We were very busy last 2 months implementing SAP Fiori apps on S/4 HANA system . It is very difficult to search and find public information on many key Fiori configuration and issues faced. I thought to note down a few things which we learned for the benefit of others.
You can find the Apps library under
https://fioriappslibrary.hana.ondemand.com/sap/fix/externalViewer/#
Refer this pictorial representation and that will help me to explain few things
As you know SAP Fiori apps are nothing but simplified user experience (UX) for SAP applications .SAP Fiori apps are role based ,and users can get access to Fiori apps based on the roles assigned . As a best practice , you may need to customize the standard Fiori roles (most of the roles have multiple business catalog added to menu referring to 1 or more different apps) . So I recommend to create multiple roles and can assign to users when there is requirement for a single app access.
In this blog, I will introduce you to some of the key ‘terms’ used while configuring and deploying Fiori apps..
Tiles
Tiles is actually the view of Apps where the user can use to navigate and complete the transaction .
App
Basically tiles in the Fiori Launchpad represents the actual apps .Apps in the Launchpad can be of SAPUI5 ,WebDynpro ,WebGui types. The application types of apps can be transactional, Analytical (HANA DB) and Factsheet (HANA DB).
Target Mapping
Target mappings is the actual reference to the target. The navigation targets are defined via LPD_CUST transaction in SAP and the targets are SAP UI5 applications on the front end server.
Technical Catalog (TC)
Technical catalog contain all target mappings (it can be a SAPUI5 application ,WebDynpro or HTML GUI.
Technical PFCG Role (TCR)
Technical PFCG roles contain references to technical catalog, and it allow users to access the apps contained in these catalog. This is required on the front end gateway server.
Business Catalog (BC)
It is basically the Apps ( Fiori Apps in Launchpad), the same name as the apps . If the catalog is assigned to an end user PFCG role, this catalog(App) will be available in the SAP Fiori Launchpad.
Business Catalog Group (BCG)
SAP has created different business groups and added a list of related apps (business catalog) in the same business group. It is basically a view(grouping) on the list of apps for one or more business catalog, we can find out in Launchpad (refer the diagram), in the top we can see the groups followed by apps in that group below. We can create our own business group’s as well and add the business catalog.
Business PFCG Role (BCR)
This is the actual role which provide access to the apps in the Launchpad or in other words the user should have this role in the frontend gateway server to view the apps in the Launchpad. SAP will deliver the standard role and If you go to PFCG, you can figure out how SAP categorized the “Menu” (Business group and business catalog) and included several related apps in the same role. As a best practice ,we should make a copy of the SAP standard role and create multiple roles with only required business group & business catalog in the “Menu” .This will also help to assign the exact apps (Apps tiles in Launchpad) access to the user.
Semantic Object
It represents a business entity such as a customer, a sales order, or a product. Using semantic objects, we can bundle applications that reflect a specific scenario. They allows to refer to objects in a standardized way, abstracting from concrete implementations of these objects. We can either use semantic objects shipped by SAP, or create new semantic objects using Transaction: /UI2/SEMOBJ and /UI2/SEMOBJ_SAP
Action
Describes which operation (such as display or approvePurchaseOrders) is intended to be performed on a semantic object (such as Purchase Order or Product).
Conclusion
The above information will be more useful when we create our own SAPUI5 application . The applications delivered by SAP are divided into technical entities and business entities:
1. Technical catalog and technical PFCG roles, Contain apps per component.
2. Business catalog, business catalog groups, and business PFCG roles, Contain apps for a specific role.
The catalog, groups, and roles required for each of the SAP Fiori apps are listed in the app-specific documentation
https://fioriappslibrary.hana.ondemand.com/sap/fix/externalViewer/#
