This example assumes that a purchase order release procedure has been configured in your SAP system. A release procedure in SAP can be used to define the conditions (for example total value exceeds USD 10,000) for the approval (release) of a purchase order before it can be processed further. For the SAP user, this is visible on the ‘Release strategy’ tab of the Purchase Order display screen.

BCS-PO-VS-SAP

SAP provides a set of standard interfaces in the form of BAPIs (Business APIs) to access purchase order data remotely. The BAPI function modules you will use in this example are:

BAPI_PO_GETITEMSREL - Returns a list of purchase orders that are subject to release. You will use this function module for the Finder method.
BAPI_PO_GETITEMS - Returns one or more purchase orders, based on selection criteria. You will use this function module for the Specific Finder method.
BAPI_PO_RELEASE - Releases a purchase order in SAP. You will use this function module for the custom Release method.