SAP Basis Tech Supports

Symptom

This note relates to support for front-end platforms.
Other terms

PLATIN , SAPGUI , JAVA , FRONTEND , LINUX, Unix
Solaris, AIX, HP, HP-UX, Windows, Mac OS X, MacOSX, Macintosh, Apple

Solution
Naming
SAP GUI for the Java environment (”Platform Independent GUI”)

General information
This GUI implementation is the continuation of the development line of the SAPGUI for MacOS, Unix (selected platforms) and OS/2 starting with Release 4.6. These platforms are supported by a common code base written in Java. This standardizes, improves and expands the availability and function range of the SAP GUI for these platforms. Additionally, the SAPGUI for Java on Windows is used in mySAP.com Workplace for example. (Note: The list of platforms is continually changing driven by technical developments and shifts of the market situation.)

Description of functions
The “SAP GUI for the Java Environment” provides the same core functions as the corresponding platform-specific SAP GUI, as well as using front-end components (control-enabling) in the form of JavaBeans. This allows users on Mac OS X and Unix platforms to access R/3 applications that are based on control enabling, and which were therefore reserved for Win32 users only.
The support available for these platforms is also improved in comparison with previous versions, and the transactions developed or improved as part of the EnjoySAP initiative are now also available on these platforms.
The standard ActiveX controls used in SAP GUI for Windows are provided as Java Beans.
In order to implement functions such as network communication, file transfer, business graphics and platform-specific enhancements, the SAP GUI for the Java Environment uses the libraries that already exist on the respective platforms. This ensures downward-compatibility with releases up to and including 4.x.
You do not need an additional GUI server to operate the “SAP GUI for Java”. It is fully installed as an application on the desktop and communicates directly with the application server.

Downloadhttp://sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/sap-gui, see section “Download”, SAP GUI for Java / Patches.
SAP Service Marketplace login is required.ftp://ftp.sap.com/pub/sapgui/java/
No login is required.

Documentation
is available as part of the installation or separately from the servers mentioned (PlatinManual-HTML*).

Hardware and software requirements for the “SAP GUI for Java”:For information about Release 7.10, see Note 959236.Older Releases are no longer supported.

Support for other platforms / operating systems

If the platform you have been using so far does not support “SAP GUI for the Java environment” you can equip just one (or only a few) server(s) with a suitable operating system in the Unix environment. Then you can start the application on this/these server(s) and display it on the other terminals using “X Display Redirection”. See also Note 334837.
As an alternative you can try a solution based on “Windows Terminal Server” or Citrix Metaframe. In this case “SAP GUI for Windows” is running on an NT Server and the displays can be shown on a large number of different terminals.
Contact the appropriate hardware manufacturer for information about the sizing of the server.
Further information is available as part of the installation or separately at ftp://ftp.sap.com/pub/sapgui/java/ or http://sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/sap-gui.