SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer

Foreword ... 13

1. Introduction ... 17

2. SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer ... 25
... 2.1 SAP NetWeaver ... 26
... 2.2 Building Applications for SAP NetWeaver ... 29
... 2.3 A Model-Driven Tool ... 31
... 2.4 Visual Composer Today ... 42
... 2.4.1 SAP Visual Composer for NetWeaver 2004s ... 42
... 2.4.2 SAP Visual Composer 6.0 ... 49

3. Model-Driven Development ... 55
... 3.1 Basics ... 56
... 3.2 Model-to-Code Approach ... 58
... 3.3 Model-Driven Development Within SAP ... 59
... 3.4 Visual Composer as Visual Modeling Tool ... 62
... 3.5 Parting Thoughts ... 64

4. Architecture and Concepts ... 67
... 4.1 Architecture of SAP Visual Composer for NetWeaver 2004s ... 68
... 4.2 Visual Composer within the SAP NetWeaver Development Infrastructure ... 86
... 4.3 How to Choose the Right Modeling Tool ... 87

5. Visual Composer Basics ... 91
... 5.1 Visual Composer Storyboard ... 93
... 5.2 Composing a Model ... 125
... 5.3 UI Controls ... 142
... 5.4 Expression Editor ... 166

6. Building Applications ... 179
... 6.1 Getting Started-The Basic Model ... 179
... 6.2 Transactional Applications-Accessing ERP from Visual Composer ... 181
... 6.3 Accessing Web Services ... 259

7. Analytical Applications ... 279
... 7.1 BI Kit Connections ... 279
... 7.2 BI Kit Tools ... 287
... 7.3 Integration ... 378

8. Application Lifecycle ... 399
... 8.1 Visual Composer System Landscape ... 399
... 8.2 Backend and Portal Systems ... 423

9. Business Examples ... 427
... 9.1 Best Practice Scorecarding ... 427
... 9.2 Account Analytics ... 429
... 9.3 Treasury and Financial Investment Controlling ... 430
... 9.4 Summary ... 433

10. Visual Composer and Enterprise SOA ... 435

A. Modeling and Tips ... 441
... A.1 General Portal Issues ... 441
... A.2 Enable the Visual Composer Log ... 443
... A.3 Unlocking a Visual Composer Model ... 443
... A.4 Percentage Sign ... 444
... A.5 Chart Design ... 445
... A.6 Changing Colors for Visual Composer Applications ... 445
... A.7 Searching for Visual Composer iViews in the Portal ... 446
... A.8 Performance Issues with BI JDBC Connector ... 447
... A.9 No Metadata from the BI JDBC Connector ... 448
... A.10 No Metadata from the BI XMLA Connector ... 448
... A.11 Cannot See the InfoCube Under BI XMLA ... 448
... A.12 Performance Issues and Limitations with the BI XMLA/ODBO Connector ... 449
... A.13 INVALID_VARIABLE_VALUES# ... 450
... A.14 Wrong Language ... 451
... A.15 Language Mapping ... 452
... A.16 Strange Names for Query Elements ... 452
... A.17 Web Service Enablement ... 452
... A.18 "Authority Check" Error ... 454
... A.19 "Virtual Interface not found" Error ... 455
... A.20 "Serialization" Error ... 456
... A.21 Drop-Down List and Combo Box ... 458
... A.22 Visual Composer and SAP BW/ SAP NetWeaver BI Sizing ... 458
... A.23 Formats of Date, Time, Units ... 458
... A.24 Problems with Mandatory Variables in BI XMLA ... 459
... A.25 SAP Query Result Fields and Select Fields ... 459
... A.26 Writing Data Back ... 460
... A.27 Jump to Detailed Analysis (from Alert or Any Other Link) ... 460
... A.28 Using a Dynamic RFC ... 461
... A.29 Sorting on BI Data with More Than 500 Records ... 461
... A.30 Calling Analysis Process Designer or Process Chain ... 462

B. Coding for Integration Examples ... 463
... B.1 BEx Integration ... 463
... B.2 Document Integration ... 472
... B.3 Additional Code for Meta and Transactional Data Document Association ... 506
... B.4 Dynamic RFC ... 510

C. The Authors ... 513

Index ... 515