Introduction

With the release of Focused Build (ST-OST) SP13 earlier this month again we have added tons of new features to our product. Much requested and awaited support of customer extension fields across all the Focused Build apps apart from new Solution Readiness Dashboard have been delivered with this release to delight our customers and partners. You can find more information about all the improvements in different areas of the Requirements-to-deploy process in the blog detailed out here.

There would be a separate dedicated blog post which would explain the different customizing and step by step process to enable customer extension fields for all the process types which i will link here [Upcoming blog post on Customer Fields Customizing] in the upcoming days. In this blog post I want to highlight some of the other enhancements which have been provided across the provide Focused Build apps with this release along with information on customer fields support for different transaction types. Let’s dive in more details to understand these latest feature improvements.

Logon options for different systems in Transport tab

Till ST-OST 12, Log on to system option was available only for ABAP systems from Transport tab of Generic apps in FB Fiori UIs which was inconsistent with respect to CRM WebUI. With SP13 we have filled this gap in Fiori UI and have provided different system log on options including JAVA, Cloud systems from the Transport Landscape Information section.

We have also removed the hyperlinks from SAP BTP Cloud TR IDs from the Transport Requests table to be in sync with CRM WebUI.

Logon To Systems in Transport Tab

Alignment of Date format with SAP Fiori guidelines for Requirements

In the Mass Change Operations application for process type Requirements and in the Requirements Management application, the columns Created At and Last Changed At did not display dates in the correct format.

Old Date Format in Requirements Management App

Old Date Format for Requirements in Mass Change Operations App

This has been changed and new the date format is aligned with the SAP Fiori UX guidelines. The displayed date and time value is in the local time zone of the user.

New Date Format in Requirements Management App

New Date Format for Requirements in Mass Change Operations App

Support of Customer Fields for SAC API

The SAC API is now extended to expose custom fields for the process types Work Packages, Work Items, Defects and Defect Corrections. For requirements it was already supported since ST-OST 12. The SAC API for process type Requirements now also contains the information related to Requirements Team. Customers can use these APIs to build their SAC or Power BI dashboards to represent the data from Focused Build.

Customer Fields in SAC API

Support of Customer Fields for Focused Build Apps

With ST-OST 13, we have enabled customer extension fields support across all focused build transaction types in Generic Apps and in Mass Change Operations app.

You can also define the configured customer field values while creating a work package in Create Work Package dialog of Requirements Management application. If you are creating a work package out of an existing requirement, the customer field values would be initialized in the Create Work Package dialog from the requirement. If you are creating a work package independently then the customer fields would be empty in the Create Work Package dialog.

Customer Fields in Create Work Package Dialog

You can also make the customer fields as read only, mandatory and hidden in the dialog by using the customizing. The same applies for all the transaction types in Focused Build.

While creating a Work Item using Scope Item dialog from a Work Package or while creating a Change Document from a Request for Change you can also define the customer fields values. Similarly, while creating a Defect Correction from a Defect the customer fields would be initialized from the Defect (parent document) itself. As seen in the below screenshot the customer field values have been inherited from the parent document Defect itself.

Customer Fields in Defect Correction

Please note, the customer field values would be carried over to the successor document only while creation of the document from the parent document. The users can continue with the same customer field values or can change to a different value than the parent document. As already described earlier, you can also make certain fields read only, mandatory or invisible in the Custom Fields section by using the customizing setting for the application or the status itself.

Apart from these there are some other dialogs like Assign Work Package in Requirements Management app and Add Relations in the Generic App’s Relation Tab have been enhanced with customer fields in the filter bar section. So now users can filter the records on these dialogs with their desired customer field values and work efficiently.

Customer Fields in Assign Work Package Dialog

The Customer Fields support also has been extended to Mass Change Operations (MCA) app for all the Focused Build transaction types. The customer fields in MCA are available in filter bar, result list table and mass change dialog sections.

By default the customer fields would be hidden from all the areas. Users need to add these from the Adapt Filters section of the filterbar or from the view settings dialog of result list table. The customer fields which are added in the result list table would only be visible in the mass change dialog for performing any mass change activity on the selected documents. Also, the fields which are marked as non-editable in the customizing either depending upon the status or the app itself would not be visible in mass change dialog for any mass change activity.

Customer Fields in MCA

Customer Fields in Mass Change Dialog for Work Package

Key Takeaways

1. As per our commitment to delight the customers and partners with our continuous innovation across our product lines we have provided the support of customer fields across all the Focused Build apps apart from Solution Readiness Dashboard.
2. Customers can use the Focused Build apps more efficiently and more relevantly according to their business area with the customer fields support.

Please feel free to provide your valuable feedback either directly here in the comment section or, in case of questions, you can submit them here. You are also encouraged to follow SAP Solution Manager tag here and Focused Build for SAP Solution Manager tag here. Finally, I would like to wish you all a Very Happy and Prosperous upcoming New Year 2024 !!!

Important Links and Resources

• Usage Rights
• SP13 delta presentation to get an overview of the changes and read the highlights blog
• Read how SAP Activate and Focused Build with SAP Solution Manager is working together
• ALM Community page