Comparison IDoc VS APIs importance of knowledge in project implementation - data migration

[xiswanto]

Hi all,

In SAP S/4 Hana or EHP environment for data migration, would it work if I solely used APIs instead of IDoc? would there be any case where IDoc would be preferred instead?

Reason I ask this question is to get better understanding in IDoc as I am pursuing a career as ABAP involved in SAP implementation project, which entry requirement still required IDoc, ALE, EDI knowledge, which I am still not fully understood yet ( whether they work by being triggered manually or automatically, how to use, and etc ), but I do know how to create and use for REST API, SOAP wsdl which supposedly have the same purpose: to integrate data, right?

As I read from another article,
API call has longer synchronous call time, whereas IDoc has faster asynchronous call time. However, I felt that the configuration to set up an IDoc for a process is much more complex compared to configuring an APIs even though both process step is kind of similar ( receiver need to create RFC or FM / OData service / REST API handler service, while caller consume the API while providing essential information or configure something for IDoc ).

I would like your opinion about it if there is any other IDoc pros and cons.

Regards,

Siswanto

[JurgenLootens]

Data migration usually means collecting data into a repository/files and loading it into the SAP system once.

I'm not sure if that is what you are referring to? If it is, SAP provides the Hana data migration cockpit where you can upload files and migrate the data into SAP. If there are errors in the data, the validation step will tell you and you can go back to the source and produce a better file.

IDOCs are messages (each containing 1 object) that are intended for automated (near) real time communication between systems. IDOCs run through an interface which is a piece of infrastructure that usually runs for many years.

In conclusion, for data migration, I would use neither IDOCs nor APIs.

[xiswanto]

Hello Jurgen,

Well that was a new approach as this is the first time I've heard about this Hana data migration cockpit. I appreciate the suggestion.