Tutorial

Unit: Interactive Forms Integration into Web Dynpro for

Java
Topic: Offline interactive form based on sending and
receiving emails
At the conclusion of this exercise, you will be able to:
• Send emails with an attached interactive form
• Read received emails with an attached interactive form
• Use the Java Mail API
• Integrate an interactive form within a Web Dynpro application

Think of a company where employees need to fill out forms offline.

Offline in this case means that the employees make their form entries on
their local host without a server connection (e.g. at home, at a customer
site, while traveling, etc.).
This tutorial explains how to develop an offline interactive form scenario
based on sending and receiving emails. In this case, an employee receives
an email containing an empty or prefilled form, makes entries offline,
and, after filling out the form, sends an email with the attached form back
to a mail server. The server can identify the email with the attached form,
extract the data and pass it to a backend system. You can use the Adobe
integration within Web Dynpro for this purpose. This exercise will show
you which steps are necessary to develop such a scenario based on a
travel request form.

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1 Overview

The following screenshot shows the user interface of the Web Dynpro application you will
develop in this exercise. Using the upper view, you can send an email with an attached travel
request form to the address you enter. In the lower view, you can display all unread messages
in your inbox containing an attached travel request form after clicking the Refresh button.

2 Prerequisites

To be able to use PDF forms in Web Dynpro applications, the following prerequisites apply:

2-1 The SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio (Support Package Stack 11) including Adobe
LiveCycle Designer (forms design tool) is installed on your computer. Use the SAP
NetWeaver 04 installation CDs/DVDs if it is not yet installed.
2-2 You have access to the SAP J2EE Engine (Release 6.40).
(Note that you can download an evaluation version (Sneak Preview SAP Web
Application Server 6.40 Java) from the SDN Download Area at
https://www.sdn.sap.com/sdn/downloadarea.sdn.)
2-3 Adobe Reader 7.0.1 is installed on your computer. If this is not the case, download
Adobe Reader 7.0.1 from the Adobe homepage (http://www.adobe.com) at
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html).
2-4 The Active Component Framework (ACF) of the Interactive Forms integration is
installed on your computer.
With SP Stack 11, calling a Web Dynpro application that includes a PDF form for the
first time should automatically install the ACF in the background. If you experience
difficulties that may be related to the frontend installation, please see SAP Note 766191
on the SAP Service Marketplace for manual installation.
2-5 The Adobe document services are configured on the SAP J2EE Engine you are using.
To access the Installation and Configuration Guides for Adobe document services, go

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 to http://service.sap.com/nw04installation → SAP Web AS → SAP Web AS 6.40 SR1
and Related Documentation → Adobe Document Services.
2-6 Basic knowledge of developing Web Dynpro applications. For helpful information
about Web Dynpro, go to
https://www.sdn.sap.com/sdn/developerareas/webdynpro.sdn?node=linkDnode6-2.

3 Importing a Project Template

To restrict the development of this sample application to the actual content covered, there is a
predefined Web Dynpro project template available in SDN under Web Dynpro Sample
Applications and Tutorials. Follow the steps listed below to import the predefined Web
Dynpro project:

3-1 Unzip the contents of the ZIP file TutWD_EmailInteractiveForm_Init.zip into the work
area of the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio or into a local directory.

3-2 Start the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio.

3-3 Import (File → Import → Existing Project into Workspace) the Web Dynpro project
TutWD_EmailInteractiveForm_Init.

3-4 The Web Dynpro project TutWD_EmailInteractiveForm_Init then appears in the Web
Dynpro Explorer for further processing and editing in the context of this tutorial. The
information display triggered by the Web Dynpro project
TutWD_EmailInteractiveForm_Init can be ignored at this time, since we will extend the
Web Dynpro project during the remainder of this exercise and will thus remove this
information.
Note: Depending on which Java compiler preferences are set, you may see some
warnings in the Task view after importing the project. If the severity level for problems
of type Unused imports (set in Window → Preferences → Java → Compiler) has the
value Warning, the compiler will issue a warning for unused import references. Ignore
these warnings!

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4 Initial Project Structure
After you have imported the Web Dynpro project template TutWD_EmailInteractiveForm_
Init, the following project structure is displayed in the Web Dynpro Explorer:

Web Dynpro project structure

Web Dynpro project: TutWD_EmailInteractiveForm_Init

Web Dynpro application: EmailInteractiveFormApp

The application EmailInteractiveFormApp displays the interface view of the Web
Dynpro component EmailInteractiveFormComp in the browser window.

Web Dynpro component: EmailInteractiveFormComp

This is the Web Dynpro component that contains our entire application.

View: SendView
In this view, you can enter the recipient’s email address, and, upon clicking the Send
button, send an email with the attached travel request form to this address.
View: ReceivedView
After clicking the Refresh button, this view displays all unread messages with an
attached travel request form.
View: FormView
This view displays the content of the received interactive form.

Window: Window
Initially contains a view set with two view areas represented by the two cells (ViewSet
Definition: GridLayout with one column and two rows). The two views SendView and
ReceivedView are already embedded. The FormView becomes visible when double-
clicking one of the unread messages. The attached travel request form is then
displayed, and you can return from the FormView to the ReceivedView.

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In the Navigation Modeler, which you can reach by double-clicking on the Window node, the
initial Web Dynpro project looks as follows:

The Window contains a ViewSet, which

consists of 2 view areas.
The upper view area contains the
SendView and the lower one the
ReceivedView.
The FormView is plugged via an inbound
and an outbound plug to and from the
ReceivedView.

5 Send Email with Attached Interactive Form

Defined SendView Context

The data for sending an email is already defined in the controller context of the SendView
(see Context tab of SendView): Go to the Web Dynpro Explorer, double-click the node for the
SendView (TutWD_EmailInteractiveForm_Init → Web Dynpro → Web Dynpro Components
→ EmailInteractiveFormComp → Views → SendView) and choose the Context tab of the
SendView):

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Design the SendView Layout

We will use the following SendView layout for sending an email.

View layout of the SendView modeled with the View Designer

To design this view, we have to add the UI elements listed below and set their properties. In
order to add these UI elements, choose the Layout tab of the SendView, add the UI elements
in the Outline view, and set their properties as stated below in the corresponding Properties
tab:

UI Element UI Element Embedded in ... UI Element Value

Type Name (Container Property
Name)
Label To_label Group0 Properties of To:
Label - text
Properties of To
Label – labelFor
(Set this property
after you entered
the next UI
element)
InputField To Group0 Properties of Email.To
InputField -
value (Select button
on the right in
Properties
window, then
select To field
from the context
tree.)
Button Button Group0 Properties of <>
Button - text
(Note: Leave
blank!)

Save the new metadata by choosing the (Save All Metadata) icon from the toolbar.

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Implementation of the logic

Follow these steps to implement the logic that sends the email to the recipient’s address.

5-1 Open the Actions tab of the SendView.

5-2 Create a new action called SendForm, and set the text property to Send Email. Use the
default settings for all other properties. Click Finish.
5-3 Choose the Layout tab of the SendView, and select the button in the Outline view. In the
corresponding Properties tab, apply the new action for the property onAction.
5-4 Switch to the Implementation tab, and add the following source code at the end of the
wdDoInit method.
Do not forget to enter your email address in the first and second lines of this code
snippet.

/*
The following lines initialize the context elements; enter your
email address in the setFrom-method
*/
wdContext.currentEmailElement().setFrom("your.address@provider.com
");
wdContext.currentEmailElement().setTo("your.address@provider.com
");
wdContext.currentEmailElement().setCc("");
wdContext.currentEmailElement().setBcc("");
wdContext.currentEmailElement().setSubject("Travel Request Form");
wdContext.currentEmailElement().setBody("You will find the
requested Travel Request Form in the attachment of this email.
Please fill out this form and send it back. \n\nYour Travel
Management Team");

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5-5 Add the following coding lines to the onActionSendForm method in order to send an
email with an attached interactive form using the Java Mail API.
Do not forget to enter the mail server host you want to use in the second line of this
code snippet.

Properties props = new Properties();

String host = "your.smtp host";
props.put("mail.smtp.host", host);
Session session = Session.getInstance(props, null);
MimeMessage message = new MimeMessage(session);
Address toAddress = new InternetAddress();
Address fromAddress = new InternetAddress();
Address ccAddress = new InternetAddress();
Address bccAddress = new InternetAddress();

try
{
/* Creates an email object with different parts, one for the
text and another for the attached file */
MimeMultipart multipart = new MimeMultipart();
BodyPart messageBodyPart = new MimeBodyPart();
/* the following statements build up the email */
if (! wdContext.currentEmailElement().getFrom().equals(""))
{
fromAddress = new
InternetAddress(wdContext.currentEmailElement().
getFrom());
message.setFrom(fromAddress);
}
if (! wdContext.currentEmailElement().getTo().equals(""))
{
toAddress = new
InternetAddress(wdContext.currentEmailElement().
getTo());
message.setRecipient(Message.RecipientType.TO,
toAddress);
}
if (! wdContext.currentEmailElement().getCc().equals(""))
{
ccAddress = new
InternetAddress(wdContext.currentEmailElement().
getCc());
message.setRecipient(Message.RecipientType.CC,
ccAddress);
}
if (! wdContext.currentEmailElement().getBcc().equals(""))
{
bccAddress = new
InternetAddress(wdContext.currentEmailElement().
getBcc());
message.setRecipient(Message.RecipientType.BCC,
bccAddress);
}
if (!
wdContext.currentEmailElement().getSubject().equals("")
)
{
message.setSubject(wdContext.currentEmailElement().
getSubject());
} Page 8 / 18
 if (! wdContext.currentEmailElement().getBody().equals(""))
{
messageBodyPart.setText(wdContext.currentEmailElement()
.getBody());
}
multipart.addBodyPart(messageBodyPart);
/* a new part will be added, in the complete email this will
be the attachment */
messageBodyPart = new MimeBodyPart();
String filename =
"temp\\webdynpro\\web\\local\\TutWD_EmailInteractiveForm
_Init\\Components\\com.sap.tut.wd.emailinteractiveform.EmailIn
teractiveFormComp\\TravelRequest.pdf";
DataSource source = new FileDataSource(filename);
messageBodyPart.setDataHandler(new DataHandler(source));
messageBodyPart.setFileName(source.getName());

messageBodyPart.setHeader("Content-Type","application/pdf");
multipart.addBodyPart(messageBodyPart);

message.setContent(multipart);
Transport.send(message);
}

/* the exceptions part */

catch (AddressException e)
{
wdComponentAPI.getMessageManager().reportWarning(e.
getLocalizedMessage());
e.printStackTrace();
}
catch (SendFailedException e)
{
wdComponentAPI.getMessageManager().reportWarning(e.
getLocalizedMessage());
e.printStackTrace();
}
catch (MessagingException e)
{
wdComponentAPI.getMessageManager().reportWarning(
e.getLocalizedMessage());
e.printStackTrace();
}

5-6 Include the Java Mail API.

You can do this by choosing Properties in the context menu of the
TutWD_EmailInteractiveForm_Init node in the Web Dynpro Explorer view.
Then choose Java Build Path, switch to the Libraries tab, select Add Variable…,
choose ECLIPSE_HOME, press the Extend… button, navigate to plugins →
com.tssap.ext.libs.j2ee_1.3 → lib, choose activation.jar, and press OK.
Repeat these steps for the library mail.jar, and press OK.
Select OK to close the Properties dialog.
5-7 On the Implementation tab of the SendView, choose Source → Organize Imports from
the context menu. This will automatically add all necessary import statements to your
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 source code. Select only types in the javax.mail.* or javax.activation.* packages for
this process.

5-8 Save the new metadata by choosing the (Save All Metadata) icon from the toolbar.

6 Receive Email with Attached Interactive Form

Create ReceivedView Context

6-1 Open the Data Modeler of the EmailInteractiveFormComp by double-clicking on the

EmailInteractiveFormComp node in the Web Dynpro Explorer view.
Create a data link between ReceivedView and the Component Controller. To do so, use
the arrow icon on the tool bar on the left side of the Diagram View.

6-2 Drag and drop the Email node on the right onto the Context node on the left side, check
the Email node, and confirm with OK. Choose Finish. The result should look like the
screenshot below:

6-3 Save the new metadata by choosing the (Save All Metadata) icon from the toolbar.

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Design ReceivedView layout

We will use the following ReceivedView layout for receiving an email:

View layout of the ReceivedView modeled with the View Designer

To design this view, we have to add the UI elements listed below and set their properties. In
order to add these UI elements, double-click on the ReceivedView within the Web Dynpro
Explorer, choose the Layout tab of the ReceivedView, add the UI elements in the Outline
view, and set their properties as stated below in the corresponding Properties tab:

UI Element UI Element Embedded in ... UI Element Value

Type Name (Container Name) Property
ToolBarButton RefreshButton ToolBar8 Properties of <>
Element - text
(Leave
blank!)
Table Table Group3 Properties of Email
Element -
dataSource
Properties of 100%
Element - width
Properties of true
Element -
readOnly

Open the context menu of the Table node in the Outline view. Choose Create Binding. Check
the context elements Attachment, SentDate, From, Subject, and ContentType. Press Next. On
the following screen, you can change the order of the table columns. Press Finish.

Save the new metadata by choosing the (Save All Metadata) icon from the toolbar.

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Implementation of the logic

Follow these steps to implement the logic that retrieves the messages and extracts the
interactive form.

6-4 In the Web Dynpro Explorer, double-click the Component Controller.

(TutWD_EmailInteractiveForm_Init → Web Dynpro → Web Dynpro Components →
EmailInteractiveFormComp → Component Controller), and switch to the Methods tab.
6-5 Create a new method called readInbox by clicking New, checking Method, pressing
Next, entering readInbox, and pressing Finish.
6-6 Switch to the Implementation tab of the EmailInteractiveFormComp, and add the
following source code at the end of the readInbox method.
Do not forget to enter your host (mail server), user name and password in the
corresponding coding lines.

while (!wdContext.nodeEmail().isEmpty())
{
wdContext.nodeEmail().removeElement(wdContext.nodeEmail().getElementAt(0));
}
wdContext.nodeEmail().invalidate();
Message[] message = new Message[1000];
IPublicEmailInteractiveFormComp.IEmailElement newEmailNodeElement;
//Set properties
// enter email server, for example Microsoft Exchange Server, here
String host = "your.mail.server";
// enter email account user name here
String username = "your username";
// enter email account password here
String password = "your password";
Properties props = new Properties();
props.put("mail.smtp.host", host);
//Set Session
Session session = Session.getInstance(props, null);
//Set the store
try
{
Store store = session.getStore("imap4");
store.connect(host,username,password);
//Get folder
Folder folder = store.getFolder("INBOX");
folder.open(Folder.READ_ONLY);
//Get Mails
message = folder.getMessages();
//Fill table with mails
for (int i = 0; i < message.length; i++)
{
// look for attachments only in mail which are marked as unread
if (message[i].isSet(Flags.Flag.SEEN) == false)
{

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 // only the mails with the right subject a processed
if (message[i].getSubject().equals("Travel Request Form"))
{
newEmailNodeElement = wdContext.createEmailElement();
newEmailNodeElement.setFrom(message[i].getFrom()[0].toString());
newEmailNodeElement.setSubject(message[i].getSubject());
newEmailNodeElement.setSentDate(message[i].getSentDate().toString());
//Check for right Attachment and extract it from the mail body
Object content = message[i].getContent();
if ( content != null && content instanceof Multipart)
{
for (int j = 0 , n = ((Multipart)content).getCount(); j < n; j++)
{
Part part = ((Multipart)content).getBodyPart(j);
String disposition = part.getDisposition();
if ( disposition != null && (disposition.equals(Part.ATTACHMENT) ||
disposition.equals(Part.INLINE)))
{
if (part.getFileName().equals("TravelRequest.pdf"))
{
newEmailNodeElement.setAttachment(true);
newEmailNodeElement.setContentType(part.getContentType().toString());
InputStream is = part.getInputStream();
ByteArrayOutputStream bo = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
int c;
while ((c = is.read()) > -1) bo.write(c);
byte[] pdfSource = bo.toByteArray();
newEmailNodeElement.setPdfSource(pdfSource);
break;
}
else
{
newEmailNodeElement.setAttachment(false);
}
}
}
}
wdContext.nodeEmail().addElement(newEmailNodeElement);
}
}
}
//Close connection and save changes (e.g. mark touched mails as read)
folder.close(true);
store.close();
}
catch (MessagingException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
catch (IOException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}

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6-7 On the Implementation tab of the EmailInteractiveFormComp, choose Source →
Organize Imports from the context menu. This will automatically add all necessary
import statements to your source code. Select only types in the javax.mail.* or
javax.io.* packages for this process.
6-8 Open the Actions tab of the ReceivedView.
6-9 Create a new action called RefreshPressed, and set Refresh as text. Use the default
settings for all other options. Click Finish.
6-10 Apply the new action to the button on the Layout tab. To do so, switch to the Layout tab
of the ReceivedView, select the button in the Outline view, switch to the corresponding
Properties tab, and set the onAction property of the button to RefreshPressed.
6-11 Switch to the Implementation tab of the ReceivedView, and add the following source
code at the end of the onActionRefreshPressed method.

wdThis.wdGetEmailInteractiveFormCompController().readInbox();

6-12 Save the new metadata by choosing the (Save All Metadata) icon from the toolbar.

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7 Display Received Interactive Form

Extend FormView context

The data for the travel request form is already defined in the controller context of the
FormView (see Context tab of FormView): Go to the Web Dynpro Explorer, double-click the
node for the FormView (TutWD_EmailInteractiveForm_Init → Web Dynpro → Web Dynpro
Components → EmailInteractiveFormComp → Views → FormView) and choose the Context
tab of the FormView):

To display the interactive form you received, you need to map the PdfSource context element
of the component controller and design the FormView layout.

7-1 Open the DataModeler of the EmailInteractiveFormComp by double-clicking the

Email InteractiveFormComp node in the Web Dynpro Explorer view. Create a data link
between FormView and the Component Controller. To do so, use the arrow icon on the
tool bar on the left side of the Diagram View.
7-2 Drag and drop the Email node from the right onto the Context node on the left side,
select PdfSource, and confirm with OK. Choose Finish.

Design FormView layout

In this section, you will extend the FormView with an interactive form element and a toolbar
button. The interactive form element is used for displaying the form, and the button is used
for returning to the ReceivedView.

7-3 In the Web Dynpro Explorer, double-click the node for the FormView (Web Dynpro →
Web Dynpro Components → EmailInteractiveFormComp → Views → FormView), and
choose the Layout tab.

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7-4 In the Outline view, insert a child of type InteractiveForm and Id InteractiveForm1 in
the Group1.
7-5 Select the InteractiveForm1 element in the Outline view, switch to the corresponding
Properties tab, and change the properties as shown below. Reference the corresponding
dataSource and pdfSource from the context, and set the height, mode, width, hAlign and
vAlign properties as shown below:

The dataSource property is used to specify the data source. The data source
encapsulates the data you can display in the form at runtime. For the dataSource
property, you need to specify the path to the context node providing the data. In this
step, we reference the DataSource context node, which is already defined in the context
structure of the template used (see Context tab of the FormView):

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 For more information related to context structures refer to the following tutorial, which
you can find in the standard SAP library documentation:
Application of Context Programming and Data Binding

The usePdf value of the mode property is used for displaying the original PDF
document. The data source and the template for the creation of the PDF document are
ignored.
The pdfSource property specifies the path of the context element that contains the PDF
document. You must bind this property to a context attribute of the type binary. In this
tutorial, the context attribute has already been defined in the context structure (see
graphic above). This property allows an application developer to access the binary file
and download it to the local hard disk or read and send the data to a backend.

7-6 Choose the Layout tab of the FormView. In the Outline view, insert a ToolBarItem of
type ToolBarButton into the ToolBar, and call it SubmitButton.

Create and assign actions

To be able to display the form attached to an email after double-clicking an unread message,
and to be able to return to the ReceivedView after clicking on the Submit button, you need to
create and assign actions.

7-7 Create a new action called SubmitPressed on the Actions tab of the FormView, and
choose ToReceivedView as the fire plug. Press Finish.
7-8 Switch to the Layout tab of the FormView, and select the SubmitButton in the Outline
view. In the Properties tab of the SubmitButton, assign this new action to the onAction
property, and set the text property to Submit.
7-9 Open the ReceivedView for editing. Create a new action called Selection on the Actions
tab of the ReceivedView, and choose ToFormView as the fire plug. Press Finish.
7-10 Switch to the Layout tab of the ReceivedView. In the Outline view, choose Table, and
assign this new action to the onLeadSelect property.

7-11 Save the new metadata by choosing the (Save All Metadata) icon from the toolbar.

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8 Building, Deploying and Running the Project

To complete the tutorial, Rebuild Project and Deploy New Archive and Run. A browser
window displays the user interface that you know from the overview section. You can send
the travel request form by email to your inbox and edit the form offline.
In order to simplify the test, you can send the filled-out form back to your inbox (in a real
scenario you would send the filled-out form back to a system inbox for further processing). If
the subject of the incoming email is Travel Request Form (due to the coding lines in step 6-
6), the unread message is displayed in the table after clicking the Refresh button on the
ReceivedView. After double-clicking the unread message, the corresponding interactive form
is displayed in the FormView.

Congratulations, you have completed the offline interactive form scenario based on sending
and receiving emails.

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