I am happy to announce that the SP7 of SAP NetWeaver Gateway is now available.
Which additional features will it bring?
Of course there is a complete list of the newly developed topics available as usual in the help portal (http://help.sap.com/nwgateway#section1 -> Release Notes). But I would like to highlight some features in more detail. We also took the opportunity to introduce new OData features, as they are defined in the newly released OASIS standard OData Version 4.0.
User Self Service
When looking at all the scenarios where SAP NetWeaver Gateway currently is being used we see a big trend going in the direction of Business-to-Consumer (B2C). Examples are:
- offering end-users direct access to the SAP backend for e.g. updating their address details
- creating orders in the backend system.
SP7 is now offering OData Services for user creation request, user data management or password resetting requests.
Payload Trace
With the newly introduced functionality of payload tracing we are now offering something similar - but nicely embedded into the Gateway / OData world.
From the colleagues who developed the new payload trace I directly received a list of pros and cons of SICF tracing and payload tracing (thanks!). Here the list:
SICF
- the recorder has to be activated on the right App-Server. If there are several App-Servers one has to log-on to all available App-Servers and activate the logging there. Displaying of the logs works from any App-Server though.
+ OData requests that have not reached the Gateway functionality (e.g. invalid log-on) are being recorded.
The new Payload Trace
- Only OData Request that are reaching the Gateway system are being recorded
+ Connection to the GW Error-Log for better analysis or the Gateway Client for being able to replay a call.
Enhancements for Maintaining Services
The central transaction for maintaining services has been enhanced so as to optimize the user experience. In addition, new functions have been added.
Performance Best Practices
SAP NetWeaver Gateway is now available for ~2 years. In this time we have see customer projects with huge numbers of users or very high numbers of service calls. In a newly introduced section of the online help you can now find a collection of best practices when dealing with such requirements.
Service Builder
This is by now is the tool of choice for the development of OData services with Gateway. We keep adding functionality to make it easier and faster to deliver the right service. Here a selection from the most relevant additions:
To save time and effort, you can now create a new Service Builder project that is based on an existing project by using the Copy Project function. Simply copy an existing project and make the relevant changes to the newly created project. The Copy Project function copies all design-time artifacts, so that you have a jump start in.
Copy Data Model Artifacts
For greater efficiency you can copy and paste data model artifacts within one and the same Service Builder project and between different Service Builder projects. You can copy and paste artifacts using the functions (Copy to Clipboard, Cut to Clipboard, and Paste from Clipboard) in the mass maintenance view or if you are working directly in the tree view, you can use the standard keyboard shortcuts or the copy and paste functions from the context menu. You can copy and paste design-time artifacts, but not runtime artifacts.
Delta-Import OData Models
Now it is possible to import an OData model from an XML file into an existing model. A dedicated wizard will show any differences between the two models and give the developer a choice, which part of the model shall be used. This new feature is particularly useful if you do the definition of the OData model
outside of Service Builder, like for instance in the new graphical OData modeler in Gateway Productivity Accelerator (GWPA) in Eclipse. Now a close
interaction between the designer of the OData service and the ABAP developer is possible. Also in extensibility use-cases this new function can be very
helpful.
Vocabularies are a powerful new concept to enrich the service metadata. Runtime and designtime now support the definition of OData vocabularies and respective annotations, which use the vocabularies.
Martin Bachmann & Thomas Meigen
