BRFplus

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SAP Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Basic data

developer SAP
Current  version SAP NetWeaver 7.0 Enhancement Package 2
operating system Windows , Linux
programming language ABAP
category Business rules management system
License SAP NetWeaver 7.0 Enhancement Package 2
German speaking Yes
BRFplus in the SAP Developers Network (SDN)

BRFplus (Business Rule Framework plus) is a business rule management system (business rules management system, BRMS) of SAP SE . BRFplus is part of the ABAP - stack of SAP NetWeaver and thus can natively be used by all SAP applications based on SAP NetWeaver. The rules modeled with BRFplus can also be used to generate web services that can be offered in a system landscape organized according to the SOA principle , regardless of the software platform on the service user's side.

The beginnings of the BRFplus development lie in the environment of the medium-sized company solution SAP Business ByDesign (initially introduced there under the name FDT - Formula and Derivation Tool) and was later ported to those code lines that also provide the basis for the SAP Business Suite. This makes it possible to transfer business rules that have already been developed for Business ByDesign to a fully developed SAP system and continue to use them there without any changes.

overview

BRFplus pursues the goal of offering a uniform modeling and runtime environment for business rules that is aimed at both technically-oriented users (programmers, system administrators) and clerks who process the operational processes in a company or a public organization (e.g. . Material procurement, preparation of offers, review of loan applications, etc.). The different requirements and application scenarios of the different user groups can be distinguished from one another with the help of the SAP authorization system and an individually adaptable user interface .

The integration of BRFplus in SAP NetWeaver allows the applications based on it to consistently consider and model business rules from a business rather than a technical perspective, since direct access to the business objects of the SAP Dictionary is possible (e.g. customer, supplier, Material, invoice, etc.).

In addition to an extensive range of ready-made expression types (decision table, decision tree, formulas, database access, loop constructs, etc.) and actions (send e-mail, start workflow, etc.), customer-specific expression types can be modeled. The direct call of function modules and ABAP-OO class methods is also supported, so that the entire arsenal of functions contained in the ABAP language is available for solving business tasks. BRFplus offers an optional versioning system with which versioning can be individually controlled at the level of individual objects. Working with versioned sets of rules serves to meet legal regulations on the time-related obligation to provide evidence of system states and allows rules to be processed exactly as they would have happened at a certain point in time in the past.

As soon as the objects modeled in BRFplus are in a consistent state and activated, the system automatically generates ABAP-OO classes as required, which encapsulate the functional scope of the respective object. This allows significant improvements in processing speed to be achieved.

A simulation function including an execution log is available for functions as well as for individual expressions , with the help of which you can check the modeling and get to the bottom of problems.

BRFplus applications can be exported and re-imported as XML files . This makes it easy to back up data or distribute rules within the company.

Central objects

application

The application object forms the container for all BRFplus objects that are required to solve a specific business task. Certain standard values ​​can be defined at the application level, which are then inherited by all objects created within the application.

function

A function creates the connection between a business application and the rule processing in BRFplus. The function receives input values ​​from the calling application, which it forwards to the expressions and rule sets assigned to the function for processing and finally returns the result to the calling application.

Types of expression and action

Rule set

A rule set is a container for any number of rules, which in turn use expressions and actions to perform the necessary calculations. Rule sets can be linked to a function instead of an expression, so that when the function is called, all assigned rule sets are processed one after the other.

Data objects

BRFplus supports elementary data objects (text, number, Boolean, time, amount, quantity) as well as structures and tables. Structures can be nested within one another. For all types of data objects, it is possible to reference data objects from the data dictionary of the back-end system. This gives the BRFplus data object access not only to the type definition of the referenced element, but also to the domain values ​​stored for this and the documentation.

Other objects

Catalogs are used to thematically bundle a subset of the rule objects in the system and present them to the user. They are a means of concealing the often considerable complexity of a set of rules and thereby making them easier to use.

With an object filter, administrators can specify that only certain object types are visible or can be created system-wide, depending on the user. In this way, access rules and modeling rules can be enforced.

Other BRM solutions from SAP

BRFplus is positioned as the successor to the older business rule solution BRF (Business Rule Framework). During a longer transition phase both solutions exist in parallel. The BRF-based SAP applications are increasingly porting their rule processing to BRFplus.

In addition to BRFplus, which supports business rules for applications on the SAP NetWeaver ABAP stack, SAP also offers the product SAP NetWeaver Business Rules Management (BRM). BRM supports the modeling of business rules for the SAP NetWeaver Java stack. Both products do not compete with each other, but are available in parallel in order to be able to address certain applications in which both technology stacks are used at the same time. BRFplus offers a special type of expression for this, with which rules modeled in BRM can be executed.

Availability

BRFplus was first delivered with SAP NetWeaver 7.0 Enhancement Package 2 (SP6 or higher recommended). As part of SAP NetWeaver, its use is covered by the license fee for "SAP NetWeaver Foundation for Third-Party Applications" at no additional cost. There is also the option of using business logic developed in BRF + on a SAP WebAS 6.40 via a detour.

literature

  • Carsten Ziegler, Thomas Albrecht: BRFplus - Business Rule Management for ABAP Applications. Galileo Press, New York 2011, ISBN 978-1-59229-293-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BRF + for SAP NetWeaver 6.40. Retrieved September 4, 2013 .

Web links