Develop Add-On (DI/UI) On Sap Business One Without SDK

[Former Member]

Hello I'm interesting if I can develop add-on for sbo if I have licence of sbo client. Is there any problem in it? Is there any Licence guide about this?

[Former Member]

I understand that I must buy the SDK license. When I buy SDK of SAP, do I get an SBO licence too or I must purchase it separately?

[Johan_H]

Hi Malkiel,

If you are planning to develop addons for B1, for the purpose of selling them, I recommend that you contact SAP directly.

As I recall, you need to sign a contract with SAP, and there are probably some requirements.

If you are planning to develop addons for a single customer only, it will be cheapest if the customer obtains the SDK license.

Either way, you will need at least one user license and the SDK license.

Regards,

Johan

[former_member233854]

I really don`t understand what the guys here mean with SDK License, in my experience since the customer has a SBO he will have license and this is enough to develop.

I don`t see how you can break the system using the DI API, the DI API exists exactly not to break the system, most of add-ons is not SAP certified and if it is certified the support usually happens with the add-on manufacturer not SAP.

Of course if you want to sell your add-on, SAP has that SAP Development Partner program where you will be a real partner and you will be able to sell blablabla

And again there are a lot of non certified add-ons running everywhere and SAP will give you support for your database! They say if you do any changes direct in the database not using the DI API, they can refuse the support.

[Johan_H]

Hi Danilo,

You are right that the DI API is meant to not break B1, but it has a lot of bugs. Such a bug can cause inconsistencies.

With an SDK license SAP takes responsibility for such bugs. Without it, the assumption is that the addon is faulty, and usually SAP will not even investigate.

Of course SAP will not stop supporting an installation if your run an uncertified addon, but the system has special fields in most tables, from which SAP support can determine whether a database transaction was made manually, or with the DI API, or even with direct SQL. When they investigate an issue, and any one of these fields tells them an addon was involved, they will tell you to contact the developer to solve the issue.

In a nutshell, you can develop and/or run addons without an SDK license (and many do), but the customer is taking a risk.

Regards,

Johan

[former_member201110]

Hi folks,

It's my understanding that you MUST have a SDK license to do ANY development using the DI API. The licensing section in the SDK appears to support that. Can you point me at any official statement that says that you are allowed to write your own code that references the DI API? I know that there is no license enforced within the DI API itself so it's quite possible to just start using the DI API without a license but that does breach SAP's licensing rules (as I understand it).

Kind Regards,

Owen

[Johan_H]

Hi Owen,

Owen Slater wrote:

...I know that there is no license enforced within the DI API itself...

Of course there is. Without a license, you cannot access the company object, and if you cannot access the company object, you can neither access nor manipulate data. For the same reason, technically the UI API cannot be used freely as you said. simply because you need a license to open the B1 client, before your addon can even start. And even then you can only access those parts of the GUI that your license and authorizations give you access to.

Owen Slater wrote:

...so it's quite possible to just start using the DI API without a license but that does breach SAP's licensing rules (as I understand it)....

The thing is, are we talking about a license to create / use the addon or to sell the addon ? If you want to develop and sell an addon, and you want your addon to be recognized / endorsed by SAP, you will need a contract with SAP, which probably includes a term that you must have an SDK license, and probably some certificates, and such. Not having any of that, will really only endanger your and your customer's support from SAP (barring untrue claims of SAP endorsement).

Its like a ripping the final chapter out of a book, and writing your own ending because you didn't like the original. The writer or publisher will only care if you go and start selling your version of the story without their permission.

To use any addon, official or not, all you need is any SAP license that allows you to manipulate data in the B1 system. However, you cannot expect SAP to fix your system if an addon created by an unlicensed developer broke it.

It is a bit like most product guarantees really. It is only valid if the installer or maintenance company is certified by the producer. If you go and buy a brand x sunroof from Hongkong, and install it yourself in your brand new BMW, and it starts leaking water, BMW is not going to reimburse you for costs incurred. If you have an original BMW sunroof installed by an official BMW dealer, either the dealer and/or BMW will be liable for the costs of a botched job or faulty product.

All that said, and for full disclosure I develop addons for our own use only, and we have an SDK license.

All in all, this is really just an interesting discussion, and I would definitely recommend that a developer get an SDK license, and that a customer only buys certified addons, or develop them for their own use, with an SDK license.

Regards,

Johan

[former_member201110]

Hi Malkiel,

Any development done using the DI API directly requires you to purchase the SAP developer's license.This is a separate license from the user licensing. You can use the UI API without additional licensing (apart from your user license).

Kind Regards,

Owen

[Former Member]

So you say that I can develop UI Add-Ons without developers license but DI Add-Ons I can't? Do you have any approval or something like... I'm asking this question because I have a costumer who wants me to develop DI and UI Add-Ons. So I need to know if there is any problem to do this.

[Johan_H]

Hi Malkiel,

Technically and legally you can also develop applications with the DI API. However, without the SDK license, your addon will not be supported by SAP in any way.

That means that:

• if your addon has a bug, you are on your own to figure it out.
• if your addon creates inconsistencies in the B1 system database, you and your customer are on your own.
• if your addon destabilizes the B1 system, you and your customer are on your own.
• if your addon creates incorrect transactions in the B1 system, you and your customer are on your own.

So, you can do it, but either you or your customer should get an SDK license, or make them aware of the risk to their SAP support.

To use your DI API addon, it is sufficient that your customer has at least one professional license.

Regards,

Johan

[former_member233854]

as far as I know if your customer has SBO up and running he will have a license for sure, so I don`t see any reason for you not to develop an add-on.

He would have the DI API, it just a matter of adding the library in VS for example, and develop the add-on.

[Former Member]

Hi Johan,

Let's suppose I have developed my own addon using DI API and I don't have a developer's license. I've run some tests in another database and it's working fine without bugs/errors. If I need help from SAP in the future because of some error/inconsistency in my database that I'm clompletely sure it wasn't caused by my addon, can I still have it?

Regards,

Rudá

[Johan_H]

Hi Rudá,

The thing with B1 is, that most all functionality and data is linked together in ways that are not readily visible or known to users and even experienced developers.

That is why the SDK even exists, so you can create a document, without having to worry about what that does to accounting, prices, stock, reporting, etc, etc.

In other words, however sure you think you are that the error/inconsistency in the database wasn't caused by your addon, you really can't be.

When you or your customer use an uncertified addon, you are taking a huge risk with support. It can go four ways:

1. SAP says: ask the developer of the addon
2. SAP investigates, and says: ask the developer of the addon
3. SAP investigates, and says: ask the developer of the addon, and sends you a bill for the investigation.
4. SAP investigates, and fixes the problem.

Overly simplified, that makes for a 75% chance that you or your customer are screwed, if an error or inconsistency occurs.

Regards,

Johan

[Johan_H]

Hi Malkiel,

The license should not be a problem. Not having the SDK, is simply going to make it harder to develop your addon, as you have no reference document, no example code, and you need to manually reference the driver.

Please just give it a try with the DI API first. Start a new (Windows) project, and reference the SAPbobsCOM.dll driver.

Regards,

Johan