Debugging applications with SAP HCP, mobile service for SAP Fiori

The ability to debug an application is a critical step in the application development process.  It allows the developer to identify, diagnose and correct issues in an application in all phases of the application life-cycle  Mobile apps running inside an SAP Fiori client is no exception, and SAP has provided detailed information for on how to debug the SAP Fiori client.  Those instructions can be found here.

In SAP HCP, mobile service for SAP Fiori, the publisher doesn’t actually have access to the SAP Fiori client source, code, so how does the debugging feature get enabled?  The answer is, it’s easy!

The purpose of the mobile service for SAP Fiori is to simplify advanced uses cases for SAP Fiori, use cases that require the HTML/CSS/JS content to be encapsulated within some form of the SAP Fiori client.  This is all accomplished through a simple workflow.

At the end of the workflow, the publisher is presented with a “Build Summary” screen.

This screen can also be launched on the Platforms tab of a Fiori app, either from the Action menu or via the Build All button:

To build a debug – enabled app,simply check the “Build debug-enabled binaries” checkbox:

Once the build is complete, you will see a visual indicator that Debug – Enabled binaries are ready for debugging:

You’re now ready to debug your app!

One final note.  Debug-enabled apps are really meant for the developer or publisher to identify, diagnose and correct issues in the generated app.  Debug-enabled apps should generally speaking not be distributed to end users.  For this reason, in the mobile service for SAP Fiori, Debug-enabled apps cannot be set to Production:

Once the debugging exercise is complete, the app should be re-built with the Debug-enabled flag unchecked, then you are on your way!