SAP PI/XI
Development Guidelines
PI Object Guidelines and Standards
SAP PI has evolved over time and the platform name has changed over the years since starting out as XI. Our guidelines for object naming incorporate changes up to the current version of SAP PI and are being updated for the newly christened SAP PO (Process Orchestration).
Leading standards for object naming that apply to all objects in PI:
- Camel case naming: words of a name are joined without spaces and are capitalized within the compound.
- Words that are four characters or less should not be abbreviated.
Identification and Standardization
Business Objects
Program IDs are unique identifiers used by SAP RFC connections to locate RFC applications.
System Landscape Directory (SLD)
Business System
General Rules
- The business system does not represent the actual technical host.
- Typically, the application name is not used unless there is will only be one specific application in use.
Note: The business system name is case sensitive.
Suggested Naming Standard
SAP System | _ |
Business System | or _ |
Glossary
Geographical area the system is located in if relevant | |
Specify the business unit the system is assigned to | |
Specify the business application or usage of the system | |
D | Q | P | T |
Examples
SAP System
QE1800_D
IE2800_Q
Business System
SalesForceSales_D
AribaProcurement_D
PI Product
General Rules
- Product refers to the business application (i.e SAP ECC, SAPAPO, SalesForce, etc.), not the technical environment.
- Do not use the SAP standard productions (i.e. SAP BASIS) for custom development. Instead, create a new production with your own company name.
Suggested Naming Standard
Integration Builder Standards
Communication Party
General Rules
A communication party represents an entity that is involved in a collaborative business process. In SAP PI, a party refers to the companies involved in a B2B scenario. Use descriptive names as opposed to technical designations or IDs such as customer numbers.
Suggested Naming Standard
Party Name | <Company> |
Glossary
<Company> | Specify a string naming your partner. As a guideline, we limit it to eight characters for easier readability. |
Examples
Amazon, Ford, Wal-Mart, Target
Communication Channel
General Rules
The communication channel defines the details for the inbound or outbound processing of a message. Specifically, this defines the type of adapter that will be used.
Suggested Naming Standard
Communication Channel | <Prefix>_<Adapter Type><Direction><Object Description> |
Glossary
Prefix | “CC_” |
<Adapter Type> | IDoc | IDocAAE | RFC | File | JDBC | JMS | Proxy | SOAP | Http | Mail | RNIF | SFTP | REST |
<Direction> | SEND = Sender | RECV = Receiver |
<Object Description> | Describe the usage of the channel |
Examples
CC_IDocRECV
CC_IdocAAERECV *Note: we differentiate between the AAE adapter versus the ABAP-based adapter only in double stack environments. In single stack environments, there is no need to do this.
CC_FileSENDSalesOrder
CC_SOAPRECVShippingOrder
CC_MailSENDQuotation
Receiver Determination
General Rules
Suggested Naming Standard
Receiver Determination |
Glossary
Examples
Receiver Rule
General Rules
Suggested Naming Standard
Receiver Rule |
Glossary
Examples
Interface Determination
General Rules
Suggested Naming Standard
Interface Determination |
Glossary
Examples
Sender Agreement
General Rules
Suggested Naming Standard
Sender Agreement |
Glossary
Examples
Receiver Agreement
General Rules
Suggested Naming Standard
Receiver Agreement |
Glossary
Examples
Integrated Configuration
General Rules
Suggested Naming Standard
Integrated Configuration |
Glossary
Examples
Enterprise Service Builder Standards
External Definition
General Rules
Suggested Naming Standard
Class Name |
Glossary
Prefix | Z, Y or namespace
Normal customer-developed objects should be prefixed with Z. Y should only be used when an object is local and will not be transported. When a namespace is involved, it would be used as a prefix, i.e. “/Prefix/FIDEV”. |
Class Prefix | FI, PP.MM, etc.
Functional Application Area. Note: it is typical to use SAP’s Application Areas but others work as well. |
Separator | “_” use an underscore |
Class Name | Use proper nouns such as COMPANY_CODE GENERAL LEDGER_ACCOUNT, etc. |
Examples
Service Interface
General Rules
(Introduced in PI 7.1)
Suggested Naming Standard
Service Interface | <Business Object><Interaction Activity>_<Direction> |
Glossary
<Business Object> | Specify the underlying business object representing business content |
<Interaction Activity> | Specify a more generic interaction activity |
<Direction> | In|Out|Abs (Inbound, outbound or abstract) |
Examples
SalesOrderProcessing_Out
PurchaseOrderProcessing_In
SalesOrderConfirmation_In
Service Interface Operations
General Rules
Suggested Naming Standard
Operations | <Business Object><Action><Transaction Activity>_<Mode> |
Glossary
<Business Object> | Specify the underlying business object representing business content |
<Action> | Create | Change | Update | Cancel | Maintain |Modify |Delete | Read |
<Transaction Activity> | Request|Query|Notification|Confirmation|Response| |
<Mode> | Sync | Async |
Examples
SalesOrderCreateRequest_Async
PurchaseOrderCreate_Sync
SalesOrderConfirmation_Async
Message Mapping
General Rules
Suggested Naming Standard
Message Mapping | <Prefix>_<Source Message Type>_2_<Target Message Type> |
Glossary
<Prefix> | MM |
<Source Message Type> | Source Message Type (See message type naming) |
<Target Message Type> | Target Business Object (See message type naming) |
Examples
MM_ShippingOrdersCreate_to_ORDER_ORDERS06
MM_PurchaseOrderCreate_to_SalesOrderCreate
MM_Delivery_to_ASN
Operation Mapping
General Rules
Suggested Naming Standard
Message Mapping | <Prefix>_<Source Message Type>_2_<Target Message Type> |
Glossary
Syntax | |
<Operation Mapping> | MM |
Element Glossary | |
<Source Message Type> | Source Message Type (See message type naming) |
<Target Message Type> | Target Business Object (See message type naming) |
Examples
MM_ShippingOrdersCreate_to_ORDER_ORDERS06
MM_PurchaseOrderCreate_to_SalesOrderCreate
MM_Delivery_to_ASN
Additional Information
Checklist for New Interfaces
Originating system (Business System) | i.e. SAP ECC 6.0 |
How does this system communicate (Communication Channel) | IDOC |
(Sender Agreement) | |
(Receiver Determination) | |
(Interface Determination) | |
(Receiver Agreement) | |
How does this system communicate (Communication Channel) | REST |
Destination System (Business System) | Google API |