In today’s mobile-first world, users expect applications to perform seamlessly across devices—desktops, tablets, and smartphones. SAP Fiori Elements, a framework for building SAP Fiori applications using predefined templates and annotations, helps deliver enterprise-ready apps with reduced development effort. But to fully meet user expectations, responsiveness is critical.
This article explores how to create responsive SAP Fiori Elements applications, ensuring optimal usability and performance across all screen sizes and devices.
SAP Fiori Elements is a metadata-driven framework that enables the rapid development of SAP Fiori apps by leveraging:
Since much of the UI is auto-generated, ensuring responsiveness depends heavily on correct use of annotations, UI5 flexibility, and design-time configurations.
Responsiveness in SAP Fiori Elements is based on the SAP Fiori Design System and SAPUI5's responsive grid system, which automatically adapts layout and controls based on screen size. Key principles include:
Annotations are the foundation of Fiori Elements apps. To ensure responsiveness:
@UI.lineItem and @UI.selectionFields to define only relevant fields, reducing clutter on small screens.@UI.importance: #High | #Medium | #Low—critical for responsive behavior.@UI.hidden to hide non-essential fields for mobile views.The Flexible Column Layout (FCL) enables adaptive navigation between List Report and Object Page:
Enable FCL in the manifest (sap.ui.generic.app) configuration and let the framework manage layout transitions.
Tables and forms are central to most Fiori Elements apps:
growing and responsiveTable modes to ensure mobile readiness.@UI.facet annotations.SAP provides responsive floorplans out-of-the-box:
In the manifest.json file:
sap.ui.generic.app settings.Example:
"sap.ui.generic.app": {
"pages": {
"ListReport": {
"component": {
"settings": {
"responsiveTable": true
}
}
}
}
}
SAP offers tools to test responsiveness:
Creating responsive SAP Fiori Elements applications is not just about technical compliance—it’s about delivering a seamless and intuitive user experience across devices. By leveraging annotations, adaptive layouts, and UI5 best practices, developers can build robust enterprise apps with minimal custom coding while still ensuring high usability.
Whether you're designing a mobile-friendly dashboard or a detailed object page, SAP Fiori Elements offers the tools and structure to get there—responsively and efficiently.