SAP GUI

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SAP GUI
Basic data

developer SAP SE
Current  version 7.60
( December 20, 2019 )
operating system Microsoft Windows , Java Virtual Machine
programming language C , C ++
License proprietary software
German speaking Yes

SAP GUI ( SAP Graphical User Interface ) refers to the graphical user interface of a SAP system on the one hand, and the program that provides and operates this interface on the other.

concept

In the multi-level client-server model of the various SAP systems, which are usually implemented as a three-layer architecture , the SAP GUI represents the program component of the presentation layer . It therefore handles the screen display and user interaction, but it is ( usually) not responsible for application logic or data management.

SAP GUI (as a program) enables access to one or different application servers of one or more SAP systems (more precisely: ABAP systems such as SAP ERP , SAP Web AS ABAP ), for which the DIAG protocol is used. There are several SAP GUI implementations from SAP to cover different operating systems. Access to the full range of functions of the SAP software is only possible with the SAP GUI for Windows , which uses a web browser for some functions and can also exchange data with other Windows applications.

The SAP GUI prepares a possibly complex screen display from relatively little data. The purpose of this method is to keep the communication and data load for the application server small by placing a large part of the computing load on the local PC of a user for graphic processing and therefore does not have to come from the central computer. Only the "bare" data comes from the server; Everything in tabular and graphic form, colors, etc. is built up by the SAP GUI program locally (on the workstation), using the individual PC computing power.

Implementations

SAP GUI for Windows

SAP GUI for Windows is a Windows program that runs directly on a user's personal computer . This is the most frequently used SAP GUI implementation and also the "oldest" in the sense that there has been a continuous development and version sequence since the early 1990s.

The user starts a program copy of the SAPGUI, which either

  1. is installed on the hard drive of his PC or
  2. which the PC fetches from the server in a network.

The entry point is often the SAP Logon , which can display a list of the systems that can be used, from which the user only needs to select. Another way of using it is to run the SAP GUI on a terminal server so that the SAPGUI for Windows can also be used with other operating systems, provided there is a corresponding terminal server access software for them .

New patches for the components of the GUI appear relatively often from SAP . When installing the GUI, some additional components can be installed (in addition to the core program, the actual SAP GUI). These include applications for accessing these systems or their content:

Version history

version publication Supports up Limited support until 1 last patch level Features
Older version; no longer supported: 1.0 - First "GUI" for SAP software; No graphic elements such as B. Checkboxes, radio buttons or icons
Older version; no longer supported: 1.1 - Field length indicated by background colors; Fast Paths in Menus
Older version; no longer supported: 2.0 - New GUI for Windows 3.1; System and application toolbar added; Icons in the system toolbar
Older version; no longer supported: 2.1 - New graphic elements: checkboxes, radio buttons, group boxes and pushbuttons
Older version; no longer supported: 3.0 - Table setting introduced; Icons have been added to buttons
Older version; no longer supported: 3.1 1996 Windows 95 style thanks to flat control buttons; Tabs and "ABAP List Viewer (ALV)" (list windows) have been introduced
Older version; no longer supported: 4.0 - Windows contain more information to reduce navigation complexity
Older version; no longer supported: 4.5 - ActiveX elements were introduced; ALV is now grid control based
Older version; no longer supported: 4.6D July 2000 GUI has been redesigned: multiple work surfaces have been introduced to reduce switching to other modules and to improve clarity
Older version; no longer supported: 6.10 July 2001
Older version; no longer supported: 6.20 March 2002 January 2011 78
Older version; no longer supported: 6.40 June 2004 33 Extended Unicode Support; improved access and handling
Older version; no longer supported: 7.10 February 2007 April 2011 22nd Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 are supported; new tweak SAP GUI tool; New ABAP Frontend Editor
Older version; no longer supported: 7.20 April 2010 April 9, 2013 17th Microsoft Windows 7 and Office 2010 are supported; improved organization of local files; revised LogOn pad
Older version; no longer supported: 7.30 July 29, 2012 15th July 2015 October 31, 2015 15th Windows 8 support
Older version; no longer supported: 7.40 October 8, 2014 January 9, 2018 June 30, 2018 19th SAP Blue Crystal Theme, Windows 10 support from SAP GUI patch 4
Older version; still supported: 7.50 May 10, 2017 April 9, 2019 March 31, 2020 15th Update of the RFC library, Fiori 2.0 Visual Theme for Classical Applications
Current version: 7.60 February 25, 2019 April 12, 2022 6th new Belize theme
1 What does "limited support" mean for SAP GUI?
  • SAP support customer reports are processed as usual.
  • Patches will be deployed as usual.
  • Corrections for problems that can be corrected in the SAP source code are provided as usual.
  • If a problem arises where another vendor needs to correct a product that is no longer serviced (e.g. Microsoft's Visual Studio), SAP will only provide the correction in a patch for the latest SAP GUI release available. In such exceptional situations, the only solution is u. This may involve upgrading the SAP GUI.

A certain version of the SAP GUI can mostly be used with older and partly also with newer releases of the server systems. On January 20, 2009, version 7.10 was the current release status for the SAP GUI, while version 6.20 was still being maintained .

SAP GUI for HTML

Up to version 7.50 of the SAP GUI for Windows it was a replica of the SAP GUI interface using HTML and JavaScript , so that a web browser is sufficient for use. See also ITS .

Since version 7.60 of the SAP GUI for Windows, the SAP GUI for HTML has been leading in form and function. The SAP GUI for Windows is accordingly a simulation.

SAP GUI for Java

An alternative way of accessing a SAP system was to use this platform-independent GUI , largely written in Java . This is also the replacement for the SAP GUI ports for all non- Windows operating systems.

Version history

version publication Supports up last revision Features
Older version; no longer supported: 7.10 October 31, 2007 11
Older version; no longer supported: 7.20 December 22, 2009 11
Older version; no longer supported: 7.30 December 20, 2012 10
Older version; no longer supported: 7.40 5th December 2014 March 31, 2018 13
Older version; no longer supported: 7.50 August 14, 2017 December 31, 2019 07th

Duet

Another access option was provided by the Duet software , which was developed in a cooperation between SAP and Microsoft and which aims to integrate the software products of both groups. Duet enabled access to SAP functions from Microsoft Office applications for selected scenarios .

Adaptation with personas

Until 2012, ABAP skills were required to adapt SAP GUI screens (so-called "DynPros") . This is now possible with " SAP Screen Personas " without programming, but currently not in "SAP GUI for Java". Personas is installed on a server with SAP NetWeaver 7.0x or 7.3x (but not 7.1x) and is then also available on all other servers (including NW 7.1x, especially Banking Services ) in the system landscape, provided they have them via an ABAP kernel release of 7.21 or higher.

In "SAP GUI for Windows", SAP has been offering the "GuiXT" tool free of charge for customizing screens since 1998.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e Frank Krause: SAP GUI for Windows: Updated lifecycle information. sap.com, May 2, 2018, accessed July 22, 2018 .
  2. SAP GUI for Windows: Important News. sap.com, June 11, 2019, accessed June 28, 2019 .
  3. Notification on SAP GUI for Java News. December 7, 2018, accessed January 11, 2019 .
  4. SAP ERP Screen Personas | UX - UI Design Services | SAP. Accessed March 15, 2018 .