3.0, Network File System (NFS) or File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and so on.

5. Enter the adapter specific parameters.

   You enter additional details for each adapter (for example, the target directory for file receivers).

You use the Java HTTP adapter to exchange messages between the Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE) and an application, using the HTTP protocol. Applications can send messages to the integration server by issuing HTTP POST or HTTP GET requests to a specified HTTP URL.

The HTTP adapter consists of two elements - a sender adapter and a receive adapter. In the inbound processing, the HTTP sender adapter converts the HTTP request to an XI message and then forwards it to the AAE for processing. In the outbound processing, the HTTP receiver adapter converts the XI message to an HTTP message and transmits the message to a remote application by sending HTTP POST/GET requests to a specified HTTP URL.

The HTTP protocol is based on a protocol header (HTTP header) containing metadata of the message and the protocol body (HTTP body) containing the document that is to be sent. If the HTTP body contains only the XML document (the payload) and this XML document contains just business data and no additional metadata, the use of HTTP is called plain HTTP. This is different from the SOAP format because the SOAP XML document in the HTTP body can contain SOAP header control information. In addition, SOAP allows attachments to be sent with the message.

The figure illustrates the difference between plain HTTP, SOAP over HTTP and PI-SOAP.

The SAP Process Integration (PI)-specific SOAP format does not contain the payload in the SOAP body but rather as an attachment. The SOAP body contains only a reference to the payload.

The figure, HTTP Adapter Overview, shows an overview of the HTTP adapter.

To configure the HTTP_AAE sender, you need information about the message protocol (HTTP POST or HTTP GET) and the request details.

Where: