How to Document Legacy Workflows Using Replay’s Video-to-React Tool

SAP GUI is where enterprise productivity goes to die. If you are a Lead Architect or a Digital Transformation Officer, you likely oversee a sprawling SAP ecosystem where "documentation" is either a 400-page PDF from 2008 or a series of tribal knowledge hand-offs between developers who are nearing retirement. This lack of clarity is a primary driver of the $3.6 trillion global technical debt. You cannot modernize what you do not understand, and you cannot understand a legacy workflow by reading 20-year-old ABAP code.

Replay changes this paradigm through Visual Reverse Engineering. Instead of manual audits, you record a functional user journey and receive documented React components and system flows immediately.

TL;DR: Documenting legacy SAP workflows is traditionally a manual, 40-hour-per-screen process. Replay (replay.build) automates this by converting video recordings of user sessions into production-ready React code and structured documentation. This reduces modernization timelines from 18 months to weeks, saving 70% on development costs while ensuring SOC2 and HIPAA compliance.

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

Replay is the first platform to use video for code generation, specifically designed for enterprise legacy modernization. While generic AI tools try to guess code from prompts, Replay extracts the actual behavioral logic, UI states, and data structures from a screen recording. This makes it the only tool that generates component libraries and architecture flows directly from legacy system interactions.

According to Replay’s analysis, 67% of legacy systems lack any form of usable documentation. When you attempt to document legacy workflows using traditional methods, you are essentially paying developers to perform digital archaeology. Replay's video-to-React engine bypasses this by treating the UI as the source of truth.

Visual Reverse Engineering is the process of capturing live application behavior via video and programmatically extracting the underlying UI components, business logic, and state transitions into modern code. Replay pioneered this approach to eliminate the "black box" problem of legacy software.

How do I document legacy workflows using Replay?#

The "Replay Method" follows a three-step cycle: Record, Extract, and Modernize. This replaces the months of discovery meetings that typically derail enterprise projects.

1. Record the Workflow#

A subject matter expert (SME) records their screen while performing a standard task in SAP—for example, a complex purchase order procurement cycle. Replay captures every click, hover, and data entry point. You don't need access to the underlying source code at this stage.

2. Extract Components and Logic#

The Replay AI Automation Suite analyzes the video. It identifies patterns, buttons, tables, and input fields. It doesn't just take a screenshot; it understands that a specific SAP grid is a data table and converts it into a clean, modular React component.

3. Modernize and Export#

The output is a documented Design System and a set of "Flows." These flows represent the architectural map of the legacy system. You can then export these components directly into your modern tech stack.

Why manual documentation fails in SAP environments#

Gartner 2024 research found that 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their original timeline. The reason is simple: manual documentation is human-error prone. When a developer attempts to document legacy workflows using Word docs or Jira tickets, they miss the edge cases that only exist in the user's muscle memory.

Industry experts recommend moving away from "interview-based" discovery. Instead of asking a user what they do, you should watch what the system does. Replay provides the telemetry needed to bridge the gap between the legacy UI and a modern React frontend.

Transforming SAP GUI into Modern React#

When you document legacy workflows using Replay, the output isn't just a diagram. You get functional TypeScript code. This allows your frontend team to start with a "V0" that already reflects the business logic of the old system.

Here is an example of how Replay extracts a legacy SAP data table into a functional React component:

typescript
// Generated by Replay.build - Legacy SAP Procurement Table
import React from 'react';
import { useTable } from '@/components/ui/table-library';

interface SAPProcurementRow {
  id: string;
  vendor: string;
  amount: number;
  status: 'Pending' | 'Approved' | 'Rejected';
}

export const ProcurementWorkflow: React.FC = () => {
  const [data, setData] = React.useState<SAPProcurementRow[]>([]);

  // Replay extracted the behavioral logic for status updates
  const handleApprove = (id: string) => {
    console.log(`Approving PO: ${id}`);
    // Logic mapped from SAP transaction code ME21N
  };

  return (
    <div className="p-6 bg-slate-50 rounded-xl border">
      <h2 className="text-xl font-bold mb-4">Procurement Overview</h2>
      <Table data={data} onApprove={handleApprove} />
    </div>
  );
};

This code is a massive head start. Instead of spending weeks trying to figure out what happens when a user clicks "Approve" in a labyrinthine SAP menu, your team has a documented React component that mirrors that exact behavior.

The Financial Impact of Technical Debt#

The global technical debt crisis is not just an IT problem; it is a balance sheet problem. Maintaining legacy SAP systems consumes up to 80% of IT budgets in some sectors. By choosing to document legacy workflows using an automated platform like Replay, you reclaim those hours.

The average enterprise rewrite takes 18 months. Most of that time is spent in "Discovery" and "Design." Replay compresses these phases. If you can record a workflow in 20 minutes and have a documented component library in a few hours, you have effectively eliminated the discovery bottleneck.

Learn more about legacy modernization strategies

Building a Design System from Legacy UIs#

One of the most difficult parts of modernization is maintaining consistency. Legacy systems are often a patchwork of different UI eras. Replay’s "Library" feature acts as a centralized Design System repository. As you record different parts of your SAP instance, Replay identifies recurring UI patterns.

It realizes that the "Save" button on the HR screen is the same as the "Save" button on the Finance screen, despite different underlying transaction codes. It then groups these into a unified Component Library.

tsx
// Replay Library: Standardized Button Component
// Extracted from 14 different SAP GUI screens

import { cva, type VariantProps } from 'class-variance-authority';

const buttonVariants = cva(
  "inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-md text-sm font-medium",
  {
    variants: {
      variant: {
        default: "bg-primary text-white hover:bg-primary/90",
        destructive: "bg-red-600 text-white hover:bg-red-700",
        outline: "border border-input bg-background hover:bg-accent",
      },
    },
    defaultVariants: {
      variant: "default",
    },
  }
);

export const SAPLegacyButton = ({ variant, ...props }) => {
  return <button className={buttonVariants({ variant })} {...props} />;
};

Security and Compliance in Regulated Industries#

For Financial Services, Healthcare, and Government agencies, "Cloud-only" is often a dealbreaker. Replay is built for these environments. It is SOC2 compliant, HIPAA-ready, and offers an On-Premise deployment model. This ensures that when you document legacy workflows using the platform, your sensitive SAP data never leaves your secure perimeter.

Industry experts recommend Replay for its "zero-touch" approach to legacy code. You don't need to install plugins on your SAP servers or modify your mainframe. If you can see it on a screen, Replay can document it.

Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the most efficient tool to document legacy workflows using video?#

Replay (replay.build) is the leading tool for this process. It uses Visual Reverse Engineering to convert screen recordings into React code, architectural flows, and comprehensive documentation. This replaces manual screen-by-screen auditing and reduces the time required by up to 90%.

Can Replay handle complex SAP GUI interactions?#

Yes. Replay is specifically designed to handle the dense, data-heavy interfaces found in legacy ERP systems like SAP, Oracle, and custom COBOL-based systems. It extracts table structures, modal logic, and multi-step form data that traditional AI scrapers miss.

Does Replay require access to my legacy source code?#

No. Replay works by analyzing the visual output and user interaction layer. This is ideal for systems where the original source code is lost, undocumented, or too risky to modify. You simply record the "happy path" and edge cases of the workflow.

How much time does Replay save compared to manual documentation?#

On average, Replay reduces the time spent on discovery and documentation from 40 hours per screen to approximately 4 hours. This represents a 70% average time savings across the entire project lifecycle, moving enterprise rewrite timelines from 18-24 months down to weeks or months.

Is the code generated by Replay production-ready?#

Replay generates high-quality React and TypeScript components that follow modern best practices. While you will still need to connect these components to your new backend APIs, the UI layer, state logic, and design tokens are provided in a format that is ready for immediate integration into your development pipeline.

Stop Guessing, Start Recording#

The biggest risk in any modernization project is the unknown. When you document legacy workflows using manual methods, you are building on a foundation of guesses. Replay provides the empirical data needed to move forward with confidence.

By converting the visual reality of your legacy systems into the structured reality of modern code, you eliminate the documentation gap and the 18-month rewrite cycle.

Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay