Introducing open-rfc: Calling SAP RFC from Node.js Without the SDK

If you ever wanted to call an SAP Remote Function Module from an application that is not ABAP, for example from JavaScript or Node.js, you probably discovered quite quickly that this is not as easy as it sounds. There is an RFC protocol. There are remote-enabled function modules. There is an npm package called node-rfc. So you would expect to install the package, add the connection details, and make the call. But npm install node-rfc was never the complete setup. You also need the SAP NetWeaver RFC SDK. You need the right authorization to download it from the SAP Support Portal, the correct build for your operating system and architecture, and the current supported patch level. The native libraries must be installed where the runtime can find them. On Linux that usually means configuring SAPNWRFC_HOME and the library search path. If no suitable prebuilt addon exists, you also need the C++ build toolchain, Python, node-gyp, and headers to compile the Node.js addon. Then this has to…