Exploring Content Packages

During the expansion of the digital experience to company-wide scenarios, the number of extensions for SAP Build Work Zone can grow exponentially. It is easy to imagine, considering the requirements and complexity of various lines-of-business (LoB) and end-to-end processes. It is true not only for customers but also partners supporting implementation projects of digital experience solutions with SAP Build Work Zone or SAP SuccessFactors Work Zone for their customers too.

In this context, the following logical question arises: Is there any option to organize extensions in an easy-to-manage way? Luckily, the extensibility framework for SAP Build Work Zone comes with the concept of Content Packages.

Content Packages allow you to bundle the following development and content artifacts to a single deployable unit (package):

Note

Content Packages are part of the extensibility framework within SAP Build Work Zone. They allow you to organize and group SAP Build Work Zone-specific artifacts only. However, they do not replace other frameworks and mechanisms available on SAP BTP, for example, Multitarget Applications (MTA).

The best-class example of utilizing Content Packages is SAP SuccessFactors Work Zone. While both SAP Build Work Zone and SAP SuccessFactors Work Zone share the same code line and offer the same baseline capabilities (for example, options to create home pages, workspaces, and so on), SAP SuccessFactors Work Zone comes with a Content Package, allowing you to enrich your company's Human Experience Management (HXM). This Content Package is designed and developed by SAP SuccessFactors, and is available with SAP SuccessFactors Work Zone out-of-the-box. The up-to-date list of development and content artifacts is published on the SAP Help Portal.

Note

While SAP SuccessFactors Work Zone comes with standard and pre-delivered Content Packages for HXM, it is allowed to deploy and install new Content Packages too.

While the idea of Content Packages is straightforward, the process includes multiple steps.

First and foremost, it is necessary to define a scope for the Content Package. Will it cover a particular domain, functional area, line-of-business, industry, or end-to-end process? Who is the target audience? Will it be used internally or externally (partner offering)? All these questions can help you to include only the best-fitting development and content artifacts in the Content Package later.

The next step involves the development and preparation of artifacts to be included in the Content Package. UI Integration Cards and workflows should be designed, developed, and fully tested. Home pages, Workspaces and Workspace Templates should be prepared with SAP Build Work Zone and exported.

When the scope is clear, and the development and content artifacts are ready, it is time to design and build the Content Package. The design and build process starts with SAP Business Application Studio, and it is necessary to create a Dev Space with SAP Extension Development Tools for SAP Build Work Zone. It brings features and functions to SAP Business Application Studio. allowing you to work with SAP Build Work Zone-specific artifacts:

• Create UI Integration Cards, Content Packages, and Workspace Template from a template and using a wizard-based method.
• Run real-time preview of UI Integration Cards without leaving SAP Business Application Studio.
• Generate a deployable archive as well as deploy it to SAP Build Work Zone right from SAP Business Application Studio.

Note

It is not required to set up a separate Dev Space for the design and development of UI Integration Cards and Content Packages: it can be combined in the same Dev Space.

When the Dev Space is up and running, it's time to set up the Project for Content Packages. There are various options to set this up in SAP Business Application Studio:

• The Project can be created from scratch using the Start from template option on the home screen. If the home screen was closed, this option can be also triggered from the menu File → New Project from Template.

  This option is the best and is recommended for all brand-new Content Packages.

• There might be the cases where the Content Package is already designed and stored in a corporate source code repository, for example, Microsoft Azure DevOps, GitHub, GitLab, and so on. In this case, the source code can be cloned using the Clone from Git option available on the home screen. If the home screen was closed, the git clone operation can also be executed from terminal: Terminal → New Terminal.

The easiest and recommended way to start with Content Packages in SAP Business Application Studio is with the use of a Project Template.

It is also recommended to create the first project with the Include Content Samples option enabled. This option allows you to generate some dummy development and content artifacts in the content.json file.

The project structure is straightforward. In addition to the mandatory file manifest.json (describing the metadata of the Content Package), it includes the following:

SAP also provides a sample git repository with more details on how to define and design Content Packages. The repository also includes information about all available parameters for the content.json file.

When the Content Package is designed and built, it can be deployed to SAP Build Work Zone. There are the same deployment options as for UI Integration Cards:

The last option requires you to have a service instance of SAP Build Work Zone (or SAP SuccessFactors Work Zone) and a corresponding destination with mandatory parameters in the SAP BTP subaccount created. Otherwise, deployment from SAP Business Application Studio will fail. The SAP Help Portal will provide more details.

The administration of Content Packages can be done via the Administration Console of SAP Build Work Zone.

Content Packages have the following two states in SAP Build Work Zone:

When a Content Package is installed in SAP Build Work Zone, it is also possible to change the update strategy for future releases. There are four update strategies available, as shown in the following figure:

The default option is a manual update. This means that when a new version of the Content Package is uploaded (or delivered by SAP in the context of SAP SuccessFactors Work Zone), the development and content artifacts will not be extracted and updated immediately – it must be done manually by an administrator via the Administration Console. It is the recommended option for the production tenant of SAP Build Work Zone because it gives more control on updates and allows you to do your own tests in non-productive tenants first.

If required, Content Packages can be also completely deleted using the Administration Console of SAP Build Work Zone. The deletion process includes removal of all related development and content artifacts delivered with the Content Package: UI Integration Cards, Workflows, Home pages, Workspaces, and Workspace Templates.

Note

Destinations maintained in the SAP BTP subaccount and used with UI Integration Cards are not affected by deletion of the Content Package. They should be deleted manually, if required.

Keep in mind that when a Content Package is deleted from SAP Build Work Zone, there is no way to restore it (including its development and content artifacts).