Business Client Versions

Which versions of NWBC are available?

The initial version of NWBC, SAP NetWeaver Business Client for ERP (NWBC 1.0), was released in 2007 exclusively for SAP Business All-in-One and the SAP Business Suite. It was soon followed by NWBC 2.0 based on new Microsoft .NET technology with the new Signature Design supporting a multi-window paradigm. This version was limited for use only with SAP Business ByDesign. The next version of NWBC, the 3.0 version, builds on the Signature Design, reintroducing SAP GUI support, and is available for all SAP business lines as one product providing universal access to SAP applications. With NWBC 3.0, a light-weight HTML-based version is also available specifically for single SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP/ABAP system scenarios.

NWBC 3.5 comes with enhanced navigation features, new menus, and a side panel, which shows additional context information that relates to the main application. NWBC for Desktop 4.0, has been released with the user interface add-on 1.0 SPS01 for SAP NetWeaver for SAP NetWeaver 7.0/7.01/7.02/7.03/7.31 (a direct shipment). It follows the tabbed browsing paradigm known from modern browsers such as Internet Explorer 9 and Google Chrome.

The latest child of the NWBC family, NWBC for Desktop 5.0, provides a much tighter integration with SAP GUI for Windows 7.40, supporting a common system connection infrastructure and enabling to access systems regardless of their release.

The following table provides an overview of the NWBC release versions and the related patches:

As successors of NWBC 3.5 and SAP NWBC 4.0, SAP NWBC 5.0 can also run with the back-end systems supported by former versions. However, some features supported by SAP NWBC 4.0 and 5.0 depend on functionality in the SAP NetWeaver 7.0 EHP3/7.31 or 7.40 back end, or in the user interface add-on 1.0 SPS 01 for SAP NetWeaver, and are not available when you connect to an older system.

Which SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP release is required to run a specific NWBC client version?

NWBC for HTML is a browser-based shell for which a desktop installation is not needed. NWBC for HTML relates to the SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP on which it is running. NWBC for HTML version 3.5 is available on SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP with NWBC Server Version 3.5 (see table below), NWBC for HTML version 3.6 is available with the server runtime for SAP NetWeaver user interface services as of SAP User Interface Add-On 1.0 SPS 04 for SAP NetWeaver and SAP NetWeaver 7.4 SPS 03. For more information, see Server Configuration.

With NWBC for Desktop 5.0 embedding pure SAP GUI system connections, you can connect to any SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP release. For more information, see System Connections.

For a more advanced user experience offering role-based access to SAP applications including web-based applications, search provider integration in Quick Launch, and so on, the NWBC client requires a server runtime that is a bundle of all the services that NWBC uses in the SAP NetWeaver Application Server for ABAP (SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP). The NWBC server version is the version of the server runtime for NWBC. The server runtime for NWBC provides role navigation information and navigation-resolving services.

The following table provides an overview of the different back ends which all the versions of NWBC for Desktop (NWBC 3.5, SAP NWBC 4.0, and SAP NWBC 5.0) can connect to:

(*) You can find the NWBC server version in NWBC for Desktop by choosing  Help  About NWBC  System Info .

Besides functional enhancements supported by NWBC for Desktop 3.5 and higher, the NWBC server version 3.5 provides performance enhancements through server-side caching of navigation menus.

With SAP NetWeaver Business Client 5.0, you can connect to SAP NetWeaver 7.4 based systems using the server runtime for SAP NetWeaver user interface services. The server runtime for SAP NetWeaver user interface services provides a release-independent way to quickly deliver new features like theming capabilities to your system landscape.

Which features are available for which SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP for NWBC 3.5 or Higher?

Some features in NWBC for Desktop 3.5 and higher depend on functionality in the back end. They are disabled when running with back ends that are not suitable. Not all SAP NetWeaver releases support the NWBC runtime that is required to use a specific feature.

The following table provides an overview of which feature is available with which SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP version: