In SAPUI5 development, building modular, maintainable, and reusable user interfaces is key to accelerating application development and ensuring consistency across projects. UI5 Fragments play a vital role in achieving these goals. They enable developers to encapsulate reusable UI parts that can be embedded in multiple views or applications without the overhead of a full controller or lifecycle.
This article explores the concept of UI5 Fragments, their types, use cases, and best practices for leveraging them effectively in SAPUI5 applications.
UI5 Fragments are lightweight, reusable UI parts defined separately from views but without their own controller. Unlike full views, fragments cannot run independently; instead, they are designed to be embedded inside views or other UI containers. Fragments help in reusing common UI sections like dialogs, forms, or toolbars across multiple screens, reducing duplication and promoting consistency.
UI5 supports three types of fragments, based on the format they use:
<mvc:View> root tag.Among these, XML Fragments are widely preferred due to their declarative nature and integration with the SAPUI5 tooling.
Example: A simple confirmation dialog fragment (ConfirmDialog.fragment.xml):
<core:FragmentDefinition
xmlns="sap.m"
xmlns:core="sap.ui.core">
<Dialog
id="confirmDialog"
title="Confirm Action"
type="Message"
icon="sap-icon://question-mark"
stretchOnPhone="true"
afterClose=".onDialogClose">
<Text text="Are you sure you want to proceed?"/>
<beginButton>
<Button text="Yes" press=".onConfirm"/>
</beginButton>
<endButton>
<Button text="No" press=".onCancel"/>
</endButton>
</Dialog>
</core:FragmentDefinition>
onOpenConfirmDialog: function () {
if (!this._oConfirmDialog) {
this._oConfirmDialog = sap.ui.xmlfragment("my.namespace.view.ConfirmDialog", this);
this.getView().addDependent(this._oConfirmDialog);
}
this._oConfirmDialog.open();
},
onConfirm: function () {
// Handle confirmation logic
this._oConfirmDialog.close();
},
onCancel: function () {
this._oConfirmDialog.close();
},
onDialogClose: function () {
// Optional cleanup
}
Here, the fragment is loaded once and reused, improving performance.
addDependent) to ensure proper lifecycle management.fragments and use clear naming to avoid confusion.| Aspect | UI5 Fragment | UI5 View |
|---|---|---|
| Independent Use | No (must be embedded) | Yes |
| Controller | No (uses host controller) | Yes |
| Lifecycle | No full lifecycle | Full lifecycle management |
| Use Case | Reusable UI parts (dialogs, forms, toolbars) | Complete screens/pages |
UI5 Fragments are an essential tool in the SAPUI5 developer’s toolkit for building modular, maintainable, and efficient user interfaces. By encapsulating reusable UI components without the overhead of full views, fragments help maintain consistency, speed up development, and reduce redundancy.
Understanding how to define, load, and manage fragments effectively is crucial for developing professional SAP Fiori applications that meet enterprise requirements.