Introduction 

Overview

SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment (CE) is a platform that enables building and running applications based on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) principles. It offers a set of capabilities for integrating new and existing services – both by SAP and proprietary, into business-specific solutions. You can develop portable standard-compliant applications based on the latest Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 5 technologies and integrate them with existing SAP and third-party solutions using a central enterprise service registry. SAP NetWeaver CE increases development productivity by providing model-driven composition tools for creating services and user interfaces and orchestrating them into collaborative user-centric workflows.

SOA Enabled

To enable SOA development, SAP NetWeaver CE provides the following key capabilities:

●      A lean and robust application server based on latest Java EE 5 technology

With the Java EE 5 certified application server that SAP provides you can develop Java EE applications based on the newest Java EE standard as well as migrate existing J2EE applications.

The application server in SAP NetWeaver CE comprises features for ensuring its robustness, scalability, and supportability, such as configurable session failover support, built-in load balancing support, fast and robust shared memory based on request handling, and robust monitoring and unique supportability of non-functional problems based on SAP's own Java VM features.

The server offers full support of the latest Java EE 5 features, updates, and adjustments for simplifying the development of enterprise applications, such as Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) 3.0, the new Java Server Faces (JSF) 1.2, the new Java Persistence API 1.0, the updated Web services stack, and more. It provides an implementation of the Service Data Objects (SDO) 2.1 standard simplifying data programming for applications and frameworks, support for development of standard-based portlets, and a job scheduler implementation. With the Java Connector Architecture (JCA) 1.5 and full Java EE 5 Web Services support it enables connectivity to SAP and non-SAP backends and services.

·        An integrated environment for Java application development

The SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio is SAP's Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Java and is based on the open-source tools framework Eclipse 3.3. With the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio, you can develop Java EE 5 applications using the built-in support for new technologies, such as EJB 3.0 and JSF 1.2. The integration with the service registry in SAP NetWeaver CE enables you to browse and consume services in the applications you create.

·        Model-driven tools for increased development productivity

SAP NetWeaver CE provides a set of model-driven tools for creating user interface and composing services that simplify development and increase productivity significantly.

With Visual Composer you can model transactional and analytical user interfaces that can be easily integrated into the user interaction layer of a composite. The tool offers a graphical interface that is suitable for business users as well.

Using Web Dynpro, you can build complex user interfaces and data-driven applications while benefiting from graphical tools and code generation that speeds up the development process. Web Dynpro enables clear separation of business and display logic, and allows user interaction with backend systems using enterprise services.

The Composite Application Framework (CAF) design time enables model-driven development of composite applications on top of existing enterprise services.

·        Service orchestration into user-centric collaborative workflows by means of reusable building blocks

The services and applications that you create are typically transactional and apply to certain use cases. You can add more flexibility and innovation to your solutions by integrating them into collaborative workflows that address enterprise-specific business processes. SAP NetWeaver CE provides Guided Procedures as a framework for designing and running user-centric lightweight processes. It enables you to create reusable workflow building blocks that can be integrated in multiple custom solutions.

·        UDDI-based service registry for service provisioning and discovery

To enable end-to-end SOA development, SAP NetWeaver CE offers a UDDI v3-based service registry where providers can publish service endpoints, definitions and associated metadata, and consumers can discover the appropriate services for their scenarios. The registry provides capabilities for classifying and browsing services using semantic-rich classification systems.

·        User interaction by an integrated portal

All Java and composite applications that you develop on top of SAP NetWeaver CE can be integrated and made available in the portal provided with the stack. It offers a unified user experience and a single access point for end users.

Capabilities of the SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment

The SAP NetWeaver CE IT Scenarios

To address the business needs of the customers, SAP NetWeaver CE enables the implementation of a set of IT scenarios, which map the software capabilities to real business cases. The IT scenarios include scenario variants that support customers in the entire process of building and running solutions specific to their requirements.

The SAP NetWeaver CE focuses on the following IT scenarios:

●      Developing Applications Using Java

This scenario provides the process-oriented view of the typical activities that you can perform to craft your custom applications in a short timeframe and at a low cost using the Java technology that best fits your overall IT strategy. With SAP NetWeaver CE you can choose to develop a fully standard-compliant and portable Java EE 5 application, or benefit the model-driven, pattern-based approach of the Web Dynpro technology to boost your development productivity.

●      Creating Composite Applications

This scenario offers guidance through the process of creating composite applications, which make use of data and functions provided as services by back-end systems and other underlying applications, and combine these into user-centric processes and pages, supported by its own business logic and specific user interfaces. To enable fast and efficient development process, SAP NetWeaver CE comprises a set of design-time capabilities for model-driven user interface development, service composition, and process orchestration, as well as the runtime environment required for running the composites.

●      Enabling EnterpriseServices

This scenario focuses on the service consumption aspects of SOA-compliant applications. It employs the SAP NetWeaver CE capabilities for service discovery and classification and explains the process of integrating services in your Java or composite applications.

●      Mobilizing Business Processes

This scenario helps you mobilize your existing and new business processes. You use the development and runtime environment that SAP NetWeaver CE offers to build and run voice-enabled applications, which allow customers and employees to interactively access SAP or non-SAP solutions from a telephone.

●      Enterprise Reporting, Query, and Analysis

This scenario shows how business experts can use the Visual Composer available in SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment to provide business intelligence data and capabilities directly in operational processes and to provide user-specific BI data directly in a given business context. This approach enhances the BI capabilities of SAP NetWeaver by providing a flexible modeling infrastructure that makes it possible to embed BI directly into applications for strategic and operational decision making.

●      Running an Enterprise Portal

This scenario focuses on the configuration of the SAP NetWeaver CE portal as a development or test environment for running your composite applications, through the use of its advanced administration tools. Optionally, you can use the SAP NetWeaver CE portal as production environment by utilizing its federated portal network capabilities that allow you to integrate its content and applications into a remote corporate portal running on SAP NetWeaver 7.0. You benefit by taking advantage of the advanced composition capabilities offered in SAP NetWeaver CE, while keeping the central corporate portal in a stable and less frequently updated environment, ensuring a consistent end-user experience.