Business Rule Framework plus

Whats New With SAP NetWeaver 7.03?

Wolfgang Schaper Product Manager BRFplus SAP AG September 2011

Disclaimer

This presentation outlines our general product direction and should not be relied on in making a purchase decision. This presentation is not subject to your license agreement or any other agreement with SAP. SAP has no obligation to pursue any course of business outlined in this presentation or to develop or release any functionality mentioned in this presentation. This presentation and SAP's strategy and possible future developments are subject to change and may be changed by SAP at any time for any reason without notice. This document is provided without a warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. SAP assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in this document, except if such damages were caused by SAP intentionally or grossly negligent.

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Agenda

Overview

New Features in Detail

New and Improved Design Time Capabilities Simulation

Expression Types and Action Types

Performance, Cleanup, and Transport Usability

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Overview

BRFplus in SAP NetWeaver 7.03 Release Information

By November 2011 SAP NetWeaver 7.0 Enhancement Pack 3 (aka NW 7.03) will be available This is the NetWeaver release on which SAP Business Suite 7 Innovation 2011 (including SAP ERP Enhancement Pack 6) is based With SAP NW 7.03, a new release of BRFplus is included with many new or enhanced capabilities compared to SAP NW 7.02 The code line of BRFplus within SAP NetWeaver 7.31 is identical with the code line of BRFplus within SAP NetWeaver 7.0 Enhancement Pack 3

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BRFplus in SAP NetWeaver 7.03 New and Enhanced Capabilities of BRFplus in NW 7.03
From a BRFplus perspective, SAP NetWeaver 7.03 primarily focuses on design time capabilities Additional functional improvements were implemented in the areas of performance and usability On the following slides, the most important improvements are described

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New Features in Detail

New and Improved Design Time Capabilities

Mass Object Handling

A mass activity UI has been provided to allow the user to perform activities for multiple objects easily (create, activate, change access level, delete, change properties, mass overview of object states, ...)

In the Data Object structure editor, it is now possible to use the mass element creation dialog for the creation of elements serving as structure components

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Multiple Catalogs

User settings support the definition of subsets of catalogs. Only this subset is made available directly in the Catalog view of the BRFplus workbench.

If there is more than one catalog defined, the Catalog view offers a menu for selecting a catalog from the personalized subset.

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Where-Used Including Historic Versions

Optional display of historic and inactive versions in WhereUsed Lists

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Object Filters

Filter for expression and action types to hide unwanted object types for less technical users

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Full Screen Mode

New full screen mode available

Allows to hide repository Provides bigger canvas on small displays very useful especially for editing complex decision tables

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Creating Variables Automatically

Create ruleset variables automatically

Assigning an expression to a ruleset using objects that are not available in the context of the result triggers a dialog, allowing to add the respective variables to the ruleset

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Context Explanation Feature

The button Context Overview offers a list of allowed or not allowed data objects in the context of a particular object
This feature allows to quickly understand which objects can be used and which cannot

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Context Sensitive Help

For each object, there is context sensitive help content available

Button Application Help directs to respective help content directly

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Hotkeys

With NW 7.03, the BRFplus workbench allows for customizable hotkeys for quickly accessing many features

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Helper/Administrative Reports

Transaction FDT_HELPERS provides a bunch of helper/administrative reports E.g.

Cross-Reference Analysis Cross-System Content Comparison Mass check of Objects in Transport Requests Is DDIC Binding Up-To-Date

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New Features in Detail

Simulation

Simulation of Single Expressions

It is possible to simulate a single expression or action (no function assignment needed)

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Simulation of all Versions, in Interpretation or Generation Mode

All versions, not only the active one, can be run in simulation Simulation can be run in interpretation mode as well as in generation mode

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Download of (Lean) Trace Results into MS Excel

The trace resulting from simulation can be downloaded to an MS Excel File In addition, the trace output has been reworked for better comprehensibility

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New Features in Detail

Expression Types and Action Types

Decision Table Split Rows, Merge Rows, Rearrange Decision Table Rows, Gap Analysis
New features for expression type decision table were introduced
Generation of lines to close gaps Merge of several lines into one line Split of one line into several lines Rearrange Decision Table lines based on generic cell value

Search capabilities Filter capabilities Improved performance in design time by factor up to 100 for big tables (i.e., with hundreds to thousands of lines)

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Ruleset Tab for Function Objects

The new Ruleset tab for Function objects now shows

execution priority, enablement status, and precondition (if available)

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Additional Checks in Function Objects and Native Lean Trace Integration

For function objects, additional checks are offered to check
Consistency of assigned Rulesets Readiness of Lean Trace Activation status of referenced objects

Display available traces directly from BRFplus workbench

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Code Template Generation

Generation of a code template for backend integration of BRFplus applications into your application code

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Workflow Integration

BRFplus can trigger a workflow

Action types Start Workflow, Raise Workflow Event

A workflow can invoke BRFplus rules

Automatically generating BRFplus application from Workflow Semi-automatic parameter mapping While this integration has already been available in BRFplus 7.02, there are further improvements and extensions in 7.03:
Automatically generate workflow task from an existing BRFplus function Within workflow activity, create BRFplus task referencing an existing BRFplus task (for instance, to extend the interface of an existing task) and more Also downported to NW 7.02

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New Formula Functions

New Formula functions in 7.03:

Conversion of one timepoint type into another Dedicated functions for getting [user | system | time zone | UTC] time Some service functions regarding time zones

Also downported to NW 7.02

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Quantity Checks in Formula Parser

The new formula parser checks for units and derives resulting units
For instance speed * time = distance

Impossible operations are identified at design time

For instance weight + distance raises an error message

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Dialog for Expression Results

When creating a new expression, there is a dialog that allows to select the respective result object(s)

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Help and Filter in Formula Functions and New Formula Parser

In formula expressions you can filter the available functions by category or text For each formula function, there is a comprehensive help available

New formula parser with improved error or info messages (text, position)

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New Features in Detail

Performance, Cleanup, and Transport

Code Generation and Transport

When running BRFplus rules, ABAP code is generated automatically and executed

Code generation was further optimized for improved runtime performance

Improved performance and reduced memory consumption in transport and other usage scenarios

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Cleanup

The backend automatically removes unnamed unused objects periodically (transported or not)
Screenshot shows the manual deletion of named objects that are not used

Automatic cleanup in transport Improved tools in application administration

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Transport

A new tab Transport Information in the General section of any object provides information on transport history

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New Features in Detail

Usability

Usage of New Icons

New icons indicating entity types and operations for enhanced user experience

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BRFplus Workbench

Title Bar Nicer Toolbars

Improved readability
Icons one background color

Introduction of new form layout

Right-aligned labels stretched fields

General section for objects collapsed by default for better visibility of object specifics

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Search Dialog and Object Query

Simplified and harmonized search dialog and object query

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Ruleset

Ruleset (and others): Improved visual structure of header and details area for better readability

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Boolean

Boolean: Improved visual structure of details area for better readability

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Tools

Improved and harmonized UI for tools

Example: Application Administration

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Thank You!