Use the object page floorplan if:

• Users need to display, create, or edit an object.
• Users need to get an overview of an object and interact with different parts of the object.

Dynamic Page Header (mandatory)

The dynamic page header contains key information about the object and provides the user with the necessary context. The header initially expands in display mode. It also contains global actions for the object, such as Edit or Delete.

The header consists of the following elements:

1. Breadcrumbs (optional)
2. Title (mandatory)
3. Subtitle (optional)
4. Header content (optional)
5. Object marker (optional)
6. Header toolbar with global actions (optional)
7. Visual indicator for header features (mandatory if the header can be collapsed and expanded)

Form Facet (Dataset)

You can use the form facet to display datasets.

A form facet consists of:

1. Title (optional)
2. Label-text pair (no more than 5 in a group)

• The labels can be invisible, but need to have a text for accessibility purposes.
• The labels can be icons, but need to have a text for accessibility purposes.
• Each text can hold a link.

Plain Text Facet

You can use the plain text facet to display a continuous text in the header.

A plain text facet consists of:

1. Title (optional)
2. Text

You can have links inline in the continuous text. They can navigate to another page or open a quick view. The text can contain more than one link, with different actions.

The default width of the facet is 320 px. The width of the facet doesn’t adapt to its content, but when the headline is broader than the facet width, the header wraps. You can also set a specific width to make optimal use of the given space.

Image Facet

You can use the image facet to show a picture of the object or a user profile. The header can have either one image facet or no image facet. The position of the image facet is fixed to the left. The image can have a press event. The default press event enlarges the image. When the header collapses, the image facet moves to the left of the title and becomes smaller.

Key Value Facet

You can use the key value facet to highlight important data or KPIs.

A key value facet contains:

1. Title (mandatory)
2. Text or number in a larger font size

If the key value facet is used with a text, such as a status, you can also display an icon to the right of the text. This icon must only be used as a visual cue for the text it relates to, and not to add more information.

Micro Chart Facet

A micro chart facet consists of:

1. Title (mandatory)
2. Subtitle (optional)
3. Micro chart (mandatory)
4. Footer text (optional)

To display the unit used in the micro chart, use the footer.

The following micro charts can be used in the micro chart facet:

• Bullet chart
• Column chart
• Trend chart
• Comparison chart
• Delta chart
• Harvey ball chart
• Radial chart

The micro chart facet can have a click event on the chart itself. This can lead to a page with a bigger chart or open a quick view, for example.

For more information, see Micro Charts.

Progress Indicator Facet

A progress indicator facet consists of:

1. Title (mandatory)
2. Subtitle (optional)
3. Progress indicator
4. Footer text (optional)

For more information, see Progress Indicator.

Rating Indicator Facet

You can use the rating indicator facet to display a single rating value or an aggregated rating (such as an average rating for a product). The facet structure is slightly different in each case.

Single rating value:

The single rating consists of:

1. Title (mandatory)
2. Subtitle (optional): Displays supplementary texts
3. Rating indicator

Navigation Bar (optional)

If your content can be shown in just one section, use the dynamic page layout. In the dynamic page layout with one section, the header area can’t be edited when the page is in edit mode.

If you need to structure your content in different sections, use the object page layout. You can only have several sections in the object page layout. When you use the object page layout, you can also make the header editable when the page is in edit mode. However, try to avoid having an editable header and move the content from the header to the sections instead.

If you need only one section, but require an editable header, use the object page layout. An object page with only one section doesn’t have any anchor bars. However, a temporary anchor bar and section for editing the header content should be added when edit mode is triggered.

If the content is complex there are two ways to structure it:

• Anchor bar navigation (default)
• Tab bar navigation

Anchor Bar Navigation

The anchor bar consists of a series of links, which are arranged horizontally at the top of the page. The anchors represent sections or subsections of the page. Clicking a link navigates to the respective section. The anchor bar remains visible when the user scrolls down the page.

Use anchor bar navigation when the content belongs together but users might want to jump to specific parts directly.

For more information, see Anchor Bar Navigation.

Tab Bar Navigation

The tabs are a series of links to subpages, arranged horizontally at the top of the page. Clicking a link navigates to the respective subpage. The tabs remain visible when the user scrolls down the page.

Use tab bar navigation if your page covers different topics that each have complex content, such as long tables or lists.

For more information, see Tab Bar Navigation.

Anchor Bar Navigation

The anchor bar is the default navigation control for the object page. It consists of a series of anchor links, which are arranged horizontally at the top of the page. The anchors represent sections or subsections of the page. Clicking on these links directs the user to specific sections of the page. The anchor links remain visible when the user scrolls down the page.

1. Active anchor
2. Inactive anchor
3. Subsection dropdown
4. Subsection
5. Subsection dropdown indicator
6. Overflow carousel button
7. Overflow menu button
8. Overflow menu dropdown
9. Section (hover) in overflow menu
10. Section in overflow menu
11. Subsection in overflow menu

Overflow

If there are more anchors than the screen can accommodate, the remaining anchors move into an overflow menu. The overflow button on the right of the navigation bar () opens a hierarchical dropdown list of all sections and subsections. When the user scrolls down the page, the anchor links scroll horizontally to ensure that the active anchor is always visible.

You might also see a small right arrow on the anchor bar. This arrow allows you to scroll horizontally to reveal any hidden content, and only appears when you hover over the overflow menu. In the meantime, this arrow has been replaced by the overflow menu button, but is still supported technically for legacy reasons.

Responsiveness

On small screens, the anchor bar becomes a dropdown list. The text field of the dropdown list shows the section currently selected. Clicking the dropdown menu opens a hierarchical list with all the sections and subsections of the page.

Behavior and Interaction

Tab Bar Navigation

As an alternative to the anchor bar, you can also use the tab bar for navigation. The tab bar works in a similar way to the icon tab bar, but is not the same control. The tab bar navigation for the object page is a variant of the anchor bar, and is handled by the object page layout control.

1. Anchor/tab bar navigation
2. First section
3. Second section

If you set the tab bar property (useIconTabBar = “true”), the navigation bar displays tabs instead of anchors. The object page only supports text-only tabs; icon tabs and icon/text tabs are not available. The object page sections and subsections are reflected in the tab navigation: sections of the object page become the tabs, and subsections become the internal content of the tab. The tabs can have an item counter, which is displayed in parentheses next to the title of the tab.

On small screens, the tab bar uses the same horizontal carousel overflow pattern as the icon tab bar. This differs from the dropdown approach used for the anchor bar.

If the content of a section contains a control, for example a table, then we recommend to always display it, even if the control title and tab title are identical. This makes it easier for the user to orientate themselves.

Subnavigation

To make it easier to reach specific content on a long tab page, tabs can have subnavigation. Subnavigation is optional, but the default state is set to “true” and a dropdown arrow is shown next to the tab. Clicking on the dropdown arrow displays a dropdown menu with the subsection anchors for that tab. Applications can decide which tabs are enabled for anchor subnavigation by setting their property to “true”.

Tables

If a section contains only one table and no other content, remove the table title to avoid having duplicate titles for the table. In this case, the section title acts as the table title.

If a subsection contains only one table and no other content, hide the title of the subsection to avoid having duplicate titles for the table and reduce vertical space. In this case, the table title acts as the subsection title.

If you want to embed analytical tables, grid tables, or tree tables in an object page, use an object page with tabs, and place each table in its own tab. Because the analytical, grid, and tree tables have their own vertical scroll bars, they are not allowed within scrollable object pages. If you are using a scrollable object page without tabs, use a responsive table instead, and offer navigation to another page with the respective table type.

Depending on the number of table items, use one of the following loading behaviors:

If a table is expected to have more than 20 items, use one of the 3 options below for long tables.

For all three options, we recommend providing a search, and if feasible, sort and filtering for the table in the object page. Avoid grouping.

1. Lazy Loading Behavior (“More” button)

If you expect up to 100 items, use the More button of the responsive table. The initial number of items shown depends on the height of the rows. We recommend initially showing 10 items, but not more than 20. If there is more than one table in the object page, only use this option for tables with up to 50 expected items.

2. Tab Navigation

If you expect to have more than 50 to 100 items, but less than 400, using the object page with tab navigation instead of anchor navigation also solves the problems associated with long tables. To enable the scroll-to-load behavior, the table must be the only or last element within a tab.

3. Navigation to Another Page

For tables with more than 400 items, or when the tab approach is unsuitable, restrict the size of the table in the object page to a reasonable number of items. We recommend only showing a preview of 10 items, but not more than 20. This can be achieved using predefined filters and/or by sorting the table. If necessary, you can also set a fixed number of items (such as the top 10). To enable the user to work with the entire table, offer navigation to a separate page, such as a list report, subobject page, or dynamic page with the respective table type. To do this, place a right-aligned link below the table with the label Show All (x), where x represents the total number of items in the table.

Representation of Child Pages

In object pages with drilldown navigation, child pages are represented in two ways:

• Breadcrumbs: A breadcrumb is displayed above the object title. Limit the breadcrumb to the drilldown levels within the object page.
• Paging buttons: Up and down arrows in the layout action area allow the user to navigate between subitems without going back to the original list.

Footer Toolbar

The footer toolbar is used for closing and finalizing actions in:

• Edit and create mode, for example, Save, Post, Accept, Reject, and Activate
• Display mode, for example, Approve, Accept, and Reject 

Editing the Header

The object page header can be edited in two ways:

• Global edit
• Partial edit

Global Edit

The header can be edited when the entire object page is in edit mode.

Because the header snaps on scroll, there are no editable forms in the header itself. Instead, a temporary header section is added before the other sections of the page. The title bar information and all editable fields from the header container move from the header to the new editable header section. Any non-editable content displays as read-only in the new header section. You can leave out header content that doesn’t make sense in edit mode (for example, aggregated values that are calculated from several sources, KPIs, or micro charts).

If only a few fields in the header are editable, and they match an existing section, they are moved to that section. In this case, no editable header section appears.

If your object page has no anchor bar in display mode, and the header section has only a few editable fields, do not add navigation in edit mode.

The header container in edit mode may contain independent facets that are not included in the header content in display mode. They provide information to assist editing.

If the entire object page is in edit mode, but there is no editable information in the header, no editable header section is added.

Any changes made to the header are not reflected until the user saves them.

Partial Edit

The user can edit the header content separately by pressing the Edit Header button.

If there are only a few elements to edit, the partial edit triggers a dialog.

If there are too many elements to fit in a dialog, the partial edit triggers a subpage. The subpage contains all editable information from the header. However, it differs from the “Header” section in global edit mode in that it has no action buttons in the toolbar, no navigation, and no breadcrumbs.

Create and Edit Subobjects

The following options are available for creating or editing subobjects:

• Navigation to a subobject page
• Inline create or inline edit in a table
• Dialog containing the fields of the object

To enable users to create subobjects inline, offer an Add or Create button on the table toolbar. Clicking the button creates a row at the top of the table. Pressing Ctrl+Enter has the same effect.

If the subobject has less than 8 fields, use a dialog or the inline create/edit option (no separate page for the subobject). Exceptions can apply if additional content for the subobject is available but not part of the edit process, or if other apps need to offer deep links to the subobject page.

Edit Actions in Display Mode (freestyle apps only)

The standard flow is to switch to edit mode for edit and delete actions. However, in some cases, it can be helpful to offer certain edit actions in display mode as well.

You can offer edit actions in display mode if:

• Switching to edit mode would inconvenience the user. This is especially true if the change is small and quick, and switching to edit mode would take longer than making the change.
• The change does not impact a critical flow or result in technical inconsistencies.

Examples: Adding a comment, uploading a file

Do not offer edit actions in display mode if:

• The change has a critical impact on business data/follow-on processes.
• The change requires a finalizing action.

Example: Deleting a sales order item would affect the entire sales order and dependent data.

When offering delete actions in display mode, always show a delete confirmation dialog. For more information, see:

• Delete Objects – Object Page
• Delete Objects – Top Tips

Unsaved Changes

If draft handling has been implemented, documents are automatically saved as draft versions in the background. An editing icon to the right of the object title indicates that a draft version exists. In other words, either the current user or another user has made changes, but not yet actively saved the document (“unsaved changes”). Do not show the editing icon for unsaved changes if draft handling is not supported.

Selecting the editing icon invokes a popover with more information about the unsaved changes. This normally states:

• Who made the changes
• When the last changes were made

The popover closes when the user clicks outside the popover or clicks the  (Close) icon.

The default layout for size L (desktop) contains three columns. If you want to display two content elements that require an equal amount of space, you can also use an optional two-column layout (for example, two tables next to each other). Do not use the two-column layout with forms.

The layout for size M (tablet) contains two columns.

The layout for size S (smartphone) contains one column.