Cloud Integration

SAP Cloud Integration

Cloud Integration describes a set of features that support end-to-end integration through the exchange of messages. Cloud Integration is based on Apache Camel and extended by Low-Code tools developed by SAP. It’s a key component of the SAP Integration Suite.

Integration Flow tools

A core feature if SAP Cloud Integration is the Integration Flow (iFlow) editor. It provides connectivity features using adapters, which are based on Enterprise Integration Patterns.

Info

Integration flows connect systems using a variety of adapters, for example for

• Sync/Async execution
• Request-Reply/Event-Driven architecture
• Manually/Automatically triggered
• Systematic/Processual connectivity

The core features of Integration Flows include:

Feature	Example
Routing	Execute different flows based on message properties
Transformation	Change message headers and payloads to match target system schema
Security	Encrypt, decrypt and verify message contents
Persistence	Storing message contents in a local store or a remote database/service
Call ext. Service	Enrich messages by retrieving data from a third-party API
Pub/Sub	Subscribe and react to events from a variety of external channels

There is also a variety of integrations available on the API Business HUB. If customers require custom adapters, they can be developed using the SAP SDK

Development Cycle

iFlows are deployed via the browser. Each flow is a separate Multi-Tenant capable application in a customer’s tenant’s Cloud Foundry

The resources on a cloud integration tenant are limited as follows:

Management Node	Worker Node	Database	Message Broker
1 CPU 2GB RAM 200 HTTP Threads	2 CPUs 4GB RAM 200 HTTP Threads 8 DB Connections	32GB	9.3GB 30 queues

You can find a checklist on what tasks to complete for this topic here

Message Monitoring

CPI is monitored by a variety of solutions using SAC, cALM or built-in solutions. The latter is used by administrators of the integration Suite and can be accessed using Monitor->Integrations and APIs->Message status overview.

Message monitor tracing is especially relevant to debugging flows. Trace logging can be enabled after deploying a flow by navigating into Monitor->Integrations and APIs->Manage Integration Content and set the Log Level to trace. The built-in logger will then capture messages, their headers and payloads to be analyzed and debugged.

Monitoring and tracing

• Use the log-level trace to see messages and their contents
• Use message simulation to start messages with a defined payload
• Combine the two to test and troubleshoot iFlows
• Use Groovy scripts to log payloads or message information

Another method of reading the logs of a tenant is by using the Cloud API. It is generally considered good practice to deploy and monitor flows procedures several times.

The Camel data model

While Camel processes inbound and outbound messages, it temporarily enriches them with metadata, such as a unique identifier and properties. These are used to control the message flow, call external data and manipulate the message exchange.

• Incoming and outgoing messages consist of HTTP headers, a body and optional attachments
• During the message exchange, these values are enriched by several metadata values

erDiagram
    IncomingMessage {
        array Headers
        any Attachment
        string Body
    }

    OutgoingMessage {
        array Headers
        any Attachment
        string Body
    }

    MessageExchange {
        string ExchangeID
        string MessageExchangePattern
        error Exception
        any Properties(Parameters)
    }

    MessageExchange ||--|{ IncomingMessage: Extends
    MessageExchange ||--|{ OutgoingMessage: Extends

In SAP Integration Suite, there are multiple ways to access and change each of these values. The most prominent are the Content modifier component, the usage of the Groovy and JS SDKs, as well as User Defined Functions and XLST for more complex scenarios

Groovy Playground IDE

You can test custom groovy scripts in the Online Groovy IDE for CPI It automatically provides com.sap.gateway.ip.core.customdev.util.Message