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What's New Table of Contents 

What's New in SAS/ACCESS 4.2 Interface to R/3

Overview

SAS/ACCESS 4.2 Interface to R/3 has the following new features and enhancements:

These changes are from SAS/ACCESS 9.1 Interface to SAP 9.1 and later. For information about changes to SAS Data Surveyor 4.2 for SAP, see the What's New section in SAS OnlineDoc.

Simplified Logon Process

In previous versions, you were required to enter CPI-C parameters in the logon utility when you log on to your R/3 system. You no longer need to use these parameters. You can instead enter your logon parameters in the Logon to R/3 and Advanced Parameters windows.

Enhanced Authorization Checks

You can develop alternative authorization schemes for reading R/3 tables by using enhanced authorization checks through the /SAS/AUTH01 Business Add-In (BAdI). By default, this BAdI performs the same authorization checks as it did previously on S_TABU_DIS, so no further action is necessary.

Enhanced RFC Server

The command-line syntax for the RFC server supports two operation modes for extracting data from your SAP R/3: UNIX and Windows NT.

Enhanced Creation of an RFC Server Destination

simpler process for creating an RFC server destination for a small SAP configuration

Beginning with 4.1, you can omit gateway information when creating an RFC server destination for small SAP configuration.

New RFC Server Options

The following RFC server options are new:

-b

[for 4.1] enables batch compatibility so that you can process V8 ACCR3 requests using a V9 RFC server.

-B

[for 4.1] boosts performance when you use it to increase the minimum buffer size for data transfers.

-S

[for 4.2] registers the SAS RFC server at an SAP gateway, enabling it to receive requests for information from the SAS RFC Server Monitor in the SAP Netweaver Portal.

New %CALLRFC Macro

You can call RFC-enabled ABAP functions by using the new CALLRFC procedure, which the %CALLRFC macro uses internally. The CALLRFC procedure uses the RFC server to communicate with the SAP system.

New Unicode Support for RFC Servers

SAS/ACCESS 4.2 Interface to R/3 and later supports Unicode SAP servers on Windows and UNIX. For details about UNIX platform support, see the Installation Instructions for SAS/ACCESS Interface to R/3.

New SAP Transport Files for Simplified ABAP Installation

To simplify installation of the required ABAP function modules and programs, it is recommended that you import the SAP transport files rather than installing these manually. For more information, see the Installation Instructions for SAS/ACCESS Interface to R/3.

As a result of this change, the new RFC server and RFC dialog server no longer use the following ABAP function modules and programs:

Note:   Because the transport files for the SAS/ACCESS 4.2 Interface to R/3 require different ABAP function modules and programs than the transport files for the SAS/ACCESS Interface to SAP BW, be sure to use the correct files when you install your application.  [cautionend]

New SAP LIBNAME Engine

The new SAP LIBNAME engine is a read-only engine that you can use to access tables and views from SAP R/3 and SAP BW systems. It accesses an SAP system through a connection to the SAS RFC server and is part of the SAS solution to access data in an SAP system. It supports new features such as load balancing, user validation at logon, more efficient handling of projections, server-side joins, and directory processing.

Unlike other LIBNAME engines in SAS, these interfaces are read-only and do not support any forms of data set creation, deletion, or modification.