Using Key-User In-App Extensibility to Create a Custom Business Object

A business object represents a specific artifact within an ERP system. Each business object consists of the following components:

• One or more nodes (entities) organized in a hierarchical structure.
• Fields (attributes) that store specific data about the object.
• Transactional operations used to create, update, and delete the object's data.

Common examples of business objects include:

• Documents, such as customer invoices or employment contracts.
• Legal entities, such as customers or banks.
• Physical objects, such as materials or inventory items.

You can use the Graph Navigator (specifically the sap.s4 entity) to research existing entities and their attributes in SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

If no standard object meets your requirements, use the Custom Business Objects app to create one. Custom business objects can generate the following components:

• Database tables
• Services (APIs)
• User Interfaces (UIs)
• Applications

When defining the business object, select the required features. For instance, enable the User Interface checkbox to generate an application UI. You can also enable the Can Be Associated checkbox, which allows you to link the business object to other applications via custom fields.

The system automatically generates a root node that matches the object name; you can add sub-nodes as needed. Finally, define the fields that will store the object's data. If you generate a UI, these fields will appear as data entry points on the application screen.

Once the business object is published, you can implement custom business logic. To make the object accessible, navigate to the General Information tab and select Maintain Catalogs. This link opens the Custom Catalog Extensions app, where you must assign the business object to an appropriate business catalog.

After the assignment, ensure your user is assigned a business role that includes this catalog, then refresh your browser. When permissions are active, the Go to Generated UI link will become available within the business object settings. Click this link to access and test the new application.

Finally, determine how the business object will integrate with other processes. If you need to reference it from another application, ensure that the target application supports custom fields. In the Custom Fields app, you can create fields associated with:

• Existing standard business objects.
• Your newly created custom business objects.

For more information, refer to the documentation on creating custom business objects in the SAP Help Portal or follow this tutorial.