Using Application Integrator to Incorporate External Web

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© 2011 SAP AG 1

Using Application Integrator to

Incorporate External Web

Applications with Parameters and

Web Cookies

Applies to:

Integration of external web applications into SAP Enterprise Portal (WAS Version 6.0 or WAS Version 7.0).

For more information, visit the User Interface Technology Homepage. For more information, visit the Portal and Collaboration homepage

Summary

This article describes how a web application can be integrated within the SAP Enterprise Portal, thereby enabling the users a single point, single sign-on access to multiple non-SAP applications.

Author: Divyata Dal

Company: Invenio Business Solutions

Created on: 28th January, 2011

Author Bio

Divyata Dal is currently working at Invenio Business Solutions. She has 3.5 years of experience in SAP Netweaver and SAP ABAP. She has expertise in diverse aspects of SAP Portal, ABAP, Web Dynpro for ABAP, Web Dynpro for Java, Java/J2EE and Adobe Flex.

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/nw-portalandcollaboration


Using Application Integrator to Incorporate External Web Applications with Parameters and Web Cookies


© 2011 SAP AG 2

Table of Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Upload PAR File into SAP Portal ........................................................................................................................ 3

Creating a Template ........................................................................................................................................... 4

Creating a System using created Template ....................................................................................................... 8

Create User Mapping ........................................................................................................................................ 14

Create iView to launch external application...................................................................................................... 16

Customize Browser Settings to enable cookies ............................................................................................... 21

Internet Explorer ............................................................................................................................................ 21

Google Chrome ............................................................................................................................................. 24

Related Content ................................................................................................................................................ 25

Disclaimer and Liability Notice .......................................................................................................................... 26



© 2011 SAP AG 3

Introduction

The fundamental capability of the SAP Enterprise Portal is to provide a single point of access to multiple SAP and non-SAP backend applications, thereby encompassing abundant information, e-business, e-commerce, mobile and internet portals.

There are several ways to integrate a non-SAP internet portal into the SAP Portal depending on the conditions. One of the ways to integrate remote Web Applications into the portal is by using the Application Integrator. This service creates portal components that serve as a template for iViews to represent the remote application.

Upload PAR File into SAP Portal

The Application Integrator is a PAR file that must be incorporated into SAP Portal to achieve single sign-on with user mapping for a remote web application.

The Application Integrator PAR file can be downloaded from SDN. The PAR file once downloaded must be extracted and uploaded into SAP Portal. For this the following steps must be followed:

1. Login to SAP Portal with a user having administrator rights

2. Navigate to System Administration -> Support -> Portal Runtime -> Administration Console

3. In the “Archive Uploader” option, browse to the PAR file and click on upload



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Creating a Template

To use the Application Integrator PAR file, we must create a System Template. The following steps must be followed to create a template for the application integrator:

1. Login to SAP Portal and navigate to System Administration -> System Configuration -> System Landscape -> Portal Content

2. Create a new folder or right click on an existing folder and select New -> System (from PAR)

3. Select com.sap.portal.howtos.webapp and click on Next



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4. The next screen displays „Web Application‟ default selected. Click Next again

5. Enter the System Name as „Application Integrator Template‟, System ID as „Application_Integrator_Template‟, language as the default and click next



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6. Click Finish

7. Select „Open object for editing‟ and click on OK. Notice the created object in the folder and the icon preceding it. It indicates that the object is a system



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8. The Boolean property „Is a Template‟ must be set to „Yes‟ to allow us to use this System as a template by the system referencing the external web application. Click on Save

9. The System Template has been successfully created in the mentioned folder. The icon has changed now to denote a System Template

10. Close the template



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Creating a System using created Template

Generally, when creating a new system, we used standard templates. However, in this case, we shall use the template created above.

1. Navigate to System Administration -> System Configuration -> System Landscape -> Portal Content

2. Right click on an existing folder or create a new folder and select New -> System (from template)

3. Select the „Application Integrator Template‟ and click Next



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4. Enter the System Name, System ID and select the default language. Click Next

5. The System „Application Integrator‟ is created successfully. Click on Finish



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6. Select „Open the object for editing‟ and click OK

7. Select „System Definition‟ from the Property Category drop-down



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8. Enter the details.

a. Name of the server: hosting.rediff.com -> This is the URL of the login page

b. Protocol of the target system: HTTP -> This depends on the protocol used by the web application. Either HTTP / HTTPS

c. URI of web application : /hosting/scripts/authenticate.phtml -> This can be retrieved from the „View Source‟ of the login page. You can search for the post method which is called when the login ID and the password are validated on click on the „Login‟ button, for instance. The „action‟ property of the button holds this value

Click Save

9. Now, select „User Management‟ from the Property Category drop-down



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10. The „Logon Method‟ would be UIDPW, since access to the web application requires the user ID and the password. Select the „User Mapping Type‟ as „admin,user‟, since we would be mapping the logged in portal user‟s ID to the external web application‟s login credentials

Click on Save

11. Now, we need to create an alias to reference this system. This is required to enable user mapping with of the portal user with the external application. Select „System Aliases‟ from the „Display‟ drop-down



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12. Enter the alias name in the text field and click on Add. The alias will be set as the default alias. Click on Save



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Create User Mapping

When a user logins to the SAP Portal, he/she is automatically authenticated for the remote web applications, thereby averting an explicit authentications. To achieve this, follow the below steps:

1. Navigate to User Administration -> Identity Management -> Search

2. Select the „Search Criteria‟ as „User‟ and enter the ID of the portal user in the text field alongside. Click on „Go‟

3. Now select the row. The modifiable properties will be displayed in the screen below. Traverse to the Navigation Menu and select the option „User Mapping for System Access‟



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4. Select the system created (AppInt) from the drop-down and click on Modify. Now enter the user ID (Email ID in this case) and the password corresponding to the login credentials required to authenticate the external web portal

5. Click on Save



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Create iView to launch external application

Then final step is to create an iView to hold the external application.

1. Navigate to Content Administration -> Portal Content -> Portal Content

2. Create a new folder, say, Application Integrator. Right click on the folder -> New -> iView

3. Select iView Template and click Next



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4. In the next screen, a list of the deployed PAR files are displayed. Navigate to com.sap.portal.appintegrator.sap and click Next

5. Select „Generic‟ Portal Component and click on Next



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6. Enter the iView Name, iView ID, language and click on Next. In the next screen, click on Finish.

7. Select „Open object for editing‟ and click OK



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8. From the Property Category drop-down, select Content – Generic Launcher

9. Enter the following property-value pairs:

a. System: AppInt -> Refers to the System created previously

b. URI Template: <System.protocol>://<System.server><System.uri>?reseller_check=1&<Authentication> -> The reference template to decode the URI entered during system creation. Here reseller_check=1 is a boolean value passed to the application as a parameter to the application, corresponding to the checkbox on the login screen

c. URL Template Fragment for User Mapping: cllogin=<MappedUser>&clpass=<MappedPassword> -> Here, cllogin and clpass are names of the respective text fields fetched from the „View Source‟ of the login page

d. HTTP Request Method: HTTP:POST



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10. Click on Preview to see the inbox for the credentials mentioned in the User Mapping of the System „AppInt‟



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Customize Browser Settings to enable cookies

In cases where the external web application relies on cookies to store the user credentials, one has to ensure that the browser allows creation of web cookies.

Cookie is a message sent by the web server to the web browser and stored at the user-end in a text file. The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and customize web pages or store user preferences.

In the creation of the iView, when we are passing the parameter and the login credentials, the server captures this information and creates a cookie, which in turn is saved at the user‟s end.

To ensure that your browser allows cookies, we need to customize the browser settings. If these settings are disabled, then the cookie will not be created and a default page will be displayed to the user.

Internet Explorer

The following parameters must be checked to enable cookies on Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools -> Internet Options

2. In the „Privacy‟ tab, click on the „Advanced‟ button. Select the checkbox „Override automatic cookie handling‟ and „Accept‟ in case of both, „First-party Cookies‟ and „Third-party Cookies‟. Also, select the checkbox „Always allow session cookies‟ and click on OK.

3. In the „Security‟ tab, click on „Custom level…‟ button. A popup is displayed. Ensure that the following radio buttons are selected:

a. Miscellaneous -> Userdata Persistence: Enable

b. Scripting -> Active Scripting: Enable

c. Scripting -> Scripting of Java applets: Enable



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4. In the „Advanced‟ tab, under „HTTP 1.1 Settings‟, enable the checkboxes, „Use HTTP 1.1‟ and „Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections



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5. Now, under the „General‟ tab, click „Settings‟ under the „Browsing History‟ section. For „Check for newer versions of stored pages‟, select the radio button: „Every time I start Internet Explorer

6. Optionally, the popup blocker ma be disabled. (Tools -> Internet Options -> Security tab -> Custom level… -> Miscellaneous -> Use Pop-up Blocker -> Disable



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Google Chrome

By default, cookies are enabled in Google Chrome. However, it does allow customization of cookie permissions.

Click on the wrench icon. Select Options -> „Under the Hood‟ tab -> Content Settings under Privacy -> Cookies. To enable cookies, set the radio button, „Allow local data to be set (recommended).



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Related Content

Download Application Integrator

Application Integrator

How to use Application Integrator

Enable Cookies in Internet Explorer

Enable Cookies in Google Chrome

For more information, visit the Portal and Collaboration homepage

http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/bf8cc890-0201-0010-00b1-8d04e5f4378a?language=en



http://www.scribd.com/doc/39872418/EP-DOC-How-to-Use-the-Application-Integrator

http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/EP/MSIE+6+Browser+Settings+for+accessing+SAP+Portals

http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95647




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Disclaimer and Liability Notice

This document may discuss sample coding or other information that does not include SAP official interfaces and therefore is not supported by SAP. Changes made based on this information are not supported and can be overwritten during an upgrade.

SAP will not be held liable for any damages caused by using or misusing the information, code or methods suggested in this document, and anyone using these methods does so at his/her own risk.

SAP offers no guarantees and assumes no responsibility or liability of any type with respect to the content of this technical article or code sample, including any liability resulting from incompatibility between the content within this document and the materials and services offered by SAP. You agree that you will not hold, or seek to hold, SAP responsible or liable with respect to the content of this document.

Using Application Integrator to Incorporate External Web

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