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Connect to SAP data in Ruby with ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc.
The CData ODBC Driver for SAP ERP makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live SAP data in Ruby. This article shows how to create a simple Ruby app that connects to SAP data, executes a query, and displays the results.
About SAP Data Integration
CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from SAP. Customers use CData connectivity to:
- Access every edition of SAP, including SAP R/3, SAP NetWeaver, SAP ERP / ECC 6.0, and SAP S/4 HANA on premises data that is exposed by the RFC.
- Perform actions like sending IDoc or IDoc XML files to the server and creating schemas for functions or queries through SQL stored procedures.
-
Connect optimally depending on where a customer's SAP instance is hosted.
- Customers using SAP S/4HANA cloud public edition will use SAP NetWeaver Gateway connectivity
- Customers using SAP S/4HANA private edition will use either SAP ERP or SAP NetWeaver Gateway connectivity.
While most users leverage our tools to replicate SAP data to databases or data warehouses, many also integrate live SAP data with analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Excel.
Getting Started
Create an ODBC Connection to SAP Data
If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.
You can connect to SAP systems using either librfc32.dll, librfc32u.dll, NetWeaver, or Web Services (SOAP). Set the ConnectionType connection property to CLASSIC (librfc32.dll), CLASSIC_UNICODE (librfc32u.dll), NETWEAVER, or SOAP.
If you are using the SOAP interface, set the Client, RFCUrl, SystemNumber, User, and Password properties, under the Authentication section.
Otherwise, set Host, User, Password, Client, and SystemNumber.
Note: We do not distribute the librfc32.dll or other SAP assemblies. You must find them from your SAP installation and install them on your machine.
For more information, see this guide on obtaining the connection properties needed to connect to any SAP system.
Installing Ruby and Necessary Gems
If you do not have Ruby installed, refer to the Ruby installation page. With Ruby installed, you will need to install the ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc gems:
gem install dbi
gem install dbd-odbc
gem install ruby-odbc
Create a Ruby App with Connectivity to SAP Data
Create a new Ruby file (for example: SAPERPSelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:
#connect to the DSN
require 'dbi'
cnxn = DBI.connect('DBI:ODBC:CData SAPERP Source','','')
#execute a SELECT query and store the result set
resultSet = cnxn.execute("SELECT MANDT, MBRSH FROM MARA")
#display the names of the columns
resultSet.column_names.each do |name|
print name, "\t"
end
puts
#display the results
while row = resultSet.fetch do
(0..resultSet.column_names.size - 1).each do |n|
print row[n], "\t"
end
puts
end
resultSet.finish
#close the connection
cnxn.disconnect if cnxn
With the file completed, you are ready to display your SAP data with Ruby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:
ruby SAPERPSelect.rb
Writing SQL-92 queries to SAP allows you to quickly and easily incorporate SAP data into your own Ruby applications. Download a free trial today!