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SAP NetWeaver Gateway

Using open standards to provide

people-centric access to SAP businessinformation.It seems that whichever way you turn now, theres some new computing device onthe market demanding your undivided attention because its lighter, faster andgenerally cooler than any of its rivals or predecessors. However, no matter whatfeatures the latest and greatest gadgets have, they all have one thing in commonaninsatiable hunger for data!

Meeting this seemingly never-endingdemand for business data can turn into amajor headache for application developersif the API into each business system

requires the use of proprietary protocols.

What would make life much simpler is aneasytouse, well defined API that givesaccess to the rich wealth of business dataand functionality in your SAP systems.

SAP NetWeaver Gateway provides an APIthat is designed to function in just such amanner; and it does so using Microsoftsopen and license free standard calledOData.

Accessing SAP Business Data usingOpen Source toolsConsumption of data through the SAP NetWeaver Gateway interface requires nothingmore than the ability to make an HTTP(S) request (something any browser can do); inother words, it does not require the use of any SAP proprietary software or protocols.

Although it is perfectly legitimate to do so, the consumption of data through the SAPNetWeaver Gateway interface does not impose any requirement on the applicationdeveloper to be able to write software in ABAP, or even to have any understanding ofthe internal workings of an SAP system.

Using nothing more than commonly available development tools such as Microsofts.Net or Apples XCode, or Open Source languages such as Ruby or PHP, you can easilycreate user interfaces for SAP business data and functionality by consuming the ODatmessages coming out of an SAP NetWeaver Gateway server.

In order to make the OData consumption process even easier, SAP delivers severalversions of the Gateway Consumption Tool. This tool can currently be used by eitherVisual Studio 2010 or XCode and generates an OData proxy object. In addition to this,it can also generate a basic application that wraps the generated proxy object.

SAP Technical Brief

The SAP NetWeaver

Gateway is a set of

ABAP add-ons to your

existing SAP ERP

system that provides

easy access to your

business information

in a simple, people-

centric manner and

lowers the data

consumption barrier

to the point that no

prior knowledge of an

SAP system's internalworkings is required.

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SAP Business Data Is Now Self-DescribingAs can be seen from the diagram on the right, Microsofts OData protocol is based on theAtom Publishing Protocol which in turn, is based on the Atom Syndication Format. SAP hasused the standard extensibility features found in OData to provide its own annotations.

The combination of ODatas data format and the SAP Annotations make SAP business

information both self-describing and human readable.

These two factors alone lower the barrier for consuming SAP business data and functionalityto the point that no specialist knowledge of an SAP system is required before such data canbe incorporated into a useful business application running on some external device.

Taking REST in SAP NetWeaver GatewayThe SAP NetWeaver Gateway interface has been designed to conform completely to the sixarchitectural constraints that define a RESTful software system. This makes the business datacontent of your SAP systems accessible as RESTful resources through a uniform, statelessinterface to any software system that can communicate using HTTP(S) and the ODataprotocol.

So is SAP NetWeaver Gateway Just For Mobile Devices?It is easy to think of an external device as being simply some type of hand-held, mobile device; but while that idea is

perfectly valid and may well be of great significance toyou, its only one of several possibilities.

The whole focus of the SAP NetWeaver Gateway interface is the REST enablement of SAP business data and functionality,thereby making it easy for non-SAP applications toconsume. These could be:

Any external business application. E.G. MicrosoftOffice applications via a .Net (or even VBA) interface

Desktop machines using Web-based applicationsrunning PHP or Java or Ruby or...

Native applications on mobile devices E.G.iPad/iPhone or an Android device or a Blackberry.

Embedded devices such as manufacturing robots orroute planning software in Satellite Navigationsystems.

Any other business scenario you can think ofinvolving some programmable device that can speakHTTP(S)...

Supply Your SAP Business Data to Any Device (that can

speak HTTP)The SAP NetWeaver Gateway interface can be used by any programmable device that can speak HTTP(S). In providing thiscapability, it hides the complexities that exist within your system landscape by making use of:

Protocol AdaptationOData becomes the only communication protocol needed for you to supply or consume SAP Business Data to or from

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And on the

ABAP Side of

Things...Not wanting to leave out all thedie-hard ABAPers out there, theSAP NetWeaver Gateway Add-Onprovides you with the ODataChannel. This is a set of ABAP

classes and interfaces that can beused to develop your ownGateway Model Objects withinyour backend SAP system. Theseare then registered with your SAPNetWeaver Gateway system inorder to make them accessible tothe outside world as RESTfulservices.

your SAP systems.Service Adaptation

Different types and versions of SAP systems now appear as a single, integrated repository of business information.

Does SAP NetWeaver Gateway Replace any Existing SAP

Software?In a word No. SAP NetWeaver Gateway is not designed to be a channel for the type of transactional applications used byPower Users, neither is it designed to replace existing middleware like SAP NetWeaver PI. In addition to this, SAP NetWeaverGateway applications are not designed to target A2A or B2B scenarios.

Instead, SAP NetWeaver Gateway is the door through which the mass consumption of SAP business data and functionality ismade possible. The target audience for SAP NetWeaver Gateway applications is a group known as Occasional Platform Users(OPU). These are people who need ad hoc access to SAP data and functionality in an easy-to-consume manner.

Calling ALL Developers (Not Just ABAP Developers)As part of the SAP NetWeaver Gateway software, you get various Service Provisioning tools. These tools will generate thenecessary source code to jump-start the development of your external business applications. These tools can be used inconjunction with widely used Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) such Eclipse, Visual Studio 2010 and XCode.

What Impact will the Gateway Software have on my

System?The exact configuration of your SAP NetWeaver Gateway installation will vary depending on your particular use case, but ingeneral, there are two ways in which it can be installed. Either as:

An Add-On to your existing SAP system, or

A stand-alone Gateway instance

Either way, since the installation of SAP NetWeaver Gateway is provided through the ABAP Add-On process, it will notinterfere with the functionality of your existing system.

Key Benefits

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The SAP NetWeaver Gateway interface:

REST-enables your SAP system, thereby lowering the data consumption barrier to the point that no specialist knowledgeof an SAP system is required before SAP business data and functionality can be consumed.

Hides the technical complexities of your SAP system landscape behind a single interface that is easy-to-use and non-proprietary.

Makes your SAP business data and functionality accessible to any external device or system that can:

1. Communicate using the HTTP(S) protocol

2. Understand OData messages

Provides Service Provisioning tools that allow the quick REST-enablement of existing ABAP functionality.

Provides plug-ins for well known IDEs such as Eclipse, Visual Studio 2010 and XCode.

Is installed as an ABAP Add-On; therefore, it will not interfere with your existing productive software.

Learn MoreThe SAP NetWeaver Gateway interface has its own page now on the SAP Developer Network, and will be the subject oflectures and sessions at Sapphire and TechEd in 2011.