Adding a mash-up to the screen using the AET

Last week’s blog introduced the Application Enhancement Tool (AET). Adding new fields to the web UI screens is reduced to a relatively easy job using the AET. In SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1 the AET has been extended significantly.

It is not only possible to add fields in this new version, but the same concept can now also be used to add mash-ups, transparent tables, database views and the results of webservice calls to the web UI screens.

Adding web content to the account overview screen can now be implemented in less than 5 minutes. The following example demonstrates adding Google Maps content to the account overview screen.

The AET tool was started from the account overview screen. From there, one chooses to display all embedded views. A new overview popup is displayed in the AET that shows all existing embedded views. On this screen select the ‘Add Mash-Up’ button to open the mash-up editor.

Defining the Mashup Details

Define a title and description for the new mash-up and optionally set the height for the corresponding assignment block. On the left side of the editor the URL of the web content has to be defined, in our example a reference to http://maps.google.nl. The variables (in this example the account street, house number and city) should be added to this URL from the right part of the editor using the ‘Value’ button. Obviously, these variables have to be inserted in the correct location in the URL to ensure that the final call to the web content will work. A large number of these variables is provided by the standard SAP delivery, others can be added in customizing. Finally, a test option is provided to check the mash-up definition before actually saving it.

Save the mash-up to generate the corresponding embedded view. This view is automatically available as a new assignment block on the account overview screen. Add this assignment block to displayed assignment blocks of the view configuration for your role configuration key and the Google Maps mash-up is shown as a new assignment block on the account overview screen.