Using Images from the SAP Graphical Framework in Smartforms

[Former Member]

The SAP Graphical Framework (GFW) offers a lot of options to create customized graphs.However, using the generated Graph in a Smartforms Form is not directly supported.

Suppose we need to generate a printout like below printout with ABAP, you would generate each of the four graphs with the graphical framework but then you can not use it in Smartforms.

Smartforms can embed graphics that have been loaded before to the BusinessDocumentService (BDS, Transaction SE78). SAP has designed this to manually import graphics such as company logo and then use it in Smartforms but these graphics are permanently imported whereas a more dynamic approach is needed.

The solution for this problem seems quite simple:

1. Generate Graph with GFW and export file in binary internal table as bitmap
2. Import graphic files in BDS using a SAP function module
3. Call the Smartform and pass the IDs within the Smartform interface (or use a naming convention so that Smartforms picks the correct graphs)
4. Once printed and archived, delete the graphic files in BDS again

Before coming to the "But...", here are the technical for those steps:

1. Exporting a bitmap in GFW

   data:  l_gpinst       TYPE REF TO cl_gui_gp_pres,       l_lang         TYPE i,       lt_content     TYPE gfw_exp_data,       l_retval       TYPE symsgno.CALL METHOD l_gpinst->IF_GRAPHIC_PROXY~EXPORT  EXPORTING    format         = 3 "Bitmap  IMPORTING    content_length = l_lang    content        = lt_content    retval         = l_retval.

2. Importing bitmap in BDS

   * First Convert BMP into BDS Format* lt_bmp contains the exported BMP* lt_bds_content will contain the file in BDS Format    CALL FUNCTION 'SAPSCRIPT_CONVERT_BITMAP_BDS'      EXPORTING        color                     = 'X'        format                    = 'BMP'        bitmap_bytecount          = i_lang        compress_bitmap           = space      IMPORTING        width_tw                  = l_widthtw        height_tw                 = l_heighttw        width_pix                 = l_widthpix        height_pix                = l_heightpix        dpi                       = l_dpi        bds_bytecount             = l_bds_lang      TABLES        bitmap_file               = lt_bmp        bitmap_file_bds           = lt_bds_content.* now create object in BDS      CREATE OBJECT l_bds_object.      a_bds_comp-doc_count  = '1'.      a_bds_comp-comp_count = '1'.      a_bds_comp-mimetype   = c_bds_mimetype.      a_bds_comp-comp_size  = l_bds_lang.      APPEND a_bds_comp TO lt_bds_comp.      a_bds_signat-doc_count = '1'.      APPEND a_bds_signat TO lt_bds_signat.      CALL METHOD l_bds_object->create_with_table        EXPORTING          classname  = c_bds_classname          classtype  = c_bds_classtype          components = lt_bds_comp          content    = lt_bds_content        CHANGING          signature  = lt_bds_signat        EXCEPTIONS          OTHERS     = 1.      IF sy-subrc IS INITIAL.        READ TABLE lt_bds_signat INDEX 1 INTO a_bds_signat             TRANSPORTING doc_id.        IF sy-subrc IS INITIAL.          l_docid = a_bds_signat-doc_id.* Save bitmap header in STXBITPMAPS          a_stxbitmaps-tdname     = i_grafname.          a_stxbitmaps-tdobject   = 'GRAPHICS'.          a_stxbitmaps-tdid       = 'BMAP'.          a_stxbitmaps-tdbtype    = 'BCOL'.          a_stxbitmaps-docid      = l_docid.          a_stxbitmaps-widthpix   = l_widthpix.          a_stxbitmaps-heightpix  = l_heightpix.          a_stxbitmaps-widthtw    = l_widthtw.          a_stxbitmaps-heighttw   = l_heighttw.          a_stxbitmaps-resolution = i_dpi.          a_stxbitmaps-resident   = space.          a_stxbitmaps-autoheight = 'X'.          a_stxbitmaps-bmcomp     = space.          INSERT into stxbitmaps values a_stxbitmaps.          IF sy-subrc IS NOT INITIAL.            UPDATE stxbitmaps FROM a_stxbitmaps.            IF sy-subrc IS NOT INITIAL.              c_subrc = 104.              EXIT.            ENDIF.          ENDIF.* Set description in BDS attributes          a_bds_prop-prop_name  = 'DESCRIPTION'.          a_bds_prop-prop_value = i_grafname.          APPEND a_bds_prop TO lt_bds_prop.          CALL METHOD l_bds_object->change_properties            EXPORTING              classname  = c_bds_classname              classtype  = c_bds_classtype              doc_id     = l_docid              doc_ver_no = '1'              doc_var_id = '1'            CHANGING              properties = lt_bds_prop            EXCEPTIONS              OTHERS     = 1.          IF sy-subrc IS NOT INITIAL.            c_subrc = sy-subrc + 200.          ENDIF.        ELSE.          c_subrc = 103.        ENDIF.      ELSE.        c_subrc = 102.      ENDIF.

   
   
   
3. Call Smartforms
4. Delete bitmap from BDS

      CALL FUNCTION 'SAPSCRIPT_DELETE_GRAPHIC_BDS'      EXPORTING        i_object       = 'GRAPHICS'        i_name         = l_name        i_id           = 'BMAP'        i_btype        = 'BCOL'        dialog         = space      EXCEPTIONS        enqueue_failed = 1        delete_failed  = 2        not_found      = 3        canceled       = 4        OTHERS         = 5.

And here is the drawback:

Importing Files into BDS has a very poor performance. SAP knows about this but they did not yet find a solution for this as the whole BDS is not designed for "mass import".

Without using any tricks, importing one graphic will at least take one minute which is not acceptable for certain requirements.

The performance is better for these types for bitmaps:

• the color depth is low
• the resolution/size is small

GFW has options to set the size of graphic but setting the color depth is not possible. The bitmap that is exported under 1) has always a very high color depth which will cause the poor performance.

The workaround for this problem is not very nice but is a stable solution:

A graphic converter needs to be installed on the SAP application server and let this converter change the color depth of bitmap before importing it in BDS. For this, the bmp is first downloaded to the application server via "Open Dataset" and then converted by a SM49 script. After that, it is re-imported.

A good converter is ImageMagick and is a commonly used software which is available for various operations systems.

It can be downloaded here: http://www.imagemagick.org.

Example SM49 script:

/usr/local/bin/convert & -white-threshold 65% -colors & -units PixelsPerInch -density & +dither &

First and Last Parameter are the import and export bitmaps. Second Parameter is the number of colours of the target bmp (e.g. 16) and third parameter is the image resolution (300x300)

Besides that, the white-threshold will make everything white that "looks like" white (SAP GFW is GUI dependant and does not always produce pure white)

After this, performance is improved by factor 6-10.

In addition to this, the whole conversion and BDS import can be placed in a function module that is called asynchronous (i.e. several bmp are converted in parallel at once)