Fiori Launchpad Configuration: Your 6-Steps Guide to a Customized Experience

[Marwah_Shwaiki]

In my previous Blog Article, I explained how to deploy your UI5 Application into the ABAP server using two different methods. Now Let’s add the application to the Fiori Launchpad.

What is Fiori Launchpad

SAP Fiori launchpad is a shell that hosts SAP Fiori apps and provides the apps with services such as navigation, personalization, embedded support, and application configuration. SAP Fiori launchpad is the entry point to SAP Fiori apps on mobile and desktop devices.

FLP Configurations Steps

We will complete the configurations by following these steps notice that this example has been done on S/4 HANA 2020 release  :

Step 1: Creating a Sematic object

Use the T-Code: /UI2/SEMOBJ to define a new Semantic object, notice that Semantic objects will allow you to group apps that are related to each other for easier navigation. It is recommended to add your tiles to existing Semantic Objects so that your app will be added to the list of related apps and links dialogs together with standard SAP apps. You can access all the existing Semantic Objects by using transaction code /UI2/SEMOBJ_SAP.

Click on Edit and add a new Entry

add a unique semantic object, semantic object name, and description, and Save the changes into a transport request.

Step 2: Creating a Business Catalog

Use the T-Code: /UI2/FLPD_CUST to Enter the SAP FIORI Launchpad designer for customization (client-specific)

now you can create a new catalog by clicking on the Plus icon at the bottom of the left-hand side pane.

Next, Enter a title and an ID for your Catalog, and click on Save. The new catalog is saved and you should be able to see it under the catalog collections.

Step 3: Creating Target Mapping

In the target mapping configuration, you map a navigation target to the combination of a semantic object and an action, also known as an intent. To create a new target mapping, choose Create Target Mapping.

The target mapping configuration page is displayed, now fill in the parameters in the configure target mapping pop-up as follows:

• Semantic Object: the semantic object that we’ve already created


• Action: you can choose an action according to your requirements


• Application Type : SAPUI5 Fiori App


• Title: choose a title for your application


• URL: is an ICF Base URL of SAPUI5 application, mostly should look like that: /sap/bc/bsp/applicationname notice that The URL is server-relative and you can get it by using the T-code SICF and it must point to a SAP Fiori app.


• ID: is your deployed application ID, you can find it in the manifest.json file or component.js or in your controller.js

Note: the usage of the application type “SAP Fiori App using LPD_CUST” is deprecated. See SAP Note 2614740.

click on save and you’re all set 😃.

Step 5: Creating Tiles.

Choose the ’Tiles’ icon, then click on the ‘Plus’ icon to add a tile

On the next screen, choose the ’App Launcher — Static’ template from the available options of tile templates:

choose App launcher — Static

Notice that, App Launcher-Static tiles are used to launch applications from the home page while App Launcher-Dynamic Tiles, display information that is pulled from a back-end system using an OData service EntitySet.

Next, Maintain the following configuration parameters:

Title: Enter a title that will be displayed on the tile.

Tile Subtitle: Enter a subtitle that will be displayed on the tile.

Tile Information: Enter additional information that will be displayed at the bottom of the tile.

Tile Keywords: Tag a tile with keywords so users can find it more easily using the search function in the tile catalog. If you want to specify several keywords, use either a space or a comma as a separator.

Tile Icon: Select an icon by using the value help. After you have selected an icon, the system inserts a URL starting with the sap-icon:// protocol. These icons are based on SAPUI5 icon fonts. For more information, see Icon and Icon Pool.

Semantic Object: add the semantic object that you created earlier.

Notice that, the Tile and the Target Mapping are linked using Semantic Object + Actions. and the SAP UI5 application path is linked in Target mapping via Launchpad Role

Step 6: Creating Business Groups.

To create a Business Group, we should use a similar approach as when creating catalogs.

click on the + button and add a title and ID your group and click on save

Add the group to the Business Catalog that you’ve already created and then add the tile.

Notice that One Business Group can have single or multiple tiles from the same Catalog or multiple Catalogs and you can control the app/tile accessibility to users in SAP Fiori Launchpad with the Business group.

Step 6: Creating PFCG Business Role

The very last step of your FLP Configurations will be creating a PFCG Role in the SAP Fiori Server (Front-end) server.

Go to the T-code PFCG and give your role a name then click on Single role

please try to not add any spaces or special characters in the role name

Go to the menu tab, From the Insert Node drop-down list, choose SAP Fiori Tile Catalog. Select the catalog and click on OK.now assign your business catalog and Group to the Role

now the very last step, you can assign users to the Role by clicking on the User Menue tab and adding the user ID

And now you're good to go! check your application tile on the Fiori Launchpad.

By completing these six steps, your UI5 application is now successfully integrated into the Fiori Launchpad, allowing users to access and interact with the application seamlessly.

Keep in mind that Fiori Launchpad configuration might require ongoing maintenance and updates as your application landscape evolves or user requirements change. Regularly review and optimize your Fiori Launchpad setup to ensure a smooth and efficient user experience. With this newfound knowledge, you are equipped to make the most of the powerful SAP Fiori Launchpad and create a personalized and efficient Fiori experience for your users. Happy coding!

[Jocelyn_Dart]

Hi Marwah,

Hmmm..... I'm curious what S/4HANA release you are working on?

You have done a nice job of structuring your blog post but...

...Unfortunately just about everything above is incorrect and/or inappropriate in most S/4HANA releases and certainly is contrary to best practices in S/4HANA 2020 or higher- i.e. any current SAP S/4HANA release.

I also note that the main tool you are using is deprecated - the Launchpad Designer was replaced from S/4HANA 1709 onwards by the Launchpad Content Manager, Launchpad App Manager, and the Manage Launchpad Spaces/Pages apps.

I hope you are not too discouraged, but as someone who clearly values the sharing of knowledge I hope you share my view that it's so important that people are given the correct information.

Above all we should avoid passing to the next person poor information that adds unnecessary effort, complexity, and that degrades the overall user experience for our business users.

One option would be for you and your team to come along to one of our free-of-charge 5Steps2Fiori hands-on bootcamps to learn the current best practices. You can find information here https://blogs.sap.com/2021/09/27/sap-fiori-for-sap-s-4hana-5-steps-to-fiori-bootcamp-for-customers

We also have a public end-to-end example of what to do with videos that step you all the way through in our playlist here https://blogs.sap.com/2021/06/24/sap-fiori-for-sap-s-4hana-creating-your-custom-business-roles-the-e...

You can also find many blogs in our topic page https://community.sap.com/topics/fiori/s4hana

For the benefit of yourself and others the following are the current best practices at time of writing:

1. Do NOT create a Semantic Object per app.  Why? A Semantic Object is designed to group related apps for navigation purposes. As much as possible you should add your tiles to  existing Semantic Objects so that your tile/app is added to the existing Related apps and list of links dialogs alongside standard SAP apps.  You can find all the existing Semantic Objects in transaction /UI2/SEMOBJ_SAP.


2. A tile does not need a unique Semantic Object. A tile needs a unique intent, i.e. the combination of Semantic Object + Action. You can freely name actions whatever you like, but typically we encourage verbs such as manage, monitor, etc.


3. A custom tile is placed in a custom Technical Catalog (client-independent) using the Launchpad App Manager tool. This enable reuse and efficient maintenance across multiple business catalogs and business roles.


4. You can then reference your technical catalog entry into one or more custom business catalogs (client-specific) using the Launchpad Content Manager. And of course the business catalog is assigned to your business role.  By the way, while you add the first catalog to a business role using PFCG, it's more efficient to use the Launchpad Content Manager to add any subsequent role.


5. Finally if you need to place the tile on a launchpad layout, you should be using a custom space and page in the Manage Launchpad Spaces/Pages apps.

Groups should be avoided if you are creating tiles for 2021 or higher.

• The Groups-based homepage was deprecated in S/4HANA 2021 and we only retain groups now as an aid for customers who are upgrading.


• You can find more information on why spaces and pages have superseded groups here: https://blogs.sap.com/2022/04/28/sap-fiori-for-sap-s-4hana-migrating-from-groups-to-spaces-and-pages...

You can find more best practice information on all of the above in the official SAP Fiori launchpad guide for your SAP S/4HANA release. You can find all the launchpad guides for the various releases here. https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_FIORI_LAUNCHPAD

With regret that such a long comment was necessary,

Jocelyn Dart

[Marwah_Shwaiki]

Hi Jocelyn,

Thank you so much for taking the time and reviewing my blog post and for the useful insights, you are totally right  I'm using S/4 HANA 2020 release and I'm aware that some features are already deprecated as you mentioned in your comment. I will update the post based on your corrections.

[Jocelyn_Dart]

That’s great Marwah!  Much appreciated!