Can the TREX be used with non-SAP applications?

[Former Member]

hi KM Gurus,

Can the TREX server be used with any other non-SAP applications(eg. java application running on an IBM Websphere)?

I hope TREX server can be used with other SAP applications like CRM, SRM, etc as they have the ABAP client that supports the TREX functionality.

And we are able to use TREX with Content Management becos it has the java client that supports the TREX functionality.

If that is the case, then I hope we need a java client to be there along with the application which needs the TREX functionality. Is there any possibility that we can download & install the TREX java client along with a non-SAP java application that runs on some other App. server?

Any insight regarding the supportability for this TREX feature for a non-SAP application will be really helpful for me and will be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance,

Alagammai.

[KarstenH · Accepted solution]

Hi Alagammai,

the direct TREX APIs are not released for project development. The JAVA API is, of course, technically accessible, but SAP does not support project developments against it. It is an API for internal use (e.g. KM <-> TREX) only.

What is open are the KM APIs and what will be is the API to the SES (search engine service) that will deliver with NW 2004s and is able to publish R/3 business objects to TREX for indexing and searching.

Please check the linked paper to find out how to acces TREX with as little KM and EP as possible:

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/servlet/prt/portal/prtroot/com.sap.km.cm.docs/library/kmc/using the km indexmanagement apis for searching with trex.article

Regards,

Karsten

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

hi Karsten,

Thanks a lot for your more detailed reply.

From the link sent by you, it has been said that accessing the TREX service is possible from a non-SAP application. Is that mandatory that non-SAP application should run on SAP's WAS? Or can that non-SAP application be on any other App. servers(like IBM Websphere)?

The requirement is that for using the KM Indexmanagement API, the user should have the netweaver license. Right?

I think the KM Indexmanagement APIs will help in accessing the services provided by the TREX server. AM I right?

What are all the extra services provided by the TREX API? Is there any possibility that it will be released to the customers in the near future?

What are all the services that will be provided by the SES API?

Where can we get the KM API to be downloaded?

I am sorry, if the questions I have asked here are very basic and if everybody is knowing it.

Thanks a ton with best regds,

Alagammai.

[KarstenH · Accepted solution]

Hello again,

and point by point:

- Yes, you will nee a NetWeaver licence or (older) portal licence. There is no stand-alone TREX licence.

- Yes, the KM Indexmanagement APIs of KM will help in accessing the services provided by the TREX server.

- As the direct TREX APIs are not planned to be release and will remain reserved for [SAP solution] <-> TREX communication only (e.g. KM to TREX, BI to TREX, etc.), it does not matter how much delta there is. Sorry...

Please also refer to all the posts you find when you search this forum for "TREX API" incl. the quotation marks.

- The Search engine service is characterized roughly as follows:

Its features include:

- Simple search using attributes and full text

- Linguistic search, fuzzy search

- Search for multilingual objects

- Extended search (attribute search)

The main components are:

- Interfaces for the search for integration in applications

- Interfaces for updating the search engine indexes

- Indexing service and administration

- Customizing

The Search Engine Service WILL be part of the SAP Basis component.

- The KM API is documented in the KM developer guide and is available either through installing a portal and KM or a NetWeaver Developer Studio containing the PDK (Portal Development Kit). The latter are available with the sneak preview licence.

Regards, Karsten

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hello Karsten,

Thanks a lot for your point by point reply. But you have missed the first question.

(1) Can that non-SAP application be on any App. Server? Or should that be only on SAP's WAS?

(2) So... the KM APIs can be used to access the TREX services? Can I take it as the TREX APIs are to enhance the TREX server's features? And so it is not needed for customers? Or is the TREX APIs are also to access some search featues that are provided by the TREX server?

(3) Basically my question is that, since the TREX APIs are not available to the customer, and if I try to access the TREX services using the KM Indexmanagement APIs from a non-SAP application, will I lose any search features in my application which I can experience with KM in EP?

(4) And I don't understand what you specify by this statement "Please also refer to all the posts you find when you search this forum for "TREX API" incl. the quotation marks". Do you mean that I can get more information by searching this forum for "TREX API"?

(5) Any idea about the tentative date of when this SES API will become available to the customers? Sorry we are badly in need of it... that is why i am specifically asking abt its release...

(6) I read the documentation of the KM API from the link provided by you. But somewhere I read that the KM API is to be imported into NW developer studio. And I have EP & KM installed. Can you tell me where I can find this API please?

Thanks a lot for your kind help.

Best regds,

Alagammai.

[KarstenH · Accepted solution]

Hi Alagammai,

1) The App has to run within SAP's J2EE. This is stated in Thilo's paper as well, I believe.

2) The TREX APIs are for internal communications between e.g. KM and TREX, BI and TREX, etc. It is not needed for customers. Any features it offers that are not used by KM (or other TREX-calling application) are still in testing and should not be used.

3) ONLY IF you go through the KM API, the Indexmanagement Service, will a self-made search application benefit from KM as well as TREX. Otherwise, you lose things like e.g. access control and user management, which are handled by KM and/or other NetWeaver components.

4) Yes.

5) The SES and its API will be released with SAP NetWeaver 2004s. This will be an ABAP API.

6) In the NW Developer Studio, you should have the KM API and KM wizards in place. If not, e.g. if you are using an older PDK, you can either use the Eclipse plugin "Classlocator" and look for the JARs containing classes with strings like "IResource" or "WCM" or stay tuned, as I may get the list of JARs you need to import soon...

Concerning "Classlocator":

I will not be able to give you any more guidance on that one, but if you search the forums (EP, KM, any Java related ones) for it you will find quite a few posts around the subject.

Regards, Karsten

[KarstenH · Accepted solution]

Hi Alagammai,

please note that the JavaDocs of KM always point out the JAR in which a class or API can be found. The more or less complete list of JARs you need to import where this is really manually necessary is:

RF JARs

bc.crt_api.jar

bc.rf.common_api.jar

bc.rf.framework_api.jar

bc.rf.runtime_api.jar

bc.rf.global.service.mime_api.jar

bc.rf.global.service.notificator_api.jar

bc.rf.global.service.oth_api.jar

bc.rf.global.service.pipeline_api.jar

bc.rf.global.service.relation_api.jar

bc.rf.global.service.urimapper_api.jar

bc.rf.global.service.urlgenerator_api.jar

bc.rf.mi_api.jar

bc.rf.repository.service.appproperties_api.jar

bc.rf.repository.service.serviceacl_api.jar

bc.rf.util_api.jar

bc.sf.framework_api.jar

bc.sf.service.applog_api.jar

bc.sf.service.cache_api.jar

bc.sf.service.landscape_api.jar

bc.sf.service.scheduler_api.jar

bc.sf.service.taskqueue_api.jar

bc.util.public_api.jar

bc.util.private_api.jar

Coll JARs

coll.shared.extension_api.jar

coll.shared.gw_api.jar

coll.shared.roomobject_api.jar

coll.shared.roomparts_api.jar

coll.shared.types_api.jar

CM JARs

km.shared.rep.util.thumbnails_api.jar

km.shared.rep.util_api.jar

km.shared.repository.service.accessstatistic_api.jar

km.shared.repository.service.app.discussion_api.jar

km.shared.repository.service.app.subscription_api.jar

km.shared.repository.service.comment_api.jar

km.shared.repository.service.feedback_api.jar

km.shared.repository.service.personalnote_api.jar

km.shared.repository.service.rating_api.jar

km.shared.repository.service.statemanagement_api.jar

km.shared.repository.service.timebasedpublish_api.jar

km.shared.service.actioninbox_api.jar

km.shared.service.checkout_api.jar

km.shared.service.crawler_api.jar

km.shared.service.indexmanagement_api.jar

km.shared.service.propertyconfig_api.jar

km.shared.service.propertystructure_api.jar

km.shared.service.reporting_api.jar

km.shared.service.xcrawler_api.jar

km.shared.service.xmlforms_api.jar

km.shared.ui.flex.base_api.jar

km.shared.ui.flex.collection_api.jar

km.shared.ui.flex.detailsoverview_api.jar

km.shared.ui.flex.detailsproperties_api.jar

km.shared.ui.flex.enum_api.jar

km.shared.ui.flex.layout_api.jar

km.shared.ui.flex.property_api.jar

km.shared.ui.flex.readymades_api.jar

km.shared.ui.flex.resource_api.jar

km.shared.ui.flex.screenflow_api.jar

km.shared.ui.flex.uicommand_api.jar

km.shared.ui.released.jar

Regards, Karsten

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

hi Karsten,

Sorry for being late in replying for this thread. I was on leave for the past few days.

Now again a few more questions to you please.

(1) You have told that SES and its API will be released SAP Netweaver 2004. But I think SAP NW'04 starts with EP6SP6 itself. We are working with EP6SP9. And I think SAP has released EP6SP12. In that case, with which SP number is this SES is about to be released? Any tentative date of when we can expect it?

(2) You also have told that SES API is an ABAP API. If it is so, can that be accessed from a java application? If it cannot be accessed from a java application, how can we access the services provided by this SES API?

(3) As I told you earlier, in our company we are using EP6SP9. Are the KM Index Management APIs available with EP6SP9? I am asking you this specifically becos, in Thilo's paper he has provided a sample servlet and has specified that it is based on NW04 SPS 11. I would like to know whether that servlet will also work with NW04 SP9.

(4) We imported that project(servlet found in Thilo's paper)into NWDS, compiled it and deployed it(For this we imported the missing jar files from the server to our NWDS environment). Now the problem we are facing is that we are getting "Null Pointer Exception". The reason for this might be that the "com.sapportals.portal.security.usermanagement" api has been deprecated. But I am not sure about the reason. We are using this api to convert the user to EP5 user as specified in Thilo's paper.

can you please help us in solving this problem?

Thanks a ton for the whole list of jars that was provided by you.

best regds,

alagammai.

[KarstenH · Accepted solution]

Hi Alagammai,

1) No, I said SAP NetWeaver 2004s (repeat: "S"), which is the release coming up this year.

2) It is an ABAP API. Thus, no direct access from Java. But search functionality over business objects could of course be published in specific (non-KM) iViews.

3) Yes, the API is available in your SP. But I do not know (although I am pretty sure), if the exact servlet will work.

4) Sorry...goes beyond me...

Regards, Karsten

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

hi Karsten,

Thanks a ton for all the kind help you provided us so far.

Meet you soon with new question topic...

Best regds,

Alagammai.

[detlev_beutner · Accepted solution]

Hi Alagammai,

> we are getting "Null Pointer Exception". The reason

> for this might be that the

> "com.sapportals.portal.security.usermanagement" api

> has been deprecated

No, that's "OK". They are deprecated, but you have to use them... It's SAP's understanding of deprecated methods... But they won't be the source of your NPE.

Hope it helps

Detlev

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

hi,

Ya. The null pointer exception is not becos of that. I installed NWDS in a different system and tried the same. Now I am not getting that null pointer exception.

The pbm seems to be becos of some jar files. But still not sure.

Thanks for your effort.:-)

best regds,

alagammai.

[frank_friedrich]

Hi S Chandra,

1) I not qute sure if there is a blog or best practice.

But have a look to

a) Business Object Search with Search Engine Service (SES)

[http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw70/helpdata/en/6a/9d9d427cab0831e10000000a1550b0/frameset.htm|http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw70/helpdata/en/6a/9d9d427cab0831e10000000a1550b0/frameset.htm]

b) Note 1400779 - SES Troubleshooting Guide

2) You can use the same TREX for ECC and Portal. But keep in mind that creating a TREX index in ECC will be only accessible in ECC and a TREX index created in Portal will be only accessible in the Portal.

That's why - even you are using the same TREX for Portal and ECC - KM do not know the ECC indexes.

So that's why the best solution will be to write a WebDynpro for ABAP running on ECC for your Search UI.

In WebDynpro you can use the SES function modules there are able to access the SES index.

Best regards

Frank

[Former Member]

Hi Frank

Danke

I already have the link from help.sap.com.

We will try the solution using ABAP Webdynpro

Thanks again

Warm Regards

S Chandra Mohan

[frank_friedrich]

Hi,

wow.... I like questions like this.... starting in 2005 and now we have the year 2010.

But of cause this question is an up-to-date question.

So you are using ECC 6.0 and TREX for indexing ECC business objects. You are doing this all with SES.

That's all fine. Normally you have for searching as well some transaction in ECC.

Some customer do not like this transaction for normal end users. That's why they wanna provide a more prettier user interface.

So you are using IBM WebShpere.

Anyway if you wanna write your own code you can only use the SES function modules in your ABAP systems or KM search API's within a java system.

My suggestion is: write at you ABAP AS side an WebDynpro for ABAP component which is using the SES function modules.

Integrate this WebDynpro for ABAP Application in IBM WebShpere.

Best regards

Frank

[Former Member]

Hi Frank,

thanks a lot for posting the reply and apologies for a late reply from my end.

We sort of decided on creating a custom application in the backend using SES.

Couple of questions

1) Is there a blog, documentation or best practice in writing an application using SES? We explored it but feel certain things missing.

2) We also have an Enterprise Portal in the landscape. The same TREX is connected to ECC 6.0 and Portal.

The question is, can I access the indexes created from ECC6.0 via the KM APIs to develop a custom application?

That is, if I have an index created in ECC6.0. This will be replicated in TREX but the same will not be there in KM. Is there a way I can access this API from portal using KM API to develop a custom application to search?

Danke in advance.

Warm Regards

S Chandra Mohan

[Former Member]

Hi ,

Have u managed to use TREX with ECC & Websphere portal.

Regards,

Sridar

[Former Member]

Hi Karsten,

We have a situation like below.

We have a backend system that is ECC6 but the portal is IBM webshpere.

The plan is to configure TREX with backend - SES

The business objects in the backend are to be indexed.

Now we have a problem with UI. Following are my questions

1) where do I enter search parameters to invoke search for the content in the backend system?

2) From your earlier posts, I see that it is not possible to integrate TREX with non SAP applications. Does this still hold good?

3) Since we have Websphere, any ideas on how do we achieve search option. All we need is to invoke a UI to search the content.

Please take your time to answer the above.

Many thanks.

S Chandra Mohan

[Former Member]

3 years late, is TREX7.0 capable to do what was discussed here?

Thanks!

[Former Member]

Hi Linda.

To my knowledge: No.

You still have to use the KM indexmanagement API to use TREX in custom applications.

Or you might use the new index management web service for a more loose coupling.

Cheers, Karsten

[Former Member]

Could you give some links and docs about that?

Thanks a lot!

[Former Member]

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/7182

Cheers, Karsten