Like the quick view, the smart link triggers a popover from a text link. This popover shows additional information, such as simple object details, and offers links to related apps for the user to take action. The user can choose which links are shown in the popover by selecting them in a separate dialog.
The smart link is a smart control that uses metadata annotations to offer user-specific navigation. It analyzes the user’s assigned apps and offers only relevant navigation targets.

Usage

Use the smart link to offer direct navigation to related apps. For example:

• Navigate from a product list to the app to change the pricing
• Navigate from a sales order list to the app to see a customer’s balance

Use the smart link if:

• You want to offer related apps for navigation.
• You want to display simple object details.

Do not use the smart link if:

• You want to display more or complex information about an object. Use the object page or charts instead.
• No metadata is accessible, and only a direct link to a website, document or application is needed. Use the standard link instead.
• You need to structure information in a deeper hierarchy. Use the quick view or a list drilldown instead.

Responsiveness

The responsiveness of the smart link is based on the responsiveness of the popover and overlays the content.

On a desktop device, clicking anywhere in the background closes the popover.

On mobile devices, the smart link opens a dialog that overlays the entire content. Because the content underneath the popover is no longer directly visible to the end user, the dialog has a header and shows the object type. The dialog can be closed by clicking the close icon ( ) in the header.

Layout

The smart link contains the following areas:

Behavior and Interaction

The smart link and its popover are always triggered by clicking or tapping a text element that appears as a link. This text element can be placed in any list, table, or other container. The link label can be set individually. Clicking or tapping the background closes the popover. If only one link is offered, and there is no additional information, the smart link control navigates directly to the target without opening the popover.

If the semantic object annotation is not set, the smart link is rendered as sap.m.Text by default. However, app developers can also decide to render any other control.

Link Selection Dialog

Clicking the More or Define Links button opens the Define Link List dialog. There, the user can select the app links to be displayed in the link area. The links offered in the selection list are modifiable semantic objects suggested by the smart link control. Application development teams can remove links from the selection list and change the link texts. They can also manually add links to any website or app.

Exception: Within an SAP Fiori element, the links offered in the Define Link List dialog are generated automatically. Application teams cannot adapt the list.

You can switch off the More/Define Links option by setting the property enableAvailableActionsPersonalization to “false”. By default it is set to “true”.

Smart Links in a Smart Table

Within a smart table, the link label of the smart link is set automatically using the semantic object annotation. In other words, the description cannot be changed. If there are no navigation targets, the smart link is rendered as sap.m.Text.

Guidelines

• Please check the related apps you offer carefully. Only display the ones that are relevant to the user.
• Use meaningful link names in the link area. Do not use the same link name more than once. If necessary, rename the links to suit your context (for example, “Add Product” instead of “Manage Products”).

Resources