In SAP-UI5 development, themability is a core feature that enables applications to maintain consistent branding and look-and-feel aligned with corporate identity or user preferences. While SAP provides standard Fiori themes such as sap_fiori_3, there are often business needs to create custom UI5 themes tailored to specific branding guidelines or to enhance user experience. This article explains how to create custom UI5 themes, key concepts, and best practices to deliver visually cohesive SAP-UI5 applications.
- Brand Identity: Reflect company colors, logos, and fonts.
- User Experience: Tailor visuals to improve usability and accessibility.
- Differentiation: Distinguish applications within an SAP landscape.
- Localization: Adapt styles for regional preferences.
SAP-UI5 theming allows you to customize colors, fonts, sizes, spacing, and even control-specific styles without altering the underlying UI5 controls or application logic.
UI5 theming is based on the SAP UI Theme Designer, a powerful tool for building and customizing themes, and a runtime mechanism in the UI5 framework to load and apply CSS styles dynamically.
- Theme Designer: A web-based graphical tool to create and maintain UI5 themes.
- Less-based CSS: UI5 themes are built on Less (a CSS preprocessor) for modular and maintainable styles.
- Theming Parameters: Variables (e.g., colorPrimary, fontFamily) that control the visual aspects across the UI5 control library.
- Theme Libraries: Collections of CSS and image assets loaded based on the selected theme.
- The Theme Designer is available via SAP’s Cloud Platform or on-premise SAP NetWeaver systems.
- Login with appropriate credentials and select the base theme you want to customize (typically
sap_fiori_3).
- Create a new theme project by extending an existing base theme.
- This copies all base styles, allowing you to override specific parts.
¶ 4. Override CSS and Control Styles
- Add custom CSS rules if specific controls need unique styling beyond parameter overrides.
- Modify images, icons, and backgrounds if necessary.
¶ 5. Save and Build the Theme
- Once customizations are complete, build the theme to generate the CSS files and resources.
- Export the theme package for deployment.
- Upload the custom theme files to the SAP UI5 runtime environment (e.g., SAP NetWeaver Gateway or SAP Fiori launchpad).
- Register the theme in the UI5 framework so it can be selected by applications.
- In your SAP-UI5 application, specify the custom theme in the bootstrap configuration:
<script
id="sap-ui-bootstrap"
src="https://sapui5.hana.ondemand.com/resources/sap-ui-core.js"
data-sap-ui-theme="my_custom_theme"
data-sap-ui-libs="sap.m,sap.ui.core"
data-sap-ui-compatVersion="edge"
data-sap-ui-preload="async"
>
</script>
Or set it dynamically via code:
sap.ui.getCore().applyTheme("my_custom_theme");
- Base on Latest Fiori Theme: Start from
sap_fiori_3 or newer for consistency.
- Minimize Overrides: Use theming parameters wherever possible instead of CSS overrides.
- Test Across Devices: Verify appearance on desktop, tablet, and mobile.
- Maintain Accessibility: Ensure sufficient contrast and readability.
- Document Theme Changes: Keep track of modifications for future maintenance.
- Version Control: Manage theme files and parameters in source control.
- Use the Theme Designer API for automation and integration in CI/CD pipelines.
- Leverage the UI5 Inspector browser extension to debug applied CSS and theme parameters.
- For simple tweaks, use the runtime CSS injection for temporary changes during development.
Creating custom UI5 themes empowers organizations to deliver SAP-UI5 applications that not only function well but also align perfectly with brand identity and user expectations. With the SAP UI Theme Designer and the flexible theming infrastructure of UI5, developers and designers can collaboratively craft polished, accessible, and consistent user interfaces. Following the best practices ensures maintainable and scalable theming solutions supporting evolving business needs.