The_Beauty_And_The_Beast_APEX_and_SAP

|
The beauty & the beast: APEX & SAP
Niels de Bruijn
30-JUN-20151

|
MT AG
LEGAL STATUS AG (CORPORATION)
HEAD OFFICE RATINGEN, GERMANY
FOUNDING YEAR 1994
EMPLOYEES 180
HOLDING MT-IFS GMBH (RATINGEN), MT-IFS SARL (LUXEMBURG)
business by integration
BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE SOLUTIONS
SOCIAL BUSINESS
SOLUTIONS
MOBILE
SOLUTIONS
APPLICATION
DEVELOPMENT
INTEGRATION
SERVICES
IT SYSTEM
SERVICES

|
About me
 Niels de Bruijn, Business Unit Manager APEX
 Born in 1977, married, three daughters
 Track record with APEX since its inception
 Responsible for all APEX activity at MT AG
 Sharing knowledge through https://apex.mt-ag.com
 Topic leader for APEX within DOAG
 Part of APEX content committee for Kscope
 Conference Lead for APEX connect
The beauty and the beast: APEX & SAP.3

||
Agenda
1. Options to interact with SAP
2. Technical deep dive for synchronious solutions
3. Drink your own champagne

|
General options to interact with SAP
Goal
 Display and process data stored in SAP
Which front-end to use?
 SAP client
- Recommend only for power business users
 Custom webapp based on SAP UI5
- Complex and produces tons of Javascript (which makes it quite slow)
 Custom webapp based on either .Net, Java or APEX (PL/SQL)

||
Agenda

|
Synchronious solutions
 Java Connector
 REST Web Services
 SOAP Web Services

|
Java Connector
8
Architecture
Oracle
PL/SQL Function
Java Class
(Stub)
Java Class
(Skeleton)
SAP JCo
(JNI)
APEX
RFC
(XML)RMI
SAP
Functional
module
(BAPI/ABAP)
The beauty and the beast: APEX & SAP.

|
Java Connector
 SAP Java Connector (SAP JCo) has a RFC-Middleware, which is based on
JNI (Java Native Interface).
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_dm40/helpdata/de/09/a4a9e1d51d11d6b2c200508b5d5c51/content.htm
 Oracle can‘t support JNI in the database
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B19306_01/java.102/b14187/chthree.htm#CACFCDJF
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23549_01/doc.1111/e14770/adapters_iway.htm#CEGHEJIF
 Work around: keep the Java interface in the database, but let the implementation
run outside the database
- Create a PL/SQL wrapper for the Java interface, so that APEX can call it

|
Java Connector (example)
select extractvalue(x, '/BAPI_COMPANYCODE_GETDETAIL/COMPANYCODE_DETAIL/COMP_CODE') as compcode
, extractvalue(x, '/BAPI_COMPANYCODE_GETDETAIL/COMPANYCODE_DETAIL/COMP_NAME') as compname
, extractvalue(x, '/BAPI_COMPANYCODE_GETDETAIL/COMPANYCODE_DETAIL/CITY') as city
, extractvalue(x, '/BAPI_COMPANYCODE_GETDETAIL/COMPANYCODE_DETAIL/CURRENCY') as currency
from
( select xmltype
( call_JCo_bapi('BAPI_COMPANYCODE_GETDETAIL
‚,
'<BAPI_COMPANYCODE_GETDETAIL><COMPANYCODEID>1000</COMPANYCODEID></BAPI_COMPANYCODE_GETDETAIL>')
) as x
from dual
)
 Functional Module BAPI_COMPANYCODE_GETDETAIL
 Parameter COMPANYCODEID => 1000
SQL:
Result:

|
 Java Connector

|
SAP
REST Web Services mit SAP
Architecture using SAP Netweaver Gateway
PL/SQL
(APEX_WEB_SERVICE)
APEX HTTP
request Functional
module
(BAPI/ABAP)
Oracle
SAP Netweaver
Gateway
RFC
(XML)
JSON/XML
REST
Web
Service
Disadvantage:
SAP Netweaver Gateway needs to be licensed separately if SAP doesn’t
provide a REST based interface.

|
SAP
REST Web Services based on Microsoft
Architecture using Microsoft ASP .Net WebAPI
PL/SQL
(APEX_WEB_SERVICE)
APEX HTTP
request Functional
module
(BAPI/ABAP)
Oracle
MS ASP .Net
WebAPI
RFC
(XML)
JSON/XML
REST
Web
Service
MS ASP .Net WebAPI can be used without additional cost, but requires
Windows Server
Additional information:
http://www.asp.net/web-api

|
REST Web Services based on Microsoft
Example code snippet in C# using Microsoft ASP .Net WebAPI to call a SOAP Web Service

|
 Java Connector

|
SAP
SOAP Web Services
Architecture with SOAP Web Services
PL/SQL
(APEX_WEB_SERVICE)
APEX XML
über HTTPS
Functional
module
(BAPI)
SOAP
Web
Service
Oracle
RFC
(XML)
Remarks:
• A technical SAP user can be used for authentication (ie. Basic Auth over HTTPS)
• Package APEX_WEB_SERVICE used as a wrapper for UTL_HTTP
• Users‘ context is forwarded using an input parameter (ie. employee no.)

|
SOAP Web Services
 1. Make ABAP module as SOAP web service available
- Available „per click“, starting with SAP NetWeaver 7.0 SP14
- See:
http://www.outsystems.com/NetworkForums/Public.Download_Attachment.asp
x?AttachmentId=1426
- Test the web service using SoapUI
 2. Register the web service in APEX, so it can be consumed
 3. Create your form or report that utilizes the web service
Overview of implementation steps

|
1. Test functional module in SAP (implemented with ABAP)
Create SOAP Web Service
22

|
2. Enable functional module to be called through RFC
23

|
3. Create a SOAP Web Service & get the WSDL through SOAMANAGER
24

| The beauty and the beast: APEX & SAP.
Test SOAP web service using SoapUI
26

| The beauty and the beast: APEX & SAP.
Test SOAP web service using SoapUI
27

||
Agenda

|
HR Self Service @ MT AG
 All employees need an approval when taking days off
 The number of days left is tracked within SAP CA-TS
 No REST based Web Services provided by default
 SAP client not suitable as most customer sites only allow connections with port
80 or 443
 An APEX app was built to replace the current solution
 SAP was integrated using SAP web services and the package
APEX_WEB_SERVICE
 New feature: approval process can be done using a mobile device

|

|
Telefon:
Telefax:
E-Mail:
www.mt-ag.com
Enjoy Kscope!
Business Unit Manager APEX
+49 2102 309 61 0
+49 2102 309 61 101
niels.de.bruijn@mt-ag.com
Niels de Bruijn

The_Beauty_And_The_Beast_APEX_and_SAP

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to The_Beauty_And_The_Beast_APEX_and_SAP

More from Niels de Bruijn

Recently uploaded

The_Beauty_And_The_Beast_APEX_and_SAP