Technology Blogs by SAP
Learn how to extend and personalize SAP applications. Follow the SAP technology blog for insights into SAP BTP, ABAP, SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP HANA, and more.
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Jocelyn_Dart
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
Latest Updates:

For each SAP Business Role, the SAP Fiori launchpad for SAP S/4HANA supports a mix of new SAP Fiori and older classic SAP User Interfaces. This is a deliberate approach to ease the transition from the older classic user interfaces to the new SAP Fiori experience. A major benefit of this approach for most SAP customers transitioning to SAP S/4HANA is that it gives a lot of flexibility in managing the pace of change within your own organization.  At some point you will probably need to include some classic User Interfaces in your SAP Fiori launchpad content. In this blog post we explain how to check if a particular classic User Interface is ok to use in SAP S/4HANA.

Regardless of how much SAP Fiori you use in SAP S/4HANA, at some point you will most likely need to include some classic user interfaces, especially if you are converting to SAP S/4HANA from a SAP Business Suite or SAP Suite on HANA solution. That means you will need to understand how to check which classic user interfaces you can use with your SAP Fiori launchpad in SAP S/4HANA.



Start with a basic understanding of what types of user interfaces are natively supported by the SAP Fiori Launchpad in SAP S/4HANA.

SAP Fiori launchpad for SAP S/4HANA natively supports the following SAP Fiori content:

  • SAP Fiori apps – both Freestyle SAPUI5 and Fiori elements apps

  • SAP Fiori app variants (as of SAP S/4HANA 1909)


SAP Fiori launchpad content also supports a range of classic user interface content including:

And of course your SAP Fiori launchpad can include content based on URLs, such as deep links to SAP SuccessFactors applications.

But how do you know whether your specific classic user interface, is ok to launch from SAP Fiori launchpad?

Read on to understand:

  • Why you might need to use classic user interfaces

  • How to confirm your classic user interface is allowlisted for SAP S/4HANA

  • How to confirm your classic user interface is blocklisted for SAP S/4HANA

  • What to do if your desired classic user interface is not on either list


Tip: For those unfamiliar with these terms a quick explanation:

  • Allowlist = Ok to use

  • Blocklist = Must NOT be used – look at recommended alternatives


So if your desired classic user interface is neither allowlisted or blocklisted for the SAP Fiori launchpad for SAP S/4HANA, some due diligence is needed to resolve whether it can be used or not, and to identify any restrictions on usage within a web browser.

Why might you need to use classic user interfaces in SAP S/4HANA


Given SAP Fiori is the way business users consume SAP S/4HANA innovations, most customers will look to include at least some SAP Fiori.  In the SAP S/4HANA RIG, we have seen different customers approach SAP Fiori in SAP S/4HANA differently depending on the innovation readiness of the organization, and of their business users.



Some common examples:



Enterprises looking to move more slowly from SAP Business Suite or Suite on HANA to SAP Fiori in SAP S/4HANA, typically use the SAP Fiori launchpad as an entry point to a few carefully selected SAP Fiori apps and to existing classic user interfaces. This is a good way to bring some new business value to all users – via the Top 5 features that bring business value -  with minimal disruption.

Even for those with a “Fiori first” approach, most likely you will need to use some classic user interfaces alongside SAP Fiori apps.  SAP S/4HANA 1909 now provides nearly 1700 SAP Fiori apps, and several business roles are considered covered by SAP Fiori apps, but there is still more to come on the SAP S/4HANA innovation roadmap.

Regardless of your SAP Fiori scope, the out of the box SAP S/4HANA Business Roles provide the best insight into what SAP Fiori apps *and* classic user interfaces are still appropriate for particular users.  You can find the content of each Business Role in the SAP Fiori apps reference library – select filter All Apps for SAP S/4HANA.



Then filter By Roles.



Then search for your role by name to see all the provided SAP Fiori launchpad content for that business role e.g. search on maint to find Maintenance Technician, Maintenance Planner, etc.



If you are taking a Fiori first approach, a good heads up on how much SAP Fiori app coverage is available for your particular role is to use the filter SAP Fiori apps for SAP S/4HANA.



Then once again filter By Roles, and again search for your desired role. You will see a count of SAP Fiori apps available. You can use this to set expectations with your business stakeholders around degree of SAP Fiori coverage for their business roles, and to adjust efforts needed for fit-gap analysis of the new SAP Fiori apps to your specific business roles.



Tip: As of SAP S/4HANA 1909 FPS00, you can find more than 20 business roles with 30 or more SAP Fiori apps – several with more than 50 SAP Fiori apps.

How to confirm your classic user interface is allowlisted for SAP S/4HANA


The simplest way to check your classic user interface is allowlisted is to search in the SAP Fiori apps library using the main filter All Apps for SAP S/4HANA.



Select All Apps to enter the full app list.



Then enter your classic UI transaction code, Web Dynpro ABAP application name, or WebClient UI id in the Search

You can see how this works by searching on MM17 for SAP GUI transaction MM17.



If the classic user interface is listed, then it is considered allowlisted content for the SAP Fiori launchpad.  That is:

  • The user interface can be used with SAP S/4HANA

  • The user interface can be launched from the SAP Fiori launchpad with the SAP Fiori visual theme applied. The SAP Fiori visual theme brings some consistency to the look and feel of the user interface compared to SAP Fiori apps.


You can see in example that under Other Apps the transaction is listed as Mass Maintenance Material (MM17). You can select the entry to check the details of the app including the configuration details if you need to adjust your app to app navigation as explained in Adjusting insight to action app to app navigation.

Using the SAP Fiori apps library filter All apps for SAP S/4HANA is also a quick way to see if there might be some alternative recommended SAP Fiori apps to cover your task.

You can see for the MM17 example that 2 potential SAP Fiori apps are suggested as alternatives to explore, Mass Maintenance for Master Data, and Master Data Governance, Mass Processing (Version 2).

IMPORTANT: Remember SAP Fiori apps are a more precise fit to role and task than SAP GUI.  So there is no 1 to 1 relationship between SAP GUI and SAP Fiori. So it is important to review the suggested SAP Fiori apps and see if they fit your desired role and task, and are available for your SAP S/4HANA version.

This approach for checking the allowlist works regardless of the classic user interface type.

You can see an example for SAP Web Client User interface Create Service Contract using id TBT112MCR. In this case you see more than one entry because the configuration details between different SAP S/4HANA versions. You can check the version in the Implementation Information tab.



You can also elect all matching entries and use the Aggregate button in the footer to ensure you are looking at the correct entries for your SAP S/4HANA version as explained in Finding the delta of new apps between SAP S/4HANA versions.

IMPORTANT: Not all classic user interfaces in the SAP Fiori apps library are assigned to SAP's reference content Business Catalogs and Business Roles.  Classic user interfaces that are only assigned to technical catalogs are created by SAP to enable direct consumption on the SAP Fiori launchpad, where desired.  Similarly there may only be a target mapping and not a tile, where a classic user interface is only used as a navigation target in an app to app navigation.  You can find out more about these scenarios in Understanding insight to action app to app navigation, Adjusting insight to action app to app navigation, and SAP Note 2857103 - Why are there more target mappings than tiles in standard catalogs in Fiori Desig...

If you cannot find your classic user interface in the SAP Fiori apps library, you need to check if it has been blocklisted.

How to confirm your classic user interface is blocklisted for SAP S/4HANA


The primary way to check if a classic user interface is blocklisted is to search the Simplification Catalog (online) or Simplification List (offline PDF version)

You can find the Simplification List on the SAP S/4HANA product page in the SAP Help Portal. Just use the quick link https://help.sap.com/s4hana_op to get to the main product page.  Select your SAP S/4HANA version using the dropdown.



Then scroll down to find the links in the Conversion and Upgrade Assets section.



In either the online or offline version, you can find these in the simplifications for your application component area or by searching on known terms. For example searching on the term Handling Unit shows you a business impact note listing the Obsolete transactions.



Check the related SAP Note to find the recommended alternatives or other advice as that user interface may simply not be relevant anymore.

For example:

Tip: It’s also worth doing a quick search in the SAP Support Portal. You can sometimes find additional SAP Notes for speciality areas, such as this one for Real Time Consolidation in BPC. For example SAP Note 2569477 - Obsolete Transaction Codes in Real-Time Consolidation Starting from S/4HANA 1709

You can also check directly in your SAP S/4HANA system if your classic user interface:

  • No longer exists - i.e. has been deleted

    • This is usually a good indication it has been simplified and you are likely to find it mentioned on the Simplification Catalog or List



  • Exists but is on the SAP Blocklist Monitor

    • A good clue here is if you attempt to start the classic user interface and receive the error message SYSTEM_ABAP_ACCESS_DENIED.




In SAP S/4HANA 1909 FPS00, the blocklist table SBLM_BLACKLIST has some 6760 entries of which 3417 transactions. For example, you can check this table in SAP GUI transaction SE16 by searching on the Object Type T (Transaction) and entering your transaction code as the Object Name.



Tip: You can use the same approach for Program (Object Type P) and Functions (Object Type C and use Procedure to enter the Function module name).

If you find your classic user interface in the obsolete transactions in the Simplification Catalog or List, or you find it listed in the Blocklist monitor, your response should be the same.

DO NOT USE any blocklisted classic user interface.

Instead review the recommended alternatives.

If for some reason you believe the classic user interface is blocklisted in error, raise a SAP Incident to have this checked.

VERY IMPORTANT: Do NOT reactivate a blocklisted user interface without clearance from SAP. You have no license right to use the object as explained in SAP Note 2249880 - Dump SYSTEM_ABAP_ACCESS_DENIED caused through Blocklist Monitor in SAP S/4HANA on...

In case an object is not set forth in the SAP S/4HANA Feature Scope Description, the customer has no license right to use the object.

SAP may allow or allowlist temporarily blocklisted objects and SAP may allow its general usage by removing them from the blocklist in any future support package or – prior to the provisioning of an support package - through a dedicated note where compatibility or enablement has been downported.

In such cases, please do the following:

Consult with development support



    • Raise a ticket on the component of the blocklisted object concerned and inquire with the development support of SAP S/4HANA whether the particular object is blocklisted and how customer may use it according to the SAP allowlist or dedicated note

    • Based on the approval of development support via the ticket, you get a clearance to proceed according to the instructions mentioned below




If your classic user interface is neither allowlisted or blocklisted then you should need to do a little due diligence to work out if the classic user interface can be launched from the SAP Fiori launchpad.

What to do if your classic User Interface is not on either list


This happens from time to time.

For example, one of our SAP S/4HANA customers based in Asia wanted to use GUI transaction HUINV05. Transaction HUINV05 is not listed in the SAP Fiori apps library, it’s not listed as an obsolete transaction, and it’s not on the blocklist.

So what do you do? Simple.

Check if the classic user interface still exists in SAP S/4HANA, for example by calling it directly.

Providing the classic user interface still exists, it may still technically work.

IMPORTANT: Technically working does NOT mean the classic UI is still supported.

To get official confirmation that the desired classic user interface is still ok to use in your SAP S/4HANA version, you can raise a SAP Incident. Raise the incident to the relevant SAP application component. For example, you can find the application component by searching on related SAP Notes. Often the support team may respond with additional considerations, such as features that may be limited on certain devices.

Tip: If you have a few of these user interfaces to be checked, it’s ok to raise 1 incident for all the classic user interfaces in the same application component. Avoid raising long laundry lists of user interfaces that belong to unrelated application components, as that is likely to lead to delays and confusion in the support process.

In rare instances, even if the classic user interface is still available for use, there may be some restrictions when executed from the SAP Fiori Launchpad. For example SAP GUI transactions that use Windows Graphical Editors or OLE Technology may have some features that do not work when launched using SAP GUI for HTML.

You can find all the restrictions for:

Tip: If there are features you need that only work in SAP GUI for Windows, consider using SAP Business Client Launchpad Connection option as explained in why and when to use SAP Business Client

So as a final check:

Tip: Most classic user interfaces work best on desktop, so if you are intend to use them on tablet or phone, take extra care to check all the features needed are working correctly on those device types.

Becoming a SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA guru


You’ll find much more on the community topic page for SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA

Other helpful links in the SAP Community:

Brought to you by the SAP S/4HANA Customer Care and RIG.
10 Comments