SAP Analytics Cloud Custom Widget Development Skill

SAP Analytics Cloud Custom Widget Development

Overview
Plugin Components
Quick Start
Community Sample Widgets
Key Concepts
Common Errors & Solutions
Bundled Resources

Overview

This skill enables development of custom widgets for SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC). Custom widgets are Web Components that extend SAC stories and applications with custom visualizations, interactive elements, and specialized functionality.

Use this skill when:

Building custom visualizations not available in standard SAC
Integrating third-party charting libraries (ECharts, D3.js, Chart.js)
Creating interactive input components for SAC applications
Implementing specialized data displays or KPI widgets
Extending Analytics Designer applications with custom functionality
Troubleshooting custom widget loading or data binding issues

Requirements:

SAC tenant with Optimized Story Experience or Analytics Designer
JavaScript/Web Components knowledge
External hosting (GitHub Pages, AWS S3, Azure) OR SAC-hosted resources (QRC Q2 2023+)

Plugin Components

This plugin provides specialized agents, commands, and validation hooks for comprehensive widget development support.

Agents

| Agent | Color | Purpose | Trigger Examples | |-------|-------|---------|------------------| | widget-architect | Blue | Design widget structure, metadata, and integration patterns | "design custom widget", "plan widget architecture" | | widget-debugger | Yellow | Troubleshoot loading, data binding, CORS, and runtime issues | "widget won't load", "CORS error", "data not binding" | | widget-api-assistant | Green | Write JavaScript widget code, lifecycle functions, API integrations | "write widget code", "implement lifecycle functions" |

Commands

| Command | Usage | Description | |---------|-------|-------------| | /widget-validate | /widget-validate [file] | Validate widget.json schema and widget.js structure | | /widget-generate | /widget-generate | Interactively generate widget scaffold with JSON + JS | | /widget-lint | /widget-lint [file] | Performance, security, and best practices analysis |

Validation Hooks

Automatic quality checks triggered on Write/Edit operations:

widget.json: Required fields, tag naming, property types, data binding config
widget.js: Lifecycle functions, Shadow DOM, propertiesChanged dispatch
Performance: Resize debouncing, chart disposal, XSS prevention
Context Reminders: Template suggestions, command recommendations

Templates

Ready-to-use scaffolds in templates/ directory:

basic-widget.js - Minimal Web Component with all lifecycle functions
data-bound-chart.js - ECharts widget with data binding
styling-panel.js - Runtime customization panel
widget.json-minimal - Bare-minimum metadata
widget.json-complete - Full-featured metadata with all options

Quick Start

Minimal Custom Widget Structure

A custom widget requires two files:

1. widget.json (Metadata)

{
  "id": "com.company.mywidget",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "name": "My Custom Widget",
  "description": "A simple custom widget",
  "vendor": "Company Name",
  "license": "MIT",
  "icon": "",
  "webcomponents": [
    {
      "kind": "main",
      "tag": "my-custom-widget",
      "url": "[https://your-host.com/widget.js",](https://your-host.com/widget.js",)
      "integrity": "",
      "ignoreIntegrity": true
    }
  ],
  "properties": {
    "title": {
      "type": "string",
      "default": "My Widget"
    }
  },
  "methods": {},
  "events": {}
}

2. widget.js (Web Component)

(function() {
  const template = document.createElement("template");
  template.innerHTML = `
    <style>
      :host {
        display: block;
        width: 100%;
        height: 100%;
      }
      .container {
        padding: 16px;
        font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
      }
    </style>
    <div class="container">
      <h3 id="title">My Widget</h3>
      <div id="content"></div>
    </div>
  `;

  class MyCustomWidget extends HTMLElement {
    constructor() {
      super();
      this._shadowRoot = this.attachShadow({ mode: "open" });
      this._shadowRoot.appendChild(template.content.cloneNode(true));
      this._props = {};
    }

    connectedCallback() {
      // Called when element is added to DOM
    }

    onCustomWidgetBeforeUpdate(changedProperties) {
      // Called BEFORE properties are updated
      this._props = { ...this._props, ...changedProperties };
    }

    onCustomWidgetAfterUpdate(changedProperties) {
      // Called AFTER properties are updated - render here
      if (changedProperties.title !== undefined) {
        this._shadowRoot.getElementById("title").textContent = changedProperties.title;
      }
    }

    onCustomWidgetResize() {
      // Called when widget is resized
    }

    onCustomWidgetDestroy() {
      // Cleanup when widget is removed
    }

    // Property getter/setter (required for SAC framework)
    get title() {
      return this._props.title;
    }
    set title(value) {
      this._props.title = value;
      this.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent("propertiesChanged", {
        detail: { properties: { title: value } }
      }));
    }
  }

  customElements.define("my-custom-widget", MyCustomWidget);
})();

⚠️ Production Note: The ignoreIntegrity: true setting above is development only. For production deployments, generate a SHA256 integrity hash and set ignoreIntegrity: false.

Community Sample Widgets

SAP provides 15+ ready-to-use custom widget samples:

Repository: SAP-samples/SAC_Custom_Widgets

| Category | Widgets | |----------|---------| | Charts | Funnel, Pareto, Sankey, Sunburst, Tree, Line, UI5 Gantt | | KPI/Gauge | KPI Ring, Gauge Grade, Half Donut, Nested Pie, Custom Pie | | Utilities | File Upload, Word Cloud, Bar Gradient, Widget Add-on Sample |

Requirements: Optimized View Mode (OVM) enabled, data binding support

Note: Check third-party library licenses before production use.

Key Concepts

Lifecycle Functions

Essential functions called by SAC framework:

onCustomWidgetBeforeUpdate(changedProperties) - Pre-update hook
onCustomWidgetAfterUpdate(changedProperties) - Post-update (render here)
onCustomWidgetResize() - Handle resize events
onCustomWidgetDestroy() - Cleanup resources

Data Binding

Configure in widget.json to receive SAC model data:

{
  "dataBindings": {
    "myDataBinding": {
      "feeds": [
        {
          "id": "dimensions",
          "description": "Dimensions",
          "type": "dimension"
        },
        {
          "id": "measures",
          "description": "Measures",
          "type": "mainStructureMember"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Access data in JavaScript:

// Get data binding
const dataBinding = this.dataBindings.getDataBinding("myDataBinding");

// Access result set
const data = this.myDataBinding.data;
const metadata = this.myDataBinding.metadata;

// Iterate over rows
this.myDataBinding.data.forEach(row => {
  const dimensionValue = row.dimensions_0.label;
  const measureValue = row.measures_0.raw;
});

Hosting Options

1. SAC-Hosted (Recommended, QRC Q2 2023+)

Upload files directly to SAC > Files > Public Files
Use relative paths: "/path/to/widget.js"
Set "integrity": "" and "ignoreIntegrity": true

2. GitHub Pages

Create repository with widget files
Enable GitHub Pages in Settings
Use URL: [https://username.github.io/repo/widget.js](https://username.github.io/repo/widget.js`)

3. External Web Server

AWS S3, Azure Blob, or any HTTPS server
Must include CORS headers: Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *

Security: Integrity Hash

For production, generate SHA256 hash:

# Generate hash
openssl dgst -sha256 -binary widget.js | openssl base64 -A

# Update JSON
"integrity": "sha256-abc123...",
"ignoreIntegrity": false

Common Errors & Solutions

| Error | Cause | Solution | |-------|-------|----------| | "The system couldn't load the custom widget" | Incorrect URL or hosting issue | Verify URL is accessible, check CORS | | "Integrity check failed" | Hash mismatch | Regenerate hash after JS changes | | Widget not appearing | Missing connectedCallback render | Call render in onCustomWidgetAfterUpdate | | Properties not updating | Missing propertiesChanged dispatch | Use dispatchEvent with propertiesChanged | | Data not displaying | Data binding misconfigured | Verify feeds in JSON match usage |

Debugging

Browser DevTools

Open Chrome DevTools (F12)
Sources tab: Find widget.js, set breakpoints
Console tab: View console.log output
Network tab: Check if files load (200 status)

Debug Pattern

onCustomWidgetAfterUpdate(changedProperties) {
  console.log("Widget updated:", changedProperties);
  console.log("Current props:", this._props);
  console.log("Data binding:", this.myDataBinding?.data);
  this._render();
}

Widget Add-Ons (QRC Q4 2023+)

Widget Add-Ons extend built-in SAC widgets without building from scratch.

Use Cases:

Customize chart tooltips
Add visual elements to plot areas
Override built-in styling

Supported Charts: Bar/Column, Stacked Bar/Column, Line, Stacked Area, Numeric Point

Key Differences:

Only main and builder components (no styling)
Must specify extension target (tooltip, plotArea, numericPoint)
SAC provides chart context data via methods

See references/widget-addon-guide.md for complete implementation.

Bundled Resources

Templates (Ready-to-Use Code)

templates/basic-widget.js - Minimal Web Component scaffold (~60 lines)
templates/data-bound-chart.js - ECharts widget with SAC data binding (~120 lines)
templates/styling-panel.js - Styling panel for runtime customization (~150 lines)
templates/widget.json-minimal - Bare-minimum metadata (~25 lines)
templates/widget.json-complete - Full-featured metadata (~100 lines)

Reference Documentation

references/json-schema-reference.md - Complete JSON schema documentation
references/widget-templates.md - Additional widget template patterns (6 templates)
references/echarts-integration.md - ECharts library integration guide
references/widget-addon-guide.md - Widget Add-On development (QRC Q4 2023+)
references/best-practices-guide.md - Performance, security, and development guidelines
references/advanced-topics.md - Custom types, script API types, installation
references/integration-and-migration.md - Script integration, content transport
references/script-api-reference.md - DataSource, Selection, MemberInfo APIs

Official Documentation Links

Primary References (for skill updates):

Sample Widgets:

Version History

v2.0.0 (2025-12-27)

Added 3 specialized agents: widget-architect, widget-debugger, widget-api-assistant
Added 3 slash commands: /widget-validate, /widget-generate, /widget-lint
Added validation hooks for automatic quality checks on Write/Edit
Added 5 production-ready templates in templates/ directory
Enhanced plugin structure to match comprehensive plugin pattern
Updated last verified date

v1.2.0 (2025-11-26)

Updated SAC version reference to 2025.21
Optimized SKILL.md length from 563 to ~200 lines
Added Table of Contents to all 8 reference files
Improved progressive disclosure architecture

v1.1.0 (2025-11-22)

Added Widget Add-On feature documentation (QRC Q4 2023+)
Added best practices guide (performance, security, development)
Added advanced topics (custom types, script API types, installation)
Enhanced description with additional keywords
Increased error prevention coverage to 25+

v1.0.0 (2025-11-22)

Initial release
Complete JSON metadata reference
Lifecycle functions documentation
Data binding guide
Styling panel implementation
Hosting options (SAC-hosted, GitHub, external)
Security (integrity hash, CORS)
Common errors and debugging

Last Verified: 2025-12-27 | SAC Version: 2025.21 | Skill Version: 2.0.0

Agent Skills: SAP Analytics Cloud Custom Widget Development

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