UI Elements List Overview

Updated: March 18, 2021
SAPUI5 Version 1.60

List

sap.m.List

Intro

In SAP Fiori, we distinguish between tables and lists. Both usually contain homogeneous data, but lists generally have rather basic data, whereas the data in tables tends to be more complex. Lists are mostly used in the master list for a master-detail scenario using the flexible column layout, as well as in popovers or dialogs. For certain use cases, lists can also be used in the dynamic page layout.

Usage

Use the list if:

  • You want to display a homogeneous set of basic data.
  • You need to sort, group, or filter simple datasets.
  • You need to display a single-level hierarchy rather than using a complex tree table to support this simple use case.

Do not use the list if:

  • You want to manage complex datasets that need to be extensively sorted, grouped, filtered, or edited. In this case, use a table.
  • You work with complex hierarchies. In this case, use a tree.

Responsiveness

The list is like a layout container. You can change its width, but you must also ensure that the items contained in the list adapt whenever the list is resized.

All list item variants available in SAP Fiori already adapt to the respective screen size.

List Item Variants

The list contains various list items. These items can be of various types depending on the use case and on the content they have. SAPUI5 already provides the most common list items in SAP Fiori in the form of controls, although custom list items can also be created if necessary.

All the available list item types behave responsively and adapt to changing screen sizes out of the box. Most of them use truncation if size becomes too limited, since they are usually used to navigate to the item details. For custom list items, you can also wrap the texts, if required.

Object List Item

The object list item is the list item variant used most frequently in SAP Fiori applications. Consisting of a title, key figure, attributes, and a status, it contains the most important information about an object.

The space available for the attributes and status is limited as it should only show crucial information that allows the user to decide which items should be dealt with first.

All essential information about an object is usually provided when the user navigates to the item details.

For more information, see object list item.

Object list items
Object list items

Standard List Item

The standard list item is used for less complex entries, such as when the user selects an item in a dialog. This list item contains an optional image, a title, description, and a single info text (which can contain semantic information).

For more information, see standard list item.

Standard list items
Standard list items

Display List Item

The display list item is the simplest form of a list item and is only capable of showing a label and values. It is seldom used.

For more information, see display list item.

Display list items
Display list items

Action List Item

The action list item allows various actions to be triggered in a dialog. The action list item is not used in the content area.

For more information, see action list item.

Action list item
Action list item

Feed List Item

The feed list item is mainly used in feeds and notes.

For more information, see feed list item.

Feed with feed list items
Feed with feed list items

Input List Item

The input list item allows the user to enter data in a list item. It is seldom used in SAP Fiori apps as forms are usually the preferable method for entering data.

For more information, see input list item.

Input list item
Input list item

Components

The list control comes with the following main properties:

Header

The header text contains the title of the list. It is usually only used when the list is in the content area.

Footer

The footer text is the last entry in the list, and as such, it scrolls away with the content. Therefore, this property is also seldom used.

Lazy Loading

Like the table, the list also allows lazy loading. The “growing” list property is used for this purpose.

List with header and footer
List with header and footer

Empty List

Avoid empty lists. If necessary, provide instructions on how to fill the list with data (sap.m.List/ sap.m.ListBase, properties: noDataText, showNoData).

Examples:

  • If a list is initially empty, provide at least a basic text:
    No items available.
    Overwrite this whenever a hint can be provided on how to fill the list with data.
  • If a list is used together with a filter bar (as in the list report), and is initially empty, use the following text:
    No filters set. To start, enter your search and filter settings and run the search.
  • If a list is used together with a filter bar and the filter does not return results, use the following text:
    No items found. Check the search and filter settings.

Adapt the texts above if:

  • The standard text is not precise enough for your use case (for example, no search is offered, only the search is offered).
  • You are using the live search (no Go button in the filter bar). In this case, leave out “run the search”.
  • The standard text is misleading (for example, if the data is filled based on a master-detail pattern instead of search and filter settings).
Empty list
Empty list

Count

List items can have a count, which is located on the far right of a row. You can use the count in simple lists, such as those that contain standard list items, to indicate how many subitems the user can expect when navigating to the item.

Standard list items with counter
Standard list items with counter

Read/Unread

You can set an indicator to highlight unread items, making it easier for the user to discover them (property: showUnread = true). If you set this indicator, all texts for the unread items are shown in bold font.

By default, this indicator is switched off, and all list items are displayed in normal font.

Display list item with read and unread items
Display list item with read and unread items

Highlighting Items

To show that an item needs attention, a highlight indicator can be shown in front of the item (property: highlight). The highlight indicator can be used to show:

  • A semantic state (for example, red or orange if the item contains an error or warning)
  • A neutral state (for example, blue to highlight newly added items)
Highlighted items using semantic colors
Highlighted items using semantic colors

Behavior and Interaction

There are several ways to interact with the list and its list items:

Line Item Level

Scroll

The height of the list is defined by the number of items it contains. It does not have its own scroll container, but is scrolled together with the app.

If the list works in a “growing” mode, it only loads a few items at first. Additional items are only loaded (and rendered) on request. The “request” can either be triggered by scrolling (preferred), or by clicking the More button.

When the user scrolls, the title and the filter info bar can stick to the top of the surrounding layout container (sap.m.List, property: sticky).

Information
The “sticky” feature comes with some limitations:

  • It is not available on all browsers. In non-supporting browsers, the corresponding areas are not fixed on top of the surrounding layout container while scrolling.
  • Certain layout containers suppress the sticky behavior, such as the grid layout. The same happens if the list is placed within the object page.
  • If the focus is set to a sticky area, the list is automatically scrolled to top.

Sticky title
Sticky title

Mode

The list can have several modes. The respective property (Mode) allows the following selection methods:

  • None
  • SingleSelectMaster (used to pick one item with no additional indicator, as in the master list for a master-detail scenario with the flexible column layout)
  • SingleSelectLeft (used to pick one item using a radio button on the far left)
  • MultiSelect (used to pick several items from the list using checkboxes on the far left)
  • Delete (used to delete items from the list using a delete indicator on the far right)
Developer Hint
In multiple selection mode, users can (de)select all items using the shortcut CTRL+A. This only affects items that have already been loaded to the front-end server. All other items are not (de)selected before they are loaded (for example, items added via lazy loading with growingScrollToLoad). This conflicts with the guideline that all items the user can reach by scrolling must be (de)selected.

To process all items, listen to the selectionChange event and to its flag selectAll. This indicates whether CTRL+A was triggered. As soon as an action is triggered, process the items accordingly. Depending on the number of items, consider processing them in the back end.

List with explicit single selection
List with explicit single selection
List with multiple selection
List with multiple selection
List with delete mode
List with delete mode

Grouping

List items can be grouped. The group header is a visually separate line at the top of the items it groups. It does not currently provide an interaction of its own.

Grouped list
Grouped list

Type

The list item type defines the interaction of the list item, which is accompanied by a visual cue.

The items can be one of the following:

  • Active (click event; cursor changes to indicate that)
  • Inactive (no click event; cursor does not change)
  • Navigation (a small arrow appears on the far right, indicating that clicking would navigate)
  • Detail (a pencil appears on the far right, indicating that something can be changed. The user can only click on the pencil.)
  • Detail and active (same as “detail”, but the item itself is also clickable)

The example shows how all these types are visualized.

All list item types: inactive, detail, navigation, active, detail and active
All list item types: inactive, detail, navigation, active, detail and active

Swipe

You can provide a swipe feature (SwipeDirection) for quickly approving or deleting items without having to look at the details. It must only be provided as an additional feature, and not be the only way of performing the action.

List with swipe action
List with swipe action

Context Menu

The context menu can be triggered for the list or per item.

It gives users an alternative way of modifying the focused elements by giving access to context-specific functions.

Context menus are opened by right-clicking (desktop), long press (mobile), the context menu key, or SHIFT+F10.

Be aware that using the context menu overrides the browser context menu, which can no longer be opened.

List - context menu
List - context menu

Drag and Drop

One or several items can be repositioned within a list or moved to other UI elements using drag and drop operations (sap.m.ListBase, aggregation: dragDropConfig). While being dragged, the items are shown as ghost elements on the mouse cursor.

Drop targets can be on items, between items, or both (sap.ui.core.dnd.DropPosition). On a drop target, the mouse cursor changes to either a “copy”, “link”, “move”, or “none” cursor. “None” indicates that the dragged item cannot be dropped in the current position (sap.ui.core.dnd.DropEffect).

Drag and drop is only available on supporting browsers.

Drag and drop
Drag and drop
Whole item as drop target
Whole item as drop target

Styles

The list items can have a header when they are used in a content area. It is also technically possible to change the background of the header and of the list itself. Depending on the use case, the lines between the list items and around the list can be shown or hidden.

The property Show Separators (All, Inner, None) allows only the outer lines (Inner) or all the lines (None) to be hidden when the list is used as a more structural element within a content area.

List without separators
List without separators

Guidelines

Text Length

When you use the list in the first column of the flexible column layout, keep the texts as short as possible and only as long as necessary. If you expect large numbers, use formatting instead.

Custom List Items

If none of the list items provided suits the requirements of your app, you can also create a custom list. If you choose this option, ensure that your custom list item is responsive when resized.

When creating custom list items, take the following guidelines into account, as needed:

Radio Button

Only use radio buttons if they are absolutely necessary. One example would be if you want to distinguish single selection from navigation. This is a rare case in which visible radio buttons for single selection are allowed.

Context Menu

Use the context menu only to give users a quick way of accessing functions that are already available elsewhere (for example, as buttons in the toolbar).

Don’t just offer actions in the context menu itself, as users might not realize that these actions are available at all.

Drag and Drop

Drag and drop is “invisible” on the UI: users can’t see where dragging is available and where it isn’t. In addition, it is not accessible, since there is no generic keyboard interaction. Drag and drop is also not available on all browsers. For these reasons, provide it only in addition to existing (and visible) UI elements that fulfill the same purpose. For example, offer (toolbar) buttons for moving or for copying and pasting items.

Use drag and drop only in addition to existing visible UI elements
Use drag and drop only in addition to existing visible UI elements

If you offer drag and drop for rearranging items within the list, use drop targets that are between items (sap.ui.core.dnd.DropPosition.Between). This provides better feedback on where the item will be inserted. Show the “move” mouse cursor (sap.ui.core.dnd.DropEffect.Move).

Drop targets in between items
Drop targets in between items

Do not combine rearranging items and sorting. If you really need to do so, make sure that there is a dedicated sort criterion for the user-defined sort order, and only offer options for rearranging items if this sort order is set.

When combining rearranging items with grouping, be aware that moving items to another group also means that a value of the dropped item changes: because grouping is based on values, the dropped item needs to take on the corresponding value of the target group. If this is not wanted, do not allow users to rearrange items in grouped lists.

 

Example:

A list is grouped by availability. An item is moved from the group “Not Available” to the group “In Stock”. In this case, the moved item needs to change its availability to “In Stock” to match the target group. If changing the value doesn’t make sense, only allow users to rearrange the items within the same group, or don’t allow rearranging at all.

Don't
Do not combine rearranging items with grouping, unless you know exactly what you're doing
Do not combine rearranging items with grouping, unless you know exactly what you're doing

Export to Spreadsheet

Apps can provide a menu button for exporting list data to a spreadsheet (for example, on the relevant toolbar). For the export, use the export to spreadsheet function.

'Export to Spreadsheet' menu button
'Export to Spreadsheet' menu button

Resources

Want to dive deeper? Follow the links below to find out more about related controls, the SAPUI5 implementation, and the visual design.

Elements and Controls

Implementation