SAP BI 4.2 SP05 : What’s New in Fiori BI Launchpad

ashok_rajashekar · ‎11-06-2017

The Fiori BI Launchpad is a modern version of the classic BI launchpad application introduced from BOE 4.2 SP04. It has a fiorified user experience that makes the user interface (UI) simple and intuitive.

This Blog explains What’s New in Fiori BI Launchpad - BI 4.2 SP05 release.

Foirified BI Launchpad URL

http://<WebServer>:<Port>/BOE/BILaunchpad

where <WebServer> is the name of the web server for BI platform and <Port> is the port number for the platform.

Note:

From BI 4.2 SP05 onwards, SAP BI platform architecture now supports both the WACS server and the Tomcat server for configuring and using RESTful Web service APIs.

Hence Fiori BI Launchpad will also work on the RESTful web services deployed on Tomcat Application server.

More info can be found in the below blog:

https://blogs.sap.com/2017/11/07/sap-bi-4.2-sp05-decoupling-of-bi-platform-restful-web-services-from...

1. Uploading an image to category:

In the Fiori BI Launchpad, For all categories (Personal and Corporate) default images are displayed.

From BI 4.2 SP05 onwards, Users can now can upload an image to a category.

From the properties of any category, In the Upload Image field, browse and choose an image file to upload to the category.

Note:

The supported image types are as follows: .jpeg/.jpg, .png, .gif, .svg, The maximum image size supported is 100 kb.

2. My Recently Run Variant filter:

From BI 4.2 SP05 onwards, a New variant filter called "Recently Run" is introduced to view the recently run instances in the Fiori BI Launchpad Home page.

This filter lists the last 10 document instances in the repository that you scheduled or ran, with the status of each document instance.

3. Sorting, Filtering, and Resizing options:

Users can now sort and filter objects using the Sort ascending, Sort descending and 'filter' options available in the column headers. Also, you can now resize your table columns to fit your content.

Sort and filter can be done in all list view options in Homepage, Folder, Recycle bin, Schedule tabs.

4. Context Refresh in all pages:

A new context refresh button allows you to refresh content in any page of the application that you are in.

5. Options for marking favorite documents for end users:

Mark as Favorite: When you mark an item as your favorite, it is differentiated with a star icon in both tile and list view to help you differentiate your favorite items.

6. Fiori BI Launchpad session handling:

Fiori BILaunchpad session should be released on Browser close:

From BI 4.2 SP05 onwards, Session will be released on Browser close of Fiori BI Launchpad.

This was there for all Other BIP Thin clients (Classic BILP, Open Document and CMC) and now it has been implemented same for Fiori BI Launchpad.

Fiori BILaunchpad Session handling on change password:

From BI 4.2 SP05 onwards, on successful password change from Fiori BI Launchpad settings and Logon page all sessions associated with that user are terminated.

A warning message is displayed in all password change screens (Logon and settings).

Note: Password change enhancements are also applicable from all of the clients. ie., on Successful password change, all Sessions associated with that user will be terminated.

7. History page enhancements in FBILP (adding custom columns):

custom columns Locale and parameters are added for webi and crystal reports in the History page.

Back button and home page button in the history page.

8. Change SAP Password on First Logon or when password is expired

Change Password on First Logon or when password is expired for SAP BW User, If BOE system is

setup to authenticate with SAP (BW), Customers should be able to change his password on BW via

the BILP, CMC and Thick Clients on First Logon or when password is expired.

9. Schedule page Enhancements:

1. Recurring Calendar Object days will be highlighted in Fiori BI Launchpad:

when user schedules a report based on the recurrence type as calendar and now in Fiori BI Launchpad will highlight the Calendar object days in the schedule page.

2. Run Now on right click for instances - This will immediately run the instances.

From BI 4.2 SP05 onwards, Run now option is enabled for the instances in the Schedule tab.

10. UI Change in Details Page :

Details page UI is changed and is similar to the properties page.

11. Back button in the Unified viewer page:

User can navigate back from the Unified viewer page using the Back button.

12. Web Assistant:

You can now access context sensitive in-app help using the Web Assistant. You can launch web assistant by choosing on the home page.

former_member182521 · ‎11-06-2017

Good one Rajasekar. This willl make so easy for End user community to consume their day to day reporting with improved BI Content navigation. Over all it will improve usability and BI Content adoption.

ashok_rajashekar · ‎11-07-2017

Thanks Mani.

former_member457622 · ‎11-22-2017

Hi Ashok,

Thanks for sharing the updates. Can you let me know if there is a list of features which are supported on mobile for fiorified launchpad?

Regards,

Sridhar

ashok_rajashekar · ‎11-28-2017

Hi Shridhar,

Thanks for your question.

Above features are all with Fiori BI Launchpad. For Mobile we will create a new Blog with all the new features.

Regards,

Ashok R

thomas_schmidt1 · ‎12-06-2017

Hi Ashok,

I recently read in a blog a comment from Bharath who stated that with SAP BI 4.2 SP05 it will be possible to set which variant filter is used in the BI Launchpad "My Home" tab at startup and referred to your blog here. I read it carefully but couldn´t find anything about this.

At the moment the "show all" Filter is always used and this can lead to a realy crowed start page.

Can you comment on this? Will it be possible with SP05 to set which variant filter ist used?

thanks a lot and best regards

Thomas

ashok_rajashekar · ‎12-07-2017

Hi Thomas,

From SP05 onwards, By default Fiori BILP homepage loads with "Recently viewed" variant filter instead of Show all. Based on the feedback from most of the customers we have changed from default landing page from "Show all" to "Recently viewed".

How ever you can change all these variant filters as default in landing page from the user settings--> Account preferences--> Landing filter

Thanks,
Ashok R

former_member45129 · ‎12-08-2017

Good compilation !

ashok_rajashekar · ‎12-12-2017

Thanks Selva.

Regards,

Ashok R

Former Member · ‎12-13-2017

Hi Ashok,

This is great with the new features added in sp5 release. Is it possible to use an open doc link to a webi report that opens it in the new Fiori Launchpad? Currently an open doc link points to the old view of WebI. We would like to share a webi link to the users that opens the interactive view of WebI within the new BI Launchpad.

Thanks,

Daniel

former_member54828 · ‎12-14-2017

Is there a way to modify the variant filter to say categories for all users together? Since SP05 is not yet available we are checking SP04 and couldnt find a way to do this.

ashok_rajashekar · ‎12-15-2017

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for your question.

From BI 4.2 SP05 onwards, open documents inside Fiori BILaunchpad will be viewed in unified viewer.

Even if all the open document links also can be configured to view in Unified viewer from the user preferences. kindly refer the below screenshot for the same:

ashok_rajashekar · ‎12-15-2017

Hi Suhel,

Thanks for your post. BI 4.2 SP05 is released and is available. But its not possible to set the variant filters as default for all users. i would recommend to upgrade it to SP05 as it has lot of enhancements done on Fiori BI Launchpad.

Regards,

Ashok R

former_member489747 · ‎12-19-2017

Hi Ashok,

I have sucessfully launch BILaunchpad on Mobile Device from Chrome Browser, but BI launchpad actualy cannot adapt when run in Mobile Device.

Can you inform how to setting BI Launchpad for Mobile Device?.

This is screen shoot BI Launchpad on Mobile Device.

Thanks

ashok_rajashekar · ‎12-19-2017

Hi Okta,

Thanks for your question.

Can you elaborate more on the problem. From the screenshot, i couldn't make out any issue.

There is no specific settings for Launching in mobile.

Thanks,

Ashok R

former_member129063 · ‎12-20-2017

Hi,

Many thanks for the good summary!

It is specially useful the ability to see a short list of documents at the time of logging in - if e.g. users set their relevant documents as "Favorites" and the "My Favorites" filter is set for them, every time they access the launchpad they will only see their relevant content.

Unfortunately after some testing with BI42 SP5, the "Analysis Application" type documents (Design Studio 1.6.5 dashboards) cannot be seen in My Favorites, even if they can be opened, Marked as Favorites, or seen in the All Categories tab.

Is this perhaps a small bug that will be fixed later?

Do you know if Design Studio 1.6. still be fully compatible with this and future platform releases?

Many thanks in advance,

former_member489747 · ‎12-20-2017

Hi Ashok,

I mean BI Launchpad is not responsive when launch from mobile phone.

So i ask about setting on mobile phone for responsive. Actually fiori launchpad (not fiorified bilaunchpad) is responsive on mobile phone.

Thanks

ashok_rajashekar · ‎12-21-2017

HI Lluis Aspachs,

Thanks for your question.

For BI 4.2 SP05, Please use Lumira 2.1 which is released in the market.

Fiori BILaunchpad supports Lumira and Analysis Application.

Thanks,

Ashok R

ashok_rajashekar · ‎12-21-2017

Hi Okta,

Thanks for the reply.

in the current version Fiori BI Launchpad is not fully supported in mobile. we will have it on our road map and will try to support in future releases.

Regards,

Ashok R

Former Member · ‎12-25-2017

Thanks for this great article

Did anyone came across the behavior when opening the report in designer mode you have to re run it If you have refresh on open ?

The report will re run in designer mode instead of being transferred from the HTML viewer to the HTML panel

I also saw that if you save the report (not save as ) with your latest change (a new filter value for example) ,changes are kept when you are moving to the designer mode ,but the source report didn’t save the change -what kind of save option is that than ?

My overall impression is that it wall take another SP or two to catch up with HTML panel or reading mode

Also :In order to create new tiles and table/chart based tiles you require Fiori designer,it doesn’t look like this is a build in feature :

This is the current missing features list compared to HTML/JAVA panel :

Features	HTML/Java Viewer 4.2 SP5	Interactive Viewer 4.2 SP4	Interactive Viewer 4.2 SP5
Print document summary	Yes	No	No
Extensions	Yes	No	No
Freeze headers	Yes	No	No
Refresh one data provider	Yes	No	No
Change “Track Changes” parameters	Yes	No	No
Export XLS	Yes	No	No
Export TXT, CSV	Yes	No	No
Schedule: Caching	Yes	No	No
Publication	Yes	No	No

samuel_polichouk · ‎12-28-2017

Hi Yoav,

2 topics in your question, so let me take the one about WebI Designer... while the tile creation will probbaly be taken by BI launchpad SAP folks.

Yes you are right, e.g. when opening the document from New WebI fiori viewer, it resend the refresh on open.

Reason why : the Fiori Launchpad is completely REST. it is not "connected" to the old/legacy stack so prior to open a document which is refresh on open then the legacy viewer run the refresh, as it has no mean to know it was already refreshed in the fiori "world".

Not running the refresh could led to security breach... we prefered the safer way by accepting the refresh on open.

Former Member · ‎01-03-2018

Ashok - Thanks for the article.

We are currently using Lumira 2.0 SP3 and BI 4.2 SP4 but we cannot run Lumira documents/application (Lumx) in Firori BI Launchpad. As this changed with Lumira 2.1 and BI 4.2 SP5?

Thanks,

Afotey Michael

ashok_rajashekar · ‎01-04-2018

Hi Micheal,

Thanks for your question.

Yes. we have done the changes with Lumira 2.1 and BI 4.2 SP05 and it works there.

Regards,

Ashok R

lokesh_lcm · ‎01-05-2018

Hi Ashok,

We have just upgraded our system from BI 4.1 Sp6 to BI 4.2 SP3 then to BI 4.2 Sp5 and lumira from 2.0 sp3 to Lumira 2.1.

Lumira document view is just spinning up in Fiori as well as normal Launchpad.

Lumira document schedule is failing with generic error "Dataset Refresh Failed". This lumira dashboard is created in Lumira 2.0 Sp3 and it was working perfectly fine there (view as well as schedule)

This issue is observed only after upgrading Lumira and BO. Any idea whats causing it?

ashok_rajashekar · ‎01-05-2018

Hi Lokesh,

Thanks for your question.

Initial loading of the document may be taking some time. But document will be loaded successfully.

Scheduling is failing in both Fiori BILP and BILP?

lokesh_lcm · ‎01-05-2018

Hi Ashok.,

I was waiting for a long time to get lumira document opened in both Fiori BILP and BILP but session got timed out finally. Schedule is also failing in both.

ashok_rajashekar · ‎01-06-2018

Thanks Lokesh for the update.

can you please open an OSS incident on this issue.

Regards,

Ashok R

lokesh_lcm · ‎01-08-2018

Hi Ashok,

I have opened OSS for this : 15054 / 2018 Lumira document not working with LUM2.1 and BI42 Sp5.

Former Member · ‎01-11-2018

Hello Ashok...This is a really helpful blog to understand the new features in SP05. Thank you for sharing it!

we have SP04 and we see an issue when accessing the new BI Launchpad vs old launchpad specifically only for LUMX files. when we try to open the Lumira document via new Launchpad it gives the below pop-up error message but it open up with the old launchpad! is this something related to additional authorization? has anyone seen this issue?

Info object with ID document : 29296 not found. (RWS 000012)

Thanks,

Gaurav

ashok_rajashekar · ‎01-11-2018

Thanks Gaurav for your question.

we have done the supportability of LUMX documents in Fiori BILP from BI 4.2 SP05 with Lumira server 2.1.

Please upgrade to the above versions and you will be able to view the LUMX document directly in Fiori BILP unified viewer.

Regards,

Ashok R

hayden_gill · ‎01-14-2018

In my opinion, categories and sub-categories need to be shown within their hierarchy. Our users are not impressed with a list of 100 unordered categories. While it may look 'pretty', it does little to aid navigation.

'Category' needs to be treated like 'Folder', it should have it's own link in the top of the navigation panel. By all means, allow administrators to customise the list of navigation options (hide/show), but Category needs to be available for the enterprises that have been using it for years.

In our organisation, we create a custom 'workspace' and use that as the default homepage for the legacy launchpad. Is something like that on the roadmap for Fiori BILP?

former_member129063 · ‎01-15-2018

Hi,

There is an undesired navigation effect that happens in Design Studio dashboards with BI LaunchPad fiorified.

When we have more than 1 dashboard and there is navigation set from 1 dashboard to the other, we can navigate but in the opened documents list, if we click on any of the historical links generated, it goes to an empty screen.

How can we avoid this "empty screen" effect or this "fake link" existence?

Many thanks in advance for your inputs.

Best Regards,

PS. Steps to reproduce:

1.Open BI Launchpad fiorified

2.Click on "Dashboard" document

3.Navigate to "Analytics"

4.Check BI LaunchPad > Opened documents, select "Dashboard"

5.An empty screen is shown

rick_kruyf3 · ‎01-17-2018

Users like the look and feel of the Fiori Launchpad but how are applications like Webi and Lumira Discovery launched from the Fiori Launchpad. There are no links. Also agree that sub categories should be shown under the main category to display less.

former_member70108 · ‎01-18-2018

Hello Ashok, thanks for the article!

We are considering to change the Look&Feel of the Fiorized Launchpad, and we are very interested on changing the default icons that appear in the Design Studio applications (see image below).

The idea would be to change this icon to one specific for the dashboard, as it can be done with SAP BI Mobile.

Does anyone have any idea on how to do this?

I really appreciate your help.

Thanks in advance.

ashok_rajashekar · ‎01-18-2018

Hi Gill,

Thanks for your question.

we will definitely consider your feedback on the categories in the future releases.

BIworkspace support in Fiori BILP is in our road map and might be there in future releases.

Thanks,
Ashok R

ashok_rajashekar · ‎01-18-2018

Hi Rick,

Thanks for your question.

Supporting of report content applications are in our road map and might deliver in future releases.

we will definitely consider your feedback on the categories in the future releases.

Regards,

Ashok R

vishalbagherwal · ‎01-31-2018

Hello Ashok,

Thanks for the article some queries, we recently uprade our sandbox to 4.2 SP5 with restful webservices on tomat, have some observation and queries:

Webi docs were not refereshing as raylight.jar and repoaccess.jar files were missing, had to copy from WACS to tomcat by following below url:

https://answers.sap.com/questions/402417/sap-bi-42-sp5-fiori-bilaunchpad.html?childToView=407091#com...

One open Issue is with "advanced Mode" errors addressed in note 2574450, with no solution, do you have any temporary fix?

No documents in Fiori launchpad opens in "Designer Mode", when clicked to open nin designer mode, it brings backto home page, any suggestion?

Do you think this Launchpad is ready to use for mobile?

Thanks

vishalbagherwal · ‎01-31-2018

Ignore my 4th Issue, it was just chrome pop-up blocked

ashok_rajashekar · ‎02-01-2018

Hi Vishal,

Thanks for your questions.

Currently there is no temporary fix available for this issue. However i checked in the note, it says it will be fixed in SP06 release.

Launchpad is not completely ready to use for mobile.

Thanks,

Ashok R

vishalbagherwal · ‎02-01-2018

Thanks Ashok

kragsfeldt · ‎02-05-2018

Is there somewhere to maintain the columns shown in the public folders in the BI Fiorified Launchpad?

Following the steps in the admin guide only seems to take effect in the classic BI launchpad:

8. Under Choose Columns to Display on Documents Tab, select the check box for each column to display for each object in the List panel

Type

Last Run

Instance

Description

Created By

Created On

Location (Categories)

Received On (Inbox)

From (Inbox)

It's especially the description column our users miss in the public folders in the BI Fiorified Launchpad.

ashok_rajashekar · ‎02-05-2018

Hi Rene,

Thanks for your question.

Providing additional columns in Fiori BILP is there in our road map. we will try to address this in the future releases.

Regards,
Ashok R

Former Member · ‎02-06-2018

Hi Ashok,

Thanks for detailed overview of SAP Fiori on BI 4.2 SP5. Just one Question

Does SAP Lumira Dashboard 2.0 will work with SAP Fiori launchpad. If not in which patch it will start working.

Regards,

Sonu Pandita

ashok_rajashekar · ‎02-06-2018

Hi Sonu,

Thanks for your question.

BI 4.2 SP05 with Lumira 2.1 supports Lumira Documents and Analysis application documents in Fiori BILP.

Regards,

Ashok R

former_member259366 · ‎02-12-2018

Is there a better performance then in 4.2 SP04 for Webi documents.

For our documents the fiorified launchpad is much slower than the traditional launchpad.

former_member272253 · ‎02-13-2018

Hi Ashok,

Do you know the SP and release date which will lead to the possibility of creating Webi documents / lumx documents directly from the Fiori Launchpad ?

From the point of view of the users it is a huge lack because it implies to use two versions of the portal, one year after the exit of the Fiori one. Membership is far from being the majority.

Thanks

ashok_rajashekar · ‎02-15-2018

Hi Markus,

you can see some performance improvements for webi documents.

Thanks,

Ashok R

former_member259366 · ‎02-16-2018

Thanks Ashok for your response!

Former Member · ‎02-26-2018

Thank you, the issue is resolved with the upgrade to SP05

Regards,

Gaurav

zeiserpa · ‎02-28-2018

Hi ashok.rajashekar

I just tried to open a Lumira document with an application on my iPad over the Fiorified BI Launchpad. After click on the document it just showed the background of the Fiorified BI Launchpad and nothing happens.

Over the desktop it's possible to open the document and the application without any problems

Is this a known issue for mobile devices?

Best regards!

Patrick

zeiserpa · ‎02-28-2018

Hi lokeshb ,

are there some updates regarding your OSS incident? I'm facing the same issue

Lumira 2.1 and BI 4.2 SP5

Best regards!

Patrick