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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Hi
Mike, Mike and all,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>I
bit the bullet and started a re-write using as much OO and new features of WF (ECC6,
like WF Program Exists, local events, etc.) as practical. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>First,
I had to relearn OO. I have a Java background, but was just getting to the point
of being productive before we switched to SAP. And that was 10 years ago, so a refresher
with ABAP OO and what's available out of the SAP box was required. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Learned
enough ABAP OO to fumble around, then how to muck around and make something
work with WF with some tutorials, "next" is to start the design of my
app. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>That
brings me to some critical decision points. (Remember, this is just me. No
team, business folks doing blueprinting, etc.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>I
looked at many SWT* packages. They are mostly too simple to even think about
using for anything. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>So
how much BOR to push aside and what needs to be written from scratch. Most of the
BORs are really not complicate (when you have a couple years under your belt)
so re-writing BUS2032 is not 'really hard'. What I still do not know is, does SAP
have equivalents ABAP OO objects to BORs. ? Like, is there already a ABAP OO of
BUS2032? Or, is there a class higher up called Orders that is a super class of Sales
Order, etc. Or do we have to build from scratch? (I am waiting for the book, so
if all answers are there, just tell me) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>For
just me at this point, using the Agile approach sounds like best approach. Design,
write, test… refactor, write, test, refactor… etc. After reading
and some more reading, I am already thinking my classes can be split out to
more wide casting higher in the class hierarchy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>You
know, when I look at the WF SWT* packages, it looks like the examples that were
in BOR. An afterthought! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Rick<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>I
don't want to be in the very front crossing this river and get eaten by the crocodile.
And, I don't want to be all the way in the rear, where the lions clean up the
old and weak. I want to be somewhere in the middle of the herd with the numbers.
(I won't have to run fast, just faster than <him> to avoid getting eaten
alive.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>
sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Mike
Gambier<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, February 21, 2011 5:56 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> sap-wug@mit.edu<br>
<b>Subject:</b> RE: ABAP Objects - Percent of WF'ers using ABAP OO?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Hi
all,<br>
<br>
Mind if I chip in? Mike and I have been having a good old discussion about this
since we currently sit in front of each other (and since our Production system
just died I have some free time...).<br>
<br>
As most of us here are aware, ABAP OO is hard to avoid these days
especially if you're working on certain technologies, e.g Web UI. <br>
<br>
But I think that the overall number of BOR/Workflow savvy people who are
chossing to cross-train/upskill and learn ABAP OO stuff <u>with a view to
building Workflow stuff using it</u> is likely to be very low indeed. <br>
<br>
Ceratinly here for our client, the number is 0%. Zip, nada, rien.<br>
<br>
One of the biggest drawbacks to building SAP Business Workflow based on ABAP OO
concepts is that it is so damned hard to do so when there exists the
enromous temptation to fall back on tried and trusted BOR techniques that are
so much easier and cheaper to build and are known to work. <br>
<br>
Simply put, the benefits of making the switch don't stack up when you are
forced to build to the lowest common denominator, the humble ABAP coder.<br>
<br>
If SAP truly wanted to push Workflow developers away from BOR and towards ABAP
OO they would have defined a BOR '2' framework to show the way, but they didn't
and don't show any signs of doing so for that matter.<br>
<br>
Instead, they shifted their focus to the Java stack and started selling SAP CE
instead, which uses a 'proper' OO language rather than ABAP OO. Of course
now that Oracle has bought Sun (and is merrily killing it), you never know, SAP
may decide to stop investing in this area entirely and we might see
another shift in direction...<br>
<br>
And before anyone says it, no, I don't believe that ccBPM really counts as
an alternative - the idea of a 'dark' Workflow process running on the ABAP
stack of a PI box is just plain daft and in practice it's routinely overlooked
for serious volumes.<br>
<br>
As a result of this apparent modelling vacuum the following appears to have
happened as far as I can see:<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>1.
Any ABAP OO Workflow stuff now ends up being boiled down to an entry point for
some sort of ABAP OO processing stuff rather than as part of a full-blown
end-to-end Business Process modelled using ABAP OO concepts.<br>
<br>
2. Few people want to learn BOR stuff because it now appears to have a
short shelf-life and looks decidedly old school.<br>
<br>
3. Only people like us are concerned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> <br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Mike GT<br>
<br>
> Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:34:07 +0000<br>
> Subject: Re: ABAP Objects - Percent of WF'ers using ABAP OO?<br>
> From: wug@workflowconnections.com<br>
> To: sap-wug@mit.edu<br>
> <br>
> Hi Rick,<br>
> <br>
> I know what you mean! Some theories I can offer based on my experiences:<br>
> <br>
> - Learning curve: Although OO requires far less specialist WF knowledge<br>
> than BOR, there are still quite a few rules to work by.<br>
> <br>
> - Skillset: Many people learnt ABAP as a secondary skill to build better<br>
> workflows. They have a handle on BOR and - no disrespect intended - the<br>
> concept of relearning OO terrifies them. In some ways rightly so, BOR is a<br>
> bit more forgiving for people just muddling through. OO on the other hand<br>
> benefits from better programming skills, with the upshot of better quality<br>
> solutions.<br>
> <br>
> - Installed base: Much SAP-delivered and custom-built functionality is<br>
> already contained in BOR. People see it as a huge task to switch to OO,<br>
> but this is really just a chicken and egg scenario because it's easy to<br>
> port BOR to OO *if* you have good knowledge of WF-OO. (Hint: The Book v2.0<br>
> will help with this!)<br>
> <br>
> For anyone sitting on the fence, I say: just do it! There's no need to<br>
> make it a major undertaking, just tackle one thing at a time. As a rough<br>
> guideline, anything new gets developed in OO and anything requiring<br>
> changes is ported where practical.<br>
> <br>
> Have fun,<br>
> Mike<br>
> <br>
> On Fri, February 18, 2011 8:48 pm, Sample, Rick wrote:<br>
> > Hi all,<br>
> ><br>
> > I scanned here and SDN WF blogs and I really don't see a whole lot of
OO<br>
> > activity for WF. I am wondering if it is the learning curve,
staffing,<br>
> > budget, lack of interest, or other. Since WF developers are about
what ...<br>
> > 1 of 50 ABAP'ers, I would assume the ABAP OO to be orders of
magnitude<br>
> > larger in number of posts. Just the opposite.<br>
> ><br>
> > Any numbers on what percent is using:<br>
> > sticking with 4.6c BOR,<br>
> > phasing in ABAP OO with WF for new projects and re-writes, (This is
our<br>
> > plan so far. Not implementing full BPM tools etc.)<br>
> > other BPM tools,<br>
> > something else?<br>
> ><br>
> > Any of this data available from SAP with regards to who and how many
are<br>
> > moving to <what?> Recent blogs on this subject? etc. etc.<br>
> ><br>
> > As always, you may contact me directly.<br>
> ><br>
> > Rick Sample | SAP Workflow Analyst/Developer<br>
> > Rick.Sample@Graybar.com<br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> > _______________________________________________<br>
> > SAP-WUG mailing list<br>
> > SAP-WUG@mit.edu<br>
> > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/sap-wug<br>
> ><br>
> <br>
> <br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
> SAP-WUG mailing list<br>
> SAP-WUG@mit.edu<br>
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/sap-wug<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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