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Smart choices for your UI: When to use sap.ui.mdc

bendkt
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
‎2024 Sep 19 3:51 PM
3,595

UI5Officialheader.pngChoosing the right technology is crucial when building UIs for SAP and other applications. What seems straightforward at first can become more complex as you explore the variety of possibilities. By choosing SAPUI5 you are already one step closer to the solution. Its wide range of controls and built-in support for data binding, especially for OData, make it the proven framework of choice for SAP S/4HANA and other SAP products.

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sap.ui.mdc is a specialized library within SAPUI5. It is designed to enhance user experience with advanced controls and features, helping you build metadata-driven controls (like smart controls) and applications. If you need tables, filter bars, value helps, or semantic links, it might be for you. Let's explore the scenarios where it could be the right choice for your project. Refer to the following diagram for help with your decision.

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Using sap.ui.mdc: Implementation options

If you’ve concluded that sap.ui.mdc is appropriate for your needs, there are two different approaches to consider. You should check out the documentation and try our tutorial first to gain a general understanding of the library and its capabilities.

The metadata-driven approach

Imagine you're developing a data-heavy application for an ERP system. sap.ui.mdc is ideal for generating most of your app based on a set of metadata (comparable to OData metadata and annotations) and for reusing your sap.ui.mdc implementations across multiple apps.

  • Requires a considerable investment in developing the sap.ui.mdc delegates and reusable assets.
  • Delegates act as interpreters between the control and the service with its metadata.

The freestyle approach

Suppose you're working on an application that requires a filter bar and a table with personalization options and variant management. Maybe you also need semantic links or value helps but do not want to build reuse capabilities or specific metadata interpretations.

  • Requires a moderate investment in developing the sap.ui.mdc delegates.
  • Delegates are app-specific with hard-coded information.
  • If only personalization with simple filtering is required, it is better to use vanilla SAPUI5 with the personalization assets.

Summary

In conclusion, sap.ui.mdc offers powerful features for SAPUI5 applications, particularly when it meets your project’s requirements. By assessing the scenarios and implementation approaches you can enhance your application's functionality and user experience while keeping the development effort as low as possible.

For more information and best practices, explore our detailed samples or reach out, for example, by leaving a comment.

For more information on UI5 and sap.ui.mdc

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