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SAP customers wanting to jump aboard the SUP bandwagon might be asking themselves “how do I mobilise SAP data through the Sybase Unwired Platform?” In this blog I will hopefully answer this question, all be it with an SAP bias, by first looking at the different types of data sources SUP can connect and then concluding with a SAP perspective on each of these. Doing so will hopefully shape a decision as to which data source option (or options) is the right one for you.

The Sybase Unwired Platform uses the notion of a Mobile Business Object (or MBO) to model enterprise data in a medium that abstracts data entities from their original backend sources and brings them together into a single environment in which developers can construct mobile data models to underpin enterprise mobile apps. The development environment used for MBO development is called the Sybase Unwired Workspace which is in effect Eclipse with a Sybase plug-in for creating mobile application diagrams and more (which is pretty much the same thing SAP have done with their NetWeaver Developer Studio). The backend can be any enterprise information system (not just SAP) that supports any one of the following data exchange protocols:

• DOE Connector – Data Orchestration Engine Connector allowing integration with a SAP backend using SAPNetWeaver Mobile + Mobile Gateway
• BAPI (JCo) Connector – SAP’s proprietary Java Connector allowing integration with a SAP backend through direct calls to Business APIs or BAPIs (remote enabled function modules)
• JDBC – Java Database Connectivity is a Java based API allowing integration with non SAP backends by way of direct communication with the DMBS using an ODBC (open database connectivity)
• Web Services – An open standard for data exchange designed to enable interoperability between two systems over a network supported by both SAP and non SAP backends.

DOE Connector
DOE Connector data sources are unique in that the mobilizing technology is built directly into the NetWeaver stack and support SAP only solutions. SUP acts simply as a message broker transforming DOE messages into packets suitable for message based synchronisation (MBS) through the Sybase Unwired Server. Software Component Versions are built directly into SAP NetWeaver Mobile using the DOE workbench, along with distribution dependencies and distribution models. Once released, software component versions for the basis of defining a consolidated database or CDB allowing SAP data to be staged directly in NW Mobile. The Mobile Gateway in turn enables data stored in the CDB to be pushed out to subscribing devices through the Sybase Unwired Platform.

BAPI (JCo) Connector
Another form of direct comms with SAP is by way of BAPI (JCo) Connector data sources. This connection type allows SUP to interact directly with the application layer of a SAP backend through remote enabled function modules and serialising communications through SAP’s proprietary java connector adapter. To make configuring JCo data sources as easy as possible, Sybase have built into their eclipse plug-in a wizard that allows developers to browse the enterprise BAPI repository and test BAPI calls on the fly. Some additional configuration is required to get the JCo connector up and running on both the unwired workspace and the unwired server. For more information see this link on Sybooks.

JDBC
With this option, JDBC data sources are typically used to interact directly with a DBMS. This implies that in a typical three tier architecture cake (comprising a database layer at the bottom, business application layer in the middle and the user interface or UI layer at the top), SUP will effectively be interacting at the deepest level of the application. Unless one is intimately familiar with data model of the backend this connection type will almost never be considered. As far as SAP backends are concerned, this connection type is an absolute No-No!!

Web Services
Without going into too much detail about Web Services (If you don’t already know what web services are by now then where have you been for the last 7 years), all we need to know for the context of this blog is that Web services allow enterprise systems to expose atomic or composite business functions through an “open” communication protocol. Coming back to our three tier architecture cake, this allows an enterprise to expose business functions that allow external applications to interact with the business application layer, and in doing so, preserve the overarching business processes as well as the integrity of data held at the database layer.

The SAP Summary
Of the data source types mentioned above, the data sources which SUP support and that can be associated with SAP backends include DOE Connector, BAPI (JCo) Connector, and Web Services.

Whilst DOE connections are supported, this option is currently only available with the SAP CRM application or other custom applications written by Sybase or SAP (such as Sybase Mobile Sales for SAP CRM and Sybase Mobile Workflow for SAP Business Suite)

That leaves BAPI (JCo) Connector and Web Services. Sybase do not mandate which of these data sources SAP data should be served up through. Rather, this decision should be considered based on (a) the client requirements (b) the system landscape (is there a PI instance available for example) (c) the pros and cons for each which are documented in Sybooks here). For example, I am currently working on a project in which the customer requires that all Web Service calls between SAP and SUP are channelled through SAP PI by virtue of the audit trail feature that comes standard with PI.

In terms of Web Services, SAP supports data provisioning through Web Services in one of two ways (based on my experience so far):

1. Direct access to the SAP instance

• Standard web services provided out of the box. These can typically be explored through transaction “SOAMANAGER”
• Custom Web Service that are generated by a developer through the ABAP workbench (see my blog ‘A View From the Coal Face: Data Provisioning Via Web Service’ – coming soon!!) these too can be explored through transaction “SOAMANAGER”
• Using the Web Services created using the Web Services Tool (CRM Only). This is a standard Web UI component delivered by SAP and is used for building web services in CRM that read/create/maintain data using the GenIL and BOL.

2. Proxy access through SAP XI/PI.

And for completeness, connection types available to non-SAP backends include Web Service and JDBC connections (where appropriate).