Nodes

A node represents a logical view of an external communication system in the SAP system, for example, an e-mail system, a fax system, or an additional SAP system. The SMTP node, which controls sending using the SMTP plug-in, is a special case.

Each node has all the information necessary for sending from the SAP system using the external communication system. A node must be created for every external communication system that is used to send documents from your SAP system. Indeed, nodes are not necessarily required for receiving messages. Despite this, it is recommended for the communication environment administration that a node is also created for receiving.

Prerequisites

For the connection using an external communication system

Outgoing messages are transferred from SAPconnect via RFC to the external communication system. For calling the communication system, the SAPconnect node must recognize the RFC destination. RFC destinations are maintained in transaction SM59. When creating a SAPconnect node, you can use an existing RFC destination or you can create a new one.

For the connection using the SMTP plug-in

The parameters of the ICM have to be set on every application server used for sending.

Activities

You must assign the information below for accessing the external communication system and its attributes to the other nodes.

The attributes that you allocate to the node must correspond to those of the external communication system that the node represents. For more information, see the communication system documentation.

It is recommended that you carry out node maintenance in SAPconnect administration under View  ® Node.

 

Function	Icon	Description
Create node		A wizard leads you through the creation process.
Display/change node		An overview of the attributes of the selected node is displayed. In order to display or change the settings for the address areas, formats and transmission control, choose Set next to one of the selected communication types.
Delete node		The selected node is deleted with all its attributes.

 

Specify the communication methods that the node can process. For each communication type enter the formats and address areas which should process the node. If necessary, you can specify rules for recipient number adjustment for the communication method Fax.

 

Also specify the following attributes:

Property	Description
Maximum waiting time for repeat send attempt procedure	Specify how long the send attempts are to be repeated for before the send process is cancelled, in the event of an RFC error occurring when connecting to the external communication system.
Node in use	Select this attribute when you are using the node.
Node can resolve path references	Specify whether the external communication system supports this attribute. SAP systems, the SAP Internet Mail Gateway, and the SAP Exchange Connector, for example, do not support this attribute.
Node is to be monitored by the alert monitor	You can only use the functions of the alert monitor for SAPconnect and SAPphone for this node if you select this attribute.
Node supports connection test, status, trace	You can only use the functions for querying the operating status and setting the external trace for this node if you select this attribute. If you select this attribute, you have to perform a connection test. The connection test checks the version of the external software. This enables the upward compatibility of the SAPconnect interface to be guaranteed in the future. When you call a function, the system then checks whether the external communication system supports this function by using the version. If the external communication system does not support the connection test and, despite this, you start the connection test, this can cause the external software to crash.