Chapter 21. Connecting to SAP Concur

SAP Concur manages business expenses, travel, and invoices. In an integration, you can connect to SAP Concur and perform any one of a large variety of SAP Concur actions. For example, suppose that you store project codes in a SQL database and you need the same project codes in SAP Concur so that expenses can be associated with projects. You can create an integration that connects to your SQL database and runs a stored procedure that obtains any new project codes. The integration can then connect to SAP Concur and upload the new project codes to the appropriate list.

See the following topics:

21.1. User roles for connecting to SAP Concur

SAP Concur has an implementation site for development work and a production site for live use. The implementation site simulates the production site. This lets you create and refine an integration before you use it in production with the live SAP Concur site.

At any one time, a Fuse Online environment can connect to the SAP Concur implementation site or the SAP Concur production site. In other words, a particular Fuse Online environment does not support connections to both SAP Concur sites at the same time. Each Fuse Online environment requires its own credentials for accessing each SAP Concur site and the credentials for the implementation site are different from the credentials for the production site.

Consequently, the expectation is that someone in a system administrator-like role would do the following:

  1. Obtain two sets of OAuth credentials from SAP Concur:

    • One set for access to the SAP Concur implementation site
    • Another set for access to the SAP Concur production site
  2. Configure the SAP Concur connector for access to the appropriate SAP Concur site.
  3. Create a SAP Concur connection.

A business user can then create an integration that uses the SAP Concur connection.

21.2. How to Obtain SAP Concur implementation site OAuth credentials

To obtain credentials for accessing the SAP Concur implementation site, contact SAP Concur directly and tell them:

  • You want to register Fuse Online as a new app that is authorized to access the SAP Concur implementation site.
  • You want a new set of OAuth credentials for their implementation site.
  • The credentials must include the LIST scope.
  • Optionally, to obtain permission to perform actions other than the list actions, ask for other scopes.
  • The OAuth grant type for these credentials should be Authorization Grant Flow.

    To use a REST client, such as Postman, to send a request to the SAP Concur implementation site, you need credentials with an OAuth grant type of Password.

  • The Fuse Online callback URL for the environment that that you want credentials for, which is something like this:

    https://syndesis.my-minishift.syndesis.io/api/v1/credentials/callback

    In this URL, syndesis.my-minishift.syndesis.io matches the OpenShift route to your Fuse Online environment.

The response from SAP Concur should provide:

  • A username and password for logging in to the SAP Concur implementation site.
  • Client ID and client secret values that you will specify in the Fuse Online development environment Settings page to configure the Fuse Online SAP Concur connector.

21.3. How to obtain SAP Concur production site OAuth credentials

To obtain OAuth credentials that authorize Fuse Online to access the SAP Concur production site, go to the SAP Concur Developer Center Getting Started page and follow the instructions there.

21.4. Configuring the SAP Concur connector

To connect to SAP Concur in an integration, you must configure the Fuse Online SAP Concur connector. You can then use the connector to create a connection to SAP Concur.

Prerequisites

  • You know whether you want to configure the SAP Concur connector to access the SAP Concur implementation site or the SAP Concur production site.
  • You obtained OAuth credentials that authorize your Fuse Online environment to access the appropriate SAP Concur site.

Procedure

  1. In Fuse Online, in the left panel, click Settings.
  2. On the Settings page, expand the SAP Concur entry.
  3. In the Client ID field, enter the client ID that you received from SAP Concur.
  4. In the Client Secret field, enter the client secret that you received from SAP Concur.

    Fuse Online populates the other fields.

  5. Click Save.

    Fuse Online immediately tries to validate the configuration. If validation is not successful, correct the input values and try again. If validation is successful, you can create a SAP Concur connection, which you can add to an integration.

  6. Click the SAP Concur entry to collapse it.

Next steps

Create a SAP Concur connection.

21.5. Creating a SAP Concur connection

To connect to SAP Concur in an integration, you must first create a SAP Concur connection, which you can then add to any number of integrations. When you create a SAP Concur connection, you authorize the connection to access SAP Concur with the login credentials that you enter when you create the connection.

Prerequisites

  • In the Fuse Online environment in which you are creating the connection, you must have configured the SAP Concur connector.
  • You should know whether the connector is configured for access to the SAP Concur implementation site or the SAP Concur production site.
  • You must have a user name and password for logging in to the SAP Concur site for which the SAP Concur connector is configured.

Procedure

  1. In Fuse Online, in the left panel, click Connections to display any available connections.
  2. Click Create Connection to display the available connectors. A connector is a template that you use to create one or more connections.
  3. Click the SAP Concur connector.
  4. In the Configure Connection page, click Connect SAP Concur, which takes you to the SAP Concur site for which the connector is configured.

    If Connect SAP Concur does not appear, then the SAP Concur connector in your Fuse Online environment is not configured. See Configuring the SAP Concur connector.

    If redirect_uri is improper or not previously registered appears, then the SAP Concur connector configuration is incorrect. Return to the Fuse Online Settings page to update and validate the connector configuration.

  5. On the SAP Concur OAuth site:

    1. Enter the email address for the SAP Concur account that you want this connection to use to access SAP Concur.
    2. Ensure that Username is selected.
    3. Click Continue.
    4. Enter the SAP Concur password associated with the email address.
    5. Click Sign In, which returns you to Fuse Online.
  6. In the Fuse Online Name field, enter your choice of a name that helps you distinguish this connection from any other connections. For example, enter SAP Concur Test1.
  7. In the Description field, optionally enter any information that is helpful to know about this connection. For example, enter Sample SAP Concur connection to the implementation site.
  8. Click Save to see that the connection you created is now available. If you entered the example name, you would see that SAP Concur Test1 appears as a connection that you can choose to add to an integration.

21.6. Adding a SAP Concur connection to an integration

You can add a SAP Concur connection to the middle of a flow or as the finish connection in a simple integration. A connection to SAP Concur can perform any one of 85 actions.

Prerequisites

  • You created a SAP Concur connection.
  • You are creating or editing a flow.
  • Fuse Online is prompting you to add to the integration, or to choose the finish connection in a simple integration.

Procedure

  1. On the Add to Integration page, click the plus sign where you want to add the connection. Skip this step if Fuse Online is prompting you to choose the finish connection.
  2. Click the SAP Concur connection that you want to add to the flow. When the integration uses the connection that you select, Fuse Online uses the credentials defined in that connection to connect to SAP Concur.
  3. Select the action that you want the connection to perform. Each SAP Concur connection that you add to a flow performs only the action you choose.

    For details about SAP Concur actions, visit the SAP Concur developer center and expand v3.0.

  4. Click Next to add the connection to the flow.

Result

The connection appears in the integration visualization where you added it.

21.7. Example of mapping integration data fields to SAP Concur fields

In most integrations, you need to add a data mapping step before a connection to SAP Concur. In the data mapping step, you map data fields that are available from previous integration steps to SAP Concur action parameters. In the data mapper, the Target panel displays the SAP Concur parameters for the action that you selected when you added the SAP Concur connection to the integration.

Suppose that an integration starts by executing a SQL stored procedure that obtains new project codes. The integration finishes by adding new project codes to SAP Concur. The following procedure provides an example of a data mapper step before the SAP Concur connection. The integration visualization displays and Fuse Online is prompting you to add to the integration.

  1. In the integration visualization, click the plus sign that is before the SAP Concur finish connection.
  2. Click Data Mapper. When the data fields appear, the Sources panel on the left displays the fields that are available from the database connection. In this example, the source fields include concur-list-id and project-code. The Target panel on the right displays the SAP Concur id and content parameters for the update list action, which the connection performs.
  3. Map the concur-list-id source field to the id target field.
  4. Map the project-code source field to the content target field.
  5. In the upper right, click Done to add the data mapper step to the integration.