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Author's profile photo Juergen Jakowski
Juergen Jakowski
July 3, 2013 26 minute read

Latest News on SAP Enterprise Architecture Explorer (Version 3.8 – 31.01.2017)

Hi all,

Here is the latest update to the list of enhancements in SAP Enterprise Architecture Explorer.

Important: Since Version 3.8, we do have a dedicated news page in SAP EA Explorer. As a result, there is no more need to maintain this blog. 

Please use this news page to find the latest updates on content and functions. 

If you have any feedback, please let me know. You can also reach me via Twitter or by mail.

All the best,

Jürgen Jakowski

 

Version 3.8 – 31.01.2017

Content Improvements ———————————————————————————————

Please find all content improvements directly in the SAP EA Explorer via the news page.

 

Tool Improvements ———————————————————————————————

  • News and updates page
    With this version, we have introduced a new feature called news and updates page. Here you can easily find which topics are new or updated in one of the latest three versions. Also you can find a list of documents that have been recently added or updated as well as view on the tool functions that have been introduced.You can find the news page via the link mentioned above or via the menu item at the top bar of the user interface of the SAP EA Explorer.

 

 

Version 3.7 – 21.12.2016

Content Improvements ———————————————————————————————

In IT Focus Areas

Landscape Architecture

In Offerings

SAP Products and Cloud Services

SAP Assisting Services

In Enterprise Architecture

Architecture Patterns

In Glossary  (New Section)

  • Cloud Computing (New Topic)
  • Also we have moved a lot of existing topics into this new glossary section. We will further enhance this part of the content over the next months.

In Questions Section

 

Version 3.6 – 23.11.2016

Content Improvements ———————————————————————————————

In IT Focus Areas

In Offerings

In Questions Section

In Video Section

 

Tool Improvements ————————————————————————————————–

  • Various bug fixes.
  • Optimizations on mobile view. (Will be continued in next version)

 

Version 3.5 – 25.10.2016

Content Improvements ———————————————————————————————

In IT Focus Areas

Internet of Things

Landscape Architecture

In Offerings

SAP Products and Cloud Services

In Questions Section

 

In Video Section

 

Tool Improvements ————————————————————————————————–

Updated home page

  • The SAP EA Explorer home page has been updated
  • The IT focus areas IoT, UX and Landscape Architecture now appear at the top of the list
  • The offerings area can now be accessed directly from the home page
  • There is a new feature section for the videos which can be directly watched on the same page

 

Updated item page

  • The topic page (for example Internet of Things) has been updated
  • We have done away with the heavy usage of orange bars and introduced lighter colors
  • We have optimized the font sizes, the header and the tool bar
  • We have harmonized the “Explore” section at the bottom, using the same UI control as in the “Learn More” section

 

General enhancements

  • Several bug fixes for Internet Explorer users
  • Several bug fixes for mobile users
  • Adjustments to Semantic Viewer to solve timing issues

 

Version 3.4 – 07.07.2016

 

This version, again, was highly focused on the expansion of the IoT content. We also did several enhancements to functionality (Semantic Viewer – Autopilot) and usability.

 

Content Improvements —————————————————————————————————————-

In IT Focus Areas

 

 

 

In Offerings

 

In Questions Section

In Video Section

 

 

Tool Improvements ———————————————————————————————————————

 

  • Features Topics at home page
    SAP EA Explorer main page now includes a featured topic section. At the same time, we removed the old featured topic section from the browse topics area.

 

  • Autopilot in Semantic Viewer (Beta)
    We have added an autopilot function to the semantic viewer to simplify the exploration. If this function is activated, the explorer shows you only one relation type, which is typically the one that is of most interest in the context of the topic you are looking at. This function is based on what I have mentioned in version 3.3 as “Relations sorting adjustments”. These adjustments are still going on. So, the autopilot might not always provide the best relations, yet. We have extended the Beta until January 2017. With all the feedback we received so far, we plan to heavily improve the semantic viewer with version 3.5 or 3.6.

 

  • Several usability improvements
    Based on our regular usability tests, we have started a larger usability improve activity. Though, the main part of these improvements will be implemented in upcoming versions 3.5 and 3.6, we already did first improvements that include new buttons for “Compare with my topics” and “Explore with the semantic viewer” located at the topic detail page as well as several text changes.

 

 

 

Version 3.3 – 17.05.2016

 

In this version, we have put our focus on the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT)-related content. Of course, this is just the second step of a longer journey of content creation for IoT and more will follow in the next versions. Additionally, this version also includes some tool enhancements like the twitter section and the latest improvements to the comparison function.

 

Content Improvements —————————————————————————————————————-

 

In Offerings

 

 

In Questions Section

 

In Video Section

 

 

Tool Improvements ———————————————————————————————————————

 

  • Twitter section at home page
    The SAP EA Explorer main page includes a Twitter section, that lists tweets from our team that inform you about latest news in the context of IoT, UX, Landscape Architecture or Enterprise Architecture. In the next version we want to expand this feature to a dedicated news page. Stay tuned.

 

  • Relations sorting adjustments
    We did several technical adjustments to the relation sections of the topic pages. It will take some time to adapt all topics to the new settings. But in general you will find more and more topics now, where the relation section points to you the types of topics that are typically the most relevant for you.
  • Filter options available by default
    We have realized that many users did not see the filter options in the Video and FAQ page as they were hidden by default. We have changed that.
  • Improved comparison function
    The comparison function (e.g. Web Dynpro ABAP vs. SAPUI5) We have realized that many users did not see the filter options in the Video and FAQ page as they were hidden by default. We have changed that.
  • Performance enhancements
    We did several performance enhancements, to reduce the page load time.

 

 

 

 

Version 3.2 – 11.04.2016

This is the first version under the new name of SAP Enterprise Architecture Explorer. We have changed the name two weeks ago, already. Since last week, we have already activated the redirects from the “old” SAP UX Explorer towards the new SAP EA Explorer.

Besides the name change, we have added new content. On the one hand, this is new content in relation to Landscape Architecture. On the other hand this is content related to the Internet-of-Things (IoT), which is now the second IT focus area we have introduced beyond User Experience (UX). All three IT focus areas can directly accessed via the links above or via the new section called “Focus Areas” at the main page.

In regards to IoT: The content we have uploaded so far is a first and initial set of topics. We are going to extend these topics soon. We also will bring in a lot of additional IoT topics over the next months. So please stay tuned for additional content to come up, soon.

Please find all additional details regarding the changes in version 3.2 below.

 

Content Improvements —————————————————————————————————————-

 

In IT Focus Areas

 

In Offerings

 

 

In questions section

 

Tool Improvements ———————————————————————————————————————

 

No tool improvements in this version

 

 

 

Version 3.1 – 11.03.2016

This is the last version under the name of SAP UX Explorer. As mentioned in version 3.0 and in the blog “SAP UX Explorer is going to grow: SAP Enterprise Architecture Explorer is around the corner” we are going to switch the name to “SAP Enterprise Architecture Explorer”. This switch will be done by next week.

This version 3.1 is just a little update. Version 3.2 is expected in the second week of April with a lot of new topics coming up in the area of landscape architecture.

Content Improvements

In IT Focus Areas

User Experience

 

In Offerings

 

 

Tool Improvements

No tool improvements in this version

 

 

Version 3.0 – 03.12.2015

 

With version 3.0 starts a new remarkable time for the SAP UX Explorer, not only because it will probably be the last version where we call it SAP UX Explorer. This version releases new topics and tool features, introduces new types of content (e.g. the viewpoints) as well as an simpler content structure.

 

The most important news in this version are:

  • Landscape Architecture is the first new area of information beyond UX that is now available through the UX Explorer.
  • The Semantic Viewer functionality is available for everyone as part of an open BETA phase
  • The topic detail pages received an improved header
  • The printing function is enhanced to enable creation of customized documents of topics
  • This version releases more than 80 new topics

 

Let’s have a closer look to the details.

 

Content Improvements

New Topics

We have reworked the whole content structure of the Explorer. If you access the browse topics area, you will notice that the main categories have significantly changed.

 

New_Structure.png

 

 

With the initial start of landscape architecture, we got a lot of new topics in our database. I have condensed this list and categorized it, just to keep this blog somehow readable.

 

In IT Focus Areas

 

User Experience

 

Landscape Architecture

 

 

 

In Enterprise Architecture

 

 

 

In Offerings

 

 

 

Majorly enhanced topics

 

Many items have been improved and partly re-allocated to fit the new content structure and to support the overall relevance to Enterprise Architecture. The most relevant content changes in existing topics have been made to:

 

 

Tool Improvements

 

Semantic Viewer

 

The closed beta phase has ended and the semantic viewer is available to everybody under the conditions of an open beta phase.

 

IMPORTANT: At the moment, the semantic viewer is only optimized for the Chrome browser on desktop. IE is currently not supported. Other browsers as well as mobile devices might work but are not tested or optimized.

 

You can access the semantic viewer with a new button in the page header (see next improvement “Topic Detail Page Improvements”).

 

Semantic_Viewer.png

 

If you have feedback to the semantic viewer, don’t hesitate and get in touch with us via uxexplorer@sap.com.

 

 

Topic Detail Page Improvements

The detailed page has been improved with the following:

 

  • A new function button launches the semantic viewer with the current topic in focus.
  • The topic title is placed in a dedicated bar together with the function buttons
  • The topic title bar remains at the top of the screen when you scroll down (Desktop only)
  • You can identify at the top of the page in which category the current topic belongs to
  • You can navigate directly to the page sections overview, facts and relations using the top header

 

New_Features_Topic_Detail_Page.png

 

Improved Printing Functionality

It was already possible in the Explorer to print a topic detail page (or use this to convert a page to PDF with a local PDF converter).

 

The improved function allows to print multiple topics at once while defining which parts of the topic information (e.g. features, benefits) shall be printed. You can reach this functionality via the favorites section at the top bar. To customize the output, simply click on “show options” to the left of the print button.

 

Priniting_Enhancements.png

 

 

 

 

 

Version 2.4 – 02.10.2015

 

This version might look like not much has changed. Behind the scenes, however, we are already preparing a lot of new content which we plan to introduce by the end of October. This work goes along with what I have described in my blog “How Enterprise Architecture can help me to improve user experience“.

As such, the next upcoming version will provide a lot of new stuff, beyond UX and will start a transition (and name change) of the SAP UX Explorer into the SAP Enterprise Architecture Explorer (or short SAP EA Explorer). I will provide another blog on this in the next two weeks to keep you updated on our plans.

New Topics

 

 

New Videos

 

Tool Enhancements

Changes since last login

From now on, you will be able to see which Topics have been created or updated since your last visit. This function can be reached by the menu at the top right. This function requires you to log in. So please make sure to use the login function first.

NewsAndUpdates.png

 

 

See date of last update for documents

This function was requested since a while. Now it’s finally there. If you are in a topic that contains a facet “documents”, you will see when these documents have been updated the last time.

Documents_Dates.png

 

Updates to Semantic Viewer

Besides the changes above, we have also worked on enhancements of the semantic viewer which is still in closed beta. If you want to become a closed beta tester, get in touch with me or follow the instructions in the link before. As an appetizer, however, let me list the latest changes and add a screenshot. We still plan to start an open beta for the Semantic Viewer by the end of October. However, we might be forced to shift this plan since due to the focus on the EA Explorer activities (see more in the summary of this version above)

Enhancements:

+ A user can search routes between two topics

+ Deep links possible, to rebuild current view

+ Overlay help

+ Mouse over on relations displays relation type

 

SemanticViewer_overview.png

 

 

 

Version 2.3 – 06.08.2015

 

In the last week we have spent a lot of time on improving the semantic viewer which is still in closed beta. We had, however, the chance to create two new topics in the SAP UX Explorer. For the new topic “Enterprise Architecture (EA)” we also started a new series of whiteboard videos. This is just the initial start in the area of Enterprise Architecture. After summer vacation, we will continue with this and will expand our content with many new EA-related topics. This will also include that we completely restructure our concerns section. Expect more to come by October this year.

New Topics

Enhanced Topics

 

 

New Videos

 

 

Version 2.2 – 07.07.2015

 

In this version we have focused on the semantic viewer which started its closed beta this week. Nevertheless, we also have introduced some new features and a set of new topics.

 

New Topics

 

 

Enhanced Topics

 

 

Tool Enhancements

 

Share content


You can now share SAP UX Explorer content from every page via the most common social networks.
In all topic pages you will find a new icon at the right just below the horizontal image.

 

Share_Icon_Top.png

 

Share_Buttons_Top.png

 

If you share via these buttons, you will share the URL of the page. If you have opened one of the elements in the accordion of the page, the share will include the extended URL that links directly to the right place in the accordion. For example, if you want to share the roadmap information of SAP Screen Personas, you can go to the SAP Screen Personas topic, open the “Roadmap” accordion and then share via one of the buttons at the top.

 

 

Additionally, you will find the extended footer at the bottom of every page.

Share_Buttons_Footer.png

 

The share buttons in the footer will always just share the direct page URL. Any clicks you did on the page are not relevant here.

 

 

Contact Us


On every page, you will find a “Contact Us” function to the right.

 

ContactUs.png

This function leads you to our newsletter subscription page or starts a new mail addressed to us.

 

 

 

Version 2.1 – 16.04.2015

 

This version includes several bug fixes, some little tool enhancements as well as new content.

 

New Topics

 

 

Enhanced Topics

 

New Videos

 

 

Tool Enhancements

 

 

  • Expand and collapse FAQ
    We received the feedback that people wanted to search across the FAQ page. Unfortunately, the questions and answers that were “hidden” in the closed accordion were not visible to the browser search. As a solution, we introduced a new icon in the FAQ page that allows users to expand all questions and answers. Now the browser search can be used.

 

Bug Fixes

 

  • Search doesn’t highlight lines when navigating with cursors.
  • Video page is sorted so that latest videos are at the top
  • Feature images in browse topics sections not aligned
  • Favorites are displayed in My Favorites section in the same sequence as added (latest on top) – Impact: All favorites you might have stored will be lost.

 

 

Version 2.0 – 13.03.2014

 

This version includes major changes to the visual and interaction design as well as several new topics in our content.

 

New Content

 

 

Updated Content

 

 

Tool Enhancements

 

SAP UX Explorer was completely renewed to become compliant with the global SAP One Digital Experience guidelines. All the changes are documented in “The new SAP UX Explorer is available now”

 

 

New Videos

 

We also have new “SAP UX Explorer – Short Videos” available. Our new design collects all these videos in the “watch videos” section of the Explorer.

 

 

Version 1.7

 

This version is a pure content improvement.

 

New Content

 

Updated Content

 

Tool Enhancements

  • None this time, except some bug fixes.

 

 

 

Version 1.6

 

This version is a pure content improvement including roadmaps being available without the need to login, now.

 

New Content

 

Content Improvements

 

Tool Enhancements

  • None this time, except some bug fixes.

 

 

Version 1.5

 

In this version we did some preparations for version 1.6  and – as usual – we have added new content to the Explorer. For example, you can now compare and understand what the different sites like SAP UX Explorer, SAP UX Community and others can provide to you and how they correlate to each other. The assisting services is a good starting point for that.

 

New Content

 

Content Improvements

 

Tool Enhancement – Site improvements to support Google retrieving our content

 

Tool Enhancement – Top Area Functions changed

As preparation for additional changes in version 1.6, the “Category Overview” and “Typical Questions” link are removed from top area. At the same place you will now find “Explore Relations” (only visible where you can inspect a topic), “Collected Topics” and “Help”. With this we want to focus our users to navigate by exploring the relations between topics rather than always restart from the beginning (like with the collection view before).

New_TopArea_Functions.png

If you may not see the changes in your browser. Just reload the page.

 

 

Tool Enhancement – Topic-specific discussion function moved

The topic-specific discussion function was moved from the toolbar on the right to the topic header. As before, the discussion function leads you directly to a the matching place in SCN to discuss about your current topic with others.

New_Top_Specific_Link.png

If you may not see the changes in your browser. Just reload the page.

 

 

Tool Enhancement – Facets are now without “preview function” (except the screenshot facet)

Facets_without_preview.png

If you may not see the changes in your browser. Just reload the page.

 

Version 1.4

 

Like in version 1.3 there were still many things to do in the backend to set preparations for new functions to come in 2014. Nevertheless, while many improvements are not visible to you yet, we have at least added more questions to our “Typical Questions” and made the login procedure optional.

 

New Questions

 

 

Other enhancements

  • Login became optional
  • “Beta” tag removed

 

 

Version 1.3

 

This version was basically important for us, to re-build and optimize our backend. As such, most of the new things we achieved are unfortunately not visible for you. Nevertheless, there are some news that are visible as listed below.

 

New Items

 

Others

 

 

Version 1.2

 

This version contains new content as well as some tool enhancements and bug fixes.

 

New Items

 

New Comparison Content

  • New content in facet “Quick Reference” is available, which is one data provider for the comparison feature
  • Comparison content includes Web Dynpro ABAP, Web Dynpro Java, SAPUI5, Dynpro ABAP, SAP Screen Personas, Floorplan Manager and more…

 

New Facets

  • Outlook facet is available for many items

 

New Features

 

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed: Toolbar overlaps with content on iPad
  • Fixed: Printing function to generate printable version of item should be moved from toolbar to item header (based on user feedback)
  • Fixed: Facet (tile) details sporadically missing due to SAP ID connectivity issues
  • Fixed: Question results in search function link to question page but not to specific question
  • Fixed: Explorer sporadically freezes due to SAP ID connectivity issues
  • Fixed: Some links in content are dead

 

 

Version 1.1

 

In this version we have added a couple of new items to our database, improved the tool usability based on user feedback, fixed some bugs and finally added a some new and nice functionality. 🙂

 

 

New Items

 

New Features

 

Pin Function

Each item can now be pinned. As a result, the specific item gets added to the list of “Collected Items” in the toolbar to the right. To pin an item, simply click on the star icon at the top right of the header.

Capture_SAP_UX_Explorer.PNG

 

Compare Function

Items can be compared with each other. The comparison data is partly pulled from the relations maintained in our semantic network. We will also add category specific item attributes over time to improve the value of the comparison. Currently, the items that include specific item attributes are SAP NetWeaver Business Client for Desktop, SAP NetWeaver Business Client for HTML, SAP GUI for Windows, SAP GUI for HTML, SAP NetWeaver Portal. However, all items can be already compared from their relation point of view. Just check it out.

 

To compare two items, you need to pin them first. The toolbar on the right indicates, how many items you have pinned.

Capture_SAP_UX_Explorer_Compare.PNG

Then use the toolbar on the right to mark the one you want to compare and click the compare button.

 

Capture_SAP_UX_Explorer_Compare_2.PNG

 

You will see the comparison view, then.

 

       

Feedback Link

Footer area now contains a link to open a mail to uxexplorer@sap.com.

 

About Link

Footer area now contains a link to a dedicated SCN blog post

 

Video Facet

There is a new facet available called “videos”. Over time we will add more and more videos to this facet.

 

Category View Improvement

The category view now also includes the short text of each category and a link to the according item.

 

 

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed: Content like links, features, values are not correctly sorted
  • Fixed: Order of facets is not correctly sorted
  • Fixed: Print page doesn’t provide screenshots
  • Fixed: Feedback function in “Typical Questions” area doesn’t work
  • Fixed: Performance in MS Internet Explorer low
  • Fixed: Copy and paste doesn’t work in facets
  • Fixed: Browser back from item view into category view doesn’t re-open the category which was open before
  • Fixed: Toolbar on the right side of the screen is too small. Many users don’t find it.

Assigned Tags

      2 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      The FAQ is very useful, Thanks. The link to SAP Design Guild in the FAQ doesn't work (Question ID: 17).

      Author's profile photo Juergen Jakowski
      Juergen Jakowski
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Samuli,

      Thanks a lot for the hint. Question ID is fixed now. 🙂

      All the best and have a nice weekend,

      JJ