SAP Commerce Cloud Integration Basics

[PriyankaChak]

Overview:

In this blog post, I will share the basics of SAP Commerce Cloud  integration.

Integration API Module:

It is a set of extensions used for data integration. It uses ODATA protocol. The data is passed as Integration Object.

Integration Object:

An Integration Object describes the structure of a business-level entity. It is the foundation for an EDMX schema. It is composed of several commerce Items. The structure can be defined either at the backoffice or via Impex or using meta API.

The integrationKey property serves as a unique identifier for each EDMX entity.

Integration Object Modelling:

Go to SAP Commerce Portal -> BackOffice -> Integration UI tool

 

After creating the structure, view the EDMX structure using 'META' icon.

Tutorial Link: Create an Integration Object and Model its Metadata - SAP Commerce Cloud

For the generated service, we can use POST/GET methods.

URL: https://<backoffice_endpoint>/odata2webservices/<IntegrationObject>;

Inbound Communication:

There are out-of-the-box (OOTB) integration objects available that are used for master data integration. For example -

Integration Object	Use Case
InboundB2BUnit	BP replication from S/4HANA to Commerce Cloud
InboundB2BCustomer	BP Contact replication from S/4HANA to Commerce Cloud
InboundProduct	Material Replication from S/4 HANA to Commerce Cloud

 

To access these APIs, set up Inbound channel configuration.

Integration APIs  -> Authentication -> Select the Integration Object and authentication type (Basic or OAuth2).

At the Integration API level, group membership provides access control.

Reference Link: Users and Group Authorization

Inbound Monitoring:

To enable monitoring inbound requests in backoffice, set property 'inboundservices.monitoring.enabled' to true in Hybris Administrative Console (Platform -> Configuration).

To monitor inbound requests, go to

Integration UI Tools -> Monitoring -> Inbound.

Retention Period for messages can be configured from Backoffice -> System -> Retention Rule.

Inbound payload retention can be configured by setting the below properties in HAC.

• inboundservices.monitoring.success.payload.retention


• inboundservices.monitoring.error.payload.retention

ODATA Receiver Adapter Configuration at Cloud Integration:

 

Outbound Communication:

There are multiple options for outbound communication.

1. Outbound Sync: Replicate data externally based on a preconfigured schedule.


2. Webhooks: Event-based approach


3. Outbound Service: Send data to an outbound destination based on an SAP Commerce Cloud process or custom logic.

Webhooks:

To create webhooks, follow the below path:

Backoffice ->  Integration UI Tool -> Webhooks ->

• Select an Integration Object


• Select Consumed Destination (destination target should be webhookServices).


• Select event types to trigger webhook notifications

To create consumed destination, follow the below path:

Backoffice -> Administration Cockpit -> System –>API –> Destinations –>  Consumed Destination

Supported credential type is Basic or OAuth (System –>API –> Credentials).

Outbound Sync:

Outbound sync uses delta detection to identify new and modified Items in SAP Commerce Cloud. 

Configure an outbound channel (Backoffice ->  Integration UI Tool -> Outbound Sync -> Configuration -> Channels). Select an Integration Object, choose a Consumed Destination and then select 'Generate Related Configurations'. The 'Generate Related Configurations' option is used to autogenerate the container, stream(s), job, and cronjob for the configuration.

Outbound Service:

Use 'OutboundServiceFacade' to send Integration Object Items. Tutorial Link

Outbound Monitoring:

To enable monitoring outbound requests in backoffice, set property 'outboundservices.monitoring.enabled' to true in HAC (Platform -> Configuration).

To monitor outbound requests, go to

Integration UI Tools -> Monitoring -> Outbound.

Outbound payload retention can be configured by setting the below properties in HAC.

• outboundservices.monitoring.success.payload.retention


• outboundservices.monitoring.error.payload.retention

Persistence Hooks:

It is used to execute business logic before or after a request to persist an item in SAP Commerce Cloud. 

We can invoke the hook by specifying its name in the header of an HTTP POST request. There are 2 types of hooks:

• PrePersistHook


• PostPersistHook

There can be only one PrePersistHook and one PostPersistHook per request at most. If there is no value in a Pre- or PostPersistHook header, the header is ignored and the object is persisted as usual.

The following shows an example of an inbound persistence hook call from standard integration package. 

 

Conclusion:

This blog post serves as a foundational introduction to Commerce Cloud integration. Thank you for reading this. Please feel free to share your feedback or thoughts or ask questions in the Q&A tag below.

QA link

Regards,

Priyanka Chakraborti