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Use

All applications developed in the Mobile Applications for Handheld perspective of SAP NetWeaver Development Studio are deployed to the Mobile Client for Handhelds on based on the Embedded Standard Widget Toolkit (eSWT) technology.

SAP NetWeaver Mobile offers three Java-based handheld clients (based on AWT, JSP, and eSWT) that all share the same core functionality, such as synchronization, persistence, deployment, logging, security, and so on. On top of the core, three different application containers (AWT, JSP and eSWT) are offered that contain the client's user interface and application programming interface. One core client and one application container together form the SAP NetWeaver Mobile Client. While the AWT and JSP-based clients support full backward compatibility to mobile applications running in SAP NetWeaver '04 and SAP NetWeaver 2004s, the eSWT-based client offers new, additional features, without providing backward compatibility:

  • Native look and feel of the client UI through eSWT rendering technology

  • Icon-driven, clearly structured UI for quick launching of applications and easy navigation among views

  • Progress bar for synchronization and sync log with a variety of settings

  • Application Programming Interface (API) for developing custom applications for the client in the Mobile Applications for Handhelds perspective of the Developer Studio

Backward compatibility to previous Mobile Client versions is not supported by the eSWT-based client. Only AWT and JSP clients offer backward compatibility.

For a list of supported client device platforms, see the Product Availability Matrix (PAM) for SAP NetWeaver Mobile on SAP Service Marketplace at service.sap.com/pam .

Applications for the eSWT-based client are developed in the Mobile Applications for Handhelds perspective of the SAP NetWeaver Development Studio. The perspective allows a model-based as well as hand-coded development of components that are assembled to form mobile applications. The user interface of mobile applications is developed using Web Dynpro for Java tools, while the generated applications still offers the native look and feel. Application and component lifecycle is managed using SAP NetWeaver Development Infrastructure.

Being a Java application, the Mobile Client for Handhelds is itself platform-independent and can technically run on laptops also. This is especially useful for efficient testing during development. To this end, the mobile plug-ins for NWDS contain a so-called simulator of Mobile Client for Handhelds. This is exactly a copy of the client, which can be run on your desktop. For more information on using the simulator, refer to Starting the Simulator of Mobile Client for Handhelds . Alternatively, you can test your developments on a real or emulated device that is currently connected through Microsoft ActiveSyncTM. For more information, refer to Debugging the Mobile Application.