A collection of templates for commonly used application patterns, such as List Report, Worklist, Object Page, Overview Page, and Analytical List Page, are provided by the SAP Fiori Elements framework. These templates, combined with OData services and annotations, enable the generation of SAP Fiori applications at startup. CAPM, on the other hand, is a development and runtime environment that provides a set of tools and services to build cloud-native applications on the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP).
What is SAP Fiori Element Application?
SAP Fiori Elements offers templates for frequently utilized application patterns within SAP applications. With predefined templates and annotations, we can quickly build Fiori applications without the need for extensive UI coding. Fiori Elements is the seamless integration with other SAP technologies and services, such as CAPM Services and HANA DB Cloud. This integration enables businesses to leverage the capabilities of these services to enhance application development, deployment, and management. With Fiori Elements, businesses can create applications that are not only visually appealing and user-friendly but also scalable, secure, and optimized for performance.
SAP Cloud Application Programming Model (CAPM)
- CAPM is a framework that offers a set of tools, languages, and libraries to rapidly build enterprise services and applications. CAPM provides a streamlined development experience, enabling developers to create and deploy applications across multiple SAP products, including ERP, CRM, and HANA. CAPM provides a declarative approach to data modeling, allowing you to define your data structures and relationships using annotations and annotations files. This makes it easier to maintain and evolve your data model as your business needs change.
- One of the key advantages of CAPM is its support for multiple programming languages. We can choose between Java and Node.js to implement business logic and integrate with Core Data Services (CDS) views to define entities and services. CAPM simplifies the development process by leveraging CDS to expose data from HANA tables, reducing development time significantly.
HANA DB Cloud
- HANA DB Cloud is a fully managed, in-memory database service provided by SAP. It offers a scalable and secure database solution that enables businesses to store, process, and analyze large volumes of data in real-time. HANA DB Cloud provides advanced analytics capabilities, allowing businesses to gain valuable insights and make data-driven decisions. The integration of HANA DB Cloud with other SAP technologies, such as Fiori Elements and CAPM Services, further enhances the development and deployment of business applications.
Steps to develop and deploy business applications with SAP Fiori Elements, CAPM Services, and HANA DB Cloud
Set up the Development Environment:
- To get started, we must establish our development environment. This includes installing the necessary tools and libraries for CAPM development. The SAP Business Application Studio (BAS) is an integrated development environment (IDE) that provides the required tools for CAPM development.
Create a CAP Project:
- Once development environment is set up, we can create a new CAP project. The CAP project serves as the foundation for your Fiori Element application. Use the project creation wizard in BAS to create a new CAP project. During the project creation process, we need to specify the project name, runtime (Node.js or Java), and any additional features or dependencies we want to include.
Folder Structure is as follows:
- App – Contains UI Frontends
- Db – Contains Data and Domain Models
- Srv- Contains Service Models
- json – Contains Configuration and Project Metadata
- Gen – Contains HD Table Details after Deployment
- Env1 – Contains Cloud Foundry Details
Define the Data Model and Services
- In the CAP project, we define the data model for our Fiori Element application. This involves creating entities, associations, and annotations using the Core Data Services (CDS) syntax. CDS provides a declarative way to define the data model and its relationships, making it easier to maintain and update your application. Services display the entity as a service name.
a) Data Model
b) Services
Service Instance Creation and Hana Cloud Configuration:
i) Create an instance in Business Technology Platform (BTP) by creating spaces in cloud foundry. Instance helps to configure Business Application Studio with Hana DB Containers which helps us to display data in Applications.
ii) Create a Run configuration in Business Application Studio and provide the instance that has been created.
iii) Login into cloud foundry using command CF Login in node terminal by providing BTP Credentials. Deploy the CAPM Services into Hana DB from the configuration.
iv) After Successful Deployment, log into Hana cloud database and we can find the data models that got deployed as Hana DB table.
v) Also in Business Application Studio under gen folder we can find the details of Hana DB tables with CDS Views to perform the front-end operations dynamically.
Generate Fiori Element Templates and enhance the UI
The Fiori Element templates provide the UI components and patterns required for List Reports, Object Pages, Analytical List Pages, and Overview Pages. These templates can be customized to match your application’s requirements. After generating the Fiori Element templates, we can enhance the UI by adding additional UI components, customizing layouts, and applying Fiori design guidelines. SAP provides comprehensive documentation and resources for Fiori UI development and helps to create a visually appealing and user-friendly interface.
Deployment of Application
Once completed the development and UI enhancements, need to test our Fiori Element application. CAPM provides built-in testing capabilities to ensure the application functions as expected. we can also deploy our application to the SAP Cloud Foundry environment for production use. The Cloud Foundry platform provides scalability, reliability, and easy management of your applications.
Run the Application
Run the application from configuration. Package.Json helps to connect with HANA DB server with latest metadata.
Below Screenshot is the output of Fiori elements Application. These codes are added to SRV folder.
Once click on any line item in smart table it will navigate to Object Page of application. It holds the details of line item.
Conclusion:
The combination of SAP Fiori Elements, CAPM Services, and HANA DB Cloud provides a powerful platform for developing and deploying business applications that drive efficiency, productivity, and growth. By leveraging the benefits of these technologies, businesses can enhance the user experience, streamline processes, and gain valuable insights from their data.
As businesses continue to embrace digital transformation, the demand for efficient and user-friendly business applications will continue to grow and manage applications that align with their business goals and deliver tangible results. for more details please visit our website SAP BRIM Implementation.