4c_ABAP_UI_NWBC

Claudia Binder, Felix Hoefer, Peter Barker, Thomas Jung December, 2012

Building a User’s Workplace with SAP NetWeaver Business Client

© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 2

Disclaimer

This presentation outlines our general product direction and should not be relied on in making a

purchase decision. This presentation is not subject to your license agreement or any other agreement

with SAP. SAP has no obligation to pursue any course of business outlined in this presentation or to

develop or release any functionality mentioned in this presentation. This presentation and SAP's

strategy and possible future developments are subject to change and may be changed by SAP at any

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express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a

particular purpose, or non-infringement. SAP assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in this

document, except if such damages were caused by SAP intentionally or grossly negligent.


Agenda

Introduction

SAP NetWeaver Business Client characteristics and versions

Session objectives

Role basics

How role menus transform to the client

Start pages, menus, search providers and side panels

Advanced role maintenance

Merging of roles

Page Builder and CHIPs

Addressing remote systems

Tips and tricks for role testing

SAP NetWeaver Business Client Configuration: Create and deploy NWBC settings

Administrator settings

Branding

Exercises

Introduction

A Good UI

Is more than black and white!


SAP NetWeaver Business Client for Desktop: Feature set overview

Role-based access to SAP business applications

Roles can be loaded from

PFCG (Web AS ABAP role repository)

PCD (SAP Enterprise Portal role repository)

Navigation frame hosting

Dynpro (embedded and reused SAP GUI for Windows)

Web Dynpro ABAP

HTML-based content

Harmonized user experience through integration of

SAP GUI and WebDynpro based applications

Side Panel

Enhance SAP GUI applications without modification (SAP NetWeaver Business Client for Desktop 3.5 or 4.0)

Generic functions

e.g. Quick Launch search field, menus and branding

(customer logo)


SAP NetWeaver

SAP NetWeaver Business Client Version overview

SAP ECC 6.0 EhP 1 EhP 2 EhP 3

7.0

EhP 4

7.0 EhP 1

EhP 5

7.0 EhP 2

EhP 6

7.0 EhP 3

7.3 EhP1

SAP NetWeaver

Business Client

for Desktop

Windows-based

SAP NetWeaver

Business Client

for HTML

Browser-based,

restricted functionality

Multi window

Signature design

Quick Launch

* Required for

usage of NWBC

Version 4.0 Version 3.5

Tabbed browsing

OpenSearch

integration

Corbu design

inside

Side panel feature

From SP03 on:

Alternatively

Corbu design

Version 3.0


Browser-like navigation in NWBC for Desktop 4.0

Options to find and launch applications

Overview pages

Index page

New Tab page

Service map

Start pages

Quick Launch

Launch applications

Search for applications

or content

Panels

Navigation panel

Favorites panel

Personalized navigation

Favorites

Pinned tabs


Quick Launch and Type Ahead

Different sections

Directly start a transaction or launch a web address

Search results in

ABAP transactions and WebDynpro ABAP applications

available in the WebAS

Favorites and Recent Items

Navigation items coming from the user’s menu (PFCG

roles)

OpenSearch results of the selected OS providers

(new with NWBC 4.0)

Start a search using search providers in general

Options for the display of the search providers

(new with NWBC 4.0)


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Session objective: Building a user’s workplace

Role/job function-specific

Expose in Work Centers

Extend functions in Work

Centers for users with more

authorizations and tasks

Provide recurring structures

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Corporate/organization-wide

content such as

Company entry page

Help/information/collaboration

Access to employee self

services

On entry pages

In NWBC menu

In the side panel

In the branding area

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NWBC for Desktop 3.5 NWBC for Desktop 4.0

Role basics

A Good UI



Role-based navigation in SAP NetWeaver Business Client

In General

Roles are used to define authorization settings as well as the

navigation structure used by the UI client

Roles match the real life roles that people play at work

SAP NetWeaver Business Client

NWBC runtime retrieves all roles assigned to a specific user and

makes the navigation structure available to the shell

If the role doesn‘t provide a navigation structure, NWBC uses the

SAP Menu

For Web AS connections, maintain the navigation in transaction

PFCG, tab Menu

In newer releases, PFCG includes attributes for navigation frame

presentation Other Node Details and Menu Options

PFCG looks different in NW 7.00/7.01 and higher releases

NWBC documentation chapter 5


How role menus transform to the client

NWBC 3.x

First level folders (“Work Center”) are displayed in Top

Level Navigation

Default page is loaded when selecting a folder

Subsequent entries are displayed in the navigation panel

(check folder attribute Single Top Level)

NWBC 4.0

Complete hierarchy can be browsed on the Index Page

Default page opens when selecting Overview …

Entries open in a new tab and can be pinned

Tab titles and icons are derived from the page itself

Additional navigation panel

Role maintenance (PFCG)


Insert start pages

Start pages are the user’s entry points when

initially logging on or selecting a Work Center.

Special types

Page Builder for Web Dynpro ABAP pages

mashing up reusable components

Service maps visualizing up to three navigation

levels together with descriptions and pictograms

How to define a start page in PFCG

In section Other Node Details, set property

Default Page

To insert a Page Builder page, insert a Web Dynpro

Application node and select Application Type: Page

To render a folder’s contents as a service map,

choose folder option As Service Map

Page Builder page

Service map


Enhance SAP NetWeaver Business Client menus

In role maintenance PFCG, you can

Define new menus with folder option Menu

Enhance NWBC menu entries using predefined folder names

@HELP@ Help menu

@PERSONALIZE@ Settings menu

Note: You can also hide standard menu entries using settings in the admin

NwbcOptions.xml file


Add search providers for usage in Quick Launch

Definition

Locally (personal or admin settings)

In role maintenance PFCG:

Folder name @SEARCH@

Built-in: Desktop Search, SAP applications, standard navigation items

Backend: Categories of active Enterprise Search Providers

OpenSearch enhancements available with NWBC 4.0!

Hits are embedded in the dropdown menu

Types

Direct search URL containing a string “{0}” as the placeholder

Example: http://www.sap.com/search/index.epx?q1={0}

OpenSearch URL pointing to an OpenSearch metadata description

Example: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/opensearch_desc.php


Define side panel applications

Side panel

Container beside content area of NWBC

Shows additional context information that relates to the main application

Side panel applications are Web applications built with

HTML /JavaScript (or any other framework on top)

Web Dynpro ABAP

Page Builder for Web Dynpro ABAP

Extracting application context and data from the main to the

side panel application for

Dynpro (SAP GUI for Windows)

Web Dynpro ABAP

Assigning side panel applications in PFCG

Define side panel applications on folder or application level by selecting

the Side Panel option in the Folder or Node Option field

Default: Side panel applications are assigned to all applications within

the role on the same or underlying menu tree level

Application-specific assignment see NWBC documentation

chapter 5.10

Advanced role maintenance

A Good UI



Role-based navigation – Merging of navigation trees

In General

If a user has more than one role assigned, the entries in the

navigation tree appear merged as in one role

Two entries that are the same in two roles, appear only once

The role order depends on the sort index defined for the role

NWBC documentation chapter 5.14

Rules

If roles contain identical folders in equal hierarchies, their folder

contents are merged and redundant folders are not visible

Identical folder means that the following attributes are identical

– Name of the entry (Object field)

– Level of the entry in the tree

– Type of the entry (standard entry, side panel or link collection)

– Application alias (used for side panel and link collection)

The entries of the merged folder are sorted according to the sort

index. That is, entries from role with the lower sort index come first


Role-based navigation – Merging example

ZAP_NWBC_HOME

Sort index 0 (home role)

ZAP_NWBC_USER_POWER

Sort index 100

ZAP_NWBC_USER_STANDARD

Sort index 10


Page Builder for Web Dynpro ABAP and CHIPs

CHIPs as building blocks encapsulate

Web Dynpro ABAP

Web content

Page and CHIP layout can be easily adapted

Live preview for changes

Configuration stored on different levels

– Configuration (system wide)

– Customizing (client specific)

– Personalization (user specific)

Wiring allows data exchange between multiple

CHIPs

Use Cases

Start pages (entry points to your SAP system or

work area)

Side panel applications


CHIP catalog and configuration of CHIPs

CHIP catalog for adding CHIPs to a

page

Selection

Categorization

Highly configurable

CHIP configuration

In place

WYSIWYG

Stored in page configuration

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Multi system/multi client support – Addressing remote systems

Option 1

Start a new NWBC process

Recommendation if a user often changes systems:

Enable system selector in NWBC settings

Option 2

Work with target systems in roles NWBC Documentation Chapter 5.11

For SSO, the prerequisite is that there is a trusted relationship between

the logon and the remote system


Tips and tricks for role testing (1)

Test a role without having it assigned

Activate the ICF services /sap/bc/nwbc/nwbc_launch and /sap/bc/nwbc/

nwbc_roletest

Start transaction NWBC, enter role name and launch NWBC of your choice

Work with composite roles

In PFCG, create a composite role

Bundle single roles on the Roles tab

Address the composite role in the NWBC launch page or connection URL

Create connection http(s)://<server>:<port>/nwbc/~roletest/<rolename>

NWBC for HTML NWBC for Desktop


Tips and tricks for role testing (2)

Build a launch page (Wiki, HTML) that starts NWBC for Desktop

or NWBC for HTML for your test systems

Start-up URL for NWBC for Desktop:

sap-nwbc://https://<server>:<port>/nwbc/

Start-up URL for NWBC for HTML:

https://<server>:<port>/nwbc/

In case of respective security warning: Enable temporary connections in

admin NwbcOptions.xml <AllowTemporaryConnections>true</AllowTemporaryConnections>

NWBC documentation chapter 6.1

Test with different users

Enable prompt for client certificate selection

SAP NetWeaver Business Client Configuration

Create and deploy NWBC settings

A Good UI



SAP NetWeaver Business Client for Desktop

Client configuration and distribution of settings

Administrator settings

System connections

Search provider connections

Several personalization options

NWBC 3.0: Distribution via registry-entries

NWBC 3.5 and 4.0: Distribution via XML-file

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\SAP\NWBC\NwbcOptions.xml.template for Windows Vista, Windows 7,

and Server 2008

%ALLUSERSPROFILE% \ApplicationData\SAP\NWBC\NwbcOptions.xml.template for Windows XP

NWBC Documentation chapter 3.5

Extended control options with NWBC 3.5 and 4.0

Menu entries

Navigation visualization options

Runtime-settings (e.g. max. Number of WDA Sessions per user)

Locking of local settings

Central configuration

NWBC Documentation Chapter 3.5 and XML Template „NWBCOptions.xml.template“


SAP NetWeaver Business Client (NWBC)

Adjustments on work center visualization and branding

Branding

Display of an image (typical use case: company logo)

– At the bottom of the navigation panel (NWBC 3.0/3.5)

– On the Index and New Tab page (NWBC 4.0)

Navigation from logo to configurable target

(typical use case: company homepage)

NWBC 4.0: Welcome message on Index page

System, client and user variables are available

Settings are maintained in table NWBC_CFG

NWBC for Desktop 3.5

Work Center icons

Work Center icons can be changed

Configurable via role settings (PFCG)

Please note: This feature is only available for NWBC for Desktop 3.5

and 4.0.

NWBC for Desktop 4.0

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SAP NetWeaver Business Client for Desktop

From SAP Signature to Corbu

SAP NetWeaver Business Client 3.0 and 3.5

SAP GUI: SAP Signature theme

Web Dynpro ABAP: SAP Signature theme

SAP NetWeaver Business Client 4.0

SAP GUI for Windows 7.30: Corbu theme

Web Dynpro ABAP: As defined in backend (WDA parameter

wd-themeroot, cross-application settings or NWBC configuration)


Further Information

SAP Public Web

SAP NetWeaver Business Client on SDN

SAP NetWeaver Business Client in the SAP Library (SAP NetWeaver 7.0 EHP3)

SAP Education and Certification Opportunities

www.sap.com/education Training course NWBC10

Related SAP TechEd Sessions

CD263 Extending SAP Business Applications with the Side Panel

CD807 SAP NetWeaver Business Client (NWBC), incl. Side Panel (Q&A)

CD203 Best Practices for Theming and Branding of SAP User Interfaces

Watch SAP TechEd Online

www.sapteched.com/online

http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/nw-businessclient

http://scn.sap.com/welcome

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw70ehp3/helpdata/en/66/48a793bc2f4ec5bdb8e7e93ea6cd9f/frameset.htm

http://www.sap.com/education

http://www.sapteched.com/online

Documents

4c_ABAP_UI_NWBC