Create a View in SQL Server

For data to be extracted from a component and posted to SAP via Integrate, a view must be created in SQL Server. This view serves as the basis of Process Template Loop Field Mappings.

Create a view manually, or use the Auto Generate Database Objects feature to automatically create a view with all fields required to support the template type. Refer to Generate Database Objects Automatically for detailed information.

Once a view and corresponding tables have been added, populate the tables with data to be used in the posting process.

The following tips will assist the manual creation of views that facilitate successful posts:

  • Where possible, use one column to uniquely identify each row in the view. It is best if this column is a Primary Key column on the table and is the first column in the view.
  • Be aware of user settings for data fields. Unlike Direct Loads and BAPIs, the date and quantity field formats for BDCs are based on the settings of the user running them. Dates are typically sent to BDCs in the format MMDDYYYY rather than YYYYMMDD, which is how they are stored in the tables. Convert the dates using a substring statement.
  • Use an exclamation mark instead of NULL to blank out a field. Using NULL in the field name leaves the existing contents in place. 
  • Ensure none of the fields being concatenated to create the unique key are NULL. A concatenated field value of NULL causes the entire field to be set to NULL. Keys should be datatype nvarchar.

If the structure being created is a Detail BDC Structure, a Primary Key field containing a unique key in the view must be included. If creating a Header/Detail/Footer BDC Structure, include the following two fields in the view:

  • Primary Key – Key that defines when the new transaction begins.
  • Secondary Key – Header key concatenated to a detail key that makes the field unique.

An example of a Primary/Secondary Key scenario is Purchase Orders. The Header Key would contain
POType + PONumber + Plant and the Secondary Key would contain POType + PONumber + Plant + POLineItemNumber.