TL;DR: There is now a new task list SAP_FIORI_FCM_CATALOG_ACTIVATION to activate apps by business catalog, the sub-level of a business role. While the task list is run manually in your Development environment, there’s an option to have follow-up automated activation of catalogs in the rest of your system landscape when the catalog is transported.

There is now a new task list SAP_FIORI_FCM_CATALOG_ACTIVATION to mass activate apps by Business Catalog.

• This task list provides the option to activate a subsection of a business role.
• This task list is provided in addition to the existing task lists for activating SAP Business Roles and custom business roles.
• The task list is planned to be delivered as part of SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS01.
• You can also use the task list in lower releases SAP S/4HANA 1909 and higher by implementing SAP Notes 3349671 and 3339909.
• If you would like to transport your activations, please read the attachments to SAP Note 3383609.

Task list SAP_FIORI_FCM_CONTENT_ACTIVATION in transaction STC01

IMPORTANT: Content activation task lists are only relevant to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition and SAP S/4HANA on-premise customers. Like most of our rapid activation tooling, they work best for customers using an embedded FES (Fiori Front-end Server) .SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition customers are not affected.

In this blog post you will learn:

• Why the new task list has been introduced
• How to use the task list to Activate Catalog Content
• Pre-requisites for Catalog Content Activation
• FAQ

Since SAP S/4HANA 1709, the best practice has been activating apps by business role using rapid activation task lists.  Separate tasks lists were provided for activating:

• SAP Business Roles – task list SAP_FIORI_CONTENT ACTIVATION
• Custom business roles – task list SAP_FIORI_FCM_CONTENT_ACTIVATION

Each business role consists of one or more business catalogs. Each business catalog contains one or more apps.

With now over 3K SAP Fiori apps, 10K classic UIs, and more than 600 Business Roles released for SAP S/4HANA, some SAP business roles are now quite large. For example, in SAP S/4HANA 2023 the General Ledger Accountant includes 94 SAP Fiori apps and 152 classic UIs, collected into 36 business catalogs.

Some customers have requested that app activation be permitted on the business catalog level, i.e. at a sub-section of a business role.

Why? There are many approaches to SAP Fiori implementation.

1. Use case 1: Manage the pace of change

Some customers want to grant a whole business role, some want to start with a small business role and add functionality over time.  Activating a catalog at a time lets you build your role over time so you can minimize the effort of removing not-yet-wanted catalogs and apps from the role.

Hint: It’s also very handy for the occasional business catalog that is not directly assigned to a SAP Business Role. For example, business catalog SAP_BASIS_BC_ESH Enterprise Search  contains some optional tools for managing the search. You can use the task list to activate the catalog, and then assign it to a custom business role.

2. Use case 2: Segregation of duties

Some customers have central maintenance teams who can execute everything needed for creating business roles for SAP Fiori. While others split responsibilities into separate teams. Catalog content activation can help you if you want to maintain strict segregation of duties between your UX, Security, and Basis teams.

For example,

1. Your UX architect is responsible for launchpad content and layout maintenance but is not allowed to activate services or maintain roles.
2. Your basis expert is responsible for service activation but is not allowed to maintain roles or change launchpad content.
3. Your security administrator is responsible for role maintenance and user master maintenance but is not allowed to activate services or maintain launchpad content.

There are number of ways you can organize your role update process. This is one possible scenario:

1. Your business owner discusses the business need for changes to the role with the UX architect.
2. Your UX architect creates a custom business catalog and assigns the relevant apps and their dependencies to it.
3. The UX architect requests the Basis expert to activate the services linked to the catalog.
4. In parallel, the UX architect requests the Security administrator to add the catalog to the relevant business role and its assigned users.
5. Once the role is updated, the UX architect can adjust the layouts (spaces and pages).
6. Once everything is complete, the UX architect and the business process expert review and test the changed role. At this point any final adjustments can be made, e.g. to the tile texts, tile parameters, or layouts.

Example high-level process for launchpad content maintenance in a segregated duties scenario

Worth knowing: Official documentation for the task list is planned to be released with SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS01 in the SAP Help Portal – SAP Fiori Overview – Set up and Configure SAP Fiori – in section Rapid Activation of SAP Fiori.

Hint: All example screenshots in this blog post were taken in a SAP S/4HANA 2022 FPS02 Fully Activated trial from SAP Cloud Appliance Library at https://cal.sap.com

The use case example: You have one or more apps that are in the same catalog and you want to activate them.  Currently when you attempt to launch the app you see an empty screen. You  have determined this caused by a missing service activation. Refer to FAQ section below and question: What symptoms might a business user see that suggest a service is not activated?

Example of an app which is not working because the services have not been activated

You run the task list in transaction STC01.

Select the task and press the Generate Task List Run button.

Generating a task list run in transaction STC01

Select the catalog(s) you want to activate. You can type/paste in a list of catalogs or select them from the existing catalogs in the system.

Use the Fill Parameters button of the relevant task to choose your business catalogs

You can select SAP business catalogs or custom business catalogs.

Choosing business catalogs from the catalogs in your system

Just as you do with role activation, nominate a transport package.

Showing the task to set the transport options and the Fill Parameter button to nominate the package

Hint: Our suggestion from S/4HANA RIG is to consider using the same package for all catalig activations. It can makes life somewhat simpler if you need to split or recombine roles.

Start the task list – you can run it in dialog mode (if you only have a few catalogs) or in background mode (if you have a larger list)

Example of starting the task list with the Start/Resume task list button

IMPORTANT: Never activate all catalogs! Many catalogs are industry-specific or for processes you will never run at your site. Avoid creating unnecessary overhead.

Check your task list has completed successfully.

Example of checking the task list status and log

You can also do a final check in the Launchpad Content Manager (transaction /UI2/FLPCM_CUST) to confirm the catalog is active.

Example of checking the catalog service activation status in the Launchpad Content Manager

As a final check you should check the app from the SAP Fiori launchpad.

That is you:

1. Ensure the business catalog is assigned to a business role
2. Ensure the business role to a user
3. Check the app is working without any more service activation errors.

Example of the app which is working now that the services have been activated

IMPORTANT: As usual the task list is run manually in your Development system. If you would like the catalog activated automatically when it is transported through your environment this is now possible.  Refer to the attachments on SAP Note 3383609 – Fiori Setup: Automated activation of OData Services in Prod Systems with task list for the prerequisites and the process to be followed.

You must be on SAP S/4HANA release 1909 or higher.

From SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS01 the task list will be provided as part of your solution.

In releases prior to SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS01 you need to add the task list to your system – this is 3 step process.

1. You must use transaction SNOTE to apply the pre-requisite SAP Note 3349671 – Fiori Setup: Prerequisite – Content Activation for Catalogs

2. After applying SAP Note 3349671, there is a manual step. Navigate to transaction SA38 and run the report NOTE_3339909. You should do a Test Run first to check there are no issues with applying it to your system. Provided there are no errors, then run the report again with the Update selected.

Running program NOTE_3339909 in transaction SA38

Example of running program NOTE_3339909 as a test run

Example of test run simulation log of program NOTE_333909

Example of running program NOTE_3339909 in update mode

Example of success log of program NOTE_3339909

3. Once the manual step is completed, return to transaction SNOTE and apply the SAP Note 3339909 – Fiori Setup: Content Activation for Catalogs. Check that both SAP Notes are now completely implemented.

Example of transaction SNOTE showing both SAP Notes are completely implemented

Can I use the task list for custom business catalogs as well as SAP business catalogs?

Yes.

What symptoms might a business user see that suggest a service is not activated?

A user might see an error when they launch the app that mentions a service activation issue.

A user might see a blank page when they launch the app.

The app partially appears but some features are not working. When the user checks App Support there is mention of an app activation error.

How can I check if a catalog has already been activated?

You can use the Launchpad Content Manager – i.e. transaction /UI2/FLPCM_CUST.  Navigate to the catalogs tab. Find your catalog and confirm the content in catalog. Use the Check Services feature to check the Service Activation Status. Service activation status can be:

• A green “success” square indicates that all services in the catalog are active
• A red “error” circle indicates that there are some services that are not active

Example of a checking a catalog in the Launchpad Content Manager showing the catalog has service activation errors

You can check the Content in Catalog pane to see which apps are affected.

Example showing checking which apps have service activation errors in the Content in Catalog pane of the Launchpad Content Manager

How do I transport my catalog activations? 

Activating a catalog automatically when it is transported through your environment is possible.  You will need to implement BADI CTS_IMPORT_FEEDBACK and mark your catalogs for transport.

Refer to the attachments on SAP Note 3383609 – Fiori Setup: Automated activation of OData Services in Prod Systems with task list for the prerequisites and the process to be followed.

What happens if I activate a business catalog that has already been activated?

No change.

What happens if I activate a business catalog where some individual apps are already activated?

The remaining apps in the catalog are activated.

Can I undo catalog activation if I change my mind?

Not easily. Technically you can go to transactions /IWFND/MAINT_SERVICE and SICF and manually de-activate the nodes.  This is possible, if time-consuming.

How are existing business users affected?

Existing users are not affected. You still need to include the catalog in their business role before they can launch the apps.

Can I use the task list to activate a technical catalog?

Technically yes … but in practice DO NOT DO THIS.  Why? There is a very high risk of activating many more apps that you want, and as mentioned earlier, turning them off again is high effort.

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