Mobile Strategy for SAP Warehouse Applications June 2007

1. Scope of SAPConsole 1.1 Support for text based Devices

For text-based devices unable to take advantage of GUI interfaces, SAPConsole can be used to translate interface information into text screens. These devices are typically RF (radio frequency) devices, such as bar-code scanners or character-cell terminals. This capability enables an even greater number of real-time users to take advantage of the benefits of a direct wireless connection. Appropriate for fast-moving processes in the supply chain where short queries, mobile data entry, or location-based applications utilizing WLAN technology are needed, this connection mode requires no synchronization and offers users in the field the quickest way to access enterprise-level data and functionality. SAPConsole has been delivered as part of SAPGui since 4.6B, but delivery has recently been decoupled from SAPGui. See Note 1017827 for current information on the delivery of SAPConsole.

1.2 Support for graphical devices

In 2004, SAP developed an enhancement for SAPConsole called WebSAPConsole which enabled customers to enable their graphical devices for mobile data entry. In principle any device supporting a browser based graphical display can be enabled to act as a data input device. Provided as an add-on capability, the Web enhancements of SAPConsole, enabled access to back-end SAP solutions through a specialized Web service. This replaced the Telnet protocol, which is required for the character-based displays (SAPConsole)only. Ultimately, these enhancements provided significant flexibility for organizations employing different kinds of scanning devices, and offer a means to make a smooth transition from older character-based approaches to newer graphical approaches that use browser technology in mobile scanning environments. In 2007, SAP developed the ITSMobile solution. Using the ITS (Internet Transaction Server) to visualize ABAP applications on mobile devices offers several advantages: * The application can be entirely developed and tested entirely in ABAP * Customers can carry out debugging via the remote connection to SAP GUI for Windows * Generating templates ensures a fast initial visualization of the application in HTML * The template and HTML screens created can be tailored to meet the needs of each customer The ITSMobile services are based on the ITS template technique. This technique is based on the concept that an HTML template for visualization on the browser is provided for each application dynpro. Dynamic contents/data can be included in the template at runtime using BHtml (HTML Business). The Mobile Devices generation style enables the ITS to generate templates for very simple screens directly. The ITS provides two services for this purpose: ITSGENMOBILE with the templates for the HTML generator and the ITSMOBILE service with the templates for support at runtime.

2. Future direction on SAPConsole / WebSAPConsole

SAP recognizes a large number of character-based scanning devices still in use for industrial purposes, such as warehouse management, manufacturing, and

supply chain execution. With long life expectancies, these devices should remain in use in industrial environments for the next 5 - 10 years. To support these devices moving forward, SAP will continue to support SAPConsole for Text-based devices. For browser-capable devices, WebSAPConsole will be replaced with the ITSMobile Solution. WebSAPConsole will no longer be functional beginning with NetWeaver 7.1. For more information, please reference OSS Notes 1046184 and 1070064.