In this tutorial we will learn two simple ways of  inserting icons in WebDynpro Java applications. The first way is to reuse already existing icon patterns from SAP R/3, i.e., by the following this PDF – SAP R/3 Icons.

- First of all, we must choose which icons you would like to insert (we can use various standard SAP icons):

- Capture the value found in column Bitmap, chosen in this case the image ID: 0W Cancel and its value is B_CANC Bitmap.

- To place this icon into the button, just click the button you want to insert the icon:

- Go to Properties of the selected button and find the element ImageSource:

- Enter the following code followed by the information desired Bitmap image:

~sapicons/s_b_canc.gif

- It is now ready and you should see a result similar to:

- Please note another simple way to insert icons in WebDynpro Java, from the point that you already have the icon in the desired format .GIF (Graphics Interchange Format):

GIF Icon:

Link to download

- We should insert the icon inside the project, within the following folder:

src\mimes\Components

- Now let’s create a new attribute inside the Model:

- In the example below we create an attribute called iconExcell.
- In Properties of this new attribute, the element type must be of type String.

- Add the following code inside the method wdDoInit().

- Accordingly, we will initialize the context attribute iconExcell with storing Excel icon.

try {
wdContext.currentContextElement().setIconExcell(
WDURLGenerator.getWebResourceURL(wdComponentAPI.getDeployableObjectPart(), "excel.gif"));
} catch (WDURLException e) {
wdComponentAPI.getMessageManager().reportException(e.getLocalizedMessage(), true);
}

- To insert the icon inside the button you want, just set the element of button ImageSource with the attribute iconExcel:

Hope you find this post useful. Please be sure to comment or ask me any question in case you run into difficulties.

On this post I would like to introduce a new way to consume SAP data from a non-SAP application like Adobe Flex. This can be achieved using SAP WebServices. First, let´s introduce some main concepts that are important to understand, which are WebServices, WSDL and Adobe Flex.

• WebService: We can define a WebService as a method of communication between two electronic devices or systems over the web (internet). Web services are increasingly enabled by the use of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) as a means of standardizing data formats and exchanging data. The ABAP Workbench offers an environment where you can publish, search for, and call Web services. It enables the SAP Web Application Server to act both as a server and client for Web services.

The Web service infrastructure enables developers to:

• Publish independent function that was implemented as RFC-enabled function modules, function groups, BAPIs, or XI message interfaces. This includes functions available as part of mySAP.com solutions, or functions developed by customers or partners. The Web service can be used across the entire Internet using standard protocols and can easily be added to any development environment.
• Consume Web services, regardless of where they are stored or how they are implemented. Business processes can be implemented across several systems, either within an enterprise or across several enterprises.

• The WebServices Services Description: is an XML-based language that is used for describing the functionality offered by a Web service. A WSDL description of a web service (also referred to as a WSDL file) provides a machine-readable description of how the service can be called, what parameters it expects and what data structures it returns.

• Adobe Flash Builder/Flex: is a software development kit (SDK) released by Adobe Systems for the development and deployment of cross-platform rich Internet applications based on the Adobe Flash platform. Flex applications can be written using Adobe Flash Builder or by using the freely available Flex compiler from Adobe.

After a brief introduction of the main concepts I will now describe how to build a Flex application that consumes data from SAP, using WebServices. You need to have the SAP R/3 and the Adobe Flash builder tools installed.

On this post I assume that you already have created a SAP webservice that is responsible to export some data in a table format. On the example provided below we will use a Webservice called “FlightGetList” which is the name also of the Function Module in the SAP system. You can easily find on the web all necessary steps to create a webservice. However I will define the main ones:

• SAP webservice can be created in transaction se37, first opening the Function Module that you want to provide as webservice, and then go to Utilities – More Utilities-Create WebService – From the Function Module
• Then you need to configure the webservice using the transaction SOAMANAGER
• Finally you need to get the URL of the webservice: click on “Display selected Binding’s WSDL URL” link to get the WSDL URL. You will get a URL displayed on the right and side of the screen that will be used later in Adobe Flash Builder

Create the project in Adobe Flash Builder / Flex

- After installing the Adobe Flash Builder 4 open it.
- Create a Flex project. Give it a name such as Flex Quickstart

- Press Next twice.
- Press Finish.

Create the design of application

The following steps should be implemented in order to create some user interface:

- Switch to Design mode

- Drag a Label from the Components view to the Design Area

- Set the Label properties

- Drag a TextInput from the Components view to the Design Area

- Set the properties of the Text Input

- Drag a Button from the Components view to the Design Area

- Set the properties of the Button

- Drag a DataGrid from the Components view to the Design Area.

- Switch back to Source View.

- Remove the <mx:columns> from the Datagrid.

- Add the following code to the application:

– Call the webservice in Flex and get the data

Now we need to actually create the objects that call the web service, luckily with Flex, this is a simple two step process. First, Load the WSDL, second call the service. Just to be as standard as possible we want to put the code that loads the WSDL into a place that is only called once and called right at the beginning of the Application’s life. In Flex there is an event called “initialize” that has just those properties.

- Now we need to load the WSDL in the initApp function.

Let’s explain the code above:

• It first creates a new instance of our web service: “flightWS = new WebService();”
• It points the service to the WSDL defintion: “flightWS.wsdl = “http://localhost:8000/sap/bc/srt/rfc/sap/Z_FLIGHT_WS?sap-client=000&wsdl=1.1″;”
• It adds Event Listeners to the service so that when things happen we can know about it:
• “flightWS.addEventListener(FaultEvent.FAULT,onWSError);” Will call the onWSError function whenever there is an error in the service call or definition loading
• “flightWS.addEventListener(LoadEvent.LOAD,onWSDLLoaded);” will call onWSDLLoaded when the WSDL has been loaded and the service is ready to be invoked
• “flightWS.addEventListener(ResultEvent.RESULT, onFlightWSGotResult);” will call onFlightWSGotResult when some data is returned from the service
• We then instruct the service to load the WSDL from the server: “flightWS.loadWSDL();”

- The next thing to do is actually call the service with our Airline as input. A web service can define many different operations/function modules; we just want to add one called “FlightGetList”

Now let’s get the data from SAP and populate the created dataGrid. to do this we just change the onFlightWSGotResult function to:

This will simply look at the ResultEvent and set the data provider of our DataGrid to the member of the result called, “FlightList”.

Now if you run the application you will be prompted with a username and password box! Why? Well, the web service you are calling is password protected on the ABAP system it is served from. Just like a normal browser, the Flex application pops up the dialog box to get the user name and password. You just need to type the username and password used to log in the SAP system and then you should see the dataGrid filled up with the data from the backend.

At a time where the SCN website is due to have a clean face, SAP employee and SAP mentor Mark Finnern delights us, yet again, with a highly useful post titled “Top 25 SCN Blogs of all Time“. In case you have missed it, here is your opportunity to know which are the most popular SAP SCN weblogs, of all time. This ranking has been produced taking in consideration the number of user views, counted on the last 8 years. So these are the most viewed weblogs, which obviously reflect which SAP subjects users are more interested in.

Mark Finnern also adds a few observations that sustain this thorough list:

Wow there are some well known names and some surprises in the list, not the least the number one blog post by Steffen Weber. With 178K almost twice as many hits as the famous often updated originaly named XI FAQ post by Michal Krawczyk. Looks like the Excel Macro File referenced in Steffen’s blog post does come really handy. Congratulations Steffen for having written the most viewed post of the last 8 years.

I have to smile seeing that Michal’s XI/PI FAQ post is #2. I had long discussion with him why this kind of content should be moved to a wiki page so that everyone can improve it. His argument is that you need a curator, otherwise the quality isn’t there. Number of views he got is proofing his point, comments of certain links not working anymore can be counted for the wiki camp, but this is not the blog post to bring up that argument again, but to celebrate the top blog posts of SCN.

Thomas Jung can ad the title Master of SCN blogging to the long list of his career achievements, as 6 of his posts are in the top 25. I am always at awe seeing the beauty and quality of his posts. I remember the early beginnings when Brain McKellar nudged him after seeing his excellent BSP forum answers to post blogs. I am so glad he did oh and we miss Brian on SCN.

Love it that a Crystal Report post by Blair Wheadon is #5. It is a beautiful proof, that the BOBJ community has found a home on SCN. Being posted only 2 years ago in December 2009 it is also the youngest blog post on the list. Really amazing that it is on rank #5 already. Well done Blair.

Just wow that there are still 3 Roberto Negro posts in this top 25 list. He used to dominate the BW space, as it was called back in the mid 2000s. He moved on and is unfortunately not working in the SAP space anymore. Really bummed that he nver made it to a TechEd, or at least I don’t remember. I hope the hammock he once offered me is still standing somewhere in Italy waiting for me to relax in. Roberto we really miss you here, please come back.

Manfred Lutz and Ingo Hilgefort are the other two bloggers that have more than one post in the list. We have over 3000 SCNers who have written at least one post, To be in the top 25 is quite the achievement. Thank you all for putting the effort in.

Top 25 SCN Blogs of all Time

1. SAP NetWeaver Portal Reporting for Collaboration Rooms
This Blog describes how to create consolidated and ordered reports out of standard SAP NetWeaver Portal collaboration room raw data files.
Steffen Weber in Knowledge Management (KM), Standards, SAP NetWeaver Platform

2. XI/PI FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Exchange Infrastructure – Frequently Asked Questions
Michal_Krawczyk_PIXI in SAP Process Integration (PI)

3. Sending E-Mail from ABAP – Version 610 and Higher – BCS Interface
Yesterday I posted a weblog on how to send E-Mails from ABAP in releases <= 46D using the API functions. Today we are going to look at releases >= 610 and the BCS Interface.
Thomas Jung in ABAP, Application Server

4. Web Dynpro ABAP Demonstration Videos
Web Dynpro, with its strong graphical modeling environment, provides an interesting challenge for authors of all types of written materials on the subject. Often videos can fill that gap. This weblog describes several hours of newly released Web Dynpro ABAP videos.
Thomas Jung in ABAP, Beginner, Enterprise Portal (EP), Web Dynpro

5. Crystal Reports in Visual Studio 2010
An overview of how Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 customers will receive Crystal Reports.
Blair Wheadon in SAP Crystal Reports, Interoperability .NET

6. New Blog Series: ABAP Trial Version for Newbies
New Blog Series: ABAP Trial Version for Newbies With the new build of the SAP NetWeaver 2004s ABAP Trial Version (SP11), we in SAP NetWeaver Product Management are eager to introduce, through a series of blogs, SAP ABAP technology to those with limited ABAP experience.
Manfred Lutz in ABAP, Application Server, Beginner, Web Dynpro

7. BusinessObjects and SAP Part I
This is Part I of a series on BusinessObjects and SAP products.
Ingo Hilgefort in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse, Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects), Business Process Expert

8. How do you activate ABAP Proxies?
Have you got the error message “Unable to connect to the Integration Builder, when you are trying to create a ABAP PROXY from a R/3 system? This blog show the steps to be executed to make sure you are able to build ABAP Proxies.
vijaya kumari in SAP Process Integration (PI)

9. SAP NetWeaver 7.0 – Java and ABAP Trial Version on Linux – VMware Edition – Tips & Tricks
Here you find the required steps missed out in the official Documentation. How to get the Application Server running, install the License and connect from Windows.
Gregor Wolf in ABAP, SAP NetWeaver Platform

10. BSP a Developer’s Journal Part XIV – Consuming WebServices with ABAP
In this BSP Developer’s Journal we once again look at a technology that just does ride on the edge of the BSP environment. We look at how we can call WebServices with ABAP.
Thomas Jung in Business Server Pages, ABAP, Application Server

11. LOGISTIC COCKPIT DELTA MECHANISM – Episode one: V3 Update, the ‘serializer’
This is the first episode of a series (of three) concernig delta mechanism in the Logistic Cockpit for BW. Here you can find a short overview examining the conception and technical background of delta extraction related to logistic flows towards BW system by using the Serialized V3 Update.
Roberto Negro in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse

12. Basic ABAP OO eLearnings
I frequently receive requests for learning materials on basic ABAP Object Oriented concepts. In response I have created a 5 part eLearning series that is intended to be accessible to anyone just starting out with ABAP OO.
Thomas Jung in ABAP, Beginner, Business Server Pages, Web Dynpro

13. Troubleshoot the SAP NetWeaver 2004s BI Frontend Installation
This aim of this blog is to discuss how to configure your browser parameters as well as discuss how to install the latest SAP NetWeaver 2004s BI Frontend Components. Keep in mind that it is always best to keep your frontend patches up to do date. This article covers most of the issues I’ve seen when working with different browsers and frontend components specifically related to installation of frontend components.
Prakash Darji in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse, Enterprise Portal (EP)

14. LOGISTIC COCKPIT – WHEN YOU NEED MORE – First option: enhance it !
Through this weblog we will go on in our tour around the logistic data extraction world: after having familiarized with the data flows that the system can run for every available update methods in LBWE and before approaching all the other extraction mechanisms managed by SAP Business Warehouse, now it’s necessary facing this question: what’s happen if a standard logistic datasource (and its related information set) is not enough for our needs ?
Roberto Negro in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse

15. Web Dynpro ABAP exercises from TechEd 2007
For those who are looking to improve their Web Dynpro ABAP skills, here is the content of the hands-on session for Web Dynpro ABAP at TechEd 2007. Based on the ESM (Enterprise Sales Model), the exercises are structured so that the result of one task forms the foundation for the next exercise. The download contains all required objects, the ESM data generator, the example solutions, the templates, and the document ‘CD255 Developing User Interfaces with Web Dynpro ABAP’. All you need is a local installation of the latest ABAP Trial Version.
Manfred Lutz in ABAP, Application Server, Web Dynpro

16. Gravity – Collaborative Business Process Modelling within Google Wave
Gravity is a prototype developed by SAP Research in Brisbane, Australia and SAP NetWeaver Development providing real-time, cloud-based collaborative business process modelling within Google Wave. Google Wave is Google’s new real-time collaboration platform that combines features of e-mail, social networking, wikis and instant messaging in one integrated browser-based client.
Alexander Dreiling in Service-Oriented Architecture, Business Process Expert, Business Process Management, Business Process Modeling, Business Rules Management, Composition Environment (CE), Consumer Products, Insurance, Interoperability, SAP NetWeaver Platform, SAP Research, Enterprise Social Systems

17. Update Your ABAP Development Skills to SAP NetWeaver 7.0
If the title of this blog sounds familiar, then chances are good that you have attended session CD251 at one of the TechEds this year. Now find out how some of the core content of this TechEd Session has been made available as an Online SDN E-Learning.
Thomas Jung in ABAP, Service-Oriented Architecture, SAP Process Integration (PI), SAP TechEd, Web Dynpro

18. BusinessObjects and SAP – Installation and Configuration Part 1 of 4
In this blog series I am describing the steps that are required to install and configure the BusinessObjects solution on top of a SAP BI system (Part #1).
Ingo Hilgefort in Analytics, Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse, Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects), Community Day, ERP, SAP NetWeaver Platform, SAP TechEd

19. ABAP Proxies in XI(Client Proxy)
The other way of interfacing XI is through proxies. From WAS 6.20, proxy generation feature enables application systems to communicate with XI using proxies. Proxy generation enables you to create proxies in application systems. Proxies encapsulate the creation or parsing of XML messages and the communication with the relevant runtime components required to send or receive the messages.
Ravikumar Allampallam in SAP Process Integration (PI)

20. Generic Extraction via Function Module
Short overview about the extraction api, using custom defined function modules.
Siegfried Szameitat in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse

21. Aspirant to learn SAP XI…You won the Jackpot if you read this!-Part I
My inbox is flooding with many mails soliciting the direction to start their career into SAP XI. I am too lethargic to reply for everyone as it is a bit lengthy process to explicate it in a mail. You can ask me, Why am blogging so late? I told you already am lazy to pen lengthy stuff:)…But…One day I got a mail from an graduate student asking me to guide him…!!….Alas! Iam amazed and impressed with that mail….I guess SDN Community has accomplished its goal in global marketing and inspiring all sorts of people across the globe……Kuddos to SDN!…
Sravya Talanki in SAP Process Integration (PI)

22. LOGISTIC COCKPIT DELTA MECHANISM – Episode three: the new update methods
This third episode describes in detail all the elements required to help make an aware selection of the right new update method (after the serialized V3 update mechanism replacement) for the applications related to the Logistic Cockpit.
Roberto Negro in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse

23. Http* Errors in XI
There are many forum discussions about Http Errors. This blog is collective information about most common HTTP errors occurring during XI implementations and possible tips to solve the problems.
Krishna Moorthy P in SAP Process Integration (PI)

24. SAP’s definitive strategy for planning technologies moving forward: What’s the word on BPC, BI-IP and SRC?
This blog discuss SAP’s direction for planning products. It describes SAP’s official stance, and provides a bit more insight into Business Planning and Consolidation 7.0, version for SAP NetWeaver.
Ryan Leask in Analytics, Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse, Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects), Business Process Expert, Business Process Management, Business Process Modeling, Business Solutions, Enterprise Performance Management, SAP NetWeaver Platform

25. First steps to work with Change Request Management scenario
This blog describes how to create a test landscape to practice with the Charm scenario in Solution Manager 7.0 without creating interferences with real TMS landscapes. Also you will find tips and tricks for the common mistakes in the configuration of this scenario.
Dolores Correa in SAP Solution Manager

Many thanks again to Mark Finnern for this great contribution. Here is Mark’s career summary.

Mark Finnern is the Chief Community Evangelist of the SAP Community Network focusing on the SAP Mentor initiative. He is an SAP veteran, has implemented SAP FI/CO at many customers in Germany and the US. Was the co-inventor of the Pre-Configured Client (PCC), which at times was used by 90% of all US SAP customers to save implementation time. It evolved into SAP’s Best Practices and All-In-One offerings. He is the proud owner of a Traffic Monitoring System patent. Mark was the driving force behind community features of the SAP Community Network: Blogs, points recognition system, wiki, Community Day now Inside Track. Mark Finnern has a bachelor’s degree in Business oriented Computer Science from the Fachhochschule in Furtwangen Germany. He is also the founder and host of the Future Salon with its new tag line: Creating a world that works for all.

Source: http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/27705

It sometimes seems difficult to find your ways in the SAP neverending web of information. Anyone who works with SAP knows that a big part of their job is to constantly search and digest the best piece of information (ideally) they can find. These mostly originate from various sources and most of the times, in what refers to blogs, at least half of them are low quality.

Being that said, I’ve decided to write this post and reveal which are my top SAP fellow blogs, whom I follow and recommend that you visit.

1. SAP Community Network Blogs

SAP blogs are by far the most complete and extensive source of information. It also has the advantage of being supported by SAP and its contents managed and updated by SAP employees, SAP mentors and other credible SAP professionals. The downside to it is that you’ll need an SAP user in order to view it fully or be able to post comments.

Link: http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs

2. SearchSAP

Owned by TechTarget, SearchSAP is a very complete website and blog with more than tutorials or how-to’s on SAP. It contains news, expert advice, technical tips and career guidance, latest applications as well as future ERP system plans with breaking news coverage from independent editors. I recommend this website and its rich content.

Link: http://searchsap.techtarget.com/

3. JonERP.com

Jon Reed’s blog is widely known and is a complete source that I recommend for any SAP professional. Jon actively blogs about several SAP emerging areas, SAP market trends, with a special focus on SAP career – Jon Reed’s blog has a special SAP Career Center page, designed for people wanting to know more about careers on SAP and how to enhance it. Jon also is consistently posting new podcasts and webcasts.

Link: http://www.jonerp.com

4. Pixelbase

Michael Koch is the driver of Pixelbase, which I recommend that you  follow and visit on a regular basis. Michael is an experienced independent consultant and he’s also a well known SAP Mentor. Pixelbase is the commercial face of Michael’s activity, however, you’ll find that there is much to learn from the blog, covering topics such as SAP Web Development (ITS, BSP, WebDynpro for ABAP), custom SAP Development (ABAP and ABAP OO), RIA (Adobe Flex), Interfaces (ALE, IDOCS, XML), SAP CRM development and Data Migration, as well as conference coverage, among others.

Link: http://www.pixelbase.co.uk/

5. Feeding the SAP EcoSystem

Peter Russo is the main blogger and webmaster of Feeding the SAP EcoSystem blog. Unlike others, this blog focuses more on SAP products and Peter includes his personal experiences in each post he writes. Benefiting from the fact that he appears to attend lots of SAP events, he also transmits these experiences to the blog, which are obviously enriching for any of us. It is ideal if you want to understand what’s going on in the SAP world and also where SAP is going in the future.

Link: http://www.feedingthesapecosystem.com

6. Blag’s Bag of Rants

Blag is Alvaro Tejada Galindo’s nickname on twitter (@blag),. Alvaro is a senior ABAP Consultant, SAP Mentor, Programming Geek, Blagbert/Programming books author. Alvaro is Peruvian and lives in Montreal, Canada. If you want technical, Blag’s blog is the place to go.

Link: http://blagrants.blogspot.com/

7. Friday Morning Report

The Friday Morning Report is owned and managed by Craig Cmehil, a well known SAP community evangelist that works for SAP AG as a Director for Social Media Relations. Hence, Craig is very active in his blogging, tweeting and moderating discussions over at the SCN website and blogs.

Link: http://fridaymorningreport.tv/

8. SAP WEB 2.0

This is an interesting blog that I also follow. It focuses in cloud computing solutions and 3 main areas:  Web 2.0 by SAP, Web 2.0 in SAP and Web 2.0 with SAP. It is worth taking a look!

Link: http://www.sapweb20.com/blog/

9. SAP Bloggers Corner

SAP Bloggers corner is intended to promote conversation about what SAP is doing in the market. The main attraction of this blog is the livestream feature, podcasts and broadcasts, published on a regular basis.

Link: http://sapbloggerscorner.com/

10. ERP Genie

I think this was the first SAP blog I visited, ever since I started in the SAP world. It is very rich in content covering SAP podcasts (from Jon Reed), Job  Board, Foruns, FAQs, whitepapers  and tutorials, etc.  You can also browse the blog based on your user/consultant profile, i.e., Functional or Technical. The blog also contains a very complete section on SAP General. It’s a really good starting point for anybody and definitely a blog that you want to come back.

Link: http://www.erpgenie.com/

Hope you liked this blog list; these are just a few of the ones I follow on a regular basis. What are your favourite blogs?

The results of the 2011 SAP Salary Survey are here, published by company Panaya. The survey results are based on responses from more than 800 SAP professionals around the world.

You can now download the complete survey results, with the latest salary figures broken down by job title, geography, education, experience, and other variables.

You will be able to answer questions such as:

• What are the highest paying SAP job titles?
• Does higher education mean higher pay?
• Which industries pay top dollars for SAP skills?
• Do men earn more than women among SAP professionals?
• Get your 2011 SAP Salary Survey Results and find out everything you wanted to know about SAP salaries.

The earnings of an SAP professional depend on many variables, including your location, education level, and experience, as well as the location of the company you work for, the SAP version you are working on, the industry you are in, as well as your gender.

Panaya conducted this survey to help you compare your compensation makeup to industry peers, better understand what drives compensation in this market, and get useful ideas for increasing your value.

Nice, how do I get my hands on it?

Please click on the image below to access and download the whole PDF (you will need to register with Panaya).

About Panaya

Panaya’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions enable companies that use SAP to save up to 50% of their application lifecycle costs and minimize the risks associated with system changes. Utilizing cloud-based simulation to analyze the impact of pending changes, Panaya automatically pinpoints which custom programs will break as a result of an upgrade or support package implementation and automatically fixes most of these problems. Panaya provides a complete solution for managing these changes, explaining how to fix the anticipated issues, fixing most of them automatically, suggesting the most efficient test plan, and calculating required project budget and resources. To learn more access Panaya’s website.

Following my first post “How to do a Support Package Stack Upgrade – Part 1“, on which I explained the basic concepts such as Support Packages and the OSS Notes, in this post I’ll explain the step by step process on how to achieve this somewhat complex and easy to fail operation.

As I said in part 1, preparation and organization play a critical part in this process. You should also have a complete check-list of whatever cut-over activities you’ll need to perform after the SP upgrade. A Z developments inventory is also a very good idea, if you want to avoid losing any previous developments.

The Check List

An organized check list will help you with the whole Support Package upgrade. Here’s an example you can follow:

Preparation

• Confirm new Patches are available for upgrade (estimated 30 minutes);
• Download all the files in the support stack XX (estimated 30 minutes);
• Ensure system has already been validated for additional packs  (check with your teams for time estimate );
• Acquire passwords for: (estimated 15 minutes)
  • JSPM
  • SDM
  • Admin for client 000
  • J2EE admin
  • <sid>adm credentials
  • Config tool admin
  • File server and O.S. admin (might be necessary)
• Send system messages and lock all users beforehand (estimated 20 minutes);
• Ensure that J2EE administrator user is unlocked (estimated 5 minutes);
• Ensure that you have at least 10GB of available space in hard disk (estimated 2 minutes);
• Perform a backup of the EPS adn IN Kernel folder:
  • Usr\sap\trans\eps\in (estimated 5 minutes);
  • Usr\sap\<sid>\sys\exe\nuc (estimated 5 minutes);
  • Usr\sap\<sid>\sys\exe\run (estimated 5 minutes);
  • Usr\sap\<sid>\scs01\exe (estimated 5 minutes);
  • Usr\sap\<sid>\DVEBMGS00\exe (estimated 5 minutes);
• IF cluster fail CI over to DB (estimated 15 minutes);

Execution – ABAP

• Extract and move all the ABAP patch files into the right location (e.g. [drive]:\use\sap\trans\eps\in) (estimated 2 minutes);
• Perform SAINT/SPAM Update to patch XX (estimated 15 minutes);
• Import SAP_Basis patch XX using SPAM (estimated 45 minutes);
• Import SAP_ABA patch XX using SPAM (estimated 15 minutes);
• Import PI_Basis patch XX using SPAM (estimated 15 minutes);
• Import SAP_BW patch XX using SPAM (estimated 15 minutes);
• Import BI_CONT to patch XX using SPAM (estimated 30 minutes);
• Import ST_PI patch XX using SPAM (estimated 15 minutes);

Execution – JAVA

• Extract and move all the Java patch files into the right location (e.g. [drive]:\use\sap\trans\eps\in) (estimated 2 minutes);
• Logon as <sid>adm when deploying patches through JSPM;
• Perform JSPM update to patch XX (select single packs for this one) (estimated 15 minutes);
• Using JSPM, update all the components to patch XX (Select Support Package stack) (estimated 120 minutes);

Execution – Additional Patching

• Unpack Kernel archive and update it to latest patch (e.g. SP11 has patch 95) (estimated 15 minutes);
• Unpack IGS archive and update it to latest patch (e.g. SP11 has patch 7) (estimated 15 minutes);
• Confirm additional patches that need to be installed (estimated 15 minutes);
• Extract and move all the additional patch files into the right location (e.g. [drive]:\use\sap\trans\eps\in);
• Upgrade patch levels (estimated 250 minutes);
• Run SGEN (depends on server type) (estimated 300 – 400 minutes);

Post Processing

• Create SPAU Resolutions (estimated 2 minutes);
• SPAU Analysis (estimated 120 minutes);
• OSS Reapplication (estimated 80 minutes);
• Unlock Users (estimated 15 minutes);

Please note that the estimated times that I put here are assmunign that no unexpected errors occur. You know as well as I do that should something go wrong, these times can increase substantially. In my opinion, this is why it is so important to have a well organized Check List. Not only it will help you get an overview of all the tasks in hands and their sequence, but it will also help narrow down a potential error.

Please come back soon; on the next posts I will go into detail on how to perform a SAP system Support Package Stack Upgrade.

SAT is the new ABAP Runtime Analysis Tool of the SAP NetWeaver 7.0 EhP2 (successor of the SE30 transaction). This demo explores the SAT tools and shows how to use SAT for typical scenarios of ABAP runtime analysis, such as searching for performance bottlenecks, program flow analysis or memory consumption problems.

Watch the Demo (20 min)

Caffeine is a toolset that allows execution of the ABAP language on alternative runtimes outside of the ABAP server. As of today, it supports the execution of a subset of ABAP on the JVM (Java), Dalvik VM (Android), iOS (Objective C), and JavaScript. Its core design is centered around high performance, multi platform execution and multi threading.

Caffeine is at the moment a prototype project and proves the claims made. There is currently no relation to any current or future SAP product, but SAP is working on achieving this.

What’s it for?

Caffeine is a technology, not an application, and it can thus be applied to many use cases. Caffeine is not trying to enable the migration of existing ABAP code to other platforms, but is focusing on adding value to SAP’s On-Device, On-Demand, On-Premise strategy by making SAPs business programming language reach into spaces like mobile devices that our customer are looking to unlock and feed with information coming from the customers backend. Caffeine strives to help developers to build business applications that are better integrated from frontend to backend.

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After almost 2 years since it was recorded, this webcast continues to be useful in the times we live in. On June 25, 2008, Jon Reed gave a presentation on the best strategies for becoming a successful independent SAP consultant and growing your consulting business. The content from that presentation is now made available in saplab.org. Even though this webcast was designed for any aspiring SAP consultant, there are a some points to keep in mind as you watch or listen:

The presentation was prepared for the SAP Developer Network audience. The material is certainly useful for any SAP consultants, but it pointed specially towards SAP technical professionals, in particular, SAP developers.

A main theme of the presentation is how the free online resources of SAP’s online communities can help further consulting success. Jon Reed also explains how SDN Software Subscriptions can provide a great value for those consultants who are serious about self-education and software development.

The presentation does not assume that the audience is already running a consulting business. Many consultants wanted to “go independent” but have never taken the leap.

The general agenda is the following:

• how to become (and remain) a successful SAP consultant;
• how to grow your SAP consulting business;
• how to leverage SDN Subscriptions to develop bona fide third party software solutions using your own protected SAP Namespace.

Additional topics covered in the presentation:

• Finding a marketable SAP niche with consistent demand;
• Taking the plunge: accept that first independent project.

Access the Webcast:

• Click here to enter the Webcast event lobby
• Click here to download the audio only version (mp3 file)
• Click here to download the Powerpoint presentantion (ppt file)

Additional links and resources:

• Jon Reed on SAP Consulting

SAP enhancement packages represent a new software delivery strategy that allows system administrators to get upgrades for SAP ECC 6.0 (ERP 2005) without having to fully upgrade the existing release. With the introduction of enhancement packages, SAP has changed the methodology for implementing new functionalities.

1 – SAP enhancement packages strategy

SAP enhancement packages  for ECC 6.0 include functional and technical enhancements, industry specific enhancements, uniformizations and simplifications. To browse through the available changes included in each SAP enhacement package, please go to http://service .sap.com/erp-ehp. Enterprise Services (ES) bundles are also now delivered with enhancement packages. Each one of these bundles  include a set of enterprise services to support end-to-end business processes (e.g. Order Product) across the SAP Business Suite. To learn which ES bundles are available please go to the Enterprise Services Wiki.

New SAP enhancement packages include the entire content and functionality of previous versions. SAP will continue to provide Support Packages for ECC 6.0, contaning legal changes and corrections, on a regular basis and during the defined maintenance period. SAP has also planned to deliver enhancement packages to other SAP applications like CRM or SCM.

2 – Must know before installation

There are two major features which differentiate SAP enhancement packages from older technologies:

Selective installation of software components: each enhancement package will contain the new versions of existing software components. Only the funcionality you want to use will be updated.
Selective activation of new functionality: new funcionality must be explicitly switched on and activated.

2.1 – Selective Installation

SAP enhancement packages allows updates to parts of the ECC system. It is now possible to update the ECC server or the Web AS. New HCM features are updated via the EA-HR component on the ECC server. The whole procedure is now more automated and controled by the Solution Manager – Maintenance Optimizer.

As part of the ongoing development of the Netweaver platform, SAP leverages the Enhancement and Switch Framework to enable new functionality. Ths installation of enhancement packages has no effect on the underlying layer of the SAP Netweaver platorm.

The installation process is detached from activation, which means that we can now provide the more recent functionality in the system as well as continue with the regular maintenance activities. To maximize performance and reduce effort, SAP enhancement packages should be applied in a queue, together with any necessary Support Packages. Note that after an enhancement package is installed and activated, it won’t be possible to revert this. SAP recommends that customers should have a Sandbox system to perform pretesting of new functionality, upgrades and patches.

3 – Installation

Effortwise, the system administration folks can look at enhacement packages as support packages. As explained above, both should be included in one queue. There are, however, some dependencies that need to be higlighted – SAP Solution Manager Maintenance Optimizer will treat them automatically. The following tools are used for installation, depending on the type of software component:

• ABAP software components are installed using SAINT;
• Java software components are installed using JPSM;
• Portal Content and Business Packages are installed using JPSM;
• PI content is uploaded from the Integration Repository;
• BI content is applied as common Support packages.

3.1 – Prerequisites

• To use the Maintenance Optimizer, it is necessary to have the SAP Solution Manager aligned to the highest support package level in your system landscape. More information on the SAP Solution Manager at help.sap.com (SAP Solutions -> SAP Solution Manager);
• Make sure that the latest versions of SPAM and SAINT are updated in your systems;
• Read SAP note 1052522 to know in detail which Support Packages are required to install enhancement package 2;
• Note that software components included in SAP enhancement package 2 for SAP ECC 6.0 contain new developments as well as corrections. So by looking at the system after applying the enhancement packages, there will be some software components in version 600 (with SP level 10) as well as software components in versopn 602 (with SP level 0 which contain equivalent correction to SP level 10 of the same component in version 600);

3.2 – Select the Software Components

Select the software components which correspond to the business functions needed.

• More on SAP enhancement package 2 in SAP Note 1052470
• More on SAP enhancement package 3 in SAP Note 1083576.

3.3 – Identify and download SAP enhancement packages using SAP Solution Manager Maintenance Optimizer

Create a new maintenance transaction for upgrading your system with SAP enhancement package 2 for ECC 6.0. A guided procedure is used to lead the user through the initial upgrade process. Select all the systems which will be affected by the upgrade. Afterwards, select the Technical Usages to apply for the systems. The SAP Solution Manager will automatically calculate all the necessary Support Packages and new software components needed for the chosen technical usages.

• Read more about the SAP Solution Manager Maintenance Optimizer at service.sap.com/solman-mopz.

3.4 – Update ABAP software components using SAINT

SAP reccomends importing the SAP enhancement package and required support packages in one import queue. It might be necessary to adjust modifications after applying an update or support package. This can be done at once if you use a single queue.

• More on SAINT at help.sap.com (SAP Netweaver > SAP Netweaver 7.0 > “Access the SAP Netweaver Library”)

3.5 – Update Java Components and Portal Content using JSPM

You can use the document result of the SAP Solution Manager Maintenance Optimizer in the JSPM tool, to create a single import queue.

• More on JSPM at help.sap.com (SAP Netweaver > SAP Netweaver 7.0 > “Access the SAP Netweaver Library”)

3.6 – Update PI Content

The PI or ESR-Content corresponding to the PI version in use must be installed.

• More information on PI Content in chapter 2 of the eSOA Master Guide.

3.7 – Update Library

The more detailed application documentation will be installed on the server, through the chosen business functions. This means that only the relevant SAP library will be updated, according to the components you have updated.

• More on SAP Library at SAP Note 1066110.

4 – Additional Links and Resources

• SAP Enhancement Master Guide
• Enterprise SOA Master Guide
• SAP Service Marketplace
• Standard test case templates
• Introducing SAP enhancement packages for SAP ERP
• SAP Enhancement Packages for Business Suite and SAP NetWeaver
• Survival Tips for the EHP Installer for SAP ERP

4.1 – Support Package Stack Equivalence Level

Note – to check installed Enhancement Packages in a system and their level, use transaction code SPAM.

Alvaro Tejada Galindo, also known as @Blag is a Senior ABAP Consultant from Lima – Perú. He started learning programming at the age of 20. He started with Visual Basic 6.0 and C++ and he also learned some Pascal, Euphoria and Java. In the past 10 years, Alvaro has been involved in ABAP development, also learn scripting languages like Ruby and PHP.

In this post, similarly to what he did back in 2007, 2008 and 2009, @Blag compiled a list of what he considered the best and most useful SDN posts in 2010. Let me also take this opportunity to thank @Blag for his contribution, it is really very useful besides it’s what I consider rich content.

Ranting

• The Grinch who stole the Questions - Julius Bussche
• Geek’s Dictionary: What is the Walldorf Kiss of Death? – Thorsten Franz
• Kiss of Death for Web Dynpro Java – The Follow-Up Questions – Thorsten Franz
• Can we reinvent the grey haired ABAPer? – John Moy
• Should SDN be used for cross-blogging? – Michael Nicholls
• “Request-A-Blog” from a SAP Mentor – Richard Hirsch
• Goodbye Simplicity, Hello Obfuscation – &SAP_EDIT – Chris Paine
• A Blogger’s Carol – Jim Spath

WebDynpro

• Silverlight Islands in Web Dynpro Java 7.20 – Yariv Zur
• Wave Islands in Webdynpro ABAP – Uwe Fetzer
• Web Dynpro ABAP: Display tiff images – Elvez
• ABAP Class using Singleton pattern – used in WDA Enhancements. – ashish shah
• Web Dynpro Forms using HCM Processes and Forms – Brad Pokroy
• The death of Web Dypro Java has been greatly exaggerated… – Wolfgang Hilpert
• Technology Stability in a World of Constant Change – Michael Bechauf
• WebDynpro UIs – Usable? - Pete Lagana

Beyond SAP

• Are there SAP user groups in Latin America? – Jim Spath
• Meet the Mentors – Alvaro Tejada Galindo
• Ode to Marilyn Pratt: Honoring the Advocate on Ada Lovelace Day – Moya Watson
• Twenty Four ^2 – Jim Spath
• Consuming ABAP Webservices in Flex – Neil Gardiner
• SAP Mentors setting the tone for consulting? – Dennis Howlett
• I too want to become a famous blogger – Muthu Ranganathan
• SAP SDN Blog Reader for iPad, iPhone and Android devices – Helmut Tammen

SAP Developer Network

• SAP Mentor Monday: Highlights 2009 from SAP Mentors – Mark Finnern
• Turning a new page… – Craig Cmehil
• My UNOFFICIAL underground SCN promo fan video – Chris Solomon
• Meet David Branan Community Support Angel – Marilyn Pratt
• Powered by YOU: SCN By The Numbers – Mark Yolton
• Congratulations to the current Topic Leaders (2009-2010) – Laure Cetin

Business Server Pages

• Single Sign On to BSP pages – Holger Bruchelt

Emerging Technologies

• smartJSON – Lightweight JSON Library For ABAP – Wiktor Nyckowski
• iPhone App for searching HELP.SAP.COM – John Moy
• Mobile Augmented Reality in SAP – Ivan Femia
• SAP River, Gateway and more at Innovative Community Day Bangalore – Dipankar Saha

Community Projects

• unofficial Timeline of SAP – Sergio Ferrari
• Community Project ZGEOCODE – Gregor Wolf

Business Process Expert

• Want Fries With That? – Martin Lang

Widgets

• SAP Mentor Directory 2010 – Anil Bavaraju

Beginners

• Web Dynpro ABAP on TV for beginner (Hello World) – Holger Stumm
• Video: Why & How To Blog on SAP Community Network? – Natascha Thomson
• Growing in your SAP Career – Somnath Manna
• Asking Good Questions in the Forums to get Good Answers – Rob Burbank

ABAP

• ABAPdoc v2 – Onno Bagijn
• Macros – Good or Evil? – Gerd Rother
• Twibap: the ABAP Twitter API – Uwe Fetzer
• The ABAP Workbench and the Test-Driven Development Cycle in EHP1 - Stephen Pfeiffer
• xlsx2abap – Read and edit your Excel files from ABAP – Ivan Femia
• Enterprise Geeks to planet earth: “Houston, we have a problem” – Dennis Howlett
• Against All Odds – Programming of Communicating (S)ALV Grid Controls – Uwe Schieferstein
• Re-learn ABAP: Transition from Procedural to OO ABAP – Eric
• Calling a function module is now FM Droid – Raúl Vides Mosquera Pumaricra
• abap2xlsx – I’m no longer a baby, I grow up and now I’m a fully featured tool – Ivan Femia
• Just When You Thought You Knew Everything about ABAP Date Calculations… – Rob Burbank
• Calling a function module (abap code) – Raúl Vides Mosquera Pumaricra
• ABAP Trial Version 7.02 available in SCN! – Horst Keller
• ABAP Testing and Troubleshooting Tools – Which Features Are In Which Releases? – Olga Dolinskaja
• ABAP Debugger Scripting: Basics – Stephen Pfeiffer
• ABAP Debugger Scripting: Advanced – Stephen Pfeiffer

Carreer Center

• Nuke that code, let us start over – Vijay Vijayasankar

Standards

• SCRUM as example for new approaches in application development – Marcel Salein

SAP Education

• How do you know the consultant you get is the consultant you interviewed? – Kevin Wilson
• SAP Certification: The Certification 5 Report – Dennis Howlett
• SAP Communities, SAP Mentors, what’s in it for me ? How to convince my boss to
  let me access it ? (SAP Inside Track debriefing & Invitation to TechEd Networking Sessions) – Martin Gillet

SAP SAPPHIRE

• Where will you be ? – Abesh Bhattacharjee
• Blue Shirt Brigade aka SAP Mentors at #SAPPHIRENOW #ASUG2010 – Mark Finnern
• Sapphire Now 2010 in Orlando – My First Sapphire – Simon To
• My Sapphire experience @Orlando and the people who made it special : Part – 1 – Abesh Bhattacharjee
• My Sapphire experience @Orlando and the people who made it special : Part – 2 – Abesh Bhattacharjee

Higher Education

• SAP Mentors, Certification Five geek out with Bill McDermott – Dennis Howlett
• I would get SAP certified if…. – Vijay Vijayasankar

CRM

• Create your own BOL Object – Harel Gilor

SAP TechEd

• Why I want to go to TechEd – Chris Paine
• #nataschatoteched: An SAP Mentors case study – Ted Sapountzis
• Zen and the Art of Community – David Hull
• Life After Demo Jam – Matt Harding
• SAPTechEd in Vegas…Win, lose, or draw? – Susan Keohan

Community Day

• A Scrapbook of SAP Inside Track Vancouver – Jason Cao
• We made it! SAP Inside Track Istanbul – Abdulbasit Gulsen
• SAP Inside Track Sydney, Australia 2011 – Graham Robinson

Service-Orientes Architecture

• Semantics of Web Services – Tobias Trapp

Business Intelligence

• The BW – HANA Relationship – Thomas Zurek

Mobile

• SAP’s Mobile Strategy: Really? – John Appleby
• Caffeine – ABAP to Go – The Motivation – Daniel Vocke
• Android and RESTFul web service instead of SOAP – Michael Hardenbol
• Mobile apps or HTML? – Tobias Hofmann

Open Source

• Barcodes in SAP with the Barcode Writer in Pure Postscript. – Robert Russell
• Call a function module in the ABAP Editor: Stop Crying – Start Laughing. – Andrea Olivieri

Analytics

• What does SAP mean by “In-Memory”? – Ethan Jewett

SAP xApps

• Release : SAP MII Backuper v 1.0 – Abesh Bhattacharjee

Code Exchange

• Creating your own project on Code Exchange – Rui Nogueira

SAP Business Workflow

• What not to WF – Susan Keohan
• Santa baby, hurry down the chimney tonight… – Susan Keohan

Source: blag’s SDN weblog

Well I can say that this is a long awaited SAP launch and that will provide help to many users worldwide. If you’re like me, at a certain point in your SAP career, you felt the need to have your own SAP sandbox. Being for professional purposes or for your own personal skillset build, an SAP sandbox system is always handy and you can’t well perform this kind of experiments on your client development system.

Up until now, there weren’t many (viable) available solutions. There are some companies that provide you a paid service for you to have your own SAP system/client but usually expensive for most of us.

This month Learning on Demand by SAP launched a new service called SAP Sandbox onDemand, which consists of an SAP ECC 6.0 system with sufficient basic data, such as customer and vendor master data, to enable substantial experimentation.

Using this system, users can access the core ERP functionality of modules such as FI and CO, SD, HR and MM and can write and test ABAP code and modify SAP Netweaver settings and configurations. This offering will provide interested individuals with the ability to reinforce their existing SAP ERP knowledge and skills through experimentation in a live but safe environment. It will also enable you to clarify areas of ambiguity in your knowledge or to test new functionality that they may be considering for an existing or new client.

Given that the SAP Sandbox onDemand is accessed via an SAP WebGUI, there is no need to install any client-side software on your PC, so you can start using the system immediately after receiving your access details.

Comparing with other and existing offers, SAP Sandbox onDemand has a fair price in my perspective: US$80 for 30 days access.

Click here for more info and start playing now!