Why allow Custom Clients to Integrate with SAP NetWeaver Mobile?
A lot of mobile devices are available in the market; devices based on numerous platforms such as Windows Mobile, RIM, Symbian, Linux, Palm, iPhone, Android, and so on which provide a rich native user experience. In the field of business, customers and partners must be able to choose any device, and be able to access their enterprise data.
SAP NetWeaver Mobile is the platform for SAP's enterprise mobility. And to allow customers and partners to choose any client technology that suits their business requirements, we have opened-up the DOE, so allowing you to integrate any client technology with SAP NetWeaver Mobile. This enables any client technology to leverage middleware capabilities such as data distribution, data integrity, device management, scalability and so on.
Ways to Integrate a Custom Client
There are two ways you can integrate your custom client:
- Using SAP's Sync Layer - We have developed a sync layer on the DOE that is used by the standard SAP NetWeaver Mobile client. The same sync layer can be consumed by the custom client. In this case, the custom client must communicate with the standards required by the DOE.
- Using your custom channel - If you want to communicate using your own standards, then you can create your own "channel" in the DOE. Early April, we shall release a document that describes steps to create a custom channel.
All the APIs that you require to communicate with SAP's Sync Layer are exposed for the developers. This is what you have to do to integrate the custom client:
Create an HTTP interface on the DOE. An HTTP URL is then available for your custom client to communicate with the DOE.
In the interface, you must process the messages from the client and call the corresponding APIs. For example, if you get a request from the client to download messages from the DOE, you have to call the GET_MESSAGE API of the DOE.
Documentation
The document that describes how to use the Sync Layer is now available in SDN. You can download the guide here.
(A special thanks to Rajeswara S Rao, Gunashekar M, and Vikas Lamba of the SAP NetWeaver Mobile team for their efforts towards preparing the guide)
So, try creating your own custom client - using J2ME, Microsoft .NET, or any client technology and try communicating with SAP NetWeaver Mobile.
In early April, we shall provide you documentation for creating a custom channel.
