SAP programming without ABAP Workbench

0
votes

First post here so excuse any mistakes.

A little background: I work in a company that uses SAP for daily work, I use it for daily work. I have some programming skills, I know some C, Java an VBA.

What I need: I want to make a program that interacts with SAP in order to automate some of the tasks that me and the ppl on my department do.

I can't use the SAP macro tool because I need info from outside SAP, like e-mail and excel. Its of no use to ask for help from the SAP admins and developers on the company because it is a massively huge company and i doubt that i will get any attention.

I need to know with which program, net beans, code block and that kind of stuff, i can begin because its impossible to get the ABAP workbench, and in which language. I can learn any programming language that is needed, i just need some guidance.

I know that there is a SAP plugin for eclipse that allows java development but that is also paid. I need an open, free solution here. I can't get nor i need development access on SAP, all i want to do is a program that will automate several actions and roles, like a macro, but that can interact with other programs like Excel and e-mail.

Thanks in advance, and ask away if i did not made my self clear

2
javaideabap
You need access to ABAP Workbench in order to define the Interface you will need in SAP. That is usually an RFC or BAPI/BADI that you define and can be accessed via an RFC Destination or something made available on the SAP Java Stack. Once you have that all setup correctly then you could use Eclipse or whatever to build out your Java code – apesa
I see, although i understood only half of it, There is no way i can get access to abap workbench. what i intend to do is a program that would send the commands that i would, example. instead of I comping and pasting a number from an excel sheet and entering it on SAP, the program will do it for me. Like a big integrated macro. The way i planed it i dont think i need Workbench access but i have no idea where to begin to execute it. – Tocchetto
if your company is a big one you may have access to SAP GUIs scripting extension GuiXT. Maybe some of your requirements can be met using that extension. You can't control a SAP transaction from the outside, you can only use SAP BAPIs (function modules within SAP) to execute certain actions. But those are usually encapsulated transactions, for instance creating a new sales order. You would need to program an external application that accesses the BAPIs in the SAP system using the SAP Connector (both java and c# connectors are available for free for SAP customers). – Dirk Trilsbeek
If your problem can be solved with the standard BAPIs your could use JCO. But you need access to the service marketplace to download it... – Dirk Lachowski
You may develop some web services with SAP integration team, that will implement required logic. It isn't hard task from technical point of view. All you need then is to call exposed web serivce from any application using VBA. – Nikolai Kim

2 Answers

1
votes

Since the SAP macro tool runs with client-side VBA scripts, it will work for what you want. External data will be no problem if you are good with VBA.

Since you are a business user, you shouldn't be given access to the ABAP workbench. Unfortunately this means you can't develop RFC or HTTP interfaces, or anything on the server. Fortunately, everything you need can be done via the client GUI, which is why a macro will work.

0
votes

There is no way to do what you are asking without permission from SAP administration. I suspect if they wont give you access to SAP workbench you are not authorized to be doing what you ask. There are reasons for the system being secure, otherwise anyone could do what you ask and access data such as HR, personnel etc. with no controls. Sorry this is an enterprise system.

Later....