Every last Thursday of the month, we organize our INNOV8iON Days. The INNOV8iON Days focus on the latest technologies. Each INNOV8iON Day we select a new technology. These are researched and presented by colleagues to colleagues. A small selection of the 2023 topics:

• Clean SAPUI5 coding practices
• Cloud Application Programming
• SAP Build
  • Process automation
  • Workzone
• SAP Business Technology platform

The main goal of the INNOV8iON Days is to stay as up-to-date as possible on the latest technologies within the SAP landscape. We share this with colleagues in an interesting and fun way. During these days everyone brings in their own knowledge on the given topic, discovering together the applicability of that technology.

And it doesn’t just stop at sharing knowledge. Those days we actually dive into the technology. And this combination of theory and hands-on was also used during the last INNOV8iON Day; SAP Fiori My Inbox.

SAP Fiori My Inbox

On Thursday, February 23, the most recent INNOV8iON Day took place nd was all about SAP Fiori My Inbox, organized by Jan-Willem Bos, Julian Kuipers and Jens Lambeck (the 3 Js of INNOV8iON).

What is My Inbox app?

The Fiori My Inbox app is an application where all workflow tasks of a staff member come in. If you have multiple back-end systems, all tasks from these systems can also end up in the My Inbox app. Provided you configure the Inbox app properly.

So you can think of My Inbox app as the Fiori variant of the GUI transaction SWBP (Workflow Inbox). The big difference between the GUI transaction and the Fiori app is that the Fiori app is much more user-friendly, looks better, making you work with it faster and more efficiently.

Where previously a separate Fiori app existed for each different workflow task (My Inbox 1.0), with the arrival of My Inbox 2.0 everything has been merged into one clear overview. Within this app you can perform all standard actions that can also be done with the SWBP transaction. An addition to Inbox 2.0 is the possibility of Mass actions with which you can quickly and easily arrange replacements in case of a dropout. Think of approving a bin simultaneously to the same type of workflow tasks, such as vacation requests. Outages in this case can be thought of as planned outages (vacations) and unplanned outages (being sick). With the addition of Mass actions in the My Inbox 2.0, you can easily control who your workflow tasks are forwarded to for both types of outages.

The My Inbox app is also further customizable based on a set of parameters. This can be done in the URL of the app, but also in the configuration of the app itself. Thus, the app can be individually configured to work as efficiently as possible for each situation.

Extensibility

The Inbox app is structured to allow for extensions to the app. For example, using a number of BADIs, various aspects of the app can be customized within the SAP system. Think of changing the list and detail view. But also providing user details, task information and filling additional attributes. Using these extensibilities, you can personalize the inbox app to work best in different business scenarios.

The extensibilities can be implemented using BADIs, as mentioned above. But also through UI controller hooks. The extensions can affect the header data, which content should be displayed in the detail view but also extensions for pointing out replacements. In short, even though Fiori My Inbox is a standard SAP application, you can still customize a lot. For an overview of all extensibility options check out this page.

Hands-on met SAP Fiori My Inbox

After a break and a dinner of delicious Indian food, it was time for the hands-on portion of the INNOV8iON-Day. This time, we had chosen a number of assignments that utilized the knowledge gained about the My Inbox application.

De eerste opdracht bestond uit het customizen van de applicatie aan de hand van de parameters die behandeld zijn in het theoretische gedeelte. Hiervoor waren er drie verschillende stories voorbereid waaruit uit je kon opmaken welke parameters je nodig had om de app zo te configureren als gewenst. Het doel van deze stories was een tastbaar beeld geven bij wat de My inbox app op persoonlijk niveau kan betekenen. Zo ging een van de voorbeelden over een supermarkt manager die graag in één keer achterstallige facturen wilde beoordelen. Het was op deze manier dus ook een kleine oefening voor de technische consultants op functioneel gebied.

The first assignment consisted of customizing the application using the parameters discussed in the theoretical part. For this purpose three different stories were prepared from which you could determine which parameters you needed to configure the app as desired. The purpose of these stories was to give a tangible picture of what the My inbox app can do on a personal level. For example, one of the examples was about a supermarket manager who wanted to review overdue invoices at once. So in this way, it was also a small exercise for the technical consultants on a functional level.

An INNOV8iON-Day doesn’t just consist of covering new topics. Each session ends with drinks to blow off some steam. Here the day’s topic can be discussed again or any loose questions can still be asked.

Want to know more about the Fiori My Inbox? Contact us or take a look at the inbox documentation. Learn more about extensions on this page!