Introduction

Contents

What is ERP System?

What is SAP ?.

History of SAP

What is ABAP ?.

 In order to get started with SAP ABAP/4, you need to know some basic concepts regarding ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning).


General meaning of ERP:
Enterprise - A Business or a Company or an Organization
Resource  - A resource is a source or supply from which an organization gains profit
Planning    - is the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve a desired goal

What is ERP System?

In the above diagram " finance&accounting ", " project & HR management " etc are the BUSINESS AREAS of an Enterprise. And each BUSINESS AREA has an individual application software called as MODULE or Software MODULE

            A system that automates and integrates all modules of business areas is known as an ERP system or simply ERP.An ERP system is used to integrate several data sources and processes of  various modules on the basis of business areas , such as manufacturing&production management , finance&accounting management, project & HR management, and customer relationship management  in an organization.

This integration is achieved by using various hardware and software components. An ERP system is primarily module-based, which implies that it consists of various modular software applications or modules. A software module in an ERP system automates a specific business area or module of an enterprise, such as manufacturing or finance or CRM(Customer Relationship Mangement) or HR management.These software modules of an ERP system are linked to each other by a centralized database. Using a centralized database ensures that the data can be accessed, shared, and maintained easily.

What is SAP ?.

Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing (SAP) is business software that integrates all applications running in an organization.These applications represent various modules on the basis of business areas, such as finance, production and planning, and sales and distribution, and are jointly executed to accomplish the overall business logic. SAP integrates these modules by creating a centralized database for all the applications running in an organization.
The SAP system was introduced as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software designed to coordinate all the resources, information, and activities to automate business processes, such as order fulfillment or billing.

History of SAP

SAP is a translation of the German term "Systeme, Anwendungen, und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung". It was developed by SAP AG, Germany. The basic idea behind developing SAP wasthe need for standard application software that helps in real-time business processing. The development process began in 1972 with five IBM employees: Dietmar Hopp, Hans-Werner Hector, Hasso Plattner,Klaus Tschira, and Claus Wellenreuther in Mannheim, Germany.

                                                                      Diagram SAP R/1


 A year later, the first financial and accounting software was developed; it formed the basis for continuous development of other software components, which later came to be known as the SAP R/1 system. Here, R stands for real-time dataprocessing and 1 indicates single-tier architecture.

                                                              Diagram SAP R/2

The SAP R/2 system was introduced in 1980. SAP R/2 was a packaged software application on a mainframe computer, which used the time-sharing feature to integrate the functions or business areas of an enterprise, such as accounting, manufacturing processes, supply chain logistics, and human resources. The SAP R/2 system was based on a two-tier client-server architecture, where an SAP client connects to an SAP server to access the data stored in the SAP database.

                                                                        Diagram SAP R/3


SAP R/3, based on a client-server model, was officially launched on July 6, 1992. This version is compatible with multiple platforms and operating systems, such as UNIX and Microsoft Windows. SAP R/3 introduced a new era of business softwarefrom mainframe computing architecture to a three-tier architecture consisting of the Database layer, the Application layer (business logic), and the Presentation layer. The three-tier architecture of the client-server model is preferred to the mainframe computing architecture as the standard in business software because a user can make changes or scale a particular layer without making changes in the entire system.

The SAP R/3 system runs on various platforms, such as Windows and UNIX. It also supports variousrelational databases of different database management systems, such as Oracle, Adabas, Informix, andMicrosoft SQL Server. The SAP R/3 system uses these databases to handle the queries of the users

                                   Diagram mySAP Business Suite based on NetWeaver

With the passage of time, a business suite that would run on a single database was required. This led to the introduction of mySAP Business Suite. SAP Business Suite is based on SAP's technology computing platform called NetWeaver

General information :
NetWeaver : is a technology computing platform for SAP applications.
computing platform : consists of both (hardware architecture and software framework) which allows application software to run.

The SAP Business suite includes:

• mySAP ERP ( the mySAP ERP application as a follow-up product to the SAP R/3 system.)
• mySAP Supply Chain Management (SCM)
• mySAP Customer Relationship Management(CRM)
• mySAP Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)
• mySAP Product Lifestyle Management(PLM)

We deal with mySAP ERP. The latest release of the mySAP ERP application is SAP ERP Central Component (ECC6.0). The mySAP ERP categorizes the applications into the following three core functional areas:
 Logistics
 Financial
 Human resources

What is ABAP ?.

ABAP, or ABAP /4, is a fourth-generation programming language first developed in the 1980s. Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP), also referred to as ABAP /4, is the technical module of SAP and the fourth-generation programming language used to create applications related to SAP.You can customize SAP according to your requirements by using the ABAP.

TheABAPprogramming language was used originally to develop the SAP R/3 system. That is, the runtime environment and application programs in the SAP R/3 system are written in the ABAP language.The SAP R/3 system provides the following set of applications, also known as functional modules, functional areas, or application areas:

 Financial Accounting (FI)
 Production Planning (PP)
 Material Management (MM)
 Sales and Distribution (SD)
 Controlling (CO)
 Asset Management (AM)
 Human Resources (HR)
 Project System (PS)
 Industry Solutions (IS)
 Plant Maintenance (PM)
 Quality Management (QM)
 Workflow (WF)
These functional modules are written in the ABAP language. In addition, you can use the ABAP language to enhance the applications that you create in the my SAP ERP system.

The ABAPlanguage provides the following features:

 Data sharing : Enables you to store data in memory at a central location. Different users and programs can then access the data without copying it.
 Exception handling : Helps define a special control flow for a specific error situation and provide information about the error.
 Data persist ency : Enables you to store data permanently in relational database tables of the SAP R/3 system
Making enhancements: Enables you to enhance the functionality of programs, function modules,and global classes, without modifying or replacing the existing code.