Most application developers, IT specialists, and business process experts are already aware that SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer is THE new standard for modelling and designing business applications. This much-anticipated new book is a benchmark work, providing readers with comprehensive, in-depth coverage of all aspects of Visual Composer.

First, you get a quick introduction to the basic concepts as the authors introduce you to model driven development, highlighting the various tools that are at your disposal. Then, you'll learn the ins and outs of the Visual Composer architecture - including details on all available elements. Significant differences between the current version, Visual Composer for SAP NetWeaver 2004s, and previous releases are explained clearly. You'll be able to take full advantage of the vast capabilities of Visual Composer and as you build your own analytical applications using the authors' practical expert advice.

In addition, an entire chapter is dedicated to the advantages of the BI Kit and its tools. You'll also learn about development lifecycle aspects, get tips and tricks on configuration settings and known limitations, and discover analytical applications, which are currently delivered by SAP as standard applications - plus key insights on their utilization.

Highlights

• Overview and comparison of SAP development tools
• Introduction to terminology and concepts of model driven development
• Details on all Visual Composer elements (components, connectors, operators, UI controls)
• Building applications with Visual Composer using data services, different views, layers, wizards, eventing, web services etc.
• Building analytical applications using BI extension Kit for Visual Composer and related tools
• Lifecycle aspects (transporting, upgrading, localization, versioning, personalization)
• Business scenarios with Enterprise SOA
• Best practices for configuration settings, modelling issues, limitations

About the Author(s)

Carsten Bönnen works as a Product Manager for SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer. Mario Herger is in the SAP Business Process Expert team and works on the creation and structuring of this new community. Both have been in touch with the Visual Composer from its very first days.

Table of Contents

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