Migrating CAF Applications

The business object node in SAP NetWeaver 7.3 is the counterpart of the business entity in SAP NetWeaver 7.0. There is one limitation to business object nodes that is not a limitation for business entities: they do not have multiple attributes (but multiple associations to other business object nodes are allowed).

The business entities are automatically converted to business object nodes when the projects are migrated from SAP NetWeaver 7.0 to SAP NetWeaver 7.3. Each multiple attribute (complex or not) is converted to a new business object node with a multiple association to it. The mappings to external services for business entities which use remote persistence are not migrated - the external services must be re-imported and the mappings re-created manually.

Runtime migration for the business entity instances (business data) is also provided as part of Java Upgrade Process (JUP). During the project migration, a new development component will be created in the software component. It contains the information needed for the runtime migration of the CAF application in the software component. The SCA file built from the software component must be provided to JUP so that the business entity instances can be converted to business object node instances.

Migration of Security Data

Business rules are migrated with the exception of conditions for multiple attributes.

Dynamic Attributes

SAP NetWeaver 7.3 does not have a concept analogous to the dynamic attributes. Neither the dynamic attributes definitions nor their values are migrated. The business data is preserved but it is not accessible through the new business object nodes services.

Custom Type Enumerations

SAP NetWeaver 7.3 does not have a concept analogous to the custom enumeration types. They are not migrated at all.

For more information about business objects provided by CAF in SAP NetWeaver 7.3, see Modeling Business Objects .

Application services are available in SAP NetWeaver 7.3; however, there are considerable differences in their features and in the CAF public APIs. That is why the application services are not migrated automatically. They have to be modeled manually from scratch and the custom code re-implemented using the CAF tools provided by the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio 7.3.

For more information, see Modeling Application Services .

You can import external services in SAP NetWeaver 7.3; however, there are considerable differences in the process. That is why the external services are not migrated automatically. They have to be re-imported manually in the migrated project.

Both ways of using imported external services are possible - using mappings and direct invocation. The direct invocation in SAP NetWeaver 7.3 is implemented using the automatic mappings (as opposed to generated proxies).

For more information, see Modeling External Services .

In SAP NetWeaver 7.0, the caf.core project contains a few predefined services for measures and currency conversion. These services are no longer present in SAP NetWeaver 7.3. However, they can be imported from an appropriate SAP back-end system into any CAF application that needs them.

Classifications are not migrated at all. These functions may be re-implemented on the application side using business object nodes, application services, and Web Dynpro.

CAF does not provide a Web Dynpro model for the CAF applications in SAP NetWeaver 7.3. There are two options to recreate this model manually:

• Import the model in Web Dynpro from the CAF-generated EJBs.
• Expose the CAF services as Web Services and import them as a Web Dypro model.

For more information, see Importing Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) Models and Importing Adaptive Web Service Models .

There is no special integration with Guided Procedures (GP) in SAP NetWeaver 7.3. CAF services may be exposed as Web services and imported into GP.

For more information, see Integrating CAF Services in Composite Views and Processes .

In SAP NetWeaver 7.3, CAF supports Business Intelligence (BI) integration. However, the migration of the BI projects that depend on CAF should be re-modeled and re-configured in BI.

For more information, see CAF and Business Intelligence Integration .

Knowledge Management integration is supported in SAP NetWeaver 7.3. The CAF data related to the attached KM documents is migrated together with the business data. The attachment patterns are not present. Instead, KM documents may be manipulated using APIs provided by the caf.core project.

For more information, see Integrating KM Documents in CAF .

There is no special integration with TREX in SAP NetWeaver 7.3. TREX searches may be implemented from within an application by using the TREX API directly.

SAP NetWeaver 7.3 does not have a concept analogous to the subscriptions and notifications. They may be re-implemented on the application side using the new feature allowing custom code in business object node services.

There is no special integration with collaboration in SAP NetWeaver 7.3.

External services cannot be imported and mappings cannot be changed after deployment in CAF.

CAF does not have UI patterns in SAP NetWeaver 7.3. The configurations of UI patterns are not migrated in any way. The closest analog is a Visual Composer pattern.