Integration with Other Applications > Introduction to Windchill ESI > Integrating Windchill ESI with SAP > Supported Business Processes > Tooling Numbers Over Eighteen Characters
  
Tooling Numbers Over Eighteen Characters
There is a difference in the allowed database character length for the tooling number attribute in Windchill MPMLink and the equipment/material number (a tooling can be created as equipment or as a material in SAP) attribute in SAP to which it is mapped. The Windchill MPMLink tooling number field limit is 40 characters, whereas the SAP equipment/material number field limit is 18 characters. If tooling from Windchill MPMLink have tool numbers that are greater than 18 characters, an error appears and middleware processing ends.
To prevent this from happening, you can do one of the following:
• Ask your administrator to add validation to the Windchill GUI to prevent tooling numbers that are over 18 characters. For more information on how to limit attribute lengths in Windchill MPMLink, refer to the Windchill Customizer's Guide.
• Ask your administrator to modify SAP to allow equipment or material to be created with numbers up to 40 characters.
• Modify the EAI software components to truncate tooling numbers to meet the required SAP field length.
For more information, refer to the Installing and ConfiguringWindchill ESIin an SAP Environment.