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Below is an overview of important terms used in connection with SOA Manager:

Term

Definition

More Information

binding

A binding is an entity that needs to be created and configured in order to configure a service provider. It contains a runtime configuration, which is needed to implement the service, and it defines the address of a Web service along with its security settings. A binding determines which protocol is used for processing Web service messages. Without a binding a Web service is not callable.
Communication between the service consumer and the service provider is established between the consumer proxy’s logical port and the provider proxy’s binding. To access a binding, a consumer with a runtime configuration sends a call through a logical port. A logical port can send a call to only one binding. However, a binding can be called through more than one logical port.

Alternative name: endpoint
SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 SP 14 and higher

 

business application

A business application is a logical representation of an application that makes its Web service implementations addressable. This allows all Web service implementations belonging to the same business application to be grouped together. A business application is a design artifact that is defined by the business application name. The business application name remains the same for all its deployed instances.
Each business application instance is uniquely identified by its business application ID.

For example, a Web service interface called "PurchaseOrder" may be implemented twice on your Java server, once in a CRM use case and once in an SRM use case. To distinguish between the implementations, the business application is used.
As Web service interfaces cannot be implemented more than once in an ABAP system, each SAP client has one default business application called sap.com/BusinessApplicationABAP using a GUID (UUID) as its unique ID.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

business application ID

A business application ID uniquely and permanently identifies a business application instance. It does not change during configuration.

Business application IDs are:

To find business application IDs in SOA Manager, choose Technical Administration -> SAP Client Settings.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

business scenario

Business scenarios are used to define the services (consumer proxies/Web service providers) to be configured. A business scenario contains a set of service definitions and service groups.

There are two different types of business scenarios:


  • Central business scenario
    A central business scenario is maintained in a central system. With a central business scenario, connections are maintained using consumer systems, service groups, and provider systems. The configuration is controlled by the change processor  in the respective managed systems. For the configuration to work, a common domain is needed between the consumer and Web service provider systems. The change processor controls the creation of the configurations on the managed systems and ensures that the configurations are created in the correct order, for example, first the Web service providers and then the consumer proxies.
  • Local business scenario
    A local business scenario is maintained in backend systems on both the provider and consumer side. Service definitions are assigned to profiles on the provider side and service groups are assigned to business applications on provider systems in the consumer system. Configurations are generated through pending tasks on each backend system. It is the task of the business adminstrator to ensure that the configurations are created in the correct order, for example, first the Web service providers and then the consumer proxies. 

Alternative names: configuration request, business scenario communication, configuration scenario

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

business scenario configuration

Business scenario configuration allows multiple services (consumer proxies/Web service providers) to be configured automatically. Business scenario configuration also supports change management. The services to be configured are defined in a business scenario.
The provider side is configured using a profile which mainly contains security settings. With central business scenario configuration, a profile is automatically generated based on the domain. Consumers are configured using WSDL documents provided by the Web service provider. Consumers can be configured through local or central configuration.
Business scenario configuration only works if service groups are in place on the consumer side. Configurations are generated through pending tasks. With central business scenario configuration, configuration is controlled through the change processor in the central system.

Alternative names: mass configuration; smart configuration; business scenario communication

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

change processor

The change processor is used in central business scenario configuration to control the configuration process across the managed systems. The change processor uses domains, the business scenario, and logon data management to determine which configuration data is relevant for each managed system involved. Afterwards the data is distributed and the configuration process is started using pending tasks.

The configuration data is always distributed as a whole package for the required configuration state. With multiple systems, the change processor ensures that the configurations are processed in the right order, for example, first the Web service providers and then the consumer proxies.
The change processor can be started at any time in a central system since it ensures data consistency across the systems involved all the time.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

classification

A classification is an attribute assigned to services published in the Services Registry that can be used as a search criterion. A classification consists of a qualified name, a value, and a description. A Web service can have multiple classifications and a classification can be assigned to multiple Web services.
Classifications can also be used to define Services Registry views.
Classifications are shipped by SAP or can be defined by customers.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 


connectivity framework

The connectivity framework provides bi-directional Web service communication for Web service configuration. For example, this can be used for management connections for central business scenario configuration.

The connectivity framework consists of the SOAManagerConnectivity Web service http://www.sap.com/netweaver/712/soap/changemanagement, the corresponding consumer proxy, a consumer and provider side implementation, and a BAdI (provider side).

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

consumer proxy

A consumer proxy is an SAP development object generated in the form of an ABAP class which acts as a local representation of a Web service. It is generated from a WSDL document or an ESR/MDR interface . A consumer proxy is used in an application to call (consume) a Web service and supports various receiver determination mechanisms like logical port, PI, technical receiver determination, and logical receiver determination.

Alternative names: proxy class; proxy definition.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 6.20 and higher.

 

default logical port

A default logical port is an addressing concept where the application instantiates a consumer proxy without a logical port. In these cases the Web Service Framework uses a logical port flagged as “default”. You cannot create more than one default logical port for each consumer proxy.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 6.40 and higher.

 

domain

A domain is used in central SOA Manager as a basis for central business scenario configuration. It defines a certain number of settings, most of which are security-related, that are relevant for a list of domain systems assigned to the domain.
If domain systems are assigned to multiple domains, then the domain with the highest priority is used. A domain allows change management for all assigned domain systems with minimum downtime through profile versioning. The relevant domain information for the backend systems is distributed as a profile  to the backends.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher.

 

domain system

A domain system is used in central SOA Manager to represent a system involved in central business scenario configuration. It holds access information to meta data, the link to the management connection and the business application. A domain system can be assigned to multiple domains  in order to enable configuration with certain settings valid for the domain.
The relevant information for backend systems is distributed as the provider system.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

Enterprise Services Repository

The Enterprise Services Repository is a Java-based modeling tool.

SAP Online Help

ESR/MDR interface

The ESR/MDR interface is an abstract definition of a Web service consumer or provider which is modeled in the Enterprise Services Repository (ESR) or the Meta Data Repository (MDR). This model can be used to generate either a consumer proxy or a service definition in the ABAP backend.

 

event consumer

An event consumer is a normal Web service which is referenced by the event provider.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 6.40 and higher.

 

event provider

An event provider is a special type of consumer proxy which supports different programming models. Depending on the application context, an event is raised by the event provider and sent asynchronously as a normal SOAP message to all event consumers subscribed. Unlike classical Web service communication, an event consumer is highly interested in receiving events. From the perspective of the event provider, it does not matter how many event consumers are subscribed to a specific event. The subscriptions of the event consumers are defined using a list of logical ports. An event is sent to all subscribers, and the application is unable to change the subscription list at runtime. The event provider is generated from the ESR/MDR event interface.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher.

 

fallback logical port

A fallback logical port is a normal logical port which can be used to override the automatically generated logical port created during business scenario configuration. It can be used when business scenario configuration fails to generate logical ports automatically. You can create a maximum of one fallback logical port for one consumer proxy within a service group pointing to one provider system. As long as a fallback logical port exists, business scenario configuration uses this port and does not generate a regular logical port.

SAP Release: SAP_BASIS 7.01 and higher

 

HTTP destination

A HTTP destination is a configuration entity which belongs to the SAP Internet Communication Framework. An HTTP destination is used in logical ports.

SAP Release: SAP_BASIS 6.40 and higher

 


ICF dependency

Each Web service is assigned a URL through which it can be accessed. The Internet Communication Framework (ICF) is used to implement this access. The ICF entities used are service nodes and external alias nodes.

SAP Release: SAP_BASIS 6.40 and higher

 

logical port

The logical port concept allows multiple Web services to be addressed logically. A logical port is identified by a name (unique for a consumer proxy) which is defined during the development of the consumer application. The administrator of the consumer application has to observe the implementation guide in order to adhere to the naming conventions for logical ports defined during development. A logical port is a configuration for a consumer proxy which can be used during consumer proxy instantiation. You can instantiate a consumer proxy without specifying a logical port name if a default logical port exists. It defines the runtime behaviour of the consumer proxy which consists of an access URL along with WS-Security and Web service protocol information, for example WS-RM or WS-A.

There are different types of logical ports:

 

local shortcut

A local shortcut is an optimized way of Web service communication if the Web service consumer calls a Web service provider within the same SAP client. In other words, it is a local Web service call within the same client. In this case, the consumer proxy can be instantiated without generating a logical port in SOA Manager. It is also not necessary to configure the Web service provider for the local call.

Alternatively, a special type of logical port can be generated if the service definition name of the Web service provider is maintained in the logical port. No other information such as the endpoint URL, the host, or the port is maintained in this logical port. The consumer application can instantiate the consumer proxy using this logical port to execute the local call to the Web service. The Web service provider also does not need to be configured for these local calls.

The same user context is used during communication with a local shortcut.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

log

The Web service configuration log is used to record all changes made to Web service configuration entities such as bindings or logical ports. The log is integrated into the objects of Web service configuration, does not support any levels and cannot be configured. This means that in each system the same type of data is written for each change and therefore each change is documented in the system.
Log entries are neither deleted nor archived.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

logical receiver determination

Logical receiver determination (LRD) uses routing rules to determine the receivers (Web service providers) in consumer systems based on the business context. The business context is provided through the LRD filter by the application program whereas routing rules are maintained by a business administrator. A routing rule is a set of conditions used to determine a receiver and is maintained in SOA Manager. Multiple routing rules can point to the same receiver.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

LRD filter

An LRD filter is a normal ABAP Dictionary structure without any nested structures and references to other objects which is created during the development of the service group and is used for logical receiver determination.
Each component of the structure must meet the conditions valid for ABAP range tables. ABAP Dictionary includes and appends are allowed.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

management connection

A management connection is used, for example, for central business scenario configuration between central systems and managed systems. The connection allows bi-directional data transfer between the systems depending on the implementation of the application used. In case of central business scenario configuration, the configuration data is transferred, the configuration process is triggered and the results are reported.
Management connections are used by many applications such as central business scenario configuration, central health check, and central log.
Management connections are implemented using the connectivity famework.

Alternative name: remote connectivity

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

matching interface

A matching interface is an entity used to assign a consumer proxy to a service definition. This requires that the consumer proxy and the service definition are compatible at interface level: the service definition has to provide a compatible operation for each operation of the consumer proxy. A matching interface is only used during business scenario configuration when the Framework has to determine the compatible service definition automatically. Matching interfaces can be maintained using the following tools:

  • Enterprise Services Repository
  • ABAP transaction SMIF
  • ABAP transaction SOAManager  In central business scenario configuration, matching interfaces are created or displayed during connection maintenance. If the assignment between service definition and consumer proxy already exists for the system combination, it cannot be changed.
  • Matching interfaces for central business scenario configuration can also be maintained in central SOA Manager in the matching interfaces application.


    SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

Metadata Repository

The Metadata Repository is an ABAP-based modeling tool.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

pending task

A pending task is used to check and activate the pending configurations belonging to business scenario configuration. Any change in business scenario configuration generates pending tasks in SOA Manager. These tasks must be processed to perform the intended configuration changes in business scenario configuration. 

Alternative name: activation requests
 
SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

profile

A profile is an entity which is only used in business scenario configuration. A profile is maintained in SOA Manager and contains mainly the set of security settings that need to be applied to service definitions and service groups during business scenario configuration. As the security settings of a landscape may change in the course of time, a new profile version was introduced in SOA Manager to support these changes. The Web service consumer and provider applications can agree on specific profile versions, and all other profile versions can be deactivated. The Web service configuration on the consumer and the provider side takes place automatically with the help of this mechanism, thus supporting change management in the landscape. Profiles are used during local and central business scenario configuration. This entity cannot be transported across systems but can be exported and imported as an XML file between systems. This entity is also exposed in the Services Registry where Web services configured through business scenario configuration are published with their profile version information as a classification.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

provider system

A provider system is an entity which is used to access metadata of the Web service provider during business scenario configuration. A provider system is maintained in SOA Manager and contains the WSIL URL, the WSIL credentials and identifier information of the Services Registry. This information is needed by the provider system to retrieve service provider WSDL URLs during the configuration of service groups in the consumer application. Additionally, the list of available business applications along with the business application ID must be maintained in the provider system entity. Information related to business applications can be retrieved automatically from the WSIL document or the Services Registry. This information can also be maintained manually by checking the SAP Client Settings  in the Web service provider system. The WSDL credentials used to access WSDL documents of the provider system are also maintained in the provider system entity. The provider system must be assigned a profile name and version in the consumer system. This profile name/version must be identical to the Web service provider profile/version.

Alternative names: system connection, destination template, destination

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

public service definition API

The public service definition API can be used to configure the Web service provider programmatically with the help of interface IF_SRT_PUBLIC_SDEF_DEPLOYMENT.
An instance of this interface is returned by method GET_SERVICE_DEFINITION_HANDLER of class CL_SRT_PUBLIC_FACTORY. There are two ways to configure a Web service provider programmatically.

1) Simplified Web service configuration
2) Business scenario configuration

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

public service group API

The public service group API can be used to support technical receiver determination and logical receiver determination programmatically with the help of interface IF_SRT_PUBLIC_SV_GROUP_HANDLER. An instance of this interface is returned by method GET_SERVICE_GROUP_HANDLER of class CL_SRT_PUBLIC_FACTORY.
The public service group API supports the service group development object which is only configured through business scenario configuration.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.01 and higher

 

public logical port API

The public logical port API can be used to configure the consumer proxy of the Web service programmatically with the help of interface IF_SRT_PUBLIC_LOGICAL_PORT. An instance of this interface is returned by method GET_LOGICAL_PORT_HANDLER of class CL_SRT_PUBLIC_FACTORY. The logical port is generated by explicitly setting the properties using this interface. This interface does not require the WSDL document of the Web service provider to be used.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

reverse proxy settings

Reverse proxy settings are used to support reverse proxies and/or a load balancer in the Web service environment. Reverse proxy settings are necessary if the Web service provider communicates using a reverse proxy. The ABAP Web Service Framework supports the use of reverse proxies and load balancers by allowing the URLs contained in the metadata (WSDL, WSIL, and Services Registry publications) to be adjusted in such a way that they point to the reverse proxy or load balancer being used. More information on how these settings are maintained in SOA Manager can be found in SAP Note 1325985  (Reverse proxy support of ABAP Web service framework).

Alternative name: alternative host

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

SAP client settings

SAP client settings are used to maintain general settings for the current SAP client. You can maintain the following settings.

a) Services identifier - These settings apply to all services in the current SAP client. Here you can maintain the organization name, the business system, and the business system and business application ID associated with this client.

b) Reverse proxy settings – These settings are used to support reverse proxies and/or a load balancer in the Web service environment. More information can be found in SAP Note 1325985  (Reverse proxy support of ABAP Web service framework).

c) Web Service Navigator – Web Service Navigator is a Java-based test tool to test Web service providers with the help of the WSDL document. The system access information of this test tool is maintained here. Once the system information is maintained, you can test the service binding from within the single service configuration UI in SOA Manager. More information on the Web Service Navigator tool can be found under this link.

d) Documentation Server – You can maintain the URL for the solution composer system where the Web services documentation is stored. Once this URL information is maintained, the documentation URL will be built for each ESR-modeled SAP service provider and published in the Services Registry. SAP has published the documentation for Enterprise Services on the Enterprise Services Workplace

Alternative name: SAP global settings

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

service definition

A service definition is a development object used as the basis for Web service providers generated in the ABAP Workbench. A service definition can be transported across systems using the ABAP transport workbench. A service definition refers to the service implementation, the interface and the design time configuration of the Web service provider. Design-time configuration contains the properties set during development, such as session handling, service behaviour or security settings. A service definition is the basis for the Web service provider configuration of SOA Manager and cannot be changed in SOA Manager during the configuration process. Service definitions can be published in the Services Registry together with their classifications and port type WSDL URL.

Alternative name: Web service definition

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 6.40 and higher

 

service group

A service group is a development object used in the consumer system that wraps multiple consumer proxies in a consumer application in order to configure them together at the same time for the same Web service provider system. A service group is assigned a unique name within the system and can be transported across systems using the ABAP transport workbench. Technical receiver determination (TRD) and logical receiver determination (LRD) are only supported if consumer proxies are instantiated by means of service groups in a consumer application. An LRD filter can be defined and maintained in a service group in order to enable logical receiver determination. You can decide during development whether your service group is intended to communicate with one or with multiple provider systems at a time. Service groups are configured as a whole using business scenario configuration. You can create one fallback logical port for each consumer proxy and provider system if business scenario configuration fails. The fallback logical port overrides any existing logical port for the chosen provider system and consumer proxy

Alternative name: consumer group
 
SAP Release: SAP_BASIS 7.01 and higher

 

Services Registry

The Services Registry (SR) is a repository for Web services. It contains entries for all service definitions in a landscape, with references to the relevant WSDL metadata, to the locations of the callable bindings and to their documentation URLs. The registered Web services can be classified using semantic classifications. Classifications allow you to search the Services Registry for specific Web services. The Services Registry allows you to determine where services are located in the landscape and which services are configured and can be called. Services can either be queried using the user interface of the Services Registry or using the query API exposed as a Web service. The Services Registry is available in the Java and in the ABAP stack. The Java Services Registry is UDDI-compliant.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

Services Registry view

The Services Registry view is an entity in the Services Registry which can be used to control access to the Services Registry. Inside a view, you can define filter criteria based on classifications and internal names of service definitions to restrict the result list. User names and permissions (read, write, and delete) are also maintained together with these filter criteria inside a view. Multiple users can be assigned to a view and a user can be assigned to multiple views. Active views are processed during publication and search within the Services Registry to authorize the intended operation on a published object. The user must be assigned the administration role ‘SAP_BC_WEBSERVICE_CONFIGURATOR’ as described in SAP Note 1318883  to be able to define such views in the Services Registry.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

simplified Web service configuration

Simplified Web service configuration is a SOA Manager application which provides a simple way of configuring a Web service provider. Only transport-level security (basic authentication, Single Sign-On, X.509 client certificate) is supported by this application. This application generates a simplified, predictable and stable access URL so that Web service consumers can rely on this access URL without having to analyze the WSDL document of the Web service provider. A maximum of one binding can be created with this application, and this binding cannot be transported across the systems.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

single service configuration

Single service configuration is a SOA Manager application which provides full configuration capabilities for Web services  and consumer proxies. With the help of this application, you can maintain various WS communication aspects like security settings (transport and message level), transport protocols, access URLs (calculated and alternative), timeout settings, Web service operation-specific properties, local shortcut as well as WS-A and WS-RM. Configurations created through simplified Web service configuration and business scenario configuration can be displayed in this application. Consumer proxies can either be configured manually or with the help of the WSDL in this application. Fallback logical ports for consumer proxies belonging to service groups are also created through this application. Web service configurations created in SOA Manager cannot be transported across systems.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 SP14 (SOAMANAGER) and higher

 

SOA Manager

SOA Manager is a collection of tools for maintaining ABAP Web service-relevant entities. It is an ABAP Web Dynpro application - “appl_soap_management” -  linked with transaction code ‘SOAMANAGER’. The central configuration functions are enabled if an SAP client is flagged as a central system. The following tools are available in SOA Manager.

1) Single service configuration for Web services and consumer proxies
2) Business scenario configuration for Web services and consumer proxies
3) Logical receiver determination
4) Services Registry
5) Reverse proxy settings
6) WS support tools like WSDL Analyzer and health check
7) WS configuration logs and traces
8) SAP client settings

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

technical receiver determination

Technical receiver determination (TRD) is a mechanism to determine receivers on the basis of technical IDs like business application ID, business system name, and so on. It is only supported by business scenario configuration. Consumer proxies are instantiated through the business application ID.

SAP Releases: SAP_BASIS 7.02 and higher

 

Web Service

Web Service is an XML- based protocol-independent communication method which exposes functions defined in the service definition. Web Service is compliant with W3C standards and is described by WSDL.

SAP Release: SAP_BASIS 6.40 and higher

 

WS-Security

WS-Security is a W3C standard for securing Web service communication.

SAP Release: SAP_BASIS 6.40 and higher

 

WS-A

Web Service Addressing (WS-A) is a protocol defined by W3C.

SAP Release: SAP_BASIS 7.00 and higher

 

WSDL

WSDL stands for Web Service Description Language. It is a standard defined by W3C for describing Web Service interfaces.

 

WS-RM

WS-RM (Web Service Reliable Messaging) is a protocol defined by W3C to support reliable communication for asynchronous operations during Web service communication.

SAP Release: SAP_BASIS 7.02 (??) and higher

 

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