SAP UI5 / Open UI5

SAP UI5 – surface development for modern web applications

SAPUI5 is an User Interface Development Toolkit that allows you to set up web applications (SAP and non-SAP) It is based on HTML5 and JQuery and has been developed with particular focus on mobile applications with intuitive handling.

What is SAPUI5 able to do?

SAPUI5 is suitable for any kind of application in online- or offline-mode: web applications, mobile websites, hybrid apps as well as desktop-applications in various orders of magnitude.

Data exchange in SAPUI5 takes place platform-independently. You can connect the applications with any desired service (e.g. already existing OData-services) and use data from these very services.

200 prefabricated controls help with the fast set up of the user interface and the connection with the backend-service.

Design concepts of SAPUI5

SAPUI5 is based on the following fundamental design concepts:

• Consistent user experience for all apps
• Responsive design for all browsers and devices – smartphones, tablets, desktop pcs
• Automatic adjustment of the created apps and controls (=widgets) adapted to the screen size, display mode, etc
• Accessibility
• Localisation and adaptation to the detected language setting

SAPUI5 and SAP Fiori

Particular importance is attached to SAPUI5 due to its close connection to SAP Fiori. With Fiori, SAP has developed a new design concept that precisely describes how SAP applications should be implemented in the future. In this sense, SAPUI5 is a kind of toolbox that provides the means to implement this concept.

Even though they are independent from each other in a technical view, the design principles of SAP Fiori have been integrated into the controls used by SAPUI5. As a result, apps that once have been developed in UI5 can always be integrated into the Fiori-world with only a few adaptations.

Open UI5 and SAPUI5

SAPUI5 is not a separate SAP product, but is included in SAP NetWeaver 7.4 (or higher), SAP HANA and SAP Cloud Platform.

But even those who are not SAP customers can develop UI5 apps: since the end of 2013, the main components of SAPUI5 have been available as open source via GitHub.

OpenUI5 and SAPUI5 have the same code base and updates are provided equally fast for both versions. Development in OpenUI5 can therefore be switched to SAPUI5 at any time.

UI5 development by clavis

Within the framework of a customer project clavis supplies a web application for the personnel deployment planning in a large industrial installation. For the development of this tool – which is supposed to be independent from SAP following the customer’s request – we have decided to use OpenUI5. All data for application areas, activities, times, templates etc. are provided by the backend via an OData-service.

The OData-service has been implemented via the Apache Olingo framework. This framework is able to automatically generate the corresponding CRUD-functions (Create, read, update and delete) for OData v2 out of an existing data model (Eclipse-Link / JPA). Functions such as the authorisation check were also realised as an extension via Apache Olingo

Right from the beginning, we have actively pursued the technological development of UI5. Please feel free to contact us. We are delighted to assist you with your projects.