May 2008 Archives

Overview

In this blog entry, I will cover the entire process of downloading, installing and configuration the preview version of the SAP Enterprise Portal. Currently, SAP NetWeaver 04s SP15 is available for download from right here on the SDN web site. This is a 90-day evaluation installation intended to give you a flavor of what EP is like. The Sneak Preview edition will give you access to the following products:

• SAP Web Application Server Java 6.40 (J2EE Engine)
• MaxDB 7.5 database
• SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio 2.0.15
• SAP Enterprise Portal
• SAP Content Management and Collaboration
• SAP NetWeaver Developer Cockpit
• Adobe Document Services
• Composite Applications Framework 2.0 and Guided Procedures 2.0

Take advantage of this opportunity. As I indicated before, there is nothing better for a beginning SAP EP Developer than to practice on the real thing. To get intimately familiar with EP, you should download, install and configure it yourself on your Desktop or Laptop, even if you have access to it on your company's server - unless you've already installed it a few times at work, then you can safely skip this entry.

Step 1. Evaluate minimum installation requirements

First and foremost, evaluate the installation requirements and make sure you meet the minimum recommendations otherwise you may run into unexpected problems with no one to blame except yourself. If your system lacks in any of the stated requirements, save yourself the grief and upgrade before attempting the install. The download page lists the hardware/software requirements in detail, but here's the essence of it:

• Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional or Windows Server 2003
• NTFS-File systems
• Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher or Firefox 1.0 or higher
• At least 1 GB RAM, 2 GB are recommended
• Intel Pentium III/1.1 GHz or higher (or compatible)
• 6 GB hard disk space recommended
• High-resolution monitor (1024x768 or higher, 256 colors)

Step 2. Download

Now that you've ensured your PC has what it takes to run the Portal (or have had to upgrade), you can download the preview edition by going to the SDN download page:

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/downloads

You do need to be a member on SDN to be able to download, so go ahead and sign up, if you still haven't. It's fast and FREE!

Now that you've signed up, download the Full Java Edition (current release SAP NetWeaver 04 SP15), which consists of the following four rar files (rar is just a compressed file format which you can decompress using winrar archiver):


[the download consists of these four files, total size of the files is approximately 4.93 Gigabytes]

The downloaded files alone take up 4.93 Gigabytes of diskspace! Depending on your bandwidth, the download can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours - this is where you wish you'd signed up for a high-speed Internet connection.

Step 3. Prepare for Installation

Hopefully, the first two steps were relatively painless and straightforward. Preparing for installation is very important - take the time and prepare properly or you can waste a lot of time and effort.

When you've decompressed the downloaded rar files, you'll notice that there is a DOC folder which is where the installation instructions are. Open the index.htm file located within the html folder inside the DOC folder to view the instructions.

The important items to note from these instructions are as follows:

If this is the first time you're installing the Portal on this computer, all you have to do is ensure your PC meets the minimum hardware/software requirements. If you've installed the Portal or any other SAP product on this PC before, please ensure that you uninstall the previous installation of the Portal and ensure that none of the systems are called "J2E". It so happened that I had installed the previous preview edition of the Portal on the same PC.

Uninstall the previous version of the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio via the Add/Remove Programs applet from the Control Panel.

To uninstall the previous version of the J2EE server, run the uninstall program located at <install directory>usr\sap\J2E\JC00\uninstsap.exe.

Although everything uninstalled relatively easily, MAXDB was proving to be a bit sticky and no matter how I tried to uninstall it, I kept getting a message that an instance called J2E is still present and I'd have to get rid of it before uninstalling it. After some searching I found an answer on this SDN Forum entry. This is where I advise you to look for an answer for ANY issue you may be experiencing with any SAP product on SDN Forum or post it as a question if you haven't found it already posted.

Excerpt from the Forum Entry:

<pre>
run this command in a dos-box to find out what is installed:
dbmcli inst_enum
dbmcli db_enum
inst_enum just writes out the installed software.
db_enum writes out database instances which are on the host.
To get rid of the database instances you can run this command:
dbmcli -d DB1 -u control,control db_stop
dbmcli -d DB1 -u control,control db_drop
DB1 has to be replaced by the true database name.

dbmcli -d J2E -u control,control db_stop
dbmcli -d J2E -u control,control db_drop
dbmcli -d J2E -u control,control db_state
</pre>


Also, edit the file C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc\services (Windows 2000) or C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\services (Windows XP). It must not include an entry for the ports 3601, 3201 and 50000 to 50030. A possible entry can be excluded by using the hash symbol (#).

And finally, if no DHCP server is available on your network (which dynamically determines the IP address) or your computer is not connected to any network, you need to install the virtual interface adapter MS Loopback Adapter (detailed instructions are included with the download - see the index.htm file in the DOC/html folder).

Step 4. Create any backups

If your PC has important data, back it up, PRIOR to proceeding with the installation. Enough said!

Step 5. Install

There are a few very good resources available on SDN that detail the complete SAP Preview Edition installation process, which you can use along with this entry. I have listed the most useful of these in the resources section below.

To start the install, double-click on the SAPinst.bat file located in the <extract_directory>NWSneakPreviewSP15



[to start the install process click on the SAPinst.bat]

The installation process begins with a License Agreement. All the values that need to be entered during the installation are present in the documentation included with the downloaded files in the DOC folder. The installation does take a long time (it took more than two hours to complete on my PC). You will have to install the NetWeaver Developer Studio as well as the two database administration tools manually. The installations are straightforward and the instructions are included with the download in the DOC folder.

I took screenshots during the entire installation process and ended up with 100 images. They are a bit too many to include here. I can email them to any of the readers if they need them for any reason. Just leave a comment with your email address or email me.

When the installation has completed, you will see the following icons four icons on your desktop. I suggest you add the last two yourself. One is to the Portal web page (http://localhost:50000/irj/portal) and the other is to start the J2EE Visual Administrator tool, located at <installation drive>usr\sap\j2e\jc00\j2ee\admin\go.bat



[the shortcut icons created after the installation has completed]

The SAP Management Console is based on the Windows 2000 or Windows XP MMC tool and is used to start and stop the J2EE server and the Portal Database instance. It takes a LONG time to start the server so you have to be patient.

[the SAP Management Console tool to start and stop the server]

When the Portal J2EE server has started up, you can log into the Portal with your admin username and admin password by going to the Portal URL: http://localhost:50000/irj/portal


[the SAP EP logon screen]

Viola! You've successfully logged on to the SAP Enterprise Portal! If, however, you were not successful and ran into some problems, don't despair. Check on the SDN Forums and post a new question if you no one else has posted that particular problem.

Resources

SDN Blog Entries:

A Visual Installation Guide on Sneak Preview SAP NetWeaver 04 Java Edition
A Visual Installation Guide on Sneak Preview SAP NetWeaver 04 Java Slim Edition
(Re)Installing Sneak Preview Made Easy - Part 1

SDN Community Contribution:

Installation of SAP NetWeaver 04 SP15

Summary

Overall the installation process for the preview edition of SAP EP 6, is pretty straightforward. This is particularly true if you've prepared yourself (and your PC). Remember to back up your system, just in case things don't go as planned and reserve a lot of time aside before attempting to install.

Background Information

The SAP Enterprise Portal is a web interface for SAP NetWeaver and non-SAP content delivered seamlessly. From the user's perspective, its an extremely convenient way to get to all kinds of applications and data in one easy to use and consistent format via a web browser. The technology allows content from anywhere, using a Single Sign-On to be customized for the ultimate user experience. From the developer's perspective, the opportunities are endless. A developer can use this platform to incorporate data from various sources - SAP, databases, the web, Microsoft Outlook and IBM Lotus Notes, for example into a Portal page.

What is content and how can it be developed?

Portal Content consists of Applications that run in the Portal Runtime (Java) or the Web Dynpro Runtime. I will cover the details of Web Dynpro applications in another blog entry. Applications can also be created using the Business Server Pages (within the R/3 system using ABAP and HTML) and .Net. I will also explore these in another blog entry.

What is a Java Applications in the Portal

Java applications in the Portal are basically made up of either Components or Services or both. One or more Portal Components can be used to display HTML in an iView - which is a basic building block of Portal applications. A component typically extends a class called AbstractPortalComponent - which is part of the Portal Runtime API:

    com.sapportals.portal.prt.component.AbstractPortalComponent

A Portal Service provides functionality that can be used by a portal component or another service. A service typically implements the IService interface - which is also part of the PRT API:

    com.sapportals.portal.prt.service.IService

The Structure of a Java Application

Portal applications are stored in PAR files (which are just zipped files with a .par extension). A PAR file contains web resources, Java classes and a deployment descriptor called portalapp.xml. As a developer, you'll get used to ensuring that your applications have the following general folder hierarchy:




This is the file structure of a typical Portal Application

The portalapp.xml file above (known as the deployment descriptor) is probably the most important part of the PAR file. Even if a component or service is provided with the PAR file, if its not in the portalapp.xml file, its as if it does not exist. Therefore, I suggest that you use the NetWeaver Developer Studio (NDS) software to develop your Java applications as this software creates the appropriate deployment descriptor for you automagically.

The Deployment Descriptor

The Deployment Descriptor consists of four hierarchical sections, subsections and properties of each, enclosed within the parent application. Everything has to be between the opening and closing application tags. The four sections are application-config, components, services and registry.

Here is an example of what a typical portalapp.xml file looks like:

<application> <application-config> <property name="releasable" value="true"/> </application-config> <components> <component name="BeginEPDevelopment"> <component-config> <property name="ClassName" value="com.yourcompany.BeginEPDevelopment"/> </component-config> <component-profile> <property name="diplayHistory" value="10"> <property name="plainDescription" value="BlogEntries"/> <property name="personalization" value="dialog"/> </property> <property name="diplayStyle" value="list"> <property name="type" value="select[list,entries]"/> <property name="personalization" value="dialog"/> </property> </component-profile> </component> </components> <services> <service name="BeginEPDevelopmentService"> <service-config> <property name="startup" value="true"/> <property name="className" value="com.yourcompany.BeginEPDevelopmentService"/> </service-config> <service-profile> <property name="BlogComments" value="Display"/> </service-profile> </service> </services> </application>


Now that we've seen what a portal Java application consists of, let's take a quick overview of the steps involved in creating this content. I'll describe each step of the process in more detail in the next few entries in this series.
Creating Java Portal Content, Step by Step Overview:

   1. Create a Portal Application Project in NDS:
         1. File > New > Other... > Portal Application > Create a Portal Application Project
         2. Click Next and type a name for the project and click Finish
   2. Create a Portal Application Object - for this step one of the following items can be created, depending on the need:
         1. Portal Component
         2. Portal Service
         3. Portal Web Service
   3. Once the Portal Objects have been developed, the project is ready to be deployed either directly from NDS or uploaded into the portal manually.
         1. File > Export > PAR File and click Next
         2. select the project you wish to deploy and click Next
         3. ensure the correct PAR file is selected, select if you wish to include the source code and whether you wish to deploy the project right from NDS and click Finish
         4. If you elected to deploy directly from NDS, you'll need to make sure that NDS is configured to do this (a future blog entry in this series describes the details)
         5. If you elected to manually upload the PAR file into the portal, log into the portal with an account that has Developer access (a future blog entry in this series covers the details of portal security) and go to Java Development > Tools > PRT Admin Console and click on Browse from Archive Uploader and select the PAR file to upload and click on Upload.
   4. Create the iView based on the PAR file
         1. Log in to the portal with Content Administrator access and navigate to Content Administration > Portal Content
         2. Right click on the folder in the Portal Content Directory (PCD) in which you'd like the iView to be created and select New from PAR > iView from the context menu
         3. Select the PAR file uploaded in Step 3 above and click Next
         4. Select one of the components on the next screen and click Next
         5. Type an iView name and ID and click on Next and Finish
         6. You can right click on the iView you just created and click on Preview from the context menu to see what the iView looks like or attach it to a page and workset to display it on a portal page (a future blog entry in this series describes the details).

Development Methods

Now that we've seen the structure of a typical portal application, let's look at the different methods of developing Java applications for the SAP EP. There are other ways of developing content (such as Web Dynpro), which are not discussed in this entry. If you're using NDS for development, there are easy to use tools and wizards available for speeding up the initial development process. I strongly suggest using these, as they will make your life easier as an EP Developer. I will briefly go over each of them, but for detailed descriptions of each, please refer to the Help provided with NDS, under the SAP EP Plugins Guide section. Note that we'll be using the EP perspective in NDS for these methods.

Here's a screenshot of the different component and service types currently available from NDS by default.






These wizards can be accessed from the File > New > Other... and selecting Portal Application followed by Create a New Portal Application Object

Portal Components come in four flavors:

   1. AbstractPortalComponent
   2. AbstractTestComponent
   3. JSPDynPage
   4. DynPage

AbstractPortalComponent is the most basic portal component that can used to create an iView for the SAP EP. This is also the fastest way to create a simple Java iView to display some content on the Portal.

This wizard generates some generic Java code that you can build upon. The only method of interest is the doContent() method, where content is created. For example:

public void doContent(IPortalComponentRequest request, IPortalComponentResponse response) { response.write("Java Development for SAP EP"); } }




AbstractTestComponent is a basic portal test component that can used to test applications using the portal framework.

DynPage is the most basic portal component type which can be used to build an HTMLB iView. This wizard creates a doInitialization() method (which is typically executed once per user), a doProcessAfterInput() method (which typically contains the input handling code, if any) and a doProcessBeforeOutput() method (which is where the GUI components and any other output is created).

JSPDynPage is a more elaborate version of the DynPage method above. It creates a JSP file and, optionally, a Bean class.

The code generated by this wizard is almost identical to the code for DynPage objects, except the presentation is handled by a JSP page and an optional Bean class is created. This means that the doProcessBeforeOutput methods are slightly different and there is an additional JSP file and an optional Bean class file. There are obviously other differences (such as the differences in the portalapp.xml file).

Portal Services only have a single wizard that can be used to create them. Portal Services created using this wizard, implement the IService interface.

Portal Web Service gives you three options to either convert a Portal Service into a Portal Web Service, use a Web Service to create a Portal Service, which gives lets you use either Client side or Server side web services.

Summary

In this entry I've attempted to give a whirlwind overview of the development process, target at the newbie SAP EP Developer. I have only touched on development of Java content, which is one of the many methods available for EP Development. In the next two entries of the Beginning EP Development series, I will cover Installing and Configuring the Preview Edition of EP and Setting up the NetWeaver development environment, which will set the stage for some serious development. Stay tuned!