HTML5/JS Hybrid Apps

HTML5/JS Hybrid Apps support simple business processes, such as approvals and requests, and also use mobile business objects (MBOs) to facilitate connection with a variety of enterprise systems. With this approach, a hybrid web container is developed and deployed to a device, then one or more workflows are deployed to the container. This approach supports mobile workflow enablement, which enables mobile device users to operate as workflow participants, allowing the mobile user to start and respond to back-end enterprise requests within a generic framework.

These applications:

Manage a low data volume
Provide a simple user experience
Implement simple business logic
Avoid the need for long-lasting, offline, stateful transactions
Ensure secure and reliable transport of data

With Hybrid App development, the server-side of the application is metadata-driven and the client-side of the application is a fully generated Web application package. The focus is on how data is rendered to the device user; data is made available using a request-response pattern, without synchronization. Lightweight applications and mobile workflows are developed to provide business logic and interaction with MBOs.

A native container application is packaged with a Web Browser plug-in and built-in core application services such as connectivity, guaranteed messaging, caching, and security. The container is provisioned to mobile devices. Data transport and access relies on messaging protocol between the server and the container on the device, invoking either online operations to the back end, or cached MBO data on the Unwired Server.

The mobile workflow package is compiled —consisting of platform-independent HTML, JavaScript and CSS resources— and can be deployed automatically to the container, without writing any code. Device and application services include offline cache, reliable messaging, and secure store.

The container is deployed to a device and provides the runtime from which request-response decision patterns are executed. It supports three basic patterns where one, or a combination of these patterns is applied to implement each use case:

Notifications – A server-initiated action, performed in the EIS in the context of a business process, sends a notification to device users
Lookup – Device users initiate a request for information from the EIS
Action/Decision Forms – Device users submit a form to make a decision, such as an approval, that results in some EIS business process state transition

The container hosts an embedded browser and launches the individual mobile workflow applications. The workflows are assigned to users by administrators. Once assigned, those workflows can be initiated by the user (client-initiated) or automatically triggered as a result of a back-end event that is sent to the SAP Mobile Server as a data change notification request (server-initiated).

HTML5/JS Hybrid App API Development
An HTML5/JS App includes both the Mobile Workflow— business logic, the data itself, and associated metadata that defines data flow and availability, and the Container — device-resident presentation and logic. Within SAP Mobile Platform, development tools enable both aspects of HTML5/JS Hybrid App development.
Building Mobile Analytics into HTML5/JS Hybrid Apps
The Mobile Analytics Kit (MAKit) component of SAP Mobile SDK provides graphical controls with analytics capabilities for mobile devices. Developers can use this component to develop mobile applications that offer sophisticated and compelling interfaces that let users easily view enterprise data.

Parent topic: SAP Mobile SDK

Related concepts

Mobile Business Objects

Solve Mobility Challenges with SAP Mobile Platform