ImageMaster Messaging for ERP is used to transfer data and documents from ImageMaster to SAP. This is necessary, for example, for the registration of documents and metadata that were recorded or imported in ImageMaster in the first step but are to be used directly in SAP, or for barcodes that were recognized during import and are used in SAP to identify the document. The messaging function can be used both for individual documents and for bulk imports, such as for archiving a large number of business documents that are obtained electronically from a scan service provider.
Whereas a document that has been received via ArchiveLink is immediately available to SAP, Messaging for ERP allows importing documents into ImageMaster before linking them to SAP. This is often required in scenarios which involve scanning of documents and bulk import. SAP access to documents, which have been registered for messaging, is still achieved via ArchiveLink, i.e. Messaging for ERP is not run in a stand-alone fashion in practice.
In an ImageMaster environment typically a bulk import via FIS (the File Interoperability Service) is performed on an ImageMaster document type that has been prepared as SAP document type, i.e. the document structure of this type must fulfill the requirements as specified by ArchiveLink. An import operation of this document type triggers the messenger extension which in turn prepares the environment for further processing steps that have to be undergone before a document becomes accessible to SAP. From a technical perspective messaging can be divided into two parts:
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The Messenger extension is initially triggered in the import process of an SAP document type.
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The Messenger command line interface is used after an import to perform several processing steps which are required to make documents available to SAP, e.g. including consistency checks.
The processing steps that are performed by the command line interface may be embedded in an automated scheduling process. However, the design of such a process is not included in this documentation, as it is likely to be subject to project-specific requirements.
