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add-visual-filter

Data & analytics

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Updated 10-16 08:45

About this skill

Add Visual Filter Bar to SAP Fiori Elements Application

Purpose

This skill guides you through adding a visual filter to a value help dialog in SAP Fiori Elements applications. Visual filters display aggregated data as charts (bar, column, line, or donut) to help users filter data visually.

When to Use This Skill

  • Adding visual filters to value help dialogs on filter fields
  • Enhancing user experience with graphical data representations
  • Displaying aggregated data (sum, average, min, max) in filter selections
  • Implementing analytics features in Fiori Elements OData V4 applications

Prerequisites

  • SAP CAP project with OData V4 service
  • SAP Fiori Elements application (List Report or Analytical List Page)
  • An entity with properties that can be aggregated
  • Basic understanding of CDS annotations and manifest.json configuration

Implementation Steps

Step 1: Enable Aggregation Support in Service Definition

Add @Aggregation.ApplySupported annotation to the entity in your service file (e.g., srv/service.cds):

service YourService {
  entity YourEntity as projection on schema.YourEntity;
}

annotate YourService.YourEntity with @Aggregation.ApplySupported: {
  Transformations: ['aggregate', 'groupby'],
  AggregatableProperties: [
    { Property: MeasureField }  // e.g., Amount, Price, Quantity, Revenue
  ],
  GroupableProperties: [
    DimensionField1,  // e.g., Status, Category, Region, Department
    DimensionField2,
    // ... other fields that can be grouped
  ]
};

Key Points:

  • The annotation must be applied directly to the entity, not the service block
  • Use annotate ServiceName.EntityName with @Aggregation.ApplySupported after the service definition
  • AggregatableProperties: Numeric fields that can be summed, averaged, etc. (measures)
  • GroupableProperties: Fields to group by (dimensions)
  • Both properties are required for visual filters to work

Step 2: Define Aggregated Property in Annotations

In your annotations file (e.g., app/your-app/annotations.cds), define the aggregated property:

annotate service.YourEntity @(
    Analytics.AggregatedProperty #MeasureField_sum : {
        $Type : 'Analytics.AggregatedPropertyType',
        Name : 'MeasureField_sum',
        AggregatableProperty : MeasureField,
        AggregationMethod : 'sum',  // Options: sum, min, max, average
        @Common.Label : 'Total Amount'
    }
);

Aggregation Methods:

  • sum: Total sum of values
  • min: Minimum value
  • max: Maximum value
  • average: Average value

Step 3: Create the Chart Definition

Define a chart that will be displayed in the value help dialog:

annotate service.YourEntity @(
    UI.Chart #visualFilter : {
        $Type : 'UI.ChartDefinitionType',
        ChartType : #Bar,  // Options: #Bar, #Column, #Line, #Donut
        Dimensions : [
            DimensionField  // Field to group by (e.g., Category, Status, Region)
        ],
        DynamicMeasures : [
            '@Analytics.AggregatedProperty#MeasureField_sum'
        ]
    }
);

Chart Types:

  • #Bar: Horizontal bar chart
  • #Column: Vertical column chart
  • #Line: Line chart
  • #Donut: Donut/pie chart

Step 4: Create Presentation Variant

Link the chart to a presentation variant:

annotate service.YourEntity @(
    UI.PresentationVariant #visualFilter : {
        $Type : 'UI.PresentationVariantType',
        Visualizations : [
            '@UI.Chart#visualFilter'
        ]
    }
);

Step 5: Configure Value List with Visual Filter

Add the field to SelectionFields and configure the value list:

annotate service.YourEntity with @(
    UI.SelectionFields : [
        DimensionField,
        // ... other filter fields
    ]
);

annotate service.YourEntity with {
    DimensionField @(
        Common.ValueList #visualFilter : {
            $Type : 'Common.ValueListType',
            CollectionPath : 'YourEntity',
            Parameters : [
                {
                    $Type : 'Common.ValueListParameterInOut',
                    LocalDataProperty : DimensionField,
                    ValueListProperty : 'DimensionField',
                },
            ],
            PresentationVariantQualifier : 'visualFilter',
        },
        Common.Label : 'Field Label',
    )
}

Key Elements:

  • CollectionPath: Entity to query for value help data
  • Parameters: Maps the local property to the value list property
  • PresentationVariantQualifier: Links to the presentation variant (must match the qualifier from Step 4)
  • Field must be included in UI.SelectionFields to appear in the filter bar

Step 6: Configure Visual Filter in Manifest.json

In your Fiori app's webapp/manifest.json, configure the visual filter display in the List Report settings:

{
  "sap.ui5": {
    "routing": {
      "targets": {
        "YourEntityList": {
          "type": "Component",
          "id": "YourEntityList",
          "name": "sap.fe.templates.ListReport",
          "options": {
            "settings": {
              "contextPath": "/YourEntity",
              "controlConfiguration": {
                "@com.sap.vocabularies.UI.v1.SelectionFields": {
                  "filterFields": {
                    "DimensionField": {
                      "visualFilter": {
                        "valueList": "com.sap.vocabularies.Common.v1.ValueList#visualFilter"
                      }
                    }
                  },
                  "layout": "CompactVisual"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Manifest Configuration Details:

  • controlConfiguration: Configure specific UI controls
  • @com.sap.vocabularies.UI.v1.SelectionFields: Targets the filter bar
  • filterFields: Object containing field-specific configurations
  • DimensionField: The field name (must match the field in annotations)
  • visualFilter.valueList: Full vocabulary path to the value list annotation (including the qualifier)
  • layout: Set to "CompactVisual" to enable visual filter layout in the filter bar

Important Notes:

  • The valueList path must match exactly: com.sap.vocabularies.Common.v1.ValueList#visualFilter
  • The qualifier after # must match the qualifier used in the @Common.ValueList annotation
  • Without this manifest configuration, the visual filter will not display even if annotations are correct

Complete Example

Generic implementation template:

Service Definition (srv/service.cds):

service MyService {
  entity Products as projection on db.Products;
}

annotate MyService.Products with @Aggregation.ApplySupported: {
  Transformations: ['aggregate', 'groupby'],
  AggregatableProperties: [
    { Property: Amount }  // Your numeric/measure field
  ],
  GroupableProperties: [
    Category,      // Your dimension field
    Status,
    CreatedDate
    // Add other fields users can group by
  ]
};

Annotations (app/yourapp/annotations.cds):

// Step 2: Define aggregated property
annotate service.Products @(
    Analytics.AggregatedProperty #Amount_sum : {
        $Type : 'Analytics.AggregatedPropertyType',
        Name : 'Amount_sum',
        AggregatableProperty : Amount,
        AggregationMethod : 'sum',
        @Common.Label : 'Total Amount'
    }
);

// Step 3: Define chart
annotate service.Products @(
    UI.Chart #visualFilter : {
        $Type : 'UI.ChartDefinitionType',
        ChartType : #Bar,
        Dimensions : [
            Category
        ],
        DynamicMeasures : [
            '@Analytics.AggregatedProperty#Amount_sum'
        ]
    }
);

// Step 4: Create presentation variant
annotate service.Products @(
    UI.PresentationVariant #visualFilter : {
        $Type : 'UI.PresentationVariantType',
        Visualizations : [
            '@UI.Chart#visualFilter'
        ]
    }
);

// Step 5a: Add to selection fields
annotate service.Products @(
    UI.SelectionFields : [
        Category
    ]
);

// Step 5b: Configure value list
annotate service.Products with {
    Category @(
        Common.ValueList #visualFilter : {
            $Type : 'Common.ValueListType',
            CollectionPath : 'Products',
            Parameters : [
                {
                    $Type : 'Common.ValueListParameterInOut',
                    LocalDataProperty : Category,
                    ValueListProperty : 'Category',
                },
            ],
            PresentationVariantQualifier : 'visualFilter',
        },
        Common.Label : 'Product Category',
    )
};

Manifest Configuration (app/yourapp/webapp/manifest.json):

{
  "sap.ui5": {
    "routing": {
      "targets": {
        "ProductsList": {
          "type": "Component",
          "id": "ProductsList",
          "name": "sap.fe.templates.ListReport",
          "options": {
            "settings": {
              "contextPath": "/Products",
              "variantManagement": "Page",
              "navigation": {
                "Products": {
                  "detail": {
                    "route": "ProductsObjectPage"
                  }
                }
              },
              "controlConfiguration": {
                "@com.sap.vocabularies.UI.v1.LineItem": {
                  "tableSettings": {
                    "type": "ResponsiveTable"
                  }
                },
                "@com.sap.vocabularies.UI.v1.SelectionFields": {
                  "filterFields": {
                    "Category": {
                      "visualFilter": {
                        "valueList": "com.sap.vocabularies.Common.v1.ValueList#visualFilter"
                      }
                    }
                  },
                  "layout": "CompactVisual"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Testing the Visual Filter

  1. Start the application: cds watch
  2. Open the Fiori application in your browser
  3. Click on the dimension field (e.g., Category) in the filter bar
  4. The value help dialog should display a chart showing aggregated data
  5. Click on a chart element (bar, column, etc.) to filter by that value
  6. Verify the table updates to show only records matching your selection

Common Issues and Troubleshooting

Visual Filter Not Appearing

  • Verify @Aggregation.ApplySupported is correctly configured in service.cds
  • Ensure the dimension field is in GroupableProperties
  • Ensure the measure field is in AggregatableProperties
  • Check that PresentationVariantQualifier matches the qualifier in UI.PresentationVariant
  • Verify manifest.json has the visual filter configuration with correct valueList path
  • Ensure layout: "CompactVisual" is set in the manifest

Chart Not Showing Data

  • Verify there is data in the entity
  • Check that the aggregated property name matches in both definition and usage
  • Ensure the dimension field has multiple distinct values

Field Not in Filter Bar

  • Add the field to UI.SelectionFields annotation
  • Clear browser cache and restart the application

Visual Filter Configuration Not Applied

  • Check that the field name in manifest.json matches exactly the field name in CDS
  • Verify the valueList path includes the correct qualifier
  • Ensure JSON syntax is valid (no trailing commas, proper nesting)
  • Clear browser cache and hard refresh (Cmd+Shift+R / Ctrl+Shift+F5)

Best Practices

  1. Choose Appropriate Chart Types:

    • Bar/Column: Good for comparing categories
    • Line: Good for trends over time
    • Donut: Good for showing proportions

  2. Limit Dimensions:

    • Use fields with a reasonable number of distinct values (5-20 items)
    • Too many values make the chart cluttered

  3. Naming Conventions:

    • Use descriptive names for aggregated properties (e.g., TotalPrice_sum, Amount_average)
    • Use consistent qualifier names across related annotations (e.g., #visualFilter)
    • Keep qualifier names synchronized between annotations and manifest

  4. Performance:

    • Visual filters trigger additional queries for aggregated data
    • Consider the performance impact on large datasets

  5. Manifest Configuration:

    • Always use the full vocabulary path in manifest.json
    • Document the qualifier used to maintain consistency
    • Test after manifest changes by clearing cache

Related Annotations

  • @Aggregation.ApplySupported: Enables aggregation capabilities
  • @Analytics.AggregatedProperty: Defines how to aggregate a measure
  • @UI.Chart: Defines the chart visualization
  • @UI.PresentationVariant: Groups visualization elements
  • @Common.ValueList: Configures value help dialog
  • @UI.SelectionFields: Adds fields to the filter bar