SAP label printing with the Loftware ABAP Package

Problem

Designing, managing, and maintaining labels in SAP can require time-consuming work in SAPscript or Smart Forms. You want to simplify your SAP labeling process and prevent potential label content errors.

Solution

The Loftware ABAP Package makes your SAP labeling more user-friendly and reliable.

The ABAP Package connects SAP with Loftware systems as part of Loftware Cloud or LMS. The ABAP Package receives commands and data from your SAP applications and communicates with Loftware Automation to print your labels.

The ABAP Package includes a label printing API that SAP uses to send data for printing. The API packages the data received by SAP applications into an XML message and sends the XML message to Loftware Automation via Web Service (SOA) or HTTP (RFC type G) communication.

To print, Loftware Automation loads the labels you specify from your Loftware Document Management System (DMS), applies variable values from XML data, and uses your Loftware printer driver to prepare print jobs in Windows Spooler.

You create your label templates in Loftware Desktop Designer and store them in your DMS, where you can apply the approval workflows and version controls. Your Loftware DMS also supports role-based access control (RBAC) and stores the history of all print events. You can also reprint labels directly from the DMS.

Note

The ABAP package is available for Loftware Cloud Business edition (or higher).

To run the ABAP Package in SAP, first check your Loftware and SAP system requirements.

The ABAP Package enables you to:

  • Print labels with data from SAP.

  • Generate label previews (PDF, PNG, or JPEG).

  • Report live statuses of your label printers.

  • Generate a list of all the labels in your DMS.

  • Generate a list of available printers.

  • Generate a list of the variables used in your labels.

  • Send binary print jobs to SAP.

The ABAP Package contains:

  • An ABAP transport package you install in SAP.

  • A Loftware Automation configuration with an SOA (Web Service) trigger and an RFC type G (HTTP) trigger.

    You can configure the ABAP Package to transfer data to Automation using one of these two communication methods.

  • Sample labels with data sources for printing standard SAP transactions (such as Outbound Deliveries - VL02N).

The ABAP package gives you label template previews with master data and instant on-demand label printing directly from your SAP user interface.