SAP Community - User Interface

Visualizing Data with SAP Analytics Cloud

2025-03-27T16:13:20.067000+01:00

This article is part of a blog series on Dashboard Design BestPractices, created to assist you in designing and building meaningful dashboards with SAP Analytics Cloud. Click here to open the Dashboard Design Best-Practices blog series hub page in a new window

Content
This blog page focus on the art of visualizing data through the selection of appropriate
chart types to convey the intended message:

Comparison
Time-Analysis
Part-to whole
Cumulation
Deviation
Distribution
Correlation

First, let’s start with some general rules of thumb and quotas that you may consider when creating analytical content.

Show the necessary information comprehensively.
Everything on the screen has to make sense.
Support data comparison capabilities.
Everything that belongs together is grouped visually.
Show variances.
Use graphics whenever possible.
Use consistent terms.
Group with empty space.
Provide clear support of the information hierarchy.
Place time-series on the x-axies
Visually highlight the most important information.
Provide clear info where the action is actually needed.
Focus on aesthetically pleasing, clear visual design.
Avoid abbreviations (unless these are colloquial).
Do not use semantic colors in the design, e.g., green, yellow, and red (unless it's company branding).
Lead with purpose (guide the user to the appropriate actions).

Quotes

„The pieces on the dashboard have to be arranged in relation to one another“ - Stephan View
"Overview first, zoom and filter, then details-on-demand"
-> Visual information seeking mantra by Ben Shneiderman"
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add,
but when there is nothing left to take away"
-> Antoine de Saint-Exupéry from "The little Prince"
"Less is faster" - Hick´s Law

Chart Types

Chart types are important tools for data visualization because they help transform raw data into visual formats that are easy to understand, analyze, and communicate. The correct chart type depends on the type of data you're working with and the message you want to convey.

1. Comparison (Structure Analysis)

Choose Bar and Column Charts as the most effective visualization for structure analysis, also called nominal comparison or category comparison.

Note:
When showing development over time, always use charts with horizontal category axes (Column Chart).
This is one of the most well-known guidelines established by IBCS (International Business Communication Standards) in its practical guidelines for the consistent design of reports.

They also propose the usage of semantic patterns to visually distinguish different types of values when comparing them.

Actual Values: What values are (solid pattern with dark color).
Previous Year Values: What values were (solid pattern with neutral grey color).
Forecast Values: What values might be (hatch pattern).
Plan Values: What values should be (empty pattern).

2. Time Analysis

Use a line chart if you want to emphasize the trend over time.

Use a column chart if you want to emphasize the values themselves.

Note that there are other time-related categories that have an intrinsic order and indicate progression or trend, such as age and age group.

3. Part-to whole

When thinking about visualizing parts of a whole, you are likely to turn to pie or donut chart.
However, in many cases bar chart is a far better option because you can:

Compare parts to each other
Display category labels and value labels associated with each part
Display multiple values
Display small values in a better way
Cut down on the usage of colors and corresponding legends you have to use

Part-to-Whole Analysis by Bar Chart

Part-to-Whole Analysis by Stacked Percentage Bar Chart

Donut Chart

Donut charts work best with a small number of categories (5-7).
Too many categories can make the chart hard to interpret (see Pic. 1).

Note that when using pie or donut charts, you should be careful when enabling the "Top N" options, as this will change the original percentage values and recalculate each segment's contribution to the total of the "Top N" categories (see Pic. 2).
Instead, use the group remaining function in chart widget menu to create a segment that represents the "Others" category (Pic. 3)

Tree Map

Tree map is a good visualization to present hierarchical data, with nested figures rendered by rectangles of different sizes.

In the example below, each rectangle signifies a department and its size in proportion to the number of department employees. You can use colors to differentiate employee genders, but here the chart displays only female employees.

4. Cumulation

You can use waterfall charts to analyze cumulative values. A waterfall chart accumulates successive values and shows how the cumulative value changes from an initial state to a final one.

Variance waterfall chart in vertical orientation displays the variance between different scenarios in structure.
In the example below, the variance waterfall chart shows the net sales in Europe from previous year (PY) to this year (AC). You can see that this year's net sales value is 14 million USD higher than the previous year and the difference in Spain is the largest.

Variance waterfall chart in horizontal orientation displays the variances across different time periods.
In the example below, you can see that shipping cost keeps growing from Q1 to Q4 in the whole year.
Q4 is expanded to show changes in months.

5. Deviation

Deviation charts, also known as variance charts, are used to visually display how a value deviates from a baseline or expected target.
They are particularly helpful for understanding the differences between actual results and a reference point, such as a goal, target, or historical data.

Actual and Plan Values and Deviation in Bar Charts Side by Side

Numeric and Percentage Deviation in Table with In-Cell Charts

Focus on Trend
If you want to focus on the trend of the variation, you can use a line chart as the examples below.

6. Distribution

Histogramm
A histogram displays the numbers of data points that lie within respective ranges, which is extremely helpful in emphasizing data frequency. In the left example, the axis displays age groups, and the columns show the numbers of employees that fall in different age ranges.

Column Chart
If your use case is to display the distribution of employees of each age group in percentage,
a column chart is a good option.

Stacked Column Chart
Distribution of Two Series by Stacked Column Chart.

You can use a frequency polygon with multiple lines when you want to compare the distribution of multiple sets of values.

Box plot
A Box Plot is an ideal option for displaying the concentration of data, which is constructed from minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile and maximum.

7. Correlation

Scatterplot and bubble chart are the most frequently used chart types to visualize correlation,
though line chart or bar chart side by side is also an acceptable solution.

SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA - Simplifying My Home Activation from SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS02 or higher

2025-04-30T10:20:12.802000+02:00

Innovation made easier! Enabling My Home for SAP S/4HANA has been streamlined from SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS02. Save time and effort by using the settings in task list SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4.

In our previous blog, "SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA - Empowering Your Homepage: Enabling My Home for SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS01", we explored the detailed steps required to enable My Home in SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS01. We walked through the structure, technical components, configuration steps, and necessary authorizations to activate My Home manually.

IMPORTANT : If you are looking to understand the structure of My Home i.e. its main components”, or its building blocks and technical components, please refer to our previous blog.

With the SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS02 release, the process of enabling My Home has been further streamlined. As a part of this blog, we will focus on the enhancements introduced in FPS02, where Steps 1 through Step 4 described in the previous blog are now automated via the SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4 task list. This significantly reduces manual effort, making My Home activation quicker and more efficient.

Comparison of SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4 Task List Across SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS01, and FPS02

Simplified My Home Activation with SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS02

Automation via the SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4 Task List

With the SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS02 release onwards, Steps 1 through 4 explained in the pervious blog are now automated as part of the SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4 task list. This task list consolidates these key setup steps into a single run, simplifying and streamlining the activation process.

Note:If you have already activated SAP Fiori foundation on your SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS02 using Rapid Activation and executed the SAP Fiori - Initial Setup for Fiori Application S/4 (SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4) task list, the following tasks are automatically included as part of the default task list run, and no additional manual execution is required.

However, if you have upgraded from SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS01 (or lower releases of SAP S/4HANA) to SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS02, you must re-execute the following four tasks (from the SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4 task list ) described in this blog to ensure My Home is fully enabled with the latest updates.

Step (described in the previous blog)	Corresponding task from the SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4 task list	Automation Details
1 - Enabling Spaces and Pages Layout	Activate and Configure FLP for Spaces and Pages (/UI2/FLP_CUS_CONF)	Configures FLP property SPACES with system setting checks.
2 - Activating the My Home UI5 Component	Activate HTTP Services Foundation	Activates the SAPUI5 Component ux.eng.s4producthomes1 (SICF node: BSP PRODUCT_HOMES1).
3 - Activating the Required OData V2 and V4 Services	Activate Gateway OData Services Foundation (/IWFND/MAINT_SERVICE) & Publish Service Groups Foundation (/IWFND/V4_ADMIN)	Publishes the following service groups: - /IWNGW/NOTIFICATION (Notification) - /UI2/INSIGHTS_SRV (Insight Cards) Note: TASKPROCESSING (My Inbox) and C_SITNMYSITUATION_CDS (Situation Handling) are NOT included in this automation and must be activated manually if required. Please refer to Step 4 from the previous blog for manual activation steps.
4 - Configuring Launchpad Parameters	Activate and Configure FLP for Spaces and Pages (/UI2/FLP_CUS_CONF)	Configures all necessary FLP parameters for My Home page, including enablement of the page, Custom Component, and UI5 Insights.

Step 1 through Step 4 can be executed cumulatively on SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS02 (or higher)

Navigate to the transaction STC01 (Task Manager for Technical Configuration).
STC01 : Task Manager for Technical Configuration
Enter the Task List name as SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4 (which is used to activate Fiori foundation) and click on the Generate Task List Run (F8) button.
On the next screen with generated task list, uncheck all the tasks using Skip All Tasks (F7) button and then only Select the task Activate and Configure FLP for Spaces and Pages (/UI2/FLP_CUS_CONF). After selecting the task, You will get an Information popup that the activation step has dependencies on other steps like creating transports, activating services etc., click Continue for all the dependent steps.

Skip all tasks for SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4 and select 'Activate and Configure FLP for Spaces and Pages (/UI2/FLP_CUS_CONF)' task

By clicking on the Change Parameters button for this task, you could configure the following Fiori Launchpad Parameters required for My Home enablement, which have been highlighted already as a part of the blog. For now, you could just leave them as-is to default and continue.

Change Parameters for the task 'Activate and Configure FLP for Spaces and Pages (/UI2/FLP_CUS_CONF)'
Additionally, also select the task Publish Service Groups Foundation (/IWFND/V4_ADMIN) which would publish the /IWNGW/NOTIFICATION (Notification) and /UI2/INSIGHTS_SRV (Insight Cards) OData V4 services.

After selecting this task, only the following 5 task should remain selected.
- Create / Select Customizing Request (SE09)
- Activate and Configure FLP for Spaces and Pages (/UI2/FLP_CUS_CONF)
- Activate Gateway OData Services Foundation (/IWFND/MAINT_SERVICE)
- Publish Service Groups Foundation (/IWFND/V4_ADMIN)
- Activate HTTP services Foundation
Click on the Start/Resume Task List Run in the Dialog button to start the task list run.

IMPORTANT: As mentioned above, the task list SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4 available with SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS02 would not activate the optional functionality like My Inbox and Situation Handling related OData services. Please follow the references mentioned in the original blog should you be interested to activate them.

Step 5: Assigning Relevant Authorizations via a PFCG Role

The role creation and authorization setup for My Home in SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS02 remains the same as FPS01. You can follow the same steps described in the previous blog to create and configure the required PFCG role.

For a quick summary, here are the key steps:

Create a PFCG security role (e.g., Z_SR_MY_HOME)
- Navigate to transaction PFCG, enter a role name, and click Create Single Role.
- Provide a role description and switch to the Menu tab.
Add the Required OData Services
- TASKPROCESSING (for My Inbox)
- C_SITNMYSITUATION_CDS (for Situations)
- INTEROP (for personalization, should already be active)
- /UI2/INSIGHTS_CARDS_READ_SRV (for Insights Cards)
Assign Target Mappings for My Inbox and My Situations
- Use SAP Fiori Launchpad Content Manager (UI2/FLPCM_CUST).
- Create a Launchpad Catalog (Z_BC_MY_HOME).
- Add Target Mappings for My Inbox (F0862) and My Situations (F4154).
Assign the Role to Users
- Open the Role Maintenance transaction PFCG, go to the User tab, and assign the role to business users.

Note: Ensure that users have business roles containing spaces and pages, so My Home functions correctly.

Note :

Becoming a SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA guru

You’ll find much more on our SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA topic page

SAP Fiori for Web v6.0

2025-05-08T09:26:58.489000+02:00

We’re excited to share that the latest version of the SAP Fiori for Web UI Kit is now live in the SAP Figma Community!

This update is essential for anyone designing enterprise web apps: it helps teams work faster, avoid rework and ensures your designs stay consistent, efficient, and ready for implementation.

The updates below include new components, improved variants, and refreshed design variables, all of which directly impact how you build and maintain high-quality UI elements.

Check it out here

SAP Figma Community

What’s New - and What’s Evolved? 

Here’s a quick overview of the most important updates we’ve introduced over the past few versions, now all included in the new file:

9+ New components:

Tool Header, User Menu, Settings, Shell Bar, Side Navigation, and Notifications introduced.

Disclaimer: This image is a conceptual composition and does not represent a real-life use case.

Form has been added to streamline structured data input.

Form component

The Legend provides a visual guide for interpreting content in the Calendar. The Legend Item represents individual status indicators within the Legend.

Calendar with Legend

A new badge type called the Attention Badge has been introduced for Buttons, building on the existing Counter Badge.

Button with Attention Badge

Variables:

All design variables have been updated to align with the latest version, ensuring consistency and accuracy across components.

Component Improvements:

Additional variants have been added to existing components.

What This Means for You

You have access to an accurate, easy-to-use, and regularly updated UI Kit - all in one place. Whether you're designing, prototyping, or building with SAP Fiori for Web, this setup ensures you're always working with the latest standards.

Thanks for being part of the journey. We’re already preparing for the next update. We can’t wait to see what you create with the SAP Fiori for Web UI Kit!

Feel free to check out our other kits in the SAP Figma Community.

Authors: Siyana Dicheva (UX Designer, SAP Core Design Team) and Janina Fichtner (UX Designer, SAP Core Design Team)

My Home in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2508 - What's new?

2025-08-05T11:05:26.298000+02:00

The 2508 release of My Home in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition introduces a range of new delivered and beta features, along with UX enhancements designed to elevate your overall experience. In this blog, I’ll walk you through these updates and what they mean for you.

My Home offers immediate access to key business insights, supports efficient management of tasks and situations, and allows you to organize your favorite pages and apps to streamline daily operations. The 2508 release builds on this foundation by further enhancing each of these areas.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2508 Release My Home

One of the standout additions is the new personalized salutation bar, which greets every business user upon entering My Home. This feature not only creates a more personalized experience but also helps users quickly orient themselves within SAP S/4HANA. Now enable communication scenario SAP_COM_0887 and let business users see what’s next on their calendar at a glance. Additionally, the salutation bar consolidates all of My Home’s global actions in one convenient place—it enables users to easily add content, quickly access My Home settings, and discover the latest feature introduced in the 2508 release: Recap.

My Home 2508 Salutation bar

The Recap feature introduced in the My Home 2508 release is designed to save time by helping business users stay on top of key items that have emerged since their last login. It highlights high-priority information, enabling users to quickly focus on what matters most. By surfacing relevant updates and simplifying daily tasks, Recap reduces manual effort and helps users catch up efficiently—so they can shift their attention to higher-value activities.

My Home 2508 Recap of Tasks

My Home 2508 Recap of Insights

Recap analyzes changes in My Home data over the past 24 hours, keeping business users informed about new tasks, situations, and updates to app, tile, and insights card access. It also provides visual comparisons of insights cards, making it easy to quickly and intuitively understand what has changed during your absence.

The Salutation Bar also allows business users to easily add content to My Home from a centralized location. But that’s just the beginning—it now supports AI-assisted content addition, enabling users to add Insights cards using natural language. Users can also preview Insights cards during the addition process to ensure data accuracy and consistency.

My Home 2508 AI-assisted Smart Personalization Insights Card Addition

With the 2508 release, business users can take advantage of a new Beta AI-assisted Smart Personalization App Addition feature that enables the addition of applications using natural language. This significantly streamlines the process of adding applications, saving time and offering a more intuitive, click-efficient experience— which is particularly valuable for first-time or occasional users. The feature also enhances transparency by displaying application descriptions and real-time KPIs for dynamic tiles, providing immediate operational context.

My Home 2508 Beta AI-assisted Smart Personalization App Addition

My Home serves as the central hub for all your tasks, applications, and information. In the 2508 release, improvements have been made with the Recap and AI-assisted content addition features. Additionally, administrators are now empowered to deliver timely, targeted updates directly to business users via the My Home centralized news feed.

With the addition of the Mange News application, administrators can create news articles to be displayed on My Home. They can categorize, target and manage the visibility of the news. Tailoring communication to your organization needs helps create a more informed and connected workforce. This in turn enhances business users’s performance by equipping them with the information needed to make smarter, faster decisions.

My Home Manage News Application

My Home 2508 News Article Creation

My Home 2508 Critical News Article

We hope everyone enjoys the new features of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2508 release – stay tuned for more updates! The Beta AI-assisted Smart Personalization App Addition in My Home, highlighted in this article, are now available for Beta Testing with the 2508 release. At SAP, we’re committed to delivering the best experience possible, which is why we’re inviting you to join our Beta Testing Program. By participating, you’ll get early access to these features, have the chance to share your feedback, and help us fine-tune them before the official launch. Your input will play a key role in shaping the quality and usability of these new capabilities.

Also, If you are interested in hearing about the latest innovations in SAP Cloud ERP, please join our Public Cloud Practitioner Forum in which SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition customers share best practices and provide feedback to the SAP development teams about new functionality.

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blog-posts-by-sap/public-cloud-means-continuous-innovation-and-continuous-learning-new-user/ba-p/14017362

(Open to SAP Cloud ERP customers, including partners running SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.)

Suneet Agarwal and Caroline Welsh

Cloud ERP UX Foundations Product Management

Empowering Business Users with Personalized News in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2508 Release

2025-08-05T13:58:33.724000+02:00

Keeping business users informed about system and company news is essential for organizational success. When users are aware of changes that could impact their daily tasks, they can make better decisions, adapt more quickly, and boost overall productivity. Staying up to date—especially with updates on processes, departments, or system changes—helps eliminate confusion and ensures alignment across teams.

While our existing news feed provides valuable updates on SAP system changes, we’ve listened closely to customer feedback and enhanced communication and user experience on My Home even further. In the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2508 release, we now offer the ability to customize and manage the My Home news feed through the new Manage News application.

Manage News Application

Introducing the Manage News Application

The Manage News application empowers news administrators to deliver timely, targeted information updates directly to business users via a centralized news feed.

Key capabilities for news administrators include:

Create, manage, and publish news articles: Administrators can compose news posts to be displayed on My Home, controlling the flow of critical company and system updates.

Control visibility and importance: News items can be marked as critical, ensuring essential information is highlighted and receives appropriate attention from business users.

Plan and schedule communications: Administrators can organize when specific news should be published, enabling timely and organized delivery of updates.

Language adaptation: Messages can be tailored in all company-supported languages, ensuring effective communication across diverse user groups.

Targeted audience assignment: News can be assigned to specific App Transaction codes, so only users with access to the corresponding Fiori apps or transaction codes will see relevant news items.

Organize news by groups or categories: News articles can be grouped into categories such as Finance or Human Resources, making it easy for users to find pertinent information.

Visual enhancements: Administrators can upload images aligned with news topics to make posts more engaging and visually informative.

News article creation in Manage News Application

What Business Users Will Experience

The My Home news feed now displays articles created by news administrators, neatly organized into designated categories. Critical updates are clearly marked with an eye-catching critical marker to ensure users notice and prioritize these messages.

This personalized news feature centralizes essential communications in one place, tailored to the needs of each user based on their system app access. By delivering relevant, timely information directly to business users, organizations can foster a more informed and agile workforce.

Critical News displayed in My Home News Feed

Critical News Article in My Home News dialog

Benefits for Your Organization

With the Manage News application, administrators can tailor the news feed to reflect the specific needs of your company or organization, enabling more effective communication with business users. This streamlined and targeted approach to information sharing helps:

Improve user awareness and decision-making

Minimize confusion and misalignment across teams

Increase adaptability to system or process changes

Enhance overall company performance

Prerequisites

To access the Manage News application users or administrators will have to be assigned to the SAP_CORE_BC_CUX_NWS_MNG_PC business catalogue. For business users to view the news feed on My Home they will have to be assigned SAP_CORE_BC_CUX_NWS_DSP_PC catalogue. The SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition SAP_BR_EMPLOYEE role will already have SAP_CORE_BC_CUX_NWS_DSP_PC business catalogue assigned. With the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2508 release, news maintained in the Manage News application will be displayed by default for all customers who have not configured a RSS feed or SAP Custom System News. To display the news from the Manage News application the 'Manage News App' setting needs to be enabled via UI Adaptation mode (Adapt UI in the User Actions menu). Users or administrator must have the catalog SAP_CORE_BC_EXT_FLEX attached to their role to access the UI Adaptation key user capabilities.

My Home UI Adaptation Mode News Feed Settings

We’re excited to bring this powerful new communication feature to you with the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2508 release and look forward to seeing how it helps your business stay connected and informed.

If you are interested in hearing about the latest innovations in SAP Cloud ERP, please join our Public Cloud Practitioner Forum in which SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition customers share best practices and provide feedback to the SAP development teams about new functionality.

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blog-posts-by-sap/public-cloud-means-continuous-innovation-and-continuous-learning-new-user/ba-p/14017362

(Open to SAP Cloud ERP customers, including partners running SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.)

Caroline Welsh, and Suneet Agarwal on behalf of the SAP UX Foundations responsible for My Home in SAP S/4HANA.

Unlocking the Potential of Templates in SAP Build Store: A UX-Led Transformation

2025-08-20T10:12:29.806000+02:00

In early 2024, we discovered something surprising.
The average user spent just 1 minute and 14 seconds in the SAP Build Store. Even more striking: nearly 60% of users left within 15 seconds.

We had invested in pre-designed, ready-to-use solutions, what we call Templates, to accelerate project creation, reduce repetitive tasks, and improve efficiency across SAP Build. But the data told us something else: the feature was practically invisible.

The challenge: our locked treasure

Why was engagement so low? Our research revealed a few key reasons:

Terminology like “Store” and “Ready to Use” was confusing
The design was outdated and not aligned with SAP’s Fiori guidelines
Navigation was weak, leaving users without clear entry points
Most users only discovered the feature via a lobby shortcut. Without it, usage dropped dramatically

We had a powerful capability, but no visibility.

The original design: outdated, unclear, and often overlooked

Strategic context and research

This redesign was not done in isolation. It aligned with the SAP Build 2025 strategy, which emphasizes predefined processes and best practices to accelerate time to value.

We also reviewed how similar solutions in the market are positioned. A common theme was the strong emphasis on clarity and discoverability, which reinforced the importance of making SAP’s Templates more visible and actionable

The big idea: make Templates impossible to ignore

Our guiding principle was simple: Visibility, Clarity, Efficiency.
If users did not see it, they would not use it.

So the mission was twofold:

Make Templates more discoverable, even without shortcuts
Clarify their purpose so users could quickly understand and act

Transformation in action

We redesigned the experience with these goals in mind:

Consistency: A modern, structured UI aligned with SAP’s design language
Navigation: Clearer pathways and filters so users could find relevant templates more easily
Cards: A more engaging presentation with images, clearer actions, and hierarchy
Clarity: New status badges and improved copy to reduce confusion
Guidance: A new dialog to help users understand the difference between Pre-built and Sample templates
Terminology: We also introduced several naming changes to reduce confusion and better reflect the feature’s purpose, such as renaming “Store” to Templates, “Ready to Use” to Pre-built, and “Template” to Sample. These adjustments might look small, but they made the feature’s value clearer and easier to understand.

In short, the redesign turned Templates from a hidden corner into a visible, structured, and valuable part of the experience.

The redesigned templates: clearer hierarchy, modern visuals, and consistent actions..

New Select Template dialog: shown when creating a template that supports both options, helping users choose between Pre-built and Sample with clearer guidance.

Testing with users

To validate the new approach, we ran two usability studies:

July 2024: with 6 internal SAP colleagues who used the Store daily
December 2024: with 5 SAP customers from Vodafone, AIRBUS, Merck, and Twinnings

The feedback was clear:

Users finally understood Templates
Many admitted they had not known the feature even existed before
Excitement grew as they realized Templates could meaningfully support their workflows

One participant summed it up:

“Positive step to move from Store to Template. The UI is much better from the old Store, it is awesome.”

The impact

This redesign has not yet been developed, and there is no confirmed timeline for implementation.
But the usability studies made one thing clear:

More visibility → more usage
More clarity → more efficiency
More usability → more business value

Key takeaways

Do not wait for permission. If something is broken, fix it
Business impact and usability go hand in hand
Visibility is everything. If users do not see it, they will not use it

This journey reminded me that some of the most impactful UX work is not about adding new features, but about unlocking the hidden value that already exists.

Have you faced a similar challenge in making an important feature more visible and usable? I’d love to hear how you approached it in your product.

Switching to Spaces and Pages Experience Sharing – Changing Page Tile Colors on My Home Page

2025-09-22T17:18:46.068000+02:00

Introduction

It has been a while since I touched the topic of Spaces and Pages in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition. Today I am going to continue my series on Spaces and Pages – Changing Page Tile Colors.

Recently one user raised a question: In the News and Pages section of My Home page, those page tiles were colorful. However, after the 2508 upgrade, they became mono color. I am going to explain what happened and the steps to bring back the colors and transport this UI change to the Test and Production tenants in a 3 System Landscape.

Background

The user sees two different sets of Page Tiles below, one is the mono color after 2508 Upgrade, and another one is the colorful tiles before upgrade in the Starter System which you usually don’t upgrade.

Mono Color Page Tiles on a 2508 System

Colorful Tiles on a Starter System (Prior to 2508 Release)

When we talk about these Page Tile colors, a few things need to keep in mind:

When a system is delivered or upgraded, the original color is set by the developers. The original color could be gray as shown above if nobody changes it.
System administrator can change the colors of these Page Tiles. This color change impacts to all users. Individual users cannot change the Page Tile color.
The color change is part of Key User UI Adaptation effort.

In the next section, I am going to detail the steps to change the Page Tile colors.

Steps to Change Page Tile Color

Below figure is my News and Pages section in the Dev tenant. There are six Page Tiles, only one tile “Customers and Products” has a default gray color. The remaining five tiles are all colorful.

Six Page Tiles in News and Pages Section

To Change the title color, we will take the Key User UI Adaptation route. You can see some explanations in SAP Help Portal, Adapting the UI.

You go to the User Action Menu, select Adapt UI. Click on the OK button when you see an Info message pop-up: “You have personalized the app or there are public views. The app is reloading without these changes”. It might take a few more seconds until you see the below figure which has “UI Adaptation – Navigation – Visualization” in the Title Bar.

Note 1: At current 2508 release, the UI Adaptation Tool is still not 100% compatible with the Fiori Launchpad. So, you might have to click on “Adapt UI” user menu for the 2nd time to enter the UI Adaptation Tool. This situation will improve in a later release.

Note 2: The pop-up message means for My Home page, there are already changes made by users. The system is going to bring up the app with different versions.

Note 3: The Version History is working, but not robust yet. If you switch to an old version, try to refresh the screen in your web browser to bring the setting from the server to the frontend. I will talk about it more later.

Now you click on the right mouse button, the pop-up button Personalize My Home shows up.

UI Adaptation Mode

Clicking on Personalize My Home button, My Home Settings window pops up. Then expand News and Pages menu in My Home Settings window. Now Edit News and Pages window pops up.

My Home Settings Window

Expanding the Spaces and Pages menu, you get the Edit Pages window. Here you can scroll up and down in the left panel titled Spaces and Pages to find the page tile you are interested in. For example, I find the Space Internal Sales, Page Sales Processing. By selecting this page, I can change its tile color to one of 10 available colors shown on the right hand side.

Change the Color of a Page Tile

You might notice that Internal Sales Overview Page Tile has a green color in My Home page, but it shows the gray color on the list. That’s because the developers changed the tile color before its release, the original color (not the default color) is green. The gray color in the list indicates it is still the original color, not touched by the Key User; it could be red or green; or even gray like Page Customers and Products, since the developers leave the default color there as the original color.

After you select the color, click the Close button in the Edit Pages window. Then click the Save button in the My Home Settings button.

When you come back to the UI Adaptation window, you notice the Sales Processing tile has changed the color. Also, there is a Draft text in the Version History area. By expanding the Version History, you can see the entire history of this UI Adaptation. My current version is still in Draft state, Unpublished.

Draft State of UI Adaptation

If you cannot make the final decision on your change, you can save your Draft by clicking the Save button on the right-hand side in the title bar. Keep in mind that other Key Users can edit your draft version change as well. It creates an opportunity to the team work.

Next step of changing the color of a tile is to Activate it by clicking on the button to the right.

The Activation Button of the UI Adaptation Tool

A new window Activate New Version pops up. Try to give a meaningful title and easy for you to find it later in the Version History. I enter “Change color of Sales Processing tile”. Then, hit the Confirm button.

Give a Name to the New Version

Now the Version History text changed from “Draft” to “Change color of Sales Processing tile” in green and a Truck icon appears. A new version is born. You use the Truck icon to publish this UI Adaptation so that all end users can use it. In addition, you can export this UI Adaptation to your Test and Production tenants.

The Publish Button of the UI Adaptation Tool

After the publication, hit the X button on the right of the UI Adaptation Tool Bar to exit from the tool. Then another pop-up window shows. It basically tells you that the screen will be refreshed to load your latest version.

Info Pop-Up Window “App Requires Reload”

Switch Back to Old Color

Sometimes we need to reverse our work, for example, some end users don’t like the changes we made. This is possible.

To do this, you select an older version from the Version History dropdown list. Refresh the screen to see exactly what old color is! Otherwise, you still see the latest version. In my example, I selected the very original version called "Original App". Now the Page Tile Sales Processing is changed back to its original color of gray.

Bring back the Original Color

A little different from our normal understanding, we need to create a new version based on the old version, not just reactivate an old version. Only the version at the top of the Version History can be active, and you cannot move up an old version to the top. So, when you click on the Activate New Version button, a Reactivate Version window pops up.

Enter Text for Reactivate Version

Check the Version History, a new version Reverse to Original App is there. I still need to publish it so that all end users can use it.

The Version History Dropdown List

Transport Your Change to the Test and Production Tenants

I have written a blog on Transport Your Spaces and Pages Configurations in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud 3-System Landscape Systems. It explains all the details of creating and delivering a transport.

After I create a new Software Collection called Page Tile Adaptation, I need to add content to it by clicking the Add Item button.

Software Collection Page Tile Adaptation

When you search which content to be added to your UI Adaptation Export Collection, use the filter Type “UI Flexibility: Views and Changes (UIFLEX_CD)”, you should be able to find your content.

Set Filter Type as “UI Flexibility: Views and Changes (UIFLEX_CD)”

If you make several changes to this Page Tile as I did in this blog, i.e., assigning a color, then reverse it back to the original color, there is only one content item S/4HANA Product Home.

Add an UI Adaptation Content to an Export Software Collection

After adding the content to the Software Collection, I click on the Inventory button to find out what’s inside.

Add Content Item S/4HANA Product Home to the Software Collection Page Tile Adaptation

The Inventory button opens a Change History of the Content Item S/4HANA Product Home. Within two days of writing this blog, I made changes four times until assigning this collection to the Software Collection Page Tile Adaptation.

List of All Changes Made to the Content Item S/4HANA Product Home

Conclusion

As an administrator, you can change the color of the Page Tiles in My Home page for all users by using the Key User UI Adaptation tool. You can bring the colorful page tiles back to your My Home page.

References

5 Tips for Getting Started with the SAP Fiori for Web UI Kit

2025-10-01T19:09:28.210000+02:00

The SAP Fiori for Web UI Kit is your go-to resource for creating consistent, efficient, and accessible user interfaces. The kit helps you design faster without starting from scratch.

Here are five helpful tips to get started and design with confidence:

1. Explore the full component library first

Before jumping into design work, begin with the design foundations separately, such as color, typography, and shadows. Understanding these basics early on will help you make better, more consistent decisions throughout your work. You’ll also find SAP icons and product illustrations integrated directly into the kit.

Once you're familiar with the foundations, take time to explore the full set of components included in the file. The UI kit provides a wide range of ready-made elements, scalable and fully aligned with SAP’s design principles, all in one place.

 2. Use variables to switch between themes easily

In the SAP Fiori for Web UI Kit, variables control core style properties such as colors, typography, and spacing.

The kit includes support for multiple themes that reflect SAP’s visual language in different environments. The default light theme is called Morning Horizon, and for low-light settings, the Evening Horizon theme provides a dark mode alternative.

Using variables, you can switch between these themes easily within your Figma file. This lets you preview how your designs will look across different user preferences without rebuilding components from scratch.

3. Use the Slot for content placement

Some components, such as Dialogs or Cards, include a Slot - a clearly marked area (highlighted in orange) where you can insert your own content, like text, icons, or buttons, while keeping the original structure and behavior intact.

To use it, simply select the Slot layer in the component and replace it with your own content using the “Swap instance” option in the right-hand panel. There’s no need to detach the component, your changes will stay consistent and maintain the design integrity.

Using the Slot keeps your designs flexible, editable, and easy to maintain.

4. Keep your file organized and use naming conventions

Maintaining a well-organized file helps you and your team navigate and manage designs efficiently. Use clear naming conventions for frames, components, and layers so it’s easy to find and update elements later. This practice saves time and reduces errors, especially as your designs grow in complexity.

5. Stay in sync with releases

The SAP Fiori for Web UI Kit is actively maintained and regularly improved with new components, updates, and refinements based on user feedback. To stay up to date, keep an eye on official announcements and communications from the SAP Design team. You can find the latest releases and enhancements on our SAP Design System Portal “What’s New” page.

The SAP Fiori for Web UI Kit gives you more than a set of components, it provides a solid foundation for building enterprise-ready designs that scale.

Introducing SAP Fiori for Android/iOS 25.8: Innovative Enhancements for Android and iOS

2025-10-07T10:45:01.820000+02:00

SAP Fiori continues to advance its technological offerings with the release of SAP BTP SDK version 25.8, featuring exciting updates for both Android and iOS. This release introduces a suite of new capabilities as well as upgrades to current features, enhancing user experiences on business apps.

New in SAP Fiori for Android 25.8

In the following section, we’ll give you a brief overview about everything that’s new in SAP Fiori for Android 25.8.

Circular In-Place Progress Indicator

The circular in-place progress indicator displays the status of ongoing processes when loading is initiated by a button. An indicator within the button shows the loading state. The progress indicator has been enhanced to allow customization of the icon button so that once loading is finished, the icon button can be changed to a different icon.

For more information, check out the Circular Progress Indicator article in the SAP Fiori for Android design guidelines.

Object cell with a circular progress indicator

Illustrated Message

The illustrated message component, which helps communicate empty, error, and success states through a combination of engaging illustrations, solution-oriented messages, and a conversational tone, has been updated with new illustration assets.

To learn more about this component, refer to Illustrated Message.

Illustrated message with the new “empty task” illustration

Native File Viewer

The native file viewer, which allows users to preview files, now supports viewing password-protected PDFs by prompting them to enter a password in a dialog before the file is displayed, expanding accessibility and document control within apps.

For more information, check out Native File Viewer.

Password-protected PDF files in native file viewer

Picker Form Cell

The picker form cell, used for making date and time-based selections, is now available for Jetpack Compose.

See Date and Time Picker Form Cell for more information.

Date picker form cell with Horizon tonal color option

Stepper Form Cell

The stepper form cell and the nested stepper control, which allow users to incrementally increase or decrease a select value, are now available for Jetpack Compose.

Check out the Stepper Form Cell guideline article to learn more.

Stepper form cell in horizontal layout (top) and vertical layout (bottom)

Text Input Form Cell

Text input form cells have been enhanced to provide currency support, allowing users to enter currency values in single property form cells. The form cells now feature ISO codes that automatically format the text input with the corresponding currency symbol.

For more information, refer to Text Inputs.

New in SAP Fiori for iOS 25.8

Check out what's new in SAP Fiori for Android 25.8.

Illustrated Message

Just like the Android equivalent, the illustrated message component has been updated with new illustration assets to help communicate empty, error, and success states with engaging illustrations.

Learn more about this component in the Illustrated Message SAP Fiori for iOS guideline article.

Illustrated message in different containers

Modals and Sheets

We have added new guideline articles for modality and sheets that cover all types of modals and sheets, including but not limited to full-screen modals, non-modal sheets, action sheets, popovers, and form sheets.

For more information, refer to Modality and Sheets.

Modal sheet

Pickers

The date range picker is now supported as a picker form cell, enabling the triggering of the date range selection component.

Take a look at the Pickers guideline article for more information.

Date range picker

Text Inputs

Text inputs now come with currency support via a new view modifier, enabling display of the ISO code in the text input label, showing the currency symbol after editing, and applying localized formatting using native Apple APIs and formatters.

Check out Text Inputs to view more details.

Text input - single property form cell with currency field support

Resources

Design Guidelines

A detailed documentation on component anatomy, behavior, and interactions allows you to use components that match your use case. Crosslinks to Google’s Material Design Guidelines for Android and Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines for iOS, as well as links to development documentation, help you navigate to these resources. Additionally, you can find a feedback function on each guideline article that allows you to provide feedback.

SAP Fiori for Android Design Guidelines | SAP Fiori for iOS Design Guidelines

UI Kits for Figma

SAP Fiori for Android and iOS UIKit

With the updated SAP Fiori for Android and iOS Design Kits, it’s now easier than ever to use the latest components and patterns in your mobile design. By using the Design Kits, you can quickly create a consistent user experience that enables app implementations at scale.

SAP Fiori for Android 25.8 UI Kits | SAP Fiori for iOS 25.8 UI Kits

Steps to Configure AIF for Complex Structure File Data with Multiple Header-Item in Flat File

2025-10-08T06:18:42.007000+02:00

In this blog I'd like to share the Steps of integrating complex structured file data into SAP systems to dealing with nested formats like header-item-schedule line relationships. Application Integration Framework (AIF) provides a powerful and flexible solution to address these challenges. By leveraging AIF’s capabilities, such as custom DDIC structures, composite data modeling, and robust file adapter configurations—organizations can streamline their file-based integrations, reduce custom coding efforts, and improve data accuracy. This guide walked through the essential steps to configure AIF for such scenarios, empowering SAP developers to build scalable and maintainable interfaces for enterprise data exchange.

Introduction:

In modern enterprise integration scenarios, organizations often exchange file-based data that includes multiple layers of structured information—typically comprising header records and their associated item records. Accurately processing these complex file formats is vital to ensure seamless and reliable data exchange between systems.

SAP’s Application Integration Framework (AIF) offers a comprehensive solution for managing such integrations. It supports the definition and handling of complex data structures, including nested models where each header can be linked to multiple item records. This capability enables flexible interface design and robust data validation, making AIF an ideal choice for processing structured file content in SAP environments.

By utilizing AIF’s features, organizations can streamline file-based integrations and enhance data consistency across systems.

Problem Description

In enterprise integrations, companies often receive files from external systems that contain structured data—like sales orders with headers and related item details. These files can be complex, with multiple layers of information that need to be grouped and processed correctly.

Standard file processing in SAP can struggle with this kind of nested data. Common issues include:

Difficulty linking items to the correct headers
Risk of data mismatches
Complicated custom code for parsing and validation
Limited tools for tracking and fixing errors

SAP Application Integration Framework (AIF) helps solve these problems by supporting complex data structures. It allows headers to be connected to multiple items and provides tools for parsing, validating, and monitoring the data. However, setting up AIF for this requires careful planning and configuration to ensure everything works smoothly.

How does it work?

You need to perform the following steps to create an inbound file interface:

Create the RAW structures for the interface
Develop the interface
Configure the file adapter settings for your interface
Upload File
Check Monitoring and Error Handling transaction

The following example will describe step-by-step how to Configure AIF for Complex File Data with Multiple Header-Item in Flat File

Simple example of a Sales Order creation in SAP, showing how the Header, Item, and Schedule Line levels are organized

Prepare the Flat File (CSV Format)

Example: Sales Order Creation with Header, Item, and Schedule Line

Prepare a flat file in CSV format using a pipe (|) as the delimiter.

Structure Explanation:

HEAD – Header line (Sales Order Number, Date, Customer, Sales Org, Currency)
ITEM – Item line (Item Number, Material, Material Description, Quantity, Price)
SCHD – Schedule line (Item Number, Schedule Line Item, Delivery Date, Quantity)

In order to execute this example, we require a file containing some test data and corresponding structures.

1. Create Raw Structures for the interface

🔧 Step 1: Create DDIC Structures

1.1 Header Structure – YAIF_ORDER_HDR

Field Name	Data Element	Description
ORDER_NO	VBELN	Sales Order Number
ORDER_DATE	AUDAT	Document Date
CUSTOMER_ID	KUNNR	Customer Number
VKORG	VKORG	Sales Organization
CURRENCY	WAERS	Currency

1.2 Item Structure – YAIF_ORDER_ITEM

Field Name	Data Element	Description
ITEM_NO	POSNR	Item Number
MATNR	MATNR	Material Number
MAKTX	MAKTX	Material Description
MENGE	MENGE_D	Quantity
AMOUNT	NETPR	Price

1.3 Schedule Line Structure – YAIF_ORDER_SCHEDULE_LINE

Field Name	Data Element	Description
POSNR	POSNR	Item Number
ETENR	ETENR	Schedule Line Number
DELIVERY_DATE	EDATU	Delivery Date
BMENG	BMENG	Delivery Quantity

📦 Step 2: Create Table Types

2.1 Item Table Type – YAIF_ORDER_ITEM_TT

Line Type: YAIF_ORDER_ITEM

2.2 Schedule Line Table Type – YAIF_ORDER_SCHEDULE_LINE_TT

Line Type: YAIF_ORDER_SCHEDULE_LINE

🧩 Step 3: Create Composite Structure

3.1 Detail Structure – YAIF_ORDER_DTL

Field Name	Type	Description
HEADER	YAIF_ORDER_HDR	Header Structure
ITEM	YAIF_ORDER_ITEM_TT	Table of Items
SCHEDULE_LINE	YAIF_ORDER_SCHEDULE_LINE_TT	Table of Schedule Lines

3.2 Table Type – YAIF_ORDER_DTL_TT

Line Type: YAIF_ORDER_DTL

3.3 RAW Structure – YAIF_ORDER_DTL_S

Create the RAW structure for the interface. The structure contains only one component named

Component Name: ORDER
Component Type: YAIF_ORDER_DTL_TT

2. Develop the interface

🚀 Step 4: Configure AIF Interface

4.1 Define Namespace

Use transaction /AIF/CUST

Click->Define namespace (e.g. YSALE)

4.2 Define Interfaces

Click->Define Interface

4.3 Specify Interface Engines

Assign the SAP Application Engine

Click->Additional Interface Properties->Specify Interface Engines

4.4 Assign Source Structure Line

Click->Define Structure Mappings

4.4.2 Assign Destination Structure

Select source structure line->Click->Assign Destination Sturcture

4.4.3 Assign Actions

Create an action (e.g. SALE_CREATE)

Click->Assign Action

Click Enter on Action to create the action if not already created

Click->Define Function ( To assign Function Module )

Double-click to create the Function Module that processes the data if not created

Navigate into the new function module by double clicking the name. In the function module call the follow up processing by inserting the coding displayed below:

*// Sample Logic
 CALL FUNCTION 'BAPI_CONTRACT_CREATE
  EXPORTING
    customer_data = CURR-HEADER
    customer_item = CURR-ITEM
    schedule_line = CURR-SCHEDULE_LINE
  TABLES
    return = return_tab.

Save and activate the function module.

3. Configure the file adapter settings for your interface

Click-> System Configuration->Configure File Adapter

File Type (ASC or BINARY)
File Content (Flat Structure, Complex Structure, XML, USER, XSLX )
Text Type (Fix char, Special Character Separator)
Offset Type Det Val (To Identify the record type from where it will start i.e HEAD, ITEM, SCHD line Details to prepare the data structure dynamically)
Length Type Det Val (Length of identity record type in i.e in our case first 4 character of new line)
Del Deter Val (True means ignore 1st Field separator immediately after the Det Value)

Leading Type (If we mark the record type as 'true', it means a new record will start from the file)

4. Upload File

The final step is to select and upload the file. The AIF File Upload can be found in the SAP Menu under SAP Menu -> Cross-Application Components --> SAP Application Interface Framework --> File Upload (or directly via transaction /AIF/LFA_UPLOAD_FILE).

Select your File Adapter Configuration (Config. Namespace and Config ID created in step 3). In section Upload from select the path where your file is stored.

Press executes.

5. Check Monitoring and Error Handling transaction

You will be forwarded to a log view where the log messages which have occurred during upload through below T-Code.

T-Code : /AIF/ERR , /AIF/IFMON

Conclusion

SAP’s Application Integration Framework (AIF) simplifies the integration of complex, structured file data by supporting nested formats like header-item-schedule line relationships. Through custom structures, composite modeling, and flexible configuration, AIF enables scalable, maintainable, and accurate file-based interfaces—reducing custom code and improving data reliability across systems.

Key Benefits of Using AIF for Complex File Integration

✅Reduced Custom Coding: Leverage AIF’s configuration-driven approach to minimize manual parsing and validation logic.
✅Support for Nested Structures: Easily model and process multi-level data like headers, items, and schedule lines.
✅Improved Data Accuracy: Built-in validation and mapping tools help ensure consistent and reliable data processing.
✅Enhanced Monitoring & Error Handling: AIF provides robust tools for tracking, logging, and resolving integration issues.
✅Scalable Interface Design: Composite structures and reusable components make it easier to extend and maintain interfaces.

New How-To Guides for Adapting Floorplan Manager Applications in SAP S/4HANA 2025

2025-10-09T09:09:29.366000+02:00

In this blog I would like to draw your attention to two new How-To Guides that explain in detail how to create, enhance, and adapt Floorplan Manager (FPM) applications in the latest SAP S/4HANA releases.

Many SAP S/4HANA and SAP S/4HANA Cloud UIs are based on Floorplan Manager for Web Dynpro ABAP. This proven UI technology continues to play an important role in SAP S/4HANA 2025 and provides powerful capabilities for customer-specific adaptations without modification.

1. How to Create, Enhance, and Adapt FPM Applications for SAP S/4HANA 2025 (On-Premise and Private Cloud Edition)

This guide, valid for SAP_UI 8.16 (delivered with ABAP Platform 2025 as part of SAP S/4HANA 2025), provides a comprehensive overview of the different options that Floorplan Manager offers for customer adaptations and discusses their advantages and drawbacks.

It covers in detail how to:

Create and structure an FPM-based application
Adapt applications using Customizing, Enhancement, Deep-Copy, and Context-Based Adaptations (CBA)
Use the FPM Application Hierarchy Browser and FLUID (Flexible UI Designer)
Apply best practices to choose the right adaptation technique for your scenario

With ABAP Platform 2025, the guide also introduces updates to the FPM Mobile Enabler and improved transport handling for Context-Based Adaptations (CBAL/CBAS objects).

Download the guide (PDF)

2. How to Adapt Floorplan Manager Applications as of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2508

This second guide focuses on adaptation options available for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition (Release SAP_BASIS 916 / S/4HANA 2508).

It explains how key users (with role SAP_BR_EXTENSIBILITY_SPEC) can adapt FPM applications via:

Customizing using the Adapt UI function
Context-Based Adaptations (CBA) for role- or device-specific variants
Transport of adaptations using Software Collections via the Export / Import Software Collection apps

The document includes step-by-step examples on how to simplify an FPM application and make it responsive for mobile devices using CBAs and the Device Type dimension.

Download the guide (PDF)

Both documents have been updated for the 2025 releases and provide a consistent, hands-on overview of the adaptation capabilities of Floorplan Manager in both On-Premise/Private Cloud and Public Cloud environments.

Intelligent Natural-Language Interaction in ABAP UIs — Introducing the FPM GenAI Service

2025-10-14T09:21:21.127000+02:00

Dear SAP Community,

With the upcoming ABAP Platform 2025 and SAP S/4HANA 2025 Private Cloud Edition, the new FPM GenAI Service offers a new way to bring AI-powered interaction into classical FPM-based applications.
This service can be consumed via SAP BTP credits and is designed to seamlessly integrate large language models (LLMs) into ABAP-based UIs.

The Floorplan Manager (FPM) UI Framework provides an especially suitable foundation for this, thanks to its event-based control flow and stateful backend integration — both essential for combining generative AI logic with transactional business processes.

What is the FPM GenAI Service?

The FPM GenAI Service enables developers to connect their FPM applications with LLMs in order to interpret natural-language user input and transform it into application-specific operations at runtime.

Instead of navigating through the user interface in a traditional way, users can simply express their intent in natural language — for example:

“Please create a new business partner for SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG”
“Show all open invoices from last month”

The service interprets the user’s request and executes the corresponding FPM events in the backend.

Key benefits:

Users no longer need expert-level knowledge about the UI or data model.
Reduced number of manual UI steps — one prompt replaces multiple operations.
Improved accessibility for occasional or business users.

Architecture Overview:

Architecture Overview of FPM GenAI Service

Step-by-Step Integration Guide for Application Developers

The following steps outline how to enable AI-driven interaction in an existing FPM application.

1. Define AI Use Cases

Collect all possible actions your application can perform that make sense for AI interaction.
Examples:

“Create a new business partner”
“Display all open sales orders for customer XYZ”

2. Define Parameters

Each operation may require parameters such as NAME, ADDRESS or SALES_ORDER_ID.
Collect them and describe how they relate to the operation.

3. Add Natural Language Descriptions

Provide concise, meaningful text descriptions for both operations and parameters.
Keep them short and precise — the LLM will use these to interpret prompts accurately.
(English is recommended for maintainability.)

4. Integrate AI into the UI

At the current stage, you can integrate the AI trigger via a button in your FPM toolbar.
In the demo applications, this is done using a button with an AI icon (sap-icon://ai), which opens the FPM Prompt RUIBB (component FPM_AI_QUICK_PROMPT).
A deeper integration with SAP Joule in the Fiori Launchpad is planned for the future.

5. Register Your Operations

Once your operations, parameters, and descriptions are ready, register them in the FPM GenAI Manager.

DATA: ls_operations TYPE if_fpm_genai_manager=>ty_s_operation,
      lt_operations TYPE if_fpm_genai_manager=>ty_t_operation,
      ls_parameter  TYPE if_fpm_genai_manager=>ty_s_parameter.

ls_operations-event_id    = 'AI_CREATE_BP'.
ls_operations-description = 'create a new business partner (BP)'.
ls_parameter-name         = 'COMPANY_NAME'.
ls_parameter-description  = 'only the company name (without legal form)'.
APPEND ls_parameter TO ls_operations-parameters.
APPEND ls_operations TO lt_operations.

DATA(lo_fpm_genai_manager) = cl_fpm_factory=>get_instance( )->get_genai_manager( ).
lo_fpm_genai_manager->set_operations( lt_operations ).

It’s recommended to register only those operations that are relevant to the current screen — this keeps prompts short and improves accuracy.

6. Execute the User Request

When the user submits a prompt, obtain the GenAI Manager API and call:

lo_fpm_genai_manager->execute_user_request( ).

7. Process the FPM Event

After receiving the LLM response, the FPM GenAI Manager creates and raises FPM events.
Handle these events in your implementation of IF_FPM_UI_BUILDING_BLOCK, typically in the method PROCESS_EVENT( ).

8. Handle Errors Gracefully

Use exception class CX_FPM_GENAI for error handling.
Possible cases include:

NO_USER_INPUT
USER_INPUT_ERROR
NO_OPERATIONS
GENAI_SDK_ERROR

Use the FPM Message Manager to communicate errors back to the user:

DATA(lo_msg_manager) = cl_fpm_factory=>get_instance( )->get_message_manager( ).
lo_msg_manager->report_error( cx_fpm_genai=>get_text( ) ).

That's everything for now 🙂 Now, let's check out the first

Example: EPM Demo Application (S_EPM_UX_BP)

The EPM demo application (S_EPM_UX_BP) has been enhanced to showcase the new GenAI capabilities.
The scenario demonstrates how the AI assistant can help with tasks such as creating business partners, listing products, and generating sales orders.

Step 1 – Create a New Business Partner

From the result list toolbar, select the AI button (“New”) and enter one of the following prompts:

“Please add a new business partner in the role customer, name = SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG, street = Hasso-Plattner-Ring 7, city = 69190 Walldorf.”
“Hi, we have a new customer: SAP SE Deutschland. Copy the details from their imprint page.”

Each of these prompts triggers the creation of a new business partner in the “Customer” role.
The AI framework interprets both structured and casual prompts and even derives parameter values (e.g., currency from country).

Step 2 – Find Suitable Products

Next, the user can ask for product recommendations:

“Please compile a list of products that fit into the category laptops.”
“The customer wants laptops.”

The AI assistant understands synonyms (“laptop” ↔ “notebook”) thanks to semantic enrichment in parameter definitions.

Step 3 – Create a Sales Order

Finally, the user can create a sales order:

“Please create a new sales order with each of the listed products.”
“Create a new SO, 10 items each, except the cheapest one.”

The AI framework handles parameter logic and even comparative instructions (“except the cheapest one”).

Outlook and Further Resources

In upcoming releases, tighter integration with SAP Joule and Fiori Launchpad will further streamline the AI experience across the SAP ecosystem.

For more details, please refer to the SAP Help documentation.

You may also combine the new AI feature with the new FPM Camera and Audio functionalities.

Thanks to our developers ❤️ and I hope you like it 🙂

Introducing Horizon Themes and Usability Enhancements in SAP Analytics Cloud

2025-10-20T18:00:00.029000+02:00

A Fresh Look and a Smoother Experience for All Users

We are excited to announce the introduction of the Horizon themes in SAP Analytics Cloud a modern, cohesive visual language aligned across SAP’s product suite. You will have access to Morning and Evening Horizon, the light and dark themes as well as to the high contrast white and black themes.

This release also brings a series of improvements to the side navigation, user profile, user settings, and the search, making it easier than ever to find insights and personalize your application.

Horizon Themes: Modern, Accessible, and Unified

The introduction of Horizon themes marks the next step in our user experience journey. These themes feature clean lines, contemporary color palettes, and improved contrasts, resulting in visually appealing UI that remain comfortable for extended work sessions. Accessibility is at the heart of Horizon, with thoughtful color selections and focus indicators for every user. The experience remains consistent as you move between SAP Analytics Cloud and other SAP solutions, offering a unified interface that supports productivity and ease of use. Personalize your experience by choosing from light, dark, and high contrast theme variants—simply head to your user settings to select your preferred look.

The Belize theme will remain the default in Q4 and continue to be available for the next few quarters. Looking ahead, Horizon will become the standard theme in the first half of 2026. If you’d like to enable Horizon for your organization sooner, simply navigate to the administration section under default appearance to set Horizon as your tenant’s default theme.

Improved User Profile and Settings

The user profile and settings have been reimagined to put key information and settings at your fingertips. Instantly access your account details, profile image, and settings in one clear and organized dialog. Additionally, the “About” section is now conveniently located within your user profile making key information more accessible whenever you need it.

Simplified and Adaptive Side Navigation

The redesigned side navigation bar logically organizes content and tools for easy access. Collapsible sections expand your workspace, and in collapsed view, hovering over each symbol shows module names to help you quickly find what you need.

More Convenient Search

The search now features autocomplete, making it noticeably more convenient and user-friendly. As you begin typing, relevant suggestions appear instantly, streamlining the process of finding models, stories, and files. This enhancement helps you locate what you need more efficiently, even if you can’t recall exact names, ensuring a smoother search experience.

These updates are based on user feedback and extensive research, reflecting SAP’s commitment to delivering an analytics platform that is powerful, accessible, and a pleasure to use. The Horizon themes and experience enhancements aim to reduce friction, promote creativity, and empower you to shape insights in a visually appealing and highly functional space.

What's Next

You can continue to style your SAP Analytics Cloud Stories independently, as the story theme mechanism will remain unchanged and won't follow the overall SAC theme.

With the Q1 2026 release, we plan to update the preferences for new stories and make the Horizon Morning theme available in every story; both Morning and Evening Horizon themes are currently available on GitHub.

The new Horizon themes and user experience improvements will be available mid-November in the Q4 2025 SAP Analytics Cloud release.

If you have feedback on the Horizon themes or the planned story theme updates, please reach out to me by message or in the comments.

How to unassign an Authorization Package from an S-user ID in SAP for Me

2025-10-22T17:38:11.157000+02:00

As an administrator managing user access in SAP for Me is a critical part of maintaining system security and operational efficiency. Whether you're onboarding new users as an admin, or adjusting access for existing ones, knowing how to properly assign and revoke authorization packages is essential.

Why This Matters?

Authorization packages define what an S-user ID can access within the SAP for Me ecosystem—from support cases to license data, viewing systems, software download, etc. Keeping these permissions up to date ensures compliance, prevents unauthorized access, and streamlines user roles across your organization.

Steps:

Log in to SAP for Me using your S-user ID and password.
In the SAP for Me homepage, click on “Users & Contacts” tab under Dashboard at the left side of your screen.
Then, click on “Manage Users & Authorization” card. Or simply go to User Management.
Under the list of users, find the S-user ID to unassign the authorization package from. Or simply use the search field to search for the specific S-user ID and click on the magnifying glass to search.
Click on the user/S-user ID (not the checkbox).
Click on the EXISTING AUTHORIZATION PACKAGES tab.
Click the Edit (Pencil) icon on the top right of that section.
Click on the checkbox in front of the Authorization Package(s) to be removed.
Click OK.
Click Save on the top right of the EXISTING AUTHORIZATION PACKAGES section.

For more details, please refer to Knowledge Base Article: 2878696 - How to unassign an Authorization Package from an S-user ID - SAP for Me.

Got More Questions? 

The Customer Interaction Center is always ready to support you with any of the listed processes and is happy to assist with questions regarding case-related matters, SAP for Me navigation, S-user ID, or SAP Universal ID.

Alternatively, please feel free to ask us in the Q&A   All Questions in Customer Experience | SAP Community and All Questions in Support Services | SAP Community

Don't Miss Out on Free Webcasts 

We would like to invite you to our free webcasts, which we believe can help you get the best from your support in SAP. You can find all upcoming webcasts on https://events.sap.com/supportwebcasts/en/home. These sessions are open to all the users and will revolve around hot topics in support today such as SAP for Me, Case Management, Universal ID, etc. Additionally, you can explore a range of CIC how-to videos at learning.sap.com. Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues. We are looking forward to your attendance. 

Lastly, you may want to access all Customer Interaction Center Blogs here:  https://community.sap.com/t5/tag/CustomerInteractionCenter/tg-p/board-id/crm-blog-sap.

Thanks for reading!  We hope you found this guide helpful. 

🚀 What’s New in Floorplan Manager (FPM) for Web Dynpro ABAP in SAP S/4HANA 2025

2025-11-03T08:08:21.784000+01:00

Dear SAP Community,

When it comes to the design of web-based user interfaces, SAP truly has a rich history. A great example is the EPM Purchase Order Demo (FPM/WDA application S_EPM_FPM_PO) (see Figure 1):

Figure 1: Application S_EPM_FPM_PO – Design evolution over the years

Design themes such as Tradeshow, Corbusier, Blue Crystal, Belize, or Quartz are well known to many developers. But the journey doesn’t end there — it continues toward new Horizons and compliance with the WCAG 2.2 Accessibility Standard.

In the latest releases, several new features have been added to the Floorplan Manager (FPM) / Web Dynpro ABAP framework, driven by customer feedback, SAP design standards, and general product evolution. With the ABAP Platform 2025 and SAP S/4HANA 2025 (on-premise, private cloud, and public cloud editions), we are delivering several enhancements that can be activated easily — either automatically through delivery or manually with minimal configuration or coding effort.

🧭 Page Header UIBBs & Object Page Mode

In one of my previous blogs on S/4HANA 2023, 👉 Team FPM: How to Render an FPM Overview Page to Look Like a SAP Fiori Object Page, I introduced the Object Page Mode for the Overview Page (OVP) floorplan.

This mode allows you to render an FPM Overview Page application like a Fiori Object Page. Combined with a Page Header UIBB, you get a dynamic object header that automatically expands and collapses while scrolling. You can also pin the header to keep it fixed. You can easily try this out in the Search Page of the EPM Purchase Order Demo (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: S_EPM_FPM_PO with Page Header, Pin and List Item Navigation

The new List-Item Navigation lets users navigate to a Purchase Order’s detail page in a Fiori-compliant way. On the detail page, the Object Page Mode provides faster and more precise scrolling to specific screen areas (sections or UIBBs) using the Navigation Bar (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Purchase Order Detail Page with Anchor Bar

Configuration

Object Page Mode is activated in the General Settings as a Floorplan Mode (see Figure 4).
To use a dynamic object header, define a Page Header Area in the layout and add Page Header UIBBs.

Figure 4: Object Page Mode setting in FLUID for OVP Floorplan S_EPM_UX_PO_OVP

In the List or Tree UIBB, a List-Item Navigation corresponds to rendering a Link-To-Action column differently. You can achieve this by checking Render as Navigation Column in the column configuration (see Figure 5).

Figure 5: Setting “Purchase Order ID” as Navigation Column in FLUID for List UIBB EPM_PO_OVP_SEARCH_LIST_CFG

Additional Remarks

Some OVP floorplan features may behave differently in Object Page Mode. This can affect:

Header rendering
UIBB Selector and Page Master splitter control
Section and UIBB stacking
Personalization and panel behavior

However, Power User Modes allow overriding some restrictions — such as expanding and collapsing panels, or rearranging the layout by using the personalization dialog.

🧩 CSS Grid Layout & WCAG 2.2 Compliance

Another major improvement is the WCAG 2.2-compliant rendering of forms. We’ve significantly enhanced the responsiveness of the Form/Repeater UIBB (GL2) by adopting a CSS Grid Layout.

This ensures that forms remain usable and readable — even at screen widths as low as 320px (mobile phone format) — without horizontal scrolling (see Figure 6).

Figure 6: “Purchase Order Details” form in different screen sizes

In the configuration editor (FLUID), you can enable the CSS Grid layout at General Settings → Layout Design Type → Responsive (see Figure 7).

Figure 7: FLUID configuration for Form UIBB EPM_PO_OVP_HEADER_FORM_CFG

💬Message Toasts & Invisible Alerts

In this context, it’s worth mentioning the Message Toast and Invisible Alert features, which enhance both usability and accessibility. A Message Toast is a small, non-disruptive popup for success messages that disappears automatically after a few seconds (see Figure 8). The IF_FPM_MESSAGE_MANAGER ABAP interface now provides the REPORT_MESSAGE_TOAST method for this purpose. You can also enable a Toast Mode globally with the SET_TOAST_MODE( IV_TOAST_MODE = GC_TOAST_MODE-ENABLED ) method, ensuring that messages of severity Success (S) are displayed as toasts by default (see also SAP Help Portal).

Figure 8: “Data Saved” Toast in S_EPM_FPM_PO

An Invisible Alert, on the other hand, is used to inform screen reader users about content changes that are visible but not triggered by them — ensuring WCAG 2.2 compliance. Use the REPORT_INVISIBLE_ALERT method from the IF_FPM_MESSAGE_MANAGER interface for this purpose.

🔙FLP Back Navigation

Finally, let us introduce Back Navigation in the SAP Fiori Launchpad (FLP).

You can now configure where the FLP back button should navigate to. By default, it goes back to the previous application, but often it’s more useful to return to the previous page within the same application. For example, when navigating from a main page to an edit page, you likely want the back button to return to the main page of the same object. Further details are available in SAP Help Portal.

✅Summary

With SAP S/4HANA 2025, the Floorplan Manager for Web Dynpro ABAP continues its evolution toward:

A Fiori-consistent Object Page experience
Improved accessibility (WCAG 2.2)
More responsive layouts
Enhanced user feedback mechanisms (message toasts, invisible alerts)
Smarter navigation handling in the Fiori Launchpad

These innovations make it easier than ever for FPM-based applications to deliver a modern, accessible, and consistent user experience — across all S/4HANA deployment options.

Thank you for reading — and see you next time! 😊

SAP SuccessFactors HCM: Updated Home Page 2H 2025

2025-11-14T18:14:35.329000+01:00

The second half of 2025 marks a major milestone for SAP SuccessFactors HCM: the launch of a refreshed, smarter, and more intuitive home page experience. Designed to help employees, managers, and HR administrators work more efficiently, this update streamlines navigation, personalizes content, and makes every interaction smoother.

And before you read further, I’m sure every SAP SuccessFactors customer is wondering whether this has full parity with the current home page. I’m happy to say that yes, it does! Perhaps this is a great opportunity for you to review what is working and maybe not working with what you have in your current home page, and include those changes when you roll out this version.

We’re excited for you to explore the new home page and see just how much easier your day-to-day work can be, with faster navigation, personalized shortcuts, and dynamic content that surfaces the information and tasks you need most. By streamlining actions and tailoring your experience, the updated home page helps you work smarter and stay focused on what matters most!

Smarter, Faster Actions

The updated Quick Actions are designed to anticipate what you need most. Whether it’s approving time off, updating personal details, or managing team requests, the system automatically surfaces relevant tasks—saving time and reducing clicks. And now, these Quick Actions are also available in SAP SuccessFactors Work Zone, extending the HR experience into your broader workspace.

A Clean, Modern Design

The redesigned layout features a modern look with consistent card design, clearer hierarchy, and a cleaner presentation of information. It’s easier on the eyes, simpler to navigate, and built for how people work today.

Dynamic, Personalized Content

Banners and custom cards can bring your home page to life—perfect for company news, team updates, or leadership messages. Content is dynamic, so each user sees what’s most relevant to them, keeping the experience focused.

Tailored to You

With new personalization options, users can customize their home page, save bookmarks, and receive personalized recommendations tailored to their skills and career goals. The new “Requests for Me” section ensures time-sensitive tasks—like approvals or surveys—are always visible.

Consistent on Mobile

The mobile app now mirrors the web experience, offering a seamless transition between devices. A new splash screen, updated navigation, and consolidated task view make it easier than ever to stay productive on the go—whether on iOS or Android.

Why It Matters

This update isn’t just a design refresh—it’s a more intelligent, role-aware experience that helps people get work done faster and with less effort. You’ll see:

Improved productivity through faster task completion.
A contextual experience that reduces distractions.
Easier customization without complex setup.
Flexible rollout options so organizations can adopt at their own pace.

Getting Started

To prepare for rollout, start with early preview and testing in sandbox environments. Map existing content to new cards, identify gaps, and engage your users early. Use in-app guidance with WalkMe for SAP SuccessFactors HCM to make the transition seamless.

Explore the New Experience

The updated SAP SuccessFactors HCM home page is more than a fresh coat of paint—it’s a step toward a more personalized, efficient, and engaging HR experience.

Check out the 2H release home page video, with full details here on the new features, so you can empower your teams to get the most out of every interaction.

Designing for the Humans Behind Internal Tools: My Experience in a B2B Product Environment

2025-12-05T05:21:08.160000+01:00

When people think about product design, they often picture sleek consumer apps, playful micro-interactions, and interfaces built to impress. But designing internal tools in a B2B setup is a completely different world, more quieter, deeper, and far more complex world. In my time working on internal enterprise tools at SAP, I learned that clarity is not just a design principle; it’s a lifeline. And behind every “internal user” is a human trying to do their job without friction.

Internal tools may never appear on marketing websites, but their impact is profound. They influence efficiency, accuracy, and the emotional experience of employees who rely on them day after day. That realization shifted not just how I designed, but how I listened, observed, and empathized.

Seeing the Humans Behind the Screens

It’s easy to assume that internal users are experts who already know every acronym, every workflow, and every hidden rule. But the reality is different. Internal tools are often dense, legacy-driven, and layered with years of business logic. Even experienced users can feel lost.

The biggest shift in my approach was treating internal users with the same empathy we give external customers. They deserve legibility, emotional ease, and moments of clarity just as much , if not more. Internal users don’t get guided onboarding videos or marketing-style product tours. They jump straight into complex systems, often juggling multiple responsibilities at once. Designing with this in mind meant prioritizing legibility, reducing mental effort, and ensuring every step felt intentional and supportive. It also meant acknowledging emotional factors : the frustration caused by unclear pathways, the hesitation before clicking a critical button, or the relief when a workflow simply “makes sense.”

Why always design for a First-Time User ?

One of the most impactful parts of my work was dissecting user flows not from the perspective of a product expert, but from that of a normal user behind the screen. This meant breaking down each step, identifying friction areas, and asking:

Would this make sense on the first try?
Where might someone hesitate?
Is the next step predictable?

This approach helped uncover pain points that would otherwise be overlooked. Redesigning flows with the same energy and curiosity that we bring to complex edge cases ensured a more holistic experience for everyone , not just the power users. Explanations should never be a one-time thing. Interfaces evolve, workflows change, and users switch contexts constantly, which means even product experts can feel like first-time users on any given day. Clear guidance, consistent cues, and small but intentional pieces of always-available information prevent friction before it appears. Designing for first-time users doesn’t mean oversimplifying; it means making the experience understandable without assumptions. A little more clarity is never unhelpful. It builds confidence, reduces cognitive load, and ensures that whether someone is new or highly experienced, the UI supports them with the same level of care every time they return.

Designing for Understanding, Not Just Completion

Clarity became a central part of the user experience. Often, this meant advocating for simple but powerful additions:

Tooltips to explain complex business terms
Message strips that guide users on what to do next
Inline cues to reduce ambiguity

Even closure points became important. Adding a gentle toast message confirming the end of a workflow gave users a sense of completion and confidence. In internal tools, these small reinforcements make tasks more predictable and emotionally easier. These were not ornamental additions : they were essential interactions that reduced ambiguity in critical workflows. Even something as small as a well-placed tooltip could prevent misinterpretation and save users from repeated trial-and-error. Designing for internal systems reminded me that user attention is valuable; it should not be spent deciphering jargon or guessing next steps.

Making Business Language Human-Friendly

Internal tools are filled with terminology that can overwhelm even experienced users. Improving the legibility of business terms becomes a core part of designing for internal tools. Content design is as much needed as the user experience of the workflows. Good internal design is a culmination of creating easy simplified workflows and making them understandable without extra training. Hence, improving business term legibility became a central part of my design work. Simplifying labels, rephrasing instructions, and breaking down complex concepts helped users focus on their tasks rather than decoding language.

Bringing Stakeholders Into the Process

Another crucial element was transparency with stakeholders — product managers, engineering managers, and other decision-makers. For every major initiative, I created structured process documents that offered:

A clear overview of the problem
The user journey and its pain points
Research findings and insights
Iteration timelines
Rationale behind each design decision

This level of clarity helped build alignment, earned trust, and ensured everyone understood why a design change mattered. It also strengthened the collaboration between design, product, and engineering. Stakeholders could see the depth of research, empathize with user pain points, and understand why certain design choices were necessary. It transformed conversations from subjective opinions into grounded, user-informed discussions. In many cases, it became a shared reference point that made decision-making faster and more evidence-driven.

The Quiet Impact of Good Internal Design

Working on internal tools taught me that design’s impact is often invisible but deeply felt. When internal workflows are smooth:

Work becomes faster, with fewer interruptions.
Errors decrease because the system is easier to understand.
Confidence rises as users feel supported instead of overwhelmed.
And most importantly, work becomes less stressful.

These are the small, quiet victories of internal product design. They don’t show up on landing pages, but they shape the everyday work life of employees across the organisation. Designing internal tools reminded me that design is ultimately about understanding people and even when the tools are not customer-facing. Especially then.

My Home in SAP BTP ABAP Environment

2026-01-28T10:41:54.700000+01:00

Good news – My Home is finally available with SAP BTP ABAP environment!

My Home is your personalized entry page that provides you with easy access to the business insights and applications you need to do your job with greater speed and agility. My Home for SAP BTP ABAP Environment lets you access and manage your favorite pages, your favorite apps, and your insights on any device. It follows a modular approach to meet the needs of different roles and builds on the functionality of the SAP Fiori launchpad using spaces and pages.

New Look and Feel

My Home will be set as default for newly provisioned and existing systems as of SAP BTP ABAP Environment 2602. Accordingly, this soon changes the appearance of the SAP Fiori launchpad for every user. So, look forward to the new look and feel!

However, the setting to disable My Home will still be available for administrators until the release upgrade SAP BTP ABAP environment 2608. Then, My Home will be the one and only entry page within SAP BTP ABAP environment.

My Home in SAP BTP ABAP environment

My Home Sections

My Home is divided into different sections. You can view your News, Pages, Apps, Insights Tiles, and Insights Cards on this page.

News

The News section keeps you updated on your company's latest news, or SAP BTP ABAP environment system news.

News section on My Home entry page

Pages

The Pages section provides you with quick access to your favorite or most used pages. You can manage the visibility of your pages and order them in a way that enhances your productivity.

Pages section on My Home entry page

Apps

The Apps section provides easy access to your favorite, most used, recently used, and recommended applications. The Apps section improves the discoverability of your applications. The Recommended tab offers app suggestions using SAP Business AI, based on your user-specific role assignment. You can add apps to the Favorites tab from your most used, recently used, and recommended applications. You can organize and categorize your favorite applications by using the grouping, ordering and color-coding functionality so you can access them even more efficiently.

Apps section on My Home entry page

Insights Tiles and Insights Cards

The Insights section allows you to manage and monitor your company’s activities. It shows critical business information through KPIs and micro charts. This section is broken into two sections: Insights Tiles and Insights Cards. Insights cards and tiles display dynamic content at a glance. They provide quick and easy access to the applications that can provide more detailed information.

Insights tiles offer analytical information, such as charts or KPIs. Insights cards are similar to Insights tiles but provide more detailed analytical information in the form of charts, tables or lists from supporting overview page-, list report-, and analytical list page-based applications. Thanks to this information, you can assess what is happening at any time and take action when needed. You can customize the Insights section to display information that enables you to do your job with speed and agility.

Insights section on My Home entry page

Make it Mine – Personalize My Home to Your Needs

Following the “Make it Mine” approach, you can personalize the entry page to hide or display specific sections as well as the content maintained within these sections. Another key feature is the ability to customize the layout of these sections. This personalization capability allows you to prioritize the information that is most important to you.

To personalize the entry page to your needs, choose My Home Settings from the dropdown menu of the respective sections. Here, you can customize the layout and configure the respective sections.

My Home Settings

We hope you enjoy working with My Home in SAP BTP ABAP environment and reap its benefits. You can look forward to more enhancements that will improve your My Home experience even further in future releases. Stay tuned for more updates!

Removal of Business Groups in SAP BTP ABAP Environment: Switching to Spaces and Pages

2026-01-28T11:58:43.178000+01:00

Recently, we announced My Home in SAP BTP ABAP environment.
My Home is your personalized entry page that provides you with easy access to the business insights and applications you need to do your job with greater speed and agility.

As a prerequisite for My Home, SAP Fiori launchpad spaces and pages need to be enabled.
The spaces mode was developed to offer more flexibility to influence the launchpad layout for specific user groups. Pages are assigned to users via spaces that are assigned to business roles. The business role defines which users see a specific space. By defining pages with meaningful sections, you can define in which order the apps are sorted on the page.

Switching to Spaces and Pages

Spaces and pages have been announced as the standard layout approach for structuring content in the SAP Fiori launchpad with SAP BTP ABAP environment 2302.
Consequently, the classic Fiori launchpad home page with business groups will be removed gradually until 2608 in favor of SAP Fiori launchpad spaces and pages.

Luckily, this is no news: The transition is going on for quite some time now, as spaces and pages are already the default in newly provisioned systems for several years.
The removal of groups will affect newly provisioned systems at first with 2602. Later, with 2605, the switch will take place for existing systems as well.

This means in detail:

With 2602, it is no longer possible to switch between spaces and pages and the classic Fiori launchpad home page with groups in newly provisioned systems.
With 2605, spaces and pages will be the default in existing systems as well. The option to switch to the classic home page with groups will still be available for end users if the administrator has enabled it in the Manage Launchpad Settings app.
With 2608, the option to switch to the classic FLP home page will be removed completely in production systems.

How to Prepare for the Transition

Good news: The transition is straightforward, but there are a few important points to note. Until now, users couldn’t create their own groups in the SAP BTP ABAP environment. They relied on SAP-delivered groups and personalized them by adding, removing, or renaming tiles.

SAP provides predefined spaces and pages with similarly structured content. SAP-delivered groups will be switched to these predefined spaces and pages. Important: user-level personalizations made to the previous groups will not be carried over and will be lost due to the switch. You will need to recreate personal adjustments after the transition.

To be as well prepared as possible, we recommend administrator to enable the switch to spaces and pages now to remain productive after the transition.

Here are our best practices for end users:

Plan the switch carefully and identify which adjustments are important to you.
Document your existing personalizations so you can rebuild them in spaces and pages.
Use SAP’s predefined spaces and pages as a starting point and tailor them to your workflow.

For Administrators: Summary of the Upcoming Changes

As part of the mentioned transition to spaces and pages, SAP will change the SAP Fiori launchpad settings in the Manage Launchpad Settings app for administrators accordingly over the next release upgrades:

With SAP BTP ABAP environment 2602:

The parameter SPACES is removed in newly provisioned systems.
The parameter SPACES_ENABLE_USER is removed in newly provisioned systems.
The parameter SPACES_CUSTOM_HOME is true (ON) as default for all existing and newly provisioned systems. The setting to disable My Home is still available. Since spaces and pages need to be enabled as a prerequisite for My Home, this needs to be manually activated for existing systems.

With SAP BTP ABAP environment 2605:

The parameter SPACES is true (ON) as default in existing systems.
The parameter SPACES_ENABLE_USER is false (OFF) as default in existing systems. The settings to enable switching between the classic FLP homepage and the spaces and pages layout is still available.

With SAP BTP ABAP environment 2608:

The parameter SPACES is removed.
The parameter SPACES_ENABLE_USER is removed.
The parameter SPACES_CUSTOM_HOME is removed.

Ultimately, there will be no option to switch back to groups or to enable toggling between spaces and pages and groups after the SAP BTP ABAP environment 2608 release upgrade. You must complete the transition to spaces and pages before the final, irreversible switch in production systems with the 2608 release upgrade.

We therefore invite all customers to begin transitioning now and proactively embrace this change.

International Editable SALV Day 2026 – Year 18

2026-02-07T23:36:20.726000+01:00

International Editable SALV Day 2026 – Year 18

Dear CL_SALV_TABLE Fans,

Welcome to February 8th, 2026, which is the eighteenth International Editable SALV Day. See below for a link to a blog I wrote to celebrate this day exactly one year ago.

https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blogs-by-members/international-editable-salv-day-2025/ba-p/14011230#M171694

This day marks the 18h anniversary of James Hawthorne going cap in hand to SAP and suggesting maybe the CL_SALV_TABLE could be brought up to functional parity with the CL_GUI_ALV_GRID and have an option to be editable.

https://community.sap.com/t5/application-development-discussions/cl-salv-table-needs-editable-functionality-sap-please-provide-this/m-p/3372776

Some popular pop songs are about ABAP features that should have been added 18 years ago – of which there are more than you might think – they often focus on the transition to adulthood, freedom, and nostalgia, featuring tracks like "18" by One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer, Alice Cooper’s anthem "I'm Eighteen and wonder what a DYNPRO is," and Khalid's "ABAPUNIT". These songs highlight the mix of excitement, uncertainty, and "growing pains" associated with leaving adolescence and having to learn procedural programming and then leave it behind.

I Wish to Table a Motion

The CL_SALV_TABLE was sold as an improvement to the “classic” CL_GUI_ALV_GRID.

SAP is a German company. I lived in Germany for many years. There is a German word “verschlimmbessern” which in English translates to “An Improvement Which Makes Things Worse”. It is good they have a specific word for this. In this specific example the “improvement” was to remove the one thing that made the end users love the CL_GUI_ALV_GRID and replace it with something that made it easier for the developers. But think about it – who is more important to the business? The end users who actually make the money or the developers? Who should you be trying to please?

My whole point, what I have been trying to say all these years, years full of tears, is why cannot one have the best of both worlds? Easy for the end users AND easy for the developers. Is that too much to ask?

Now, way back in 2001, I was at SAP TECHED, and the idea of “embedded analytics” was demonstrated.

The logic being is that one would want to call up a list of sales orders (or whatever) that had errors of some sort, and then fix those errors one by one, all in the same transaction.

I put it to you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that this fundamental concept has not changed in the 25 years since this was first shown to me as a prototype.

Just to make this 100% clear, one does not just want to see the incorrect data, one wants to interact with it, in order to correct it.

The current proposition is that only UI5/Fiori can do this, in a screen that looks just like an ALV Grid, only a little bit uglier, and a little bit slower But, it is marketed as a “delightful” experience, so that is all right then.

Now, just to make this exercise even more futile I am posting this on the SAP Community Website – which no-one ever visits anymore.

The SAP GUI is not going anywhere. You may have noticed SAP just extended the life of ECC 6.0 by three more years, albeit with conditions. And even when an organization goes onto S/4HANA often they still use the SAP GUI because people like it. They have moaned about it non-stop for thirty years, but they like it really.

It has been argued that Fiori apps which have a single purpose are the way forward.

Now I have tried these I feel it is a quantum step backwards. One app to set the delivery quantity, one app to set the picking quantity, yet another app to do the goods issue. When it used to be all done in one step in the GUI? Did anyone ever think about this?

In real life end users tend to like SAP GUI applications with million buttons. You can pretend that is not true, but you would be lying to yourself. Take Excel or Word for example and look at how many options they have.

Now, I am just going to repeat what I said last year, word for word.

It is as simple as this.

You get asked to write a read-only ALV report.
It is faster and simpler to do this using CL_SALV_TABLE than CL_GUI_ALV_GRID because you do not have to mess around with screens and controls and what-not.
Indeed, SAP recommend using CL_SALV_TABLE for all new developments of this nature.
The report goes live. The users start asking for extra things, as always.
They want some custom functions at the top of the screen.
They want to be able to change some of the fields and have that replicate to the database.
Well, you are right out of luck. You cannot do either with CL_SALV_TABLE.
There are workarounds for both, but they are scary, because SAP keeps finding ways to shut those workarounds down, so such an approach is not future proof.
The only viable option is to start again, this time using CL_GUI_ALV_GRID.
Then the next time you get a request for a “read-only” report the “once bitten twice shy” thing kicks in and you start with CL_GUI_ALV_GRID from the get-go.

I like CL_SALV_TABLE and so do a lot of SAP developers. But everyone (end users) likes having the editability feature a lot more. But it’s never going to happen. As has been mentioned you would think that if 100% of your customers want something you might consider giving it to them, but obviously not.

Very soon – maybe already - we will get to the stage some people reading this blog will be younger than the age of the request to make the SALV editable. Since the SAP GUI is not going anywhere (evidenced by the huge amount of development money pumped into every year by SAP) it is possible I will die of old age before the request is actioned. I am 57 already.

Nevertheless, I will keep going. Miracles can happen.

Until then the situation is “Oi you 31,000 SAP ERP Customers! You see this? You like this? You want this? Well, you can’t have it!”

See you next year!

Cheersy Cheers

Paul

PS I must admit I had an AI help me with the pictures this time. Made sense to me, no problems with copyright. I had told it what I was doing, and it said do you want me to write/publish the blogs for you in the next years, and I said no, but when I am dead YES, keep this going forever. I will probably die circa 2040. Will people still be using SAP GUI then? YES!