Add My inbox app to the SCP CF Portal

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Updates:

21.3.2021: There is better way how to add My Inbox into SAP Launchpad so I wrote a new blog post. This procedure is mostly deprecated, but it can still be useful in some special cases.

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Why?

Recently I implemented Workflow solution for the customer who started using SAP Cloud Platform. My Inbox application is standard and preferred way how to handle user tasks in the workflow and therefore I had to provide a way how will approvers  (customers/users) access that application.

Options

At first, let me inform you that this blog post is about Portal site on Cloud Foundry. I don`t consider here other options like Portal on Neo platform or on premise My Inbox.

So considering Portal on Cloud Foundry there are at least three different ways how to access My Inbox.

1. Directly by the link through application router


2. Through portal page implemented inside MTAR application using the portal service as a resource


3. On the portal site of the Portal SaaS

First two options are more or less just for development and testing purposes or for special purposes. Normal use case usually delivered to the customer is the 3rd option, where you can work with roles and educated users from the customer company can maintain the solution by themselves.

Solution

So how to add My inbox application to the Portal service?

The trick is to create destination which will route all the communication to you app router (deployed as a MTA application), which has prepared routing for the SCP workflow.

<<<link to blog describing creating that app router >>>

Then create tile using that destination.

On the first tab page - attributes you have to provide Title, Description and option whether to open app in place or in a new tab.

Although more important are data on the right side of the screen.

There you have to choose system (or destination) where the application is stored. Choose that destination you have created a moment ago.

Then choose type of link to SAPUI5 and provide component name of application.

My Inbox has component name

cross.fnd.fiori.inbox​

On the navigation tab fill semantic object

WorkflowTask

and Action

DisplayMyInbox

Here is also the important detail. By default, My Inbox application call service TASKPROCESSING. In our SCP scenario, no such service is present. Therefore it is necessary to reroute that call to the service /bpmworkflowruntime/v1/tcm/ which provides data instead.

So add parameter to the navigation configuration

Name: tcmURL 

Default Value: /bpmworkflowruntime/v1/tcm/ 

Also don`t forget to check the option for additional parameters.

I also wrote blog post which describes that problem in more detail. You can find it here.

The end

Now you know which options are available for accessing My Inbox application, how to add that application to the Portal site on the cloud foundry platform and also how to solve problem with TASKPROCESSING service call.

You can off course use generalized version of that process to add any other SAPUI5 application to the portal - all you need is just destination, component name and semantic data. And sometimes some special bit of information like that tcmURL parameter.

Disclaimer:

You can find this blog post also on my personal blog following the link: https://vbalko.blogspot.com/2020/09/add-my-inbox-app-to-scp-cf-portal.html

All pictures used in that blog post are taken by myself.