Connecting SAP Fiori Cloud App Approve Purchase Orders to On-Premise Landscape – Part III

By admin Last updated Feb 2, 2022

This is the Part III of a 3 blog series to connect SAP Fiori Cloud to On-Premise Landscape.

The blogs series consists of:

Part I – Describes the initial steps (A1 & S1) and architecture of the solution.
Part II – Describes the technical steps that must be carried by a system admin (steps S2 to S6).
Part III – Describes the business steps that must be carried by an Application Consultant (steps A2 to A6).

In this Blog I’m going to describe the application consultant steps we have followed to connect SAP Fiori Cloud to On-Premise landscape.

This blog covers the steps A2 to A6 from @Elizabeth Thorburn’s blog:

https://blogs.sap.com/2016/06/16/back-end-connectivity-with-sap-fiori-cloud-edition-extended-demo-account-part-2/

A2. Backend test

Now it is time to test the standard scenario for Purchase Orders Approval. We have created a PO and we can see that the release strategy has been triggered, in transaction ME23N.

In the workflow inbox, we can also see that there is a task for approval, in transaction SBWP.

Here we came back to SAP Gateway and tested the service with our data:

In SAP Gateway:

Transaction: /IWFND/MAINT_SERVICE

Service: GBAPP_POAPPROVAL

Click “SAP Gateway Client”

Call the service URL, which gives the list of tasks to be approved:

/sap/opu/odata/sap/GBAPP_POAPPROVAL/WorkflowTaskCollection?$format=xml

(or)

/sap/opu/odata/sap/GBAPP_POAPPROVAL;mo/WorkflowTaskCollection?$format=xml

Now you will be able to check if the OData service is working properly.

In our case, since it was a POC, we created the same user names in SAP Gateway and in SAP ERP, we mapped the same user in the RFC that connects from SAP Gateway to SAP ERP.

For productive scenarios, you will need additional settings for principal propagation.

A3. Extending App

We have used the standard App with no modification. In our case, we executed no activities in this step.

A4. Backend Config

In SPRO, access the following path:

Materials Management > Purchasing > Purchase Order > Approve Purchase Orders App > Specify Workflow Task IDs for Approve Purchase Orders App

Then specify the task IDs that are relevant for the Purchase Order Approval scenario.

It is good to have someone who knows the Workflow settings for Approving POs. In our case the customer had implemented a custom workflow for Approving POs. In our case the Task ID was “WS91000003”, but if your customer is using the standard workflow template, the Task ID is “WS20000075”.

Follow a part of the application help that gives some hints on how to get the Task ID:

To find the workflow tasks you need to enter in this Customizing activity, proceed as follows:

Start transaction SWETYPV.
Find a line to which the following applies:

- The ObjectType is BUS2012 (purchase order).

- The Event is RELEASESTEPCREATED.

- The checkbox Type linkage active is selected.

Copy the entry for Receiver Type in the same line to your clipboard.
Start the Workflow Builder (transaction SWDD).
Enter the content of the clipboard into the Workflow field and press ENTER.

In the Navigation Area, you see a list of steps.

For those steps that you want to use in the app, navigate to the Control tab and find out the ID of the task.

A5. Fiori Configuration Cockpit

Now it is time to Add a Tile in Fiori Cloud for the FrontEnd component of the App. You also have to use the destination you created in step S3.

Follow the screenshots.

Getting into the administration area.

Under “Content Management”

Create New App.

Create a Catalog.

Define a Group.

Define the Visualization of your tile.

Parameters.

Now check the catalog.

Check Apps.

Important: Change the Fiori App to use the customer’s destination.

Click Edit.

Choose the name of your destination.

A6. Testing

In our case, the Approval Process didn’t work at the beginning.

Customer had a custom implementation of the Purchase Order Approval Workflow.

The App was getting the list of Orders to be approved, but when pushing the “Approve” button we were getting the error “No Release Code maintained for Purchase Order xxxx”

List of Purchase Orders: