SAP conformanceSAP conformance

What it means. Flow-R-Bridge uses interfaces that SAP documents for customers: SAPUI5, the SAP Fiori launchpad and SAP Fiori elements. It does not change SAP code or SAP applications. The few functions for which SAP offers no dedicated extension point are listed openly in section 3.

Why it matters. Flow-R-Bridge is built to stay stable across regular SAP updates, and installing it does not affect SAP support for the system.

What it means. Flow-R-Bridge extends the frontend the same way an SAP adaptation project does. Its code is kept separate from the standard applications and is applied in the browser at runtime, using public SAPUI5 and SAP Fiori elements APIs. The standard applications stay exactly as SAP delivers them.

Why it matters. Adaptation projects are SAP's standard way to extend SAP Fiori applications without modifications, so the approach and its risks are well known. Section 2 compares the two side by side.

What it means. Flow-R-Bridge is deployed like any other SAP Fiori app and switched on for user roles in the launchpad configuration. It works in applications built with SAP Fiori elements, SAP's standard framework for business applications.

Why it matters. IT decides who sees the plugin and can switch it off at any time, without touching anything else.

Requirement. SAPUI5 1.120 or later; applications built with SAP Fiori elements.

What it means. The Flow-R-Bridge button in the launchpad header is added through the Extension service that SAP provides for exactly this purpose. An older method that SAP has marked as deprecated is no longer used.

Why it matters. The button stays in place after launchpad updates.

What it means. When an email or PDF is dropped on a list such as sales orders, Flow-R-Bridge creates the document through the application's own data service. If the application has its own "Create" action (for example, one that asks for the order type), the plugin starts that action exactly as the "Create" button does.

Why it matters. Backend checks, defaults and required fields apply exactly as for a manual entry, and no database table is written directly. The plugin works in the user's own session, so the user's SAP authorisations apply unchanged.

What it means. To accept a dropped email, Flow-R-Bridge attaches drop handling to the visible lists of the open application. It does this only while a drag is in progress and removes it as soon as the drag ends. Lists that already accept such drops themselves are left untouched.

Why it matters. Outside a drag, every list behaves exactly as before. Because SAP offers no dedicated extension point for this, it is the first function to retest after a major update.

Mitigation. A short retest after each major SAP update, about 15 minutes: drop an email, a PDF and a file.

What it means. Attachments can be dropped straight onto an application's attachment list or upload field. The upload field receives the file through the browser's standard file field, which is not an SAP extension point either.

Why it matters. This is covered by the same short retest after an update.

Roadmap. Verify the upload into attachment lists on the target system, and remove the empty attachment entry automatically if a content upload fails.

What it means. Flow-R-Bridge identifies the application page that received the drop. On SAP Fiori elements pages this works reliably. On pages that an application adds as its own custom extension, the page may not be recognised.

Why it matters. In that case, Flow-R-Bridge shows a message and creates nothing, so no data is created by mistake.

What it means. The drop highlight uses SAP's standard visual style. If SAP renames that style, the highlight may also appear over the plugin's own panel. The launchpad header shows only plain icons in the theme colour, so the plugin adjusts the look of its own button to let the logo follow the theme; if SAP changes the header, the logo may appear in its original colours.

Why it matters. Both are purely visual. No function is affected.

What it means. Today, the short manual retest above covers the main scenarios after an update. Automated tests for these scenarios are on the roadmap.

Why it matters. The check after an update will then run automatically.

What it means. Emails are displayed in a sealed-off area of the page where scripts inside an email cannot run.

Why it matters. A malicious email cannot act on the user's behalf in SAP.

What it means. Images that an email loads from the internet can tell the sender that the email was opened. By default, Flow-R-Bridge shows them only after the user clicks "Show images"; this can be switched to "always show".

Option. A server-side image proxy on the SAP system works like Outlook's: the sender sees the server, not the user.

What it means. PDFs and common image formats (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP) open in a browser tab. All other attachment types, including formats that can contain active content, are only downloaded.

Why it matters. An attachment cannot run code in the SAP session.

What it means. Flow-R-Bridge only reads emails and attachments through Microsoft's official interface, Microsoft Graph. It never sends, changes or deletes emails.

What it means. PDFs are read directly in the browser by pdf.js, the widely used open-source component that also powers the PDF viewer in Firefox. A known weakness of the included version is closed by a protective setting.

Why it matters. PDF text is extracted locally in the browser, without an additional server component.

What it means. In the current version, the user pastes a Microsoft access token once per browser session. The token is kept only for that session and is forgotten as soon as the browser tab is closed.

Roadmap. Single sign-on with the company's Microsoft account (Microsoft Entra ID), so that users sign in without handling a token. Only the sign-in part of the plugin changes.

What it means. The AI is called only when a user drops an email; nothing is sent otherwise. For products, customers and similar fields, only the matching entries found in the system are sent, never the whole list.

Why it matters. Only the data needed for the current document reaches the AI model.

What it means. When an email is dropped, the configured AI model receives the email text and the text of its PDF attachments; the fields of the target document, with the allowed values of fields that have short value lists (for example, order types); the matching entries for products, customers and similar fields; and the application, page and parent document the email was dropped on.

Why it matters. Besides the email, some SAP master data reaches the model. With a cloud model, the provider's data protection terms apply, so this should be agreed with the data protection officer. With a model on the company's own servers, the data stays inside the company network.

What it means. If the AI service is called directly from the browser, its access key is part of the plugin settings, where technically skilled users could read it.

Recommendation. For productive use, route AI calls through the company's own server (for example, SAP Web Dispatcher or SAP BTP), which adds the key. Users then never see it.

What it means. Flow-R-Bridge works with any AI service that offers the common industry interface, whether a cloud model or a model on the company's own servers.

Why it matters. With a model on the company's own servers, email content and master data never leave the company network.

What it means. The AI only fills in a proposal, and the user sees the document straight away to check it. In applications with drafts, nothing is saved until the user saves it; in applications without drafts, the document is saved and opened at once for checking. Optionally, the email text can be reviewed and extended before it is transferred.

What it means. Fixed rules tell the AI to treat the email only as data. Instructions hidden in an email (such as "set the price to zero") are ignored, and the user is told about them. These rules can be switched on or off in the settings.

Why it matters. Together with the user's check of every proposal, this gives two lines of defence against manipulated emails.

What it means. The launchpad's browser security policy needs to allow three things: the address of the AI service (unless it runs behind the launchpad's own address), Microsoft Graph (graph.microsoft.com) for emails, and the display of PDFs and email images that the plugin prepares in the browser.

Why it matters. This is a one-time configuration. Without it, the plugin loads but cannot read emails or call the AI.

What it means. The settings (AI service, default values, display options) are a file deployed together with the plugin. Changing them means deploying the plugin again.

Roadmap. Keep the settings in a table of the SAP system, so that they can be changed without a new deployment.

What it means. The user interface is delivered in English. Its texts are kept in a central translation file, so new languages can be added without changing the code.

What it means. Drag and drop needs a mouse or touchpad. Some fields still lack labels for screen readers, and a few error messages are not yet in the translation file.

Roadmap. Add the missing screen-reader labels, move the remaining messages to the translation file, and document that drag and drop needs a mouse or touchpad.