SAP Netweaver Development Logistics

Here are concise yet in-depth explanation of SAP Netweaver Development from a hands-on approach, without the sales hype and repetition typical of tutorials. Topics are linked to certification exam content and other web pages. Detailed diagrams of the infrastructure are accompanied by sequenced descriptions that make the complexity easy to understand. Cross-reference tables plainly cut through the confusion between Perspectives and Project Types.

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About this site  

• Diagram
• Perspectives
• Configurations
• SLD
• SCs
• DTR
• Activitives
• Components
• EJBs WARs EARs
• Build Files
• Deployments
• Resources
• Your comments???

• SAP Solution Applications, Modules
• Exams and Training
• SAP Consultants
• SAP Trial Installation
• SAP R/3 Configuration, Tablespaces
• SAP Solution Manager
• SAP R/3 User and Server Administration
• SAP R/3 Monitoring and Performance Tuning
• SAP R/3 GUI Emulation for Load Testing
• SAP R/3 ABAP Programming
• SAP Netweaver Services, Development
• SAP NetWeaver Portal Development

• Resources
• Your comments???

SAP Netweaver Development Infrastructure (DI)

Developers interact with the DI through NetWeaver Developer Studio (NWDS), or "Dev Studio" for short, is a set of SAP plug-ins customizing the Java version of IBM Eclipse 2.0 based Integrated Developer Environment (IDE). This Java/J2EE-based workbench. replaces the ABAP Workbench for ABAP-based development


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Eclipse Perspectives from Plug-ins

Plug-ins provide various Perspectives with associated views and editors. DevStudio comes with several custom perspectives for SAP.

Perspectives are used by developers to create or edit one or more project type containers containing files which SAP calls Development Components (DCs).

Create a new project from menu File > New > Project.

This cross-reference is original content unique to this website


Perspective	Eclipse Project Type	DC Project Type	Note
Composite Application Services	-	Composite Application Services	-
-	-	Content	-
Debug	-	-	-
Design Time Repository	-	-	-
-	Development Component		-
Development Configurations	-	-	for deployment
Dictionary			of global data types
Enterprise Portal	-	Enterprise Portal	Not deployed
Enterprise Portal Unit Test	-	-	-
-	-	External Library	-
J2EE Development	J2EE > Enterprise Application >   EJB Modules Web Modules		Not deployed
	J2EE Server Component [Library]		Not deployed
Java			-
Java Browsing	-	-	-
Java Type Hierarchy	-	-	-
Mobile Infrastructure	MI Development Tools	-	-
Plug-in [Fragment, Feature, Update State] Development		-	-
Resource (default)	-	-	Eclipse core
-	Simple	-	Base type
Together Modeling	Together	-	from Borland
-	Universal Worklist (UWL) [Custom Connector]	-	-
-	Voice	-	-
Web Dynpro			-
Web Services [Deployable/Standalone Proxy Project]			-

To cycle through, press
Ctrl+F6 for editors,
Ctrl+F7 for views,
Ctrl+F8 for Perspectives.

DC Project Types:


J2EE Enterprise Application EJB Modules and Web Modules, plus Java DCs within a J2EE Server Components Library and Service (plus Portal Application modules) do not have deployable results.

Development Configurations

Login to the NWDI from Window > Open Perspective > Other > Development Configurations. This perspective is DevStudio's main interaction with the NWDI.

Icons for each open perspective appear on the left toolbar.

System Landscape Directory (SLD)

SAP's NWDI provides an alternative to the CVS associated with base Eclipse.

Instead of creating "Local DCs" (in the default Eclipse workspace in Documents and Settings\%USER%\Documents\SAP\workspace), SAP introduces the concept of "Active DCs" team view which reflects a central repository in the NWDI which exists outside of the local DevSudio.

DCs are "OFFLINE" until connection is made to a central SLD (System Landscape Directory) Java web application with default URL http://host:5xx00/sld where xx is the instance number of AS Java.

The SLD URL is specified within DevStudio menu Window > Preferences: Java Development Infrastructure > Developement Configuration Pool.

??? How is SLD data stored? In a DB, flat files?

Installable assets associated with products are in a NetWeaver When running Java AS (Application Server) rather than ABAP AS, Netweaver organizes all deployable assets under product versions installed as releases.

Software Components (SC)

DCs are grouped (contained) within a SC (Software Component) defined by team leads/architects. Use dependencies are defined between components in the SLD

The demo version of NetWeaver comes with a set of software components:


BI_MMR	-
BI_UDI	-
CAF	-
CAF_MP	-
EP_BUILDT	Enterprise Portal Build Tool
SAP-BUILDT	SAP Build Tool
SAP-JTECHS	SAP Java Technologies
SAP-JEE	SAP J2EE Engine

Software Components can be referenced for use in one or more company Product Version defined by management.

CVS Source Design Time Repository (DTR)

The DTR (Design Time Repository) is NetWeaver's versioning source respository for component-based Java development (but not for WebDynpro).

WebDAV and DeltaV secure protocols are used by the DTR client in the DTR Perspective.

Unlike the Eclipse workspace file folder, a SAP workspace is a set of references to file versions, each representing one logical state of a component.

Activities

To track modifications and to isolate changes from other developers until the activity is "published", SAP requires the creation of an activity.

Activities also group together related changes forming a single enhancement/fix.

An open activity (while it is being tested locally) can be uploaded to the repository without check-in. A file "sync" means to make a read-only copy from the DTR.

Changes are made on a local copy checked out as part of a check-in/check-out activity. Non-exclusive checkouts need to merge changes.

Check-in closes an activity to changes and makes it active and available to others.

In each DTR workspace, only one version of a DO (Development Object) is active at a time.

SAP NetWeaver's Java Component Model

SAP has extended Java's concept of a public class (which any other class may reference).

Java source files and other files (such as table definitions, WebDynpro views, and other SAP-specific file types) are versioned DO (Development Objects) stored in the source repository (DTR).

Each DO belongs to a single unit of build and deployment (invoked from within the NWDS) -- a DC (Development Component) created by developers.

A (inner) Child DC may be contained in (nested within) a parent DC. Thus, DC names contain slashes to denote its place in the DTR file hierarchy (of up to 40 levels).

All elements of a DC are assumed private (even though declared as public in Java) unless named a Public Part (PP) usable by other DCs.

Each DC may access (interface to) a public part (reusable element) of another public DC only by explicit unidirectional (Add Grant) declaration of use dependencies to a Used DC. This results in the Used DC being in the Public Parts Access List of the using DC.

Dependency Types (described in SAP Note 798872) define how DCs are used:

• Run Time dependency means the Used DC is compiled to be called (as an API) from another DC. (So it must be running at the same time as the calling DC).
• Deploy Time dependency means a used component already exists in the runtime system.
• Build Time dependency means the used DC is packaged (assembled) into other build results (a jar file within an SDA file) at the Java package or class level. Source entities need to be added for debugging.
• Design Time dependency is not used.

To add, right-click Public Parts and their Entities.

J2EE EJB Files

J2EE's MVC (Model View Controller) paradigm means that at least two project files are created: an EJB Module Project (containing session Bean code) put into a JAR and a Web Module Project (the View part of the MVC) put into a WAR file.

Both these are combined into an Enterprise Application Project EAR (Enterprise Archive) file used for deployment.

Each of these projects are created by Eclipse with its own Deployment Descriptor (DD) file.

Build Files

Assembly physically packs using DCs into EAR files.

In Netweaver 7, a SCA (Software Component Archive) encapsulates an entity with its own lifecycle.

Within each SCA are SDA (Software Deployment Archive) files built for SDM (Software Deployment Manager) to deploy on the target server in a way that enables administrators to track and roll-back (undeploy) updates of components on the J2EE engine.

The SDM is started by the shell script RemoteGui.bat/sh in the SDM\program directory.

The sca command line utility combines a directory of SDA files into a single software component name.

A command-line make utility can bundle or convert into SDA format
EPT (Enterprise Portal Transport) files within a
EPA (Enterprise Portal Archive) file.

The epa2sda command line tool converts source EPA files with a development name (of up to 40 charcters) into SDA format for deployment.

The par2sda command line tool converts a PAR (Portal Archive) into an EAR (Enterprise Archive) file in SDA format (with a file name of 40 characters or less).

SAP Note 696084 describes how to create SDA files out of EPA and PAR (Portal Archive) files.

Each ??? houses a WDA (Web Dynpro App) file.

using the Generic Creator tool (introduced in EP6 SP2) with transport configuration defined in pcdStartup.properties and directories for export/import in /sapmnt/j2eesid/SYS/global/pcd/...

CBS (Component Build Service) strores build results (archives).

Activation triggers the build process in CBS.

Deployment

The CMS (Change Management Service) propagates objects across the landscape:

DEV > CONS (Consolidation) > TEST > PROD
Landscape Configurator and

Transport Studio

CMS creates a SCA (Software Component Archive) in folder \usr\sap\Jtrans\CMS\ as file <vendor>~<SC name>~<domain>_<track ID>_<system role>~<timestamp>.sca.

Import the SCA to the test system to Deploy

Approve

Import the SCA to the prod system to Deploy using /devinf CMS.

Landscape Configurator Domain Data transport.

With JDI.Administrator role assigned, .

Identify integration conflicts, merge them, and accept changes.

Release components to the import queue of the consolidation system in the CMS.

Import

Assemble from within /devinf.

Experts with SAP's "Remote Support" service log onto systems to resolve problems.

Start diagnosing J2EE issue using log files within x:\usr\sap\SID\JC00\work\

std_server0.out shows how the J2EE engine starts up.

Resources

SAP's Glossary,
help.sap.com
SAP's Netweaver Product Home Page
* SAP Developer Network
* SAP Professional Journal
* SAP Insider


SAP's OKP on Portal Getting Started Developing Netweaver