Professional VB SAP R/3 Programming - Softcover

Ovanesyan, Oleg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861002785 ISBN 13: 9781861002785

Publisher: WROX Press Ltd, 1999

Synopsis

In this book, I introduce you to the new SAP tools and technologies that allow you to overcome the difficulties and expense of integrating SAP R/3 into existing Information Systems. This book gives you the knowledge to interface SAP R/3 from non-SAP programming environments, such as Visual Basic. I'll show you how to combine your existing Visual Basic skills with the new extensibility tools, so that you con develop robust enterprise applications based on SAP R/3. I explain the SAP Business Object Framework and how to use SAP R/3 business objects and the Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI). I'll demonstrate how you con use Visual Basic and the SAP Automation Toolkit's ActiveX components to access SAP R/3 business objects and call BAPIs and Remote Functions Calls (RFCs). Finally, I'll also, teach you how you can use the DCOM Component Connector to generate COM components based on the SAP Business Object Framework. Who is this book for ? This book aims to introduce Visual Basic programmers to the new SAP extensibility technologies. It will also be of interest to ABAP/4 programmers and consultants who want to learn more about integrating SAP R/3 with Windows. It assumes familiarity with Visual Basic 6.0, and although not required, previous experience of SAP R/3 is preferred. An introduction to the fundamentals of SAP. How to implement SAP R/3 business objects and BAPIs. A guide to the SAP Business Object Framework. Use the SAP R/3 Automation tools to replicate SAP functionality from VB. Use the DCOM Component Connector to generate business abject proxies. Programming the core components of the DCOM Component Connector. Browsing the SAP R/3 Business Object Repository Working code samples of both inbound and outbound SAP R/3 operations.

About this title

Review

Used for decades for enterprise distributed computing, SAP R/3 has a well-earned reputation for considerable power and difficulty. Recent new tools allow Visual Basic (VB) developers to work with SAP. Professional Visual Basic SAP R/3 Programming provides a useful glimpse into the world of SAP R/3, as well as some useful techniques for Windows programmers facing the world of SAP development for the first time.

While SAP R/3 runs many of the world's largest businesses, most VB programmers have probably only heard of it. (There are many reasons for this including the high cost of SAP software and the relative lack of information and training when compared to Windows tools.) The first reason to read this book is to get a feel for what SAP R/3 is and how it works. To this end, this book is filled with screenshots with the latest SAP tools for the Windows platform (such as the SAP Assistant 3.0 and the new browser-based DCOM Component Connector.) SAP's new tools offer several VB(OCX) controls which allow VB programmers to call SAP functionality from within Windows.

The rule of thumb for the aspiring VB SAP programmer is that you must dig into the world of SAP business objects and APIs in order to make calls in VB. In several examples here, the author provides custom code that wraps the functionality of the SAP controls (for logging on, calling BAPIs and loading table data, for instance) to make it a lot easier to work with SAP. This book is excellent at showing both realities of using SAP and some specific advice for approaching the world of legacy enterprise development.

T here's little doubt that to benefit most of this book, the reader will need some additional information about SAP R/3. Yet for the potential VBSAP R/3 programmer or manager facing integration with a legacy SAP system, this book certainly fills an important and useful role with plenty of information and a strategy for making this difficult leap. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Introduction to SAP R/3, business objects and proxy components, BAPIs (parameters and help values), Remote Function Calls (RFCs), integrating SAP with Microsoft COM and Visual Basic, SAP Automation Toolkit, SAP Logon Control, SAP BAPI Control, SAP Table Factory Control, ADO, SAP Assistant 3.0 (Metadata Repository and Code Generator), SAP R/3Business Object Repository Service, DCOM Component Connector (DCOM CC):basics, administrative and builder functionality within VB.

From the Publisher

A recent agreement between Microsoft and SAP makes Microsoft Visual Studio an acknowledged development environment for SAP R/3. SAP have recently developed, and made available as open download, a set of ActiveX controls designed to be used with Visual Basic to extend SAP R/3 and integrate it into existing Microsoft tools and applications. Microsoft Visual Basic is being promoted by SAP as a suitable language to implement this new technology.

Edition details

• Publisher: WROX Press Ltd
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1861002785
• ISBN 13: 9781861002785
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 495