SAP UI5 Tutorial

SAP UI5 is a popular User Interface for HTML5 and is highly sought after in today's world for its ability to create responsive web applications. As an open-source JavaScript library, it allows developers to create applications that can be run on various devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.

The flexibility and ease of use that SAP UI5 provides have contributed significantly to its increasing popularity in recent years. Developers can create visually appealing and interactive applications that offer a seamless user experience, ultimately significantly impacting the UI5 development market. Recent statistics indicate that this market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 23.8% from 2021 to 2026, with enterprise-level applications driving this growth.

In this SAP UI5 tutorial, you'll understand the fundamentals of UI5 development, including how to construct responsive user interfaces, generate custom controls, and connect your application to various data sources. The SAP UI5 Tutorial for Beginners to Experts is designed to offer a comprehensive overview of UI5 development, allowing you to create web applications of professional quality effortlessly. Whether a novice or a seasoned developer, this tutorial will provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in UI5 development.

SAP UI5 Tutorial - Table of Contents

What is SAPUI5? Architecture of SAPUI5 Component of SAPUI5 Creating a new SAP UI5 component and using it? Setting up SAPUI5 Create Child Application Creating a Parent Component FAQs

What is SAP UI5?

SAPUI5 is a powerful HTML5 framework enabling developers to create robust, cross-platform web applications easily. Despite its beginnings as a small project, it has become one of the most successful technologies ever developed by SAP. SAPUI5 offers a wide range of features and tools that can be tailored to meet the unique needs of different projects and industries. 

It allows easy integration with other SAP technologies and third-party solutions, making it a go-to choice for many developers. SAPUI5 simplifies development with pre-built UI components and templates that streamline application creation. This reduces development time and costs while ensuring a consistent, high-quality user experience. SAPUI5's commitment to open-source principles has helped it gain traction outside the SAP ecosystem. 

By allowing developers to access and modify the framework's source code, it has fostered a community of passionate contributors and users dedicated to improving and expanding its capabilities.

Do you want to enrich your career by learning SAP UI5? Then Enroll in "SAP UI5 Training", this course will help you to boost your career.

Architecture of SAPUI5

The SAPUI5 SDK is a multifaceted toolkit that encompasses a plethora of essential components. These include the core framework, specific development tool, control libraries, and the SAPUI5 flexibility services. Notably, most of these components are identical to those in the OpenUI5 SDK, which implies that SAPUI5 is a more advanced version of OpenUI5.

The UI5 core framework is an indispensable foundation that streamlines Web application development by handling numerous aspects of modern development behind the scenes. This includes managing globalization, data binding, messaging, and routing. It is designed to simplify the development process and enhance developers' productivity.

Furthermore, SAPUI5 provides a wide range of pre-built UI controls that developers can leverage to build visually appealing apps quickly and effortlessly. These controls span from fundamental elements to complex UI patterns and are designed to comply with consistent design language and UX patterns, known as SAP Fiori. Additionally, all UI controls come with built-in product standards for globalization and accessibility, ensuring the final app is accessible to all users, irrespective of their location or abilities.

The SAPUI5 SDK also includes various powerful tools that augment the development experience. These tools assist in building and testing apps, diagnosing issues during development and maintenance, and resolving issues efficiently.

In addition to the tools integrated into the SAPUI5 SDK, numerous open-source UI5 projects support the efficient development of apps developed with SAPUI5 or OpenUI5. Examples include UI5 Tooling, a toolchain environment for UI5 development; UIVeri5, an end-to-end test framework for UI5 apps; and UI5 Inspector, a Chrome extension for debugging and analyzing UI5 apps.

 

Component of SAPUI5

SAPUI5 offers developers two types of components: 

1. Faceless components (class: sap.ui.core.Component)

These components do not include a user interface and are typically utilized to deliver data from a back-end system. 

2. UI components (class: sap.ui.core.UIComponent)

These components extend other components and provide rendering functionality to them. They represent a specific screen area or element on the user interface, such as a button or a shell, along with associated metadata and settings. 

By leveraging these two component types, developers can create robust and scalable user interfaces that deliver a seamless user experience.

Preparing for a Job Interview! Check out our Top SAPUI5 Interview Questions curated by Industry experts.

Creating a new SAP UI5 component and using it?

Creating a new component involves several steps that need to be followed carefully. 

Step 1:

Create a new folder and name it "button." 

Step 2: 

Create a new file named "component.js." 

Extend the UI component base class in this file using the sap.ui.core.UIComponent.extend command, and provide the name of the component and the package path.

To define the new component, you will need to follow this code

// defining a new UI Component jQuery.sap.require("sap.ui.core.UIComponent"); jQuery.sap.require("sap.ui.commons.Button"); jQuery.sap.declare("samples.components.button.Component"); // new Component sap.ui.core.UIComponent.extend("samples.components.button.Component", {    metadata : {       properties : {          text: "string"       }    } }); samples.components.button.Component.prototype.createContent = function(){    this.oButton = new sap.ui.commons.Button("btn");    return this.oButton; }; /* * Overrides setText method of the component to set this text in the button */ samples.components.button.Component.prototype.setText = function(sText) {    this.oButton.setText(sText);    this.setProperty("text", sText);    return this; }; The next step is to define the component.json in your folder as follows − {    "name": "samples.components.button",    "version": "0.1.0",    "description": "Sample button component",    "keywords": [       "button",       "example"    ],    "dependencies": {    } }

The next step is to design the component.json in your folder as flows:

Setting up SAPUI5

Before embarking on your SAPUI5 development journey, it's essential to have the right tools installed. This ensures that you can deploy and test your application smoothly without encountering any unexpected issues.

Step 1: Install Eclipse (Luna version) on your laptop

Step 2: Now, install SAP Development Tool for Eclipse Luna  from – https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/luna/

Step 3: SAP Logon pad gets installed and you can access the SAP NetWeaver Gateway system to develop and test you application you will be building in this SAP UI5 Tutorial.

 

Create Child Application

Step 1: Create the UI Project

Step 2: Use Component.js code

sap.ui.core.UIComponent.extend("DisplayMonth.Component", {      metadata: {      "name": "DisplayMonth",           "dependencies": {               "components": []}      },       createContent: function() {     var oViewData = {       component: this     };     var oView = sap.ui.view({       viewName: "DisplayMonth.displaymonth.DisplayMonthView",       type: sap.ui.core.mvc.ViewType.XML,       viewData: oViewData     });            return(oView);   },   init: function() {     // call super init (will call function "create content")     sap.ui.core.UIComponent.prototype.init.apply(this, arguments);     // always use absolute paths relative to our own component     // (relative paths will fail if running in the Fiori Launchpad)     var sRootPath = jQuery.sap.getModulePath("DisplayMonth");     }, });

Step 3: Index.html code

<!DOCTYPE HTML> <html>  <head>  // adding meta tags to tell IE browser to render the page in IE-edge mode.  <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">  // adding meta tag to tell eclipse to use UTF 8 as character encoding  <meta http-equiv='Content-Type' content='text/html;charset=UTF-8'/>  // Bootstrap script to tell ui5 designtime and runtime to use sap.m library, use //blue-crystal these and use complex binding syntax  <script src="resources/sap-ui-core.js"  id="sap-ui-bootstrap"  data-sap-ui-libs="sap.m"  data-sap-ui-theme="sap_bluecrystal"  data-sap-ui-xx-bindingSyntax="complex"  data-sap-ui-resourceroots='{"DisplayMonth": "./"}'>  </script>  <script>    sap.ui.getCore().attachInit(function() {      new sap.m.Shell({        app: new sap.ui.core.ComponentContainer({          height : "100%",          name : "DisplayMonth"        })      }).placeAt("content");    });  </script>  </head> // start of body of SAPUI5 application. It contains a div element.  <body class="sapUiBody" role="application">  <div id="content"></div>  </body> </html>

Step 4: DisplayMotherView.view.xml code

<html:style>     #__xmlview1--id{     margin-left: 30rem;     margin-top: 9rem;     font-size: 6rem;     font-style: italic;     background-color: burlywood;     } </html:style>     <App id="fioricontent">         <Page title="Child Component">             <content>                 <Text id="id" xmlns="sap.m" text="{myModel>/monthname}"></Text>             </content>         </Page>     </App>

Step 5: DisplayMonthView.controller.js code

onInit : function() {  sap.ui.getCore().getEventBus().subscribe("exchange", "data",  function(channel, event, oEventData) {  jsonModel = new sap.ui.model.json.JSONModel({  monthumber : oEventData,  monthname : ''  });  // derive month name from month number  switch (jsonModel.oData.monthumber) {  case "1":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'January';  break;  case "2":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'February';  break;  case "3":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'March';  break;  case "4":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'April';  break;  case "5":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'May';  break;  case "6":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'June';  break;  case "7":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'July';  break;  case "8":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'August';  break;  case "9":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'September';  break;  case "10":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'October';  break;  case "11":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'November';  break;  case "12":  jsonModel.oData.monthname = 'December';  break;  }  this.getView().setModel(jsonModel, "myModel");  }, this);  },

Step 6: Deploy the application on SAP Netweaver Gateway Server

After deploying the project on the ABAP frontend server, a BSP application with the technical name "zdisplaymonth" will be generated. Your application project should now reflect this change.

 

Creating a Parent Component

Step 1: Create a new SAP UI5 application

Step 2: Index.html of the Parent Component 

<!DOCTYPE HTML> <html>  <head> // adding meta tags to tell IE browser to render the page in IE-edge mode.  <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> // adding meta tag to tell eclipse to use UTF 8 as character encoding  <meta http-equiv='Content-Type' content='text/html;charset=UTF-8'/> // Bootstrap script to tell ui5 designtime and runtime to use sap.m library, use //blue-crystal these and use complex binding syntax  <script src="resources/sap-ui-core.js"  id="sap-ui-bootstrap"  data-sap-ui-libs="sap.m"  data-sap-ui-theme="sap_bluecrystal"  data-sap-ui-resourceroots='{"PassNum": "./"}'>  </script>  <script>    sap.ui.getCore().attachInit(function() {      new sap.m.Shell({        app: new sap.ui.core.ComponentContainer({          height : "100%",          name : "PassNum"        })      }).placeAt("content");    });    </script>  </head> // start of Body of SAPUI5 application, Contains a div tag,  <body class="sapUiBody" role="application">  <div id="content"></div>  </body> </html>

Step 3: Link Source Code of Componet.js file of Parent Component

sap.ui.core.UIComponent.extend("PassNum.Component", {      metadata: {      "name": "PassNum",           "dependencies": {               "components": []}      },       createContent: function() {     var oViewData = {       component: this     };      // Creating Reference of a PassNum XML view     var  myView = sap.ui.view({       viewName: "PassNum.passnum.PassNum",       type: sap.ui.core.mvc.ViewType.XML,       viewData: oViewData     });            return(myView);   },   init: function() {     // call super init (this will call function "create content")     sap.ui.core.UIComponent.prototype.init.apply(this, arguments);     // ensure to use absolute paths relative to own component     // (running in the Fiori Launchpad, relative paths will fail)     var sRootPath = jQuery.sap.getModulePath("PassNum");     }, });

Step 4: Applying Source code PassNum.view.xml file

<Page title="Parent Component">  <content>  <VBox xmlns="sap.m" id="vboxid">  <items>  <Button xmlns="sap.m" id="1" text="First" press="clickbutton"  class="sapUiSmallMarginEnd"></Button>  <Button xmlns="sap.m" id="2" text="Second" press="clickbutton"  class="sapUiSmallMarginEnd"></Button>  <Button xmlns="sap.m" id="3" text="Third" press="clickbutton"  class="sapUiSmallMarginEnd"></Button>  <Button xmlns="sap.m" id="4" text="Fourth" press="clickbutton"  class="sapUiSmallMarginEnd"></Button>  <Button xmlns="sap.m" id="5" text="Fifth" press="clickbutton"  class="sapUiSmallMarginEnd"></Button>  <core:ComponentContainer id="conpcontid"  name="DisplayMonth" manifestFirst="true" component="zdisplaymonth"></core:ComponentContainer>  </items>  </VBox>  </content>  </Page>

Step 5: Source code PassNum.controller.js

onInit: function() {  jQuery.sap.registerModulePath("DisplayMonth", "../zdisplaymonth");  },  clickbutton:function(oEvent)  {   sap.ui.getCore().getEventBus().publish("exchange",   "data", oEvent.oSource.sId.split("--")[1]);    }

Step 6: Follow this to deploy the Parent Component to SAP Netweaver Gateway Server

To deploy your application on the ABAP frontend server and run it, simply right-click on the project and select the option 'Run on ABAP server'. This will enable you to launch the application by clicking on the 'index.html' file located in the project folder.

Once the application is running on the ABAP frontend server, you can access it by copying the URL and pasting it into your browser. The hostname in the URL should match the hostname of your ABAP frontend server.

http://hostname:8000/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/sap/zpassnum/index.html

To test the functionality of your application, click on the 'First' button, and the month of January should be displayed in the child component.

With SAPUI5, you can create beautiful, responsive web applications that will enhance your user experience.

 

SAP UI5 FAQs

1. What is SAP UI5 used for?

Ans: SAPUI5 is a collection of JavaScript libraries and tools for building web applications. It is specifically designed for creating user interfaces for applications, but it can also be used to develop standalone web applications. SAPUI5 provides developers with a set of UI controls and templates, which enable them to create responsive and consistent user interfaces across devices and platforms.

2. Is SAP UI5 easy to learn?

Ans: Well, this may vary depending on the persons experience and career background. For one who are experienced with programming such as HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3, and web development can easily learn SAPUI5. 

3. How do I start learning SAPUI5?

Ans: There are several ways to start learning SAPUI5. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Visit the official SAPUI5 documentation and tutorials to learn.
2. Join an online course or tutorial on education platforms.
3. Participate in SAPUI5 coding challenges or hackathons.

4. What is the salary of SAP UI5?

Ans: The salary for SAPUI5 developers may vary based on factors such as experience, location, and industry. In general, according to Glassdoor, the average salary for a SAPUI5 developer in the United States is around $117,255 annually. 

5. Is SAP UI5 a programming language?

Ans: No, SAPUI5 is not a programming language. It is a collection of JavaScript libraries and tools for building web applications. 

 

Conclusion:

SAP UI5 is a reliable technology that empowers developers to design cutting-edge and adaptable web applications, delivering a smooth and seamless user experience. With its adaptable and user-friendly features, UI5 has garnered immense popularity recently, catalyzing the growth of the global UI5 development market.

Throughout this SAP UI5 tutorial, you may have acquired essential UI5 development skills. And by delving deeper and experimenting with UI5, you can keep yourself up-to-date with the newest web application development trends and breakthroughs.

We hope that this tutorial has expanded your SAP UI5 knowledge and furnished you with the essential tools and resources about it.