New features for Floor Plan Manager for Web Dynpro ABAP
SAP Education provides the course NET313 – Floor Plan Manager for Web Dynpro ABAP.
This course teaches almost all FPM features added by SAP Development in SAP NetWeaver Application Server version 7.01, 7.02 and 7.31. The concepts and techniques presented by NET313 are a MUST for all ABAP developers working in the Web Dynpro area. There is no other way to be able to understand, support, adjust and enhance the SAP provided applications, nor to create similar ones.
Floorplan Manager (FPM) is a Web Dynpro ABAP application that provides a framework for developing new Web Dynpro ABAP application interfaces consistent with SAP UI guidelines. FPM currently supports you in creating and configuring user interfaces with the following floorplans:
Object Instance Floorplan (OIF) - In an OIF application, FPM displays your UIBBs in multiple tabs. Note that this floorplan has been superseded by the Overview Page (OVP) floorplan. All new applications for object instances should be built using the OVP floorplan.
Guided Activity Floorplan (GAF) - In a GAF application, FPM displays your UIBBs as individual steps in the overall roadmap
Overview Page Floorplan (OVP) - You can use the OVP floorplan (OVP) to model an application user interface that displays an overview of the most important data of a business object instance to the user and that enables editing, deleting and creating new data.
The following floorplan areas can be configured using the FPM configuration editor:
Identification Region (IDR) – is a component for the Header Area - not present in OVP floorplan configurations. The Identification Region (IDR) consists of the following three areas:
Header area (IDR Basic),
Ticket area and Items area (IDR Extended).
Message Region (MR) - All messages to be reported are displayed in the Message Region. This UI element is included in all FPM applications.
Context Navigation Region (CNR) – FPM allows you to construct toolbars according to the latest SAP UI guidelines. You choose which toolbar elements you require and FPM positions them in a predetermined location.
FPM allows for modification-free customer adaptations.
Starting in 2000, most of the new SAP delivered Web Dynpro Applications are based on one of the floorplans identified above.
The initial FPM features were released with the Enhancement Package 1 for SAP NetWeaver 7.0. Additional features were released with Enhancement Package 2 and completed with more features with Enhancement Package 3.
Enhancement Package 1 for SAP NetWeaver 7.0 (SAP NetWeaver Application Server Version 7.01) provided the following FPM features:
- Object Instance Floorplan (OIF)
- Guided Activity Floorplan (GAF)
- Quick Activity Floorplan (QAF)
- FORM GUIBB
- LIST GUIBB
Enhancement Package 2 for SAP NetWeaver 7.0 (SAP NetWeaver Application Server Version 7.02) provided the following additional features:
- Overview Page Floorplan
(OVP) - Drag-and-Drop between UIBBs - You can use the Drag-and-Drop
feature to move (cut or copy) data at runtime within and between individual
user interface building blocks (UIBBs) and generic user interface building
blocks (GUIBBs). - Using an FPM Application Controller
- Using an
Application-Specific Configuration Controller (AppCC) - New Generic UIBBs
- TABBED GUIBB
- TREE GUIBB
- SEARCH GUIBB
- LAUNCHPAD GUIBB
Enhancement Package 3 for SAP NetWeaver 7.0 (SAP NetWeaver Application Server Version 7.31) provides even more additional features, such as:
- FORM GUIBB GL2 – this form component supersedes the FORM GUIBB
- LIST GUIBB ATS – this
list component supersedes the LIST GUIBB - POWL GUIBB – this
component provides integration of the Standard POWL applications - Analytical Components
- You can use analytical components to embed analytical and planning content
into transactional applications in Floorplan Manager without development
effort. - REUSE UIBBs (RUIBB)
- Reuse UIBBs (RUIBBs) are intended to be reused by other applications. You can
add them to your application configurations and immediately start using their
functionality without having to write additional code. A Generic UIBB (GUIBB)
is a pure UI pattern which itself does not support any business functionality.
There is always the need to provide the business functionality. A RUIBB is,
more or less, a complete component offering common business logic and a user
interface to go with it.
- FPM Application Creation Tool (ACT)
- FLUID (Flexible UI Designer) - the FPM
Configuration Editor, FLUID (Flexible UI Designer) allows you to edit your application
and to configure it at design time. - WIRE Model - The wire model can be used
to create running FPM application by pure configuration or at least with
minimal coding effort. The runtime interdependencies between UIBBs are defined
by configuration entities called “wires” based on reusable “connector” classes.
The primary use cases for the wire model are object models with generic access
interfaces (for example, ESF, BOPF, or BOL). - FPM on BOL - For the CRM Business
Object Layer (BOL), there is a complete implementation of feeder classes for
the GUIBBs Form, List and Search and connector classes for trivial connections
and BOL relations. - Context Based Adaptations (CBA) - The option to adapt
applications without the need of modification is one of the main benefits
offered by FPM. The possibilities of Web Dynpro Customizing in combination with
the Enhancement Framework already allow far more than the classic Dynpro in
this respect. But what if there is a requirement to add additional information
to (or remove it from) the screen for particular users. Previously, there was
only one option to achieve this: copy the whole set of configurations, adapt it
and have the particular users start the adapted configurations. The new
functionality allows a far better and more comfortable approach to implement
these use-cases. - FPM CHIP Integration - there is a need for
displaying single GUIBBs in a CHIP, for example, a Form UIBB. For this purpose
FPM offers a single UIBB floorplan, the UIBB CHIP Wrapper (UCW). - FPM BOL CHIP Integration - The standard BOL feeder
classes define tags for each attribute. The tag name is by default the BOL
attribute name. This can be changed by redefining method GET_FIELD_DESCRIPTION.
As is standard, the tagging for a field can be activated in the attribute view
in the GUIBB configuration in FLUID.
As you can see, there was a lot of development in the FPM area, and SAP provided Web Dynpro ABAP applications are using many of these features. To be able to support the SAP provided code and to create similar applications, you need to learn these new technology, part of ABAP development. And you can get there easily by taking the NET313 course.
