PI 7.1 Components and its features

Hi, I would like to give an overview of PI 7.1 Components and its features over XI 2.0/XI 3.0/PI 7.0.

The SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (SAP NetWeaver PI) offering provides open integration technologies that enable process-centric collaboration among SAP and non-SAP business applications, both within and beyond the enterprise. By providing customers with seamless integration at sustainable costs, SAP NetWeaver PI removes the barriers associated with true integration. 
 

                                                                                           Fig1- Components of Process Integration PI 7.1

                                     

The Various Components of Process Integration PI 7.1 are

a) SAP Solution Manager

SAP Solution Manager is used to manage the entire SAP solution landscape which seems to be a challenging task. Companies can minimize risk and increase the reliability of their IT solutions. SAP Solution Manager helps reduce TCO throughout the solution life cycle.

b) Enterprise Service Repository

ESR is a central repository of information that contains all the services. ESR is a container, stores all the underlying Meta data of application objects like service interfaces and descriptions. The global data types, interfaces and business processes maintained in Enterprise service repository which can be reuse where needed

c) Service Registry(SR)

Service Registry is a common pool available in SOA platform where the services of an enterprise are shared. Providers publish the services in the registry and Consumers discovers the services that need to be consumed. Service Registry is the UDDI part of the Enterprise Service Repository (ESR) which enables service consumers to find services.

d) Integration Directory(ID)

The Integration Directory is the central tool for configuring the processing of messages, such as the systems and external communication partners that are involved in the process, the routing rules that govern the message flow between these entities, as well as the settings for communication incl. security. 
e) Integration Server

The Integration Server is the runtime environment to provide secure, standards-based, reliable, and scalable communication between provider and consumer applications

f) Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE)

The Advanced Adapter Engine AAE provides built-in mediation capabilities to reconcile incompatible protocols, structural maps, schema, and data formats between provider and consumer applications which eliminate the need for ABAP Stack during the process.

e)SAP NetWeaver Administrator (SAP NWA)

The SAP NWA safeguard the deployment and operations of the processes in order to ensure runtime governance, security with access control, authentication, auditing, enforcement of compliance to policies, and monitoring of the service execution.

It handles End to End Monitoring, Performance Monitoring, Message Monitoring, Component Monitoring, Alert Monitoring, Adapter Monitoring, Cache Monitoring, Sequence monitoring and Logging and tracing.

f) System Landscape Directory(SLD)

The System Landscape Directory of SAP NetWeaver (SLD) serves as a central information repository for your system landscape. A system landscape consists of a number of hardware and software components that depend on each other with regard to installation, software updates, and demands on interfaces.

Features of XI 3.0 over XI 2.0

1. Business process objects (CCBPM) are introduced to design a stateful cross component business process.
2. Context Objects are introduced to increase readability of routing rules instead of having XPATH expressions.
3. Channel Template is introduced that can be instantiated to Directory
4. WSDL,XSD,DTD can be imported to interface objects in External Definition & XSLT, Java are imported to Mapping Objects in Imported Archives
5. Message exchange between ABAP Proxies is introduced to improve performance by having no services of Integration Server.
6. Mapping Templates are introduced to have reuse of mappings, and to split and merge messages for BPM.
7. Support of packages of a Software component version can be used in versioning all Repository objects.
8. Data type enhancements can be introduced to for customer specific fields.
9. Party is introduced to facilitate B2B functions and Service generalizes business systems, Business service & business process.
10. Receiver determination rules are introduced to determine which receiver a certain message has to be sent to at runtime.
11. Sender agreement and receiver agreement are introduced for inbound and outbound processing.

   
Features of PI 7.0 over XI 3.0

1. Simple Overview of all messages is introduced in Message Monitoring with the help of Message status overview.
2. Mass restart of messages is possible
3. Critical alerts can be raised for all adapters. (e.g. - if JDBC adapter can't connect to database)
4. Adapter Modules are introduced in channel templates
5. Improved usability of adapters is possible by introduction of tabs (Information is classified and distributed across tabs)
6. Archived messages can be displayed in Message Monitoring
7. Maximum concurrency can be defined in receiver adapters (FILE, JDBC).
8. Optimizing thread usage is possible in JMS adapter by reusing the spare threads from SAP J2EE Engine
9. Extended SOAP adapter usage is possible by AXIS Framework and Encryption methods for SOAP 1.2
10. Maximum File size can be determined in File Adapter to limit the memory usage 

Features of PI 7.1 over PI 7.0


a) Repository Objects

1. Integration Repository(IR) is renamed as Enterprise Service Repository (ESR)
2. Message Interface (MI) is renamed as Service Interface (SI).
3. Service Registry (SR) is to support publishing, classifying, discovering services.
4. Service Interfaces (SI) may contain several operations where each operation describes one communications (Synchronous / Asynchronous). The various attributes are Category (I/O/A), Mode(S/A), Interface Pattern & Operation Pattern
5. Interface patterns is a new attribute of a service interface that describes the type of communication that is to be executed on the message (Stateless/ Stateless Xi 3.0 Compatible / TU&C/C and Stateful)
6. Operation Patterns depends on Interface patterns (Normal / Commit/ Rollback / Confirm/Tentative Update/Compensate)
7. SAP Global Data type (GDT) is introduced to have business semantics in order to replace SAP Core DT
8. Interface Mapping is renamed as Operation Mapping.
9. Folders are introduced to organize projects and interfaces which have access authorizations
10. We can use either XML toolkit / JDK 1.5 toolkit for JAVA and XSLT Mapping.

b) Mapping Enhancements

1. We can set Failure Behavior in FIX values and value mapping (Return initial value/Default/Exception)
2. Output of fields and functions can be used for Multiple target fields for Reusable / Better Runtime Performance
3. Tool support to adjust the mappings after the structure changes to avoid structural inconsistencies.
4. Storing intermediate Results in a variable can be possible and can be reused.
5. Complete copy of XML sub trees is possible
6. Parameterized mapping is useful for Channel Lookup and Reuse of multiple mapping in Interface Determinations and to transfer content of Container in UDF.
7. Function Libraries is useful for Reuse of UDF and enhanced portability of UDF.
8. Graphical Support of RFC Lookup and JDBC Lookup is available.
9. Importing SQL Tables Meta Data is possible

c) CCBPM

1. Step Groups- Set of steps that can be reused by embedded in Integration Process across SWCV. Step Parameters can also be used in step groups.
2. Configurable Parameters- Defined in Integration process and the values can be used assigned in ID. Here Agents, Communication channel and simple data type can be used as parameters.
3. User Interaction - User Decision Step in IP with an agent configured in ID is used to get the workflow message to make a decision

d) Configuration Objects

1. Web Service Reliable Messaging WS-RM for Asynchronous messaging is configured in Sender Agreement and Communication Channel for a considerable level of reliability and security.
2. Principal Propagation based on Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML 1.1) can be configured in WS adapter. It means user is securely propagated from a sender system to receiver systems. An authorization check in receiving system based on original user.
3. Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE) is used to increase the performance of message processing by eliminating the need for ABAP stack during the process.
4. Reusable Receiver Rules for logical routing can be used in different Receiver Determination.
5. Cache Notification function is enhanced to analyze the possible error.
6. XML Payload validation is possible in sender and Receiver agreement.
7. Publish the sender agreement in Service Registry (SR) for WS Client and Provider connected to IS.
8. Centralized administration and monitoring is done by SAP NetWeaver Administrator.
9. Message Packing enables processing bulk messages in one service call and reduce context switches