What is RFC in SAP? RFC is used to communicate between SAP systems and SAP to Non-SAP systems using TCP/IP protocol. RFC means that the ABAP programmer does not have to write his or her own communication routines. For an RFC call, the RFC interface Converts all parameter data to the format required in the remote system calls the communication routines that are required to communicate with the remote system handles errors that occur during the communication. RFC s are defined in T-Code SM59. There are 4 types of RFC s 1. Asynchronous RFC 2. Synchronous RFC 3. Transactional RFC 4. Queue RFC 1. Asynchronous RFC: Like a post card. The sending system may or may not receive it. i.e. there is no acknowledgement from the receiving. The transmission is not reliable. 2. Synchronous RFC: It is not like ARFC. It gets an acknowledgement from the target system. (Like a register post). If the receiving system is not available the process goes into RFC/ CPIC/ Sleep mode and waits until it is wakened by the target system. Target system/ Receiving system may be busy i.e. all the resources are used up. This is reliable but time consuming and expensive (Client Copy) the job should get finished. 3. Transactional RFC: TRFC It is an advanced version of ARFC and SRFC. T he request goes to receiving system if it is not handled a Transaction ID is generated by the source system. A program RSARFCSE is scheduled in the background to run for every 60 seconds. Transaction SM58 is used for Transactional RFC. It is used to document all the transactional ID s and ensure that they are received by the recipient system. This is consistence and reliable. 4. Queued RFC: It is an advanced version of TRF and ensures that the transaction is committed based on FIFO/ Queue. It ensures transaction consistency of LUW and reliability of data transmission. SMQ1 to monitor the outbound queues of a sending system refer SCOTT for FAX SMQ2 Provides interface to monitor inbound queues. What to check when RFC Connection fails? Check the following: 1.Port Number
2.Hostname 3.RFC User / Password 4.RFC user authorizations RFC Tables For trfc outbound the tables used are ARFCSSTATE and ARFCSSDATA. For qrfc outbound the tables used are TRFCQOUT ARFCSSTATE and ARFCSSDATA. RFCDES: Destination table for Remote Function Call RFCATTRIB: Administration table for RFC destinations RFCDOC: Description of Possible RFC Connections (->RFCDES) RFCSYSACL: List of permitted trusted systems for the current system RFCCHECK: Table for asynchronous RFC administration RFCTRUST: List of existing trusting systems RFCGO: RFC stub generation - generation of user parameters RFCCMC: CMC data for mail RFCSTXTAB: RFC statistics administration RFC2SOAPS: RFC After SOAP Stubs Directory ARFCSSTATE: Description of ARFC Call Status (Send) ARFCSDATA: ARFC Call Data (Callers) TRFCQOUT: trfc Queue Description (Outbound Queue) ARFCRSTATE: Status of ARFC Calls on Receiver Side What is BAPI? BAPI (Business Application Programming Interface) is a set of interfaces to object-oriented programming methods that enable a programmer to integrate third-party software into the proprietary R/3 product from SAP. For specific business tasks such as uploading transactional data, BAPIs are implemented and stored in the R/3 system as remote function call (RFC) modules. What is the difference between SAP RFC & BAPI? BAPI stands for Business Application Programming Interface. It is a library of functions that are released to the public as an interface into an existing SAP system from an external system. RFC stands for Remote Function Call RFC is the protocol used to call functions in an R/3 system by a caller external to R/3 or to call programs external to R/3 from an R/3 system Difference RFC makes direct system calls BAPI makes indirect call through objects(programs) to Non SAP systems.
How to create an RFC destination? Go to SM59 transaction Click on create icon in the above screen, which leads to below screen Specify RFC Destination name and description and connection Type in the above screen Please note respective connection type to be selected from dropdown based on the connection required. Usually 3 is for ABAP system. (Pls find screenshot below)
In the below screen, please select load balancing radio button based on your system setup (i.e if there is load balancing configured for your system, specify it as yes otherwise no) Please provide Target host details like hostname or ipaddress and system number as below: As shown below, Proceed to Logon & security tab and provide following details : Select trusted system as no, in case you would like to connect to a system with a user id and password. If you don t want to get authenticated by credentials specify the system as trusted system which won t prompt to enter user id/pwd credentials in the below screen. Please provide Language details like EN (for English), Client details, User id and password for the system you would like to create a connection.
Please leave default values in other tabs (i.e MDMP & Unicode, Special options, Administration) and then click on Save to complete the RFC creation. How to Test RFC connection? If it functioning well it should show output similar to below screen :
If this is fine, come back to earlier screen and execute Unicode test by clicking the button. Output similar to below screen, should be displayed if connection is OK Also you need to perform authorization test to make sure user id / password credentials provided are correct. Please navigate as below and perform the test:
Navigate to Utilities -> Test -> Authorisation test and click the same to execute. If the RFC configuration is fine, screen shot similar above will appear. Otherwise an error will be displayed based on which you need to troubleshoot to fix the issue. How to delete an RFC? Go to SM59 and select the RFC that is to be deleted as shown below:
And click on delete icon Click yes to confirm deletion, which deletes the RFC. How to export and import RFC information This can be used to take backup of RFC destinations before system copy and can be restore d once system copy is over. 1. Login to SAP Server with sidadm user 2. create a file with rfcexp.dat with below mentioned data export client =771 file="f:\rfcexp.ctl" Select * from rfcattrib Select * from rfcdes Select * from rfcdoc Select * from RFCSY SACL select * RSECACHK select * RSECACT B 3. Run command R3trans -w rfcexp.log F:\rfcexp.dat
4. Export should be over with RC=0 5. For import create file rfcimp.dat with following content import file="f:\rfcexp.ctl" 6. Run Command R3trans -w rfcimp.log rfcimp.dat RFCs should be imported How to reset status of queue in qrfc? Answer: T-Code : SMQ1 ---> qrfc monitor ---> reactivate queue Additional Info: Check SM13 for "Waiting for Updates" for root cause analysis on queue status Establishing a Connection Between AS ABAP and AS Java The AS ABAP uses the SAML service of the AS Java to perform the SAML protocol execution with the source site. Therefore the AS ABAP needs a connection to an AS Java with a running SAML service to perform SAML authentication. Normally the AS Java used is the one installed on the same instance as the AS ABAP. However, it is possible to use any other AS Java with a proper release version. To check whether the AS Java has a suitable release version: Configure the connection between the AS ABAP and the AS JAVA Activate SAML for a resource on the AS ABAP as described in Activating SAML for Resources in the AS ABAP In the SAML configuration dialog box in transaction SICF, choose Test Connection. If the AS Java does not have a suitable release version, you get a corresponding error message. Prerequisites The SAML service of the AS Java is running. Procedure Configuration on the AS Java 1. In the JCo RFC Provider of the AS Java, check whether there is already a configured connection to the AS ABAP that has a corresponding entry in the maintenance of RFC destinations in the AS ABAP. 2. If there is no such connection yet, create a new connection with the following values: Field Name Value RFC
destination Program ID Gateway host Gateway service Number of processes We recommend that you use: SAML_SERVICE_<SID>where <SID> is the system ID of the AS ABAP to which you are connecting. Enter a host name on which a gateway process of the AS ABAP runs (this can be any application server of the AS ABAP). Enter the port of the gateway or the alias (usuallysapgw<nn> where <nn> is the instance number of the AS ABAP). This number determines how many SAML authentications can be executed in parallel and thus depends on the expected rate of SAML authentications per second. For getting started, use 1. Repository Application server host System number Client Application server of the AS ABAP System number of the AS ABAP Client of the AS ABAP Language User The user must have appropriate authorizations to access the repository. Password In the RFC destination section and the Repository section, configure a connection to the same AS ABAP. 3. Choose Set. The connection should appear in the list on the left side with a running symbol. If not, check the log files to find the cause of the error. Configuration in the AS ABAP 1. Start the Configuration of RFC Connections (transaction SM59). 2. Check whether the RFC destination SAPJ2EE is already pre-configured and points to the local AS Java using connection data that matches the data you have found or entered in the JCo RFC Provider of the AS Java. 3. If this is not the case: a. Create a new RFC destination of type T. b. On the Technical Settings tab page, choose Registered Server Program as Activation Type. c. Enter the same Program ID, Gateway Host, and Gateway Service as you entered in the connection on the AS Java. d. Save your data. e. Choose Connection Test to check whether the connection between the AS ABAP and the AS Java is correctly established. Result You have an RFC destination in the AS ABAP that can be used to communicate with the AS Java. What is the function module to check RFC Connection?
Call the Function module "RFC_PING" and check the SY-SUBRC EQ 0. If you want some sample code, check the where used list for this FM and also the function module "LDAP_CHECKIN_RFCDEST" What is the RFC API? The SAP system provides the RFC API (Remote Function Call Application Programming Interface) that you install on non-sap systems to help you implement RFC partner programs. The RFC API is a set of C- language routines that perform certain communications tasks for you. The RFC API supports the following external systems: Microsoft Windows platforms (Windows 2000 and Windows XP) HP-UIX Sun Solaris Alfa OSF IBM AIX OS 390 OS 400 These platforms use the RFC functionality between an SAP system and a C program. It is of no significance whether the remote function is provided in an SAP system or in a C program. For each supported platform, there is an RFC SDK including the RFC library specific for each of these platforms, SAP RFC header files and some sample RFC programs. The RFC API is always required Both methods for implementing RFC programs use the RFC API: RFC programs generated by the RFC Interface Generator use API routines to call an SAP function module. In addition, the application you write (that calls the RFC stub program) must also use API routines to establish a connection with the SAP system, prepare table parameter structures, and so on. User-created programs (if you write your own) must likewise use API routines. Your program must perform all the same communication tasks as an automatically-generated stub and its caller. For information about the RFC API components you need for your RFC projects, see Contents of the RFC SDK.