Enhanced SAP Interfaces with Redwood Transports

Redwood Server takes advantage of transport files that are installed on the remote SAP System and that enhance the XBP and Industry Solutions (IS) functionality offered by that system. The transport files contain a number of functions that are stored in the Redwood name-space, thus they do not interfere with other functions in the SAP instance. They are used exclusively by Redwood Server.

The following illustrates the enhancements that transport files offer.

Faster monitoring (all XBP releases)
The standard SAP calls only allow Redwood Server to monitor jobs by doing a full table scan on the SAP job table. In larger systems, this can be quite time consuming. To improve performance, an optimized call is included that allows scanning for jobs changed since the previous scan.
Extra print parameters (2.0)
Older XBP releases did not allow access to all job print parameters. This extends the functionality found in XBP 2.0 with two new print parameters.
Dereleasing jobs (XBP 1.0)
- Older XBP releases did not allow de-releasing jobs. This closely emulates the functionality found in XBP 2.0.
Variant handling (XBP 1.0-2.0)
- Variant handling has been improved with additional calls in the transport files.
Recipients (XBP 1.0 - 2.0)
- It was not possible to get a list of recipients from an SAP System. Calls have been added to retrieve the list of recipients. Recipients retrieval functionality has been added to XBP 3.0.

When should a transport file be loaded

If one or more of the following conditions are applicable:

You want to monitor other SAP jobs in Redwood Server, loading the XBP+ transport file is recommended.
You want to intercept SAP jobs, and are running XBP 2.0, loading the XBP+ transport file is recommended.
You want to intercept SAP jobs, and are running XBP 1.0, loading the XBP+ transport file is required.
You want to start and control mass activity runs on systems prior to ERP 2005S, loading the IS transport file is required.
You want Variant handling, and you are running XBP 2.0 or lower, loading the XBP+ transport file is required.
You want to work with Recipients, and are running XBP 2.0 or lower, loading the XBP+ transport file is required.
You want more flexibility when you switch operation modes

The XBP+ transport files

The XBP+ ("XBP Plus") transport file is delivered by Redwood to supply missing functionality in BC-XBP. Several different versions are available for different SAP releases:

SAP Basis/WAS releaseXBP+	Transport files
4.6c-710	K000245.DEV, R000245.DEV

The IS transport files

For Industry Solutions (IS) Mass activities, there are currently only two sets of transport files for releases 4.6.4 and 4.7.2:

R001520.EC6 and K001520.EC6 - to be used if you are upgrading from a previous version and would like to use mass activities.
R000244.DEV and R000244.DEV - for all other cases.

note

These are the names of the transports at the time of this writing, the names change frequently as the transport files are updated.

note

If you have a higher SAP basis version you must contact Redwood Support Services for more information.

Procedure

Loading the transport files

Copy the K**. file to /usr/sap/trans/cofiles directory.
Copy the R**. file to /usr/sap/trans/data directory.
Open Transaction STMS in SAPGUI.
Choose Import Overview and choose the correct Import queue.
Add the request via menu item Extra > Other Requests > Add.
The name of the request is the extension of the K**. file followed by the name. For example, if the transport to be loaded consists of the files R900099.I46 and K900099.I46, the transport request to specify is I46K900090.

Inspecting XBP Settings

Navigate to "Definitions > Processes".
Choose Submit from the context-menu of the process definition SAP_MaintainXbpOptions.
Select the target SAP System, select Show for Interception action and Parent/Child action.
Choose Submit and inspect the output of the corresponding process.

Enabling XBP 2.0 Features

Navigate to "Definitions > Processes".
Choose Submit from the context-menu of the process definition SAP_MaintainXbpOptions.
Select the target SAP System, select Enable for Interception action and Parent/Child action.
Choose Submit and inspect the output of the corresponding process, to verify if the settings were applied.

Enabling XBP 3.0 Features

Navigate to "Definitions > Processes".
Choose Submit from the context-menu of the process definition SAP_MaintainXbpOptions.
Select the target SAP System, select Enable with XBP 3.0 features for Interception action.
Choose Submit and inspect the output of the corresponding process,to verify if the settings were applied.