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Procedure documentationReusing Existing Components Locate this document in the navigation structure

 

In addition to creating new content from scratch, you can reuse existing components from the design-time and runtime repositories. The following categories of components are available for reuse:

  • Visual Composer models from the design-time repositories

  • Portal content, Web Dynpro applications, portlet applications and business object operations from the portal runtime repositories, such as PCD and GPAL

Note Note

Although the modeled and deployed portal content objects are available from both design-time and runtime repositories, it is recommended to reuse them from the design-time repository. To reuse a deployed portal content object from the Portal Content Directory (PCD), you need to package it for transport manually.

More information: Transporting Portal Objects.

End of the note.

Even though you can search in all available repositories for all categories of components, your actual reuse options depend on the type of the containing model. The following table provides information about which components can be reused in which model types.

Reusable Component Type >>

iView

Page

Work-set

Role

Business Suite Work Center

Business Suite View

Business Suite Home Page

Visual Composer Models

Web Dynpro and Portlet Applications

Business Object Operations

Containing Model Type

iView

Y

Page

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Workset

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Role

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Business Suite container

Y

Business Suite work center

Y

Business Suite view

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Business Suite home page

Y

Y

Y

Y

Dynamic navigation containers

Y

Y

Note Note

Visual Composer models (composite views) or Web Dynpro applications can be reused in the Related Services container in the navigation area of a Business Suite view.

End of the note.

Note Note

The rules that define the cross-development component reuse options are as follows:

  • In a containing model stored in a local development component, you can reuse models that are stored in a shared development component, or in the same local development component, but not in another local development component.

  • In a containing model stored in a shared development component, you can reuse models that are stored in any shared development component.

More information: Lifecycle Management.

End of the note.

Procedure

You can either search in or browse available repositories for reusable components, and for which your user account has read permissions.

After selecting a component, you drag and drop it on an appropriate area. The hints in each area indicate which specific component categories or types can be dropped where. An attempt to drop a component on a wrong area fails, which is indicated by the "no-drop" icon.

More information: Reusing Components in the Modeler's Guide for Visual Composer for SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment.

Search

  1. Click Search in the task-panel toolbar. The Search task panel opens.

  2. In the Search in dropdown list, choose the component category, such as Portal Content or Visual Composer Models.

  3. In the Search for field, enter the name of the component that you want to reuse. The search is not case-sensitive. You can use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard to search for a partial match.

  4. In the Type dropdown list, choose an appropriate type, such as iView or Model, or choose All for all types.

  5. Click Search. All results matching your search criteria are displayed.

  6. From the Results list, select the required component and drag it to the appropriate area on the Portal Layout board.

Note Note

You can also choose the Service Registry category to search for SAP enterprise services. However, you can reuse the enterprise services only in composite views, which represent application tasks rather than portal content objects.

More information: Discovering Data Services.

To edit a composite view, which is nested in another model, right-click it and choose Drill Down from the context menu. A composite view opens for editing in a new model tab.

End of the note.
Browse

You can browse only portal runtime repositories: Business Objects, Portlet Applications, Portal Content and Web Dynpro Applications.

  1. Click Browse in the task-panel toolbar. The Browse task panel opens.

  2. Expand the node of the relevant component repository and the nested nodes until you locate the required component.

  3. Select and drag the required component to the appropriate area on the Portal Layout board.

More Information

Importing Non-Modeled Portal Content