SAP EP – Netweaver Portal

Symptom

You are using “Request Support” form in Enterprise Portal 7 to create a message in the Service Desk of the SAP Solution Manager.

Other terms

EPSolman, “Request Support” option, “Report a Problem” option, portal, Enterprise Portal (EP), SAP NetWeaver (NW), SAP Solution Manager (Solman), Service Desk (also known as Incident Management)

Reason and Prerequisites

Prerequisites:
An SAP Solution Manager back-end system is installed and customized.
See SAP Service Marketplace at:
http://service.sap.com/instguides -> SAP Solution Manager -> Installation Guides.The SAP Solution Manager system is defined in the System Landscape.
See “Running the System Landscape Wizard”:
http://help.sap. com/saphelp_nw70ehp1/helpdata/en/47/8c1e438d7017fce10000000a42189c/frameset.htmThe plug-in is installed on the SAP Solution Manager system.
See SAP Notes 215609 and 177895.Portal users have a valid user ID in the target SAP Solution Manager system.
This ID can be defined by user mapping. The corresponding Solution Manager user must have authorization to open support messages.In federated portal network landscapes, the Request Support application must only exist on the producer portal.
If the application exists on both the producer and the consumer portal, and the application is activated from a remote-based iView on the consumer, the local version of the application runs on the producer – even if that is not the version that is connected to the SAP Solution Manager back-end system.
More information: Implementing a Federated Portal Network:
http://help.sap. com/saphelp_nw70ehp1/helpdata/en/5b/9f2d4293825333e10000000a155106/frameset.htm
‘Remote Delta Link’ Mode:
http://help.sap. com/saphelp_nw70ehp1/helpdata/en/43/23fabdcad10d23e10000000a1553f7/frameset.htm

Solution

This note is a central entry point for information and notes (consulting and bug fixes) related to the “Request Support” iView (EPSolman).
With the EP “Request Support” form, users can enter a technical support message directly from the EP Web interface and send it to the Service Desk within SAP Solution Manager.
Currently the “Request Support” form is maintained on the following EP versions:
EP700
EP701
EP702
EP730

Known issues

Here you can find known issues and corresponding solutions of the “Request Support” iView.

Symptom 1:

You receive a Portal Runtime Error when accessing the “Request Support” form.
Reason:

This is caused by a coding error in EP701 SP3 patch#1 & patch#2.
Solution:

Implement EP701 SP3 patch#3.
See Note 1347761 for more details.

Symptom 2:

You input values and click the Submit button.
Intermittently you receive a Portal Runtime Error. When you check the portal trace log, you find the following information:
java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.sap.portals.epsolman.EPSolman$EPSolmanDynPage.doProcessAfterInput(EPSolman.java:169)
Reason:

EPSolman uses the portal context to store user input values.
SAP Note 802015 explains the reason:
WE DO NOT RECOMMEND TO USE THE CONTEXT FOR STORING DATA, BECAUSE
IT MIGHT BE RELEASED EACH TIME THE WEB SERVER NEEDS RESOURCES.
Solution 1:

Implement the following EP versions & SP levels:
EP700 SP21
EP701 SP5
EP702 SP2
EP730
Solution 2:

If you want to get a fix for your current EP version & SP level, you can send SAP a Support message with component SV-SMG-SUP.

Symptom 3:

You create support message successfully.
But on the result screen, the created message number is not displayed.
Reason:

This is a coding error in EP701 SP4 only.
Solution:

Download the attachment “Note641707_EP701SP4.zip”. Then follow the steps in “ReadMe.txt” to install the fix.

Symptom 4:

You create support message successfully.
But the created message does not have Reporter field assigned.
Reason:

This is a coding error in recognizing portal users.
Prerequisites:

Every portal user has a corresponding SAP Solution Manager user with the same user name.
Solution 1:

Implement the following EP versions & SP levels:
EP700 SP21
EP701 SP6
EP702 SP2
EP730
Solution 2:

If you want to get a fix for your current EP version & SP level, you can send SAP a Support message with component SV-SMG-SUP.

Symptom 5:

You create a support message successfully.
But the created message does not have IBase / Component fields assigned.
Reason:

This is a coding error and portal configuration issue.
Solution:

Step 1): If your SAP Solution Manager is SP15-SP17, you need to implement Note 1254835. Ignore this step if your SAP Solution Manager is SP18 or higher.
Step 2): Ensure that the portal system is maintained correctly in the SAP Solution Manager system landscape (transaction SMSY) and IBase (transaction IB53).
Step 3): In EPSolman iView, check the following 2 properties:
“R/3 Installation Number of the Solution Manager must be valid”
“SystemID of the Portal for support issues –non critical”
“R/3 Installation Number…” is the portal system’s installation number.
“SystemID…” is the portal system’s SystemID. Only the first 3 characters of the SystemID will be sent to SAP Solution Manager.

Symptom 6:

You create a support message successfully with an attachment.
In the created message, the attachment does not have the same file name as the uploaded file. Instead, the name is something like: “_htmlb124514644540258314.tmp”.
Reason:

This is a coding error in setting the attachment file name.
Solution 1:

Implement the following EP versions & SP levels:
EP700 SP21
EP701 SP6
EP702 SP2
EP730
Solution 2:

If you want to get a fix for your current EP version & SP level, you can send SAP a Support message with component SV-SMG-SUP.