Connecting SAP to remote webservices using cURL

Question

I've been doing a bit of research and cannot seem to quite capture the information I need. Our software offers a public api (webservice) which our clients can implement using HTTPS calls through cURL. Many of our clients use SAP, which I most honestly know next to nothing about (nor does anybody on our crew).

I'm trying to put together a big picture of what those clients would have to do to easily communicate with our webservices. What requirements would SAP clients have? I've read a bit about the WebServices framework in SAP but that doesn't quite seem to be what I need.

Is it simple to create or use existing SAP modules in any language that could connect to a remote webservice through cURL?

Can I find any valuable documentation out there that I could / should read ?

Gleich

Answer 1

I'm not sure if you'll like this answer, but I'll write it anyway. :-)

If "webservice" means SOAP/WSDL for you, then it should be technically possible to generate some proxies to facilitate communication with your application. If you're talking about REST or some home-brewn stuff, it's a bit more work, but it's still possible. There's an example available in the SAP help portal. (And by the way, "some language" means ABAP.)

HOWEVER: You will need someone with SAP experience in the area you're interested in (materials management, sales, whatever). And you'll probably need someone to code some bits and pieces in the SAP system to make the interface work OR your clients will need some kind of communication server (PI) in between OR both. Unless you've got a customer who will let you play and gain experience in their system, you'll also need a SAP installation to do this.

Unfortunately, the big picture might be even bigger than you imagine...

EDIT: If you want to get an idea of what ABAP is, this answer might be a starting point.

Ragin

Your answer is indeed quite helpful. I was expecting some kind of answer that would imply using a proxy of some kind and you seem to confirm that hypothesis. Maybe I should've mentionned we use JSON-RPC for webservices, through the Zend Framework. – Gleich

SAP does not provide any tools which support JSON-RPC, so you'll need an ABAP developer to write the clients for your web services. – Keto

Ok So ABAP seems to be the component I should be reading about. Thanks for your help. – Gleich

Answer 2

For connecting an SAP system with other systems, consider using SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (SAP PI). It is a part of SAP Netweaver that has the explicit purpose of communicating between various SAP systems as well as other (third party) systems. It's the core component of any SAP flavored service-oriented architecture (SOA).

From Wikipedia :

SAP calls PI an integration broker because it mediates between entities with varying requirements in terms of connectivity, format, and protocols. According to SAP, PI reduces the TCO by providing a common repository for interfaces. The central component of SAP PI is the SAP Integration Server, which facilitates interaction between diverse operating systems and applications across internal and external networked computer systems.

PI is built upon the SAP Web Application Server.

Alec