ITS Implementation Models

Use

The Internet Transaction Server (ITS) provides several implementation models for developing Internet and intranet applications - known as Internet Application Components (IACs) - that access data in the SAP system. Which model is used depends on the type of application you are programming. All applications can be started from any browser regardless of the model.

Some implementation models are screen-based, others are screen-independent, but there is no clear assignment of application type to implementation model.

The table below lists the currently available ITS implementation models and briefly describes each. This is followed by a longer description with links to detailed documentation. At the end of this section, there is a tabular comparison of all ITS implementation models.

Model	Purpose
SAP GUI for HTML	Enables users to call SAP dialog transactions from a Web browser. This model dynamically emulates SAP transaction screens by mapping screen elements automatically to HTML pages.
Web Transactions See: Web Transaction Programming	Enables users to call SAP dialog transactions from a Web browser. This model converts SAP transaction screens to HTML pages through manual mapping of screen elements.
SAP ITSmobile See: Creating Mobile Applications with ITSmobile	You can use ITSmobile to make an application or parts of an application executable in the browser of mobile devices.

SAP GUI for HTML

This model dynamically emulates the screens of SAP dialog transactions in a Web browser by mapping screen elements automatically to HTML pages. This mapping is implemented by HTMLBusiness functions (one for each screen element), which either reside within the ITS or are called from those functions. SAP screen attributes are used to position HTML controls at the same position on the HTML page as on the SAP screen. SAP delivers a standard library of HTMLBusiness functions to map SAP screen elements in HTML. You can change these functions without having to make modifications in the SAP system.

Since HTML pages are generated automatically (one HTMLBusiness template for each SAP screen), you need little knowledge of HTML, HTMLBusiness, or scripting languages such as JavaScript.

If you want to allow users to run SAP dialog transactions from a Web browser, with a graphical user interface similar to that used in the SAP GUI for Windows, and with no additional effort involved, you should install the SAP GUI for HTML.

The SAP GUI for HTML is one of two models for implementing SAP Internet applications that allow users to run SAP dialog transactions directly from a Web browser. The other is Web Transactions.

Web Transactions

This model allows you to develop applications that call SAP dialog transactions from a Web browser through manual mapping of screen elements.

There is clear separation between business logic / dialog flow and presentation aspects.

To implement the business logic and the dialog flow, you create an SAP dialog transaction in the ABAP Workbench
- The business logic is defined in the ABAP program
- The dialog flow is defined in the screen flow logic
To implement the presentation ("look and feel") and enable the transaction to be run from a Web browser, you create all the required ITS files in the Web Application Builder.

These files include an ITS service description and HTML templates (one for each screen in the SAP transaction).

To improve performance and the appearance of your Web transaction, you can use language resource files and MIME files (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension). Language resource files enable your HTML templates to remain language-independent, whilst MIME files contain graphics, images, and videos.

At runtime, the ITS merges the data on each SAP transaction screen into a corresponding HTML template and passes the result to the user's Web browser for display.

To implement applications using this model, you have to map each SAP screen element to HTML manually. For this reason, you need some knowledge of HTML, HTMLBusiness and - because of the demand for highly interactive HTML pages - scripting languages such as JavaScript.

The Web Transactions implementation model is one of two models for implementing SAP Internet applications that allow users to run SAP dialog transactions directly from a Web browser. The other is the SAP GUI for HTML.