SAP Fiori Client User Guide
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Copyright 2014 SAP AG Friday, February 21, 2014
SAP Fiori Client User Guide
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1
Prerequisites ................................................................................................................................................. 2
Installing the Application .............................................................................................................................. 2
Launching the Application ............................................................................................................................ 2
Initial Configuration .................................................................................................................................. 3
SAP Fiori Logon ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Configuring the Application .......................................................................................................................... 6
Android ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
Cache Settings ....................................................................................................................................... 8
Logging Settings .................................................................................................................................... 9
iOS ............................................................................................................................................................. 9
Using the SAP Fiori Client ............................................................................................................................ 10
Navigation ............................................................................................................................................... 10
File Attachment Handling (iOS only) ....................................................................................................... 11
Security Configuration ................................................................................................................................ 11
Authentication and Certificate Requirements ........................................................................................ 11
Copyright 2014 SAP AG 1
Introduction
SAP Fiori is a collection of Web applications that are designed to be multichannel: both desktop and
mobile browser. This means a single instance of the application supports end users regardless of the
device they are using. This is critical in a world where mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets,
outnumber laptop and desktop computers.
Running business applications in browsers on mobile devices presents challenges in performance,
security, and the consistency of end-user experience: you do not have the same control over the
network, device, or the browser application that you have with assets deployed within the company
firewall.
For example, Fiori application assets, like the Web content files that comprise the application, are
cached by the mobile browser; but they may be quickly purged (within several hours or sooner) by the
mobile device without the user’s knowledge. Subsequent loads of SAP Fiori (after the browser cache has
been purged by the device) cause the full application assets to be retrieved again. Because mobile
device browsers manage their own performance and memory footprints, any performance benefit a
user obtains from the browser caching application resources between sessions is lost when the browser
arbitrarily purges its cache.
To help address these problems, SAP created the SAP Fiori Client, a native application runtime for SAP
Fiori on Android and iOS devices. The app acts as an enterprise enhancement to the mobile browser
when SAP Fiori applications are running. It uses the same multi-channel SAP Fiori Web application, but
users get more consistent performance through the enhanced cache management features in the SAP
Fiori Client. The application, a native mobile app built using the open source Apache Cordova
framework, renders SAP Fiori application content, and provides more reliable asset caching (HTML, CSS,
JavaScript files, and more) plus, on iOS, an enhanced attachment viewing process.
SAP Fiori Client implements a cache management strategy that allows the native application to maintain
its own cache of SAP Fiori application assets. Therefore, the application is not affected by browser cache
issues. When the application runs for the first time, it retrieves the SAP Fiori application assets from the
server just as the mobile browser does. On subsequent loads, however, the application uses local
cached assets for the application. During operation, the application detects when updates are available
to SAP Fiori applications and, when an update is detected, purges its existing cache of SAP Fiori
application assets and pulls the updated content from the server.
What this means is that SAP Fiori Client performance is comparable to the mobile browser on initial
application load, and after an update has been made to the application; but at all other times it operates
using the cached SAP Fiori assets. The benefit for SAP Fiori application users is increased overall
performance for application loads, as the periodic purge of browser content no longer affects SAP Fiori.
The application currently supports devices running Android 4.1.3 through 4.3, iOS 6, and 7.
This guide shows you how to configure and use the SAP Fiori Client on your device.
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Prerequisites
The SAP Fiori Client requires the following components to be installed on the servers:
SP05 of the SAP UI Add-On Ver. 1.0 (software component UI_INFRA)
SAP NetWeaver 7.40 SP04 (SAP_UI)
You can reduce the server load level using SAP Note 1942086 “SAPUI5 Cache Buster for Applications –
Update via Scheduled Report,” which is available with UI_INFRA 100 SP07 and SAP_UI 740 SP07.
Installing the Application
The SAP Fiori Client is a native application that must be installed on your device. The installation may be
performed automatically by a system administrator, or you can download the application directly from
your device manufacturer’s app store. The application installs the following icon on your device’s home
screen:
Figure 1 – SAP Fiori Client Application Icon
Launching the Application
Launch the application by tapping the application icon shown in Figure 1.
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Initial Configuration
The first time you launch the application, you are prompted to enter a URL for your organization’s SAP
Fiori server, as shown in Figure 2. Enter the URL and click OK.
Figure 2 – SAP Fiori Client Initial Configuration
SAP Fiori Logon
After configuring the application for your Fiori environment, when you start the application, you see the
Fiori logon screen shown in Figure 3. At this point, you can type your user name and password then tap
Log On to access your SAP Fiori applications.
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Figure 3 – SAP Fiori Logon Screen
If your company’s implementation of SAP Fiori can be accessed only while your device is connected to a
virtual private network (VPN) and you are not connected to the VPN, the application shows the screen in
Figure 4. Connect to the VPN, then tap the Reload button to reload the Logon page from the SAP Fiori
server.
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Figure 4 – SAP Fiori Client Error Page
If the application is not properly configured, you see the page shown in Figure 4 when you launch it.
Configure the SAP Fiori URL in the application’s settings as described in the following section.
When an update to the SAP Fiori application has been detected on the server, the SAP Fiori Client
application will notify the user before downloading the update as shown in Figure 5.
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Figure 5 – SAP Fiori Update Notification
Configuring the Application
To configure the SAP Fiori Client, you must access the application’s settings screen. Use the instructions
in the following sections to configure the application.
Android
Newer Android devices do not expose a menu button, so on these devices, double-tap on a blank area
of the SAP Fiori Client application screen to open the toolbar shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6 – SAP Fiori Client Toolbar
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Tap the three dots aligned in a vertical bar at the right side of the toolbar; the application opens a pop-
up menu. Tap the Settings menu; you see the settings screen shown in Figure 7.
Older Android devices expose a menu button a user can tap to display application options. On these
devices, when you tap the menu button the device opens a pop-up menu above the button. Tap the
Settings menu that appears, to see the settings screen shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7 – SAP Fiori Client Settings Screen on Android
The Fiori URL field points to the SAP Fiori Client application to your organization’s Fiori implementation.
Tap the Fiori URL field, and the application shows the Fiori URL input field shown in Figure 8. Type or
paste the Fiori URL into the field and tap the OK button to continue.
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Figure 8 – SAP Fiori Client URL Entry on Android
The remaining fields on the Settings screen are for testing and debugging purposes and are described in
the following sections.
Cache Settings
One of the benefits SAP Fiori Client provides is an improved cache manager for Fiori Web assets. As part
of the application troubleshooting process, you may be instructed to open the Settings screen and tap
the Clear button to force the application to clean out its cache of Fiori application assets.
Figure 9 – SAP Fiori Client Cache Statistics
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Tap the Statistics button to display the Cache Statistics screen shown in Figure 9. The screen shows how
often the SAP Fiori Client can serve a request from its local cache versus how often it must connect to
the Fiori server for application assets. To reset the application’s statistics, tap the Reset button.
Logging Settings
The SAP Fiori Client application can log detailed information about its operation, then display the
information to the user. By default, logging is disabled; to enable it, set the Status switch to On as shown
in Figure 7. With logging enabled, you can set the application’s log level by tapping the current log level
(shown as ‘Error’ in Figure 7) then selecting from one of the following options:
Error – instructs the application to write only error messages to the log.
Info – instructs the application to write errors and some additional information to the log.
Debug – instructs the application to write detailed information (including errors) to the log. This
option generates the most information about the application’s operation and may slow
application performance more than the other options.
Once logging is enabled, and after the application has been used for a while, you can tap the View Log
File item shown in Figure 7 to display the current contents of the log.
iOS
On iOS, the SAP Fiori Client Settings screen is not available from within the application. Instead, you
must navigate to the iOS Settings application, then scroll through the list of applications and open the
entry for the SAP Fiori Client. The Settings application opens a screen similar to the one shown in Figure
10.
Figure 10 – SAP Fiori Client Settings Screen on iOS 7
The settings screen options are very similar to the ones supported on Android. Refer to the previous
section for information about the different options.
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There’s no option for viewing the log file from the settings application. To view the log file after enabling
it, hold two fingertips against the screen for a few seconds; the activity menu shown in Figure 11 will
appear at the bottom of the screen. Tap the ‘Log’ button to open the log file.
Figure 11 – SAP Fiori Client Activity Menu
Using the SAP Fiori Client
Once configured to connect to the appropriate Fiori instance, the application renders the Fiori
application content just as it does within the mobile browser. Navigation between Fiori apps and other
aspects of Fiori is handled by Fiori, so there is limited need for the standard URL input field and
navigation buttons provided by the mobile browser. There are, however, some navigational capabilities
provided by the SAP Fiori Client, which are described in the following sections.
Navigation
If you get stuck in the SAP Fiori Launchpad or one of the SAP Fiori apps, double-tap on the application
screen to open the SAP Fiori Client toolbar shown in Figure 12.
Figure 12 – SAP Fiori Client Toolbar on Android
Tap the Home icon (Figure 13) to open the SAP Fiori Launchpad, and the Reload icon (Figure 15) to
reload the current page.
Figure 13 – Home Icon
Figure 14 – Back Button
Figure 15 – Reload Icon
On iOS, to open the toolbar, hold two fingertips against the screen for a few seconds; the pop-up
toolbar shown in Figure 11 will appear at the bottom of the screen. Tap the Home icon (Figure 13) to
open the SAP Fiori Launchpad. Tap the Back icon (Figure 14) to navigate to the previous page within the
SAP Fiori application. Tap the Reload Page icon (Figure 15) to reload the current page.
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File Attachment Handling (iOS only)
When a Web application user opens an attachment embedded in a page, the browser opens an external
application to render the attachment, and the user is taken away from the Web application context to
work with the attachment. The user must then perform a cumbersome set of steps to return to the
original application.
In the SAP Fiori Client, attachments are launched in a window within the application. On dismissing the
attachment window, the user returns directly to his or her original context in the Fiori application. This
provides a more seamless integration of attachments into the application and gives users a quicker and
easier way to return to SAP Fiori.
Security Configuration
Due to the nature of the SAP Fiori Client application, there are no settings a user or administrator can
set to configure the security of the application. The SAP Fiori Launchpad and associated Web
applications manage the logon process as well as access to data.
Authentication and Certificate Requirements
SAP Fiori Client supports the standard Fiori SSO configuration. The application does not support basic
authentication and will not operate in an environment where a self-signed certificate is used.
