Six reasons why Web Dynpro is Better than Design Studio in SAP S/4HANA Cloud

[SaschaZygar]

In the past SAP S/4HANA Cloud users had two options. Either choose the red or the blue pill: Design Studio versus Web Dynpro.

The decision has been made. Since the 2102 release the Design studio apps are deprecated. Instead, the multidimensional reports will be used with Web Dynpro apps in the future. Besides performance improvements, there are many advantages, that simplify saying goodbye to the Design Studio. This blog highlights 6 reasons why you can be optimistic about the new Web Dynpro era.

1. Filter bar always on top


2. Filter measures


3. Additional dimensions from data source /new


4. Variants + bookmarks


5. Excel + PDF Export


6. More helpful query information

The functions are demonstrated using the "Journal Entry Analyzer" app.

1. Filter bar always on top

With the Design studio it was always quite complex to filter. You could filter in the prompts and had to display them again via "Show prompts". Or you had to configure the filter bar yourself. In the Web Dynpro the relevant filters are always available on top. The Navigation Panel can be shown if desired. Here you can also filter directly by the dimensions by activating "show filter".

2. Filter measures

Furthermore, you can filter key figures with Web Dynpro. With different operators the user can influence the result set, a very useful filter possibility.

      3. Additional dimensions from data source

Next, the users can use dimensions in Web Dynpro that are not contained in the query itself, but in the data source based on it. This offers key users new possibilities in the design of custom analytical queries. Because not all dimensions have to be contained in the query itself.

4. Variants + bookmarks

In Design studio it was possible to maintain different variants of the reports. In Web Dynpro two levels of variants can be maintained. The first one saves the main filters, that were maintained by the user.

Within the second level, the bookmarks, the user can save the customizing, that was done directly in the data analysis. E.g. measure filters, drilldowns, additional attributes etc. That means working with variants is now more flexible.

Variants, that were maintained in Design Studio, must be recreated in Web Dynpro.

5. Excel + PDF Export

Besides of the Excel-Export, in Web Dynpro it is possible to export the report in PDF format. With “PDF Export Settings” the concrete output can be defined.

If the export to MS Excel should be basic without formatting, it can be edited easily using the “Clear Formats” function.

6. More helpful query information

In my opinion, the query information in Web Dynpro is more helpful than in Design Studio, because the InfoProvider name is available.

In comparison to the technical name, this information can be used in the View Browser in order to find the data source.

There are even more reasons, which should be considered:

• The Navigation Panel can be hidden (more space on the screen)


• Available for Desktop and Tablet devices


• Fulfills SAP's Accessibility Standard


• Offers Exception Reporting


• Offers for (onPremise) customers the option to define via BADI own field name mappings


• Offers for (onPremise) customers the option to change via BADI the IBN navigation parameters

Summary:

As a huge fan of the Design Studio first I was shocked about the deprecation. But after working with the Web Dynpro app for a while I must admit that it’s much better. It makes the life of users a lot easier with improved filter options. Users don’t have to add every dimension manually to the custom query anymore, the variant management is more flexible, as well as the export options. And most importantly the performance is much better.

In case you have any questions, please use the  SAP S/4HANA Cloud Q&A area. You are also welcome to provide your feedback in the comment section below. Thank you.

Good-bye Design Studio!

Welcome Web Dynpro!

[OwenLiu]

Useful information, thanks!

[Julius_Englert]

Great blog, Sascha! Thank you for this comparison.

[Pragya_Pande]

Nice blog and well put points 🙂

Thanks!

Pragya

[former_member229568]

Not bad 🙂 I would add f4 Search Helps here 🙂 They are automatically taken form DDIC.

 

Also no BE service has to be done.

[stefan-claudius_mueller]

Thanks for the comprehensive compilation

I want also to emphasize the possibility to hide or show the Navigation Panel.

[MustafaBensan]

Isn't the Web Dynpro approach inconsistent with SAP's UX Strategy which favours UI5-based Fiori apps?

 

[subossselvam]

Useful information at the right time thanks a lot

[MioYasutake]

Thank you for sharing this blog.

I have a question. With "Query Browser" app, we would be able to search for CDS Views and execute Design Studio for a selected CDS View.

Is there similar app for Web Dynpro Data Grid? Right  now I can find Tr: RSRT as only option for executing Web Dynpro Data Grid for a specific CDS View, which has not been registered as a Tile.

 

Best Regards,

Mio

 

 

[SaschaZygar]

Hi Mustafa,

thank you for the question.

Embedding drill down reporting in Fiori UI5 is very complex. Web Dynpro is also HTML-based and fully adaptive (Data Grid Apps are also released for tablet devices) and thus has some similarities with Fiori.

BR,

Sascha

[SaschaZygar]

Hi Mio,

thank you for the questions.

In the "Query Browser" all queries of a user are listed and can be executed via "Open for Analysis".

Another option in SAP S/4HANA Cloud is to select the query in "View Browser" and execute it via "Show content".

In 2105 you will be able to open the reports with Web Dynpro by default.

BR,

Sascha

[MioYasutake]

Hi sascha.zygar,

 

Thank you for answer.

We're on S/4 HANA 2020 (on-premise), but it's a good news that in the future Web Dynpro app will be opened by default.

 

Thanks,

Mio

[Yang09]

Nice summary and many thanks for the helpful info.

[Ali_Masoud]

Contrary to the design studio applications, regular users (not admin) are not able to make their variants public to share their layout with others. Any workarounds or a solution? Thanks,

[tborn]

Hi Sascha;

Thanks for the blog. I agree that the Web Dynpro app has better performance, but this is basically all that we can find in favour of it.

All our users see Web Dynpro as a big step backwards. Mind you we are not using onpremise S/4HANA and have always only used S/4HANA Public Cloud. Design Studio has definitely a more modern look and feel.

Apart from this

• Search functions in filter searches were much easier


• Export to Excel did not merge rows with the same content (importing when working with the export)


• Web Dynpro changes some of the format of dimensions to add unnecessary and confusing information, e.g. Fiscal year period from 010.2021 to SZ/2021010, similar behavior for GL account


• different date format


• whilst it was not always working drag and drop of measures/dimension was user friendly


• filter that are not part of prompt screens difficult to find

the list goes on. Please SAP let us keep Design Studio

[former_member430000]

Thank you for the blog, Sascha. As SAP has deprecated DS for S/4HANA Cloud, can we expect this deprecation to extend to on-premise as well? Is there already a (tentative) timeline for this? It'd be great if SAP could shed some light on this.

[Mohamed_Cassim]

Is there a solution to this - how may one share a personal layout?

[former_member743649]

Thanks for the informative blog. Would like to understand if this direction is only for S/4HANA Cloud or for On Prem as well? Some of the apps are available as Webdynpro and also Design studio apps for  On Prem landscape. E.g. Journal Entry Analyzer app. Is the recommendation to configure WD apps going forward?

[Renan_Correa]

Hi,

I just wanted to confirm one thing, is this WebDynpro the same technology as in WebDynpro ABAP used since mid 2000's for SRM and other SAP applications?

Regards,

Renan Correa

[HenrikeGrötecke]

Hi Ali,

Please refer to the "Using Variants and Bookmarks" section in "Using Analytical Reports (Web Dynpro Apps):

https://help.sap.com/viewer/a630d57fc5004c6383e7a81efee7a8bb/Latest/en-US/f7a8c8547996b109e10000000a...

Best regards,

Henrike

 

[HenrikeGrötecke]

Hi Jan,

Yes, in SAP S/4HANA 2021, most SAP Design Studio apps were deprecated. In SAP S/4HANA 2022, they will no longer be available.

For more information and a complete list of the deprecated apps, see 3081996 - Deprecation of SAP Design Studio Apps in SAP S/4HANA 2021

Best regards,

Henrike

[HenrikeGrötecke]

Hi Utkarsh,

Thanks for your question.

Yes, we recommend that you don't create any new Design Studio apps and migrate custom Design Studio apps to Web Dynpro apps.

Kind regards,

Henrike

[Harish_M_Krishnaiah]

Thank you for the blog. If users save variants / bookmarks in the development environment, and would eventually like to move those variants / bookmarks to quality / production environments, how should they go about this? Any pointers will help. Thank you.

sascha.zygar henrike.groetecke 

[Nitesh_Patel]

This is very helpful Article. I also like feature that allow pulling Master data attributes. But wondering why not all attributes show up for selection? refer attached snapshot, I see only segment field, do we need any other setting to get all key Profit center fields?

I tried different apps but same issue as in F0943.

 

F0943 Fiori app

[lilia1]

Hello,

thanks for all the useful information.

One question regarding bookmarks: when using bookmarks is it possible to search for a certain bookmark via text? And if so, how?

Thanks and regards.

[simon_hoeg]

Hi Lilia1,

at least in the newer releases, there are Search and Favorite functions on the "Manage Bookmarks" dialog.

Best regards,

Simon

[surstad]

Hi,

We are currently implementing S/4 HANA on-prem 2022 FPS02.  Unfortunately many users are struggling with the lack of screen/size adaptability and missing drag-and-drop functionality into tables when using the Web Dynpro framework for Multidimensional report.  Any ideas on when we could get similar adaptability in Fiori as with Data Analyzer in SAP Analytics Cloud,  or if we could replace the Web Dynpro reports in Fiori with Data Analzyer embedded in Fiori Launchpad?

Br, 
Sveinar

[simon_hoeg]

Hello Sveinar,

especially the screen responsiveness has been improved in the last onPrem releases, therefore I recommend to create a customer ticket such that your system environment (SP levels, missing SAP Notes) can be investigated in detail.

Best regards,

Simon

[surstad]

Hi @simon_hoeg ,

I am happy to create a customer ticket with system environment details (S/4 HANA op 2022,  FPS02) and also have a call on perceived user-experience.  Also sharing some screenshot examples below with Manual Journal Entry Analyzer - SAP Horizon theme

[Gerd_x]

Hello,
Thanks for this great blog! Well done!

We’re on S/4 HANA on-prem 2023 and struggling with one issue when using the Web Dynpro framework for Multidimensional reports when a custom analytical query is executed.

The end-users are calling the query from a tile from Fiori launchpad. When selecting in Fiori launchpad the icon with the user initials on the top right and from there ‘i - about’ it’s usually in case of a Fiori App  the Fiori id, in case of a WDA the ID of the web dynpro displayed, but for a multidimensional report, it will never specific information be displayed:

The requirement is to display here a Title/ID for the app, so that during tests (unit tests, authorization tests, etc.) the users can refer to this id.
When setting up the tile/target mapping, we populated in the Application Manager or in the old Launchpad Designer additional information, like e.g. a Fiori ID. For Fiori Apps, WDAs or GUI transactions this would be displayed under ‘i – information’ but not for multidimensional reports. Is there a possibility to achieve this?