1.3 Technology Block Diagram

NWBC consists of a shell and a content area (canvas). The main goal of the shell itself is to enable the navigation through business processes based on the roles assigned to the user. It is possible to load these roles from either an ABAP role repository ( PFCG) or a portal role repository (PCD) via a set of Web services. Once the roles are loaded, they are presented to the user in a top level navigation area (for the first hierarchy level) and a detailed navigation area.

Additionally, the shell can open any number of application windows, each with its own content area in which users can run a specific transaction as part of a business process.

The concept described above is illustrated in the following figure:

The content area can display applications that are based on different types of technology, according to the required business process. For the end user, the content area is the main area where they can see the actual work that needs to be done.

The type of application running in the content area can be as follows:

With this approach, NWBC as shell links the different application technologies by combining various content area types. Consequently, NWBC forms a connection between SAP's old SAP GUI and the more modern Web Dynpro.