Sending Email to a non-SAP system

Though SAP mail is a very robust method of interacting with users within SAP system, it is always good to receive email in Microsoft inbox. This also works like an additional notification to users in case they do not check SAP mail regularly.

Sending an email to the Microsoft Inbox is a way of interacting with a non SAP system through ABAP code and hence is very interesting. A fair knowledge of UNIX shell scripting is assumed here.

The ABAP code to send an email to Microsoft inbox revolves around following UNIX script

Echo “From:” “<”$1″>” > Echo “To:” “<”$2″>” >> Echo “Subject:” “<”$3″>” >>

Cat $4 >>

Uuencode $5 $6 >>

Cat | /usr/sbin/sendmail –f $fraddr $toaddr

(Note : the commands in the above script can be case sensitive. Check the actual case on the unix installation in question) Let us understand the various parts of the above script. $1 = Sender email address

$2 = Recipient email address

$3 = Subject of the email

$4 = Path of unix server file having email body

Form email body as an internal table in ABAP program, download it to a unix server file

$5 = Path of unix server file to be sent as email attachment

$6 = Name to be given to the attachment (like test1.doc, test1.xls). The corresponding Microsoft icon

will be shown in the email for the type of file attached ( Word document, excel document etc) The script builds a temporary file and pipes the file to the sendmail command to achieve the mission. This script can be invoked from SAP to send the mail to the intended recipient. Store this small script on the unix server. (Assume script name is sndmail ) To do this we should define a link in the SAP system between a customized command and this unix script.

The FM to define a customized command in SAP system has the following pattern.

call function ‘SXPG_CALL_SYSTEM’

exporting

commandname =

PARAMETERS = ‘ ‘

importing

status =

tables

exec_protocol =

exceptions

no_permission = 1

command_not_found = 2

parameters_too_long = 3

security_risk = 4

wrong_check_call_interface = 5

program_start_error = 6

program_termination_error = 7

x_error = 8

parameter_expected = 9

too_many_parameters = 10

illegal_command = 11

others = 12