SAP Web IDE - Deployment to SAP HANA Cloud Platform Explained

Introduction

One of SAP Web IDE's main features is deploying applications to SAP HANA Cloud Platform (HCP).

In this blog I will showcase this feature and how it should be used in SAP Web IDE.

Definitions

Software Deployment: The process of getting software to the point where it is available for active use.

Git: Widely used version control system for software development.

Past
In the past, due to technical difficulties, the deployment to HCP was done by creating a Git repository and pushing the application's files into it.

This created an unnecessary dependency between the deployment and the Git source control mechanisms.

After we solved the technical difficulties, the deployment was implemented using a dedicated API without the need to use Git actions. This allowed us to make the desired separation between the deployment and the source control.

Present

The deployment to HCP feature is now completely separated from the Git source control.

You have two options (depicted as radio buttons):

• Deploy a new application
• Update an existing application

When choosing to deploy a new application, the account, project name, app name, and version are displayed. You can select a different account (if you're a member in one) or edit the app name and version.

When choosing to update an existing application, the account, project name and version are displayed and you need to select the application you want to update from the dropdown list. Based on previous deployments of this app we prefill the account and app name but it's subject to change.

The list contains all the HTML5 applications in your account.

After deploying your application, it is ready to be used in your account!

Deployment Results

The deployment process creates the app in your HCP account under the HTML5 Applications section with the version you selected.

If your application has the SAPUI5 Client Build project type, an application build is performed in the background of the deployment process.
The build artifacts are then deployed to HCP and represent the productive  and more efficient version of the application. It does not reflect the project's source files. The application is then ready for testing or productive use.

For more information, see Application Build.

Wait, where did my HCP Git go?

When you deploy the application to HCP, the source code is no longer automatically pushed to the HCP Git. Also, it is no longer possible to connect your project to the HCP Git repository via the deployment dialog.

The application's source code should be managed and collaborated with other developers using the great tools of Git - merging, conflict resolution, versioning and more.

One proposal for starting to work with HCP Git:

1. Navigate to your application in the Cockpit and locate its HCP Git repository URL. For more information, see Creating an HTML5 Application.
   
2. Initialize your local Git repository and connect it to the remote Git repository using the URL you obtained from the cockpit.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Use the Git operations to fetch, commit, and push your changes. For more information, see Using Source Control (Git).
   

Suggested Work Model

After creating the application in SAP Web IDE, you can initialize a local Git repository for it and connect it to a remote Git repository on HCP.

Now you can develop your app, collaborate with your peers, and share your code with the help of Git.

Once the development is done and the app is ready to be published, you can deploy it to HCP and make it available for others (e.g. for testing, release, etc).

You can also create a tile for it in your SAP Fiori launchpad on HCP. For more information, see Registering Applications to SAP Fiori Launchpad.

Important Information

• If you want to deploy again an app that was previously deployed, the dialog will open with the Update an existing application radio button selected by default and the application selected in the dropdown list. You can change both options.
  
  
• The Edit Online button in the application's page on HCP clones the Git repository of the application into SAP Web IDE. If nothing was pushed into this repository, a folder with only a git.ignore file will be created in your workspace because the repository is empty.

• If you would like to preview your app directly from HCP, make sure your application contains at least one executable HTML file (e.g. index.html), and that it is configured properly in the neo-app.json's welcomeFile property. For more information, see Welcome File.

If your application does not contain an executable HTML file, the link to the application URL will not be available and the application will not run from HCP.

When previewing the app from FLP on HCP, an executable HTML file is not required.