Data Interfaces

Component Architecture
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OLE OLE
Remote Function
Calls Calls
CPI-C
In a desktop environment, SAP components for integration with R/3 have a layered architecture.
The CPI-C foundation layer offers low-level program-to-program communication from the desktop with
an R/3 application server via TCP/IP. CPI-C itself is not available as an API for development on all
desktop platforms.
The RFC layer allows access to function modules from a wide range of platforms. Here, the underlying
CPI-C commands are concealed and transparent to the user.
OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) is an object layer which is located above the RFC interface in a
desktop environment. OLE 2.0-compatible applications can communicate with R/3 Release 3.0 via this
interface. SAP’s implementation of the OLE layer is based on RFC API commends.