This document introduces you to the underlying concept of Software AG's SAP R/3 Gateway and illustrates its architecture in juxtaposition with SAP R/3 and enterprise application functions.
The increasing practice of connecting computers in enterprise networks has given rise to business models that require the integration of applications. The SAP R/3 Gateway enables you to design a service-oriented architecture for your computing environment which supports all technical communication for your business applications.
Using SAP R/3 Gateway, it is easy to program and execute a function call over distributed applications. Once you have understood the principle, designing the corresponding Business Process is a formality. You will see that
it is easy to call an ABAP function when communication comes from outside SAP R/3.
it is easy to call your mission-critical application when communication is generated within SAP R/3.
The following figure illustrates how SAP R/3 Gateway links SAP R/3 functions with enterprise application functions.
SAP R/3 Gateway provides a developer's Workbench in the form of a web application that shows you how to provide all of the parameters required to generate communication code.
The communication programs (Adapters) translate Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) to Remote Function Calls (RFCs) for communication from enterprise applications to SAP, and they translate RFC to RPC for communication from SAP to enterprise applications. These communication components are called the Rpc2Rfc and Rfc2Rpc kernels, respectively.
The communication infrastructure is provided by Software AG's webMethods EntireX technology.
The SAP R/3 Gateway supports both synchronous and asynchronous integration of your business application. The section Integration Scenarios explains which is the best one and how each can used.
The benefits of using Software AG's SAP R/3 Gateway can be summarized as follows:
SAP R/3 Gateway is platform independent in both the development and production phases.
When working with SAP R/3 Gateway, every step - both in the development environment and in the production environment - is defined within the browser application. This means a portal is provided to manage the entire integration project.
SAP R/3 Gateway can be scaled to meet your IT requirements.
As administrator or application developer, you do not need any specialist knowledge about the operating environment for communication.
The deployment process of communication components supports version control of the development, integration (quality) and production environments.
