mySAP™ ERP For Dummies®

Chapter 8. SAP NetWeaver Up and Running

In This Chapter

• Understanding the concepts of the ESA-enabled ERP platform

• Using Web services over HTTP

• Figuring out business and technical protocols

• Exploring the XI run-time

If you've read any of this book up to this point, you know that services sound like the best idea since indoor plumbing. They make you flexible, more productive, and more focused on your business than on the technological underpinnings.

But just in case you're the curious type who wants to know more about those technological doodads, this chapter looks a little more closely at how services work and what happens when you call one.

To use a service, such as "Cancel Order," you first have to call it. Calling a service, also referred to as invoking a service, brings it to life. This involves some highly technical stuff like run-time architecture, interaction semantics, transactional behavior, and sessions. (Don't worry: We try to make this discussion as painless as possible.)

Figuring Out ESA Run-Time Architecture

Run-time has nothing to do with your morning jog. Run-time refers to all the things that go on when a system (in this case, SAP NetWeaver) is actually in operation. (This is in contrast to design-time, which refers to all the things that happen when a system is being designed and coded.)

To understand how Web services communicate, you need to understand protocols. A protocol is a set of rules for the communication of two entities. If the entities happen to be two people ...