The most recent on-premise support package shipment for AS ABAP 7.4 was just released in September 2014. A lot has happened since the delivery of ABAP 7.4 SP5 in December 2013 and we want to to provide an overview of the major deliveries contained in 7.4 SP8.

Code Pushdown starts with Open SQL

With its ongoing renovation, Open SQL is getting much closer to the SQL-92 standard. After the
large feature set delivered together with a new syntax with 7.4 SP5, Open SQL has been further enhanced.

Just to name a few of the enhancements:

• Search CASE expression
• Use of SQL expressions as arguments
  in aggregate functions, behind GROUP BY and in the HAVING clause
• Consumption of parameterized CDS views
  (currently only on SAP HANA)
• Strict mode of the syntax check

Advanced View Building with the ABAP Core Data
Services (CDS)

Introduced with 7.4 SP5, ABAP CDS provides a
database abstraction layer which simplifies and harmonizes the definition and consumption
of semantically rich data models, regardless of the consumers.

The enhancements include the following:

• Complex case distinctions
• Conversion functions for currency and
  quantity fields
• Views with input parameters
• Modification-free extension of CDS
  views

ABAP Managed Database Procedures

Writing clever database procedures can be the key to
boosting performance significantly. Starting with 7.4 SP5, the ABAP Managed
Database Procedures (AMDP) allow developers to create, call and manage the
whole lifecycle of HANA procedures in ABAP.

With the new release, the class-based framework has been enhanced as follows

• Support of tabular changing
  parameters in AMDP methods
• Modification-free extension of AMDP
  methods using BAdIs
• Improved exception handling via
  handleable exceptions in AMDP methods
• Support of secondary DB connections

ABAP CDS and AMDP provide a so-called
“Top-Down”-approach for consuming HANA artifacts, with AS ABAP as sole master
during their whole lifecycle. This means that ABAP developers remain in their
familiar development environment.

Further enhancements

The ABAP Development Tools have been further developed
since ABAP 7.4 SP5: e.g.

Support for incremental development

• Diverse Quick fixes and Quick
  assistance
• 1-Click pull-up of members to
  interface and superclasses
• Text element support
• New ABAP Test Cockpit UIs

Various enhancements have also been provided in other
areas such as IDA ALV, ABAP Language, ABAP Channels and Performance Tooling
with the new remote static checks option for old system releases. Last but not
least, the Fast Data Access (FDA) protocol for fast data transfer from and to SAP
HANA database will be part of the release.

ABAP Kernel 742

A new ABAP Kernel (742) was delivered for SP08. The new kernel supports all of the new features above and therefore is mandatory if you apply SP08.

Like its predecessor 741 which is downward compatible to 740 the 742 kernel will be declared as downward compatible moving forward (currently planned for Q2 2015).

We are looking forward to the upcoming SAP
TechEd && d-code 2014 in order to roll out all the great stuff.

The managed ABAP systems should be updated in the SLD. This can be done via rz70 transaction. The rz70 transaction automatically creates the SLD_UC and SLD_NUC RFC destinations.

You get during the test of the SLD_UC RFC connection in  sm59 "ERROR: Error (Msg DGW       748 not found".

This indicates, that the registartion of the TP program is not allowed on the gateway, where the SLD is registered.

1. Check, that you mainained a correct hostname for SLD gateway in rz70.

Go to the SLD ->Administartion->Details->Data Suppliers tab

Example:

In some cases you can see as well, that the RFC server threads are in [DOWN] state. In that case for the RFC server threads are not allowed to register on the gateway. This  may  happen, when the SLD gateway runs on a different host from the SLD host.

2. Go to the managed system, and check the rz70 settings. Here the hostname must be equal with the hostname of the gateway hostname (or IP name)

3. Go to the SLD gateway file.

Check the reginfo file:

go to transaction ==>smgw

                               ===> Goto

                                    ===>Expert Functions

                                       ===> External Security

Here can you find the reg_info file.

4.

The content of the reg_info  file must be corrected or enhanced with the host of the managed system hostname.

Here is important, if you add a new managed system's host name (or IP name) to reg_info, you should  add this new rule on the top of the reg_ino file. The reg_info file is evaluated top-down, and the most specific rules should be always on the topmost place.

5.

When you modify the reg_info file, you must reread this, in order it contains the new changes.

smgw->Goto->Expert function-> External security->reread

6. Sometimes it  is useful, that you deregister the existing registered SLD_UC and SLD_NUC TP progams.

SMGW > Goto > Logged on Clients > Delete Client

7. Test  again SLD_UC connection from managed system

In 2007 as part of SAP NetWeaver 7.10, SAP has introduced a new software development kit (SDK) for remote function call (RFC) communications:
SAP NetWeaver RFC SDK. It is the successor to the well-known "classic" RFC SDK for SAP R/3, and you can use it in C/C++-based applications to communicate with SAP back-end systems ranging from SAP R/3 4.0B to the latest SAP NetWeaver systems. The follwoing article has originally been published in 2007 by SAP Professional Journal and appears here with permission of the publisher, Wellesley Information Services. It takes a deeper look at the design of SAP NetWeaver RFC SDK and explains the ideas behind it.

The first part describes how

• metadata (data types, structure definitions, descriptions of function module signatures) is handled by the NW RFC SDK
• data (fields, structures, tables) is handled by the NW RFC SDK
• C/C++ programs can send RFC requests into the ABAP back-end system
• C/C++ programs can process the response or various exceptions returned by the ABAP back-end system

Article in PDF format: NW RFC SDK Part 1: RFC Client Programs

Note: the old links to the sample programs given in the article no longer work. Instead the sample programs can now be downloaded here:

samples.zip

Remaining parts of this series:

Part 2 -- RFC Server Programs

Part 3 -- Advanced Topics

In 2007 as part of SAP NetWeaver 7.10, SAP has introduced a new software development kit (SDK) for remote function call (RFC) communications:
SAP NetWeaver RFC SDK. It is the successor to the well-known "classic" RFC SDK for SAP R/3, and you can use it in C/C++-based applications to communicate with SAP back-end systems ranging from SAP R/3 4.0B to the latest SAP NetWeaver systems. The follwoing article has originally been published in 2008 by SAP Professional Journal and appears here with permission of the publisher, Wellesley Information Services. It takes a deeper look at the design of SAP NetWeaver RFC SDK and explains the ideas behind it.

The second part describes how

• C/C++ programs can receive and process RFC requests from an ABAP back-end system
• C/C++ programs can return normal responses or various exceptions to the ABAP back-end system

Article in PDF format: NW RFC SDK Part 2: RFC Server Programs

Note: the old links to the sample programs given in the article no longer work. Instead the sample programs can now be downloaded here:

samples.zip

Remaining parts of this series:

Part 1 -- RFC Client Programs

Part 3 -- Advanced Topics

In 2007 as part of SAP NetWeaver 7.10, SAP has introduced a new software development kit (SDK) for remote function call (RFC) communications:
SAP NetWeaver RFC SDK. It is the successor to the well-known "classic" RFC SDK for SAP R/3, and you can use it in C/C++-based applications to communicate with SAP back-end systems ranging from SAP R/3 4.0B to the latest SAP NetWeaver systems. The follwoing article has originally been published in 2008 by SAP Professional Journal and appears here with permission of the publisher, Wellesley Information Services. It takes a deeper look at the design of SAP NetWeaver RFC SDK and explains the ideas behind it.

The third part describes how

• transactional, queued and background RFC can be used
• metadata can be hard-coded, instead of using metadata dynamically retrieved from the back-end DDIC
• RFC Callback works in client as well as server programs
• SSO and SNC can be used

Article in PDF format: NW RFC SDK Part 3: Advanced Topics

Note: the old links to the sample programs given in the article no longer work. Instead the sample programs can now be downloaded here:

samples.zip

callback.zip

Remaining parts of this series:

Part 1 -- RFC Client Programs

Part 2 -- RFC Server Programs

Business Drivers and Overview of SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management (ILM)

Legal requirements and internal processes are the commercial driving forces for a solution such as SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management. SAP NW Lifecycle Management is a new component that provides end-to-end support in the administration of your information over its entire lifecycle. It orientates your information to your business processes by administrating policies and service levels in relation to applications, metadata, information and data.

Image provided by SAP

SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management is a component that requires the acquisition of a license. Once you receive this license you need to activate it using the Switch Framework (transaction SFW5). The minimum prerequisite is the installation of SAP NetWeaver 7.0 Enhancement Package 1. You can find other requirements in the documentation for the various basic modules of SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management that are listed in the Scope Of Functionality section in the official documentation.

Demand for Information Lifecycle Management has risen strongly in the last few years as a result of internal and external factors. In particular, these factors include the requirements from legal regulations and the risk management this entails, the increasing trend towards harmonizing and consolidating system landscapes and the aspect of total cost of ownership (TCO).

SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management

The SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management is based on three pilars:

• Data Archiving.
• Retention Management.
• System Decommissioning.

All pilars will be explained in greater detail in the following concepts.

Image provided by SAP

SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management – Data Archiving

With the archiving objects that are provided by SAP applications, you write data from the application tables in files in the file system within the framework of SAP data archiving. Naturally, during this process the writing programs use business criteria to decide whether data can be removed from the database. As soon as data from concluded processes can be securely saved in files, it can be deleted from the online system database with a delete program.

These files can be transferred from the file system to another storage medium for long-term storage and access. For this you use the SAP ArchiveLink interface as standard and save the data on DVDs or CDs.

The data archiving module forms the core of SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management. In SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management, these "classical" functions have been extended to allow you to link to the other two basic modules. The conventional archiving programs now support data destruction and the creation of snapshots in addition to data archiving for SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management.

Image provided by SAP

SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management – Retention Management

This module contains new functions and is orientated towards scenarios at the end of the data lifecycle. It encompasses various tools and methods for all aspects of data retention – from the creation of data to its destruction. Legal requirements and other rule sets are taken into consideration.

The second pilar is Retention Management:

The tools and methods include the management of policies and rules, ILM-conformant integration of storage systems, destruction of data at the end of its lifecycle as well as the functions of Legal Case Management such as setting legal holds and performing e-discovery drilldown reporting. With these functions it is possible to completely map and control the lifecycle of the data.

Retention Management is principally orientated towards the "end-of-life data" business scenario.

You can define policies and rules according to different criteria with the aid of IRM. For example, you can specify how long the retention period should be for a particular object type, in which storage location the data should be retained and when it can be (or must be) destroyed. Policies can be based on (external) legal requirements or (internal) Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and and can encompass structured and unstructured data.

Image provided by SAP

The Information Retention Manager (IRM) provides you with a new policy engine that you can use to create and administrate retention policies and rules for all data types in your business environment – including non-SAP data and even paper documents. This gives you a central access point in your system for the administration of all your retention rules. When archiving SAP data the retention properties of the rules are derived and then transferred to an archive hierarchy along with the archived data.

For transaction data a rule is defined with the specification of the minimum retention period, the maximum retention period, the unit for the retention period, the start of the retention period and the desired storage location for archiving.

Storage is a key aspect of the ILM solution and enables the SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management to cover the entire lifecycle of the data. ILM-capable storage means that the storage system is connected to the application by means of a WebDAV-based interface and is able to adopt the retention properties received from the application and use them.

Since April 2008, SAP has been offering an official ILM certification for hardware partners. We recommend using a certified storage product that is similar to WORM to ensure your ILM strategy has the best possible security.

When storing archived data, an archive hierarchy is set up in accordance with the rules determined in IRM. The hierarchy ensures that that archived data is clearly structured, which makes search functions and other ILM processes, such as data destruction possible.

Image provided by SAP

The new function of Legal Case Management supports the administration of specific data in the context of legal operations. You can create a legal case and find all data related to this case using search criteria that you enter. You can then use the legal hold function to "freeze" the data relating to this legal case.

Thanks to the close interlinkage between data archiving, IRM and ILM-capable storage, the data that is subject to a legal hold is not deleted until the legal hold is reversed – even if the retention period has already elapsed and the data could actually be released for destruction.

SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management – System Decommissioning

This module contains new functions and is orientated towards scenarios at the end of the system lifecycle. It provides a standardized method for decommissioning legacy systems. The process is handled in two phases by the corresponding functions: system decommissioning and auditing and reporting.

The third pilar is System Decommissioning:

In the first phase, new functions and tools are used to remove all of the data from the system to be decommissioned and it is then stored in a Retention Warehouse. The corresponding system is then rendered dormant. In the second phase, the archived data is prepared and transferred to an SAP NWBW environment where it remains available for reporting and audit purposes. Local Reporting is possible also.

Image provided by SAP

The old system is decommissioned and the data is stored in an archive. The original system is no longer available. If a check is announced involving the data that was stored in the dormant system and that is now stored in the archive:

1. The archived data is selected and a bundle is created.

2. The necessary infrastructure is generated in SAP NetWeaver BW and the bundled data is transferred to BW.

3. New queries can be created or predefined queries can be used.

Image provided by SAP

As soon as the auditors have performed an audit on the data and left the company, the SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management administrator can delete the objects again in SAP BW.

The Business Usage of SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management

SAP Data Archiving, which is part of the standard system provided by SAP solutions, enables you to ensure system availability and system performance at a high level. It keeps response times small and system resources are efficiently used.

SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management Retention Management supports the entire lifecycle of archived data: creation – retention – destruction. Centralized Retention Management facilitates automated processes and reduces the risk of cases of dispute and e-discovery costs.

You can avoid the costs incurred in maintaining legacy systems that are no longer used with the deployment of the SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management Retention Warehouse.

Image provided by SAP

The ROI sinks significantly with every additional decommissioned system. After the fifth system it is estimated to be less than 6 months.

Applies to:

Web Dynpro for Java 7.31.

Summary:

This tutorial is aimed at developers already familiar with versions of Web Dynpro Java 7.0 and Web Dynpro Java 7.31. This explains step by step procedure on how to migrate Web Dynpro Java Components from NW 7.0 to NW 7.4. This tutorial also handles common error & exceptions during the migration process. This covers all important settings & solutions required for NWDS work perfectly for the migration process.

Author: Nutan Sangai

Company: Infosys Ltd

Created on:  June 2, 2014

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Prerequisites

3. Import WD DCs to NWDS

4. Resolve Dependencies

5. Migrate Model

6. Migrate WebDynpro DC component

7. Cheat Sheet Activities

8. Build & Deploy

9. Run-time Errors

10.References

1. Introduction

In this tutorial you will learn about end-to-end migration steps for Web Dynpro DCs from NWDS 7.0 to NWDS 7.31. This covers all the settings for NWDS 7.31 for smooth migration, SLD import, creating new project, Resolving dependencies, Component migration, Cheat sheet activities, Issues during migration process.

2. Prerequisites

• NWDS version used to perform migration steps below:
• Nwds-extsoa-7.3-EHP1-SP10-PAT0003-win32
• JDK version required: jdk1.6.0_18
• New Track for 7.31 migration has been created & upgraded.
• WD DCs & SCs should be imported to new track.
• Once NWDS 7.31 & JDK configured, set default JDK version to jdk1.6.0_18

• In Environment Variables, Set JAVA_HOME path to JDK path.

• In Workspace, check file jdkPreferences is set to correct JDK version & path.

• Define the SLD path (Windows->Preferences->Development Infrastructure->SLD)

• Define the Deployment server (portal) details (Windows->Preferences ->SAP AS JAVA)

• Define R3 destinations for back-end system used (Windows->Preferences ->Destination configuration->R/3 destination)

• Maintain JCO connections for metadata & model data (Select WD DC->Project->Properties->Web Dynpro->JCO References)

3. Import WD DCs to NWDS 7.31

• Login to new track and import WebDynpro development components into NWDS 7.31

• Create Project for all required WD DCs out of new Development track.

• Migrate project with automatic migration wizard during DC creation.Right click on project->Migrate

4. Resolve Dependencies

• Open component properties of WD DC and Go to Dependencies

• The list shows all the required DCs also the deprecated DCs. Remove all deprecated dependencies. Add/Replace alternate dependencies by clicking on deprecated dependency and (CTRL+ALT+1)

• Add/remove DC if not added properly or shows grayed out.
• Check tc/bl/jco/api (ENGFACADE), tc/je/usermanagement/api (ENGFACADE- if the DC used security/api) added & public part of tc/wd/api has built time dependency

• Check the error and warning messages.Check if any errors or warnings are repairable by Quick Fix option(Right click on error->Quick Fix->Apply quick fix)
• Repair project with Project structure & class path
• Reload project and rebuild. Development component -> Build
• Check component properties->Dirty DC build status->OK

5.  Migrate models

• Check R/3 destination has been maintained correctly.
• Right Click on Model->Migrate to ARFC2 Model. After some time the migration completed window opens as below

• Repair->Reload
• Development Component->Build

Error handling under Migrating models:

Error 1: Unhandled exception type ARFC2ModelExecuteException

Fix: In ARFC1, a model object would throw a WDDynamicRFCExecuteException. This exception is no longer used. Instead, the ARFC2ModelExecuteException exception is thrown. Remove WDDynamicRFCExecuteException and Replace it with ARFC2ModelExecuteException as below and Save.

Error 2: The constructor is undefined

Fix: In ARFC2 model type, we need to redefine ARFC2 model declaration

Ex:ValidateModel validatemodel = newValidateModel ();

    Zrfc_Validate_Input input = new Zrfc_Validate_Input (validatemodel);

6.  Migrating components

• WD component which still needs to be migrated is displayed in Gray.
• Right click on WD Component->Migrate Component. It will open the Cheat Sheet Wizard.
• This helps to monitor all the component migration activities accurately & helps to fix the issues during the process.

7.  Cheat Sheet Activities – listing some important activities

• Start the component migration with Cheat sheet. It migrate the WD Component parts one by one.
• View & Window migration: If Conflicting Component & Window name. Change the Window name.
• Component package check: Select/Create new package. Make sure all your components for the same WD application are on same package. This makes tracking easier.
• Implement Interface Controller: the declaration of all objects within these interface controllers must be replicated into the component controller. This cheat sheet thus helps you to copy all the relevant objects from interface controller into the component controller

Note: All methods & code in interface controller are copied to Component controller.

• Once the component migration in finished. Interface controller will only has method signatures.
• Check implementation relation: Use to find out which objects defined in the interface controller are not implemented within the component controller and if there are any conflicts.
• Implement interface controller : to automatically copy all relevant objects from the local interface controller to the component controller
• Refer below the error handling during component migration process.

Note:While running cheat sheet. Before you start migration step. Always close and  reopen your WD project and restart the cheat sheet.

Error Checks during Cheat sheet activities and Component migration process:

Error 1: The type of the attribute in the interface definition is missing

Fix: If the context of the interface controller contains nodes with context mappings to the component controller, this will create implementation errors. So delete the mappings from the context nodes in the interface controller to the component controller.

Error 2: Check Method signatures from Interface controller to component controller are same. It is case sensitive and gives run time error if not maintained correctly. Migration wizard does not perform lower case to upper case conversion.

Error 3:  Check all the context has been mapped correctly. When Context has been mapped manually, check the cardinality has been similarly maintained as per the interface controller node for multiple values.

8. Build & Deploy the NWDS DC.

• Once the WD Component migrated successfully, Review if any existing build errors.
• Click on Development Component->Build
• Fix the errors and Deploy the DC

Error Checks while build:

Error 1: Used Component/component interface is missing

Fix: If you have used component from other DC. Please check used components reference are maintained correctly. Public parts have been added correctly. Used component usage has to be redefined in code. This error comes, when one WD component migrated & the dependent WD component yet to be migrated and missing the reference links as per changed package and other definitions

Also make changes in Public Part -> Manage Entities, if package or component name has been changed.

Error 2:‘The method is undefined for the type’ etc.

Fix: Once the component usage has been updated, make code changes as per new component Naming convention.

Error 3: Duplicate Methods

Fix: Causes when old reference of used DC has not been deleted and new reference already been created. Delete the Old reference.

Error 4: The project was not built since its build path is incomplete.

Fix: Add the jar file ‘com.sap.mw.jco.jar’ at location: C:\nwds-extsoa-7.3-EHP1-SP10-PAT0003-win32\eclipse.jdi\0\DCs\sap.com\com.sap.mw.jco\_comp\gen\default\public\default\lib\java

9.  Run-time Errors:

There are some errors & exception which only picked up at runtime once application has been deployed and handled on portal.

Few examples are listed below:

Error1: JCO destination initialization failed/RFC_ERROR_SYSTEM_FAILURE

Fix: Check Userid/password used for the application is valid for that application. Check hostname/server is correct

Error2: Exception in triggering the workflow, Please Contact System Administrator com.sap.tc.cm.arfc2.gci.exception.ARFC2ModelRuntimeException: Creation of generic ARFC2 model metadata failed; see nested exception for details.

Fix: We need to maintain at least 2 RFC destinations in NWA for both METADATA & MODEL DATA. Also, whatever JCO Destination names you choose during the model import process, must only be used while creating it on NWA.

Error3: java.lang.NoSuchMethodError:

Fix: NWDS 7.31 does not handle conversion from lower case to upper case. We can check if methods names are similar in component controller and interface controller.

10. References

http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-2594

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw73/helpdata/en/a7/152df44212453d97abfd5e32917cf6/frameset.htm

We are having error converting to PDF when we use external images (web images), the error is "there was a problem rendering a PDF for your page",
we have uploaded all the images into a KM folder because there is no option for multiple upload.

Do you know a workaround to avoid this PDF conversion error or some way to execute multiple upload in wiki ?

I did a little test here with an external image from www.sap.com just to check the same and here we don't have any problem, I will create a OSS message and will post the update here.

Netweaver Technical Consultant has to perform below troubleshooting steps :-

•      Run SLDCHECK in PI Server and make sure everything should be green.

            If anything coming red here then need to be check below RFC's

              INTEGRATION_DIRECTORY_HMI

                   LCRSAPRFC

                   SAPSLDAPI

•      Clear the Server Cache as below through PIDIRUSER User.

                                      http://xxxxxxx:50100/CPACache/refresh?mode=full

     Check now whether messages are flowing or not, if not please follow below procedure

•     Check SXI_CACHE Transaction for correct Server cache

            here 2 things need to be checked :-

                          1) Server name

                           2)Port

           if anything is incorrect then need to correct it , procedure

                           1) Delete the entry

                           2) Run RZ70 to refresh to/from SLD

                               3)Check the entry agin SXI_CACHE , it will reflect correct otherwise check in SLD Server.

             I hope above checks will help to do troubleshooting ....

SAP Middleware news – the newest addition to the SCN newsletters' family We invite you to subscribe for the brand new SAP Middleware news @ SCN monthly. You can load the simple reg form using your existing SAP login if you wish. Read more in this blog by Mariana Mihaylova and subscribe today to get your April news shortly. April 2014

The New SCN Category SAP Kernel This SCN category is dedicated to information about SAP Kernel as the basis for the SAP NetWeaver Application Server ABAP. Check it out to share your experience or follow the news regarding SAP Kernel development, release and maintenance strategy and SP stack kernel delivery. April 2014

SAP NetWeaver 7.4 SP 5 SAP NetWeaver 7.4 is the foundation and integration platform for the SAP Business Suite. SAP NetWeaver 7.4 is heavily optimized for SAP HANA. With SP5 all usage types are fully supported without restriction. Presentation by Karl Kessler. Additional information is available in SAP NetWeaver 7.4 - Optimized for SAP HANA, Cloud and Mobile by Monika Kaiser. March 2014

IFG Survey: Central PI Monitoring with SAP Solution Manager Monitoring is a key challenge according to the global 2013 PI survey. To gain a better understanding of the situation and requirements, the IFG for PI and SAP have launched a follow-up survey with focus on central PI monitoring with SAP Solution Manager. Read all details in Holger Himmelmann’s blog and feel free to participate and share with others. Jan 2014

SCN's most interesting blogs for SAP Architects As we all know SCN now has a Category for NetWeaver Architecture, a container for everything NetWeaver Architecture related. Searching around 2000 Blogs, Andy Silvey picked a list of 36 blogs that are most important for SAP Architects. This blog will become a monthly delivery, of a selection of the previous months most interesting SCN blogs for SAP Architects. Nov 2013

How to communicate Architecture – Technical Architecture Modeling at SAP This blog post from Pietro Menna continues the previous posts from Bernhard Groene in part1 and part2, giving an overview and introduction to TAM block diagrams. This article gives details about how to describe behavior using TAM. Nov 2013

The New SCN SAP NetWeaver Architecture Category - An Introduction Andy Silvey has fulfilled one of his small personal goals and contributed to the realization of a new Category on the SCN, for everything NetWeaver Architecture and concerning SAP NetWeaver Architects. The new Category can be found here, SAP NetWeaver Architecture Category On the SAP SCN. Oct 2013

body>

SAP NetWeaver 7.4 is the compatible follow up release of SAP NetWeaver 7.3x. It runs on all database platforms supported by SAP NetWeaver but was optimized for SAP HANA.

Meanwhile SAP NetWeaver 7.4 SP8 was released. SP8 is the service release 2 (after SP5) for all SAP NetWeaver customers who can install or upgrade to SP8 immediately.

New! Feature overview in SAP Insider covering SP5 and SP8: Where ABAP meets SAP HANA

New! Here is a quick delta update on SP8:  What is new in SAP NetWeaver Application Server ABAP 7.4 SP8

Get a general overview of SAP NetWeaver 7.4 capabilities: SAP NetWeaver 7.4

New! A SAP NetWeaver 7.4 SP8 trial version based on AWS is available here: Developer & Trial Editions: SAP NetWeaver Application Server ABAP and SAP Business Warehouse powered by SAP HANA

Get an overview of SAP NetWeaver 7.4 SP5 capabilities in the article:

Take Your SAP Solutions to New Heights with the Latest Release of SAP NetWeaver 7.4

Optimize the landscape: How SAP NetWeaver 7.4 on SAP HANA Is Transforming Customer Landscapes — And What It Means for You

Check SAP NetWeaver 7.4 SP5 features in the ABAP for HANA YouTube channel

New! Explore relationship between Kernel and SAP NetWeaver support packages:
Understanding Kernel Releases for the SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP

New! See how customers are successfully using ABAP in Eclipse

New! Learn how ABAP in Eclipse boosts developer productivity

New! Solve quality problems during development with ABAP Test Cockpit (ATC) in Eclipse

Be aware that the installation of SAP NetWeaver 7.4 requires a Unicode-based environment.

Upgrades to SAP NetWeaver 7.4 for non-Unicode based setups are still supported but not beyond 7.4,

see SAP Note 2033243„End of non-Unicode Support: Release Details”

Please browse the table below to get detailed information on specific spaces and topics on SCN related to SAP NetWeaver 7.4. You will find a detailed description of selected end-to-end scenarios at the end of the page.

ABAP Development on SAP HANA

With SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse and SAP Business Suite, two major standard SAP applications can run on SAP HANA as primary database.

This allows to benefit from the speed and innovations of the SAP In Memory technology in the context of the proven SAP NetWeaver infrastructure.

SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP 7.4 offers a set of tools, development options, and examples for customers and partners for accelerating and extending their ABAP based solutions on SAP HANA. This includes opportunities to push data intensive calculations to the database (e.g. using views and database procedures) and combining transactional and analytical aspects for the end-user in real-time.

The integrated development environment  in Eclipse based on the SAP HANA Studio and the ABAP Development Tools for SAP NetWeaver support ABAP developers in End-to-End application development from the database access to the user interface.

Combining these capabilities with innovations in ABAP 7.4 that are independent of SAP HANA (such as new capabilities in the development and server infrastructure) creates new opportunities for custom development with SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP.

Explore the ABAP Development on SAP HANA step by step using ABAP for SAP HANA Reference Scenario Open Items Analytics which is an integral part of the SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP 7.4

To test-drive SAP NetWeaver Application Server ABAP 7.4 on SAP HANA, learn more about its new capabilities and the programming language enhancements you can get and run your owntrial instance provided as virtual applianceby the SAP Cloud Appliance Library.

More information: ABAP for SAP HANA

Summary

SAP responds to the needs of its customers to reduce the cost of development and operation and to bring innovation into existing landscapes without disrupting business processes and further minimizing business downtime. SAP has invested significantly in the cloud market, in in-memory technology, and in innovative mobile technology and applications. SAP NetWeaver 7.4 and SAP HANA Cloud form an application infrastructure and technology platform that provides powerful support for these investments. It enables customers to optimize applications for SAP HANA and, using tools based on the popular Eclipse development environment, quickly and easily build lightweight applications that not only run on the cloud, but integrate with SAP Business Suite back-end systems, bringing innovation across your landscape to your mobile users.