NZOUG Conference 20-21 Oct 2008: Registration Open and Call for Papers Closing

The NZOUG Conference 2008 is open for registrations. The event is shaping up well, with some excellent sponsors, high profile speakers, and interesting papers. As well as that the entertainment in Rotorua is not to be missed!

The Call for Papers is closing 25 July, so if you are a potential speaker make the most of the last minute and get those abstracts in!

Watch the NZOUG website for updates on the conference.

PS. If you're sending a group, watch out for the buy 3 get 1 free offer.

Revisited: Why is mod_plsql not supported with the Oracle eBusiness Suite Release 12? Fusion Crossroads #1

In a prior post I raised the question of why mod_plsql was not supported with the eBusiness Suite R12. Excellent to see that Oracle was listening to the community and as Steven Chan's post highlights, Metalink Note:726711.1 has been created to address this question.

In summary you can still run mod_plsql connecting to the eBusiness Suite as long as the Apache/mod_plsql are in an isolated install and you address security and associated considerations. And of course as a customization it is not supported under the guise of the eBusiness Suite ... but hey your customizations never are!

Guess that means the same for the other sweet tools you'd connect/integrate to your eBusiness Suite ... like Application Express (APEX), PHP/Zend, Ruby on Rails, etc.

Where do I get the XML file or request output file for my BI Publisher Report / Concurrent Request?

A quick post ... it's been a frenetic few months, so blog posts a bit thin lately but plenty of good stuff in the pipeline!

Generally when I'm designing a BI Publisher/XML Publisher report I'll create a concurrent program that generates XML, I'll follow the usual steps:

1. Setup the concurrent program to output Text
2. Run it to ensure its working
3. Switch the concurrent program to output XML
4. Run the concurrent program to output XML
5. SFTP/copy the o*.out XML file from $APPLCSF/$APPLOUT
6. Load it into Word via the BI Publisher Desktop plugin and design the layout "on the run".
7. Setup the BI Publisher Data Definition/Template
8. Perform system/unit tests

Is there an easier way to get the XML file from a concurrent request? Sure is - nice and easy through the front end.

Get the XML File from a BI Publisher based concurrent request/report:

1. View->Requests
2. Find the request you're interested in
3. Click on Diagnostics button
4. Click the View XML
   
5. Save the file to your PC by doing File->Save As, *.xml

But where does the XML file live?

Well, by default it is $APPLCSF/$APPLOUT/o{REQUEST_ID}.out.

But if that's the XML file, then where does the actual output file reside as the location of the XML file is where normal request output resides?

Get the Request Output File for a BI Publisher based concurrent request/report:

The output is $APPLCSF/$APPLOUT/{REPORTNAME}_{REQUEST_ID}_{COUNT}.PDF|RTF|EXCEL|HTML

Where

• REPORTNAME is the concurrent program short name,
• REQUEST_ID is the concurrent request ID
• COUNT is a counter based on the number of times a request has been re-published.
• One of PDF, RTF, EXCEL, HTML is the file extension/type dependent on the output formats chosen.

An example is: XXXX_FNDSCURS_2803880_1.EXCEL

Output file location courtesy of Tim's post here.

Cool, file locations identified!