SAP xApps and the Composite Application Framework

Preface... 9
Acknowledgements... 11
Introduction... 13

1. SAP xApps-Basic Principles ... 17
... 1.1 Market Situation and Opportunities ... 17
... 1.2 The Evolution of Business Applications ... 20
... 1.3 Characteristics and Definition of SAP xApps ... 33
... 1.4 The Developers of SAP xApps ... 40
... 1.5 Ideal Procedure for the Creation of an SAP xApp ... 42
... 1.6 First Implementation Examples ... 45
... 1.7 Possible Decision Criteria for Developing an SAP xApp or a Custom Composite Application ... 51

2. The Architecture of SAP xApps ... 55
... 2.1 SAP NetWeaver Overview ... 55
... 2.2 SAP NetWeaver Components ... 56
... 2.3 SAP Composite Application Framework ... 81
... 2.4 Architectural Model of SAP xApps ... 94

3. The SAP Composite Application Framework ... 97
... 3.1 Introduction ... 97
... 3.2 Scenario xFlights ... 98
... 3.3 Architecture and Tools of the SAP Composite Application Framework ... 105
... 3.4 External Services ... 114
... 3.5 Entity Service ... 115
... 3.6 Application Services ... 138
... 3.7 User Interface ... 144
... 3.8 Process Modeler ... 162
... 3.9 Business Intelligence Integration ... 166
... 3.10 Knowledge Management Integration ... 175
... 3.11 Additional Integrations ... 177
... 3.12 Supply and Maintenance ... 178
... 3.13 Modeling Guidelines ... 185

4. Implementation Examples ... 191
... 4.1 SAP xApp Product Definition (SAP xPD) ... 191
... 4.2 SAP xApp Cost and Quotation Management (SAP xCQM) ... 222

5. Outlook: Applications and Application Development ... 257
... 5.1 Development ... 257
... 5.2 Paradigm Shift ... 259
... 5.3 Facts ... 261
... 5.4 Overall Picture and Solution ... 264

A. Appendix ... 267
... A.1 CORE Objects for CAF 1.0 ... 267
... A.2 Operation Types ... 270
... A.3 User Interface Links ... 270
... A.4 Tables ... 273
... A.5 Property Rules for Attributes ... 275

B. Glossary ... 277

C. Sources and Further Reading ... 283

The Authors ... 287

Index ... 289