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S/4HANA Extensibility: Use Case Overview

ThomasSchneider
Product and Topic Expert

‎2016 Sep 12 7:25 AM

 28 Kudos  22,432

SAP Managed Tags: ABAP Extensibility, SAP S/4HANA

In this post I want to share the overview picture on the S/4HANA extensibility use
cases that we presented in our 2016 TechEd session DEV108 “Extensibility Framework
for SAP S/4HANA: End-to-End Scenario”.

The first version of the use case overview shows the layers of a modern SAP Fiori
application: Fiori Launchpad, Fiori interface, OData service, ABAP application, HANA
database.

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blogs-by-sap/s-4hana-extensibility-use-case-overview/ba-p/13231712 1/15
30.03.2025, 17:44 S/4HANA Extensibility: Use Case Overview - SAP Community

I will not dig into the details of these layers, here are just some key words on the
layers:

SAP Fiori: is a collection of apps with a simple and easy-to-use experience for broadly
used SAP software functions that work seamlessly across devices – desktop, tablet,
and smartphone.

SAP Fiori Principles: role-based, simple, coherent, delightful,

responsive/adaptive

SAP Fiori Design including Visual Design, Information Architecture and

Interaction Patterns

SAP Technologies for SAP Fiori (mainly SAPUI5)

OData (Open Data Protocol): is an OASIS standard that defines the best practice for
building and consuming RESTful APIs.

It provides a vendor-neutral, Web-based API that fully complies with the design
principles of Representational State Transfer (REST).

OData is extensible. This allows SAP to supplement the data types and
annotations used by OData with extra information from CDS.

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blogs-by-sap/s-4hana-extensibility-use-case-overview/ba-p/13231712 2/15
30.03.2025, 17:44 S/4HANA Extensibility: Use Case Overview - SAP Community

CDS (Core Data Services): is a key component of the SAP S/4HANA architecture for
levering qualities such as:

Capture and share business-rich data models using the HANA relational model

Enrich the data models with specific semantics e.g. for UI, draft, analytics,
search, actions and events. It’s also enabling the S/4HANA APIs

Leverage HANA optimally in most relevant scenarios

Enable and standardize esp. zero downtime, verticalization, extensibility, access

control (based on ABAP authority objects)

Integrate into ABAP programming model and improve development productivity

Exposure of ABAP CDS models and data to SAP Cloud Platform e.g. for
Business Objects Cloud and extension apps

The following picture shows the as in-app extensibility use cases.

I1 UI Adaptation

Add new field, hide field, change label, …) for UIs w/ smart controls (smart filter,
table, form)

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blogs-by-sap/s-4hana-extensibility-use-case-overview/ba-p/13231712 3/15
30.03.2025, 17:44 S/4HANA Extensibility: Use Case Overview - SAP Community

I2 Custom Fields

Add custom field to database, application, CDS, and OData

I3 Custom Analytics/Forms

Custom analytical queries, custom CDS views, tile/role extensibility for custom
queries

Expose analytical views as OData service for side-by-side extensibility

Custom forms (Adobe print forms and e-mail templates)

I4 Custom Business Logic

Custom enhancement implementation with restricted ABAP

I5 Custom Business Objects

Custom tables, custom business objects w/ OData, (default) UI, and

determinations/validations

Expose business object as OData service for side-by-side extensibility

I6 Custom Fiori Uis

Custom Fiori UI, build with SAP Web IDE, and deployed into the ABAP UI5
repository with SAP pre-defined released OData service or custom OData
Service

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blogs-by-sap/s-4hana-extensibility-use-case-overview/ba-p/13231712 4/15
30.03.2025, 17:44 S/4HANA Extensibility: Use Case Overview - SAP Community

The use cases are supported for S/4HANA (on premise) and for S/4HANA Cloud (apart
from I6). Details on these use cases can be found in my blog: The Key User Extensibility Tools of S/4
HANA.

The following picture I am adding the side-by-side extensibility use cases:

S1: Custom UI on SAP Cloud Platform

Custom Fiori UI, build with SAP Web IDE, running on SAP Cloud Platform with
SAP or custom OData service

Use UI5 technology, UI5 templates, editors, testing capabilities

Build UI applications with offline support.

Deploy to your SAP Cloud Platform account (or to SAPUI5 ABAP repository = I6)

S2: SAP Cloud Platform Application

SAP Cloud Platform application (Java, JavaScript, ABAP) running on SAP Cloud
Platform

Benefit from open standards and from a partner ecosystem that contribute value
to existing solutions and services

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blogs-by-sap/s-4hana-extensibility-use-case-overview/ba-p/13231712 5/15
30.03.2025, 17:44 S/4HANA Extensibility: Use Case Overview - SAP Community

Integration Scenarios, benefit from SAP prepackaged integration content as

reference templates to quickly realize new business scenarios.

S3: SAP Cloud Platform Application

SAP Cloud Platform application (same as S2) consuming SAP or custom OData
service

S4: SAP Cloud Platform Service called from SAP S/4HANA Extension

S5: Analytics on SAP Cloud Platform (with data replication)

S6: Launch app from SAP Cloud Platform Service Fiori Launchpad and vice versa

S6: Event management: consume an SAP S/4HANA event on SAP Cloud Platform

You can find a selection of links that dig deeper into the different scenarios here: SAP
S/4HANA Extensibility: A Learning Journey.

Labels:

Technology Updates

Tags:

abap CDS extensibility Fiori OData S4HANA SAP Cloud Platform

sap s4hana cloud

8 Comments

tejasChouhan
Active Contributor


‎2016 Nov 11 8:27 AM

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blogs-by-sap/s-4hana-extensibility-use-case-overview/ba-p/13231712 6/15
30.03.2025, 17:44 S/4HANA Extensibility: Use Case Overview - SAP Community

 3 Kudos

I was searching for the keyword explanation s1- s6 and l1 to l6. I got it here. Great
thanks a lot I need to go to recordings as well

I have few question here :

1. When are the list of whitelisted APIs getting released . If it is, could you help me
with the link ?
2. Classic extensibility - Where will this fall in the above diagram in l1 to l6.

Regards,
Tejas

MPS4HANA
Active Contributor


‎2017 Feb 28 5:13 PM

 0 Kudos

Great blog. Thx for sharing

ThomasSchneider
Product and Topic Expert


‎2017 Mar 01 8:21 AM

 0 Kudos

Hi Tejas,

sorry for the late reply, I simply overlooked the messages after the blogs were
migrated to the new SCN.

Recordings: there are some recordings in the documentation, see the links in my blog

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blogs-by-sap/s-4hana-extensibility-use-case-overview/ba-p/13231712 7/15
30.03.2025, 17:44 S/4HANA Extensibility: Use Case Overview - SAP Community

https://blogs.sap.com/2016/01/15/extensibility-of-s4hana-helpful-links/. Unfortunately
not for all.

Your questions:

1. We are working on tools for publishing APIs and extension spots. External APIs
(web services) are already listed on the SAP API Business Hub
https://api.sap.com/, select SAP S/4HANA Cloud or SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud
. For APIs for in-app extensibility (business contexts, CDS views, classes) we are
working on a tool. As of today, you can only find them in the respective key user
tools in the system.

2. Classic extensibility: is still possible in the on premise version, not possible in

S/4HANA Cloud. For the on premise version, I would see this in parallel to the
use cases I1 - I6. So there are the same use cases, but you would use the
"classical" development tools (SE80, ADT).

Best, Thomas

AshokSrinivasan
Explorer


‎2017 Mar 02 7:48 AM

 0 Kudos

Thanks for collating all the vital information in one place. Great help.

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blogs-by-sap/s-4hana-extensibility-use-case-overview/ba-p/13231712 8/15
30.03.2025, 17:44 S/4HANA Extensibility: Use Case Overview - SAP Community

Former Member


‎2017 Apr 26 10:23 AM

 0 Kudos

Hi thomas.schneider,

I have a basic question, would really appreciate if you could give a brief insight to it.

So in this new framework,how would be address the situations were we usually

change the backend classes and FMs which were like the "core" of the business
process?

Cheers

Devashish

ThomasSchneider
Product and Topic Expert


‎2017 Apr 26 10:50 AM

 0 Kudos

Hi Devashish,

this will be not possibe in the Cloud edition. In the Cloud edition, only de-coupled
extensions (e.g. BAdI implementations are possible).

In the on-premise edition, you can still use the traditional ABAP development tools
and methods, as used in the Business Suite.

Best regards, Thomas

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blogs-by-sap/s-4hana-extensibility-use-case-overview/ba-p/13231712 9/15
30.03.2025, 17:44 S/4HANA Extensibility: Use Case Overview - SAP Community

Mandardesh01
Explorer


‎2017 Jul 11 11:00 AM

 0 Kudos

Hi Thomas

Great blog ,very useful information !!

Thanks

mario_wolf
Explorer


‎2018 Jan 26 8:38 AM

 0 Kudos

Dear Thomas,

having studied your diagrams carefully, I conclude:

S4/HANA Cloud can only consume an OData Service, which is being made
available on the SAP (HANA) Cloud Platform. Case S2 in your third diagram.

https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blogs-by-sap/s-4hana-extensibility-use-case-overview/ba-p/13231712 10/15
30.03.2025, 17:44 S/4HANA Extensibility: Use Case Overview - SAP Community

Replication is also not possible for S/4HANA Cloud.

So, if one were to go for the S/4HANA Cloud Option, you would create OData Services
on the HCP, make them available to the S/4HANA Cloud.

I am assuming both the S/4HANA Cloud and the HCP would be accessing the same
HANA Database (which is below the "table Level" shown in your diagram). If this
assumption were false, I would not understand, how HCP apps would get any data to
process for the S/4HANA Cloud...

Kindly tell me, whether my thoughts are correct.

Kind regards

Mario Wolf.

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