SAP Fiori Explained in an Unorthodox Way!!
Fiori: The budding flower of SAP that has been blossoming for some years!!
Are you not bored of the same old GUIs? Want some excitement and better experience? Sow this flower in your SAP garden and nurture it regularly, the fragrance would surely spread far and wide!
SAPGUI->BSP->WEBDynpro->FPM->Portal->Fiori.
What would be next in SAP’s mind? Hope no surprise in near future!
You need these GUIs as App on my mobile! You wonder how I shall do it! Can SAP provide it?
Gone are the days of old GUIs and cumbersome web Applications! SAP is evolving at the lightning speed and we need to keep pace with SAP otherwise we would vanish to oblivion in its vast galaxy!
Enough of talking. You need to see things working. You have the latest SAP Netweaver version in your system. Can you start off with the Apps?
Well, the real-time Apps demand little more. Here are the things that are actually required for a working App.
You must have heard some random terms for the same, “SAPUI5”, “Gateway Server”, and “OData Services”, etc. Let’s get them into our nerves one by one.
The backbone of every concept is its architecture. Let’s dive ourselves deeper into the concept.
- Web Dispatcher – As SAP welcomes the outside world with open arms, any request that comes to it, it redirects to the appropriate backend server. It ensures the smooth flow of traffic between client and servers.
- ABAP Frontend or the Gateway Server: It is the key ingredient that is required for proceeding to make any Apps. It is basically based on SAP Netweaver Application Server. It is actually a handshake between the outer network and the backend business Applications. It contains all the gateway components and the necessary technicalities required to make Odata. In short, it is the heart and the central nervous system for creating, configuring and designing Fiori Apps.
- ABAP Backend Server: I need not say much in this. We are very familiar with this – as rightly said by him, it is the place where our business logic is developed and configured and it will continue to rule!!
- The Last Layer – The last layer always has to be the database layer. It can be any database for transactional Apps and SAP HANA Database for the fact sheet and analytical Apps.
WOW!! DOESN’T THE ARCHITECTURE SEEM SO SIMPLE FROM THE SPACE LEVEL?
Now you have your front end server and backend Server in place (should be connected through RFC connection). Once the configurations are set you are all set to fly high in space!
But, what do you do in your frontend server?
As I said earlier with the front end or the gateway server, it becomes easy to handshake with the outside world! It does the following functions:
- I can create OData services: Let’s put down the high-level language into low-level language – it is an open data protocol (rule) through which my APIs can be converted into services which can be consumed through web browser (remember the architecture?) and SAP Fiori Apps use this OData to display and update data in backend. OData actually is an entity set on which we can also perform CRUD Operations. How cool is that!
- Fiori Catalogue: Once OData services are ready and activated, we can build a catalogue for our Apps.
- Authorizations: Once your catalogue is designed, you need some BASIS/Security guys for role authorization to Fiori end user for OData services and catalogue.
- Fiori Theme designer: All the above steps are enough for you to make an App, but if you need a new look and feel, through the Gateway server, you can design a theme too for your App.
- Fiori Launchpad: Once you are all set, you can configure your SAPUI5 App in your Launchpad and enjoy the simplified usage of robust Applications.
