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DevelopingaRESTAPIinABAP
January24,2013 | 5,442Views |
RdigerPlantiko
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ABAPDevelopment

abap | api | json | rest | server | xml

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TheICFTree
FirstStrategy:HTTPRequestMethod
SecondStrategy:DataTransferFormat
TheCommonPlotforAllRequests
ASpecificTaskthePUTRequest
Session,IdentityandLocking
UsingABAPsBuiltInJSONConverter
Summary

Intworecentblogs,IdemonstratedhowtowritewebclientsofREST
APIswithXML(demoapplicationhere)orJSON(demoapplication
here)asdatatransferformat.Inthisblog,Iwillfocusontheserverside:
HowtoimplementaRESTAPIasABAPrequesthandler.Youcan
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inspectallthecodeIamdiscussinghereontheMIGROSBSPwebsite:
ItsallinClassZCL_JOB_DATA.

TheICFTree

Requesthandlersareclassesimplementingtheinterface
IF_HTTP_EXTENSION,whichconsistsofonesinglemethod
HANDLE_REQUEST.Arequesthandlerclasscanbeattachedtoapath
intransactionSICF.AnincomingHTTPrequestwillbeanalyzedbythe
InternetCommunicationFramework,tryingtomatchtherequestpath
againsttheSICFpath.Thematchprocessisstoppedassoonasanode
withanattachedrequesthandlerisfound.Ifthisisthecase,aninstance
ofthehandlerclasswillbecreated,andthemethod
HANDLE_REQUESTwillbecalled.

Ourexampleserviceisattachedtothepath/job/attributes.Theclass
ZCL_JOB_DATAisdeclaredtoberesponsibleforallincomingrequests
wheretherequestpathstartswith/job/attributes:

FirstStrategy:HTTPRequestMethod

Theimplementationoftheinterfacemethod
if_http_extension~handle_request()formstheuppermostlevelof
processing.Therefore,theimplementationonlygivestherough

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processingskeleton:Aninstancefordatabaseoperations,aswellasan
instancefortheprocessingoftheRESToperationarecreated,the
requesthandlingisdelegatedtothatinstance,andthereisacatchblock
forerrorprocessingincasethatnoinstancecouldbedeterminedfor
processingtherequest.SuchasituationshouldresultinanHTTP
responsewithstatuscode400BadRequest.

Atthisplace,weareusingtheStrategydesignpattern:Dependingon
theHTTPmethod(GET,PUT,POST,DELETE,OPTIONS),aspecific
instanceiscreated.Eachpossibleinstancecorrespondstoaspecific
strategy.

methodif_http_extension~handle_request.

data:lo_dbtypereftolif_db,
lo_resttypereftolif_rest,
lo_invalid_methodtypereftozcx_error,
lv_reasontypestring.

try.

*Objectfordatabaseoperations
lo_db?=get_db(io_server=server).

*Getthecorrectresthandlerinstance,dependingontheverb(GET,PUT,POST,OPTIONS,DELETE)
lo_rest?=get_rest(io_server=server
io_db=lo_db).

*Dotheoperation
lo_rest>handle_request().

catchzcx_not_foundintolo_invalid_method.

lv_reason=lo_invalid_method>get_text().
server>response>set_status(code=400"BadRequest
reason=lv_reason).

endtry.

endmethod.

Weareusinganamingconventionfortheinstancedetermination:The
classLCL_REST_GETwillbeassociatedwithHTTPverbGET,
LCL_REST_PUTwithPUT,andsoon.Alltheseclassesimplementthe
interfaceLIF_REST.Thisway,wecanusedynamicinstancecreation.

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Alternatively,wecouldhavewrittenalargeCASEstatementwith
manyWHENs.TheadvantageoftheCASEwouldbethatthecreate
objectstatementcouldbestaticallycheckedforsyntacticalcorrectness.I
havechosenthedynamicalvariantsinceIfinditclearerandmore
readablethanabunchofWHENbranches.

ObservethattheHTTPrequestmethod(GET,PUT,POST,)is
availableaspseudoheaderfieldwiththename~request_method:

methodget_rest.
data:lv_classnametypeseoclsname,
lv_methodtypestring,
lv_messagetypetext255.
lv_method=io_server>request>get_header_field('~request_method').
concatenate'LCL_REST_'lv_methodintolv_classname.
try.
createobjecteo_rest
type(lv_classname)
exporting
io_request=io_server>request
io_response=io_server>response
io_db=io_db.
catchcx_sy_create_object_error.
lv_message='Method''&''notsupported'(001).
replace'&'inlv_messagewithlv_method.
_raise_with_textzcx_not_foundlv_message.
endtry.
endmethod.

SecondStrategy:DataTransferFormat

NowwehavedifferenthandlerclassesforthedifferentHTTPrequest
methods.Butforallthesehandlers,therearesomecommontasks.One
ofthesecommontasksis:todeterminethecurrentdatatransferformat,
andtoconverttheinputifavailableintoABAPdata,andviceversa:
toconverttheABAPresultdataintotheoutputwiththedesireddata
transferformat(XMLorJSON).

Now,somerequestmethodslikeGETdonotrequireanyrequest
content.Sotheconversionofincomingdataisperformedbythose
methodhandlersthatknowtheyrequirecontentdata.Ontheother
hand,therewillalwaysbearesultofthefollowingdatatype:

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types:
beginofty_result,
msgtypetypesymsgty,
messagetypeclength255,
jobstypezjobs_tab,
endofty_result.

Theremaynotalwaysbeentriesinthejobtable.Butnotevery
componentofthisstructurewillbeinitial.Ifthereisnojobtable,then
usuallytherewillbeamessage.Sotheconversionoftheresultcan
alwaysbeperformed.

Itmakessensetoworkwithanabstractconverterclass,thespecific
subclassescontainingtheconversionalgorithmspercontenttype.This
isthesecondapplicationoftheStrategypattern.

classlcl_converterdefinitionabstract.
publicsection.
classmethodsget_instance
importing
iv_accepttypestring
returningvalue(eo_instance)typereftolcl_converter.
methodscontent_typeabstract
returningvalue(ev_content_type)typestring.
methodsget_entered_dataabstract
importing
iv_cdatatypestring
exporting
es_jobtypezjobs
raisingzcx_parse_error.
methodsresult_to_cdataabstract
importing
is_resulttypety_result
exporting
ev_cdatatypestring.
endclass."lcl_converterDEFINITION

ThestaticmethodLCL_CONVERTER=>GET_INSTANCE()makesthe
distinction,dependingontheAcceptheaderfieldoftheHTTPrequest:

classlcl_converterimplementation.
methodget_instance.
ifiv_acceptcs'application/json'.
createobjecteo_instancetypelcl_json_converter.
else.
createobjecteo_instancetypelcl_xml_converter.

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endif.
endmethod."get_instance
endclass."lcl_converterIMPLEMENTATION

TheCommonPlotforAllRequests

Wecanextractcommontasksintoasuperclasslcl_restofallspecific
methodhandlers,implementingtheinterfacelif_rest~handle_request()
onceforallsubclasses.

Thecommoncodeinthesuperclasseneedstobemixedwithspecific
code,implementedinthesubclassanddefiningthespecificbehaviourof
thatsubclass.Toachievethis,wecallatthedesiredpointoftimein
lif_rest~handle_request(),anabstractmethoddo(),whichhastobe
redefinedinthesubclasses.Thisdo()methodwillcontainthespecific
action.

Now,thecommonimplementationlif_rest~handle()inthesuperclass
onlydefinestheflowoftheprocessing,leavingtheconcreteactionsto
thesubclassesortodelegateslikego_converter:

1.Executethespecificactionbycallingdo(),
2.Errorhandling,withHTTPerrorcode400BadRequestincase
ofconversionerror(wrongincomingdata),orsettingresponse
dataforanerrormessageincaseofanapplicationerror,
3.Theresultstructureismappedtotheresponsedatastructure
(XMLorJSON),usingthecorrespondingconverterinstance,
4.Finally,theresponsedataisplacedintothebodyoftheHTTP
response,andalsotheappropriateresponsetypeisset:
application/json,ortext/xml.

Thisisthegeneralsketchtheresponseprocessingthatisvalidforall
HTTPrequestmethodsandforallcontenttypes(XMLaswellasJSON).
Thedetailsarecontainedinthecalledmethods.

methodlif_rest~handle_request.

data:lo_extypereftocx_root,
lv_cdatatypestring,
ls_resulttypety_result.

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try.

*Executethespecificoperation
do(importinges_result=ls_result).

catchzcx_parse_errorintolo_ex.
go_response>set_status(code=400"Badrequest
reason=lo_ex>get_text()).
set_response_parameters().
return.
catchzcx_errorintolo_ex.
ls_resultmessage=lo_ex>get_text().
ls_resultmsgtype='E'.

endtry.

*ConvertresultstructureintoJSONorXML,respectively
callmethodgo_converter>result_to_cdata
exporting
is_result=ls_result
importing
ev_cdata=lv_cdata.

*Placetheresultintheresponsebody
callmethodset_response
exporting
iv_content_type=go_converter>content_type()
iv_cdata=lv_cdata.

endmethod."handle_request

ASpecificTaskthePUTRequest

Letslookataspecifictaskforillustration:ThePUTrequestwhich
alwaysisatasktoupdateorinsertjobattributesforagivenIDonthe
database.Asfollowsfromthedesign,thereisanownlocalclass
LCL_REST_PUThandlingPUTrequests.Actually,forthisrequest
handler,therewasonlythedomethoditselftoimplement(whichisthe
absoluteminimumforaspecifictaskclasstoimplement:do()isabstract
intheparentclass.Withoutanimplementation,noinstancescouldbe
built.):

classlcl_rest_putdefinitioninheritingfromlcl_rest.
protectedsection.
methodsdoredefinition.
endclass."lcl_rest_putDEFINITION

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Theimplementationgoesasfollows:

ThejobwiththespecifiedIDisreadfromthedatabase(ifanID
wasspecifiedfornewjobs,thisisnotthecase),
Theentereddatawillbeparsedintoanls_jobstructure,usingthe
appropriatego_converterinstance,
Andfinally,thesave()methodiscalled.Itisimplementedinthe
superclass,sinceotherrequestmethodsuseit,too.

classlcl_rest_putimplementation.
methoddo.
data:ls_jobtypezjobs,
lv_idtypezjobsid.
try.
get_job_by_id(importinges_job=ls_job).
lv_id=ls_jobid.
catchzcx_not_found.
endtry.

clearls_job.
callmethodgo_converter>get_entered_data
exporting
iv_cdata=go_request>get_cdata()
importing
es_job=ls_job.

ifls_jobisnotinitial.
iflv_idisnotinitial.
ls_jobid=lv_id.
endif.
save(changingcs_job=ls_job).
es_resultmessage='Job&hasbeensaved'(002).
replace'&'ines_resultmessagewithls_jobid.
es_resultmsgtype='S'."successmessage
insertls_jobintotablees_resultjobs.
endif.

endmethod."do
endclass."lcl_rest_putIMPLEMENTATION

NotethattheimplementationofthistaskdoesntcareabouttheHTTP
datastructure,theformatactuallyinuse,noraboutthedetailsofthe
transferdataformat.ItsimplyworkswithABAPdatastructuresls_jobfor
theinputandes_resultfortheoutput.

Session,IdentityandLocking

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Inthetestapplications(neitherintheJSONappnorintheXMLapp),
thereisneitherloginnorenqueueofthedata.Sincetheapplicationsare
openforeverybody,thisworksonlysinceIdontreallyoperateona
databasetableZJOBS.Actually,eachclientwhocallstheapplicationis
workingwithhisownsessiondata,sohedoesntconflictwithother
usersoperations,andishimselfnotdisturbedbyotherusers.The
sessiondataarepreservedforhimasserversidecookies,survivingthe
singledialoguestep(forexamplereloadingthepagewouldreproduce
thecurrentstateofthedata).

WhenawebclientiswrittenasBSP,thereisasessionIDavailablein
theattributeruntime>server_id.ThissessionIDidentifiestheparticular
browserinstancethatmadetherequest.Ontheclientside,thissession
IDisalwayscontainedinacookiecalledsapappcontext.Ifan
applicationhasstatewhichhastobepreservedwithasessionID,theID
hastobeextractedfromthesapappcontextcookieandhastobe
passedasaqueryparameterwithalltheAjaxrequests.Hereisthe
functionwhichextractsthesapappcontextfromthecookie:

functionget_appcontext(){
varlAppcontextCookie=document.cookie.match(/sapappcontext=(.*?)(?:;|$)/
returnlAppcontextCookie&&
(lAppcontextCookie.length>=2)&&
unescape(lAppcontextCookie[1])||"";
}

Theappcontextreturnedfromthisfunction,canbepassedasquery
parameterwitheveryAjaxrequest.Ontheserverside,thesessionID
canbeextractedfromthatparameter:

methodget_session_id.

data:lv_app_contexttypestring,
lv_app_context64typestring.

*Readtheformfield,providedbytheAjaxrequest
lv_app_context64=io_server>request>get_form_field('sap_appcontext').

iflv_app_context64isnotinitial.

*Base64decode

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lv_app_context=cl_http_utility=>decode_base64(lv_app_context64).

*ExtracttheSessionID
findregex'sapsessionid=([^;]+)(?:;|$)'
inlv_app_context
submatchesev_session_id.

endif.

ifev_session_idisinitial.
ev_session_id=io_server>session_id.
endif.

endmethod.

Asafallback,inline22,theserver>session_idisused.However,there
willbeanewserver>session_idforeachrequest,whichresultsinfresh
sessiondatawitheachdialoguestep.Ifyoureallyneedsession
management,itisessentialthatthesessionidispassedtotheserver.

Itisagoodideatocombinethesessionidwiththeloginprocedure:If
theuserauthenticates,hisbrowserreceivesasessionidwithalimited
validity.ThatsessionIDhastobepassedwitheachsuccessiveREST
operation.InABAP,itcanbeusedtostoreandretrievesessionspecific
datainthedatabasetableSSCOOKIE,viaitsdatabaseaccessclass
CL_BSP_SERVER_SIDE_COOKIE.

Thiscouplingofasessionidwithloginisroughlythewayhowthe
RESTAPIfortheHPQualityCenterworks.

UsingABAPsBuiltInJSONConverter

WhiletheXMLconverterinstanceisprettystraightforwardtoimplement
callinganXSLTtransformationforXML>ABAP,andanotheronefor
thewaybackitmightcomeasasurprisethattheJSONconversion
canbehandledexactlythesameway:withtransformations.Thisis
possiblesincethecalltransformationstatementsupportstheJSON
format(atleastasperSAP_BASIS702).JSONisautodetectedand
parsedintoanintermediateJSONXMLformat.Thiscanbeprocessed
withanarbitraryXSLTtransformation,andconvertedintootherXML
documentsortoABAPdata.

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Forexample,aPUTrequestfromourtestapplicationmaysendthe
followingJSONdatatotheserver:

{
"ID":"0001",
"REPID":"RSNAST00",
"VARID":"UXPD_KUBE_KV",
"PRIO":"2",
"RESTART":"X",
"DESCR":"Outputallsalesorderconfirmations",
"CONTACT":"RainerZufall"
}

IfastringwiththiscontentispassedasSOURCEXMLtoABAPsCALL
TRANSFORMATIONstatement,theJSONwillbeparsedintoanXML
representationlikethisone(theformatiseasytounderstandIthinka
detailledexplanationisnotnecessaryhere):

<?xmlversion="1.0"encoding="utf8"?>
<object>
<strname="ID">0001</str>
<strname="REPID">RSNAST00</str>
<strname="VARID">UXPD_KUBE_KV</str>
<strname="PRIO">2</str>
<strname="RESTART">X</str>
<strname="DESCR">Outputallsalesorderconfirmations</str>
<strname="CONTACT">RainerZufall</str>
</object>

WhenprocessinganarbitraryXSLTtransformation,withtheCALL
TRANSFORMATIONstatement,andpassingaJSONstringassource,
theXSLTwilloperateonthisinternalJSONXMLrepresentation.Itis
easytotransformsuchaJSONXMLdocumentintoABAPdatatobe
moreprecise:totransformitintoanasXMLrepresentationofABAP
data.Forexample,considerthefollowingXSLTtransformation:

<xsl:transformversion="1.0"xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform
<xsl:templatematch="/">
<asx:abapxmlns:asx="http://www.sap.com/abapxml"version="1.0">
<asx:values>
<JOB>
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<xsl:applytemplates/>
</JOB>
</asx:values>
</asx:abap>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:templatematch="str">
<xsl:elementname="{@name}">
<xsl:valueofselect="."/>
</xsl:element>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:transform>

WhenappliedtotheJSONstring,itwillproducethefollowingresult:

<?xmlversion="1.0"encoding="UTF8"?>
<asx:abapxmlns:asx="http://www.sap.com/abapxml"version="1.0">
<asx:values>
<JOB>
<ID>0001</ID>
<REPID>RSNAST00</REPID>
<VARID>UXPD_KUBE_KV</VARID>
<PRIO>2</PRIO>
<RESTART>X</RESTART>
<CONTACT>RainerZufall</CONTACT>
<DESCR>Outputallsalesorderconfirmations</DESCR>
</JOB>
</asx:values>
</asx:abap>

ThisisavalidABAPdatadescription.Ifthetransformationisnamed
ZJSON2JOB,thedatacansimplybeimportedintoanABAPdata
structurewiththecomponentsID,REPID,andsoonasisthestructure
es_jobinthefollowingimplementationoftheJSONconverter.

classlcl_json_converterimplementation.
methodget_entered_data.

data:lo_extypereftocx_transformation_error.

cleares_job.
checkiv_cdatacnspace.

try.

calltransformationzjson2job
sourcexmliv_cdata
resultjob=es_job.

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catchcx_transformation_errorintolo_ex.
raise_parse_error(lo_ex).

endtry.

endmethod."get_entered_data

ManythingscanbedonewiththeidentitytransformationID,withno
needtodefineanownXSLTtransformationatall.Ifyoucanimposethe
JSONdatastructuretobeusedinthewebapplication,itisofadvantage
tousesuchacanonicalstructure.Forexample,considerwrappingthe
JSONhashwiththejobattributesintoanotherhash,makingitthevalue
forsomesymbolickeynamelikeJOB:

{
"JOB":{
"REPID":"RSNAST00",
"VARID":"UXPD_KUBE_KV",
"PRIO":"2",
"RESTART":"X",
"DESCR":"Outputallsalesorderconfirmations",
"CONTACT":"RainerZufall",
"ID":"0001"
}
}

Thenthedatacouldbeparsedintoastructurewithouttheneedof
developingacustomXSLTtransformation,simpleusingtheidentity:

calltransformationid
sourcexmliv_cdata
resultjob=es_job.

Inthisexample,sinceIhavewrittenthewebclientandtheserverside
processing,Icouldhavechosenthismorecanonicalformat.Butbynot
chosingit,IlearnedhowtoworkwithmoreflexibleJSONdataformats.

ThereareseveralreasonsforworkingwithnoncanonicalJSON
representationsofABAPdata:

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AJSONformatmaybedesignedinfavourofthewebapplication
tooptimizethereadabilityoftheclientJavaScriptcodeworking
onthedata.
TheremaybeclientcomponentsrequiringaparticularJSON
formats.Forexample,thejQuerydatatablerequiresthetable
datatobepassedasanarrayofarrays:
http://www.datatables.net/release
datatables/examples/data_sources/ajax.html
JSONbasedthirdpartyservicesmaybecalledfromtheABAP
side(withaHTTPclientobject)
ABAPdatamaybeprojectedtotheessentialdata,reducingthe
messagesizetothedatawhicharereallyneeded.

Justtoillustrate,letshavealookattheotherconversionthewayout
fromtheservertotheclient.Again,theformatdiffersslightlyfromthe
canonicalJSONformat,whichwouldsimplifytheABAPsidehandling
considerably.Asmentioned,theresultdatastructurecontains

amessage,
amessagetype,
andatableofjobattributes:

types:
beginofty_result,
msgtypetypesymsgty,
messagetypeclength255,
jobstypezjobs_tab,
endofty_result.

ThefollowingformatwouldbeaperfectJSONpendantforthisstructure.
Itcouldbesimplyproducedwiththeidentitytransformation,passingas
sourceresult=ls_result(wherels_resultisastructureoftype
ty_result):

AllthecomponentnamesmatchperfectlywiththeJSONhashkey
names,
AninternaltableismappedasaJSONarrayofhashs,eachhash
representingoneentryofthetable,
AndthereisatoplevelhashwithasymbolicnameRESULTfor
thecompletething:

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{
"RESULT":{
"MSGTYPE":"I",
"MESSAGE":"Test",
"JOBS":[
{
"ID":"0001",
"REPID":"ZZTEST",
"VARID":"VARI1",
"PRIO":"1",
"RESTART":"X",
"CONTACT":"HarryHaller",
"DESCR":"Ahopelessjob"
},
{
"ID":"0002",
"REPID":"ZZTEST2",
"VARID":"VARI2",
"PRIO":"3",
"RESTART":"",
"CONTACT":"PeterPan",
"DESCR":"Ajuvenilejob"
}
]
}
}

ButtheJSONformatthattheRESTAPIsupports,actuallydiffersin
somedetails:

Thejobsaredesignednotasanarray,butasahash,withtheID
ashashkey.
Thereisnoredundanthash,wrappingthewholethingasthe
valueforsomekey.
ThecomponentforMSGTYPEisdifferent.Itissimplycalled
TYPE.

Hereisanexampleinstance:

{
"JOBS":{
"0001":{
"REPID":"RSNAST00",
"VARID":"UXPD_KUBE_KV",
"PRIO":"2",
"RESTART":"X",
"CONTACT":"RainerZufall",
"DESCR":"Outputallsalesorderconfirmations"

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},
"0002":{
"REPID":"RBDAPP01",
"VARID":"UXPD_EDI_GUT02",
"PRIO":"3",
"RESTART":"X",
"CONTACT":"HerbertHurtig",
"DESCR":"CreditMemos"
}
},
"MESSAGE":"",
"TYPE":""
}

Weproceedinasimilarwayasabove,onlyintheotherdirection:based
ontheABAPdatatypety_result,wewriteanXSLTtransformationto
obtaintheinternalJSONXMLformatcorrespondingtothisJSONdata
string.

TheJSONXMLdataformatofthedesiredJSONdatastringlookslike
this:

<?xmlversion="1.0"encoding="utf8"?>
<object>
<objectname="JOBS">
<objectname="0001">
<strname="REPID">RSNAST00</str>
<strname="VARID">UXPD_KUBE_KV</str>
<strname="PRIO">2</str>
<strname="RESTART">X</str>
<strname="CONTACT">RainerZufall</str>
<strname="DESCR">Outputallsalesorderconfirmations</str>
</object>
<objectname="0002">
<strname="REPID">RBDAPP01</str>
<strname="VARID">UXPD_EDI_GUT02</str>
<strname="PRIO">3</str>
<strname="RESTART">X</str>
<strname="CONTACT">HerbertHurtig</str>
<strname="DESCR">CreditMemos</str>
</object>
</object>
<strname="MESSAGE">Test</str>
<strname="TYPE">I</str>
</object>

Sothisisthetargetthathastobeobtainedasresultofthe
transformation.Ontheotherhand,theasXMLformatofthestructure
ty_resultlookslikethis:
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<?xmlversion="1.0"encoding="utf8"?>
<asx:abapxmlns:asx="http://www.sap.com/abapxml"version="1.0">
<asx:values>
<DATA>
<JOBS>
<ZJOBS>
<ID>0001</ID>
<REPID>RSNAST00</REPID>
<VARID>UXPD_KUBE_KV</VARID>
<PRIO>2</PRIO>
<RESTART>X</RESTART>
<CONTACT>RainerZufall</CONTACT>
<DESCR>Outputallsalesorderconfirmations</DESCR>
</ZJOBS>
<ZJOBS>
<ID>0002</ID>
<REPID>RBDAPP01</REPID>
<VARID>UXPD_EDI_GUT02</VARID>
<PRIO>3</PRIO>
<RESTART>X</RESTART>
<CONTACT>HerbertHurtig</CONTACT>
<DESCR>CreditMemos</DESCR>
</ZJOBS>
</JOBS>
<MESSAGE>Test</MESSAGE>
<MSGTYPE>I</MSGTYPE>
</DATA>
</asx:values>
</asx:abap>

AndthisistheXSLTprogramthatwillperformthetransformation:

<xsl:transformxmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"version

<xsl:templatematch="DATA">
<object>
<xsl:applytemplates/>
</object>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:templatematch="JOBS">
<objectname="JOBS">
<xsl:applytemplates/>
</object>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:templatematch="ZJOBS">
<objectname="{./ID}">
<xsl:applytemplatesselect="*[name()!='ID']"/>
</object>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:templatematch="ZJOBS/*|MESSAGE">

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<strname="{name()}">
<xsl:valueofselect="."/>
</str>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:templatematch="MSGTYPE">
<strname="TYPE">
<xsl:valueofselect="."/>
</str>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:transform>

Weseethat,basically,foreachdeviationfromthecanonicalJSON
representationofABAPdata,thereisatemplateintheXSLT
transformationhandlingthisdeviation.Forexample,thedifferentname
TYPEinsteadofMSGTYPEinthetargetishandledwiththetemplate

<xsl:templatematch="MSGTYPE">
<strname="TYPE">
<xsl:valueofselect="."/>
</str>
</xsl:template>

TheIDhastoberearranged:Frombeingasimpleattributeofthe
ZJOBSdatastructure,ithastoberaisedonelevelhighertobecomethe
keyofahash.Alltheotherattributes,exceptID,arecopiedasstring
nodesintotheresult.Forthis,thesetwotemplatesarenecessary:

<xsl:templatematch="ZJOBS">
<objectname="{./ID}">
<xsl:applytemplatesselect="*[name()!='ID']"/>
</object>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:templatematch="ZJOBS/*|MESSAGE">
<strname="{name()}">
<xsl:valueofselect="."/>
</str>
</xsl:template>

Mappingthety_resultdataobjectintoaJSONstringoftheexpected
format,isnowperformedinABAPwiththefollowingcode:
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methodresult_to_cdata.

data:lo_writertypereftocl_sxml_string_writer.

lo_writer=cl_sxml_string_writer=>create(type=if_sxml=>co_xt_json).
calltransformationzjobs2json
sourcedata=is_result
resultxmllo_writer.
ev_cdata=cl_abap_codepage=>convert_from(lo_writer>get_output()).

endmethod."result_to_cdata

Thatsall:ev_cdatawillthencontaintheJSONdatastring,tobeplaced
intheHTTPresponsebody.

Summary

IoutlinedsometypicaltopicsconcerningtheimplementationofREST
APIsinABAP.Itispossibletokeepseparateconcernsinseparate(local
orglobal)classesbyapplyingpatternslikestrategy.Thisishowthe
classZCL_JOB_DATA,servingmydemoRESTAPI,isorganized(the
basicideashavebeendiscussedinthisblog):

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AlertModerator

42Comments
YoumustbeLoggedontocommentorreplytoapost.

CraigStasila

January24,2013at10:14pm

Suchagoodpost!IhadarequirementtoexposeaRESTAPIabout16months
ago.Thiswouldvecomeinveryhelpful.GradeAdevelopment!

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

January25,2013at7:13am

HelloCraig,thankyouforthegoodgrade! Maybetheblog
givesyousomeideasforyournextRESTAPIproject!Cheers,
Rdiger

MUHAMMADAHMADALI

September20,2014at2:29pm

hellosir,
ihavetoconsumejsonformatwebserviceinabap.i
consumedandnowtheformatin
jsonxmlasiattachediusedSMUM_XML_PARSEbut
thecvalueandcnamebotharecommingincvalue.please

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tellmehowtogetthedata

CesarMartin

March5,2013at12:31pm

HiRdiger,
Verynice!!Ihadntreadyourpostuntilnow,whichisanicecoincidencethatwe
havebeenworkinginverysimilardirections.Checkmyposthere:
http://scn.sap.com/community/abap/connectivity/blog/2013/03/05/jsonadapter
forabapfunctionmodules
Looksthatweallhavethesameconcernsthesedays!
Cheers,
Csar.

SreejaReddy

June2,2013at2:04pm

HiRdiger,

ThisinfohelpedmegreatlytounderstandtheconceptofRestAPI.

Theproblemisicreatedaserviceinsicfwithhandlerclasswhichimplements

IF_HTTP_EXTENSION~HANDLE_REQUEST,butwheniexecutethecorrespondinghtml

pageitisnottriggeringthehandlerclass ..
PleaseHelpme
Thanksinadvance,
Sreeja.

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RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

June2,2013at5:51pm

HiSreeja,
PleaseHelpme
Iwouldliketo
wheniexecutethecorrespondinghtmlpageitisnottriggeringthe
handlerclass ..
AssumingyouknowthataRESTserviceisnotanHTMLpagebutonlya
remotelycallablefunctionusingHTTPasprotocolandwithdataas
response(usuallyinXMLorJSONformat),Iunderstandthatyouhavea
webapplicationwhichcallstheRESTAPIimplicitlywithJavaScript.
WhenyouanalyzethepagebehaviourwithatoollikeFirebug:
istherequestreallyissuedbyyourJavaScript?Youseethisin
yourNetworktab
istherearesponsesentfromtheSAPsystem?
IsthisresponseOK(status200),ornotOK(status40xoreven
50x)?Inthenetworktab,thelatterarewritteninredcolor.
IftheresponseisnotOK,analyzetheresponseforfindingout
whatwentwrong.

Thereisavarietyofpossiblereasonsthatarequestmayfail:
WrongURL,SICFservicenotactive,wrongormissingrequestdata
(whenrequired),anABAPshortdumpduringprocessing,
Regards,
Rdiger

JaneMascarenhas

July2,2013at4:27pm

HiRudiger,
IamconnectingtoSAPusingHTTPWebResponseandHTTPWebRequest.We
arefetchingalistofordersfromSAP.Theissueisthatforeachorderthatis
fetchedfromSAP,asessiongetscreatedanddoesnotgetclosed/end.On

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debuggingweusedtheURLusedtofetchthedata(createdinthecode)and
pastedinthebrowserwindow.Itcreatedasession.NowweusedtheURL
(createdinthecode)fortheclosesessionandpastedinthebrowserwindow.It
loggedoffthesession.Ultimatelyfromthebrowserweareabletoopenand
closesessionbutnotfromthecode.Canyoupleasehelp?

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

July4,2013at6:13am

HiJane,ifyouonlywantalistoforders,youdontneedastateful
service.Workingwithastatelessserviceinstead,wouldmeanthat
thesessionwillnotbepreserved.
Regards,Rdiger

YuvarajShanmugam

July9,2013at9:43am

HiRdiger,
Greatpost,IamgladthatIranintoyourblog.
IhavebeenreadingandtryingtoimplementRESTAPIinABAPand
communicatewithitfromanAndroiddevice(Outofcuriositymostly).SofarI
havesucceededdoingitbydefiningaclassimplementing
IF_HTTP_EXTENSION~HANDLE_REQUEST().
YourideaofimplementingStrategypatterntohandlePUT,GETetciscool.I
washappythatIcoulddothesameuntillIranintothishelpdocumentation
RESTInterfacesandClassesConnectivitySAPLibrary.ThenewREST
libraryalreadyhasinterfacestoimplementthePUT,GETrequestsinsteadof
doingitviaourlogicusing~requestmethodheadervalue.
ButIamnotveryclearonhowtoachievethissinceIcouldntgetmyhandson
theRESTlibraryasitsnotyetavailableinthesystemthatIamworkingon.
Itwillbeveryusefulifwegettoseesomedocumentedimplementation.

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CesarMartin

July9,2013at11:33am

HiYuvaraj,
TheABAPRESTLibraryisquitenewanditisverylikelythatyour
systemdoesnthaveityet.Itiscominginthebasissystemwith
release7.40andyoucanonlygetitinpreviousreleasesonlywith
thelatestSAP_BASISpatches.
Itisonlydocumentedfor7.40.Youalreadyhavethecorrectlink.
Youcanalsofindthisbloguseful:
http://scn.sap.com/community/abap/connectivity/blog/2013/05/16/us
ageoftheabaprestlibrarysapbasis740
IthinkthatthisABAPLibraryistheendtoallofourseparateefforts
todoRESTlikeinterfacesforABAP.Probablythisisthewaytogo
fromnowon.
Hopethishelps,
Csar.

YuvarajShanmugam

July9,2013at4:23pm

HICaesar,
Yes,theRESTLibraryisnew.Iwasinterestedtosee
howtheclasseswillwork.Ademoapplicationwould
havegivenagoodperspective.
IwasabletotakealookattheclassesinaSample
System,SignupandgetstartedwiththeSAPGateway
DemoConsumptionSystem,whichismainly
availabletoconnectandconsumepreloaded
webservices.
Theclassesaredefinedwiththenamespace,
/IWCOR/(eg./IWCOR/CL_REST_HTTP_HANDLER).
ButeveninthatsystemIwasnotabletofindany
ServicedefinedusingtheRESTLibrary,alsothereis
nodeveloperaccesshenceitwasnotofmuchuse.But

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itcouldbehelpfulifweneedtoknowhowSAPhas
handledRESTcommunications.

CesarMartin

July9,2013at5:55pm

HiYuvaraj,
Thesystemyoureaccessingiscurrentlya
release7.02.Assuch,theSREST
packageismissing.
Theclassesyourementioningdoindeed
belongtotheRESTLibrary,butitisthe
implementationspecifictobeusedby
Gateway.Thisimplementationisin
principlenotintendedtobeused
generically.SoImafraidyoucannotdo
muchwithit.Youneeda7.03/7.31or7.40
system.
Regards,
Csar.

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

July9,2013at12:25pm

HiYuvaraj,
thanksforpointingmetotheSAPRESTlibrarywhichhasbeen
deliveredwithbasisrelease731andisabsolutelynewtome.
Aswitheveryframework,itmaybethatitdeliverstoomuchfora
concretepurpose.Iwillhavetoexplorethat.
Ifyouhavequestionsaboutmywayofimplementationas
exposedherethengoahead.WhatIcannotdoisanswer
questionsabouttheSAPRESTlibrary,sinceitisnewtome.(But
youdonthaveaconcretequestionaboutit,either.Onlyonthe
availability:whichseemstobeSAP_BASIS731)
Cheers,

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2/8/2017 DevelopingaRESTAPIinABAP|SAPBlogs

Rdiger

CesarMartin

July9,2013at5:43pm

HiRdiger,
Letmeconfirmavailability:theRESTLibraryis
includedin7.40and7.31/7.03.
AspecificreleaseisalsoincludedaspartofSAP
NetWeaverGateway,butintendedtobeusedonlyfor
Gateway,notasageneralsolution.Itisusedinternally
byGateway.
TheRESTLibraryprojectstartedinternallyatSAPat
leastin2010,buthasonlybeenrecentlyreleased.Itis
fullydocumentedonlyfor7.40.
Ihaventhadthetimetoplaywithiteither,butitlooks
promising.Letskeepwatching.
Bestregards,
Csar.

RaghavendraPrabhuMithal

December9,2013at10:40am

HiRdiger,

IhaveasituationwhereIneedtoautmaticallylogintoSAPwhentheuserenteridandpwd

intoa.netapplication.IamplanningtocreatearestservicethroughSICFnodeandredirect

theusertoaSAPwebdynproapplication.

Mybiggestchallengeis

HowcanIauthenticatehim,Iamplanningtomatchtheuseridandpwdof.Netapplication

withthatofSAP,sowhenthecalltherestusingtheURLIdontwantaPopupforuseridand

passwod

IsthereawaytoavoidthepopuprequestinguseridandpasswordsinceIalreadyhavethe

useridandpasswordandcanpassasURLparam.thereisnosecurityconcernsasita

terminalserver.

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Thanksforanysuggestionorhelp.

RaghavendraPrabhu

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

December9,2013at9:21pm

HiRaghavendra,
unfortunately,Idontunderstandyourscenario.
Soyouhavea.Netapplicationandwanttopresenttheuseraweb
dynprofromthere.ButforwhatdoyouneedRESTthen.
IsthereawaytoavoidthepopuprequestinguseridandpasswordsinceI

alreadyhavetheuseridandpasswordandcanpassasURLparam.thereis

nosecurityconcernsasitaterminalserver.

Thisseemstobesomehowunrelatedtotheformer.Ifitbothersyouthatyour

servicerequiresuserandpassword,youcouldmaketheserviceanonymous

byprovidingcredentialsintheSICFservice.

IfyoureallywanttopassuseridandpasswordasURLparameterswhich

nobodywouldrecommendyou,eveninaseeminglyprotectedenvironment

youcanaffordthisbyusingtheappropriateURLqueryparameters:sapuser

andsappassword.

Justreadthedocu

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_470/helpdata/en/6f/04d73a90e7322be10000000a

11405a/content.htm

forfurtherinfos.

Regards,

Rdiger

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RaghavendraPrabhuMithal

December10,2013at4:20am

HiRdiger
Reallyappreciateyourreply,wehaveascenario
whereinsinglesignonisnotapossibility.
Ihaveathirdpartyapplicationthroughwhichtheuser
enterthecredentials.BasicallyIwanttocalla
Webdynproscreenaftertheuserloginsthroughthird
party,weareplanningtosynctheuseridofthethird
partyapplicationwiththatofSAP.Afteruserlogins
throughthirdpartyapplicationIwanttocallaservice
throughSICFnodeandloginwithoutgivingtheprompt
toenteruseridandpwdagain,afterthelogininis
successfulIshallredirectfromtheservicehandlerto
thewebdynproapplication.SorryifIamconfusing
you.
IwanttoskipthatpasswordpromptwhichSAPgives
whenwecalltheSICFservicebyspecifyingtheURL.
Thanksverymuchforallyourinputs.
RaghavendraPrabhu

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

December10,2013at6:45am

HiRhagavendra,

sothispartofmyformerreplyshouldbethe

answer:

Ifitbothersyouthatyourservice

requiresuserandpassword,youcould

maketheserviceanonymousby

providingcredentialsintheSICF

service.

Ifyoureallywanttopassuseridand

passwordasURLparameterswhich

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nobodywouldrecommendyou,evenin

aseeminglyprotectedenvironment

youcanaffordthisbyusingthe

appropriateURLqueryparameters:

sapuserandsappassword.

Justreadthedocu

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_470/helpd

ata/en/6f/04d73a90e7322be10000000

a11405a/content.htm

forfurtherinfos.

Kindregards,
Rdiger

CarstenZiegler

June4,2014at2:23pm

Rdiger,youmademyday!
JustlookingintohttpclientandserverhandlingonABAPforthecommunication
betweenABAPandHANAXS.Thisblogpostsavesmesometime.
OnceagainIhavetothankyouforyourwork.

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

June4,2014at3:04pm

Carsten,Ienjoyitthattheblogwasofuseforyou.Thanksforyour
feedback!Regards,Rdiger

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RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

June4,2014at3:21pm

YoumightalsobeinterestedintheABAPRESTlibrary(whichI
didntknowwhenIhadwrittenthisblog).Someoftheabstractions
whichIdetailedinthisblogseemtobeavailablethereforreuse:
UsageoftheABAPRESTLibrary[SAP_BASIS7.40]

CarstenZiegler

June5,2014at10:43am

Thanksforthelink.Divingintothetopicatthe
moment

VedranShkupuljupi

September25,2014at9:23am

ThankyouverymuchRdiger!
Additionalquestion:howisitpossibletohandlelocks?Iwanttochangee.g.a
notificationinawebapplication,butifiwanttolockitinsap(withenqueue)the
lockwillbedeletedaftertherequestisfinished.
RegardsVedran

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

September28,2014at7:47pm

HiVedran,
inthestatelessrequestthatIprefer,thereisnootherwaythanto
writealockentryinaspecialdatabaseentry.Intheapplicationsin
whichweneededsuchalocking,wehadcreatedaspecial
databasetableZLOCK,withaGUIDaskey,theninthedataparta
genericobjectkeyfield,anobjecttype(togetherbuildinga
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secondaryindex),afieldforuserid,andthelockcreationtime.
RequestingalocklooksforentriesinZLOCKforthesameobject
key&type,andwithacreationdatenotolderthanasystemwide
definedtimeoutparameter,andwithadifferentuseridthanthe
ownone.Ifsuchanentryexists,thecurrentusercansethislock,
theexceptionisthrowntoinformtheservicethattheobjectin
questioncantbechanged.Ifnosuchentryexists,theusercanset
hisownentry.Ifanentryexistsbutisoutofdate,userandcreation
timecanbeupdated.
Additionaltothetimeoutmechanism,youcanprovideaspecial
logofffunctionwhichclearsallentriesforthecurrentuser.
SimilartoSM12fornormalenqueueentries,alittlereportishelpful
forsupporttoshowthecurrentlocks,andtodeletethem(inspecial
cases).
Hopethishelps
Rdiger

VedranShkupuljupi

September29,2014at6:21am

HiRdiger
Thanksforyouranswer.Ihadalsothesameidea,but
itsalottodotodevelopanextensioninoraroundthe
enqueueFMscodetohandethis.SoIchangedto
statefulrequestswiththemethodserver
>set_session_statefeful()insidethehandler.Ihope
thatnobigdisatvantageswillappear.
Greets
Vedran

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

September29,2014at7:01am

HiVedran,

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2/8/2017 DevelopingaRESTAPIinABAP|SAPBlogs

butitsalottodotodevelopan

extensioninoraroundtheenqueue

FMscodetohandethis.

acentralserviceclassforenqueue
requestswhichworksagainstaDBtable
couldbeworthwritingit.Forourprojects
itdefinitelywas.Bytheway,wedidnt
touchthestandardenqueueFMs.
Thebigadvantageofstateless
applicationsisthattheyscalemuch
better.
Regards,
Rdiger

VedranShkupuljupi

December5,2014at10:12am

HiRdiger,
Itsmeagain.NowIwrotea
statefulapplication(outside
sap,phponawebserver).It
worksgreatwithstandard
lockingmechanisminsap.I
canremovelockswiththe
samesessionandifIlogout,
thelocksarealsoremoved!I
canreadanmanupulate
data,Perfect!
ButIfImakeachangeat
thesourcecode(sapside),
thecurrentsessiondoesnt
recognizethechanges.This
isntabigthing,Icouldkick
theuser/sessionfromSM05.

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Nowmyproblem:ifIchange
e.g.anequipmentinSAP,the
changesalsoarent
recognizedatthecurrent
session(ifIvealreadyopen
thisequipmentfromweb).
Doyouknowwhythisis
happening?Isthereasetting
forit?
IthoughwhynotusingSAP
standartstuffnowIregret
whyIdidntimplementyour
suggestion
Thankyou.
GreetsVedran

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

December5,2014at1:00pm

HiVedran,
whatyoudescribeisstandard
SAPbehaviour.Theneeded
dataareloadedintothe
sessionmemoryfromdata
basewhenatransactionis
started,andlaterchangesof
thedatabasewonteffectthe
sessiondatainmemory.This
isfordataconsistencyduring
asession.
BTW,youwouldfacesimilar
problemsifyoukeptsession
dataintableSSCOOKIEfor
usageacrossdialogsteps,
whenworkingwithstateless
applications.
Inbothcases,youwould
needtohavesomekindof
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notificationmechanismtoget
yourtransactioninformed
aboutchanges.
Forthis,youwouldneeda
centralentrypointinthecode
whichispassedwitheach
dialogstep.ForBSP
applications,thiswouldbe
somethinglikethemethod
DO_INITATTRIBUTESor
evenDO_REQUEST
(redefined).Inthis,youcould
checksomethinglikea
changestacktablefor
recentchangesandreload
themasterdataifnecessary.
Youwontgetthisforfree!
Butinspiteofthisbeing
technicallypossible,the
questionremains:
Whatiftheuserschanges
makesenseonlyforthe
versionofdataasofwhen
theuserstartedthe
transaction?Howtohandle
this?
Regards,
Rdiger

PhaniSivapuran

June17,2015at9:32pm

HiRdiger,
ThisbloggavemesomeunderstandingofconfiguringserviceinSICFand
implementingtheinterface,IF_HTTP_EXTENSION~HANDLE_REQUEST.But,I
needtoaccesstheURLusedtoaccessthisservice.Ineedtoreadoraccess

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theparametersconcatinatedtotheURLgeneratedbySICF.Because,tothe
URLgeneratedbySAP,userswillinputandpasssomedefaultvaluestothe
selectionscreenofatransactioncode.Ineedtocapturethoseparatmetersand
performsomeoperationonthesame.Pleasehelp.
Inaddition,withtheimplementationofcustomclass,parameterspassedinGUI
configurationofSICFhavebecomeirrelevant.ThoughIampassing
singletransactionparameter,itisnotshowinganyeffectasweareusingcustom
handlerclass.Anysuggestionsonhowtogetthiswork?
Thanks,
Phani

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

June18,2015at8:14am

HiPhani,
youwanttogetformfieldvalues(passedasqueryparametersin
theURL)?Thenuseserver>request>get_form_field()andRTFM
forfurtherquestionsonthecalldetails.
Forthis,youwouldntneedtheURL.Youcanuseserver>request
>get_form_field(),itretrievestheURLqueryparametersasparsed
fromtheURL,soyoudontneedtoparsetheURLyourself.If,for
whateverreasons,youwouldliketodothisparsingyourself,you
canusethepseudoheaderfield~query_string(thatis,youcall
server>request>get_header_field(~query_string)).SeeListof
thePseudoHeaderFieldsComponentsofSAPCommunication
TechnologySAPLibraryformoredetails.
Asforthesecondquestion:ImustadmitIdontunderstandit.
Maybesomebodyelsedoes.
Regards
Rdiger

PhaniSivapuran

June18,2015at2:32pm

HiRdiger,

https://blogs.sap.com/2013/01/24/developingarestapiinabap/ 35/43
2/8/2017 DevelopingaRESTAPIinABAP|SAPBlogs

Thanksforyourquickresponse.
Regardingthesecondquestion,wehavetheoptionto
setparametersoftheservice.Asshownbelow,Ihave
selectedtheparameter~singletransactionas1.This
willnotallowusertonavigatetoanyothertransaction
apartfromtheonelinkedwiththerespectiveURL.AsI
haveusedcustomimplementationofhandlerequest,
thisisnotworkinganymore.

ArticleEmploySAPGUIforHTMLinsteadofan
InternetserviceWikiSCNWiki
Alsooutputdisplayedistruncated.Imeanoutput
displayedisnotcomplete.ButifIjustscrolllittlebit
towardsright,thenthepageisgettingrefreshedandI
canseethecompleteoutput.
Thanks,
Phani

VASANTHAKUMARPALANISAMY

March4,2016at11:49am

HiColleagues,
IsitAsyncRequestpossiblehereinRESTAPI?
Ifyes,couldyoupleasetellmehowtoachieveit.
Thanksinadvance.
Regards
Vasanth

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ArijitDas

May20,2016at2:31am

HiRdigerPlantiko
Atrulywonderfulblog!Itmakesforveryinterestingreading.
IhaveaquestionwouldyoubefamiliarwithhowSAPECC(oranySAP
backendsystem)cancallanapigeeendpointforasynchronousscenario?
TheintegrationpatternisECCapigeeappapigeeECC
Iunderstandthataclient_idandclient_secretarerequiredbyapigee
(POSTMANscreenshotattachedbelow).

Regards
Arijit

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor

May20,2016at7:09am

HiArijit,yourquestionisslightlyofftopic,asthisblogdescribesthe
SAPsystemintheserverrole.YouareaskingonhowtouseaSAP
systemasclienttoperformAPIcallsviatheunifiedtoolapigee.
Anywayifyouknowtheformfieldstosubmit,youcanuseclass
cl_http_clientforthis.Itisdocumented,andtherearesample
reportslikeRSHTTP01.

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2/8/2017 DevelopingaRESTAPIinABAP|SAPBlogs

Regards,
Rdiger

ArijitDas

May21,2016at2:24am

ThankyouRdigerPlantikoforyourhelpinpointing
meintherightdirection.Ishalltrythereport

JeanFranoisParmentier

June1,2016at3:41pm

HiRdiger,
thanksalotforyourprecisedescription.
Imtryingtouseyourexampleinmysystem.Isearchedinthecodeyou
provided.
thedirectionoftranscodificationImtryingtodoisthefollowing:
internaltableinSAP>XML>REST.
mysapbasisversionis7.2.Ihaventgottherestobjectinmysystem.
Ijustappliedtheoss1648418inordertousetypejsonlikeif_sxml=>co_xt_json.
despitemyefforts,Icantmanagetousethetransormationyouusewith
ls_resultasentry:
lo_writer=cl_sxml_string_writer=>create(type=if_sxml=>co_xt_json).
CALLTRANSFORMATIONzjpar_test04
*SOURCEdata=lt_itab
SOURCEdata=ls_result
RESULTXMLlo_writer.
ev_cdata=cl_abap_codepage=>convert_from(lo_writer>get_output()).

sorryifmyquestionseemsobviousbuthowdoyouusels_resultwithyour
followingstructure:
TYPES:
BEGINOFty_result,
msgtypeTYPEsymsgty,

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messageTYPEcLENGTH255,
jobsTYPEstring,
ENDOFty_result.
ItrywiththefollowingdatabutcantfigureouttheformatIneedtouse:
1.<?xmlversion=1.0encoding=utf8?>
2.<asx:abapxmlns:asx=http://www.sap.com/abapxmlversion=1.0>
3.<asx:values>
4.<DATA>
5.<JOBS>
6.<ZJOBS>
7.<ID>0001</ID>
8.<REPID>RSNAST00</REPID>
9.<VARID>UXPD_KUBE_KV</VARID>
10.<PRIO>2</PRIO>
11.<RESTART>X</RESTART>
12.<CONTACT>RainerZufall</CONTACT>
13.<DESCR>Outputallsalesorderconfirmations</DESCR>
14.</ZJOBS>
15.<ZJOBS>
16.<ID>0002</ID>
17.<REPID>RBDAPP01</REPID>
18.<VARID>UXPD_EDI_GUT02</VARID>
19.<PRIO>3</PRIO>
20.<RESTART>X</RESTART>
21.<CONTACT>HerbertHurtig</CONTACT>
22.<DESCR>CreditMemos</DESCR>
23.</ZJOBS>
24.</JOBS>
25.<MESSAGE>Test</MESSAGE>
26.<MSGTYPE>I</MSGTYPE>
27.</DATA>
28.</asx:values>
29.</asx:abap>

thanksforyourhelp.
regards,
JeanFranois.

RdigerPlantiko Postauthor
https://blogs.sap.com/2013/01/24/developingarestapiinabap/ 39/43
2/8/2017 DevelopingaRESTAPIinABAP|SAPBlogs

June2,2016at10:32am

HiJeanFranois,fromyourquestionitisnotclearwhichproblemyouhave.
Thepieceofcodethatyoupastedseemstoindicatethatyou
haveaselfwrittentransformationzjpar_test04(whichwedontknow),
youwanttoapplythistransformationtoastructure,notaninternaltable,
sinceyouuseavariablenamedls_result
andyouwanttoreceivetheresultintheformofJSONdata.

TheresultofthetransformationmustthereforebeavalidXML
document,conformingtotheXMLJSONsyntax.Youcancheckthis
byusingmyschematronvalidatorthatIdescribedinanotherblog.
Justwritetheresultnotintolo_writerbutintoastring(resultxml
lv_result),copytheXMLfromthedebuggeratthatpoint,and
pasteintotheJSONXMLvalidator.
Ifitisvalid,thenprettysurelo_writerwillreceivecorrectJSONin
yourcodesnippet.Ifnot,youllhavetoadaptthetransformationto
makeitwork.
Hopethishelps,
Rdiger

JeanFranoisParmentier

September19,2016at12:08pm

HiRdiger,
thanksalotforyourhelpconcerningmyissue.
IknowthatmyproblemisnotclearasImimproving
myskillsconcerningAPIswhiledevelopping.
thankstoyou,isucceededindeveloppingthe
transformationsheetandconvertingXMLtoJSON.
contrarytoyoursolution,imnotreceivingAPI.Im
tryingtosenddatatoanAPI.
Unfortunatelyimfacingtwoissues:
withmySAPversion(SAPBASIS70207),when
usingSM59theHTTPuserislimitedto32characters.
thereisanoss2020611whichseemstocorrectthis
issue.however,itisnotavailableformySAPBASIS
version.

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whentestingSM59connexion,ialwaysreceivehttp
403withforbiddenstatus.
itseemstoberelatedtomethodofconnexion.theAPI
imusingonlyworkswithPOSTmethodandSM59only
workswithGETmethod.
itseemsthatwithABAPdeveloppementitispossibleto
usePOSTversion(examplecodeinfollowingphoto):
however.Imalwaysreceiving
http_communication_failureerrorwithmessage
ICM_HTTP_INTERNAL_ERRORwhentestinganAPI.
Doyouthinkthereisasolutiontomyproblems?
Doyouthinkweneedtoapplyasupportpackageto
createthissolution?
Regards,
JeanFranois.

SahilShah

September19,2016at1:20pm

IfthewebserviceisRestFulandexposed
tointernet,whydoyouneedanentryin
SM59?

JeanFranoisParmentier

September19,2016at3:19pm

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2/8/2017 DevelopingaRESTAPIinABAP|SAPBlogs

HiSahil,
thatsagoodquestion.
withapi,itseemsthatthe
versionmayevolveinthe
future.hencetheurlmay
changeaswell.itseems
easiertochangeSM59
directlyinproductionsystem
thanchangetheABAPcode
andtransportTOs.

SahilShah

September19,2016at3:57pm

TheideaofaRestfulWeb
Serviceisitshouldbe
StatelessandLoosely
coupledandthatswhyiuse
itdirectly.
Iwillsuggesttotestyourapi
andtherequestparameters
directlyfromsomeother
application(likeJavascript
etc)orusingOnlineHTTP
Requestsites(likeRequest
Maker,Hurl.itetc)andseeif
youcanconnectit.Ifyouare
successful,thenyoushould
besuccessfulwithinSAP
also.
Thanks
Sahil

AjithJ
https://blogs.sap.com/2013/01/24/developingarestapiinabap/ 42/43
2/8/2017 DevelopingaRESTAPIinABAP|SAPBlogs

October17,2016at12:15pm

Hi,
IneedtoconsumeawebservicewhichisRESTandXMLformat.
IamawarethatSAPhasprovidedstandardclassesif_rest_clientand
if_rest_entityinBASIS731butoursystemversionisBASIS702.
Isthereanywaywecanstillconsumesuchwebservicein702versioninABAP?
SampleinputisbelowandthemethodisPOST
<?xmlversion=1.0encoding=UTF8?>
<XML_Request>
<MAT>TEST1</MAT>
<OUTPUT_TYPE>3</OUTPUT_TYPE>
</XML_Request>
@sourav.das3
@rdiger.plantiko2
Ajith.

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