 | InfoShuttle a Product of Gamma Enterprise Technologies, Inc. |
What It Is Infoshuttle? InfoShuttle is the only SAP tool that offers a comprehensive and systematic way to build test or training scenarios with current data from Production. By transferring relational sets of data, InfoShuttle generates the building blocks for Production-like systems and dramatically reduces the time, expense and aggravation associated with these tasks. InfoShuttle is reliable: it uses standard SAP protocol through IDocs and SAP posting functions to move and import data. It is extensible: while it comes with a pre-defined set of data objects to move, you can easily add new objects to the list. Therefore, once the product is installed and any of your specific objects are added to our pre-defined list of objects, you can transport in five easy steps.
It is certified by SAP as an ABAP Add-on.
InfoShuttle is for you if you ever need to: - Insure that fixes and changes are tested with current Production data
- Fix problems found in Production… quickly
- Reduce the need to add hardware or create disk space to accommodate big client copies
- Insure software quality during upgrades with short and frequent testing
- Build training environments with Production data over and over again
- Save precious time and valuable resources
- Lower the operational overhead of your SAP environment
One Great Solution, 3 Licensing Options:
InfoShuttle™ Standard - supports replication of master data and related objects across all major modules of SAP
InfoShuttle™ HR - supports replication of HR infotypes and their related objects
InfoShuttle™ Professional - supports replication of master data as well as business transactions. Includes a full development environment for customizations. If you are interested in the InfoShuttle product then complete this form. How Does It Work A series of well-defined steps gives you maximum reliability when transferring data:
1. Step One: Creating your Shuttle's Manifest. During this step you select the data object that will be transferred using a simple tree structure.
2. Step Two: Staging your Shuttle. Here you are given the opportunity to see the scope of the data you've selected and make adjustments to the manifest until it is right for launching.
3. Step Three: Launching the Shuttle. During this step the selected data is copied from the master database and put into a "shuttle" (data file).
4. Step Four: Deploying. At this stage you can preview the data to look for potential problems and correct them prior to posting.
5. Step Five: Shuttle Control. This allows you to see the results load along with any error messages that may have been generated.
A complete description of InfoShuttle can be found on the Technical Paper. InfoShuttle 3.0 Features and Functions Requirements: not hardware or OS dependent, runs “inside” of SAP. Supports SAP R/3 versions 4.7 and 4.6. Support for SAP R/3 4.5B is provided with InfoShuttle 2.2. Allows replication of selective ranges of relational data from a master client to other systems. Supports the transfer of selected transactional data while maintaining links with associated documents. Provides an intuitive tree structure (ROR, or Relational Object Repository) for carrying out all Shuttle functions. Easy maintenance between upgrades through the ROR Compare utility. Ships with a substantial library of data objects for core SAP modules as well as with a development tool and methodology to modify them or create new objects. Cross-referencing maintains proper data relationships in target system. Once defined, shuttles can be loaded repeatedly to the same or other clients to assure that test data is consistent. Runs in foreground or background mode, allowing other tasks while data is being transferred. Uses standard SAP error messages to display discrepancies or synchronization problems during transfer. Drill-down facilities enable easy error detection/correction. Data can be transferred out of SAP to other applications. Requires no knowledge of ALE, IDocs, message types, partner profiles, etc. No configuration settings needed to move IDocs between R/3 systems, or from an R/3 system to a non-SAP system.
InfoShuttle HR features: Support for over 235 HR infotypes. Sensitive employee information is protected by scrambling Allows replication of the organizational structure with its associated positions, automatically maintaining all relationships Supports data objects from customer tables through the InfoShuttle development environment
SAP Certified: InfoShuttle received SAP certification as an ABAP Add-on in August, 2002 If you are interested in the InfoShuttle product then complete this form. FAQ 1. Can I use InfoShuttle to help update my Test and Development environments with current Production data?
Yes. InfoShuttle lets you transfer subsets of master and transactional data, for example the latest customers, materials, and sales orders from production to your Test and Development environments.
2. Are there internal blocks within InfoShuttle to prevent you from writing from Production back to Production?
Yes. During InfoShuttle installation, the administrator sets the specific RFC destinations that a particular instance can shuttle data to. So, in Production, you would simply omit Production as one of the potential InfoShuttle targets.
3. Can InfoShuttle be used to move data between different SAP versions (ie. production 3.1i and test system 4.6x) to accommodate upgrade testing?
Generally InfoShuttle is not used to transfer data between two different releases of SAP as data structures tend to change between SAP releases. However, if an object structure is the same between your respective SAP releases, then you CAN use InfoShuttle to do the transfer. New fields in newer versions will not be populated unless you add a user exit to the posting function. Also, because InfoShuttle is installed as a transport on your system, when upgrading SAP, you would simply apply the transports for our 4.6C product, and your InfoShuttle administrator would need to configure the authorization and file system settings in the new version. The entire process takes less than two hours.
4. Will InfoShuttle work across instances, rather than inside of one instance with multiple clients? Can I deploy shuttle data to multiple destinations?
You can replicate the data in any client of any system in your landscape.
5. Do the SAP systems have to be offline during InfoShuttle processing
No, InfoShuttle does not require systems to be offline. Data is extracted via simple database reads and posted via the application layer on the target system.
6. Does InfoShuttle move all types of master data?
The current version of InfoShuttle moves many of the most common types of master data. Gamma is currently extending this list to include additional master and transactional data types available in future releases of the InfoShuttle product.
7. Does InfoShuttle move related objects?
InfoShuttle has the ability to gather the multiple levels of related objects which are required for its posting. All related objects that are present in the Relational Object Repository tree can be chosen for automatic selection. For example, while shuttling a range of Sales orders, InfoShuttle has the ability to automatically gather the materials and customers that are needed to post those sales orders, along with the objects which support those materials (characteristics, classes, and classifications) and customers (partners). Once the Shuttle is ready to post this collection of related objects, it has the intelligence to post them in the required order.
8. Does InfoShuttle move transactional data between R/3 systems?
The current version of InfoShuttle moves a variety of transactional data types between R/3 systems and from R/3 to external systems. Gamma is currently extending this list for future releases of the InfoShuttle product.
9. Can I move a high volume of data using InfoShuttle?
InfoShuttle is meant for transferring smaller subsets of data for the purpose of testing. We do provide a batch processing option for higher volume scenarios.
10. Can shuttles be created simultaneously by multiple users?
Yes, as long as the users have permission to access the InfoShuttle transaction. On the target system, you may run into locking errors if two users' processing try to update the same data simultaneously.
11. Does InfoShuttle move configuration data like SAP's Transport Request?
SAP Transport Request is primarily used to move system configuration data. InfoShuttle is used to move specific subsets of business data between R/3 clients or out of SAP.
12. Does InfoShuttle replace SAP's Client Copy?
InfoShuttle does not replace SAP's Client Copy. SAP's Client Copy makes a complete copy of a SAP client to another SAP client at the database level. It copies all data and configuration. InfoShuttle transfers only a subset of data objects (such as Material or Customer) as specified by the user. It preserves the configuration in the destination system. Often SAP's Client Copy can cause disruption in Development and QA environments because it may require personnel to rebuild special configuration setups and data unique to those environments. InfoShuttle easily transfers just the data objects that are required to support current events in those environments, leaving intact the unique configurations and other specially created data.
13. How does InfoShuttle respond if the same master data index already exists in the destination client? Is there direct database updates?
When a master record is found, data is updated with new information. There are no direct database updates. InfoShuttle uses standard SAP posting functions to maintain data integrity. All data is posted via BAPI, RFC, and Call Transaction type methodologies.
14. How do I know that InfoShuttle won't lose or corrupt my data?
InfoShuttle uses SAP standard OpenSQL to read data objects (such as Material or Customer) from the source system. The original data stays on your source system and is not touched.
15. How do I know that the person using InfoShuttle won't select too much data to move causing my system to fail?
If desired, InfoShuttle allows users to transfer many data objects between systems. Prior to transfer, InfoShuttle displays status data to the user which can alert them to a possible oversize load. During installation, the administrator has the ability to set a record size limit, so that unexpectedly large shuttles will not overwhelm the system. Also, the ability to run the shuttle processes in the background also exists to minimize processing usage during peak hours.
16. How will the data transfers be affected by user exits?
InfoShuttle tries to use SAP's standard posting functions wherever possible. If a user exit is activated within a FM that InfoShuttle calls, then that user exit will be executed. InfoShuttle also includes its own user exits within its posting functions. Customers can easily insert their own logic, where necessary, via these InfoShuttle user exits.
17. How does InfoShuttle handle security? What types of access controls are provided?
InfoShuttle has two levels of security: First, specific security into the InfoShuttle user profiles were added to control which object types that user has access. Then InfoShuttle checks SAP authorization profiles before allowing a user to post data in a given instance. InfoShuttle provides 3 customizable profiles for access to the different InfoShuttle activities. Any SAP required authorizations for posting objects, are also required when posting using InfoShuttle.
18. What is involved in implementation? eg, xtra dasd? system downtime?
InfoShuttle is a Certified SAP product and is installed as an Add On Product (AOP) in your system. Eliminating the need for multiple transports in your system. This means very little effect on downtime as the average install time is less than 2 hours. As far as disk space, IFS creates flat files into a shared file structure and then reads the file to post on the target client/system.
The size of the directory (described above) that will house the SAP data is dependent upon several factors. In general the directory can be expected to grow to the range of 500MB to 1GB of disk space. The two primary factors that dictate the growth of the space are the amount of data selected to be moved for each shuttle AND the number of shuttles that are kept on file (maintained by the end users or by an administrator).
19. Does InfoShuttle need any special configurations on the network to allow for firewall access?
InfoShuttle is installed as a transport to your SAP system. It resides at the application layer and is accessed just as any other normal SAP transaction.
20. How does InfoShuttle differ from a script-based test tool like e-CATT?
InfoShuttle is not a scripts-based tool, but rather a tool that allows you to move actual subsets of business data within your R/3 environment. We currently only support R/3 data, but plan to support data transfers for mySAP components in 2003.
21. Is there any other product on the market, apart from InfoShuttle, that allows you to move selective ranges of real data between R/3 environments?
To the best of our knowledge, Gamma's InfoShuttle is the only product that performs this function.
22. Can I use InfoShuttle to send data to an external system, such as a data warehouse?
Yes. You can specify any RFC destination as a potential target for InfoShuttle data. The data will be in the form of IDOC structures. Also, we have incorporated SAP Business Connector functionality into InfoShuttle, to extract R/3 data in a form of SAP XML data, so that you can integrate with other non-SAP applications
23. Can I use InfoShuttle in conjunction with SAP certified handlers, such as Mercator?
Yes. InfoShuttle's output can be sent directly to any certified message handler, which are systems capable of SAP's transactional Remote Function Call communication (tRFC). You can use InfoShuttle to feed records to products such as TSI's Mercator, BEA's eLink for R/3, or IBM's MQ Series. These products can then route the data to any external system linked to their services.
24. What is the price for InfoShuttle?
InfoShuttle has several pricing schemes, depending on the manner in which you use the product. Please contact our sales department for more information. Email: sales@getgamma.com
25. Do I have to understand ALE and IDOCs to use InfoShuttle?
No. The user interface is designed in terms of application functionality, not IDOCs. You do not have to understand how InfoShuttle transports data to use it.
26. Will I have to maintain any ALE configuration across the R/3 systems in my SAP landscape?
No. Although InfoShuttle utilizes IDOC structures and ALE posting functions for data integrity, it does not use the ALE architecture. Only minor setup is required including the addition RFC destinations for the communications between clients or systems. Then, InfoShuttle is ready to start saving you time and effort transferring test data between systems.
27. Can InfoShuttle be used with the HR Module? Will it mask sensitive data?
InfoShuttle Version 3.0 has over 200 HR info types and moves PD and PA data, as well as Payroll and Time Eval for the US . And allows for sensitive data to be scrambled to maintain confidentiality.
28. How can I be sure that records moved using InfoShuttle will not jeopardize the integrity of my application data?
InfoShuttle posts records to the target system using standard SAP functionality. In other words, records are posted using Call Transactions or BAPIs, with all fields being checked for validity. Nothing is written directly to the database.
29. Does configuration have to be the same on the R/3 source and R/3 target system / client in order to transfer records using InfoShuttle?
Yes. In fact, InfoShuttle helps to expose customization settings that differ between R/3 systems. Since many field values are dependent upon configuration settings, the configuration in your source and target systems should be the same, or at least very similar.
30. What major advantages does InfoShuttle offer over standard ALE?
InfoShuttle moves transactional objects and some master objects not supported by ALE. InfoShuttle has the 'intelligence' to automatically select supporting objects and to post them in the appropriate order. ALE only transfers one object type at a time requiring the user to know all the supporting objects and what order to send them so that they will post correctly. InfoShuttle requires no maintenance of complex ALE configuration.
31. What object types are included in InfoShuttle for between R/3 systems or R/3 to external system transfers?
The current version of InfoShuttle moves many of the most common types of master data. Gamma is currently extending this list to include additional master and transactional data types available in future releases of the InfoShuttle product.
32. What modules does InfoShuttle cover?
We currently support many objects from many of the modules within SAP. If you contact a Sales person, he or she will direct you to a tool that shows all the current areas and objects supported. Specific Industry solutions are treated on a per customer basis. We work with our customers to install, configure, and deploy InfoShuttle on their specific system regardless of customizations.
33. How does InfoShuttle handle z-tables?
InfoShuttle 3.0 has a tool for the automatic creation of Functions for selecting, retrieving, moving, and posting the z-tables, including the creation of custom IDOCs. If the Z-table is required by another Object in SAP, minimum ABAP skills would be required to modify basic InfoShuttle function modules.
34. Is InfoShuttle SAP certified?
Yes, InfoShuttle is a certified SAP add on with its own registered namespace.
35. How do I know that InfoShuttle will work well with my AS400 system or other systems where SAP is resident?
InfoShuttle is written in ABAP and resides within your SAP environment. InfoShuttle is shielded from the underlying operating system and database in the same way as other SAP programs and will function across your SAP landscape.
36. I need to transfer object types that are not included in the list. Can I still use InfoShuttle?
Yes. InfoShuttle supports the transfer of the object types mentioned above "out-of-the-box". And you can also add objects or customized objects that are not on this list with InfoShuttle's development templates.
37. What releases of SAP does InfoShuttle support? What is the lag time between SAP releases and those releases InfoShuttle supports?
The current release of InfoShuttle supports SAP 4.5B, 4.6B, 4.6C, 4.7. We try to stay no more than 90 days behind official SAP releases of R/3. Note: Generally stay within two hotpack releases. InfoShuttle is a Registered product of Gamma Enterprise Technologies, Inc. 
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