Navigation Concepts in the Launchpad

SAP Fiori launchpad supports intent-based navigation and navigation based on URL fragments as well as cross-app and inner-app navigation.

The SAP Fiori launchpad is displayed in a web browser and offers the web-like navigation experience users are accustomed to. The user can for example, create bookmarks and use the web browser’s back and forward buttons. Links for navigation within an app or to another app are HTML links, meaning that browser functions like Open in New Tab can be used out-of-the-box.

The URLs in the browser address bar are human-readable. They express a navigation intent that users can relate to. Users can send the URL of launchpad apps to other users by e-mail, and if you use the capabilities of the launchpad to their full potential, users with different roles who navigate to the same URL may see different content.

When starting the SAP Fiori launchpad, the user can access apps by clicking on the respective tile on the homepage or the user can search for an app. This navigation is handled within the same web app because all apps are hosted in one document: The FioriLaunchpad.html file bootstraps the unified shell, which provides the services, the JavaScript APIs, that are common for all apps, independent of their server platform. The FioriLaunchpad.html file is the only HTML document that the browser loads and, thus, it is also the only SAPUI5 root application. All following interactions are implemented by dynamic modifications of the hosting HTML document using JavaScript.

From a technical point of view, SAP Fiori apps are SAPUI5 components which are loaded into an application container. They are dynamically injected into the DOM of the FioriLaunchpad.html file.