4    Implementing Transactional Apps

In this chapter, we’ll look at implementing transactional apps—from activating the SAPUI5 component to running the app.

As you’ve learned from the previous chapters, SAP Fiori transactional apps can be implemented on an SAP HANA database or any database. Therefore, no matter what the SAP Fiori system landscape may be (AS ABAP, SAP HANA database, or SAP HANA XS), the major tasks for implementing transactional apps remain the same in all environments. The ABAP front-end server infrastructure is comprised of the central UI component with an SAPUI5 control library, SAP Fiori launchpad, and SAP Gateway with OData enablement. We’ve installed and configured all these components in the previous chapters. The ABAP back-end server contains the business logic, with the front-end components accessing the back-end server through a trusted RFC connection.

Prerequisites

Before you proceed with the next steps, make sure the front-end and back-end components for your app are already available in your system landscape (refer to Chapter 2, Section 2.5.1).

We’ll begin with the ABAP front-end server tasks. The front-end server (ABAP) contains the UI layer with the product-specific UI components for the products and the infrastructure components. We already activated the central UI add-on ICF services in Chapter 2. We’ll now work on the central services relevant to this specific app. In this section, we’ll use the Create Sales Order transactional app as an example.

The following is an overview of the configuration tasks for transactional apps:

• Activate the SAPUI5 component.
• Activate OData services for the SAPUI5 applications in SAP Gateway.
• Set up the front-end roles, which involves the following subtasks:
  • Copy the business catalog role that provides access to the relevant catalog in SAP Fiori launchpad.
  • Add start authorizations for the required OData service to the business role.
  • Assign front-end roles to users.
• Set up the back-end roles, which involves the following subtasks:
  • Copy the back-end authorization role that provides access to the back-end data.
  • Assign back-end roles to users.

The following sections look in detail at these tasks for configuring the front-end and back-end servers when implementing transactional apps.

4.1    Activating the SAPUI5 Component

During front-end configuration, the first step is to activate the ICF service via Transaction SICF (Activate and Maintain SAP Web Services). Transaction SICF is used to maintain services for HTTP communication in the SAP system using the ICM and the ICF. This is a software layer in the application server that provides an ABAP interface for HTTP, HTTPS, and SMTP requests.

For security reasons, all ICF services are made available in an inactive state. When you first install your new SAP system, standard SAP services may not be active, so you’ll have to use Transaction SICF to activate them. Also, when you create a new web service, you may have to activate it before it can be executed; otherwise, you may get an error.

Now that you know what Transaction SICF is and what it does, you need to know which service to activate to enable the Create Sales Order transactional app. For that, you need to go to the app-specific page in the apps reference library. Follow the steps in Chapter 2, Section 2.4 to get the SAPUI5 application name for the Create Sales Order app (see Figure 4.1); copy the name.

Figure 4.1    SAPUI5 Application

The first task is to activate the SAPUI5 application service on the ABAP front-end server. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Run Transaction SICF (Maintain Services) on the front-end server, and press (Enter).
2. Enter the Service Name (i.e., the technical name you copied in the previous step). Press (F8) on the keyboard, or click the Execute icon (see Figure 4.2).
   

   Figure 4.2    Maintain Services

   Note

   If you can’t find the service on the SAP Gateway server (ABAP front-end), you haven’t installed the SAP Fiori app UI components. Go back to Chapter 2, Section 2.5 for instructions on installing the UI component.

3. Navigate to the path default_host • sap • bc • ui5_ui5 • sap.
4. Under this node, navigate to the SAPUI5 application for the Create Sales Order app: sd_so_cre (see Figure 4.3).
   

   Figure 4.3    SD_SO_CRE Service

5. To activate the service (SAPUI5 application), right-click it and select Activate Service (see Figure 4.4).
   

   Figure 4.4    Activating Service

6. In the dialog box that appears, click Yes with the hierarchy icon (see Figure 4.5).
   

   Figure 4.5    Activating with Hierarchy

We’ve successfully activated the ICF service. Now, let’s move on to activating the OData service.