Business Framework

Use

The SAP Business Framework provides a structure for functionality based on application components (business components) and object models. The Business Framework enables customers and partners to connect their own components to the SAP System.

The use of object-oriented technology and object models reduces the complexity of the global system.

Features

The architecture of the Business Framework provides the basis for developing SAP business components.  The basic components of the Business Framework are:

·        Business components

SAP business components provide autonomous business functions and consist of business objects. For example, the business objects, Employee and Applicant are assigned to the business component Human Resources. Business processes are either implemented within a business component or across several components (distributed business processes).

·        Business objects

The object-oriented structure of the SAP System is based on business objects. They encapsulate business data and functions and define the scope and the boundaries of a business component.

·        Business Application Programming Interfaces (BAPIs)

BAPIs are interfaces for business objects.  Together with the business objects, BAPIs define and document the business interface standard.

·        The integration service, Application Link Enabling (ALE)

The ALE integration service enables business processes carried out in different SAP and non-SAP systems to be integrated.  It involves distributing business objects across the systems using the ALE distribution model.

The graphic below illustrates this architecture.

·        Communication services

These are the communication technologies, for example, Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) and Remote Function Call (RFC), which the Business Framework uses to access BAPIs.

The graphic below illustrates this architecture.