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Author's profile photo Gitit Sagiv

Generic System Destination for the URL iView

Generic System Destination Intro

Many URL iViews can point to the same basis server. Say this server is changed (e.g. as a result of migration from one environment to another), one needs to enter each URL iView and manually change the target URL of the iView.

This new functionality supports the usage of the System object in the standard URL iView, as an option for entering the target URLs. It offers an ability to use system aliases for URL iView configuration purposes in a generic way.

 

Prerequisites

Enterprise Portal Versions:

SAP NetWeaver 7.30 SP3 and above.

 

How to use

First of all, a system object from template HTTP System needs to be created. It should have default alias defined, as can be seen in the following screenshot

 image

It should also have the three Connection Properties (Protocol, Host Name and Port) configured, according to the location of the target URLs. The Port property is not mandatory.

 image

After configuraiting the HTTP System, the URL iView Editor can be opened and the following settings are required:

  • Select the relevant HTTP system alias from the “System” dropdownlist
  • Check the “Use system in URL” checkbox
  • Enter the relative part of the target URL in the “URL” inputfield (should start with slash “/”)

 image

 Clarifications

  1. At runtime, the protocol, hostname and port will be retrieved from the selected HTTP system and will be combined with the relative url entered in the URL iView Editor.  
    In the given example the target URL will be the following: 

    http://iltlvh189.tlv.sap.corp:50000/irj/testpage.html

  2. In case of Language-specific URLs, the same rules apply. Meaning, the language specific URL should also contain the relative part only.

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      16 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Guillaume GARCIA
      Guillaume GARCIA
      Hi,
      This is among the stuff you wonder why it has not been done sooner.  🙂
      Thanks for sharing this new functionality.
      Is there, by any chance, a way to have it on 7.0x version (through EhP for NW)?
      Thanks in advance for your answer.
      Best regards,
      Guillaume
      Author's profile photo Gitit Sagiv
      Gitit Sagiv
      Blog Post Author
      Hi Guillaume,

      Thanks for the feedback 🙂
      New enhancements are part of the latest release which is now NW 7.3, therefore we are not planning to add it to 7.0X releases.

      Best Regards,
      Gitit

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      Under 7.0x, there is the generic launcher component, which you can read about at http://help.sap.com/SAPhelp_nw04/helpdata/en/36/5e3842134bad04e10000000a1550b0/content.htm

      Yes, it is not as neat as the new 7.3 function, but it is still fairly flexible.

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      This is achievable using an AppIntegrator iView & System Object under 7.0. Has been used on a large scale for one of our clients.
      Author's profile photo Thorsten Stracke
      Thorsten Stracke
      Hi, well that's fine that now Url Server can be used as flexible, but SP3 is still not available only SP2.
      Is there an other option to use application generic as in 7.01. I didn't found it in SP 1.

      Best regards
      Thorsten

      Author's profile photo Gitit Sagiv
      Gitit Sagiv
      Blog Post Author
      Hi Thorsten,

      If by "application generic" you mean the generic iView, you can create this iView in 730 based on portal application com.sap.portal.appintegrator.sap.Generic:
      Open the Content Catalog Studio and under Portal Applications search for com.sap.portal.appintegrator.sap-> Generic. Right click on it to copy it and then paste it as PCD object in the required location under Portal Content folder.

      Regards,
      Gitit

      Author's profile photo Thorsten Stracke
      Thorsten Stracke
      Hi Gitit,

      well yes that's what is searched. In 7.01 the portalcomponents where in the context menue:-)

      Thanks
      Thorsten 

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      Hi Gitit,

      The use of 'Use system in URL' is the additional feature I see in HTTP systems which gives us the flexibility to just change the hostname not all the relative URLs. But is it something different from AppIntegrator in EP 7.0x versions??

      Thanks, Mohan

      Author's profile photo Gitit Sagiv
      Gitit Sagiv
      Blog Post Author
      Hi Mohan,

      This new feature provides a similar functionality to the one of the appintegrator, but the functionality is provided via URL iView (and not AI iView).
      Also please note that the feature supports multi languages scenario (Language-specific URLs).

      Regards,
      Gitit

      Author's profile photo Gitit Sagiv
      Gitit Sagiv
      Blog Post Author
      Hi Mohan,

      This new feature provides a similar functionality to the one of the appintegrator, but the functionality is provided via URL iView (and not AI iView).
      Also please note that the feature supports multi languages scenario (Language-specific URLs).

      Regards,
      Gitit

      Author's profile photo Andrew Davis
      Andrew Davis

      I want to use that option in a new 7.40 portal.  The target system is an ERP HR/FI system and has several aliases, but none of them are listed in the dropdown on the URL iview config screen as illustrated in your example.  Is there additional config needed to make the system alias available in the URL iview?

      I tried entering the system alias in the "system" field of the standard Properties list, but the iview does not work when Previewed.

      Appreciate any hints on how to make that work as it is a far better option than having to update the URL Iviews in each of the layers of the landscape.

      thanks

      Andrew

      Author's profile photo Thorsten Stracke
      Thorsten Stracke

      Hi Andrew,

      for url iviews a special system type is needed.

      Best way is to use an application generic iview where you can use an system alias like with webas entry and change the url template to use the content of the system setting.

      <System.protocol>://<System.server>/

      and in the parameter system you ener your Alias

      Maybe it helps

      Best regards

      Thorsten

      Author's profile photo Andrew Davis
      Andrew Davis

      Hi Thorsten,

      Thank you for your prompt response.

      I have been using generic URL  iviews for the reasons you have indicated, but
      recently, some of our apps systems like CRM and BW were upgraded to NW 7.40 systems, and their pages required standards mode to provide the required functionality.  In those cases I found that despite using the option for the application to be presented in a new page, it was still wrapped in a portal page, which was itself locked to Quirks mode, apparently due to the HTML settings restrictions in the framework page.  If I used the “raw” URL iview though, the target URL is launched in a bare page that is allowed to run in standards mode. 

       

      Even in the 7.40 portal I find the framework page is still locked to
      quirks mode so updating the portal to NW 7.40 has not resolved this problem. 

      If you see problems in this approach I would greatly appreciate any
      comments. 

      I am unsure of your reference to requiring a special kind of system
      definition.  I would like to try that – is there a specific template type I should use to create that system?

      regards

      Andrew

      Author's profile photo Thorsten Stracke
      Thorsten Stracke

      Hi Andrew,

      the system type is the normal R3 System with application server or loadbalancing, there you can fill the WEB AS Entry and use ticket, and this information you can use in the Parameter.

      Best regards

      Thorsten

      Author's profile photo Andrew Davis
      Andrew Davis

      I tested for various system types.  Only an HTTP type system appears to be populated in the System dropdown field.  But it does work.  I did not find any documentation about that requirement.

      Might be useful to others to know that. 

      Author's profile photo Pradeep Gali
      Pradeep Gali

      This is a nice article which is very helpful . Thanks for sharing ...