Developing Applications with the SAP .Net PDK and .Net Connector

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Developing Applications with the SAP .Net PDK and
.Net Connector

• Matt Schababerle Lenny Terris
• Senior Architect Senior Consultant

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Learning Points

• Understand the capabilities of the .Net PDK and
  .Net Connector
• Learn how to leverage SAP and Microsoft tools in
  an SOA architecture
• Lessons learned using the .Net Connector and .Net
  PDK

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Agenda

• SAP Microsoft Interoperability Overview
• .Net PDK Architecture Features
• .Net Connector Architecture Features
• Demonstration Scenario
• Demonstration
• Lessons Learned

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SAP Microsoft Interoperability Overview
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SAP / Microsoft Interoperability History

• SAP and Microsoft have been integration partners
  for over 10 years, starting with the first
  release of R/3 on Windows NT in 1994.
• The partnership has deepened over the years as
  Microsoft / SAP usage has increased.
• Over half of all SAP installations,
  approximately 58,000 have occurred on the Windows
  platform
• One quarter of all SAP installations occur on MS
  SQL Server
• Microsoft has been running SAP R/3 as its ERP
  system since 1995 and has also implemented BW,
  APO, GTS, and SCEM
• SAP Development staff is co-located with SQL
  development team in Redmond

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SAP / Microsoft Interoperability Timeline

• Over time, SAP has increasingly recognized the
  need for customers to integrate their Microsoft
  applications into their SAP environment.
• April 1994 First R/3 release for Windows
  NT
• August 1995 SQL Server Support.
• January 1997 Integration with MS Exchange
• October 1997 DCOM Support
• Feb 2000 mySAP.com / Windows 2000
  Launch
• April 2003 SAP Support for Windows Server
  2003
• May 2004 SAP Netweaver / Microsoft .Net
  Interoperability announcement
• April 2005 SAP and Microsoft announce
  Mendocino Initiative

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SAP Netweaver / Microsoft Interoperability
Overview

• Recognizing that its customers have made
  investments in other technology solutions, SAP
  has chosen to partner with IBM and Microsoft to
  develop interoperability solutions.
• Microsoft and SAP have similar applications and
  interoperability options at every level of the
  Netweaver stack.

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Why Use the .Net Toolkits ?

• SAP Customers have heavily invested in
  Windows-based infrastructure and training for
  their personnel
• Many customers have developed custom
  applications, sometimes mission critical, that
  can benefit from integration with SAP
  applications
• These customers want to leverage their SAP and
  .Net Investments by integrating the two
  environments
• Combining .Net and SAP application development
  allows customers to combine the best of both
  worlds

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SAP Netweaver IT Practices Scenarios
.Net PDK Connector
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.Net PDK Architecture Features
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.Net PDK Architecture

• .Net Components are developed in Visual Studio
  2003 using the SAP .Net PDK Add-in and deployed
  to SAP Netweaver Portal
• Portal Runtime for .Net enables .Net components
  to communicate with other Portal components and
  external systems

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.Net PDK Features

• Fully integrated with Visual Studio 2003
• Hot deploy preview components directly in the
  portal from Visual Studio
• Debug components on local machine
• Supports Team development on single shared
  portal
• Help Files integrated into Visual Studio Help
• Project template for portal applications in
  Visual Studio
• Portal Component and System Templates
• SAP .Net UI controls inherit portal look feel
  (Expanded in version 2.0)
• Design portal pages directly in Visual Studio
  (New in Version 2.0)
• Portal Style Designer extends portal styles to
  non-SAP UI components (New in Version 2.0)
• Object Based Navigation features supported (New
  in Version 2.0)
• Multiple options for deploying .Net Applications
  to the portal (Enhanced in Version 2.0)

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.Net PDK Installation Configuration
Installation

• Use Setup Wizard to install portal add-in for
  Visual Studio
• Install Portal runtime for .Net
• Install Java - .Net interoperability components
  using SDM

Configuration

• Assign Logon Account to Portal Runtime for .Net
  Service
• Define Server in Microsoft Management Console
  (MMC)
• Configure .Net Portal Services in Enterprise
  Portal

• See OSS Central Installation Note 800842 for
  installation details
• OSS Notes 846408 (v1.0 Patch 3) and 898153 (v2.0)
  have installation validation tools attached to
  the notes as zip files

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.Net PDK Visual Studio Interface
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.Net Connector Architecture Features
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.Net Connector High Level Architecture
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.Net Connector Features

• The .Net Connector and Proxy Wizard allow you to
• Write .NET Windows and Web form applications
  that access SAP remote enabled functions (RFC)
• Create client applications for the SAP server
  using either RFCs or HTTP/SOAP/XML (outside-in)
• Develop RFC server applications that run in a
  .NET environment and can be implemented from
  within the SAP System (inside-out)
• Development Can take place entirely within Visual
  Studio
• Use the Proxy Wizard integrated in Microsoft
  Visual Studio .NET to generate proxy objects that
  are easy to use
• Use any common programming language that has
  full access to the Microsoft .NET Framework
• Use IntelliSense help in Microsoft Visual
  Studio .NET through strongly typed data models
  and method signatures
• Bind SAP tables and structures to Windows and
  Web form controls (DataBinding)
• Use security authentication methods such as
  Single Sign-on, Kerberos, and Microsoft Passport
• The .Net Connector is also packages as the
  Microsoft Biztalk SAP Adapter. This provides a
  smooth development path for customers
  implementing Biztalk with previous .Net Connector
  experience

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Installation Configuration SAP Connector

• Prerequisites
• Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003
• Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.3 or later
• Required for proxy generation
• Not needed once proxies have been generated
• If you are using a Java VM other than the Sun
  Java VM version 1.3 (including newer Sun Java VM
  versions) you must have a registry entry pointing
  to your Java VM like the following
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java
  Runtime Environment
• CurrentVersion1.3
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java
  Runtime Environment\1.3
• JavaHomeC\\Program Files\\IBM\\Java13\\jre
• Installation Packages
• SAP Connector for Microsoft .NET 1.03
  Installation for Visual Studio 2003
• Full version installation for development
  computers with Visual Studio .Net 2003
• SAP Connector for Microsoft .NET 1.03 Runtime
  Installation
• Runtime installation for deployment computers

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Installation Configuration BizTalk Adapter
for mySAP v2.0

• Prerequisites
• Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2005
• Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006
• Including all BTS 2006 prerequisites
• SAP .NET Connector version 1.0.3
• Newer versions of the SAP .NET Connector have
  been released but at the time of this
  presentation, the Adapter is dependent on this
  specific version of the SAP .NET Connector
• Installation Packages
• Microsoft BizTalk Adapter v2.0 for mySAP
  Business Suite
• Microsoft BizTalk Adapter v2.0 for mySAP
  Business Suite Service Pack CTP
• Configuration
• Create a Send Port in BizTalk that uses the SAP
  Adapter
• Provide SAP Connection information such as
  Client, System ID, etc.
• Use XMLTransmit and XMLReceive Pipelines

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Demonstration Scenario
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Scenario Background

• A Hitachi Consulting customer was interested in
  developing a proof of concept to demonstrate the
  benefits of a custom user interface for casual
  SAP users. The scope of the project included
• Developing a user interface for purchase
  requisition approval and goods receipts
• Deploying the solution to the customers
  SharePoint portal environment
• Developing an alerting mechanism to notify users
  of purchase requisitions awaiting their approval

• The solution was developed using Visual Studio
  2003, SharePoint Portal Server, Biztalk Server
  2006 with the SAP .Net Connector, and SAP R/3
  Enterprise 4.7
• User Interface developed in Visual Studio and
  deployed to SharePoint environment
• SAP Integration developed using Biztalk
  Orchestrations and SAP .Net connector to
  communicate with SAP BAPIs
• Alerting mechanism developed using Windows
  Workflow Foundation

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Scenario Background Continued
After delivering the proof of concept to the
customer, Hitachi Consulting redeployed the user
interface from SharePoint to Enterprise Portal
for demonstration purposes using the SAP .Net
PDK. This allows a side by side comparison of
the two user interfaces supporting the same
process. It also demonstrates the flexibility
and reusability of components developed in a
Services Oriented Architecture framework.

• Todays demonstration will have 3 parts
• Demonstrate SharePoint Portal Interface
• Demonstrate Enterprise Portal Interface
• Demonstrate process for developing and deploying
  components to the Enterprise Portal environment.

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Solution Architecture 1

• Presentation layer, business logic, and data
  persistence are separated.
• Process integration is accomplished using MS
  Biztalk Orchestrations and Windows Workflow
  foundation.
• Communication with SAP via RFCs or Web Services
  facilitated by SAP .Net Connector
• Services Oriented Architecture Solution

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Solution Architecture 2

• SAP Enterprise Portal is substituted for
  SharePoint
• Portal executes .net applications via Portal
  Runtime for .Net
• Separation of presentation layer from business
  logic, combined with .Net interoperability tools,
  allows substitution of components without major
  redevelopment effort.
• Services Oriented Architecture Solution

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Demonstration
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Key Learnings

• The .Net PDK is very simple to install and well
  integrated with Visual Studio. Very small
  learning curve for experienced .Net Developers
• Deployment of .net components to the portal is
  smooth and reliable
• .Net developers using the PDK will benefit from
  training on the Enterprise Portal PCD and content
  administration.

• Installation is the trickiest part of using the
  SAP Adapter, once configured using the SAP
  Adapter is relatively easy
• The SAP Adapter enables the generation of schemas
  based on RFCs
• These schemas can then be used by BizTalk to
  generate messages to be sent to and received from
  SAP
• By default, each call to SAP is contained within
  its own transaction
• This is not conducive to calls that require a
  commit work to be submitted after successful
  submission such as BAPI_GOODSMVT_CREATE
• It is possible to manipulate the transaction
  through message headers within a BizTalk
  Orchestration
• The SAP Adapter is a little finicky and can
  sometimes produce errors that are not very helpful

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Q A
Matt Schababerle Senior Architect Hitachi
Consulting www.hitachiconsulting.com Direct
713.458.5029 Mobile [phone] mschababerle_at_hit
achiconsulting.com Inspiring your next success!
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Additional Resources

• SAP Developer Network
• https//www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/developerareas/dot
  net
• SAP Marketplace
• https//service.sap.com/netweaver (requires
  login)
• PDK Menu Path SAP Netweaver -gtNetweaver in
  detail -gt People Integration -gt Portal -gt Portal
  In Detail
• .Net Connector menu Path SAP Netweaver
  -gtNetweaver in detail -gt Application Platform -gt
  Connectivity -gt Connectors
• Microsoft-SAP
• http//www.microsoft-sap.com/technology.aspx

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1608
Session Code