SharePoint - Outbound Storage

Outbound storage allows SAP users to attach content/documents to objects within SAP. Instead of storing the document into the SAP database, docuflow will store the document in your SharePoint environment. 

When storing outbound documents, there are two options: 

Content Server 

Content Server is a communication specification defined by SAP that uses HTTPS to communicate with the docuflow middleware. docuflow is an SAP Content Server certified application. 

ECM Server 

ECM Server is a communication specification based on SAP’s RFC socket protocol called JCo (Java Connector). The ECM server unlocks remote function calls and docuflow provides an API within SAP to leverage this technology, allowing enhanced functionality over standard Content Server. 

While we are only discussing Outbound communications, ECM with JCo does allow for bi-directional communication between docuflow and SAP, Inbound and Outbound.   

Content Server Considerations: 

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Custom metadata can be set in SharePoint as columns in content types. Custom metadata is any values from SAP beyond those required by docuflow. 

Custom metadata is most valuable when there is the desire to:  

Metadata enables inbound scenarios. For example, a document arriving in SharePoint can:  

How custom metadata is applied to SharePoint varies based on the method of outbound storage, ECM or Content Server. 

ECM has native support for selecting a SharePoint Content Type and its column values when creating the document in a document library. Content Server, based on the SAP specification, does not allow custom metadata to be set during the creation of the document in SharePoint. This must be done through a docuflow technology called a ‘call back’. 

Call backs utilize the ECM connectivity and update the document metadata/columns once the SAP Content Server store/create operation has been completed. This means there are additional API calls/time required to update the document with business metadata. 

Call backs utilize the ECM connectivity and update the document metadata once the SAP Content Server store/create operation has been completed. This means there are additional API calls/time required to update the document with business metadata. 

[Graphic Overview to be added in the future]

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Dynamic Location Routing Dynamic Location Routing is a feature that allows documents to be automatically stored in different SharePoint folders based on associated SAP data when the document is transferred from SAP to SharePoint.

This capability enables organizations to create rules and logic that determine the storage location of documents based on specific SAP attributes or metadata. By leveraging Dynamic Location Routing, companies can:

Here are a couple of examples to illustrate how Dynamic Location Routing can be used:

Example1: Routing based on code: Documents attached to Sales Orders within a Sales Organzization with code 1000, go to SharePoint location 1000: SAPDocs->Sales Orders->1000 Documents attached to Sales Orders within a Sales Organzization with code 2000, go to SharePoint folder 2000 : SAPDocs->Sales Orders->2000

Example2: Internal vs. External documents: SAP information, such as ArchiveLink document type, classification, or vendor number, can be used to automatically classify documents as either internal or external and route them to the appropriate SharePoint folders.

External documents, intended for vendor access, are stored in a SharePoint folder that the specific vendor can view. Internal documents, meant for internal use only, are stored in a separate SharePoint folder inaccessible to vendors, even if the document is related to a specific vendor.

This automated categorization and routing process, based on SAP metadata, helps organizations maintain better control over document access and ensures that information is shared appropriately.

Document Libraries and/or Folders are sometimes leveraged to logically bundle a series of documents together.  

SharePoint implements Permission inheritance from Site Collection->Site/Subsite->Document Library->Folder. Permission inheritance can be broken at any of these levels up until 100,000 items exist, at which point it is no longer possible. As a general best practice, it is best to break inheritance at the highest possible level in the hierarchy.  

ECM will allow dynamic selection at any level of Site/Subsite/Document Library/Folder/SubFolder.  

Content Server allows for only a single target Document Library to be selected per Content Repository configuration. 

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There are three options available when deciding how to view SAP content stored and linked to SharePoint Online: 

Each of the above options has pros and cons listed below: 

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