SAP .

NET Connector
Purpose
The SAP .NET Connector is a development environment that enables communication
between the Microsoft. NET platform and SAP systems. This connector supports RFCs
and Web services, and allows you to write different applications such as Web form,
Windows form, or console applications in the Microsoft Visual Studio.Net. With the SAP
.NET Connector, you can use all common programming languages, such as Visual Basic.
NET, C#, or Managed C++.

Features
Using the SAP .NET Connector and SAP .NET Proxy Wizard, you can:
Write .NET Windows and Web form applications that have access to SAP business objects
(BAPIs).
1. Develop client applications for the SAP Server. Here you can use either RFCs or
HTTP/SOAP/XML (outside-in).
2. Write RFC server applications that run in a .NET environment and can be installed starting
from the SAP system (inside-out).

With Microsoft Visual Studio .NET you can:

Use the integrated Proxy Wizard to generate proxy objects.
3. Use any common programming language that has complete access to Microsoft Visual
Studio .NET.
4. Link SAP tables and structure with Windows and Web form controls (Data Binding).
5. Use secure authorization methods such as Single Sign-On, Kerberos, and Microsoft
Passport (www.passport.net).

Further Information
6. SAP.Net Connector: Architecture
7. Creating ASP .Net Applications using the SAP .Net Connector
8. SAP.Net Client
9. SAP.Net Server
10. SAP.Net Connector: Installation
11. SAP .Net Programmers Reference

For more information on the SAP .NET Connector, see the SAP Service Marketplace at
the internet address:
service.sap.com

SAP .NET Connector Architecture

SAP.Net Connector: Architecture - Overview

You can use both RFC and SOAP for the connection between the SAP.Net Connector and the
SAP system. The choice of protocol depends on the release status of your SAP system and on its
availability inside or outside of the firewall.
SAP.Net Connector: Runtime Architecture

Creating ASP .NET Web Applications Using the SAP

.NET Connector

The following example shows how to create a .NET project using Microsoft Visual
Studio .NET. In the example, a client application reads and displays customer data from
an SAP System using a search value and then displays it in a data grid.
The example uses the function module RFC_CUSTOMER_GET, which requires that
customer data exist in the target SAP System, for example, in IDES. Although it is
possible to rename all development objects and generated proxy classes, default names
are used in this example. This example is provided as part of the connector sample code
(DNCWebApp).

Procedure
...

1.

Open Microsoft Visual Studio .NET.

2. To create a new C# Web form project choose New New Project Visual C#
Projects ASP .NET Web Application.
You can also create a project in any other common programming language for .NET,
for example, in Visual Basic .NET. In this case, you must add the SAP .NET proxy
classes as a separate project in the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET solution.
3.

Rename the form Webform1.aspx to Default.aspx.

4. Add Web controls to your Web form.

In our example, we add a TextBox, a Button and a DataGrid control.
5. Add proxy classes to connect the Web applications to your SAP server.
a. In the Solution Explorer, right-click on your project.
b.

Choose Add Add new item.

c.

Select Web Project Items SAP Connector Class and choose Open.

The SAP .NET Connector Wizard opens.

d. Decide from where you want to generate the proxy classes.
You can create proxies from:

Web Services Description Language (WSDL) files that originate in an

SAP interface repository (IFR)
An SAP server
Standard WSDL files
e. Select the client proxy object type and select beautify names option.
f. Select the Remote Function Modules (RFM) you want to use in your
proxy object.

You can use search filters to look for the Remote Function Modules. In the example,
enter the search argument RFC_CUST* in Name-Filter and select
RFC_CUSTOMER_GET.
g. Add the modules to your proxy object and choose Next.
The proxy classes for the referenced table and structure types are automatically
created and added to the project.
6.

Build the solution with Build Build Solution.

7.

Create an SAPLogin page to support user name and password authentication

a. In the Solution Explorer, right-click on your project.
b.

Choose Add Add New item.

c.

Select Web Project Items SAP Login Form

Leave the name as SAPLogin1.aspx.

8. Set the system connection information in the destination object of the
SAPLogin1.aspx page:
a. In the Solution Explorer window find the item SAPLogin1.aspx and
double-click on it to bring it up in the designer.
b. Look for the component destination1 on the bottom of the form.

9.

c. Click on the destination component and set the properties for

connecting to your SAP system (for example AppServerHost and
SystemNumber). The other properties like client, Password and username will be
set from the login page.
Databind the data grid to BRFCKNA1Table:
BRFCKNA1Table is the parameter of RFC_CUSTOMER_GET that contains the list of
customers.
a. Select SAP Table Wizard from the SAP proxy toolbox and Drag&Drop
it to your working area. In the dialog box, select BRFCKNA1Table.
b. Select the data grid, and under Properties change DataSource to
BRFCKNA1Table using the drop down list.

c. Customize the list of columns displayed on the data grid by modifying

the Columns collection property.
10. On the default.aspx page, double-click the Button control you added earlier to
create an event handler for the control.
11. Add the connect code to your project:
a. SelectConnect code from the SAP proxy toolbox.
b. Drag&Drop it in the source code of your event handler.
A fragment of sample code is then inserted. It connects to the SAP server using the
authorization settings from the Proxy Wizard. Normally, you must change these
settings.
The code should look something like this:
private void btnSearch_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
// Declare parameters here
SAPProxy1 proxy = new SAPProxy1();
try
{
proxy.Connection =
SAP.Connector.SAPLoginProvider.GetSAPConnection(this);

// Call methods here

proxy.Rfc_Customer_Get("", txtCust.Text, ref brfcknA1Table1);
// Now update Data Bindings. On WinForms this will be automatic, on //
WebForms call the following line
this.DataBind();
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
// If SAPLoginProvider.GetSAPConnection(this) cannot get a connection,
// we might get an error.
// Normally this can be ignored as it will automatically will force a
// relogon.
}
}
12. Build and run the application.
The browser window opens and you are redirected to your SAPLogin1.aspx login page.
13.

Enter connection data (for example user, password and client).

14.

If you select Save this login information will be stored as an encrypted cookie on
your computer and will provide an alternative single sign-on capability the next time
you wish to access the site. If you do not select Save, the login information will still
be saved in the ASP .NET session state but will be lost once the browser is closed.
Enter a search argument, for example A* in the TextBox field and choose Search.

Your application connects to the SAP System and displays the requested data in the
DataGrid.

SAP .NET Client

Use
If you use a .NET program as a client, you can send function calls to your SAP system
and receive the results.

Integration

As of SAP Web AS 6.10, the .NET Connector can communicate with the SAP server
either by RFC or using the SOAP protocol. Up to and including SAP_BASIS release
4.6D, communication is only possible using RFC.
As long as the .NET Connector client and the SAP server are both within a firewall,
communication can occur using both RFC and SOAP, although in this situation using an
RFC connection achieves considerably better performance. For communication outside
the firewall, SOAP must be used.
Configuration of the protocol call within the .NET client can be controlled using a
separate program.

Further Information

Project Types

RFC or SOAP

Connecting to the SAP System

Authentication

Asynchronous Methods

TRFC and QRFC Support

Monitoring and Debugging

IDoc

Project Types
We recommend using the SAP Connector Class project template for creating SAP .NET
Connector projects as you can reuse the proxy code. It is also worth considering placing
the SAP proxies in the global assembly cache if several applications are making use of
them.
Alternatively you can add the SAP connector class directly to another type of project
such as a Windows Form, ASP .NET web application or ASP.NET web service. With
other project types you can generate the SAP proxy directly in the project or reference an
existing SAP Connector Library. When you select an existing SAP connector library you
have to verify that your project has a reference to the SAP .Connector library
(sap.connector.dll).

RFC or SOAP
The choice of whether to use RFC or SOAP depends on which release of the SAP system
is available (for example, releases before 6.20) and other issues such as whether the
system is available on your intranet or outside the firewall. Depending on the connection
string used to create the proxy (for example, if it begins with http://), SOAP will be used
to connect to the SAP system otherwise RFC will be used to connect to the SAP system.

Connecting to the SAP System

The connection to SAP is managed within the proxys connection object. You do not have
to determine the status of the connection yourself as the connector manages this
automatically. Before an RFC can be executed, the connection must be opened. After the
RFC has finished executing the connection should be closed.
For applications that have many concurrent users, the connector provides a connection
pool object. It is possible to get the connection from the pool instead of creating one for
each client. In this way connections are reused and performance is improved.

Authentication
The SAP .NET Connector supports all SAP authentication options including user name,
password and various single sign-on options such as Kerberos, NTLM, X.509 certificates
and SAP Logon tickets. In addition, the connector makes it easy to perform SAP
authentication in your application with the SAPDestination and SAPLogonDestination
classes and in ASP .NET applications with the SAPLogin Form.

We recommend you use the SAP logon classes rather than manually creating a
connection string with the logon information. The SAP logon classes support getting
logon information at runtime from a configuration file, SAPGUI or as another alternative,
programmatically, for example from Microsoft Active Directory.

Asynchronous Methods
Client applications support asynchronous method invocations. The main benefit of this is
that your SAP client application remains responsive even when the RFC call is taking
some time.
Many areas of the .NET framework support asynchronous programming. SAP .NET
Connector classes are built in C# and take advantage of many .NET features including
asynchronous method invocations. Asynchronous programming techniques are important
with SAP RFC calls as some calls can take a long time to complete. During this time, a
single threaded client application seems to be unresponsive as the main thread of
execution is waiting for the SAP method call to complete. Many RFC calls happen very
quickly and the user may not notice, others may take some time and the application
appears to be unresponsive.
With .NET Connector, we can take advantage of many features of the Microsoft Common
Language Runtime (CLR) including support for easy asynchronous programming. This
powerful feature is not available on any other SAP connector at this time. In all other
connectors, BAPI and RFC calls are synchronous calls.
The Asynchronous method calls use the standard .NET delegate callback mechanism. It
provides the programmer with a familiar and powerful way of performing asynchronous
calls in the SAP Client application.
When we use asynchronous methods from the .NET Connector wizard, the proxy
contains two additional methods for each RFC: Begin<RFC Name> and End<RFC
Name> and three additional variables to manage the asynchronous result.
When Begin<RFC Name> is called, CLR queues the request and returns immediately
to the caller. The target method will be on thread from the thread pool. The original
thread is free to continue executing in parallel to the target method. If a callback has been
specified on Begin<RFC Name>, it will be called when the target method returns. In
the callback, the End<RFC Name> method is used to obtain the return value and the
in/out parameters. If the callback was not specified on Begin<RFC Name>, then
End<RFC Name> can be used on the original thread that submitted a request.

TRFC and QRFC Support

Transactional RFC (TRFC) guarantees that a function module is executed in the target
system exactly once. Queued Transactional RFC (QRFC) is a type of TRFC that is
executed only once and in a particular order.
Client applications can be used with normal synchronous RFC, TRFC and QRFC.
Normal Remote Function Calls (RFCs) are synchronous and are not guaranteed to
execute only once or to execute in any particular order. Normal RFC calls return some
value to the calling application, for example a list of customers. Transactional Remote
Function Calls (TRFCs) and Queued Remote Function Calls (QRFCs) do not return
anything if the function was successfully added to the SAP system. If the function was
not added correctly, they throw an exception.
In the connector there are separate method signatures generated for TRFC and QRFC
versus the normal synchronous RFC method. In the case of TRFC and QRFC, an
additional parameter called a transaction ID (TID) is used as a unique identifier within
the SAP system and when adding the function module execution request to the SAP
system. A TID is similar to a GUID. In fact, GUIDs can be mapped back and forth to
SAP TID using helper functions in the RFC library.
TRFC or QRFC should be used when information is added only once to the SAP system
(for example, when adding a sales order or submitting an IDOC). In the case where a
client application needs information from the SAP system, for example a list of
customers, it makes no sense to use TRFC as the SAP system will return nothing back to
the application other than an exception should something go wrong.
Queued RFC enforces the order of execution of the functions in the SAP system. To use
QRFC you must have the following:
1. A name for the RFC queue to use on the SAP system. If the queue does not
already exist it will be automatically created.
1. A TID
2.

A queue index to determine the sequence. The queue index begins with zero.

Monitoring and Debugging

The connector includes several exception classes so that error handling is robust and
natural for a Visual Studio developer. In addition to these exception classes, there is
extensive debugging and tracing support built into the connector.
You can debug from your C# proxy directly into the SAP function module by setting the
ABAP_DEBUGflag. Debugging through to the SAP system is useful when you are
getting unexpected results back from the SAP system. To use the ABAP_DEBUGoption

you must have installed SAPGUI on your developer workstation. You cannot use the
integrated ABAP debug option with web applications because they run under another
Windows context that is invisible to the interactive user.
Detailed traces can be written using the tracing flag. Alternatively you can set the
environment variables RFC_TRACE and CPIC_TRACE to have trace files written to
your application directory.
During initial design and debugging it is often useful to run the SAP RFCfunction
directly in the SAP system using transaction SE37. It is easier to isolate the problem once
you are sure that input values are valid. In addition, you should reference the SAP
function module documentation. The SAP data dictionary, which is integrated in the
function editor, also gives you information on valid input values.
In the SAP system, there are automatic formatting functions that are not available in the
connector, for example to add leading zeroes to a customer or invoice number. If the
function is working in the SAP system but not in your proxy, it could be that the SAP
system has applied one of these automatic-formatting routines but you did not.
The SAP system provides extensive tracing and monitoring capabilities inside of the
system as well, for example within the area Tools Administration Monitoring.

IDOC
SAP Intermediate Documents (IDOCS) are EDI like documents that are asynchronous in
nature. IDOCS are often used in sending business documents (for example sales orders)
from your SAP system to a trading partner or other system. The actual TRFC call to
submit the IDOC to SAP is performed synchronously and very quickly, but the actual
business processing can happen at some later time defined in the SAP system. The
outbound result (for example, sales order confirmation) can also happen at some later
time. With RFC calls, the business processing is done immediately albeit on a different
thread if we make use of the asynchronous methods described above. IDOCS offer
additional queuing and retry capabilities.
SAP .NET Connector supports both submitting and receiving SAP IDOCs. The
SAPIDOCSender class submits IDOCs and the SAPIDOCReceiver class can be used
with a TRFC server to receive IDOCS.
To work with IDOCS you must use transactional RFC. In the SAPIDOCSender and
SAPIDOCReceiver classes, SAP provides for you a TRFC client implementation that
works with the appropriate function modules in SAP.

SAP .NET Server

Use
If you use a .NET program as an RFC server, your SAP system can handle .NET code
exactly as it would handle another SAP system. It can send a function call to the .Net
Server and receive the result.

Prerequisite
The .NET Server is defined as an RFC destination in the SAP system.

Integration

As of SAP Web AS 6.10, the SAP .NET Connector can communicate with the SAP
system either by RFC or using the SOAP protocol. Up to and including SAP_BASIS
release 4.6D, communication is only possible using RFC.
As long as the SAP .NET Connector server and the SAP system are both within a
firewall, communication can occur using both RFC and SOAP, although in this situation
using an RFC connection achieves considerably better performance. For communication
outside the firewall, SOAP must be used.
The .NET Server is configured as an RFC destination in the SAP system in exactly the
same way as any other (external) RFC server, using transaction SM59.

Further Information

Key Steps

Authentication

Monitoring and Debugging

TRFC and QRFC

Key Steps
When calling a .NET program from an SAP system, we distinguish the following key
steps, as shown above:
1.

The .NET program must register itself on the SAP gateway host

2. The SAP system and the .NET program must implement the same method
interface, for example, the function module name and parameters from the SAP
system.
3. The SAP system initiates the call to the .NET program using the CALL
FUNCTION DESTINATIONkeyword
4.

The .NET program must return the appropriate parameters to the SAP system

The SAP server code that is generated by the connector and provides the functionality
described above as well as a default implementation. This allows the Visual Studio
developer to focus on the implementation and not have to understand how RFC servers
work in detail.

Authentication
Unlike client applications, no user name and password is required to register a server on
the SAP gateway. Instead, the program ID, gateway host, gateway service and code page
must be provided. Once the server is registered on the gateway inside the SAP system, it
can be accessed from SAP programs. The computer where the RFC server is running
must grant permissions to the SAP service user to use the necessary resources on that
machine.

Monitoring and Debugging

After your program is running, use the SAP gateway monitor (transaction SMGW) to
verify that your .NET program is registered. If the registration works properly, you can
see on the logged on clients screen the PROGID and the host machine.
The SAP Gateway offers detailed tracing capabilities from within the SAP system. On
your RFC server you can also enable tracing by setting the environment variable
RFC_TRACE and CPIC_TRACE. The traces can be quite large so should only be used
when there is a problem.

For TRFC servers you also have the TRFC monitor (SM58). For QRFC you have the
SAP Queue monitor (transaction SMQ2) to monitor QRFC calls.
Just as the SAP client solution offers integrated Abap/4 debugging for .NET clients, you
can set a breakpoint in your RFC server code, call the function from the SAP system and
examine the values sent to you from the SAP system in debugging mode within Visual
Studio .NET.

TRFC and QRFC

A TRFC server makes sense when have to send information only once from the SAP
system to another application (for example, sending a purchase order). TRFC is required
if you want to write an application to receive SAP IDOCS. On your TRFC server, you
must manage a connection to a transactional store such as Microsoft SQL Server. You
require a transaction store to ensure you can keep track of and manage all RfcTID sent to
you from the SAP system so that you can create the TID and the function execution
within a transaction. If the transaction fails at any point, the SAP system tries to resubmit
it. By default, the system attempts to resubmit the transaction every 15 minutes up to a
maximum of 30 attempts. However, you can configure the resubmission parameters
individually for each RFC destination using transaction SM59. From the destination
maintenance screen, choose Destination TRFC options.
To call our TRFC server, the SAP system uses the syntax: CALL FUNCTION xyz IN
BACKGROUND TASK DESTINATION dest and then issues a COMMIT WORK.
After the COMMIT WORK, the SAP system makes several additional calls related to
TRFC against our .NET component. The first call is CheckTID. This method is
responsible for checking whether we have already processed the TID. If we have
processed the function, nothing further is done. If not, the next step is to execute the
function itself (for example, function xyz) or queue the function for later execution. After
successful completion of this function, we let the SAP system know that the transaction
worked by calling OnCommit. Once the SAP system receives the commit from us it
knows that everything worked properly and lets us know that we can clear the TID record
from our database.
Although it is possible, we do not recommend writing a QRFC server with the connector.
To write a QRFC server, you have to implement the SAP queuing mechanism. For
purposes where you want queuing, we recommend to simply use Microsoft Message
Queue in a TRFC server.

SAP .NET Connector Installation

Implementation Considerations
The SAP .Net Connector is a standalone component that is installed in addition to the
SAP system. To access the installation files, see the SAP Service Marketplace at:
http://service.sap.com/connectors.
For the SAP .Net Connector, the following prerequisites apply:
Development system (System that is in use at the time of development):
Windows 2000 or Windows XP
Microsoft Visual Studio .Net
Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Download from http://java.sun.com
SAP.Net:Setup.msi

Application system (productive system that is in use at runtime):

1. Windows 2000 or Windows XP
2. Microsoft. Net Framework. Download from msdn.microsoft.com/netframework
3. LIBRFC32.dll, release 6.20 or higher
4. SAP.Net.Connector.dll

SAP .Net Connector Programmers Reference

The SAP .Net Connector Programmers Reference offers instructions for SAP .Net
Connector client and server programming. In this section you will also find an overview
of classes, a data type reference and programming samples for the most common SAP
.Net applications.
Click on the corresponding link below to get detailed information:

Overview of Classes

SAP Client Programming

SAP RFC Server Programming

Data Type Reference

Samples

Overview of Classes
Class

Explanation

SAPClient

Base class for all SAP client projects

SAPServer

RFC server class that allows you to make use

of .NET functionality inside of your SAP Abap/4
programs

SAPConnection

Manages a connection to the SAP system. It is

used by the SAPClient classes

SAPConnectionPool

Allows you to manage a pool of connection

objects. This is important for applications where
multiple users access your proxy

Destination

Base class for Destination objects. Holds

login attributes as properties but does not
contain logic to retrieve these properties as
does SAPLogonDestination for example

SAPLogonDestination

Derived from Destination. In addition to holding

login attributes this class can retrieve login
information from the SAPGUI

SAPLoginProvider

User name/password login support via ASP

.NET forms authentication. Also provides an
alternative single sign-on capability

RfcException

Base exception class for SAP .NET Connector

exceptions. Not raised by itself

RfcAbapException

Exception representing an Abap/4 exception

raised by the SAP RFC Abap/4 code

RfcCommunicationException

Exception representing a communication failure

of some type (for example, the SAP system is
unreachable)

RfcLogonException

Exception representing a logon failure (for

example, incorrect user name or password)

RfcSystemException

Exception representing a system error (for

example, an SAP short dump has occurred)

RfcQueueItem

Used for QRFC calls to contain the SAP Queue

information

RfcTID

Used for TRFC and QRFC calls. A TID is

similar to a system guid

SAPTable

Very common data type used in RFC

programming. This class can be data bound to
most .NET data aware controls such as
datagrids and listboxes. A example of an
SAPTable might be a list of customers with
name and address data for each row.
SAPTable is a collection of SAPStructure

SAPStructure

Very common data type used in RFC

programming. For example, a BAPI return code
is an SAPStructure. An individual row in a
table is a structure

SAPIDocSender

A class for submitting SAP intermediate

documents (IDOCS) from text files

SAPIDocReceiver

A class for receiving SAP IDOCS from SAP.

SAP .Net Client Programming

In this section you will find detailed information on the following issues:

SAPClient Class

1.

SAPClient Proxy Generation

2.

Customizing SAP Proxies

3.

SAPClient Methods

4.

SAPClient Exceptions

5.

Debugging of SAPClient Proxies

6.

Authentication

7.

SAPIDocSender Class

8.

Asynchronous Methods

9.

TRFC Client Programming

10.

QRFC Client Programming

11.

Connection Classes

12.

Data Binding with SAPClient

SAPClient Class
SAPClient is the base class for .NET applications wishing to use SAP functionality.
This class is maintained by the SAPConnectorGenerator custom tool and the
SAPProxy wsdl metadata file. It should not be necessary to manually update it. SAP
client proxies are instances of this class.
For a list of members of this type see SAPClient Methods.

[C#]
Public class SAPClient:
System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol

Remarks

In the SAP client solution, SAP is the server and the .NET application is the client that
interacts with the RFC. When you generate an SAP client application, a WSDL file is
added to your Visual Studio .NET project. This SAPWSDL file in coordination with a
custom tool in Visual Studio creates several C# classes needed to communicate with the
SAP system via either RFC or SOAP. There is one class for the proxy itself, one for each
export parameter and two for each Table parameter in your RFC.
The SAP RFC is called as a method of the proxy object. There can be one or more RFC
per proxy. For example you could have a proxy with all customer related RFCs in one
library. The parameters for each RFC can be customized within the Visual Studio
designer so that optional parameters can be removed, parameters can be renamed and
default values provided. You can also customize SAP structures by renaming or removing
fields.
Visual Studio developers can work with the SAP proxies in their choice of programming
language. The proxies themselves are generated in C# so for projects written in other than
C# you have to add a new project of type SAP Connector class to the Visual
Studio solution.

SAPClient Proxy Generation

To add the SAP Proxy to your Visual Studio project you have the following options:

Create a new project of type SAP Connector Class

1. Add the proxy to another project type (for example Winform, ASP .NET project,
webservice)

Procedure
...

1.

In Visual Studio .NET choose Project Add New Item.

2.

Under templates select SAP Connector Class

This brings up the connector wizard.

You can create proxies from one of these:

Proxies to Generate From

Explanation

WSDL file from SAP IFR

Web Services Description Language (WSDL)

files that originate in an SAP interface
repository (IFR). If you want to create proxies

Proxies to Generate From

Explanation
from an SAP IFR, you must have a URL for the
WSDL file
In the near future, the SAP IFR will be the
central repository for SAP metadata including
WSDL files

SAP Server

Generate the C# proxy by examining the

metadata stored in the data dictionary of the
SAP system. For most scenarios this is the
preferred option

Standard WSDL file

You can use an existing WSDL file or create

your own WSDL file and import it

3. If you generate proxies from an SAP server, enter the following information in the
Enter Logon information screen:

Input

Explanation

System

SAP system name. If you have SAPGUI for

Windows installed, you can select an entry
from the drop down box

Host

Application server host name

ID

System ID (for example 0)

Client

SAP client number (for example, 000 or 800)

User

SAP user name

Password

Password for that user

Object type (client proxy)

The wizard creates all necessary code for a

SAPClient project. The .NET application
which uses SAP system functions is called a
client proxy

Object type (server stub)

The wizard creates all necessary code for a

SAPServer project. The SAP system which
uses .NET functions is a server stub

Beautify name

SAP function names are by default upper case.

This option makes the names more readable

Create asynchronous methods

This option is only for client applications. It

allows you to make your SAP function call on a
dedicated thread so that your application
remains responsive should the call take some
time

4. Select the Remote Function Modules (RFM) you want to use in your proxy object.
You can use the following search filters to look for the function modules:

Option

Explanation

Name-Filter

A search string for finding the proper SAP

function(s) by name

Group-Filter

SAP functions are organized by groups. If you

know the group name you may use it here

After the code has been generated, you can see an SAP proxy WSDL file added to your
project. This WSDL file in coordination with Visual Studio and the
SAPConnectorGenerator custom tool allows you to manage the SAP proxies
automatically.
If you choose to generate the proxy from the SAP IFR you will be asked for the URL of
the IFR Server.
If you choose to generate a proxy from a Standard WSDL file you will be asked for the
path or URL to that WSDL file.

Customizing SAP Proxies

There is design time support for modifying and updating the generated proxies. To see the
design view, simply double click on the generated SAPProxy WSDL file in the Visual
Studio designer Solution Explorer.
The proxies should be customized from within Visual Studio designer. There is no need
to rerun the proxy generation wizard unless the RFC signature has changed.

Type of Object
RFC functions (shown as method icon)
SAP table class (shown as SAP table icon)
SAP structure class (shown as class
icon)

Example in Designer

Solution Customizing
These options may be set on the SAPProxy sapwsdl file in the designer. Based on
this input the SAP proxy C# classes will be updated automatically.
Beautify

ClassName
CreateAsyncs
CreateTRFC
CreateQRFC
ProxyType

If turned on, all identifiers that do not have

custom names are beautified to mixed
case
The name of the class that is generated
Controls if the generator should create
Microsoft style asynchronous methods
Controls if the generator should create
methods for Transactional RFC
Controls if generator should create methods
for Queued RFC
Whether the generator should create a
client proxy or server stub

Method Customizing

These options may be changed on the RFC function (proxy methods):

Name

Custom Parameter order

Exceptions
Parameters
UseIOStructs

The name used in the code to identify the

RFC
In the parameters collection editor you can
customize the parameter order. If you do
so, this property is set to true. If you set it
to false, the parameter order is set back to
default
Use the collection editor to see and
customize the ABAP exceptions that this
method might throw
Use the collection editor to see and
customize the parameters of the method
When turned on, the generator will create
an additional version of the method that
takes an input structure and returns an
output structure (similar to the SAP Java
Connector). You cannot have removed
parameters with this option

These parameters of the method are provided as informational:

AbapName

OptionalParameters
RemovedParameters
TotalParameters

Contains the original name of the object as

it is called in ABAP
Shows you the number of optional
parameters in the function
Shows you the number of parameters that
have been removed and will not be
generated
Shows you the total number of parameters
of the function

SAPStructure Customizing

These parameters may be changed on the SAP Structures:

Name

Fields
Filename

The name of the SAP structure

Uses the collection editor to customize the
fields in the structure
Specifies the filename that is used to create
the type into

These parameters are provided as informational:

AbapName

Contains the original name of the object as

it is called in ABAP

SAPTable Customizing

These parameters may be changed on SAPTables:

BaseStruct
Filename

For implicitly defined tables, the property

contains the name of the structure that the
table is based on
Specifies the filename that is used to create
the type into

These parameters are provided as informational:

AbapName

Contains the original name of the object as

it is called in ABAP

SAPClient Methods

Public Constructors
public SAPClient
(SAP.Connector.Destination
destination)
public SAPClient
(System.String
ConnectionString)

public SAPClient ( )

Public Methods
Public void <RFC Name> (RFC
parameters)
Public void TRFC<RFC Name>
(RFC parameters, RFCTID)
Public void QRFC<RFC Name>
(RFC parameters,
RFCQueueItem)
Public System.IAsynchResult
Begin<RFC Name> (RFC
parameters,

Initializes a new instance of the

SAPClient class with the connection
information from a SAP Destination object
Initializes a new instance of the
SAPClient class with the connection
information from a connection string. The
connection string can be created manually
or from one of the SAP logon controls. If
you want to create a connection string
manually, see the SAP Remote Function
Call API documentation (RFCOpenEX).
Initializes a new instance of the
SAPClient class without connection
information. The connection information
has to be set in a separate step before you
can use the proxy

Executes a normal RFC call for the

function specified in the SAP system.
Typically out parameters are passed by
reference
Executes the RFC specified as TRFC and
therefore requires an RFCTID parameter.
You must have selected Create TRFC for
this method to be available
Executes the RFC specified as QRFC and
therefore requires a RFCQueueItem
parameter. You must have selected Create
QRFC for this method to be available
Executes the RFC specified using a
Microsoft style asynchronous method
invocation

System.AsynchCallback, object
asynchState)
Public void End<RFC
Name>(system.iasycresult
asyncresult, ref parameters)
public System.Boolean
CommitWork ( )
public void ConfirmTID
(SAP.Connector.RfcTID tid)
public System.Boolean
RollbackWork ( )

Public Properties
public
SAP.Connector.SAPConnection
Connection [ get, set ]
public System.Int32
RfcTotalMiliSeconds

Private Methods
protected System.IAsyncResult
BeginSAPInvoke (System.String
method , object[ ]
methodParamsIn ,
System.AsyncCallback callback
, System.Object asyncState)
protected object[ ]
EndSAPInvoke
(System.IAsyncResult ar)
protected object[ ] SAPInvoke
(System.String method ,
object[ ] methodParamsIn)
public void tRfcInvoke
(System.String method ,
object[ ] methodParamsIn ,
SAP.Connector.RfcTID tid)
public void qRfcInvoke

Used to reattach to the result from the

Asynchronous method invocation
Used for stateful BAPI calls to commit the
logical unit of work to the system
When using TRFC or QRFC programming
you can use this method to confirm the TID
after successfully passing the TRFC call to
the SAP system
Used for stateful BAPI calls to commit the
logical unit of work to the system

The connection object for connecting to the

SAP system. Can be either SOAP or RFC
connection. Should be created from one of
the SAP logon controls
The execution time in milliseconds

Used internally to start the asynchronous

method invocation

Used internally to receive the results of the

asynchronous method invocation
Used to submit a normal RFC for execution
Used to submit a TRFC for execution

Used to submit a QRFC for execution

(System.String method ,
object[ ] methodParamsIn ,
SAP.Connector.RfcQueueItem
qItem)
public void ActivateQueue
(System.String QueueName)
public void DeativateQueue
(System.String QueueName)

Used with QRFC processing

Used with QRFC processing

SAPClient Exceptions
Errors in the .NET Connector are thrown as .NET exceptions. An exception is the
preferred method to handle errors because exceptions are harder to ignore than are return
codes. They also provide you detailed information to create more robust applications.
The SAP .NET Connector has the following exception classes:

RfcCommunicationException

RfcLogonException

RfcSystemException

RfcAbapException

RfcException

1.

RfcMarshalException

Coding Recommendations for RFC Exceptions

We recommend you to have at least two catch blocks. The first catch statement is for
SAP exceptions (specific) and the second for others (generic), for example errors from
the runtime or other resources.
We recommend you to close the proxy connection in the finally programming block.
SAP .NET Connector closes connections eventually. However, to achieve better
performance, we recommend you to close the connection in the finally clause of
your class. We also recommend that you close any external resources such as open files
or database connections here as well.
Instead of providing a status of the SAP RFC connection, we recommend that you simply
invoke the method and deal with the exception. The SAP .NET Connector will maintain
the status of the connection internally.

The Proxy.Connection.Open() method causes an RFC ping. This allows you to

see if the system is up. Subsequent Proxy.Connection.open() methods will be
ignored until there is a Connection.Close().

Example
try

{
// Call methods here
proxy.Connection.Open();
proxy.Rfc_Function_Search(txtRFC.Text,"EN", ref tblRFC);

}
catch (RfcCommunicationException ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString());
return;
}
catch (RfcLogonException ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString());
return;
}
catch (RfcAbapException ex)
{
switch (ex.AbapException)
{
case (SAPProxy1.No_Function_Found):
MessageBox.Show("no function found");
break;
case(SAPProxy1.Nothing_Specified):
MessageBox.Show("Nothing specified");
break;
default:
MessageBox.Show("Some unknown abap error occurred");
break;
} //switch
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString());
return;
}
finally {proxy.Connection.Close();}

Further Information
2.

RfcException

3.

RfcCommunicationException

4.

RfcLogonException

5.

RfcSystemException

6.

RfcAbapException

Debugging of SAPClient Proxies

With the SAP .NET Connector you can debug from your C# proxy directly into the SAP
function module by setting the ABAP_DEBUG flag in the connection string. The best way
to do this is to set the AbapDebug and Trace flags on the
SAPLogonDestination object. Debugging through to the SAP system is useful
when you are getting unexpected results back from the SAP system. To use the
ABAP_DEBUGoption you must have installed SAPGUI on your developer workstation.
You cannot use the integrated ABAP debug option with web applications because they
run under another Windows context that is invisible to the interactive user. For that
reason it is often useful to test your proxy first against a Windows form or Console
application in case integrated debugging is required.
It is often useful to run the SAP RFC function directly in the SAP system using
transaction SE37. It is easier to isolate the problem once you are sure that input values
are valid. In addition, you can use the SAP function module documentation. The SAP
data dictionary, which is integrated in the function editor, also gives you information on
valid input values.
In the SAP system, there are automatic formatting functions that are not available in the
connector, for example to add leading zeroes to a customer or invoice number. If the
function is working in the SAP system but not in your proxy, it could be that the SAP
system has applied one of these automatic formatting routines but you did not.
To see what values the SAP function module is using, proceed as follows:
...

1.

Execute transaction SE37.

2.

Enter the function name and select Single test (F8).

3.

Enter valid parameters and select Debugging (Ctrl F7).

4. Use Single Step (F5) to examine the code execution and variable values in the SAP
function debugger window, part of the Abap/4 developer workbench.

You can turn on tracing in the SAP system by setting the environment variable
CPIC_TRACE and RFC_TRACE. For more information on RFC tracing, refer to SAP
Note 65325.

CPIC_TRACE writes out detailed trace files to the application

directory so it is not advisable to leave tracing on any longer than you
need it.

You can do advanced tracing within the SAP system, for example
from transaction code SM50 and by examining the work process trace
files (for example, dev_w0 in the SAP work directory).
We recommend developers to use the SAP .NET Connector exception
classes in their code to determine why an error has occurred and to use as
a starting point for debugging.
TRFC applications can be monitored from the TRFC monitor
(transaction SM58). QRFC applications can be monitored from QRFC
monitor (transaction SMQ2).

Authentication
The SAP Connector can support all SAP authentication mechanisms including:

User Name and Password

X.509 Certificates

External authentication (for example Microsoft Passport)

Secure Network Communications (for example, Kerberos and NTLM)

And in addition the SAP login form uses standard ASP .NET forms authentication to
provide an alternative single sign-on capability.
The following logon controls are available to manage the SAP authentication in your
project.
Destination

The base class that holds connection

information as properties but does not
implement logic to retrieve the connection
information

SAPLogonDestination

A Destination component that retrieves

information from the SAPGUI
(SAPLOGON.INI). Derived from Destination

SAPLoginProvider

Used with ASP .NET applications to provide

forms based logon and an alternative single
sign-on mechanism with session state and ASP
.NET cookies

SAP Login Form

Used with ASP .NET applications to provide

forms based logon and an alternative single
sign-on mechanism

Further Information
1.

User Name and Password

2.

Single Sign-On

User Name and Password

The SAP system can make use of various single sign-on options. However, many
customers still use a separate user name and password for logging on to SAP. When
designing SAP .NET Connector applications, we recommend to avoid scenarios where a
single user ID is used to connect to the SAP system. In general, all users of the SAP
system whether through SAPGUI or the SAP. NET Connector must be licensed. For that
reason, it is preferable to ask the user for their SAP user name and password as part of
your application or to make use of one of the single sign-on options.
A very good option for user name and password authentication is the SAP Login form. If
you are writing an ASP .NET application this provides you with a forms-based
authentication and the necessary plumbing for both session and cookie based single signon after the first time visiting the form.

Single Sign-On
Single Sign-On (SSO) is a simplified method of logging on to the SAP system without
reducing security. When a system has been configured for Single Sign-On, an authorized
user who has logged on to the operating system can access the SAP system simply by
selecting it in the SAP logon window or clicking on the shortcut. The user is
authenticated by Windows or some other trusted authority so no SAP password is
required. All SAP supported single sign-on options are also supported by the connector.

Single Sign-On Technology

Scenario to Use

Kerberos

When client has SNC Kerberos library.

Use with rich client applications to
provide single sign in same way as
SAPGUI. Can also be used with ASP
.NET impersonation
When client has SNC NTLM library.
Use with rich client applications to
provide single sign in same way as
SAPGUI. Can not be used with ASP
.NET impersonation
Web scenarios especially internet
scenarios where client is not inside the

NTLM

X.509 Certificates

Microsoft Passport
SAPSSO2
SAPLoginForm
SAPSSO1

firewall
Same as X.509 certificates
With Enterprise Portal
User name and password authentication
in an ASP .NET web form can be used
for all web scenarios
With older ITS scenarios

Further Information

X.509 Certificates

Microsoft .Net Passport

Kerberos and NTLM

Destination Class

SAPLogonDestination Class

SAPLoginProvider Class

SAP Login Form

SAPIDocSender Class
The SAPIDocSender class is a TRFC client used to submit SAP intermediate
documents to an SAP system for later processing. An example of an IDOC might be a
customer sales order or a material master record. IDOC records are typically used in EDI
scenarios. See the IdocSubmit sample for example code.

[C#]
public class SAPIDocSender : SAP.Connector.SAPClient

Public Constructors
public SAPIDocSender
(System.String
ConnectionString)
public SAPIDocSender ( )

Public Methods

Creates a new instance of

SAPIDocSender with a connection
string
Creates a new instance of
SAPIDocSender and set the connection
in a later step

public void SubmitIDoc

(System.String iDocPath ,
SAP.Connector.RfcTID tid)
public void SubmitIDoc
(System.IO.TextReader iDoc ,
SAP.Connector.RfcTID tid)

Submits an IDOC from an IDOC

stored as a file on the operating
system
Submits an IDOC from an IDOC as a
textreader object. Perhaps from
another application or built
dynamically
public void
Offers more granular control over the
TRfcIDocInBoundAsynchronous
different pieces of the IDOC (EDIDC
(SAP.Connector.EDI_DC40_BLOCKList and EDIDD) for example when you
iDocControlRec40 ,
are creating an IDOC manually or
SAP.Connector.EDI_DD40_BLOCKList
changing something in the header but
iDocDataRec40 ,
otherwise want to keep the body of
SAP.Connector.RfcTID tid)
the IDOC

Remarks
An IDOC will consist of three segments, the header (EDIDC), the body (EDIDD) and the
status (EDIDS). The EDIDC record can contain two formats (EDIDC or EDIDC40)
depending on the version of the IDOC. The body of the IDOC will differ depending on
what IDOC type and release it is. The status record is only maintained inside of the SAP
system and is not relevant to submit an IDOC.

Example

private SAP.Connector.SAPIDocSender sapiDocSender1;

private void SubmitIdoc()
{
// submit to SAP via trfc
RfcTID myTid = RfcTID.NewTID();
try
{
sapiDocSender1.ConnectionString = destination1.ConnectionString;
sapiDocSender1.SubmitIDoc(@C:\temp\idoc.txt,myTid);
sapiDocSender1.ConfirmTID(myTid);
MessageBox.Show("Idoc was submitted to SAP, look at transaction WE02 in
SAP","idoc status");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show("Problem submitting IDOC to SAP\n" +
ex.ToString());
}
} //submitIdoc()

Asynchronous Methods
With SAP .NET Connector, we can take advantage of many features of the CLR
including support for easy asynchronous programming. This powerful feature is not
available on any other SAP connector at this time. In all other connectors, BAPI and RFC
calls are synchronous calls.
When we use asynchronous methods from the SAP .NET Connector wizard, the proxy
contains two additional methods Begin<RFC name> and End<RFC Name>.
When Begin<RFC name> is called, CLR queues the request and returns immediately
to the caller. The target method will be on thread from the thread pool. The original
thread is free to continue executing in parallel to the target method. If a callback has been
specified on the Begin<RFC name>, it will be called when the target method returns.
In the callback, the End<RFC name> method is used to obtain the return value and the
in/outparameters. If the callback was not specified on the Begin<RFC name>, then
End<RFC name> can be used on the original thread that submitted a request.
When working with asynchronous calls, we need three additional variables compared to a
synchronous RFC call
When working with asynchronous calls, we need three additional variables compared to a
synchronous RFC call.

Variable
System.IAsyncResult asyncresult

System.AsyncCallback callback

What It Does
A return of IAsyncResult is required to
implement Asynchronous Method
signatures. The result of the call
(IAsyncResult) is returned from the
begin operations, and can be used to obtain
status on whether the asynchronous begin
operations has completed. The result object
is passed to the end operation, which
returns the final return value of the call.
A delegate class that is called when the
operation has completed. If null, no
delegate is called. We can either use a
callback delegate as shown below or pass
the AsyncCallback delegate as null. In
that case, no delegate will be called and we
have to check the status ourselves. To

object asyncState

check the status we can check the

AsyncResult.IsCompleted property
or if we are using a callback, this delegate
will be called automatically when the
method has completed.
Extra information supplied by the caller

Example
The following Winform sample shows the code for asynchronous method call (SAPAsyncSearch
method).

private void SAPAsyncSearch()

/* this routine calls RFC_CUSTOMER_GET using .NET asynchronous
* method invocation. When the function is completed asynchronously
in SAP,
* the function "myfunction" is called. */
SAPConnect();
myAsyncState = null;
myCallback = new System.AsyncCallback(myFunction);
asyncresult = null;
try
{
asyncresult = proxy.BeginRfc_Customer_Get(g_custNo, g_custName, ref
brfcknA1Table1, myCallback, myAsyncState);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show("Error returned in Async search\n" + ex.ToString(),
"SAP Async Search problem");
return;
}
}

TRFC Client Programming

When calling an RFC as a transactional RFC (TRFC) there are no return values. If the
submission for some reason does not work, an exception will be raised. The TRFC
method requires an additional RfcTID parameter. You should let the SAP system know
to confirm this TID if the submission is successful. TRFC submissions are used when you
require guaranteed one time only execution of a function but do not require any return
information beyond that the call was accepted by SAP. Therefore TRFC is best for
submitting data but not for retrieving data.

Example
The Winform SAPUpdateTRFC method gives an example of TRFC coding.
private bool SAPUpdateTRFC()
{
/* this routine updates the customer list to SAP using (T)RFC */
RfcTID myTid = SAP.Connector.RfcTID.NewTID();
Debug.WriteLine("RFC tid is " + myTid.ToString());
try
{
proxy.TRfcRfc_Customer_Update(ref brfcknA1Table1, myTid);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Debug.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
return false;
}
// if you don't confirm the TID, the update is rolled back in SAP.
proxy.ConfirmTID(myTid);
return true;
} //SAPUpdateTRFC

QRFC Client Programming

QRFC is a type of TRFC programming that guarantees the function will be run in a
certain order (if and when it is selected to run by the system administrator).

Example
private bool SAPUpdateQRFC()
{
/* this routine updates the customer list using (Q)RFC
* use SMQ2 to see results in SAP */
RfcQueueItem mySAPQueue = new RfcQueueItem("DNCQueue", g_queIndex,
RfcTID.NewTID());
try
{
proxy.QRfcRfc_Customer_Update(ref brfcknA1Table1, mySAPQueue);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Debug.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
return false;

}
g_queIndex ++; //increment the queue index for next time
return true;
} //SAPUpdateQRFC

Connection Classes

SAPConnection Class

SAPConnectionPool Class

SAPConnection Class
TheSAPConnection class is used to manage the connection to the SAP system. Some
basis information about the system you are connected to can also be determined from this
class.

[C#]
public class SAPConnection : System.Object

Public Constructors
public SAPConnection
(SAP.Connector.Destination
dest)
public SAPConnection
(System.String connString)

Public Methods
Accept
Close
Dispose
Finalize
Open

Creates an SAP connection from a

destination class
Creates an instance of the SAP connection
from a connection string. For example from
the SAPlogonDestination or a
manually created connection string

The Close method should be called after

the RFC is completed
The Open method must be called before
the RFC can be executed

Public Properties
ApplicationServer
CodePageEncoding
ConnectionString
KernelRelease
OwnCodePage
PartnerCodePage
SystemID
SystemNumber
SystemRelease

Reads only property showing basis

information about the SAP system
Reads only property showing basis
information about the SAP system
Reads only property showing basis
information about the SAP system
Reads only property showing basis
information about the SAP system
Reads only property showing basis
information about the SAP system
Reads only property showing basis
information about the SAP system
Reads only property showing basis
information about the SAP system
Reads only property showing basis
information about the SAP system
Reads only property showing basis
information about the SAP system

SAPConnectionPool Class
Connection pooling is a more sophisticated way of managing SAP Connections. In a twotier deployment we do not recommend to use this as each client has its own connection.
In an n-tier deployment where multiple users are using the same connection attributes
(for example a web site that is accessed by many users) it may make sense to use
connection pooling. Alternatively, consider using the SAPLogin Provider and
SAPLogin Form.

[C#]
public class SAPConnectionPool : System.Object

Public Constructor
public SAPConnectionPool ( )

Public Methods
public static
SAP.Connector.SAPConnection
GetConnection (System.String

Static object of the SAP .Connector

Gets a connection from the connection pool

by passing in the connection string

connectionString)
public static void
ReturnConnection
(SAP.Connector.SAPConnection
connection)

Returns the connection to the connection

pool

Example
The sample application DNCWebServiceSample uses connection pooling.
using(proxy.Connection =
SAP.Connector.SAPConnectionPool.GetConnection(this.destination1.Connect
ionString))

Data Binding with SAPClient

SAPTables implement the proper .NET interfaces that allow them to be data-bound to
any .NET data aware control such as a data grid, combo-box or list control. To databind
to a .NET control set the datasource property to the name of the SAP table.

dataGrid1.DataSource = BRFCKNA1Table1;

In Windows forms there is no need to call this.Databind() but you must do so in

ASP .NET datagrid to update the datagrid.

Coding Recommendations for SAPTable Parameters in Your Code

Pass OUTPUT Tables uninitialized

If you do not need all TABLE parameters you can remove them from the RFC signature in
the Visual Studio .NET designer. This only works when the table is also OPTIONAL.
For example, to call RFC_CUSTOMER_GET which has an OUTPUTtable of customer records,
the table variable tblCust is passed unitialized.

SAPProxy1 proxy = new SAPProxy1();

// create an SAP table but as it's an in parameter don't need to instantiate it for the rfc call
BRFCKNA1Table tblCust = new BRFCKNA1Table();

using(proxy.Connection =
SAP.Connector.SAPConnectionPool.GetConnection(this.destination1.ConnectionString))
{
// call the RFC with the signature defined by SAP
proxy.Rfc_Customer_Get(CustNo, CustName, ref tblCust);
}

1.

Fill INPUT TABLES With Values

A TABLE is always passed by REF and is therefore both an IN and OUT parameter. Since
a table is a collection you can fill it in a loop for example:

for(int i = 0; i < number_of_lines; i++)

{
IDRANGE mySelection = new IDRANGE();
IDRANGE.Sign = "I"
IDRANGE.Option = "BT"
IDRANGE.Low= "0000001000"
IDRANGETable.Add(mySelection);
}

Alternatively you can create an additional constructor with the parameters you want to fill.
for(int i = 0; i < number_of_lines; i++)
{
IDRANGETable.Add(new IDRANGE(I,BT,0000001000));
}

For TABLES that are input parameters you have to populate the values yourself before
calling the SAP RFC. For TABLES that are output parameters the SAP marshalling code
populates the values for you automatically.
2.

Clearing Values From the Table

When an exception is returned, the TABLE object is not reinitialized. If you had made a
previously successful method call and the TABLE contains values, these will not be
reinitialized after an exception has occurred. In this case you can keep the last (good)
results. You can use the tables clear() method to initialize the values yourself.
3.

Getting Runtime Information About the RFC TABLES

SAP Tables are built on the .NET CollectionBase class. Therefore they support
indexers and other array operations to allow for easy management of the members in the
array.
Field metadata information can be determined from the structure using the static method:
GetSAPFieldsSchema(System.Type t).
The type parameter is the data type of SAPStructure (in this case the type of
BAPICUSTOMER_IDRANGE).

SAPField[ ] myFields =
BAPICUSTOMER_IDRANGE.GetFieldsSchema(typeof(BAPICUSTOMER_IDRANGE));

You can get metadata information about each field either with a foreach statement or
using the length property of the SAPField array.

Data Type Reference

In this section you will find detailed information on:

RFC to .Net Data Type Mapping

SAPTable Class

SAPStructure Class

RFC Parameter Mapping to C#

RFC To .NET Data Type Mapping

Simple Data Types

The following data types are mapped directly to .NET base data types in the main C#
proxy class.

ABAP Type

.NET CLS

C (String)
I (integer)
F (Float)
D (Date)

String
Int32
Double
String

T (Time)
P (BCD Packed, Currency, Decimal, Qty)
N (Numc)
X (Binary and Raw)
RFC String
XString

String
Decimal
String
Byte [ ]
String
String

Comments on Simple Data Types

ABAP type N (numeric) data is mapped to a STRING data type in the C# proxy. It contains
numeric data such as invoice numbers. Some type N fields like invoice number or
customer number require you to enter the string with leading zeroes. If in your application
the customer number field is numeric, be sure to convert your entry back to the
appropriately formatted string before using it in the proxy.

Date / Time fields are mapped to .NET STRING data types in the C# proxy. The format of
the string is the same as the SAP internal storage of the date and time. Specifically for date
this is YYYYMMDD and for time it is HHMMSS. The SAP .NET connector provides functions
specifically to help you convert from SAP Date/Time fields stored as string to a .NET date
or time field.

Complex Data Types

SAP Data Type

.NET Data Type

Structure

C# class derived from SAPStructure

Table (ITAB)

C# class derived from SAPTable

(New) Hierarchical Table

(type II ITAB)

Not supported in this version

SAPTable Class
The SAPTable class represents a very common data type in the SAP system and is
frequently used to hold the results of the RFC call. It is occasionally used to pass in
selection variables to the RFC call. A SAPTable is made of SAPStructures of a
single type. For example a SAPTable called RFCFuncTable would be made up of
RFCFunc structures (rows).

[C#]
public class SAPTable : System.Collections.CollectionBase

Public Constructors
protected SAPTable ( )

Public Methods
Add (SAPStructure)
Contains(SAPStructure)
CopyTo(SAPStructure[ ],
int)
CreateNewRow()
GetElementType()
IndexOf(SAPStructure)
Insert(int,
SAPStructure)
Remove(SAPStructure)
SortBy(string fieldname,
string direction)
ToADODataTable
FromADODataTable

Public Properties
This[int]

Creates a new instance of SAP Table. You should

use the SAP table control to reference SAP Tables
in your code. The SAP table will be created
automatically by the connector.

Adds a new row (SAPStructure) to the table

Returns true if the SAPTable contains that row
Copies into a SAPStructure array up to the given
index
Creates a new blank row in the SAPTable
Returns the type of the particular
SAPStructure (for example, RFCFunc or
other SAP structure)
Returns the current index ID
Inserts at the index given a SAP structure
Removes the SAP structure specified from the
table
The SAP table now supports sorting, for example
in a datagrid.
Creates a new ADO .NET DataTable from the
SAP Table.
Creates the SAP Table from an ADO .NET DataTable.
Note that the schemas must be IDENTICAL.

An indexer to get access to the current SAP

structure

Example
See the Winform sample for examples of using the SAPTable class.

SAPStructure Class
The SAPStructure class represents a very common data type in the SAP system and
is frequently used to hold the results of the RFC call as part of a SAPTableor as a BAPI
error return. A structure is made up of several simple data types and can be thought of as
a row of a table. The SAPStructure is generated for you by the SAP .NET Connector
and should not be modified outside of the SAPConnectorGenerator tool.

[C#]
public class SAPStructure : System.Object

Public Constructors
protected SAPStructure ( )

The SAPstructure is the base class for

a specific type of SAP Structure. For
example a structure containing customer
address data (customer, city, state, phone,
etc.)

Example
See the Winform sample application for example code dealing with SAP Structures.

RFC Parameter Mapping to C#

RFC parameters fall into these categories:

IMPORT
Always pass values from the calling program to the function module unless this is marked
as an optional parameter.

CHANGING
These are passed to the function module from the calling program and are then passed
back to the program.

EXPORT

These are passed from the function module to the calling program unless marked as an
optional parameter.

TABLES
These represent an array of SAP structure instances. They can be IN or OUT parameters.

IMPORT, EXPORT, CHANGING

These parameter types cannot be tables. They can be structures or other simple data
types.

OPTIONAL
Parameters can also be defined as optional.

A simple mapping of RFC parameter types to C# parameter types follows:

RFC Parameter Type

C# Parameter Type

IMPORT
EXPORT
CHANGING
TABLES

IN

OUT
REF (In/Out)
REF (In/Out)

Samples
Several samples are provided with the connector to help you understand how the proxies
work and to illustrate the topics discussed in this reference. They are provided without
warranty or support.
The samples are designed to work against the Mini SAP Web Application Server 6.20 or
any system supporting RFC_CUSTOMER_GET and RFC_CUSTOMER_UPDATE. For the
IDOC samples you need a system than can accept IDOCs. An Exchange_rate01
IDOC type is provided as a sample that should work with the mini SAP system. All
samples are written in Microsoft C#, except for the Visual Basic windows form sample.

Before using the samples, be sure to verify the login parameters in the SAP destination
component. The samples are located in the folder Samples. To launch the samples in
Visual Studio .NET double-click on Samples.sln.

Further Information
Further information on the different programming samples you will find here:

Windows Form Sample

Webform Samples

Simple RFC Server

IDoc Receiver as a Windows Service

IDoc Submitter Windows Form

Simple RFC Web Service

Simple Visual Basic Windows Form

X.509 Certificate Sample

Windows Form Sample

This sample is a Windows form and illustrates the following concepts:

SAPClient programming

Dealing with exceptions

Asynchronous method calls

Debugging and tracing

Working with SAP Tables (sorting, converting to ADO .NET, data binding)

Synchronous, transactional and Queued RFC updates

The Windows form sample uses the RFC_CUSTOMER_GET function module. It accepts
as input a customer name string (for example, A*) and returns in a datagrid all customers
that match that selection.
To use the sample, you have to enter an SAP customer search selection criteria. All
functions are available from the samples application menu.
To use the option Save Results to SQL Server you must set the SQL logon parameters in
the component SqlConnection1 on form1. To do this, click on the property

ConnectionString and use the drop down box. Let the Wizard construct the
connection string for you. You also need a table named cust in the Northwind database,
and a stored procedure called Insert_cust. The SQL script to create both of these
objects is located in the subfolder SQL.

Webform Samples
The web form sample is the simple ASP .NET web form shown in the guide and
illustrates the following:

SAPClient programming

Using ASP .NET with the connector

Databinding in web form

Use of the SAPlogin form

Before using this sample, you have to share the folder DNCWebApp.

Simple RFC Server

This console application is a simple RFC server implementing the SAP function
RFC_CUSTOMER_GET. Our .NET implementation, returns two customers back to the
SAP system and prints out the parameters sent to us by the SAP call.
This sample illustrates:

Use of a Windows Console application with the connector

A simple RFC Server

Calling a .NET server from SAP

Command line parameters for connecting to SAP gateway

Using the RFC Server host with the same connection information for each server

This sample uses command line arguments to connect to the SAP gateway (for example,
aMYPROGID gLOCALHOST xSAPGW00), where a is the program ID used in
your TCP/IP destination, -g is the gateway host and x is the gateway service.
You can set the command line arguments in the Visual Studio .NET debugger by rightclicking on the project RFCServerConsole and selecting Properties
Configuration properties Debugging Command Line Arguments.

Before calling this RFC server in the SAP system, you must have setup a TCP/IP
destination in your SAP system (type registration). You can call this sample RFC server
by running RFC_CUSTOMER_GET in single test from the RFC function builder
(transaction SE37) inside of the SAP system, with the destination of your TCP/IP
destination. Alternatively, you can write an Abap/4 program as described in Calling RFC
.Net Server from SAP Programs.
An example ABAP/4 program is provided in this samples ABAP directory.

Calling RFC .NET Server from SAP Programs

To execute our .NET server stub application from the SAP system we need to execute the
ABAP command Call function X Destination Y. This report calls our proxy
and writes the results to screen. Alternatively, you can use the SAP function modules
single test capability with the TRFC destination for your .NET server stub.
To create a TRFC destination for the SAP .NET server stub create a destination of type T
(TRFC) in transaction code SM59. The program ID in your server stub is case sensitive.

Example
*&--------------------------------------------------------------------*& Report ZRFCSERVERCALL
*&
**&-------------------------------------------------------------------*& This program can be used with the RFCServerConsole sample
*& Source is available in %\RFCServerConsole\ABAPProgram
*&--------------------------------------------------------------------REPORT ZRFCSERVERCALL
.
DATA: TBLCUST like BRFCKNA1 occurs 0 with header line.
PARAMETERS: P_CUSTNO like KNA1-KUNNR, P_CUSTNA like KNA1-NAME1,
P_DEST(15) TYPE C.
CALL FUNCTION 'RFC_CUSTOMER_GET' DESTINATION P_DEST
EXPORTING
KUNNR
= P_CUSTNO
NAME1
= P_CUSTNA
TABLES
CUSTOMER_T
= TBLCUST
EXCEPTIONS
NOTHING_SPECIFIED = 1
NO_RECORD_FOUND
= 2
OTHERS
= 3.
CASE SY-SUBRC.

WHEN 0.
LOOP AT TBLCUST.
WRITE: / SY-TABIX, TBLCUST-KUNNR, TBLCUST-NAME1, TBLCUST-ORT01.
ENDLOOP.
WHEN 1.
WRITE: / 'You need to specify a value ', SY-MSGV1.
WHEN 2.
WRITE: / '.NET component didnt find anything ', SY-MSGV1.
WHEN 3.
WRITE: / 'Some other error occurred ', SY-MSGV1.
WHEN OTHERS.
WRITE: / 'Something is wrong if we get here'.
ENDCASE.

The entry point in the C# method is the method with the function module name
being called from the SAP system (for example, RFC_CUSTOMER_GET). In Microsoft
Visual Studio, you can set a breakpoint here and examine the input values from the
SAP system. This provides a similar idea to the ABAP_DEBUG functionality that is
provided in the client proxy.

IDoc Receiver as a Windows Service

The windows service sample takes the SAP IDOC Receiver component and deploys it as
a Windows Service. You can see:

How RFC servers and Windows Services are similar

How to install a Windows Service that is also an SAP RFC .NET server

Basic functions of the IDOC Receiver

How to manage the connection parameters in the Windows Service properties

Before running this sample, you must install it using the Visual Studio utility
Installutil.exe.
Using the Visual Studio .NET command line, navigate to the folder containing
Installutil IdocReceiverService.exe (for example,
SAP .NET Connector\Samples\IdocReceiverService\bin\Debug).
Run the command Installutil IdocReceiverService.exe. This should
install the Windows Service. You can verify this by looking at the Services manager in
the Administrative Tools. The Service name is .Net connector Idoc Service.

To uninstall the Windows service run the command

Installutil -u IdocReceiverService.exe.

You set the SAP connection string in this services Start parametersproperty. For
example if your TCP/IP destination used the program ID of myProgIDand your SAP
system ran on your local machine, then the start parameters would be:
-amyProgID glocalhost xSAPGW00.
Messages are logged to the Windows Application Event Viewer. When received, SAP
IDOCs are appended to the following file: C:\temp\idoc.txt.
To enable your system to send IDOCS you must have a TCP/IP destination (type
registration), a configured partner profile (WE20) and a configured TRFC Port (WE21).
The Mini SAP Web Application Server 6.20 supports the IDOC type
EXCHANGE_RATE01. For convenience, you can find a sample IDOC file in the IDOC
submitter samples SampleIdoc folder. If you have no IDOCs on your system you can
submit this IDOC using the IdocSubmit sample application. Then use the IDOC test
utility (WE19), change the IDOC header and submit it as an outbound IDOC to the TRFC
Port representing this IdocReceiver sample.

IDoc Submitter Windows Form

This application is a Windows form that loads an IDOC file and displays it on the form.
You can then submit the IDOC using the .NET connectors IdocSendercomponent.
For convenience, an EXCHANGE_RATE01 IDOC (ANSI encoded) file is provided in the
folder SampleIdoc. This sample illustrates the following:

Sending an IDOC file to SAP system

Creating and confirming SAP Transaction ID (TID)

Working with a stream reader to open IDOC file and display on Windows form.

Simple RFC Web Service

This application is an ASP .NET web service interface to RFC_CUSTOMER_GET. The
web method signature can be the same method signature as the SAP RFC method or it
can be a simplified method signature. However, since SAP Tables are complex data types
you must write a client to execute the web method. In other words, you cannot run the
web service using the default Web Services test harness provided by Visual Studio .NET.
To allow you to run the web service with the least effort, the method signature was
slightly modified.

Before running this application you have to share the folder DNCWebServiceSample.
This sample illustrates a simple web service wrapper for RFC_CUSTOMER_GET.

Simple Visual Basic Windows Form

The VBWinform project shows how to use a compiled SAP Proxy which was generated
in C# within your Visual Basic .NET project. To use Visual Basic or other CLR language
with the connector you simply have to set a reference to an existing or a new proxy. The
proxy could be in the global assembly cache (recommended) or within the same solution
as your VB.NET project (shown in this sample).

X.509 Certificate Sample

Before using this sample, share the folder
\SAP .NET Connector\Samples\DNCX509Cert\. This sample shows how to
use X.509 certificates with the connector.

Note that you must run this sample in HTTPS to get the X.509 certificate from IIS.