Internet Graphics Service (IGS) Administration

The Internet Graphics Service (IGS) constitutes the infrastructure to enable the application developers to display graphics in an Internet browser with a minimum of effort. The IGS has been integrated in the different SAP UI technologies from HTML GUI to Web Dynpro ABAP/Java and provides a server architecture where data from an SAP system or another source can be used to generate graphical or non-graphical output.

Versions

Until SAP Web Application Server 6.20, the IGS has been available only as standalone engine. The standalone IGS is a Windows application that runs standalone on a Windows IA32 machine and which is connected against several systems.

As of SAP Web AS 6.40, IGS is additionally available as integral part of the SAP Web AS and will be installed with every SAP Web AS installation. Thus, with SAP Web AS 6.40, you have the choice to use either the standalone or the integrated IGS.

The integrated IGS exists on every SAP Web AS machine and is started and stopped with SAP Web AS. However, IGS is not part of the kernel which means it has to be patched separately.

 

Architecture

The Internet Graphics Service (IGS) provides a server architecture where data from an SAP system or another source can be used to generate graphical or non-graphical output.

 

Prerequisites

To use the IGS from an SAP system, some configuration needs to be done on SAP system as well as on IGS side.

On SAP system side, you must:

●      in case of ABAP, maintain an RFC destination in the SAP system so that the SAP system can access the IGS.

●      in case of Web Dynpro Java, maintain the URL of the IGS.

On IGS side, you need to:

●      configure the RFC or HTTP listener so that the IGS is prepared for incoming requests.

 

 

Tools

To administrate the IGS, you can use:

●      For ABAP: the report GRAPHICS_IGS_ADMIN or transaction SIGS, where the report has been encapsulated.

●      For Java: the web interface access via the URL (http://(hostname):(port), where the

hostname is the name of the machine where the IGS is installed, for example P12345, and where port is the port of the HTTP listener.

●      You can also monitor the IGS with the CCMS monitor (transaction RZ20).

 

Tasks

The following administrative tasks are performed on demand in the IGS:

 

Task	Description
IGS administration via the ABAP interface	●      You can check the status of the IGS elements such as portwatcher, listeners, interpreters etc. ●      In addition, you can check statistical data of the IGS usage consisting of: number of incoming and outgoing calls, minimum, maximum and average incoming and outgoing data and minimum, maximum and average processing time. ●      You can create and view dump files in case of an error or by activating dump file generation. ●      You can display, increase and decrease the trace level of the multiplexer. ●      You can test your charts.
IGS administration via Web interface	The available features of the administration via Web Interface are the same as with the ABAP interface. However, to get to pages different from the administration start page, you need to add an administration command to the URL.
IGS monitoring with CCMS	You can use an SAP system (Basis Release 6.10 and later) to monitor the IGS. The CCMS transaction RZ20 is used as the monitoring tool. CCMS gives the administrator an overview of the current IGS configuration. The portwatchers available and their associated interpreters are displayed in a hierarchy. CCMS also displays various performance values for the relevant IGS components. The performance values of the available components are updated automatically with the result that bottlenecks can be located and removed quickly.
Ensuring security	Graphics do not generally represent a security risk. However, data used to create graphics may be relevant to security. The graphics generated may also represent sensitive information (for example, salaries, sums of money agreed in contracts).