SAP Mobile SDK supports the development lifecycle for Object API Applications, HTML5/JS Hybrid Apps, OData SDK Applications, and Agentry Applications.
The end result of the development process is a packaged mobile application ready for provisioning to devices. The following diagram shows the device application structure and services provided for each of the development approaches with SAP Mobile SDK.
Dashed outlines in the diagram represent the services provided by SAP Mobile SDK for each application archetype. Native code development takes place in a third party development tool, such as Visual Studio, Eclipse, etc., outside of the SAP Mobile SDK. Native code development uses SAP Mobile Platform APIs that support core services and application specialization, in addition to leveraging in-house device platform development expertise.
- Core Application Services – The set of common services provides a consistent foundation
upon which mobile apps are developed. These common device services make
development easier and more efficient in developing multiple applications.
Security features are embedded into the SDK to support secure storage of certificates, use of the artifacts in authentication, single sign-on, and other features related to encryption of the database. APIs are supplied to support certificate store, logon certificate, and the data vault. Each application type makes use of the same set of security features.
Supportabilty and configuration allow developers to enable and configure exception reporting within the mobile application so that device users and developers can identify and troubleshoot issues.
Local persistence and cache management define how the application stores and receives/retrieves data and interacts with the middleware.
Connectivity and notifications facilitate online/offline connections and push notifications to device users.
- Service
Interaction – Service
interaction is the differentiator between development
approaches. Based on these distinct
services
and your business needs, develop one or more application types.
Develop Apps with When your business needs Native Object API SDK Offline applications: Mission-critical and more complex. Users work on data offline and synchronize updates to the server when connected.
Synchronization implies an intermediary store of cached data and the process by which data changes are propagated between the server, the cache, and the device storage with the goal of ensuring that the data is replicated in each location.
HTML5/JS Hybrid App SDK Online applications with Push: Simple queries and workflows that follow a request-reply or lookup pattern. The HTML5/JS Container with Messaging or OData protocol are supported. OData SDK Online applications with Push that use OData protocol: Data, modeled in SAP NetWeaver Gateway, is accessed in a request-reply or lookup pattern. Agentry Applications Offline applications, where more complex business logic and synchronization uses the Exchange Data model. Online applications where real-time data can be accessed and Agentry Push is supported.
Push leverages a proprietary message transport to move data between device and server. The data change is initiated, or pushed, from wherever the data change takes place: from the device if the change takes place there, or from the server if the change takes place there.
- Business Logic and Device User Interface – The user interface is developed:
- Using the developer IDE of choice for the target device platform and either the Object API or the OData SDK API.
- Using the Hybrid App Designer to design HTML5/JS.
- Using the Agentry Editor to develop the metadata UI, scripts and rules, and backend sync or request/reply..
The following sections provide detail about the development lifecycle and about each type of archetype development.