OData Services in SAP S/4HANA Explained
A practical guide to OData V2 and V4 services in SAP S/4HANA — how they are built from CDS Views, how to find them, and how to consume them.
What Is OData?
OData (Open Data Protocol) is a REST-based protocol for querying and manipulating data. SAP S/4HANA uses OData as the primary API technology for exposing business data to external consumers — Fiori applications, third-party integrations, and mobile apps.
OData V2 vs V4
SAP S/4HANA supports both OData V2 and V4:
| Aspect | OData V2 | OData V4 |
|---|---|---|
| Protocol | AtomPub / JSON | JSON only |
| Actions/Functions | Function imports | Bound/unbound actions & functions |
| Filtering | $filter | $filter with lambda operators |
| ABAP model | SEGW (Gateway) | RAP (RESTful Application Programming) |
| Batch | $batch | $batch with change sets |
From CDS View to OData Service
The path from a CDS View to a callable OData API follows three steps:
- CDS View — Defines the data model (fields, associations, annotations)
- Service Definition (SRVD) — Declares which CDS Views to expose as OData entities
- Service Binding (SRVB) — Binds the definition to a specific OData protocol version (V2 or V4) and publishes it
Finding OData Services
You can discover SAP OData services through:
- CDSee Service Browser — Search service definitions, see exposed views and bindings
- API Business Hub on CDSee — Browse published OData APIs with documentation links
- The SAP Business Accelerator Hub at api.sap.com — Official SAP API catalog