Initial Search Page and subsequent External Navigation in the OVP Floorplan
According to the UI guidelines an OVP application can have an initial page. An initial page is used if it is required to enter data before going to the main screen. The initial page can also be used to present a table of objects (e.g. recently used objects) that can be selected for further processing. In particular, an initial page can contain a search and a search result list. A result list entry may contain one or several links which, when clicked, enforce the navigation to further details of the selected object. In addition, a result list may offer a dedicated button that is intended for the creation of a new object.
For example, an OVP application for the purchase order could have an initial screen that enables the end-user to search for certain purchase orders. The purchase orders are then displayed in a result list below the purchase order search mask. This result list could contain a column showing the purchase order ID and another column showing the name of a contact. Clicking on the purchase order ID would trigger navigation to an overview page for the purchase order details, whereas clicking on the contact name would trigger navigation to an overview page for contact details. Both overview pages, however, belong to different OVP applications. In addition, the purchase order result list could offer a dedicated button that is intended for the creation of a new purchase order. When clicking on this button the OVP would be restarted but show a different Initial Page than normal.
The navigation from an initial search page to the overview page of the same object could be done in-place. In principle, this would be no problem for the OVP floorplan. However, this is often not ideal from usability perspective and sometimes even misleading. Hence, the general concept for SAP applications that is described in the UI guidelines foresees ex-place navigation from an initial search page to the overview page of an object. Whenever applications or reports are launched from the result list of a search a new application window will be opened. In the OVP floorplan this kind of navigation is realized with the Launchpad and suitable Launchpad customizing.
Before coming to technical details let’s summarize the general requirements when navigating from a search result list in an OVP application:
Technical Details:
The standard mechanism is the following: Normally, the default initial page will be the starting page; if there is none, any other initial page will be taken instead. If there isn’t any initial page the default main overview page will be used as starting page; if there is none, any other main overview page will be taken instead. If there is neither an initial page nor a main overview page an error message will be shown.
There is the possibility to overrule the standard mechanism. For this, an additional URL parameter FPM_START_PAGE_ID or an application parameter FPM_START_PAGE_ID can be specified (the URL parameter has the higher priority). The value of the parameter must be a valid ID of an initial page or of a main overview page of the OVP application. In this case, the OVP will be started with the respective page.
In order to display a search page as starting page of the OVP application this page has to be configured in the configuration editor as the default or the only initial screen, or the application has to be started using the URL parameter or application parameter FPM_START_PAGE_ID. The search page must contain a Search GUIBB and a result list, for example the built-in result list of the Search GUIBB or a completely separated List GUIBB.
FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_KEY:
COMPONENT | COMPONENT TYPE | DATA TYPE | LENGTH | SHORT DESCRIPTION |
LPD_ROLE | APB_LPD_ROLE | CHAR | 10 | Role |
LPD_INSTANCE | APB_LPD_INSTANCE | CHAR | 32 | Instance |
LPD_APPLICATION_ALIAS | APB_LPD_APPL_ALIAS | STRING | 0 | Application Alias |
FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_BASE:
COMPONENT | COMPONENT TYPE | DATA TYPE | LENGTH | SHORT DESCRIPTION |
.INCLUDE | FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_KEY | 0 | External navigation key | |
SOURCE_ATTRIBUTE_NAME | FPM_SOURCE_ATTRIBUTE | CHAR | 30 | Source Attribute |
FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_INFO:
COMPONENT | COMPONENT TYPE | DATA TYPE | LENGTH | SHORT DESCRIPTION |
.INCLUDE | FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_BASE | 0 | External navigation base information | |
INITIAL_PAGE_PROC_MODE | FPM_INITIAL_PAGE_PROC_MODE | CHAR | 1 | Processing Mode of Initial Page |
EDIT_MODE | FPM_EDIT_MODE | CHAR | 1 | Edit Mode for OVP Floorplan |
START_PAGE_ID | FPM_CONTENT_AREA_ID | STRING | 0 | Start Page of the OVP Floorplan |
DDIC structure FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_KEY defines the general key for a Launchpad entry that allows starting an external application. This DDIC structure is included in DDIC structure FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_BASE which additionally contains the field component SOURCE_ATTRIBUTE_NAME. When clicking on a search result list cell this field may contain the name of an alternative list column that carries the relevant object key that is required to process the initial search page in background. DDIC structure FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_BASE is itself contained in DDIC structure FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_INFO. This structure offers three more field components, INITIAL_PAGE_PROC_MODE, EDIT_MODE, and START_PAGE_ID. The first one specifies the processing mode of the initial screen of the OVP application. It is described below in more detail. The second field component specifies the edit mode of that OVP application. The third field component specifies the page that should be displayed when the OVP application is started. In particular, this field component is relevant in ‘Create’ scenarios.
To realize the navigation, the feeder class for the result list needs to expose the FPM event FPM_NAVIGATE in its action definition, and a DDIC structure which includes the structure FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_BASE needs to be assigned as event parameter structure. In the configuration of the result list, a column can be configured with display type “Link to Action”. Instead of the default action assignment “Standard Action”, the feeder action FPM_NAVIGATE should be configured. In the case of ‘Create’ scenarios a button that is based on the feeder action FPM_NAVIGATE can be configured.
As event parameters for the “Link to Action” or the button, the Launchpad key (role and instance) can be configured as well as an Launchpad application alias. In addition, in case the event parameter structure includes the DDIC structure FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_INFO, the processing mode, the edit mode, and the start page ID can be configured.
When executing the navigation the processing mode, edit mode, and start page ID are forwarded to the target application. Further attributes can be forwarded as explained later. Using the processing mode of the initial screen, it can be achieved that the search in the target application is executed dark parameterized with data of the clicked result list entry providing a unique result, and such that the main overview page is entered with the data for this result.
‘ ‘ – Normal
‘E’ – Execute Search
‘L’ – Execute Search & Leave
‘C' – Create
Example:
A search for products has a component PRODUCT_ID in the search attributes and search result list. The result list feeder class exposes the event FPM_NAVIGATE with the event parameter structure FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_INFO. Now, all that application development needs to do is to choose the display type “Link To Action” for component PRODUCT_ID and to assign the FPM event FPM_NAVIGATE in the result list configuration. In the event parameters the field 'Processing Mode' (technically: INITIAL_PAGE_PROC_MODE) has to be set to the value 'Execute Search & Leave' (technically: 'L'). The field 'Source Attribute' can be used to transfer particular data of the product from the source to the target application. The field 'Edit Mode' (technically: EDIT_MODE) can be used to set the edit mode in the target application.
A screenshot of the configuration for such a scenario is shown below.
Remark:
If there is more than one key field required in order to get a unique search result, the single field component SOURCE_ATTRIBUTE_NAME in structure FPM_S_EXTERNAL_NAVIGATION_INFO is not sufficient. In the case that five field components for the key information are sufficient, the FPM DDIC structure FPM_S_EXT_NAVIGATION_INFO_ADD5 may be used. In the same way, the DDIC structures FPM_S_EXT_NAVIGATION_INFO_AD10, FPM_S_EXT_NAVIGATION_INFO_AD15, or FPM_S_EXT_NAVIGATION_INFO_AD20 may be used if 10, 15, or 20 field components are sufficient. Alternatively, of in the case that 20 field components are still not sufficient, the application can include one of these structures into an application-specific structure that contains the additional field components for the key information. The additional field component names must begin with ‘SOURCE_ATTRIBUTE_NAME’. At design time, in the configuration, the names of the relevant field names, the values of which have to be transferred to the target application, can be specified in those field components.
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