Developing SAP Applications with Adobe Flex

Armin Lorenz first worked as a controller in the media industry during and after his studies until he joined a leading and globally operating home-shopping TV company, where he worked as an SAP consultant. There, he was responsible for the interfaces and the development of crossapplication programs between distributed SAP and non-SAP systems. As a co-founder and member of the executive board at IXULT AG, Armin Lorenz is responsible for the areas of CRM, usability, and enterprise search (HIVE). Recent customer requirements caused the implementation of numerous Flex projects in which he participated as a project manager and head of the development team. Dr. Gunther Schoeppe has studied physics with a focus on simulation physics. He received his doctorate at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. After that he joined a major consulting firm, where he worked as an SAP consultant in the area of Web development. During this time, he implemented comprehensive customer-specific Web applications on the basis of SAP Web Application Server until he became a member of the executive board at IXULT AG. In this position, he currently heads up the project-based business in the area of Web applications. Felix Consbruch holds a degree in engineering in the area of media technology and is responsible for systems integration at IXULT AG. Since 2004, he has managed projects that focused on integrating SAP and non-SAP systems. His primary area of responsibility as a project manager consists of the design and implementation of interfaces for user interfaces and back-end services. Furthermore, Felix is responsible for finding solutions for integrating the Adobe Flex Framework with application development. Daniel Knapp joined IXULT AG in 2004 as an SAP Technology Consultant. Since the introduction of Rich Internet Applications, he has been working as a developer in the Flash and Flex environments. After earning a degree in information technology, he gathered much experience in numerous projects. He has a profound knowledge of SAP systems. Frank Sonnenberg holds a degree in engineering in Computer Science. He joined IXULT AG in 2005 as an SAP Technology Consultant. His work as a developer in numerous projects focuses on optimizing business processes and the integration of new technologies, such as Adobe Flex. The work on these projects has helped him to acquire deep knowledge regarding SAP systems.

1. Introduction ... 11 2. Adobe Flex in the SAP Environment ... 15 ... 2.1 Developing Business Applications ... 15 ... 2.2 Rich Internet Applications ... 18 ... 2.3 Adobe Flex ... 22 ... 2.4 Summary ... 35 3. Getting Started with Adobe Flex Builder ... 37 ... 3.1 Adobe Flex Builder ... 37 ... 3.2 Flex Files ... 46 ... 3.3 Flex Samples Explorer ... 48 4. MXML ... 51 ... 4.1 Syntax ... 52 ... 4.2 Layout Components ... 54 ... 4.3 Navigation Components ... 60 ... 4.4 Control Components ... 68 5. ActionScript ... 85 ... 5.1 Syntax ... 86 ... 5.2 Data Types ... 93 ... 5.3 Variables ... 103 ... 5.4 Operators ... 112 ... 5.5 Control Structures ... 117 ... 5.6 Loops ... 118 ... 5.7 Arrays ... 120 ... 5.8 Objects and Classes ... 123 6. ActionScript Extensions ... 127 ... 6.1 Audio and Video Objects ... 127 ... 6.2 Date Objects and Timer Objects ... 137 ... 6.3 Mathematical Functions ... 144 ... 6.4 Keyboard Events ... 146 ... 6.5 Text Fields and Text Formats ... 148 ... 6.6 Other ActionScript Packages ... 153 7. Developing a Sample Application ... 155 ... 7.1 Concept ... 155 ... 7.2 Developing in the SAP Environment ... 163 ... 7.3 Developing Using Adobe Flex ... 213 ... 7.4 Integration into SAP NetWeaver Portal ... 260 ... 7.5 Final Remarks ... 264 8. Enhancements and Outlook ... 267 ... 8.1 Offline Applications ... 267 ... 8.2 Push Data Services ... 269 ... 8.3 Dynamization of Screens ... 271 ... 8.4 Integrating Multiple Back-end Systems ... 272 ... 8.5 Integrated Deployment Options in SAP NetWeaver ... 273 ... 8.6 Summary and Perspective ... 277 Appendix ... 281 The Authors ... 291 Index ... 293