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Background documentation Modeling Application Components  Locate the document in its SAP Library structure

An application component represents a participant of a Process Integration scenario. This contains the business tasks and concerns that this participant represents within the Process Integration scenario.

Modeling at Type Level

An application component can be installed on multiple business systems at runtime. However, modeling in the Process Integration Scenario takes place at type level.

Note the following when modeling application components:

      If, at runtime, multiple participants are expected to satisfy the following conditions:

       The participants have the same business role

       The participants yield the same spectrum of tasks

       The participants use the same product

In this case, the participants are represented by one logical participant and therefore just one application component.

      If different participants fulfill different tasks or they use different products or product versions for the same tasks, then they are represented by different application components.

      If different participants fulfill the same tasks and cannot be specified to their products, then an application component (of type Template) can be used in place of this participant.

Example

In the example Process Integration process SingleFlightBooking (software component SAP BASIS); the travel agency will work with various different airlines. Since all airlines perform the same tasks within the Process Integration scenario and their products cannot be specified in more detail, they are modeled as one single application component with the role Airline.

Role

The role describes the task area that the application component is responsible for on a semantic level.

Note the following conventions:

      The role must have a meaningful business name and should not be language-specific

      If multiple business partners are involved in the Process Integration Scenario, the roles must describe them

Example

Example:Customer and Vendor.

      If a business partner is subdivided into multiple application components, then use composite roles

Example

Example:Vendor – Customer Management and VendorProduction.

      If the entire Process Integration Scenario only involves one business partner, it does not necessarily have to be included in the roles

Example

Example:Customer Management and Production.

Application Component Type

The type of application component specifies which software product is being used to fulfill the tasks of the application component.

The following types of application component are available:

      Software unit

      Product Version

      Template

Main Instances and Product Versions

If the following conditions are satisfied, choose the type Main Instance or Product Version for the application component.

      At design time you know which main instance or product version will fulfill the tasks of the application component.

      This main instance or product version is defined in the System Landscape Directory.

Example

Examples of product versions are SAP APO 3.0 and SAP R/3 4.6C.

Note

A main instance is a group of technically interdependent software component versions, which are all installed and run on one server. A main instance represents the smallest non-divisible unit within a system landscape. An application component in a Process Integration scenario represents a system at configuration time and at runtime. Therefore, use main instances by default. This is because main instances represent the software component versions installed on a system. Only if a product comprises exactly one main instance may you also use a product version.

Templates

Choose type Template for the application component if the following conditions are satisfied:

      At design time you know which product version will fulfill the tasks of the application component

      It is a non-SAP product that is not defined in the System Landscape Directory

Communication Type

See Modeling Process Integration Scenarios - General (Section: Modeling Business-to-Business (B2B) Communication).

Integration Process

See Modeling Process Integration Scenarios - General (Section: Including Executable Integration Processes (ccBPM)).

Further Attributes

Enhanced Name

Use the enhanced name to describe the product in more detail. You can also use it to do the following:

      Specify a smaller function range for a product.

Example

For example, you could specify the enhanced name SAP FIN for an application component with the product version SAP R/3 4.6C. This would indicate that this Process Integration Scenario is relevant for the sub area Financials.

      Specify the product name, if it is a template.

Association with Services in the Integration Directory

When you configure a Process Integration scenario, application components are mapped to a particular system landscape ( Services). Depending on the type and other attributes of the application component, different service types ‘fit’ during the configuration of the application component:

      An application component of type Main Instance/Product Version is mapped to one or more business systems.

      An application component of type Template can be mapped to different service types.

      An application component that is assigned an integration process is mapped to an integration process service.

      An application component with the communication type External Partner with B2B Communication is mapped to a business service.

See also:

Assigning services

 

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