5.9    Axis Framework

The Apache Extensible Interaction System (Axis) framework used in SAP PO is based on the Apache Axis framework.

Note

Visit http://axis.apache.org/axis to read more about Axis.

With SAP PO, you can leverage the features and functionalities of the Axis framework version 1.4 in your SOAP-based or JMS-based scenarios. Compared to the standard SOAP channel, an Axis-based SOAP channel is equipped with functionalities such as the following:

• Message protocols SOAP 1.1 and SOAP 1.2
• Transport protocols HTTP/S, SMTP, and file
• Different user authentication procedures (basic, digest, NT Lan Manager, SAP assertion tickets)
• Different encapsulation formats (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions [MIME], Direct Internet Message Encapsulation [DIME], Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism [MTOM])
• Ability to add your own Axis handlers to the module chain by using the HandlerBean module
• Support for WS Security
• Support for WS Addressing features
• Ability to receive SOAP messages using JMS
• Posting of plain HTTP requests (REST)
• S-Security with Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)
• Ability to extend the Axis framework functionality with your own custom Axis handlers

Note that there are many more functionalities than those listed here. It’s important to be aware that the Axis framework isn’t installed by default on your SAP PO server, so you’ll need to perform additional actions to install and configure it. The installation of the Axis framework is a prerequisite for configuring and running it. We won’t focus on the installation part in this chapter but will instead focus more on some of the configuration parts. However, to install the Axis framework, you need to add additional JARs and modify the description file in com.sap.aii.af.axisproviderlib.sda. The additional JARs include the following:

• axis.jar
• commons-discovery-0.2.jar
• commons-logging-1.0.4.jar
• commons-net-1.0.0-dev.jar
• wsdl4j-1.5.1.jar

After adding the JARs, you’ll need to redeploy com.sap.aii.af.axisproviderlib.sda to your SAP PO server.

For extended details of the Axis framework installation, refer to SAP Note 1039369. After installation, you can check and verify if the Axis framework was correctly installed by going to http://<hostname>:<port>/XIAxisAdapter/MessageServlet, where <hostname> is the hostname of your SAP PO system, and <port> is the port number.

If the installation was correctly performed, then you should get a page with a Status of OK (see Figure 5.26).

Figure 5.26    Axis Framework Installation Status Page

To illustrate the setup of an Axis-based channel, we’ll consider a sender SOAP communication channel as an example. To set up a sender communication channel, follow these steps:

1. Choose the SOAP adapter type in the Adapter Type field.
2. Select Servlet (Axis) for the Transport Protocol.
3. Make sure that Message Protocol is set to Axis.
4. Configure the rest of fields per your requirements. They are similar to any other communication channels. You then get a channel with a Parameters tab similar to the one shown in Figure 5.27.
   

   Figure 5.27    Example of a Sender Communication Channel Configured with the Servlet Axis

5. Depending on your requirements, you might need to make additional changes in the Module tab, in addition to the preceding steps. See Figure 5.28 for an example of a sender communication channel configured to support WS-Security.

Refer to SAP Note 1039369 for more details about the Axis framework implementation.

Figure 5.28    Example of a Sender Channel Configuration Using the Axis Framework to Support WS Security and WS Addressing