Subject: SAP-Fiori-Elements
SAP Fiori Elements is a framework designed to accelerate the development of SAP Fiori applications by providing pre-built templates and a consistent UI approach based on metadata-driven development. Instead of manually coding every UI component, developers can leverage Fiori Elements to generate UIs from OData services enriched with annotations, drastically reducing development time and ensuring consistent adherence to SAP Fiori design principles.
Understanding the architecture of SAP Fiori Elements is essential for developers and architects to effectively build scalable, maintainable, and performant SAP applications.
SAP Fiori Elements is a library of predefined floorplans and UI patterns that dynamically generate SAP Fiori apps based on metadata and annotations. It supports various application types such as List Reports, Object Pages, Overview Pages, and Worklists.
By using annotations in CDS (Core Data Services) views or OData services, Fiori Elements interprets the data model, UI semantics, and behavior rules to build the user interface automatically.
- Annotations: The foundation of Fiori Elements is metadata annotations defined in CDS views or OData services. Annotations describe UI elements like fields, labels, behavior (e.g., sorting, filtering), and semantic information.
- OData Services: These provide the data and metadata consumed by the front end. They must comply with SAP Gateway or OData V2/V4 standards.
- The UI is rendered using SAPUI5, SAP’s JavaScript UI library.
- Fiori Elements uses SAPUI5 controls but hides low-level coding from the developer, focusing instead on metadata and configuration.
SAP Fiori Elements provides several templates optimized for common scenarios:
- List Report: Displays lists with filtering, sorting, and navigation capabilities.
- Object Page: Shows detailed information about a single business object.
- Overview Page: A dashboard-like page aggregating cards and KPIs.
- Worklist: Focuses on tasks or approvals with action enablement.
- Defined by the backend system (e.g., SAP S/4HANA).
- CDS views or custom OData services expose business entities with annotation metadata.
- Provides semantic definitions like required fields, labels, value helps, and validation rules.
- SAP Gateway acts as the bridge exposing OData services.
- Supports query options for filtering, pagination, and deep entity navigation.
- Handles transactions and operations triggered from the UI.
- SAPUI5-based front end hosted on SAP Fiori Launchpad or standalone.
- Interprets OData annotations to dynamically render UI controls.
- Supports responsive and adaptive layouts based on device form factors.
- Consistency: Standardized UI behavior across apps ensures a unified user experience.
- Productivity: Metadata-driven approach reduces manual coding and testing.
- Extensibility: Developers can extend apps by adding custom actions, fields, or logic using extension points.
- Maintainability: Changes in backend metadata automatically reflect in the UI without rewriting code.
- Define Data Model: Create CDS views or OData services with UI annotations.
- Expose Service: Publish OData service via SAP Gateway.
- Configure App: Use manifest.json and annotation files to define app behavior.
- Render UI: SAP Fiori Elements framework reads metadata and builds UI at runtime.
- User Interaction: UI controls interact with backend via OData for CRUD and navigation.
While Fiori Elements reduces the need for custom UI coding, scenarios often require extensions:
- UI Extensions: Adding custom fields or actions using extension points.
- Controller Logic: Injecting custom business logic with minimal code.
- Custom Annotations: Defining new UI behaviors or visualizations.
These extensions follow SAP’s best practices to keep the core app maintainable.
The SAP Fiori Elements Architecture is a powerful abstraction layer that empowers developers to build consistent, scalable, and efficient SAP Fiori applications with minimal effort. By leveraging metadata and pre-built floorplans, it accelerates delivery while ensuring adherence to SAP Fiori design principles. Understanding this architecture enables SAP professionals to harness the full potential of SAP Fiori Elements in modern enterprise scenarios.
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