Subject: SAP-Fiori-Elements
Category: SAP User Experience / SAP UI5 / SAP S/4HANA
As businesses evolve, so do their needs for real-time analytics, operational dashboards, and intelligent reporting interfaces. SAP Fiori Elements offers a powerful way to build consistent, scalable, and user-friendly UIs for business applications, especially when embedded in dashboards and reporting use cases.
This article explores how to create complex dashboards and advanced reporting interfaces using SAP Fiori Elements—leveraging metadata-driven development, smart templates, and tight integration with SAP S/4HANA and SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP).
SAP Fiori Elements is a framework for building SAP Fiori apps based on UI5. Unlike freestyle apps that require custom coding, Fiori Elements uses metadata annotations to auto-generate standard UI patterns—accelerating development while ensuring UX consistency and SAP compliance.
For reporting and dashboards, Fiori Elements supports out-of-the-box templates like:
These templates can be extended with filters, charts, KPIs, and navigation to deliver sophisticated analytical tools.
Best suited for operational reporting. ALP combines powerful filtering (smart filter bar), KPIs, visual charts, and detailed tables in a single page.
Features:
Use Case: Monitor sales orders by region, customer, and product category with quick filters and trend charts.
A card-based dashboard that provides high-level insight into various business objects. Ideal for executives or operations managers.
Features:
Use Case: Executive dashboard showing revenue performance, delayed deliveries, and top-selling products across business units.
Combines reporting with drill-down into object details. Great for audit trails, financial reviews, and compliance dashboards.
Features:
Use Case: Financial report of vendor payments with ability to drill into individual invoice details.
Creating powerful dashboards using SAP Fiori Elements typically involves:
Core Data Services (CDS) Views
@UI.chart, @UI.lineItem)OData Services
@OData.publish: true in CDS or through SEGW projectAnnotations
@UI.selectionField, @UI.identificationFiori Launchpad Configuration
Optional: Extension with SAP BAS or VS Code
SAP Fiori Elements allows embedding of Smart KPIs, which provide actionable insights:
Example:
@UI.dataPoint: {
title: 'Gross Profit',
criticalityCalculation: {
improvementDirection: #Maximize,
toleranceRangeLowValue: '50000',
deviationRangeLowValue: '30000'
}
}
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Faster Time to Market | Reusable templates accelerate development |
| Lower TCO | Less custom code means reduced maintenance costs |
| Real-Time Analytics | Access live S/4HANA data for immediate decision-making |
| Improved UX | SAP Fiori guidelines ensure intuitive navigation |
| Scalable Architecture | Easily extendable with new data models and KPIs |
SAP Fiori Elements makes it easier than ever to develop complex dashboards and analytical reports by leveraging a metadata-driven, low-code approach. By combining CDS views, annotations, and smart templates like ALP and OVP, developers can deliver real-time, interactive reporting experiences with minimal effort and high user adoption.
As SAP continues to evolve toward S/4HANA and the Intelligent Enterprise, Fiori Elements will remain a cornerstone of scalable, modern UI development.
Keywords: SAP Fiori Elements, Analytical List Page, Overview Page, CDS Views, OData, Smart KPIs, SAPUI5, SAP S/4HANA, Metadata-Driven Development, SAP Dashboards