Launchpad Manager



The new launchpad app manager tool has been released for SAP S/4HANA 2020 (with SAP_UI 755 SP01 and SAP Fiori Front-End Server 2020 for SAP S/4HANA) on October 7th, 2020. The tool was previously called mass maintenance tool for app descriptors and got renamed due to its extended feature scope. Superseding the launchpad designer and complementing the launchpad content manager, it will be the main configuration tool to set up and maintain technical catalogs and launchpad app descriptor items.

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From Mass Maintenance Tool for App Descriptors to SAP Fiori Launchpad App Manager

Up until now, you probably used the launchpad designer to maintain tiles and target mappings and the mass maintenance tool for app descriptors to create and assign launchpad app descriptor items for classic UIs that exist in the back-end server. You can now do all of this in one central tool, the new SAP Fiori launchpad app manager, which is essentially an extended version of the mass maintenance tool.

For an overview of our design time tools for maintaining launchpad content, please refer to this blog post.

From now on, we recommend you use the launchpad app manager to explore and maintain technical catalogs, which then can be referenced in custom business catalogs to set up SAP Fiori launchpad content. Besides performing mass changes, here’s what you can do in the launchpad app manager:

  • Explore existing technical catalogs and their content created in the launchpad app manager
  • Maintain technical catalogs
  • Maintain launchpad app descriptor items

What is a launchpad app descriptor item? A launchpad app descriptor item is a new entity that was introduced alongside the new tool. It consists of a target mapping and, depending on the app type, of one or multiple tiles. A technical catalog can contain multiple launchpad app descriptor items.

Launching the Launchpad App Manager

The launchpad app manager can be accessed in the configuration scope CONF.

You access the web browser application by using the SAP GUI transaction /UI2/FLPAM or by following this path in Customizing (transaction SPRO): SAP NetWeaver > UI Technologies > SAP Fiori > Setting Up Launchpad Content > Setting Up Technical Catalogs > Manage Technical Catalogs with SAP Fiori Launchpad App Manager.

Catalog Types in the Launchpad App Manager

Something worth mentioning at this point is the new catalog type which you need to maintain depending on your system setup. You can maintain your catalog type in Customizing by following this path: SAP NetWeaver > UI Technologies > SAP Fiori > Setting Up Launchpad Content > Setting Up Technical Catalogs > Maintain Allowed Catalog Types for Launchpad App Manager.

For an Embedded Deployment scenario, we recommend maintaining catalog type standard.

For a Hub Deployment scenario, we recommend allowing catalog type standard on the front-end server. In the back-end system, leave the table empty.

If you create a new catalog in the launchpad app manager and the catalog type standard has been maintained, a catalog with the corresponding UIAC object will be created. If no catalog type has been maintained (as recommended for the back-end server), the catalogs that you create have no corresponding UIAC object. This also decides on which entry page you start when you launch the tool.

A UIAC object is a dev object that is newly introduced to represent the technical catalog as a logical grouping for launchpad app descriptor items.

Update (01/04/2021): Next to the customizing table for catalog types, there is also one for app types. Here, we recommend leaving the table empty in an Embedded Deployment scenario. Thus, all app types would be allowed. In a Hub Deployment scenario, we recommend defining the list as shown in the picture above.

Exploring Launchpad Content

Once you launched the tool, you either start in the search view or in the catalog entry view which – you guessed – depends on whether you have maintained the catalog type Standard or not. In the top left corner, you can switch between these views and switch to a facet filter to explore the content.

Search view in the launchpad app manager

In the search view, you can search for the following entities on the respective tabs:

  • Catalogs
  • Launchpad App Descriptor Items
  • Tiles

On the Catalogs tab, you have the option to create a new technical catalog or change the catalog title. You can also directly jump into a catalog and make further changes to the related content. Instead of searching for a catalog, you can also search for specific launchpad app descriptor items or tiles. Simply switch to the relevant tab and directly access the catalog that the entity you are looking for is in.

If you are used to the old view, you can of course still use it. Simply click Switch to Catalog Entry in the upper left corner.

Catalog entry view in the launchpad app manager

Launchpad Manager Promo Code

In this view, you can either open an existing catalog or create a new technical catalog by entering a unique catalog ID.

Maintaining Launchpad Content

Once you open a technical catalog, you can

  • Create app descriptor items
  • Copy launchpad app descriptor items to another catalog
  • Edit existing launchpad app descriptor items

The catalog view consists of two panes. In the upper pane, you can see a list of existing launchpad app descriptor items. When you select a specific one, you see more related information in the lower pane, such as additional fields to the target mapping as well as corresponding tiles and parameters.

Edit mode when entering a technical catalog in the launchpad app manager

Be sure to check out the documentation on the SAP Help Portal where you will find a detailed description on how to create launchpad app descriptor items. You will also find more information about the available fields: Maintaining Launchpad App Descriptor Items.

Further Information

  • Check out the documentation on the SAP Help Portal: Setting Up Technical Catalogs with the Launchpad App Manager
  • How to Maintain Allowed Catalog Types for Launchpad App Manager
  • Overview of tools: SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Overview of tools for maintaining custom launchpad content and layout

Source https://blogs.sap.com/2020/01/23/my-experience-with-fiori-launchpad-content-manager-the-after-story-of-fiori-rapid-activation/

“© 2020. SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.” “Used with permission of SAP SE”
common of them was, ‘

Launchpad Manager

How can we specify, that only selective Fiori apps will be available in the Fiori launchpad?‘

Well this is a valid question, because with Rapid activation, we activate all the apps linked to a Business role. Hence if we choose approx. 20 Business roles, then we would end up with around 300 apps. Off-course all the apps are not always required.

Here comes the Fiori Launchpad Content Manager tool, as a savior.

I first read about this tool from the wonderful blog posts of Sibylle Brehm and the LinkedIn posts from Jocelyn Dart.

(Psst… If you think this is going to replace Fiori Launchpad Designer, then you are not the only one. )

In this post I would like to share my experience with this tool.

The Transaction

The Content manager is accessible from the transaction, /UI2/FLPCM_CUST and /UI2/FLPCM_CONF for customization and configuration layer respectively.(Similar to launchpad Designer)

Preparing a Custom Catalog

After I activated approximately 500 odd applications in my system, I had to filter out the access for the end user. Hence out of principle I had to create custom catalogs and roles.

Well we still need to create PFCG roles like the old process.

But now we can efficiently and quickly create a custom catalog suitable for our Fiori needs,

We can also create a blank custom catalog and then add references of all the required tiles one by one, just like in the launchpad Designer.

But also in this tool, we can create a copy of a standard catalog. (That’s the path I took.)

Arrange Launchpad Alphabetically

We just need to put the name of the standard catalog in the Search field (in this case we use, SAP_PS_BC_PROJ_FIN_CONTRL)

Click on the copy button, and put a Z name to the new custom catalog.

This activity will be recorded in a customizing Transport Request.

Now we have a custom catalog with all the Tiles and target mappings from the standard catalog.

Now we need to do a simple pick and choose exercise. ?

(But Before you indulge in this exercise, please read the important advisory from Jocelyn, in the comment section of this blog.)

We need to select the application Tiles which are NOT required for your project, and then click on the ‘Remove Tiles/Target Mappings’ button.

Thus at the end of this Exercise you have a custom catalog with only the required application Tiles for your project.

Launchpad Manager

Checking Services

Now that we have our custom catalog, we should check if all the services for the content applications are successfully activated in the system.

This can also be easily achieved by simply clicking a button. ?

To perform a complete checkup, select the option ‘Check Services for all Objects’.

The result of the check, will be displayed in the column ‘Service Activation Status’.

We can offcourse set a filter on the Service Activation Status column, to filter out the list of failed services Applications, and then investigate the reason for their failure separately.

OData service Failure

Launchpad Manager Key

As I said in my previous blog, DO NOT PANIC!! when you see the color Red .

In most cases, you will successfully be able to activate these services manually.

For more detailed investigation steps for OData Service failure, you can refer to my previous blog.

Catalog Assignment

When we have an all green status for all application Tiles in our custom catalog, Its time to assign it to a role.

This part is exactly the same as before.

We need to go to the transaction PFCG,

Open the Z role and add the custom catalog to the Role Menu of the Role.

Save the role, and then generate the authorization profile.

While generating the auth profile for the custom role, a wizard automatically pops up, where the respective authorizations for the relevant authorization object’s org level of the added catalog should be provided.

And that’s it!!

We should now assign this custom role to the end user, and therefore they will get access to only some filtered apps. (And No one’s even gonna know you activated a lot more than meets the eye! ? )

Useful Tips and Tricks

At some point of your project, you might be asked questions such as,

  1. How many Apps Do we Have in the system?
  2. Which catalog is assigned to which role?

These can be answered efficiently through FLPCM.

Launchpad Manager El Capitan

How many Apps Do we Have in the system?

In the Content Manager, we need to go to the Tiles and Target Mappings tab, and Check service activation for all objects, as described before.

Then add the following filters,

‘Tile/Target Mapping Matching Text’ as ‘Tile + TM’

‘Service Activation’ as Green

This would generate all objects that has a Tile and Target mapping and have a successfully activated service.

Launchpad Manager For Mac

This would return the list of all successfully activated apps in the system.

This list can also be exported in a xlsx file,

Which catalog is assigned to which role?

This can also be easily answered in the content manager.

Simply in the Catalog tab, we need to select the catalog for which we need this answer, and then click on the button ‘Show usage in Roles’

This would show all the roles which contain this catalog.

These features also comes handy during error investigation.

To learn about some more cool features of the content manager, refer to the blog by Sibylle Brehm

My Inference

From my experience with both the Launchpad Designer and the Content Manager, I drew out the following conclusion.

  1. The performance of Content Manager is much robust and stable as compared to that of Launchpad Designer. (I think we have all been annoyed when it took a while for the Catalog list to appear, while creating a Tile reference in the Launchpad Designer. ? And impatient developers like me, would end up clicking on a different catalog than required.)
  2. I still feel that the look of Launchpad Designer is more modern and Fiori like, also since you can access it from your browser.
  3. Unfortunately we still cant create custom Groups in the Content Manager, hence Launchpad Designer is still the only option here.

But Overall, with the modern tools like Rapid activation for Fiori and the Fiori Launchpad Content Manager, the total effort required for a Fiori landscape setup has reduced significantly, and its a lot more FUN ?