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Glossary

Defines terms and components for SAP Mobile Services.

anonymous user : A user who can access the system without providing identification.

Apple Push Notification Service (APNs) : A free service provided by Apple for devices running iOS. The APNs pushes notifications from a provider to a device, which means applications need not operate as active listeners for those notifications.

application user : A distinct set of identities (identified or anonymous) that are in contact with the system by using an application. In SAP mobile service cockpit, an application user is the distinct list of names under which a user has been identified to the system. An application user may also be a user (identified or anonymous) that has been associated with an application ID.

Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) : SAP ASE, originally known as "Sybase SQL Server", and also commonly known as "Sybase DB" or "Sybase ASE", is a relational model database server originally developed by Sybase Corporation.

Business to consumer (B2C) : Describes the target audience for a solution, in this case consumers.

BTP : SAP Business Transformation Platform.

back end : A system that provides a data source, such as a database or Web service.

certificate : A digital security mechanism attached to an electronic message that verifies the identity of a specific user.

client application : In SAP Mobile Services, the software that runs on a smartphone, tablet computer, or other mobile device. See mobile application.

client resources : Also known as resource bundles. Containers used by applications to download dynamic configurations, styles, or content from the cloud.

connection : Configuration details and credentials that are required to connect to a database, Web service, or other back end.

Cordova : A web view-based, cross-platform mobile application development framework.

data vault : Provides encrypted storage of occasionally used, small pieces of data from multiple operational systems.

Db2 : A family of proprietary data management systems.

Database Connection Pooling (DBCP) : Apache Commons DBCP, a database connection pooling library.

deploy : To upload a computer program or development unit from a development state to a server, moving it from a packaged or assembled form to an operational working state that can be consumed. SAP Mobile Services can then make the unit accessible to users via a client application that is installed on a mobile device.

device application : A software application that runs on a mobile device. See mobile application.

discovery service : Provides the configuration information necessary for a user to enroll a device with the SAP mobile service for app & device management (formerly Mobile Secure). Allows you to distribute initial configuration data to mobile apps to enhance the user onboarding process.

Enterprise Sales and Procurement Model (ESPM) : A relational reference data model commonly used in SAP sample apps and demos.

Entity Tag (ETag) : The HTTP ETag (entity tag) header.

ERP: Enterprise resource planning is the integrated management of business processes, often supported by software and technology.

Extract, transform, load (ETL) : Extract, transform, load is a general procedure of copying data from one or more sources to a destination system while applying data transformations.

export : The movement of mobile objects from a system so they can be imported into another system. Typically performed by the SAP Mobile Services administrator.

Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) : A free service offered by Google for sending messages to Android devices. Requires an API key to allow SAP Mobile Services to send push notifications over FCM.

H2 : An open-source database management system.

hybrid application : An application developed using Web technologies, such as HTML5 and JavaScript, that runs within a native application on the device. The container provides the Web application with access to native device capabilities through an exposed JavaScript API.

Java Connector (JCo) : SAP Java Connector, a development library that enables a Java application to communicate with on-premise SAP systems via SAP's RFC protocol.

Java Persistence API (JPA): JPA is a programming interface that allows accessing relational data using Java.

Kapsel : An SAP SDK for Cordova-based mobile applications.

KeyStore : In Java, a repository in which encryption keys, digital certificates, and other credentials in either encrypted or unencrypted .jks file types are stored for SAP Mobile Services runtime components. See TrustStore.

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) : An application protocol for accessing, querying, and modifying data in distributed directory services.

Mobile Business Object (MBO) : The fundamental unit of data exchange in SAP Mobile Platform, the successor to Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP). An MBO roughly corresponds to a data set from a back-end data source.

mobile application (mobile app) : A software application designed to run on smartphones, tablet computers, and other mobile devices.

SAP mobile service cockpit : A Web-based interface in SAP Mobile Services for creating and administering mobile applications, registering users, creating and maintaining connections, and performing administration tasks related to reporting, logging, and onboarding.

monitoring : An SAP Mobile Services feature that allows administrators to identify areas of weakness or periods of high activity in a particular area, as well as overall system health. Use for system diagnostics or for troubleshooting.

Microsoft Push Notification Service for Windows Phone (MPNS) : A free service that enables you to send push notification messages to Windows Phone 7+ and Windows Phone 8.0 apps.

Open Data Protocol (OData) : Provides standard create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) access to a data source via a web site. OData is similar to JDBC and ODBC, although not limited to SQL databases.

OData proxy : A connection to the mobile server that funnels OData service requests through the platform, giving administrators and developers more control by forcing only allowlisted endpoints to be accessible from the application. Also restricts who is able to access the endpoint, based on security mechanisms that are built into the platform.

onboarding : The enterprise-level activation of an authentic device, a user, and an application entity as a combination in SAP Mobile Services.

Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) : An XML-based open-standard data format for exchanging authentication and authorization data between an identity provider and a service provider.

SAP Fiori : The user experience (UX) for SAP software; represents a personalized, responsive, and simple user experience across devices and deployment options.

SAP Business Technology Platform : Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering from SAP; enables customers and developers to build, extend, and run applications on SAP in the cloud.

schedule : The definition of a task (such as the collection of a set of statistics) and the time interval during which the task must execute using SAP Mobile Services.

System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) : An open standard that connects SAP Mobile Services to a back-end authentication user store.

security configuration : The mechanism within SAP Business Technology Platform that enforces application authentication and authorization. The security configuration points the platform to an underlying user store (a repository, such as Active Directory or an LDAP server) to perform authentication and authorization services.

single sign-on (SSO) : A credentials-based authentication mechanism for accessing multiple, but independent, software systems using a single logon.

TrustStore : In Java, a specialized KeyStore in which certificate authority (CA) signing certificates are stored.

VMWare AirWatch : An enterprise portal to manage devices (MDM), providing an internal app store (EMM).

Windows Push Notification Service (WNS) : A free service that enables third-party developers to send toast, tile, badge, and raw updates from their own cloud service to Windows Store apps. All modern UI apps can receive notifications via WNS, but not traditional desktop applications. See MPNS for information about push notification service to Windows Phone.

XSUAA : SAP Authorization and Trust Management service, responsible to authenticate and authorize users using an identity provider.


Last update: December 21, 2023