Business Application Programming Interface
<business, application, programming> (BAPI) /bap'ee/ A set of
methods provided by an
SAP business
object.
Release 4.0 of
SAP AG's R/3 system supports
object-oriented programming via an interface defined in terms of objects and
methods called BAPIs.
For example if a material object provides a function to check availability, the corresponding SAP business object type "Material" might provide a BAPI called "Material.CheckAvailability".
The definitions of SAP business objects and their BAPIs are kept in an SAP business object repository.
SAP provide classes and libraries to enable a programming team to build SAP applications that use business objects and BAPIs. Supported environments include
COM and
Java.
The Open BAPI Network (http://www.sap.com/solutions/technology/bapis/index.htm). gives background information and lists objects and BAPIs.
