What is an IDoc?

An IDoc Type is SAP's format for data being moved between applications. Essentially, SAP has defined what a sales order, financial statement, invoice, etc will look like electronically. This includes how fields are grouped together (segments), the order and hierarchy of these groupings, and the format of each individual field.

If you're familiar with EDI at all, then an IDoc will look very familiar to you. Nearly everything you're used to is there: from segment name to allowable codes to min/max occurs.

It is important to note that an IDoc Type is really just a structure defined on the system and given a name (i.e., ORDERS04). An actual IDoc, however, consists of data, which fits within the defined structure of the IDoc Type. This IDoc is identified by a number rather than by a type.

IDoc Structure

The "only once" rule

It is valuable to note that SAP only allows one occurence of each segment type within the IDoc structure. For instance, the E1EDKA1 segment may only exist once within the IDoc type.

Now, does that mean you can only have one E1EDKA1 segment in an actual IDoc? Of course not. Segments may occur multiple times if the "max occurs" setting for that segment is greater than one. This is how the E1EDKA1 segment can appear multiple times in the ORDERS04 IDoc.

This isn't a big deal if you're just using canned IDocs from SAP; but it is a useful consideration if you need to extend an existing IDoc substantially or create your own.

Generic Structure

Data within an IDoc is divided into three sections

1. Control Record, which contains (Table EDIDC)
   1. Key Fields (for inbound)
      1. Receiving Partner Type/ID (RCVPRT, RCVPRN)
      2. Logical Message Type
      3. Test Flag
   2. Other Fields
      1. IDoc Number (DOCNUM)
      2. Direction (1=Outbound; 2=Inbound)
      3. Sending Partner Type/ID (SNDPRT, SNDPRN)
      4. Status
      5. Receiver/Sender Port
      6. Created Timestamp
      7. Changed Timestamp
   3. etc.
2. Data Records (Table EDID4 in 4.6C)
   1. Admin Data (39 bytes)
      1. IDoc Number (DOCNUM)
      2. Segment Number
      3. Segment Name (SEGNAM) (e.g., E1EDK01, E1EDK03, etc)
      4. etc
   2. Actual Data (SDATA – 1,000 bytes)
3. Status Records (Table: EDIDS)
   1. IDoc Number (DOCNUM)
   2. Counter (COUNTR)
   3. Status (STATUS)
   4. etc

Additional Considerations

1. Data record table is version-specific. EDID4 is valid for the current release of SAP R/3 and may change in future versions.
2. The control record is common across all transactions and is used for routing the IDoc to the correct port in external processing, or to the correction function module or workflow item for inbound processing.
3. Each IDoc may have several data records, which are arranged hierarchically. The data segment table (EDID4) contains this nesting information in the hierarchy field, etc.
4. Each IDoc may have several status records, which are arranged in sequence.
5. Segment Types begin with E1. This is the internal SAP format.
6. Segment Definitions begin with E2. This is a fixed, version-specific format which defines how the outside world sees the segment.
7. Segment Documentation records begin with E3.
8. Outbound IDocs are created directly by a function module, or may be created via message control. Most outbound documents within OTC are created by message control.
9. The global IDoc Administrator is defined in transaction OYEA.

Status Codes

Outbound Codes		Inbound Codes
00	Not used, only R/2	50	IDoc added
01	IDoc created	51	Error: Application document not posted
02	Error passing data to port	52	Application document not fully posted
03	Data passed to port OK	53	Application document posted
04	Error within control information of EDI subsystem	54	Error during formal application check
05	Error during translation	55	Formal application check OK
06	Translation OK	56	IDoc with errors added
07	Error during syntax check	57	Test IDoc: Error during application check
08	Syntax check OK	58	IDoc-Copy from an R/2 connection
09	Error during interchange handling	59	Not used
10	Interchange handling OK	60	Error during syntax check of IDoc (inbound)
11	Error during dispatch	61	Processing despite syntax error (inbound)
12	Dispatch OK	62	IDoc passed to application
13	Retransmission OK	63	Error passing IDoc to application
14	Interchange Acknowledgement positive	64	IDoc ready to be transferred to application
15	Interchange Acknowledgement negative	65	Error in ALE service
16	Functional Acknowledgement positive	66	IDoc is waiting for predecessor IDoc (serialization)
17	Functional Acknowledgement negative	67	Not used
18	Triggering EDI subsystem OK	68	Error - no further processing
19	Data transfer for test OK	69	IDoc was edited
20	Error triggering EDI subsystem	70	Original of an IDoc which was edited
21	Error passing data for test	71	IDoc reloaded from archive
22	Dispatch OK, acknowledgement still due	72	Not used, only R/2
23	Error during retransmission	73	IDoc archived
24	Control information of EDI subsystem OK	74	IDoc was created by test transaction
25	Processing despite syntax error (outbound)
26	Error during syntax check of IDoc (outbound)
27	Error in dispatch level (ALE service)
28	Not used
29	Error in ALE service
30	IDoc ready for dispatch (ALE service)
31	Error - no further processing
32	IDoc was edited
33	Original of an IDoc which was edited
34	Error in control record of IDoc
35	IDoc reloaded from archive
36	Electronic signature not performed (timeout)
37	IDoc added incorrectly
38	IDoc archived
39	IDoc is in the receiving system (ALE service)
40	Application document not created in receiving system
41	Application document created in receiving system
42	IDoc was created by test transaction

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