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Developing Plug-InsLocate this document in the navigation structure

Plug-ins allow you to extend the functionality of the launchpad; for example, to add new elements to the user interface.

Plug-ins have the following characteristics:

  • Plug-ins are automatically loaded and initialized when the launchpad is started.

  • Plug-ins are implemented as SAPUI5 components and provide all standard deployment and life cycle features of SAPUI5.

  • On the ABAP platform, plug-ins can be enabled and configured dynamically by assigning users to roles.

  • Plug-ins shall always be implemented in a platform-independent way. Platform-specific configuration is allowed.

Developing a plug-in involves the following steps:

  1. Implementing the plug-in.

  2. Activating and configuring the plug-in.

Implementing Plug-Ins

Plug-ins have to be implemented as standard SAPUI5 components, similar to SAPUI5 applications hosted inside the SAP Fiori launchpad. All guidelines for SAPUI5 components are also applicable to plug-in implementations. Plug-ins shall also provide a descriptor (manifest.json) file. For more information, see Structuring: Components and Descriptor.

The SAP Fiori launchpad loads and instantiates the plug-ins automatically during start-up, but it does not create any UI content. Therefore, plug-ins are typically plain Component instances and do not inherit from UIComponent. Plug-ins can contribute UI controls to the SAP Fiori launchpad using the APIs of the shell renderer (see Implementing a UI Plug-In).

Plug-ins are loaded and instantiated asynchronously. When multiple plug-ins are loaded, do not assume any specific instantiation order of the components. Do not rely on the point in time when the plug-in is loaded. The current behavior might change in the future.

In your plug-in, you would typically use the following APIs:

  • Renderer APIs

    Example

    You can find an example how to use this API in the SAPUI5 demo kit at http://<host>:<port>/sap/bc/ui5_demokit/test-resources/sap/ushell/demoapps/UIPluginSampleAddHeaderItems/Component.js.

  • SAP Fiori launchpad APIs

For more information, see Implementing a UI Plug-In.
Activating and Configuring Plug-Ins

Plug-ins need to be activated. When activating a plug-in, you can specify values for configuration parameters to be passed to the plug-in.

For more information, see Activating Plug-Ins on the ABAP Platform.

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