No-Code REST API Integration for SAP ERP & HANA (2025) | DreamFactory Guide

Learn how to connect DreamFactory to SAP HANA on-premise and get access to HANA and other SAP ERP’s on HANA with a REST API connector. Instantly auto-generate secure REST APIs, integrate with apps, BI dashboards, and AI pipelines—without custom coding.

Introduction

Enterprises running SAP HANA on-premise or SAP ERP often struggle to expose their data securely and flexibly to modern applications. Whether the goal is integration with BI dashboards, enterprise apps, or AI/LLM pipelines, building custom connectors is costly and time-consuming.

This is where DreamFactory’s REST API connector for SAP HANA makes the difference. With automated API generation and enterprise-grade security, DreamFactory allows you to turn SAP HANA into a RESTful API platform in minutes.

Why Use DreamFactory as a REST API Connector for SAP HANA and SAP ERP?

Traditional HANA integrations involve complex drivers, middleware, or custom coding. DreamFactory eliminates these barriers:

• Auto-Generated REST APIs: Instantly expose SAP tables and views as REST endpoints.
  
  
• RBAC Security: Enforce fine-grained, role-based permissions by service, table, and HTTP verb.
  
  
• Cross-Platform Integration: Connect HANA and ERP data to mobile apps, BI tools, web applications, or large language models.
  
  
• Rapid Deployment: Replace weeks of development with a configuration that takes minutes.
  
  

This makes DreamFactory one of the fastest ways to create REST APIs for SAP ERP and SAP HANA on-premise systems.

Step 1 – Get DreamFactory Up and Running

If you haven’t done so already, either sign up for a free hosted DreamFactory trial lab or install DreamFactory on your local computer or on a server. 

Step 2 – Select Your Database

To start building your SAP HANA REST API, you’ll login to the DreamFactory administration interface, choose Connect to Database

From there you’ll select the SAP HANA service type by finding the SAP HANA option or by searching for it in the search bar.

Step 3 – Configure Your API

Here you will be prompted to provide a name, label, and description. The latter two are used just for reference purposes within the administration interface, however the name value is particularly important because as you’ll soon see it will comprise part of the API URL.

Then, you’ll be prompted to provide the database connection credentials after pressing ‘next.’. This should really be nothing new; you’ll supply a host name, username, password, and database. Additionally, you can optionally specify other configuration characteristics such as driver options, the time zone, and caching preferences.

Step 4 – Choose your Security Access

Here you will be prompted to easily choose the type of access you want for this API service by just simply selecting each of the tiles and the type of read, write, or full access.  This can also be adjusted later within the Role Bases Access Control Interface, giving you additional fine grained access controls.  Once complete, simply select Apply Security Configuration.  THAT'S IT! 

You have now in less than 2 mins created a new REST API against SAP HANA that has automatically generated the API, API Docs, RBAC, and the API Key that can be interrogated into your applications!

Step 5 – Test out Your Newly Secured API

DreamFactory automatically scanned your SAP HANA database schema and generated full API Documentation end points for easy testing.  You can also test your API authentication key that was automatically generated for you when you set up your API right here in the DreamFactory Interface. 

Simply choose the End Point that you gave the API access to and then choose your API key, and hit Test Auth.  

These features ensure that APIs are easy to understand, use, and integrate, significantly reducing development time and enhancing collaboration across teams. The documentation is continuously updated to reflect any changes in the API, ensuring accuracy and reliability.

The SAP HANA API supports a bunch of powerful features, including:

• Master Credentials – Master credentials for your remote SAP HANA database are encrypted in DreamFactory.
• Data Security – The permissions granted by the SAP HANA credentials you specify are honored by the REST API.
• Query Filters – Pass in filter strings as an API parameter with any number of AND / OR logical operations.
• Related Objects – The API can return an array of objects and related objects in a sub-array with a single API call.
• Stored Procedures and Views – Call SAP HANA stored procedures and views.
• Paging and Sorting – Use URL parameters to limit and sort records returned to the client.
• Continue or Rollback – The API provides parameters to continue processing an array of objects in spite of errors, or to rollback the entire operation if any error is encountered.
• Schema Support – The API can return information about what tables are available, as well as access rights for each table and field.
• Lookup Keys – The API can inherit the same permissions on the remote SAP HANA database, based on user roles.
• Record-Level Access – DreamFactory enables fine-grained control of records inside a given table.
• Once you’re familiar with the SAP HANA API, it’s time to build an application! You can call the API just as you would any REST API or use one of our client SDKs to help accelerate your development and simplify your code.

Best Practices:

Adding a REST API to your SAP HANA database can be a great way to make your data more accessible and usable. However, follow best practices to ensure that your REST API is secure, performant, and easy to use. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:

• Use SSL encryption: By enabling SSL encryption on your REST API, you can ensure that all communication between the client and the server is secure and encrypted. This helps to protect sensitive data and prevent eavesdropping or man-in-the-middle attacks.
• Use OAuth2 authentication: Implementing OAuth2 authentication can help to secure your REST API by requiring clients to obtain a token before accessing the API. This helps to prevent unauthorized access to your data and ensures that clients are only accessing the data they're authorized to access.
• Optimize performance: To ensure that your REST API is well performing, optimize queries and minimize the amount of data returned to the client. Caching and compression can also help reduce the load on your server and improve response times.
• Implement rate limiting: By implementing rate limiting on your REST API, you can prevent clients from overloading your server and ensure that your API remains responsive. This helps to prevent Denial of Service (DoS) attacks and ensures that your API is available for all clients.
• Use a consistent API design: To ensure that your REST API is easy to use and understand, it's important to use a consistent API design. This includes using standardized HTTP methods and response codes, as well as consistent naming and formatting of API endpoints.

FAQ

What’s the best no-code API connector for SAP HANA?

DreamFactory is one of the best no-code API connectors for SAP HANA in 2025, offering instant auto-generated REST APIs, enterprise-grade security, and flexible deployment options.

Why is no-code important for SAP HANA integrations?

No-code platforms eliminate the need for custom middleware, speeding up delivery, reducing maintenance, and making API publishing accessible to both developers and non-technical teams.

How should I evaluate SAP HANA API connectors?

Evaluate based on security, performance, publishing ease, cost, and deployment flexibility. DreamFactory scores strongly across all these categories.