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Summary: A must have for anyone involved in ALE/EDI
Review: I have worked on two SAP implementations as a programmer in the ALE and EDI area. Recently I got hold of Arvind' book. I found his book very well organized and easy to understand. I particularly liked his style of explaining the concepts augmented by several diagrams, which are very informative. In the past several concepts were a mystery to me due to lack of documentation in SAP but Arvind's book explains the concepts which I could have only learnt by studying the actual SAP code. The breadth and depth of the material covered in the book has been well balanced. I found it fairly simple to navigate quickly to my area of interest.....thanks to a detailed table of contents. It was nice to see some of the same tips and suggestions as he has regularly shared with us on the SAP Internet discussion groups for several years. A great book from someone who has been active in the ALE/EDI community for a long time. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to become an ALE/EDI expert.Jay
Rating:
Summary: Impressive coverage of ALE/EDI
Review: I highly recommend this book to anyone working or interested in learning about this very important technology. I have bought most of the books dealing with SAP technical areas and I think this is one of the most impressive and useful books so far. Its coverage of ALE/EDI is very thorough and complete, it even gives some coverage of the application areas such as SD, MM, etc. I disagree with the previous comments and I feel that this book gives good coverage of ALE/EDI for 4.0, since from the technical perpective there were no major changes in ALE in 4.0 only more scenarios (HR scenarios mostly) and new enhancements to deal with inter-dependent IDOCs.
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Summary: I've read both the Arvind Nagpal and Rajeev Kasturi books
Review: I've read both the Arvind Nagpal and Rajeev Kasturi books, and I conclude that the Nagpal book is much better for me, a person who has been doing SAP EDI for several years. I do not know either of these authors. I do not have anything to do with the publishers. I bet this is more than many of the reviewers here can say! I know that sheer bulk is not what we are buying here, but let's do some numbers to examine one aspect of the comparison. The Kasturi book starts with 388 pages. Well over 100 pages in the back are tables out of SAP that we can print any time we want (or save a tree and just pull up a screen). Since I've worked with SAP EDI for a few years, I didn't expect a lot of things to be new to me in the first 3 or 4 chapters, but man, there was nothing even moderatly interesting to me in the early part of the book. That left about 150 pages in the middle that, I'll admit, I only skimmed. But the per-page cost of those few possibly valuable pages is quite high! There was a strong ALE / example flavor to the book. As if someone wrote about a few of their favorite implementations. Now, the Nagpal book starts with quite a few more pages (786). There is NOT a huge section of this book dedicated to stuff I could print out of or look up in SAP. Yes, some of this stuff is 'light' too. And again, I'll admit to skimming a lot of it that I didn't have a pressing need to know right now. And yes, there are quite a few print-screens in the book (but I LIKE print-screens). The bottom line is that I, a person who's been using SAP-EDI quite a while, found the Nagpal title MORE INTERESTING, INFORMATIVE, and found it had MORE INFORMATION than the Kasturi book. --Dale--
Rating:
Summary: Well organized and presented book on EDI/ALE
Review: Informative book on EDI/ALE. Recommended for business users and consultants alike who are new to this area of SAP. Book does include many transaction codes, menu paths, flow charts, and detailed information. Some config screens are explained as well. I was primarily interested in ALE part and though the book focusses on EDI, it was worth it. Saves me time over reading SAP's on-line help. Although ALE menu paths have changed in 4.0 still most of the information presented in the book is pertinent.
Rating: 
Summary: Utter waste of time and money...full of whitespace...
Review: One would think a thick book such as this would contain atleast some useful info - but you will be disappointed. The explanations are vague and the author keeps asking you to contact some other field expert on subject matter that is pertinent to ALE or EDI!!! The book is full of whitespace and large font with lots of screen dumps. Take that all away and you are left with nothing! An utter waste of time and money. I find the book "SAP R/3 ALE & EDI Technologies" by Rajeev Kasturi much better and satisfying.
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Summary: Table of Contents
Review: Section I - EDI Part 1: EDI Basics Chapter 1. Introduction to the EDI Process Chapter 2. Introduction to SAP EDI Architecture Part 2: The SAP EDI Interface Chapter 3. The Outbound EDI Process Chapter 4. The Inbound EDI Process Chapter 5. The EDI Subsystem Part 3: Configuring the EDI Interface Chapter 6. Configuring Basic EDI Components Chapter 7. Configuring Partner Profiles Chapter 8. Configuring Message Control Chapter 9. Configuring Workflow Part 4: Operating and Administering the EDI Interface Chapter 10. Testing the EDI Interface Chapter 11. Monitoring the Interface Chapter 12. EDI Process Troubleshooting and Recovery Chapter 13. Managing EDI Process Performance and Throughput Part 5: EDI Scenarios Chapter 14. Outbound with Message Control - Purchase Orders Chapter 15. Outbound without Message Control - Remittance Advice Chapter 16. Inbound with Function Module - Sales Orders Chapter 17. Inbound via Workflow - Sales Order Changes Section II - ALE Part 6: ALE Basics Chapter 18. Introduction to Distributed Systems Chapter 19. Introduction to ALE Technology Part 7: The SAP ALE Interface Chapter 20. The Outbound ALE Process Chapter 21. The Inbound ALE Process Part 8: Configuring the ALE Interface Chapter 22. Configuring the ALE Infrastructure Chapter 23. Distributing Master Data Chapter 24. Implementing Distributed Business Processes Chapter 25. SAP to Non-SAP Communication Part 9: Operating and Administering the ALE Interface Chapter 26. Testing the ALE Interface Chapter 27. ALE Process Troubleshooting and Recovery Chapter 28. Managing ALE Process Performance and Throughput Section III - IDocs Part 10: IDoc Basics Chapter 29. IDocs from the Outside Chapter 30. IDocs on the Inside Part 11: Customer Modifications to the IDoc Interface Chapter 31. Extending and Developing a Basic IDoc Type Chapter 32. Programming in the IDoc Interface Chapter 33. Customizing the Interface for New or Extended IDocs Part 12: Archiving in the IDoc Interface Chapter 34. Archiving IDocs and Deleting Workitems Appendix: FAQs, User Exits, and Miscellaneous Resources Index
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Summary: Our entire ALE/EDI department has this book
Review: See for yourselves. Full of practical advise every step of the way
Rating:
Summary: A great book, well organized and full of useful information!
Review: Thank you for an excellent book! I think it would be safe to say that this book has saved my company more than $30K in consulting costs already. I expect the savings to increase because his recommendations will allow us to implement a system with the proper controls in place to avoid costly errors. I have found Mr. Nagpal's book an invaluable reference to assist me in connecting our SAP 4.0B system to our major Canadian retailer customers. I think SAP or the EAI vendors should give this book out with every licence! It's like a patient (and affordable!) SAP EDI consultant walking you through every step of the way. I own both books and this one is by far the most useful. We did a customer master file load using ALE techniques and some program names were covered in the other book but Mr. Nagpal's book is the one I refer to daily. If you have to do EDI with SAP then don't hesitate to buy this book.
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Summary: comment
Review: Thank you for your review of "one weak to freedom"
Rating: 
Summary: Even the Appendix is worth it
Review: The appendix has lists of transaction codes, lists of programs and list of other information that already makes the book worth the money.
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