Launching WDA items from Extended Notifications
Ramki Maley
rmaley at erpworkflow.com
Thu Mar 10 08:51:55 EST 2011
Thanks Jocelyn. I wasn't sure if SWFVISU would still work in a non UWL
environment.
Regards,
Ramki.
On 3/9/11 11:12 PM, Dart, Jocelyn wrote:
> Ramki,
> If you enter the WebDynpro application for the task in transaction SWFVISU Task Visualization and in transaction SWNCONFIG General Settings set up the field WD_HOST, then Extended Notifications will generate the work item execution links for you, provided you have selected the work item execution link in your subscription parameters of SWNCONFIG.
>
> This works even if you aren't using the UWL and doesn't need any coding.
>
> Regards,
> Jocelyn
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sap-wug-bounces at mit.edu [mailto:sap-wug-bounces at mit.edu] On Behalf Of Ramki Maley
> Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2011 3:47 AM
> To: SAP Workflow Users' Group
> Subject: Re: Launching WDA items from Extended Notifications
>
> Mike, apologies for the drifting and thanks again for separating the
> issue and your valuable suggestions.
>
> Best Regards,
> Ramki.
>
> On 2/25/11 11:40 AM, Mike Pokraka wrote:
>> Hi Ramki,
>>
>> We've drifted way off topic into specific problems so I changed the
>> title...
>>
>> Had a quick look, can use SAP_WAPI_GET_METHODS to derive whether it's a
>> webby item and SAP_WAPI_LAUNCH_URL_GET is self-explanatory.
>>
>> That's the easy bit, the extended notification part can get a tricky.
>> Haven't worked with it for a while but from memory I think you may need to
>> do an enhancement. CL_SWN_NOTIF_WORKFLOW is a good starting point.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Mike
>>
>> On Fri, February 25, 2011 4:12 pm, Ramki Maley wrote:
>>> Mike, great ideas. I will look into them. I am under severe time
>>> constraints and was thinking in the lines of your first suggestion.
>>>
>>> Many Thanks,
>>> Ramki.
>>>
>>> On 2/25/11 11:06 AM, Mike Pokraka wrote:
>>>> Hi Ramki,
>>>>
>>>> The main issue is that your're launching a web app which drops down into
>>>> GUI mode to launch a new web app. Very roundabout and spawns an extra
>>>> unnecessary session.
>>>>
>>>> There are a few ways to work around this, mostly involving customizing
>>>> Extended Notifications to some degree. You can look at the work item and
>>>> if it's web-based then pull out the URL the work item is trying to
>>>> launch
>>>> (there's a WAPI for it), and put that into the mail instead of the link
>>>> to
>>>> SWNWIEX.
>>>>
>>>> Another solution I've built is to redirect everything to a filter app
>>>> which looks at where it was launched from, what the work item does and
>>>> then decides what to do. Useful if you have multiple entry points and
>>>> execution mode. (e.g. if single approval in user's inbox, launch yes/no
>>>> window, if multiple approvals in inbox then launch an overview app).
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Mike
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, February 25, 2011 3:13 pm, Ramki Maley wrote:
>>>>> Mikko, thanks for a great reply. I fully agree with you. I too have
>>>>> been
>>>>> using ABAP-OO to create new objects, new methods for existing BOR etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> I am in a situation where the users want WebDynpro and don't want
>>>>> anything to do with SAPGUI. The client does not have EP. We have built
>>>>> a
>>>>> simple WDA application and used WF_EXTSRV to generate a task for it.
>>>>> This works fine when executed from the SBWP. The issue is when an email
>>>>> with Execute Workitem link is sent to Outlook using Extended
>>>>> Notifictions. Since the link executes Txn. SWNWIEX, the 'Close Window'
>>>>> screen is opened first in SAPGUI/browser and then the WDA is launched.
>>>>>
>>>>> Is there any way to launch the WebDynpro from the email other than
>>>>> actually putting the URL in the workitem description?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Ramki.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 2/25/11 2:24 AM, Mikko Mäki-Rahkola wrote:
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> interesting to hear other workflowers' experiences on ABAP OO and WDA
>>>>>> usage! I hope you (especially Sue, Mike and Ramki) however don't mind
>>>>>> me as a late joiner combining the two topics of ABAP OO for WF and WDA
>>>>>> for WF when sharing my experiences, since I've been accustomed to
>>>>>> using both of them simultaneously and I strongly believe that 1 + 1 =
>>>>>> 3 in this case :)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ABAP OO for WF experiences:
>>>>>> We've now been using ABAP OO for WF in ~10-15 projects since 2007 and
>>>>>> I can pretty much agree on the use cases and comments already stated.
>>>>>> Our rule of thumb is similar to others', we are using ABAP OO for WF
>>>>>> in cases where new functionality is required. Such cases have included
>>>>>> e.g. request objects in need of object specific functionality (like
>>>>>> material requests, where the usage of ISR notification objects is not
>>>>>> sufficient), but also completely new objects which SAP doesn't support
>>>>>> at all in BOR (e.g. SAP HCM Enterprise Compensation Management). Cases
>>>>>> where not to go with ABAP OO and resort to existing BOR objects have
>>>>>> included e.g. event handling, simple workflows (like IDoc handling)
>>>>>> where the standard objects are sufficient and customer driven cases
>>>>>> where the usage of BOR objects have been a must.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In general, we are using BOR objects nowadays only where it's
>>>>>> necessary like event handling or where the ABAP OO
>>>>>> replacing/complementing functionality would require too big an effort
>>>>>> when compared to a standard BOR object. The main benefits we have
>>>>>> perceived of going ABAP OO instead of BOR come from a developer
>>>>>> perspective. People using ABAP OO in other development (see my
>>>>>> comments below) are quickly accustomed to using the WF class
>>>>>> interface, the class editor is familiar to them and there is no need
>>>>>> for a separate editor, there are less restrictions (anyone had a
>>>>>> requirement for more than one delegation/subclass?) and in general
>>>>>> there's a single development environment which can be utilised for
>>>>>> other development as well.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> WDA for WF experiences:
>>>>>> WDA has been around in our projects since 2007-2008 after customers
>>>>>> started upgrading their systems to SAP ERP 6.0 (gladly no more WDJ
>>>>>> since then!) and most of the WDA solutions we've done have been
>>>>>> integrated to WF in one way or the other. Some have just started off a
>>>>>> workflow either through a custom or a standard event, some have been
>>>>>> been developed for work item processing (= approval views) and some
>>>>>> have been done for work item reporting. Since both WDA and WF work on
>>>>>> the ABAP runtime, they work beautifully together. Firing events with
>>>>>> ABAP OO for WF, processing work items and reporting on them are as
>>>>>> straightforward with WDA as with plain ABAP.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Currently our nr 1 choice for a new customer specific web user
>>>>>> interface sitting on top of any SAP Business Suite (ok CRM and SRM may
>>>>>> be different) is WDA as per SAP's Best Built Application guidelines.
>>>>>> As Mike P stated before, it has lots of benefits when compared to the
>>>>>> other alternatives (WDJ, BSP, VC) available. So our outlook on it is
>>>>>> very positive, it works well together with WF implementations and also
>>>>>> has UI-wise very powerful features like POWL and FPM delivered with
>>>>>> the framework.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> WDA + ABAP OO for WF experiences:
>>>>>> Yes, the 1 + 1 = 3 section :)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Having gone through multiple projects using the two, the main benefits
>>>>>> arising from the usage of ABAP OO together with Workflow and WDA are
>>>>>> reuse and encapsulation in my experience. What this basically means is
>>>>>> that when building a web enabled workflow solution having WDA as the
>>>>>> UI, we are first structuring the solution into architecturally
>>>>>> different layers. Most common layers in a typical scenario include the
>>>>>> UI layer (incl WDA), process integration layer (WF) and the business
>>>>>> logic layer (ABAP OO). Each of the scenario specific layers then have
>>>>>> several components like multiple WDA components, multiple workflow
>>>>>> definitions and multiple classes.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As an example, let's take a typical parked invoice approval scenario
>>>>>> where you need to have a web UI for casual invoice approvers, a
>>>>>> workflow to coordinate the process and a class to take care of invoice
>>>>>> actions and information provisioning. For the invoice object realized
>>>>>> as an ABAP OO class, the typical implementation should then include
>>>>>> not only WF interface methods, but also getters and setters (called as
>>>>>> functional methods from WF, and by WDA as instance methods), invoice
>>>>>> action methods (status changes triggered by WF and/or WDA) and static
>>>>>> methods used for invoice work item reporting etc. Having implemented
>>>>>> everything in one class, you can use e.g. the same object and its
>>>>>> methods efficiently and effectively by both the WDA and by the WF
>>>>>> definitions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My experience in summary currently is that I would go no other way
>>>>>> than using ABAP OO in WF related projects. Switching back to BOR not
>>>>>> only would make my life miserable because of all the macros, outdated
>>>>>> editors and other features of BOR, but more importantly because its
>>>>>> integration to WDA would be so much more difficult when compared to
>>>>>> ABAP classes. There is of course the learning curve you need to
>>>>>> conquer as discussed in previous posts, but I definitely think it's
>>>>>> worth the leap.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Kind regards,
>>>>>> Mikko
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Mikko Mäki-Rahkola
>>>>>> Managing Director
>>>>>> Nobultec Ltd
>>>>>> Tekniikantie 12
>>>>>> 02150 Espoo
>>>>>> Finland
>>>>>> +358 50 558 7834
>>>>>> mikko.maki-rahkola at nobultec.com
>>>>>> www.nobultec.com - Work redistributed
>>>>>> fi.linkedin.com/in/mikkomakirahkola - Follow me on LinkedIn
>>>>>> twitter.com/mikkomr - Follow me on Twitter
>>>>>> twitter.com/nobultec - Follow Nobultec on Twitter
>>>>>>
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