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Lesson 2 of 6

Finding apps

8 min

Your pages will not hold every app you ever need. Sometimes you need an app once a quarter; sometimes a trainer or a test script names an app you have never opened. The launchpad gives you two ways to find it: search and the App Finder.

Search

Select the search icon in the shell bar and type part of an app name, such as "sales orders." The results list matching apps you are allowed to use, and you can start one directly. If your company has set up enterprise search, the same field can also find business objects: type a sales order number or a customer name and the results include the record itself, with a link to open it.

Search respects your authorizations. It will not show apps outside your roles, and it will not show business data you are not allowed to see. That is a good thing, but it also means search is not proof that an app does not exist.

App Finder

The App Finder lives in the user actions menu (and as Add Apps in the Apps section of My Home). It lists every app in the catalogs assigned to you through your roles, including apps that are not placed on any of your pages. You can search inside it, then select the add icon on an app to place it on one of your pages or in My Home.

  1. Open the user actions menuSelect your initials or photo in the shell bar.
  2. Choose App FinderSee the catalogs assigned through your roles.
  3. Search in catalogType part of the app name, for example "purchase orders."
  4. Add the appSelect the add icon and pick the page or My Home.
  5. Go back and start itThe app now appears where you placed it.
Adding an app to your launchpad with the App Finder.

When an app is missing

Suppose a test script tells Luis to open Manage Purchase Orders, and he cannot find it anywhere. The most common cause is not an error in the system. It is that none of his business roles include the app. Search and App Finder only show what your roles allow. The fix is a role assignment by the security team, not a support ticket about a broken app.

  1. Does search find the app?Yes → start it and add it to a page · No → check the App Finder
  2. Does the App Finder list it?Yes → add it to a page · No → the app is not in your roles
  3. Is the app meant to be in your role?Yes → ask security for the correct business role · No → ask which app your role uses for this task
  4. Does it open but show an authorization message?Yes → note the message and the org unit (for example plant 1720) and report it · No → carry on
Working out why an app is missing.

The last question matters. An app can be visible but still refuse to show data for some organizational units. A buyer who can display purchase orders for plant 1710 but not for plant 1720 has an authorization gap, not a missing app. Record the exact message and the org unit; security needs both to fix it.

What would you do?

During user acceptance testing, Dana reports: "The Manage Sales Orders app is broken. It’s not on my launchpad." Her colleague with the same job can see it. What is the best first step?

Key points
  • Search finds apps and, where enterprise search is set up, business objects such as orders.
  • The App Finder lists every app in your assigned catalogs and lets you add it to a page or My Home.
  • A missing app usually means a missing business role, not a system error.
  • An app that opens but hides some data points to authorizations for specific org units.

Check your understanding · not graded

Lesson check

  1. 1. What does the App Finder list?

  2. 2. Your colleague with the same job sees an app you cannot. What is the most likely cause?

  3. 3. An app opens but shows no data for plant 1720, while plant 1710 works. What does this suggest?