Integrating SAP Fiori and SAP BusinessObjects BI
SAP Design Studio apps, Crystal Reports, Webi reports etc. can now be integrated with the SAP Fiori Launchpad. In this blog we’ll look at how these reports/dashboards from the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform can be integrated with SAP Fiori landscape.
Before you jump on the how-to section, i recommend watching this demo video which shows how the reports/dashboards look in SAP Fiori launchpad.
Ok, I hope you watched the demo, now we’ll look at the how-to part.
The following walks you through the steps to integrate a SAP Design Studio application with SAP Fiori, however you can follow the same steps to integrate any report or dashboard with SAP Fiori.
Step 1: Generate the OpenDoc URL from the SAP BI Launchpad
- Login to the SAP BI Launchpad and right click on the report or SAP Design Studio app that you want to make it available in SAP Fiori Launchpad, and select Document Link
- Copy the link to a notepad.
Step 2: Create New Launchpad
- Login to SAP Fiori front-end server, and run transaction code LPD_CUST
- Click New Launchpad, and enter the details as shown in the below figure.
- Click continue
- Next, create an application by clicking New Application
- Enter the details as shown in the figure
Link Text: Liquidity Forecast
Application type: URL
Paste the URL which we copied in Step 1 in Additional Parameters
Application Alias: LiquidityForecastApp
Step 3: Create Semantic Object
In SAP GUI, run transaction code /UI2/SEMOBJ, and add a new semantic object as shown in the figure below.
Step 4: Create a new Catalog
- Login to SAP Fiori Launchpad Designer from your browser.
http://<server>:<port>/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/sap/arsrvc_upb_admn/main.html?sap-client=<client>?scope=CUST
- Create a new catalog by clicking
- Select Standard, and then enter the below details.
- Click Save
Step 5: Create a New tile and the Target Mapping
- Add a new tile in the Catalog by clicking
- Enter the General and Navigation details as shown below
- Click Save
- Now click
to add a target mapping. Enter the following details:
Step 6: Create a New Group
- Select the Groups tab in the SAP Fiori Launchpad Designer.
- Create a new group by clicking
- Enter the below details and click Save
Step 7: Create New Role for the Catalog and Group
- In the SAP front-end system, run transaction code PFCG
- Enter a role name and click Single Role
- In the role menu add the Catalog and Group which we created in the previous steps.
- Click Save
- Select the User tab and enter the user ID/ID’s who needs access to this SAP BI Catalog.
- Click Save
Login to SAP Fiori Launchpad and you should now see the tile, catalog, and the group. Please watch the complete demo here.
Happy Learning!
-Anil Bavaraju
SAP Press Author – SAP Fiori Implementation and Development
Hi Anil,
I assume that as a prerequisite to the above process we would also need to configure Single Sign-on between the Fiori Launchpad and BusinessObjects. Is that right?
Thanks,
Mustafa.
Mustafa: Yes that's correct.
Regards,
-Anil
What is the recommended SSO from FLP to BIP? SAML? SAML2? Something else?
Does FLP support Kerberos SSO?
Design Studio looks nice, but WebI.. It's like using a timemachine
BR,
Michael
Michael: Yes Kerberos SSO is supported in FLP.
Hi Anil,
first thanks for the great blog and the valuable information provided.
Is this correct, even if not using SAP (Netweaver) SSO product? As far as I know the ABAP Stack (we have a dedicated Fiori Frontend Server as a Hub) doesn't support Kerberos out of the box, or I should better be saing "does technically support, but you aren't allowed to use if you have no SSO license which is payed by user".
1. Is my knowledge (still) correct?
2. Are there any other means of SSO from BO to FES like logon tickets?
3. Did you integrate the FLP to enterprise portal while having all the subsystems connected as "Fiori Tiles"? And if so, did this work along quite well or was this iframe / config nightmare?
Thanks and Cheers
Jens
Jens,
Yes, we integrated FLP with EP, and it works quite well, we just have couple of issues related to cache, and session timeout.
Sorry, I am not really sure about the SSO license.
Below authentication methods are supported, however i did not really explore which one of these works best with BO
-Anil
Thanks Anil, really appreciated
at the risk of being a nuisance: When we would opt for 3. SAP logon tickets for SSO, would FLP (Fiori Frontend Server) be the issuing system then right (speaking of "direct" SSO without integrating in EP, first)
Cheers
Jens
Well, the value is really in Ad-Hoc Reporting & Self-Service of Webi and its various, numerous data sources as well as additional features such as scheduling (to FTP, email, PDF, etc.), an export function to CSV/XLS/PDF worth its name, etc.
Also, I have seen Webi reports that just look aweful, because the report designer made no effort whatsoever to design a pleasing report output. Of course the default formatting in Webi is of no great help here : (
Last, but no least, look forward to a vamped/ramped up Webi : )
Mike: I am not sure what SAP recommends on this FLP to BIP SSO, because these is no official documentation on this integration.
Here is some info on the SAML2.
Using SAML 2.0 Authentication to Access Fiori Apps from the Public Internet
works fine for us with SAML2 (nothing else tested).
Integrating Fiori with BOBJ - SSO
http://www.tek-analytics.com/2016/08/integration-fiori-with-bobj/
Thanks for Sharing
Hi Anil,
1st thanks for the great blog.
after completing the guide i get blank screen after trying the App on launchpad and i get error in the gw error log : The request URL or the metadata definition is incorrect.
can you help with that ?
regards
Ahmad Salam
Dear Anil,
solved by this 2188358 - Handling of $ encoding in the Gateway URI
however im seeing the report in the normal BI lanuchpad way not the Fiori Way
Ahmed,
Thanks for sharing the SAP Note.
Please let me know what is that Fiori way you were expecting? I did not get that.
-Anil
Dear Anil,
i mean with the Fiori UI , when i follow your steps i get the dashboard with the BO system UI not in Fiori UI
Yes that's correct, we are just integrating the Fiori and BI Platform, not converting the UI of a dashboard to the Fiori UI concepts. Do you will see the same UI what you see in BI platform.
Thanks Anil for the informative post. I have a question: is it possible for the Fiori launchpad to have a link that opens the SAP BI Mobile platform, instead of an individual report? We have quite a number of reports on our BI platform, and instead of having to integrate them all individually with Fiori, we would like to simply click or tap on a button and open up the BI platform (mobile) as a whole. The same way the SAP portal can have a link that opens the entire BI platform instead of a single report. Thanks.
We should be able to do that, however you will get the same BI Platform look and feel and not the Fiori look and feel.
Many thanks for this post. One qestion/remarks? Is the both servers(fior and BI) need to be on the same domain? Otherwise I got answer 403 as forbidden and "Unsafe JavaScript attempt to initiate navigation for frame with URL". I'm still fighting with this so all good advice are welcome
I am not really sure if it has to be on the same domain. However, our internal demo servers are all on the same domain.
Hi Anil,
Good post and its very useful. We followed all of your steps defined and its working successfully however the window is opened in a new tab, whereas in your demo its in the same iframe as of the fiori launchpad.
Do you have any recommendations? Thanks
Syed,
If you follow step 4 - step 6 then it should open in the same window. If you are not using a semantic object and directly embedding the url in the target url, then it will open in a new window.
I followed the same way as you showed Anil, from step 4 - step 6 using Semantic Object. I'm finding it out to see what could be the reason, if you have any other suggestion?
I have the same issue, I use semantic objects but the window is opened in a new tab too. Do you solve this problem?
Syed/Jordi,
Make sure the UI5 library is updated, you should then be good. I just faced this issue after upgrading to a upgrading it from 1.28 to 1.38, and then i updated it to the latest release, and now its working without any issues.
-Anil B
Hi Anil,
Thanks for the posting on this.
In Step 2, You have provided the URL of the BI Report. How did you manage to transport this URL to the next system. You would have hardcoded the server name in your DEV and it would be captured as part of the transport which goes to PRD.
Thanks,
Murali.
Hi,
did you find a solution for that?
We have the same issue.
best regards
Dominik
Hi,
Can i launch "Analysis for office" from Fiori Launchpad using a tile? I have Odata service (based on CDS) --> No BI/BW server.
Regards
Satnam: You can open any url.
-Anil
Hi Anil,
Great blog to start for the integration.
However, I have the same question as Murali about hardcoding the host name, port details in the URL section.
Is there a way to avoid that so that when we transport to other systems, it reads from system alias or HTTP destination etc??
in the url section - type the url starting from/BOE.....
create a sm59 http connection with target host as BOBJ system
use the http connection name as system alias in the configuration (LPD_CUST)
Thanks
Karthik
Thanks.
I actually figured that out after asking the question. the confusion was, when I did the F4 on the system alias field, it was not showing the alias I created in SM59. But when I typed it manually and tested, it worked fine!!
not sure why it was not showing in the value help.
-Bhavik
Yes , The newly created HTTP connections wont show up by search or F4, you need to type manually once , from next time it shows up in F4. strange but true
Thanks Karthik for posting this.
-Anil
Hi Anil,
For this scenario, do we require SAP HANA?
Can we use existing BW & BI/BO platform and a FIORI Front end server?
As in our case we have SAP EHP 7 for ERP 6.0 and a dedicated Fiori Front-end server for transaction Apps.
I see no where it is said HANA is mandatory, but a doubt as we are configuring the tile as "Analytical"
Please comment on this to take-up the solution for implementation as our client is expecting both dashboards and transaction apps in one mobile entry instead of separate SAP BO Mobile.
Thanks.
Hello Prashanth -
No need. Hana is not required in any of the flow.
Here is the complete integration flow with SSO
Integrating Fiori with BOBJ &#8211; SSO &#8211; Tek Analytics
Thanks
Karthik
Thanks Karthik
Hi Anil
As Syed and Jordi already has mentiond; I also use a semantic object and still the BO reports opens up in a new tab. I use (to my knowledge) exactly the same steps as you are. Do you have any idea why a new tab is opened?
Great blog by the way 🙂
Kind regards
Erik
Hi all
I also get the same issue, the BOreport opens in a new tab.
The strange thing is, if i press "Backarrow" in the browser, then the BOreport opens up within the Fiori Launchpad.
Have you found a solution to your issue?
Regards
Björn
Erik,
Thanks!
Make sure the UI5 library is updated, you should then be good. I just faced this issue after upgrading to a upgrading it from 1.28 to 1.38, and then i updated it to the latest release, and now its working without any issues.
-Anil B
Hi Anil,
I tried to implement that in our landscape and did all the steps described. If I lauch the Tile I get error
:Message Launchpad ZBOEPOS / ANALYTICS / ZRT_POSM_CUSTOM_APP does not exist in client 100.
Is there one step missing ? I doublechecked configuration and my LP is created and alos semobject ..
I don't know what is missing
Thanks
Thomas
Hi Anil,
I tried to integrate a consumption CDS View used in Analysis for office with Fiori using FM RSAO_CREATE_LAUNCH_FILE. But it is not working.
Please comment in case you have used I_T_VARIABLES in RSAO_CREATE_LAUNCH_FILE to launch Analysis for office.
Thanks,
Priyanka
Hi Anil,
At first.thanks for the excellent blog.
In an environment where a standalone HANA (inclusively XS engine) system is used for custom native development and data consumption is done by several BO Tools (Design Studio, Webi etc.) . Will there any Netweaver component needed when integrating those BO tools with SAP Fiori?
Or are Netweaver components (ABAP Server, SAP Gateway, SAP Web Dispatcher) essiential for every SAP Fiori setup?
Many thanks
MeBa
Meba: You may wish to refer this link http://help.sap.com/fiori_bs2013/helpdata/en/52/a33d53a5256757e10000000a44538d/content.html
-Anil
Hi Anil,
When I configure LPD_CUST to use a System Alias (because I don't want to hardcode the URL in the Catalog Tile Target URL field), the BI report is launch within the same window as the Fiori Launchpad, and cannot be maximised to a full screen.
When I hardcode URL in the Catalog Tile Target URL field, the BI report is launch in a new window, which is what I want.....any ideas on how to do this without hardcoding URL in the Catalog Tile Target URL field?
thanks,
Con
Thanks for that blog post. How you configured the system to open the URL inplace? I think the inplace parameter within the LPD_CUST doesn´t take place.
Hi Anil,
in my system I also had to implement OSS#2472721 – How to force non-Fiori applications to open in same tab when launching from Fiori Launchpad otherwise the system would open another window from Fiori Launchpad. In trx. LDP_CUST I specified Additional Information as managed=FioriWave1
I think, it might be helpful.
Regards, Uladzislau
Hi Anil,
This blog is very help full ,
I need some more information regarding DB of our BO reports, what you published in Fiori.
I have BW as my DB , is it possible to publish in FIORI reports , which are having SAP BW Query as back end to BO reports.
Because i had gone through some documents , i got that SAP FIORI Analytics supports only HANA DB.
Ii it correct ?
please let me know .
thanks in advance....
Latha.
Hi Anil,
Excellent post!!!
1 question here, how to transport the hard-coded BI4 link to other environment?
Thanks,
Avijit
Hello,
We tried this out for our landscape, thank you very much for this blog. Question : Will this work on mobile too? It does not seem to work for us (dashboard does not render on mobile once we click on the tile). Are we missing any configuration?
Hi Anil,
how to switch off letter box for BOBJ tiles in order to avoid horizonal scroll bar if content is wide than 1280 px?
Regards, Uladzislau
Hi Anil,
I am trying to open nativly in my launchpad : Bex Queries, WebI reports, Cristal Reports. The Tiles keep opening to a new tab. WebI reports opens in normal format and not in PDF
We have the latest version of SAPUI5
How can we open the reports native ? I have followed your tutorial and still haven't managed to resolve this issue.
Do we need to set a RFC connection between BW and BO ?
Regards, Gellert
Hello,
Thanks for your great blog.
I like to have SAP Fiori Gateway one for all SAP BOBJ urls inlcuding opendoc. Therefore I like to integrate SAP Fiori with BOBJ for opendoc urls without creating actual opendoc reports on Fori. I want user to use SAP Gateway Fiori url to access BOBJ opendoc, for that I have to create SAP Gateway and BOBJ SYstem connection for /opendoc urls, we can do that easily in Portal by creating http system connections, how can I do that in Fiori Gateway?
Thanks