SAP TechEd 2020 - key points [ABAP/SAPUI5/DevOps]

[wozjac]

SAP TechEd 2020 was full of interesting topics, here are my key points from several sessions I watched, related to ABAP, UI5 and DevOps topics.

You can watch plenty of recorded sessions at the event page (you can register for free) or Youtube channel

ABAP

Developer News [EP101]

Link to the session: https://events.sapteched.com/widget/sap/sapteched2020/Catalog/session/1604685007412001IHcf

• reminder: 1 year trial for SAP Cloud Platform is now available, fully transformable into productive one, so you can now go from free to payable


• reminder: SAP Developer News are new bi-weekly videos with highlights for SAP developers, available on Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNfmelKDrvRmjYwSi9yvrMg


• Devtoberfest code and samples are available on GitHub https://github.com/SAP-samples/sap-devtoberfest-2020


• and all other SAP Samples from workshops etc. are gathered https://github.com/SAP-samples


• some of the CodeJams event are now virtual


• OData V4 support will progress to wider range in Fiori Elements and other solutions


• Tutorials are available via more user friendly tutorial navigator: https://developers.sap.com/tutorial-navigator.html

ABAP Strategy [DEV200]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXXMcGb40hU

• numbers: over 100 000 productive ABAP systems, over 10 000 ABAP objects per an average SAP system, over 5 million registered ABAP developers


• key challenges - transformation of ABAP from AS Netweaver to ABAP Platform S/4 HANA / Cloud Platform


• target - one common ABAP Platform innovation codeline for all environments


• extensions in cloud - no more modifications of SAP code (BAdIs, DDIC appends, enhancements, modifications); stable SaaS APIs for side-by-side or in-app extensions


• must learn topics from 4 areas are discussed from 12:40 - these are, among others, Fiori / RAP / ABAP managed code pushdown, ABAP tools, SAP Cloud Platform

https://youtu.be/AXXMcGb40hU?t=760

• ABAP Restful programming model for efficiency and as a standardized model for Fiori apps


• SAP Cloud Platform as an extension and integration suite


• ABAP in Cloud motivations: existing, large customer base, ABAP is enterprise-ready, transition to cloud by customers


• ABAP in Cloud used by customers as 1) extension platform for ERP apps 2) innovation plaform 3) hub-style usage (ABAP implementations decoupled from core business systems)


• Steampunk ABAP development model is embedded in S/4 HANA on-premise (Lab preview)

Road Map: ABAP [DEV825]

Link to the session: https://events.sapteched.com/widget/sap/sapteched2020/Catalog/session/1602555755095001u6im

• maintenance mode for Netweaver extended to 2027; optional extended maintenance until 2030


• release model has changed - for Cloud Platform there are quarterly delivered updates


• for on-premise platforms once a year all of updates are delivered in a bundle


• for SAP Cloud Platform - full backward compatibility always ensured (public interfaces)


• Custom Code Migration tool for support of moving to cloud


• Planned innovations, among others, are SM30 like generator for Fiori apps, abapGit support for change documents and number range objects, multitenancy based on CLIENT field; extensibility based on this concept


• OData V4, RAP - lot of investments in these areas, generation of Fiori Apps similar like in SM30


• ABAP roadmap and other can be easily browsed using Roadmap Explorer - https://roadmaps.sap.com

Major Updates on ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model [DEV102]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17aVI8mZfbo

• The beginning of the session is a quick reminder and overview of ABAP RAP model

• reminder about unmanaged (CRUD implementation and other BO runtime coded by developers) vs managed (greenfield, CRUD support out of the box)

[Please remember to check the openSAP course if you want to try it out: https://open.sap.com/courses/cp13]

• draft handling in RAP enables draft persistence and availability, they are addressable resources


• managed business objects has now huge feature set: external, user keys can be used instead of UUIDs for BOs, determinations and validations available for CUD operations, field triggers - for reacting just for field change, custom locks and save possible instead of generic ones, persistence mapping for cases when CDS model is different than DB model


• draft handling is available for managed and unmanaged scenarios


• message mapping for SAVE


• instance-based authorizations and feature control


• pre-check for operations


• relation explorer for BO available in ADT


• projection layer for BOs


• testability improved with BO test double framework


• forthcoming features are global feature and authorization checks, OData V4 support is in progress, number ranges in managed BOs, draft enabled for lifecycle of multiple BOs, side-effect modeling integrated into behavior definitions


• further improvements on model qualities like testability, extensibility

DevOps

DevOps for ABAP? Try the Git-Enabled Change and Transport System [DEV208]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU7XJXJGbmE

• SAP CTS combined with Git


• When you release a transport it docs not go to the queue of the target system, but a commit with all changes is available for them...


• ...or (optionally) any other system like a CI server


• In these systems changes are basically pulled from git repo from a commit


• In a target ABAP system, changes are pulled, merged and become active


• Any popular and regular git platform can be used like GitHub, GitLab etc.


• Fiori app available for gCTS configuration


• Tracking of workbench transport objects (1909) and customization (2020)


• gCTS steps for project Piper are available


• You can switch between commits making them active; this is also possible for customization commits 👏👏👏


• Future direction - more integration with standard CTS, ChaRM, code reviews, pull requests and more

DevOps with SAP: Holistic Overview and Latest News [DEV100]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xssuxyIWrL8

• SAP Cloud Platform is a central platform for on-premise, cloud or hybrid solutions as a integrations & extensions


• SAP portfolio for DevOps is divided into 4 categories: Plan & Set Up, Develop & Test, Deliver & Change, Monitor & Operate


• Plan & Setup - best practices, planning and lifecycle management guide


• CI /CD for ABAP - targeted use cases like distributed development (one project, one system), continuous integration, branch-based development enabled with gCTS


• SAP offerings for eased CI / CD - best practices available, project "Piper", CI/CD service available on SAP Cloud platform


• Develop & Test - different tools for different tasks like Business Application Studio, programming models (RAP, CAP)


• Deliver & Change - CTS+ for ABAP-centric landscape (covers also MTA transports), SAP Cloud Platform Transport Management for cloud, gCTS


• CTS/CTS+/gCTS - no plans to get rid of them, they will stay for on-premise


• Monitor & Operate - SAP Cloud Platform offers Automation Pilot (react automatically to alerts, for example bu executing database commands) and Alert Notification services (send messages to various channels); various others tracing and monitoring tools


• SAP Cloud ALM for operations monitoring, analysis, event and alert management and operation automation


• Planned - integrated DevOps management, one view of various DevOps tools

UI5/Fiori

Road Map: SAP Fiori [IIS819]

Link to the session: https://events.sapteched.com/widget/sap/sapteched2020/Catalog/session/1602555761870001uS8V

• SAP Fiori evolved - from casual user self-services, through mobile-friendly, to SAP Fiori 3 - consistent, intelligent, integrated


• Fiori 3 includes has new themes (Quartz Light & Dark) and is more consistent (one shell design for all SAP products)


• Fiori 3 spaces - tiles grouped into sections, assigned to pages and each of these pages can be grouped into spaces


• all future innovations will use spaces


• current home page approach is planned to be removed in S/4HANA Cloud with 2 releases advanced notice


• Situations can be shown as an additional facet or as message-based (for example for long running jobs)


• SAP Fiori for iOS innovations - signature capture form cell, "What's new"


• SAP Fiori for Android innovations - signature capture, Quartz Dark theme, sort by multiple criteria, timeline view


• Central Entry Point - available through SAP Cloud Platform Launchpad service, integrates apps and contents from other launchpads


• future - pages with cards, digital assistant, proactive business explanation handling, one inbox for items from different systems, content from different systems (like SuccessFactors) in one screen, product switch for switching between home pages of different systems


• future for developers - Fiori Tools improvements


• SAP Fiori for S/4HANA 2021 innovations: tiles of different sizes, cards on pages, Situation page, digital assistant for selected cases in finance and procurement, additional steps to bring classic UIs closer to Fiori design


• SAP Cloud Portal Platform Launchbox 2021 innovations - central services like one inbox, notifications; spaces and pages for local content, tiles of different sizes, cards on pages


• Fiori for Mobile in 2021 - SAP S/4HANA Cloud UIs for tablets (including classic UIs)

Beyond SAPUI5 and SAP Fiori Elements [IIS114]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCxp3Y4KMCw

• additional approaches for Web UI development with Fiori design are available


• UI5 Web Components - UI5 controls as Web Components standard https://sap.github.io/ui5-webcomponents/


• Fundamental Library - CSS Fiori-like styling and libraries for various frameworks like React, Vue; https://sap.github.io/fundamental/


• This opens Fiori design for enablement in various development scenarios. SAPUI5 is the most mature and complex solution

SAPUI5 – All You Need to Know [DEV108]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48t60jayasA

• UI5 is a major Fiori technology, focused on developer, user and adoption experience


• adoption experience is possible for various Web technology layers - from Fundamental Styles

• (CSS), through UI5 Web Components ending on OpenUI5/SAPUI5 libraries and Fiori Elements


• UI5 tooling is constantly developed to cover from simple to advanced use cases


• testing is covered by frameworks (like QUnit, OPA) and runners (Karma, UIVeri5); Test Recorder helps to write tests quicker by providing code snippets for selected controls


• UI5 is based on DOM-rendering


• UI5 Web Components use CSS variables, not used in UI5 due to IE11 support


• UI5 direction - use UI5 Web Components + control wrappers connected to UI5 lifecycle


• UI5 libraries, Typescript definitions and generators available as Node modules


• New development tools are Business Application Studio (cloud, in SAP Cloud Platform) and Visual Studio Code + extensions (offline)


• UI5 flexibility in the area of extensibility - modification free UI approach, WYSYWIG adaptation, unified approach both from freestyle apps as well as Fiori Elements apps


• SAP Fiori Tools (for BAS/VS Code) to help freestyle and Fiori Elements apps


• Fiori Elements second generation (and future direction) targets OData V4


• ES6 and TypeScript support is ongoing

UI5 Tooling – The Build and Development Tooling for UI5 [DEV301]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnag-Z4jzcc

• open source CLI for UI5 framework which helps in many development tasks


• it uses many open source tools, increases flexibility and extensibility, integrates easily , fosters the use of modern language features, supports any IDE


• delivered as commands, divided into several modules: file system, project, logger, server; modules use other modules to provide more advanced and robust functionalities


• https://sap.github.io/ui5-tooling/


• form 6:47 you can watch the tooling in action

---

That was long, so to sum up shortly - interesting times for SAP ecosystem developers 🙂