from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Business Application Programming Interface
BAPI
<business, application, programming> (BAPI) /bap'ee/ A set of
{methods} provided by an {SAP} business {object}.
Release 4.0 of {SAP AG}'s {R/3} system supports
{object-oriented programming} via an interface defined in
terms of {objects} and {methods} called BAPIs. For example if
a material object provides a function to check availability,
the corresponding SAP business object type "Material" might
provide a BAPI called "Material.CheckAvailability".
The definitions of SAP business objects and their BAPIs are
kept in an SAP business object repository. SAP provide
{classes} and {libraries} to enable a programming team to
build SAP applications that use business objects and BAPIs.
Supported environments include {COM} and {Java}.
The Open BAPI Network
(http://sap.com/solutions/technology/bapis/index.htm).
gives background information and lists objects and BAPIs.
(2002-08-30)