SAP Fiori Elements has revolutionized SAP app development by enabling the rapid creation of standardized, role-based applications with minimal UI coding. At the heart of this approach lie Core Data Services (CDS) views, which provide a powerful way to define and expose business data models with rich metadata. This article explores how to develop Fiori Elements apps leveraging CDS views, highlighting the benefits, architecture, and development process.
Core Data Services (CDS) views are a semantic layer on top of the database, allowing developers to define rich, reusable data models directly in the SAP backend (ABAP layer). Unlike traditional database views, CDS views support advanced features like annotations, associations, and expressions, which describe not only the data structure but also business logic and UI behavior.
CDS views play a crucial role in SAP S/4HANA and SAP Fiori app development by serving as the primary data source for Fiori Elements apps.
Using CDS views as data providers for Fiori Elements apps offers several key advantages:
Annotations in CDS views are metadata tags that provide additional information about fields, UI elements, and behavior. For example, annotations can specify field labels, control visibility, define default sorting, or declare which fields are filterable.
Associations link CDS views to related entities, enabling navigation between objects in the UI (e.g., linking sales orders to customers).
CDS views can define calculated fields and expressions that compute values dynamically, which can then be displayed in the UI.
CDS views are exposed as OData services via the SAP Gateway, making them consumable by Fiori Elements apps.
DEFINE VIEW statement.@UI.selectionField, @UI.lineItem, @Consumption.valueHelpDefinition.Example snippet:
@AbapCatalog.sqlViewName: 'ZSD_SALESORD'
@OData.publish: true
@UI.headerInfo: { typeName: 'Sales Order', typeNamePlural: 'Sales Orders' }
define view Z_C_SalesOrder as select from sales_order {
key sales_order_id,
sales_order_date,
customer_name,
total_amount
}
@OData.publish: true automatically generates an OData service.Developing SAP Fiori Elements apps with CDS views is a powerful approach that combines efficient backend data modeling with metadata-driven UI generation. This synergy enables developers to build scalable, maintainable, and user-friendly enterprise applications rapidly.
Mastering CDS views and their annotations unlocks the full potential of Fiori Elements, allowing you to deliver consistent, performant, and visually appealing SAP applications aligned with modern user experience standards.