iPhone & iPad Application Development

Communicating with other iOS apps using URL Schemes

Paul Aschmann — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 08:03:26 GMT

When I started developing iOS apps a couple of years ago, I was concerned that enterprise apps were going to quickly succumb to the world of development scope creep. Since the apps were fairly focused and provided a single function or process solution, what if the business wanted more? For example, you have a CRM app displaying your customer contact information and some high level details regarding order history and credit limits, but what if the user wanted some additional details from your BI solution drilling down into historical orders and profit analysis? Well, in that case, you had a few options:

1) Extend the scope of the app - by adding functionality and options, sometimes a reasonable option if the scope is not excessive or the functionality is relative to the app. In our above example, probably not.

2) Build another app with replicated functionality - duplicate code to display the customers and overview details in both apps.

3) Build 2 separate apps - But this would require the user to re-enter information (such as searching for and entering the Customer ID) in the 2nd app.

The fourth option is to use option 3 but with a twist, by enabling communication between the 2 apps by using URL Schemes. As the majority of iOS developers know, you can open other standard iOS apps like Safari, Mail or the Phone using the UIApplication SharedApplication class, what many developers and mobility architects overlook is that, not only standard apps can be called from your code, but any app which has a URL scheme defined. This gives you the ability to separate processes by application, and in the event a user would like drill deeper into additional information or functions, you can pass information to another app where that can be handled. What if the app is not installed? Good question ... You device will smartly open the Apple App Store giving you the ability to install the missing app. Configuring and consuming the communication between 2 apps is very simple and straight forward.

You can read about the URL Schemes within the apple documentation here:

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#featuredarticles/iPhoneURLScheme_Reference/Introduction/Introduction.html

and here: http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/iPhone/Conceptual/iPhoneOSProgrammingGuide/AdvancedAppTricks/AdvancedAppTricks.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40007072-CH7-SW18

Within the SAP Suite of iOS Apps you can also find URL Schemes already configured and in use, some examples of these are:

CRM @ SAP

Find account by number: crmatsap://openAccount?accountid=<number>

Open opportunity by number: crmatsap://openOpportunity?opportunityid=<number>

Open account by number: crmatsap://openAccount?accountid=<number>

SAP Pricing

Open Product by ID: pricingapp://openProduct?productid=<productid>

If you are still not sure if iOS URL Schemes are right for you here are a couple of Pro's and Con's

Pros:

- Use other custom apps to augment yours

- Use other companies apps to augment yours

- No need to redevelop similar functionality

- Communicate between apps

- Launch your app from a hyperlink (online/in a web page?)

- No need to be online for base functionality

Cons:

- Shouldn't pass sensitive data

- Clearly define the scope of each app and avoid over simplifying (e.g. an app for searching for customers by name, another for searching by ID.)

- Should not be a critical function, since there is no guarantee that the data is being received by the other application

I am curious to know how many app developers out there are using URL Schemes within their custom development?

iOS 6 SUP tutorial

Ivan C Myrvold — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:47:32 GMT

I wrote a tutorial, http://scn.sap.com/community/developer-center/mobility-platform/blog/2013/01/03/sup101-ios6-client, which uses the latest API's available in iOS 6. It uses storyboard instead of the old SUP101 tutorial. I did not know about this group, so I put it in "SAP Mobile Platform Development Center".

BO Mobile Solution ─ BO Mobile技術架構

Ellie Tsai — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 02:33:15 GMT

手持裝置的普及帶給我們更大的便利，其中，平日只能在電腦上看的報表，現在也能從手持裝置中觀看了。然而，DB的資料是如何轉化成手持裝置上可以看的資訊呢? 此篇將與大家分享BO Mobile與BO平台溝通的架構及溝通過程如何達到安全性。

下圖為DB到Mobile Client端的溝通架構：

所有的DB會透過資料擷轉進到BOE或Explorer Server，Web App Server會接收Mobile Client的請求。接著，透過TCP協定與BOE伺服端的溝通，撈取Webi、CR報表或Explorer。最後，送到Mobile Server上回傳給Mobile Client。

Mobile Client端的應用程式分別有SAP BI(支援Webi與CR報表的呈現)以及SBO Explorer，這兩者不同的應用程式，現階段分別透過各自的服務運作。

Mobile應用程式端與Web App之間主要以HTTP進行溝通，除了HTTP之外，若要達到Mobile Server與Mobile Client間溝通的加密效果，則可佈署HTTPS在Web Application Server上，詳細佈署細節可參考您現有的Web Application Server文件，增加其安全性。

整體來說，Mobile Client與Mobile Server間是透過HTTP協定來進行溝通，而Mobile Server與CMS、Web Intelligence Servers與Adaptive Processing Servers間的溝通則是透過Corba mode。

在安全機制上，BO Mobile支援DMZ(Demilitarized Zone)的佈署，DMZ主要是在區域網路(LAN)外面再加一層保護網，這樣外部駭客僅能接觸到DMZ，卻無法觸及任一網段進行攻擊。

DMZ也常被稱為是Perimeter Network，現今也有不少服務都採用此種機制達到其安全性，如Web servers、Mail servers、FTP、serversVoIP(Voice over Internet Protocol) servers等等。

下圖為單一防火牆搭配DMZ佈署之架構圖。

除了單一防火牆搭配DMZ的佈署之外也可利用兩個防火牆與DMZ進行佈署，以達到更強大的防護網。

以上為BO Mobile技術架構的分享，接下來將為大家分享文章如下：

BO Mobile Solution ─ BO Mobile應用實例

BO Mobile Solution ─ BO Mobile搭配不同BOE版本之差異性(XI3.1 VS XI4)

BO Mobile Solution ─ BO Mobile未來趨勢

BO Mobile Solution ─ BO Mobile特色

Ellie Tsai — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 03:36:57 GMT

網路世代的盛行帶起了行動裝置的風潮，行動通訊從早期的GSM到3G再到近年來的4G LTE，通訊速度規格不斷地進化，行動裝置能達到的需求越來越多，過去似乎很難達成的事，現在已經有辦法達成了嗎?

過去要看的日報月報，一定要透過電腦才能看嗎? 資訊的掌握如果只侷限在電腦上，是否已經落伍了? 其中什麼樣的報表是一定得時時追蹤呢? BO Mobile到底有什麼樣的魔力，以下就讓我們一探究竟吧。

1. 一機得知天下事

手持裝置的盛行，我們可以利用Mobile訂票、聽音樂、看股票等等，在這種一台Mobile裝置具多用途的情況下，除了休閒之餘，我們也能透過Mobile來看報表，BO提供的APP應用程式讓我們能夠掌握公司資訊，一台機器有如此多功能的變化，除了一般的休閒娛樂之外，還能夠一機得知天下事，兩全其美。

2. 不受限於網路環境

如果您是一個常忙於奔波的主管，時常坐高鐵或飛機，在這樣沒有網路的環境下，難道BO Mobile就無用武之地了嗎? 錯，我們可以透過應用程式先下載最新的報表，當我們在無法使用網路的情形下，我們仍然能在沒網路的環境下查看以下載好的報表，不會因為網路環境問題就完全無法查看報表了。

1. 走到哪看到哪

過去，總需要一台電腦或是筆電連上公司主機，才能查看公司報表，對於報表我想邊走邊看，走到哪看到哪已經不會只侷限在電腦上了，只是一個簡單看報表的動作，不會再只侷限於電腦上，BO Mobile實現了我們走到哪看到哪的情境。

警示提醒，即時掌握危急資訊

某些報表我們會設定一些警訊通知，然而當警示被觸發時，是否能及時被提醒，BO Mobile幫我們做到了，這樣的提醒效果，更能幫助我們掌握最新最即時的資訊，以利馬上進行危機處理。

2. 資訊易用

透過BO Mobile，我們只需要手指簡單的點擊手持裝置，便能輕易使用報表資訊，一張報表設計的好，在Mobile的操作上便更直覺易用，視覺化的介面呈現，搭配使用者可自行篩選想看的資料，便能更輕易地對資訊進行分析解讀。

以上大致列舉幾項需BO Mobile的原因，但大多數的原因都取決於人的使用習性，因為技術的發達，人類的需求也漸漸被滿足，以前習慣在電腦上看報表，但現在因為行動化的盛行，手持裝置也能幫我們達到資訊隨時取用的需求了，隨著未來技術的進步，非什麼不可的原因也會漸漸因人的使用習性而長成，這些都將值得我們來拭目以待。

此篇將針對BO Mobile特色進行介紹，未來預計分享的主題如下：

BO Mobile技術架構

BO Mobile的應用實例

BO Mobile搭配不同BOE版本之差異性

BO Mobile未來趨勢

請大家敬請期待。

Notes Viewer for Mac

Paul Aschmann — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:45:23 GMT

Since I have been spending the last few weeks getting some Netweaver instances running on my new Hyper V server I have spent a considerable amount of time on the SAP Notes website debugging and troubleshooting everything from installation to master guides. Since my SAP Note Viewer apps for iPhone and iPad are fairly popular and I was tired of having to login so many times, I figured I would develop a "clone" for the Mac.

The free app features a pretty basic status bar menu and when you open it for the first time, requests your s-id and password and your search language (German and English). Once opened, you can enter a Note number or search term, submitting will automatically bring up the note in your browser. If you enter a search term, the app will search and return a list of results which you can select, opening the note. The search is fairly slow, as it is, in essence, making two round trips (one for the page and the second for the results).

I have also submitted the app to Mac App Store and it is currently in review, but if you would like to get your hands on it and give me your thoughts, it would be greatly appreciated. Here is a link to a download page: http://www.li-labs.com/SNVMac.zip (450Kb), just unzip and drag into your "Applications" folder.

Here are a couple screenshots.

Supplier Analytics - a new free iPad app

Paul Aschmann — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:55:08 GMT

After writing about utilizing javascript charts in iOS apps a little while ago, I decided it would be a good marketing tool for my company (Lithium Labs) to develop a free/public app which demonstrated the features of using such technologies on handheld devices. The free app is called Supplier Analytics and when using the sample dataset gives you some insight into how a enterprise app could be used in an automotive manufacturing/supplier environment. The app gives operations or managers insight into the performance and operational well-being of a company globally, and nationally by subsequently drilling down into a production facility or branch.

The app is designed to be an "offline" app - unlike most apps these days which are all striving to have syncing and "always on" connectivity, I think dashboards and report based data can be just as effective without jumping through hoops.

From a technology perspective the app is a native iPad app developed with XCode and uses javascript charting controls to display the datasets which are made available through a regular IIS/Apache/ITS/Gateway/PI or SUP server and cached locally on the device for offline use.

Here are a couple of screenshots and a link if you are interested in trying it out for yourself.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/supplier-analytics/id547467484?mt=8

Have any comments or questions? Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Mobile App Deployment - how do i keep users in sync between R/3 and Gateway

Marcus Behrens — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:03:12 GMT

For the intention of this blog post I assume a customer has been running only R/3 so
far and is adding a Gateway and SUP server into the mix. Additionally I assume
that until now there were few enough users using the R/3 system such that all
of them could be created manually, one by one. Our first incarnation of mobile
apps for casual use (e.g. Financial Fact Sheet or SAP Interview Assistant) do require
a user to exist in R/3, Gateway and SUP (when using basic authentication).

Now the challenge is that when such customer extends his roll-out to serve thousands of
employees creating the users manually and in 3 different systems it is tedious
and does not really scale. There might be 10s of new employees each day that
need to be added and when a new region receives a roll-out then 100s of users
need to created at once. In this blog I would like to point out some basic
ideas of how this can be addressed. In your particular situation few or none of
the suggestion might be feasible - so this is more of an overview to make sure
you are aware of all the options.

Suggestion 1: Move Gateway into R/3: Instead of a separate server you
can put Gateway onto the R/3 box directly. The necessary plugin is available
not just for Netweaver 7.03 but also for earlier releases down to 7.00. But
beware, only apps that support OData (and not the previous protocol called
SData) like the latest version of FinancialFactSheet work with a Gateway
version that runs on NW 7.00 or 7.01. Interview Assistant does not (yet)
support OData. Also, keep i mind the reasons why you might want the Gateway to
be a separate server (avoid load on the R/3 box, security by doing the protocol
translation on a dedicated server).

Suggestion 2: Use automatic user onboarding in
SUP: when using
basic authentication early versions of our apps and mobile sdk hardcode the
basic authentication method together with the manual SUP user creation. The
later part adds additional security as SUP has to have a positive (white) list
of users defined that are the only once allowed to onboard. But as SUP has
evolved (version 2.1.1 onwards) and the apps have been updated this is not tied
together anymore. So if you use a more recent version of the app (e.g. FinancialFactSheet
or any of the new apps we shipped in April or July) then you do not have to
create users manually anymore when using basic authentication.

Suggestion 3: Use the Central User Administration: This capability is a little trick
to set-up (http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-17019 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7h4S_His-g give an overview) but does
the job of replicating users created in a server (e.g. a client in R/3) to a
client (the Gateway machine). As there is a trusted connection set-up already
between Gateway and R/3 this is partially done if you already have implemented
Gateway. If your end users are true casual users that never log into the R/3
system then you should create the user in R/3 without (initial) password and in
Gateway with a password to ensure access for this user is only via Gateway. If
you happen to use Solution Manager then this can also be the leading system for
the central user administration (see http://scn.sap.com/thread/578177).

Suggestion 4: Create multiple new users at once: A simple approach is described
here: http://scn.sap.com/thread/1207325. Both this and the manual user
creation will trigger the replication of users to other ABAP-based system if
the central user administration is configured.

Suggestion 5: SAP Identity Management: If you will have additional
systems to distribute this user too it makes sense to consider going with a
dedicated server for identity management (http://scn.sap.com/community/netweaver-idm).

If you are aware of other options please let me know – I would like to find ways to
make the administration of 1000s of casual users as simple as possible. From an
IT point of view but also from a casual user point of view.

User experience is the king

Manish Thakkar — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 13:34:35 GMT

iPhones have changed the whole meaning of user experience. Virtually all the new mobile phones are smart-phones. Companies are allowing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Emails are already an integral part of smart-phones. The next big thing is enabling Business Processes. The technology is very much there but the mind-set is still developing. With the laptop screens, the only design consideration was to put everything on the screen. The user would 'learn' to find what they needed.

But with iPhones, that is no longer the case. The form factor is small, the user attention span is in seconds. SAP functional consultants now have to add user design into their repertoire to really delivery a good solution.

I have started to design screens for SAP HR and SAP Workflow that I will post here for discussion soon.

Where is the Enterprise Authentication in iOS

Frank Koehntopp — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:39:30 GMT

After Apple added Twitter authentication in iOS 5, iOS 6 will do the same for Facebook.

While some may think this is just another Silicon Valley partnership thingie, I actually think it's a big deal, even in an enterprise context. And it's not about pressing LIKE on an app. Read on.

We recently had to discuss several password leaks from sites like LinkedIn, eHarmony and last.fm.I think everyone is perfectly clear that it's not a good idea to either use weak passwords or re-use the same password over and over again.

But still, if you're really really honest to yourself you'll have to admit that you're doing it. And probably not only once. One of the worst offenders is often the enterprise environment, where you'll have countless passwords to manage, sometimes (always?) with incoherent password policies. The different requirements, coupled with weird change frequencies, may drive you to re-use passwords, often simple ones, to make life bearable. And insecure.

This is where the Twitter an Facebook integration come in. Both sites support an authentication method called "OAUTH" which allows you to sign into another site (which needs to implement support for OAUTH - see documentation from Twitter and Facebook) with your Twitter or Facebook credentials. Google also supports OAUTH for lots of sites.

Here's a rough description of how it works:

You arrive at a new site that offers OAUTH authentication
You select your identity provider (Twitter, Facebook, Google)
You're being redirected to this site where you login and allow the identity provider to pass on your credentials to the new site
The new site now has some form of credentials (like user ID or screen name) and the verification that those belong to you.

Why's that a good thing? Let me count the ways:

No need to give all your data to yet another new site. They just use what you have maintained at Twitter or Facebook (name, user ID, Avatar)
NO NEED TO GIVE THEM YOUR PASSWORD! They just receive an authentication token, they'll NEVER see your email adress or password!
You control the authentication through your OAUTH provider. Check https://twitter.com/settings/applications for Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=applications for Facebook to check which applications already use your OAUTH credentials (it's good practice to go through these lists every other week to see if everything in there still needs access...)
You can always revoke the access token.

So, why is this a good thing in iOS specifically? Coming back to my opening paragraph, it's quite easy to enter a long complex password _once_ in the Twitter and Facebook settings in iOS, then every iOS app supporting OAUTH should be able to ask for your permission without you having to re-enter a password. This makes it A LOT easier to sustain good passwords. If every new app requires you to manually type in a password you'll be tempted to resort to something you can easily remember, which is kinda counter-productive.

And the enterprise implications? Sorry, we're not there yet. One reason is that your employer will probably not allow you to loginn to your ERP system using your Facebook login. But what if a more enterprisey OAUTH provider allowed you to do that? With the growing number of mobile applications that might be an important mechanism to secure authentication for mobile enterprise services.

What is your experience with mobile apps and passwords? Are you already using the integrated OAUTH mechanisms? What if you could login to SCN with your Twitter ID? (just thinking...)

Insight for SAP - A new free app from Lithium Labs

Paul Aschmann — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:05:17 GMT

Here is a little app we threw together for SAP Customers, developers, users and generally interested parties in the ERP world.

We wanted to aggregate mutliple, interesting sources of SAP data and news and present it in a simple easy to use interface. The app pulls data from google, SDN, interesting blogs and the SAP news site.

As usual our apps always welcome news ideas and constrctive critism, so feel free to provide some feedback!

Here is a link to the app in the iTunes app store

Lithium Labs provides a full suite of services for strategies, designing, developing, implementing and maintaining a enterprise mobility solution. We support all major mobile operating systems and hardware including iOS, (iPad and iPhone), Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile, Symbol and Intermec.

SAP Note Viewer for iPad and iPhone v2.0 Released

Paul Aschmann — Sat, 21 May 2011 16:11:18 GMT

Thanks to everyone who has downloaded the app to date (roughly 9000 of you!). Also thanks to all the people providing feedback and ideas for future versions, keep them coming.

Version 2 of the app has been given some major improvements to the iPhone version including the ability to review the comment attributes (version, applications and status) which was already in the iPad version. Another improvement to the iPhone app is the ability to launch the note in Safari on the device. Basically a quick link to the note but you will still need to authenticate yourself.

The biggest improvement in v 2.0 is the ability to now search for notes rather than having to know the specific note numbers, as per the previous releases. Another interesting improvement is the ability to "Tag" notes, currently, Implemented, Deleted, Success and Failed are the options. A bunch of bug fixes were also made.

You can find the new versions here:

SAP Note Viewer v2.0 for iPad
SAP Note Viewer v2.0 for iPhone

I have some great new features planned for upcoming releases and versions, so if you are interested you can me here, @paups or my company @lithlabs

Here are a few screenshots

Bringing Comments to SAP Notes with SAP Note Viewer v1.2

Paul Aschmann — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:49:02 GMT

SAP Note Viewer v1.2 is now in the app store and ready for download which can be found here:

SAP Note Viewer for iPad v1.2

SAP Note Viewer for iPhone v1.2

A major feature enhancement is the addition of Comments. Users can add and read comments added by other users and brings a social aspect to the notes. Hopefully, users who have experience with a particular note will comment on how useful the note was, possibly what worked or didnt work and any other findings.

Other changes include some minor bug fixes and a quick link to the online note.

As requested by many users, text searching will be a feature of Version 2.0 but is proving to be fairly challenging due to no open API's to search against. (Anyone listening @SAP?)

v1.1 Update SAP Note Viewer for iPad and iPhone

Paul Aschmann — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 05:45:03 GMT

Apple has just reviewed and approved updates to for the SAP Note Viewer for iPad and iPhone. Both versions are now up to v1.1

Bug Fixes and Improvments:

iPhone: fixed minor performance issues and resolved the issue which caused the app to crash if used with certain languages (Including Swedish and Dutch).

iPad: fixed minor performance issues and resolved the issue which caused the app to crash if used with certain languages (Including Swedish and Dutch) and also added a small information panel displaying the note version, components and status.

SAP Note Viewer for iPhone v1.1
http://itunes.apple.com/app/sap-note-viewer-for-iphone/id404037926?mt=8

SAP Note Viewer for iPad v1.1
http://itunes.apple.com/app/sap-note-viewer-for-ipad/id406435671?mt=8

Future Updates

I have started work on v2 of the application and am planning on including the features listed below. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback and suggested some great ideas.

Version 2 Features

- Full text search rather than just note numbers

- Web View and PDF View of the note

- Syncing of notes across devices (iPad and iPhone)

Future Improvment Suggestions

- Ability to add comments about a specific note and create discussions (thanks to @greg_not_so)

Feedback is always welcomed and appriciated.

SAP Note Viewer for iPad

Paul Aschmann — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 11:04:07 GMT

Firstly, thanks to everyone for the support of the SAP Note Viewer for iPhone of this app, users have really been growing steadily since its release and as of yesturday we had around 925 users. Feedback has been great and some really awesome ideas are coming from the community.

The app is currently in the App Store and can be found here.

The app has the same features as the iPhone version which have been listed below, but the ipad really is considerably better for viewing the notes than the phone.

I dont anticipate the app to do as well just due to the number of iPads versus iPhones in the market, but hopefully it will make a select few peoples lives just a little bit easier. (My intention!)

If you have an Android: SAP Support Note Viewer for Android grows up (new version).

Version 1 Features

Search for notes by note number
Notes are saved to device in PDF format for offline retrieval
Notes can be market as favorites for easy identification
Note URL's can be shared via email
Username/password is saved (on your device only) for easy authentication

S-ID or I-ID is required for use with access to SAP Notes, a valid D, M SAP ID may also work as well ....

SAP Note Viewer for iPhone

Paul Aschmann — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 18:47:46 GMT

NB. SAP Note Viewer for iPad

Well, its been an interesting few months with the XCode platform and learning Objective C was interesting, but I am glad to announce my side project has been released and is available in the Apple App Store. The free app is called SAP Note Viewer for iPhone and is just that ... a SAP OSS Note viewer which allows people to search for and download the notes and store them on their iPhone/iPad in PDF format.

The app also allows you to share the note details via email and mark specific notes as "Favorites" for easy reference.

Since this is Version 1, my intention is to simply get the ball rolling and hope for some feedback from the community to get some ideas on where it should go and what functionality everyone would like to see.

The iPad version is up for review and I am hoping it will be approved any day now. So if you use SAP Notes regularly - keep an eye out for an app called "SAP Note Viewer for iPad"

Here are a few screenshots and a link to the app here. Feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Some ideas for version 2:

Note syncing across devices (between iPad and iPhone).

A small and simple website where saved notes can be viewed, downloaded and then pushed to devices.
Better sort and marking features, including"Implemented", "Delayed", "Ignored" and so on.

If you are interested in a Android version, check out Dagfinn Parnas SAP support Note Viewer for Android SAP Support Note Viewer for Android grows up (new version)

On another note if you are interested in other iOS Apps here is a very small sneak peek of my next project well under way ...