BAPI technology in SAP is based on import and export parameters that determine the parameters that must be provided (import) and parameters to be returned (export). You can test the BAPI's in the SAP client through transaction code SE37.

Import parameters contain data to be transferred from SnapLogic to the BAPI. Specific values must be provided as import parameters for the BAPI to execute and return the desired data.
Export parameters contain data to be transferred from the BAPI back to SnapLogic. The data returned can be of the following types:

• S = success message
• E = error message 
• W = warning message 
• I = information message 
• A = termination message (abort)

The list of BAPI's in a particular SAP client varies depending on the level of customization. However, an exhaustive set is delivered as standardized BAPI's which provide basic functions and can be used to read and write or change data for most SAP Business Objects. 

BAPIs for Reading Data

The following BAPIs provide you with read-only access to data in the associated business object:

• GetList: Select a range of object key values, for example, company codes and material numbers.
• GetDetail: Retrieve details of an instance (one specific occurrence) of a business object and returns this data to the calling program. This information is reported back to the calling program.
• GetStatus: Query the status of an SAP Business Object, for example, the processing status of a sales order. This BAPI is used only for displaying the status of an object and does not retrieve full details like the BAPI GetDetail.
• ExistenceCheck: Checks whether an entry exists for an SAP Business Object, for example, whether the customer master has been created. 

BAPIs for Creating or Changing Data

The following BAPIs can create, change or delete instances of a business object:

• Create or CreateFromData: Creates an instance of an SAP Business Object, for example, a purchase order.
• Change: Changes an existing instance of a SAP Business Object, for example, a purchase order.
• Delete and Undelete: Deletes an instance of an SAP Business Object from the database, for example, a purchase order. The BAPI Undelete removes a deletion flag. 
• Add<sub-object> and Remove<sub-object>: Adds a sub-object to an existing object instance and the BAPI and Remove<sub-object> removes a sub-object from an object instance.

In the first example we will read a list of all sales orders in SAP by Sales Organization and Customer using BAPI_SALESORDER_GETLIST and then split the data by Sales Order # (SD_DOC), format the data to Excel and ultimately write the data to SLDB.

We will start with a JSON Generator Snap which provides Customer and Organization ID which is input for the Mapper Snap where we map the relevant details such as CUSTOMER_NUMBER and SALES_ORGANIZATION to prepare as your input data.

The SAP Execute Snap is configured to use  BAPI_SALESORDER_GETLIST.  I have renamed the Snap "SAP Execute - BAPI" for the purposes of this example. 

The results are returned from SAP, which match the input criteria (Sales Organization and Customer).

Next, we split the data by Sales Order using a JSON Splitter. The JSON Splitter can use the SALES_ORDERS path to split the incoming document into individual output documents for each sales order and then write the results to an Excel file using Excel Formatter.

We create an actual sales order in the second example. We use the following JSON as the input to the BAPI_SALESORDER_CREATEFROMDAT2 BAPI.

[
    {
        "ITM_NUMBER": "1",
        "ORDER_HEADER_IN": {
            "SALES_ORG": "3020",
            "DIVISION": "00",
            "DISTR_CHAN": "30",
            "DOC_TYPE": "TA",
            "PURCH_NO_C": "000004454"
        },
        "PARTN_NUMB": "0000003041",
        "PARTN_ROLE": "AG"
    }
]

Then we map the input into the schema for the BAPI_SALESORDER_CREATEFROMDAT2 BAPI .

The image below shows the SAP Execute Snap configuration:

The execution returns the RETURN attribute (and others) which shows the status. TYPE: 'S' indicates a success and provides additional messages.

Errors are identified in a BAPI as type "E" in the RETURN message. If the BAPI is not able to process the data provided in the input, the message returned should indicate  the corrective action required as in the following example from BAPI_SALESORDER_CHANGE. 

The following Pipeline demonstrates a sequence of 3 BAPI calls on service notifications using an SAP instance.

Download this Pipeline.

In this example Pipeline, a Mapper (Feed Notification Data) is used to prepare the sample attributes for the notification.

The output displays the notification attributes.

We are using three SAP Execute Snaps to call the following BAPI functions in that sequence. BAPI_SERVNOT_CREATE : To create a service notification using Create Svc Notification Snap. BAPI_SERVNOT_SAVE : To save a service notification using SAP Execute Snap. BAPI_TRANSACTION_COMMIT: To execute external commit when using BAPIs using Save Svc Notification Snap.
SAP Execute Snap to call BAPI_SERVNOT_CREATE and create an SAP service notification.	SAP Execute Snap to call BAPI_SERVNOT_SAVE and save the SAP service notification.
Select the Start Stateful Call Sequence check box to indicate the   beginning of the BAPI sequence. Do not select the Commit after BAPI execute check box.	Do not select both the checkboxes in this Snap, as this BAPI is an intermediate call in the BAPI sequence.
Mapper Snap to extract the notification number from the saved notification.
SAP Execute Snap to call BAPI_TRANSACTION_COMMIT and commit  transaction (save service notification).	JSON Formatter Snap to format the output after committing the transaction.
Do not select the Start Stateful Call Sequence check box. Select the Commit after BAPI execute check box in this Snap to  indicate the end of the BAPI sequence.
File Writer Snap to write the formatted output into a file New_BAPI_Seq_PL_Output.JSON

Important Steps to Successfully Reuse Pipelines