SQL Server Database Backend Connection

If the SAP instance is on a SQL server backend, you can connect directly to the SQL Server database. This is an effective way to extract SAP data, however because all of the tables & field names are encoded, it can be very difficult to find the data you need if you don’t have a domain expert.

SAP ERP CData Provider

This provider comes with TimeXtender and connects directly to the application and can therefore can support multiple versions of SAP including S/4 HANA. This provider uses the RFC_READ_TABLE function exclusively. Unfortunately this SAP function has many known limitations such as slow performance, row sizes must be less than 512 bytes, and in some cases the inability to extract decimal fields. You can read more about the SAP CData provider here.

TimeXtender SAP Table Data Source

This is the best integration we have with SAP providing the fastest performance as well as translation of field/table names. Our development team has worked extensively on this provider ensuring the best solution for the many customer in the DACH and EMEA regions. The downside of this provider is that it requires both SSIS and the Theobald Xtract IS components to be install on the TimeXtender application server. Both of which come with additional licensing costs. You can read the following article to learn more about the ODX SAP Table Data Source Configuration.