SAP-Specific Extensions (Tools and Infrastructure) The Developer Studio assumes the presence of all standard components The Developer Studio assumes the presence of all standard components

and features of the Eclipse Workbench, which is installed with the Eclipse SDK, and extends them with a range of tools and services, which are grouped in corresponding SAP-specific perspectives depending on the tasks involved.

Development on the Basis of SAP-Specific Projects

This is how the Developer Studio integrates the design time for the Composite Application Framework (CAF) and provides access to a com-prehensive composition and development environment with its own abstraction layer and its own programming and meta model, as well as adequate tool support during the creation of composite applications.

Figure 2.6 Figue 2.6 Deployment of a Java EE Application on the SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java

Overview of the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio

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Model-driven approach

The strength of the CAF design time, the tools of which are grouped in the CAF perspective, lies in the consequent support for a model-driven approach during the creation of business objects and services, combined with the means to embed existing and external services in the composite application. Developers can use mostly declarative steps to create the component for a CAF application so that the programming effort is reduced to a minimum.

The Web Dynpro UI programming model follows a similar model-driven approach. The associated design time tools are integrated in the development environment through the Web Dynpro perspective. Gen-eration of development objects in Web Dynpro projects is also based on a metadata model provided specifically for this purpose. The Java Dictio-nary is also a pure SAP-specific technology. The associated design time tools are integrated in the Developer Studio through the Dictionary per-spective and allow developers to define tables independent of the data-base and to create global dictionary types and structures.

SAP Component Model

NWDI integration at project level

The SAP-specific component model supports all project types that are relevant for application developers. As part of the SAP NetWeaver development infrastructure (NWDI), the component model is embed-ded firmly in the Developer Studio. The SAP component model helps to structure the software based on individual components, which define clear use relationships between each other and therefore form a pre-requisite for modularization and reuse. In contrast to typical projects, the component-based projects are capable of consuming large amounts of metadata, which developers can use to determine interfaces for the external use of, dependencies on, or the visibility of development objects.

Integration of All Services in Software Lifecycle Management and Logistics

Comprehensive development projects and large-scale team develop-ment are dependent on optimum support from lifecycle managedevelop-ment in distributed development landscapes. Seamless integration in the SAP

Open Source Initiative 2.3

NetWeaver Development Infrastructure allows developers to store and manage all development objects created in a central Design Time Repos-itory (DTR), to have them built in a central build process using the Cen-tral Build Service (CBS), to add them to the change management system, and then to distribute them using a defined software logistics process.

Integration of the SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java

Server administra-tion in the Developer Studio

Numerous integrated tools and utilities are provided to allow access to the SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java (AS Java) starting in the development phase. Beginning from the Developer Studio, developers have access to several basic functions to monitor and administrate the SAP application server and the corresponding server instances. In this way, developers can control both local and remote server processes without having to turn to additional tools outside of the development environment.

SAP Security

With the provision of enterprise applications, developers are forced to also take into account security aspects. The SAP NetWeaver Composi-tion Environment (CE) provides a range of different security and user management functions, which can be included in various types of projects and development components (Java EE, Web Dynpro, Web ser-vices, and CAF components). Even though the AS Java is delivered with a set of standard logon modules and the majority of authentication and SSO scenarios only need to be configured appropriately by the system administrator, application developers still have the option, for example, of designing a custom logon module to meet the specific requirements within a company.

SAP NetWeaver Scheduler for Java (Java Scheduler)

Core service

With the SAP NetWeaver Scheduler for Java, the AS Java contains a core service that allows the scheduling of jobs for automatic background pro-cessing, in conjunction with Java applications. Developers use the Java Scheduler API to link this type of background job with certain Java applications during the development process. In other words, they can

Overview of the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio

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use this API to schedule jobs for background processing in their pro-gram. The implementation of the logic defined for background process-ing is done in the Developer Studio on the basis of EJB modules usprocess-ing message-driven beans.

SAP Logging API

Together with the services for integrating tools in the Developer Studio, special APIs, such as for archiving or logging and tracing are also inte-grated. For example, developers can use the SAP Logging API to connect any tool with minimal effort and in a standardized way to a tracing con-figuration.

In general, the SAP Logging API differentiates between two main types of messages:

왘 Conventional log messages with permanent recording and the status of a system or application

왘 Trace messages for detailed analysis of the source code by developers in the event of problems

Generic Services for Uniform Tool Integration

Service layer The SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio builds on the predefined Eclipse platform with a service layer intended specifically for tool integration.

This service layer forms the actual basis for integrating tools in the Developer Studio. The reasons for this additional effort are as follows:

왘 First, a generic approach is required to create a link between the pure file- and directory-based view that prevails in Eclipse and the logical view of complex development projects in various types of projects.

왘 Second, we aim to make plug-in development more efficient through-out SAP and to standardize the tools. For example, all DC project types should be based on a specific metadata concept and, starting from a logical view, the same DTR operations (synchronizing, check-ing DTR activities in and out) should function in the same way in the different toolsets and types of projects. Moreover, the basic steps to create plug-in user interfaces were unified and simplified using a fur-ther abstraction layer in the UI programming model.

Integration Platform 2.4

Services for tool integration generally contain two different layers, one for the model abstraction and a tool service layer.

왘 The model abstraction layer is a generic layer that is used as the basis for both the graphical connection and the presentation of design time objects at the logical level. Accordingly, this layer represents an abstraction of the physical file and directory nature of the objects and therefore also fulfills the requirement for a uniform navigation model.

왘 The tool service layer provides various services for consistent and uniform tool integration, which includes the SAP logging and tracing functions, for example.