Differences between SAP EP 5.0 and SAP EP 6.0 

There are a number of major changes and updates to be aware of in SAP Enterprise Portal 6.0 as compared to SAP Enterprise Portal 5.0. In the following, those changes and updates will be described that are important for the integration of SAP BW and SAP EP.  A detailed description of the functionality for the end user can be found in the user guide for SAP EP 6.0 (see User Guide) and SAP EP 5.0 (see SAP Help Portal (http://help.sap.com) ® SAP NetWeaver ® SAP Enterprise Portal ® EP 5.0 SP6 ® User Guide).

Differences for End Users

For the user, the structure of the portal desktop has changed significantly. There is no longer an iPanel in SAP EP 6.0. In SAP EP 5.0, the iPanel serves as a target for Drag&Relate operations. Furthermore, you can use the iPanel as a start menu. With direct access to the connected systems (for example, BW systems), the roles from these systems are displayed in the iPanel and not in the header and masthead area like the portal roles.

In SAP EP 6.0 there is a special area for Drag&Relate Targets in the navigation panel. Direct access to the assigned BW roles is only possible with a BEx Web application that contains the Role Menu Web item. An administrator can adjust the navigation panel individually and can enhance it with his/her own iViews (see Dynamic Navigation). In this way, a BEx Web application with the Role Menu Web item can be part of the navigation panel.

The Related Links area in SAP EP 6.0 contains specific information and links for a portal page, as well as its iViews. Thus it provides the user with simple, guided navigation to related applications (for example BEx Web applications). Maintenance of Related Links is performed when the administrator defines iViews or portal pages. For more information, see Object Editors & Wizards in the Portal Content Studio.

From SAP EP 6.0 SP2, a page overview bar will be available in the upper area of the content area, making navigation between portal pages easier.

Differences for Administrators and Authors of BW Reports

For SAP BW and SAP EP administrators, as well as for authors of BW reports, there are also a number of differences. The separate storage of iViews (applications as part of a portal page), external services (applications as a whole portal page) and pages no longer exists in SAP EP 6.0 and it has been unified in the Portal Content Catalog. The Portal Content Catalog enables simple, common maintenance of all portal content objects. The portal content catalog enables structuring of the portal content in any hierarchy.

In SAP Enterprise Portal 6.0, external services have been replaced with iViews. iViews can contain a whole page and no longer have to be part of a portal page, that is, iViews can also exist without portal pages. This makes the configuration options for administrators and authors much more flexible.

There are two major changes in the area of integration between SAP BW and SAP EP 6.0:

·        Due to close integration of SAP BW 3.5 and SAP EP 6.0, iViews can now be created directly from the BEx Web Application Designer or the BEx Query Designer. The use of iView files (.ivu) is thus no longer necessary. For more information, see Integration Functions in Web Application Designer and Integration Functions in the Query Designer.

The Portal Content Catalog contains an export and import function to transport portal content objects between portals. For more information, see Integration Using the Portal Content Studio.

·        The SAP Role Migration has been replaced with the Role Upload in SAP EP 6.0 Role Upload is a tool within the portal administration that enables objects to be uploaded (for example, roles, transactions) from ABAP-based SAP systems such as SAP BW. For more information, see Integration Using Role Upload.

For more information about other options for generating portal content objects, see Integration of SAP BW 3.5 and SAP EP 6.0.