Search on SAP SDN/SCN with Ubiquity

Last year I wrote about the SCN search plugin to Ubiquity, which made it easy to search on SCN. Ubiquity is a plugin for Firefox. The problem with writing such utilities is that they need to be updated when the unpublished API changes.

The SCN search has changed to a quite fancy web 2.0 search. It is now possible to filter the results based on type, and then subtype and other parameters. The old search just had the option of choosing between few options, which all were accessible via a GET parameter. The new search uses, as fair as I can see, Google Web Toolkit as javascript framework. It looks quite difficult to interact with this framework, so the new search script just take you to the search page.

Michael Koegel informed me that a new version of Ubiquity has been released. Version 0.5 can be installed here. This new version had some changes in the way scripts was written, so the script had to be changed.

The new script can be installed from Githup.

When the script is install, and the access keys (CTRL + SPACE standard) are pressed the following popup is created. First scn-search is typed and then the query phase is called. When Enter is pressed the query will be performed.

Easy access to SAP sites

I have been using Launchy to get easy access to search on SAP notes and start my SAP GUI. Launchy is an application which can be used to launch other applications or access websites. Nigel James wrote about how to use Launchy in a blog post and how to access sap notes easy.

Recently I discovered that Firefox was also working on a similarly project called Ubiquity. The difference is that Ubiquity is placed within the browser and can access the same information as the browser. It has easy access to google maps for an address which has been selected and complete other tasks that you would do in your browser.

It is possible to create some commands you self, which can be used to enhance your browser experience. For instance it could be to change tabs or to make the tasks that you normally do on your favorite sites. The commands are written in Javascript, and there is a pretty good tutorial on how to get started.

To get started using Ubiquity just install the Firefox plugin from the Mozilla site.

After you have installed the plugin goto the command press CONTROL and SPACE and you will get a popup in our browser like the following. In this window you can enter commands to Ubiquity.

Try commands like map (address) or in an edit field mark an url and use the command tinyurl.

I have written some commands which can be implemented pretty easy. To implement them use the command command-editor.

In the command window insert the following code, and it should be possible to run the commands.

/**

* Ubiquity Command java scripts

* Used for searching SAP sites

*/

CmdUtils.CreateCommand({

name: “sapnote”,

description: “Finds SAP NOTES”,

takes: {“note number”: noun_arb_text},

preview: function( pblock, noteno ) {

pblock.innerHTML = “Open service markedplace for note: ” + noteno.text ;

},

execute: function( noteno ) {

var url = “http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/{QUERY}”

var urlString = url.replace(“{QUERY}”, noteno.text);

Utils.openUrlInBrowser(urlString);

}

})

CmdUtils.CreateCommand({

name: “sapql”,

description: “Open SAP Service Markedplace”,

takes: {“site”: noun_arb_text},

preview: function( pblock, siteType ) {

pblock.innerHTML = “Open SAP Service for : ” + siteType.text ;

},

execute: function( siteType ) {

var url = “http://service.sap.com/{QUERY}”

var urlString = url.replace(“{QUERY}”, siteType.text);

Utils.openUrlInBrowser(urlString);

}

})

CmdUtils.CreateCommand({

name: “sdn-search”,

description: “Search SDN”,

takes: {“query”: noun_arb_text},

preview: function( pblock, query) {

pblock.innerHTML = “Search SDN for : ” + query.text ;

},

execute: function( query) {

var url = “https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/advancedsearch?query={QUERY}&cat=sdn_all”

var urlString = url.replace(“{QUERY}”, query.text);

Utils.openUrlInBrowser(urlString);

}

})

The script contains three commands.

  • sapnote which take a service marked place note number and display a page with the note.
  • sapql is to access SAP Quicklinks like SWDC or notes
  • sdn-search which make a search on SDN for the query you have made.

The sdn-search search command look like the following.