Developer’s Guide to SAP NetWeaver Portal Applications

For eleven years now, Marcus Banner has supported SAP developments and projects. After initially working as a CO consultant, he joined the development sector where he was responsible for the SAP Technology Services area at Itellium Systems & Services GmbH (now EDS Itellium GmbH). There, he also helped to build and manage a technology team of more than 20 employees. Marcus gained his first experience with SAP NetWeaver at KarstadtQuelle AG. Since then, he has broadened his knowledge of the SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and SAP NetWeaver Portal components as a consultant and project lead in numerous projects. Mr. Banner currently manages the SAP Technology business area at RealCore Consulting GmbH. After earning a degree in information technology at Germany's Bonn University (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universitat), in 1995, Berthold Latka worked in the quality assurance department at IBM Cologne for two years. In 1998, he joined Karstadt as a system analyst, where he was responsible for the implementation of a new sales forecast system. In 2003, he was involved in the development of various SAP ECC modules (FI, CO, HCM, Retail, SRM) with different technologies (ABAP, Java, Web Dynpro) at Itellium Systems & Services GmbH. He was also responsible for setting up the first SAP NetWeaver Portal pilot application at Itellium. Today, Berthold Latka works in the SAP Technology Services area for the program-based integration of processes with SAP NetWeaver Portal. His work focuses on the setup of a User Identity Management function with a detailed organizational SAP ERP HCM structure. Dr. Michael Spee earned his doctorate in physical chemistry at the age of 27. In 1991, he started his professional career in IT as an application developer in a large IT consultancy and supported various customers in different industries. He was heavily involved in the setup of dialog-based software for travel agencies throughout Europe. In addition to developing applications in ABAP, he also familiarized himself with the SAP NetWeaver world. Today, he is responsible for multiple purchasing and sales report portals as well as international supplier portals. He provides services for portal design and security, coordinates the infrastructure, and configures single sign-on connections to SAP and non-SAP systems. Mr. Spee is responsible for SAP NetWeaver Portal management, projects, and administration in the SAP Technology Services area at EDS Itellium GmbH. From 1997 to 2000, Roland Schroth completed his training as an IT specialist for application development at a medium-sized enterprise in Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany, where he worked as a developer in the areas of e-learning (CBT/WBT), web development (Internet/intranet), and interactive consultancy software until 2006. Furthermore, he carried out trainings for various multimedia authoring tools, supported customers in development projects, and was responsible for the administration of the enterprise's network infrastructure. In 2006, Mr. Schroth joined Itellium Systems & Services GmbH as a developer and consultant in the areas of SAP NetWeaver Portal and web development. At the beginning of 2007, his area of responsibility was extended to the development of applications based on Adobe Flex.

1 ... Introduction ... 15 ... 1.1 ... Structure of the Book ... 19 ... 1.2 ... Target Audience and Aim of the Book ... 21 2 ... Installation and Basic Setup ... 23 ... 2.1 ... Preparation ... 23 ... 2.2 ... Installation ... 26 ... 2.3 ... Basic Maintenance Functions ... 32 ... 2.4 ... Setting Up the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio ... 43 ... 2.5 ... Deployment Tools for the Portal ... 45 ... 2.6 ... SAP Communities and Online Help ... 53 3 ... Portal Content ... 59 ... 3.1 ... Basic Structure of the Supplier Portal ... 60 ... 3.2 ... Content Elements ... 63 ... 3.3 ... iViews ... 78 ... 3.4 ... Permissions ... 107 ... 3.5 ... Translations ... 111 ... 3.6 ... Linked Menu Trees ... 115 ... 3.7 ... Systems ... 119 4 ... User Administration ... 127 ... 4.1 ... Users ... 129 ... 4.2 ... Roles ... 132 ... 4.3 ... Groups ... 134 ... 4.4 ... Users (Import and Export) ... 137 ... 4.5 ... Companies ... 140 5 ... Single Sign-On ... 145 ... 5.1 ... User Mapping ... 146 ... 5.2 ... SAP Logon Ticket (MYSAPSSO2 Cookie) ... 149 ... 5.3 ... SAP Certificate ... 155 ... 5.4 ... SAP ECC Target System ... 156 ... 5.5 ... Portal-to-Portal Connection ... 160 ... 5.6 ... Third-Party Systems ... 165 6 ... External Facing Portal ... 169 ... 6.1 ... Themes ... 170 ... 6.2 ... Framework ... 176 ... 6.3 ... Desktop ... 183 ... 6.4 ... Main Rule ... 184 ... 6.5 ... Short URLs and Quick Links ... 187 7 ... Web Page Composer ... 191 ... 7.1 ... Role Assignment ... 192 ... 7.2 ... Web Content ... 194 ... 7.3 ... Permissions and Details ... 199 ... 7.4 ... Web Page ... 203 ... 7.5 ... WPC Navigation ... 208 ... 7.6 ... Integrating a Web Page into Portal Navigation ... 218 ... 7.7 ... WPC Permissions (Security Zones/UME Actions) ... 223 8 ... System Administration ... 229 ... 8.1 ... User Management Engine ... 229 ... 8.2 ... LDAP Connection and SAP User Administration ... 236 ... 8.3 ... URL Encoding ... 238 9 ... Transport ... 241 ... 9.1 ... Content ... 242 ... 9.2 ... Main Rule, System Alias, and Quick Link ... 247 ... 9.3 ... Themes ... 248 ... 9.4 ... Users, Groups, and Roles ... 249 10 ... Developing and Customizing Design Components ... 255 ... 10.1 ... Overview ... 255 ... 10.2 ... Basics ... 260 ... 10.3 ... Customizing the Login Page ... 264 ... 10.4 ... Creating a Site Map ... 297 ... 10.5 ... Creating the Light Framework ... 321 ... 10.6 ... Customizing the Header Area ... 324 ... 10.7 ... Summary ... 346 11 ... Developing and Implementing Application Components ... 351 ... 11.1 ... Building Applications WithinSAP NetWeaver ... 352 ... 11.2 ... Creating a Sample Model ... 357 ... 11.3 ... Developing a Web Dynpro Application ... 383 ... 11.4 ... Using SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe ... 401 Authors ... 417 Index ... 419