Chapter 1
Introduction to Hibersap

Hibersap is a small framework that offers an abstraction layer on top of the SAP Java Connector (JCo). It maps Java classes to SAP function modules using Java Annotations and reduces the technical code to call a function in a SAP back-end system to a minimum. Hibersap’s API is very similar to Hibernate, thus offering a familiar programming interface to developers.

Current Features

• Calling remote function modules in SAP systems
• Mapping of ABAP function modules and their parameters to Java classes and their fields using Java Annotations.
• Hibernate-like API completely hiding the JCo/JCA API.
• Custom data type conversion using @Convert annotation and Converter classes.
• Intercept execution of function modules using custom Interceptors.
• Automatic error propagation using the @ThrowExceptionOnError annotation.
• Configuration using XML file or programmatic configuration
• Using the SAP Java Connector (JCo), version 3, internally.
• Alteratively, using a JCA compliant Resource Adapter in managed environments.
• Switching between the use of JCo and JCA by means of configuration.
• Manual transaction handling using JCo.
• Local Transactions using JCA.
• Container Managed Transactions (CMT) using JCA.
• Distributed Transactions with Application Servers that support Last Resource Commit Optimization.
• Application and container managed security.

Prospective Features

• Automated lookup of mapped classes instead of adding them manually to the configuration.
• JBoss5 deployer for annotated Hibersap classes.
• Hibernate-like current session context strategy.
• Integration of the Hibernate Validation Framework to validate mapped fields.
• Using JCo 3 stateless calls.

In chapter 2 you’ll find out how easy it is to use Hibersap.