SAP Graphical User Interface explained

SAP GUI
Programming Language:C, C++
Latest Release Version:8.00[1]

SAP GUI is the graphical user interface client in SAP ERP's 3-tier architecture of database, application server and client. It is software that runs on a Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh or Unix desktop, and allows a user to access SAP functionality in SAP applications such as SAP ERP and SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW). It is used for remote access to the SAP central server in a company network.

Family

Microsoft Windows releases

Release Release date Latest patch End of life Features
1.0First "GUI" for SAP software; no graphical elements like checkboxes, radiobuttons and icons
1.1Field length indicated by background colors; fast paths in menus
2.0New GUI for Windows 3.1; System and Application Toolbar added; icons in System Toolbar
2.1New graphical elements: checkboxes, radiobuttons, group boxes and push buttons on screen
3.0Table control introduced; icons added to buttons
3.11996 Windows95-look with flat buttons; tabstrip control and ABAP List Viewer (ALV) introduced
4.0Screens contain more information to reduce navigation
4.5Active X elements introduced; ALV is now based on grid control
4.6DJuly 2000 GUI is re-designed; multiple-areas are introduced to reduce need for screen changes
6.10July 2001
6.20March 2002 December 31, 2010 Scripting added [2]
6.40June 2004 December 31, 2010 Unicode support extended; accessibility and usability improved
7.10February 2007 April 12, 2011 Support for Microsoft Vista and Office 2007; new "Tweak SAP GUI" tool; new ABAP front-end editor
7.20April 2010 17 (final) April 09, 2013[3] Support for Windows XP; Windows 2003 Server; Windows Vista; Windows 2008 Server; Windows 7 and Office 2010; Built with Visual Studio 2008[4]
7.30June 2012 15 July 15, 2015 Usability enhancements; new customization features; built with Visual Studio 2010
7.40October 2014 19November 9, 2019 Replaces Corbu with Blue Crystal; integrates SAP GUI for Windows 7.40 and Netweaver Business Client 5.0
7.50May 2017 15 (final)April 9, 2019
7.60February 201915April 12, 2022Introduces Belize theme, aligning GUI's visual design with the rest of SAP's Fiori applications. Retires Enjoy / Streamline / Tradeshow / SystemDependent themes.
7.70January 29, 202116April 09, 2024
8.00January 27, 20238January 12, 2027 The 64bit version; Quartz themes: Modernization of rendering engine and some additional features; HTML Control based on Microsoft Edge: Improvements; Usability improvements in many components; Improvements for SAP Logon; Branding images per system and client

Java releases – for other operating systems

Release Release date Latest patch End of life Features
7.10October 2007 21
7.20December 2009 10 January 31, 2013Supported OS – openSUSE, Fedora Core, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, AIX, OS X Lion, Fedora, Ubuntu
7.30December 2012 10 March 31, 2015
7.40December 2014 13 March 31, 2018
7.50February 2020 9[5]
7.70March 2021New themes with HiDPI support

Single sign-on

SAP GUI on Microsoft Windows or Internet Explorer can also be used for single sign-on. There are several portal-based authentication applications for single sign-on. SAP GUI can have single sign-on with SAP Logon Ticket as well. Single sign-on also works in the Java GUI.[6]

Criticism of using SAP GUI for authentication to SAP server access

SAP is a distributed application, where client software (SAP GUI) installed on a user's workstation is used to access the central SAP server remotely over the company's network. Users need to authenticate themselves when accessing SAP. By default, however, SAP uses unencrypted communication, which allows potential company-internal attackers to get access to usernames and passwords by listening on the network. This can expose the complete SAP system, if a person is able to get access to this information for a user with extended authorization in the SAP system. Information about this feature is publicly accessible on the Internet.

SAP Secure Network Communications

SAP offers an option to strongly protect communication between clients and servers, called Secure Network Communications (SNC).[7]

Security

In total, the vendor has released 25 security patches (aka SAP Security Notes). One of the most notorious vulnerabilities was closed among the set of fixes released in March 2017. The vulnerability in the SAP GUI client for Windows allows remote code execution.[8] Also, researchers who identified the security issues pointed out that the vulnerability allows an attacker to download ransomware on the SAP server that would be automatically installed on every workstation within a company.[9]

Screen editing with Personas

Since 1998 SAP GUI screens (so-called "DynPros") can be adjusted and customized with GuiXT. Now this can also be achieved with "SAP Screen Personas". Personas is installed on one of the SAP NetWeaver ABAP 7.0x or 7.3x servers in the system landscape. Then it can be used on all SAP NetWeaver ABAP servers with a kernel of 7.21 or higher, including on NetWeaver ABAP 7.11 systems (on which Personas cannot be installed directly).

iOS and Android implementations

Native iOS and Android implementations of SAP GUI are available from GuiXT.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SAP GUI for Windows 8.00 is coming on 27th of January 2023: New Features & Lifecycle Information . 2023-04-21.
  2. Web site: The SAP GUI Scripting API How to Automate User Interaction -Technology, Examples and Integration. 2022-01-27.
  3. Web site: Lifetime and Support Matrix for SAP GUI for Windows . July 22, 2018.
  4. Web site: Supported SAP GUI platforms . April 25, 2018 . July 22, 2018.
  5. Web site: SAP GUI Family - Additional Topics - Community Wiki. wiki.scn.sap.com. 2020-02-11.
  6. Web site: Single Sign-on for SAP Java GUI . January 10, 2009 . July 22, 2018.
  7. Web site: Secure Network Communications (SNC) . July 22, 2018.
  8. News: SAP Vulnerability Puts Business Data at Risk for Thousands of Companies . Threatpost The first stop for security news . Michael Mimoso . March 22, 2017 . July 22, 2018. en-US.
  9. Web site: Can SAP Be Affected By Ransomware? SAP Cyber Security Solutions. erpscan.com. en-US. July 22, 2018.