Using SAP Fiori Launchpad

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to identify the clients and integration options for SAP Fiori.

Client Integration

Chart of SAP Fiori clients and SAP Fiori integration. Clients include Web browser, SAP Business Client, and SAP Mobile Start. Integration includes SAP Build Work Zone, SAP Enterprise Portal, and SAP Mobile Services.

There are three clients available to access SAP Fiori:

Web Browser: Any HTML5-ready browser can be used.
SAP Business Client: As of SAP Business Client 6.0, you can create SAP Fiori launchpad system connections.
SAP Mobile Start: You can access SAP Build Work Zone, standard edition web sites providing apps based on cloud and on-premise SAP solutions.

You can also integrate SAP Fiori in other system areas to add more values like logon features or increased distribution range. Details and benefits of these integration options are discussed later or considered in more depth in other trainings:

SAP Build Work Zone
SAP Enterprise Portal
SAP Mobile Services

Now, let's explore each client in detail.

A diagram showing the original and the cache buster URL of the SAP Fiori launchpad with ABAP transaction /UI2/FLP in the middle pointing to both URLs.

The original way to start an FLP is to enter the URL https://<host>:<port>/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/ui2/ushell/shells/abap/FioriLaunchpad.html in an HTML5-ready browser. This URL has been available since the beginning of SAP Fiori. Over time, SAP added more options to start the launchpad.

Many customers access SAP software via a logon to an Application Server ABAP (AS ABAP). Therefore, the transaction /UI2/FLP is added. With this transaction, you can log on automatically with the credentials you used to log on to the AS ABAP. This approach is for users working in both worlds, ABAP transactions and SAP Fiori web apps, if no business client is available.

Note

By default, transaction /UI2/FLP starts the FLP via the Internet Communication Manager (ICM) process of your application server instance. An entry in the database table HTTPURLLOC can be used to call a reverse proxy, such as SAP Web Dispatcher.

The current URL to start the FLP is https://<host>:<port>/sap/bc/ui2/flp. This URL is much shorter than the original one so it is easier to memorize. Even more important is the cache buster feature. This technique causes web browsers to load content from the server rather than from the browser cache if activated. The cache buster for SAP Fiori uses versioned URLs containing tokens to signal the browser that new resources are available on the server. Instead of forbidding caching or setting a lifetime for the resources, the system invalidates the cache only when resources are actually updated on the server.

Screenshot of a system entry in SAP Business Client, showing fields like name, description, type, system, message server, web dispatcher, URL, client, language, SAP GUI type, and SAP GUI logon description, with the SAP Fiori launchpad URL highlighted.

SAP Business Client makes it possible to access SAP GUI and web applications in one client software. Therefore, in SAP Business Client 6.0, the ability to add system connections for FLP was introduced. The benefit is the end user only needs one tool to access all the functions of an AS ABAP. It is even possible to start ABAP transactions in the FLP, which opens a new SAP GUI tab in the SAP Business Client. SAP Logon is completely integrated in SAP Business Client.

Hint

For SAP Business Client 6.0, the term NetWeaver was dropped from the name. Previous releases are still called SAP NetWeaver Business Client (NWBC).

Screenshots of the SAP Mobile Start on five devices display various SAP app features including a task list, important applications, and notifications. The image highlights key sections: Start, search, applications, widgets, and notifications on different devices.

SAP Mobile Start was introduced in August 2021. It is a mobile application for Apple iOS and Google Android integrated with SAP S/4HANA and further SAP solutions, leveraging the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). The SAP Build Work Zone, standard edition, Notification service, and Mobile Services of BTP work together to provide web sites and apps for mobile usage. SAP Mobile Start integrates with mobile operating system features like notifications, spotlight search, and widgets running on smartphones, watches, and tablets.

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