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SAP node

The SAP Data Source Node enables you to integrate data from your SAP systems (e.g., S/4HANA, ECC, or other SAP applications exposing OData or REST APIs) into your data analysis workflows. This node facilitates direct extraction of structured data, making it available for further processing, transformation, and visualization within your data engine.

It's designed for users who need to pull operational or master data directly from SAP for reporting, analytics, or integration with non-SAP systems.

![SAP Node Screenshot Placeholder - Replace with actual image of your node in the flow] Screenshot: An example of the SAP Data Source Node connected in a data flow.

Use Cases​

Leveraging the SAP Data Source Node can support numerous business intelligence and operational analysis scenarios:

  • Financial Reporting: Extract GL accounts, cost center data, or financial documents for custom financial reports and dashboards.
  • Sales Performance Analysis: Pull sales orders, customer data, and pricing information to analyze sales trends, customer behavior, and regional performance.
  • Inventory and Logistics: Fetch material master data, stock levels, purchase orders, or delivery information for supply chain optimization and inventory insights.
  • HR Analytics: Extract employee data, organizational structures, or payroll information (if exposed via API) for HR reporting.
  • Master Data Synchronization: Use extracted data to compare and synchronize with other systems or data lakes.
  • Business Partner Analysis: Retrieve business partner details (customers, vendors) for CRM or vendor management initiatives.

How to Use the SAP Data Source Node​

To utilize the SAP Data Source Node, you'll need the SAP system's URL, the client number, an API path, and valid SAP credentials.

1. Authenticate with SAP​

  1. Drag and drop the SAP Data Source Node onto your canvas.
  2. SAP Username: Enter your SAP username.
  3. SAP Password: Enter your SAP password.
  4. Click "Authenticate with SAP".
    • Important: This step performs a simulated authentication within the application. For an actual data fetch, these credentials will be used for Basic Authentication against your SAP system.

2. Configure SAP Connection Details​

Once authenticated, you will see the configuration fields:

  1. SAP System URL: Enter the base URL of your SAP system. This is typically the address of your SAP Fiori launchpad or the base URL for your OData services.

    • Example: https://my-sap-system.com:443

  2. SAP Client: Provide the SAP client number from which you want to extract data.

    • Example: 100

  3. SAP API Path: Enter the specific OData or REST API path for the data you wish to retrieve. You can type directly or select from common suggestions.

    • Examples:
      • /sap/opu/odata/sap/API_BUSINESS_PARTNER/A_BusinessPartner (for Business Partners, often OData V4)
      • /sap/opu/odata/sap/SD_SALES_ORDER_SRV/SalesOrderCollection (for Sales Orders, often OData V2)
      • /sap/opu/odata/iwfnd/catalogservice/ (to discover available OData services)

  4. OData Query (Optional): Add standard OData query parameters to filter, select, expand, or paginate your data.

    • Examples:
      • $filter=BusinessPartnerCategory eq '1'&$top=10: Get the first 10 business partners with category '1'.
      • $select=SalesOrder,NetAmount,Currency: Select specific fields for sales orders.
      • $expand=to_Items: Include related items for a main entity.
    • Do not include ? if the SAP Client field is used, as the client parameter will already add it. Otherwise, include it.

  5. Click "Execute SAP Query".

The node will then attempt to connect and fetch the data. If successful, the output handle will be populated with the JSON data, and the data schema (columns) will be inferred and available for downstream nodes. Progress and error messages will be displayed in the system log.

Important Considerations​

Connecting directly to an SAP system from a web browser application comes with significant considerations:

  • CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing): This is the most common issue. Your SAP system's web dispatcher or ABAP Front-end Server must be configured to allow cross-origin requests from the domain where your data engine application is hosted. Without proper CORS configuration, your browser will block the request for security reasons.
  • Basic Authentication: This node uses Basic Authentication, which sends your username and password with each request (though encoded, not encrypted).
    • For production environments, Basic Authentication is generally not recommended for direct browser-to-SAP communication. Consider using a secure backend proxy to handle authentication (e.g., OAuth, SAML, certificate-based authentication) and forward requests to SAP. This also helps centralize credentials and manage network access.
  • Network Accessibility: Ensure your SAP system is network accessible from the client (your browser) where this application is running. If your SAP system is behind a corporate firewall, you will need a VPN or a proxy for access.
  • SAP API Gateway/Service Catalog: For discovering available OData services and their documentation, you might need access to your SAP Gateway system's service catalog (e.g., /sap/opu/odata/iwfnd/catalogservice/).
  • Data Volume and Pagination: Be aware of potential data volumes. For large datasets, use OData query parameters like $top, $skip, or other pagination mechanisms provided by your specific SAP OData service to retrieve data in chunks.
  • Permissions: Ensure the SAP user provided has the necessary authorizations and roles to access the specific OData/REST service and the data entities within it.