Showing posts with label reports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reports. Show all posts

Monday, October 03, 2011

R12 E-Business Suite Suppliers Query - SQL to join Suppliers, Contacts, Banks

In the Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) Release 12 the data model of Suppliers has become much more complex. The base tables have changed (Suppliers, Sites, Bank Accounts, Contacts) and some of the fields have become obsolete.

Here is a query to bring many of the Supplier attributes together, with focus on banks / bank accounts, payment methods, contacts, remittance delivery (email, notification method). Please post comments if you find any issues!

Adjust the WHERE clause on the first WITH query to return the suppliers that you need to report on. Hope this query helps someone out.

Add additional fields to the final query (or WITH queries as required.)

Update 29-Feb-2012: Outer join sites ss to payment methods pm.

with vendors as
(
select vendor_id
from   ap_suppliers
where  1=1
/* COMMENT / UNCOMMENT and UPDATE THE NEXT 5 LINES AS YOU REQUIRE */
--and    vendor_type_lookup_code = 'VENDOR'
--and    upper( vendor_name ) like 'VIRTUATE%'
and    creation_date between '01-JAN-2011' and '01-JAN-2012'
--and    enabled_flag = 'Y'
)
, vend as
(
select pv.vendor_id                 vendor_id
,      pv.vendor_name_alt           vendor_name_alt
,      pv.vendor_name               vendor_name
,      pv.segment1                  vendor_number
,      pv.vendor_type_lookup_code   vendor_type_lookup_code
from   ap_suppliers pv
where  pv.vendor_id in (select v.vendor_id from vendors v)
)
, site as
(
select ss.vendor_id                    vendor_id
,      ss.vendor_site_id               vendor_site_id
,      ss.vendor_site_code             vendor_site_code
,      ss.vendor_site_code_alt         vendor_site_code_alt
,      ss.vat_code                     tax_code
,      ss.vat_registration_num         vat_registration_num
,      t.name                          terms_name
,      ss.address_line1                ss_address_line1
,      ss.address_line2                ss_address_line2
,      ss.address_line3                ss_address_line3
,      ss.zip                          ss_zip          
,      ss.city                         ss_city         
,      ss.state                        ss_state        
,      ss.country                      ss_country      
,      ss.area_code                    ss_area_code    
,      ss.phone                        ss_phone        
,      ss.fax_area_code                ss_fax_area_code
,      ss.fax                          ss_fax          
,      ss.telex                        ss_telex
,      ss.pay_site_flag                ss_pay_site_flag
,      ss.primary_pay_site_flag        ss_primary_pay_site_flag
,      pm.remit_advice_delivery_method ss_remit_advice_deliv_meth
,      pm.remit_advice_email           ss_remit_advice_email
,      pm.remit_advice_fax             ss_remit_advice_fax
,      pm.payment_method_code          ss_payment_method_code
,      ss.remittance_email             ss_remittance_email
,      ss.supplier_notif_method        ss_supplier_notif_method
,      ps.addressee                    ss_addressee
,      ( select hcp.phone_area_code
         from   hz_contact_points hcp
         where  hcp.owner_table_id = ss.party_site_id
         and    hcp.owner_table_name = 'HZ_PARTY_SITES'
         and    hcp.phone_line_type = 'GEN'
         and    hcp.contact_point_type = 'PHONE'
         --and    hcp.created_by_module = 'AP_SUPPLIERS_API'
         and    rownum < 2 -- copied from OAF View Object 
       ) ss_hcp_phone_area_code
,      ( select hcp.phone_number
         from   hz_contact_points hcp
         where  hcp.owner_table_id = ss.party_site_id
         and    hcp.owner_table_name = 'HZ_PARTY_SITES'
         and    hcp.phone_line_type = 'GEN'
         and    hcp.contact_point_type = 'PHONE'
         --and    hcp.created_by_module = 'AP_SUPPLIERS_API'
         and    rownum < 2 -- copied from OAF View Object 
       ) ss_hcp_phone_number
,      ( select hcp.phone_area_code
         from   hz_contact_points hcp
         where  hcp.owner_table_id = ss.party_site_id
         and    hcp.owner_table_name = 'HZ_PARTY_SITES'
         and    hcp.phone_line_type = 'FAX'
         and    hcp.contact_point_type = 'PHONE'
         --and    hcp.created_by_module = 'AP_SUPPLIERS_API'
         and    rownum < 2 -- copied from OAF View Object 
       ) ss_hcp_fax_area_code
,      ( select hcp.phone_number
         from   hz_contact_points hcp
         where  hcp.owner_table_id = ss.party_site_id
         and    hcp.owner_table_name = 'HZ_PARTY_SITES'
         and    hcp.phone_line_type = 'FAX'
         and    hcp.contact_point_type = 'PHONE'
         --and    hcp.created_by_module = 'AP_SUPPLIERS_API'
         and    rownum < 2 -- copied from OAF View Object 
       ) ss_hcp_fax_number
from   ap_supplier_sites_all ss
,      ap_suppliers sup
,      ap_terms t
,      (
         select ss.vendor_site_id
              , payee.remit_advice_delivery_method
              , payee.remit_advice_email
              , payee.remit_advice_fax
              , pm.payment_method_code
         from   iby_external_payees_all payee
         ,      iby_ext_party_pmt_mthds pm
         ,      hz_party_sites ps
         ,      ap_supplier_sites_all ss
         where  payee.payee_party_id = ps.party_id
         and    payee.payment_function = 'PAYABLES_DISB'
         and    payee.party_site_id = ss.party_site_id
         and    payee.supplier_site_id = ss.vendor_site_id
         and    payee.org_id = ss.org_id
         and    payee.org_type = 'OPERATING_UNIT'
         and    ss.party_site_id = ps.party_site_id
         and    payee.ext_payee_id = pm.ext_pmt_party_id (+)
         and    pm.primary_flag (+) = 'N'
         and not exists
                ( select 1
                  from   iby_ext_party_pmt_mthds pm2
                  where  pm.ext_pmt_party_id = pm2.ext_pmt_party_id
                  and    pm2.primary_flag = 'Y'
                )
         union all
         select ss.vendor_site_id
              , payee.remit_advice_delivery_method
              , payee.remit_advice_email
              , payee.remit_advice_fax
              , pm.payment_method_code
         from   iby_external_payees_all payee
         ,      iby_ext_party_pmt_mthds pm
         ,      hz_party_sites ps
         ,      ap_supplier_sites_all ss
         where  payee.payee_party_id = ps.party_id
         and    payee.payment_function = 'PAYABLES_DISB'
         and    payee.party_site_id = ss.party_site_id
         and    payee.supplier_site_id = ss.vendor_site_id
         and    payee.org_id = ss.org_id
         and    payee.org_type = 'OPERATING_UNIT'
         and    ss.party_site_id = ps.party_site_id
         and    pm.ext_pmt_party_id = payee.ext_payee_id
         and    pm.primary_flag = 'Y'
       ) pm
,      hz_party_sites ps
where  sup.vendor_id in (select vendor_id from vendors)
and    sup.vendor_id = ss.vendor_id
and    ss.vendor_site_id = pm.vendor_site_id (+)
and    ss.party_site_id = ps.party_site_id (+)
and    ss.terms_id = t.term_id (+)
)
, cont as
(
select pv.vendor_id           vendor_id
,      pvs.vendor_site_id     vendor_site_id
,      hp.party_id            c_party_id
,      hp.person_first_name   c_first_name
,      hp.person_last_name    c_last_name
,      hp.person_title        c_person_title
,      hcpe.email_address     c_email_address
,      hcpp.phone_area_code   c_phone_area_code
,      hcpp.phone_number      c_phone_number
,      hcpf.phone_area_code   c_fax_area_code
,      hcpf.phone_number      c_fax_number
from   hz_parties hp
,      hz_relationships hzr
,      hz_contact_points hcpp
,      hz_contact_points hcpf
,      hz_contact_points hcpe
,      ap_suppliers pv
,      ap_supplier_sites_all pvs
,      hz_party_sites hps
where  hp.party_id = hzr.subject_id
and    hzr.relationship_type = 'CONTACT'
and    hzr.relationship_code = 'CONTACT_OF'
and    hzr.subject_type = 'PERSON'
and    hzr.subject_table_name = 'HZ_PARTIES'
and    hzr.object_type = 'ORGANIZATION'
and    hzr.object_table_name = 'HZ_PARTIES'
and    hzr.status = 'A'
and    hcpp.owner_table_name(+) = 'HZ_PARTIES'
and    hcpp.owner_table_id(+) = hzr.party_id
and    hcpp.phone_line_type(+) = 'GEN'
and    hcpp.contact_point_type(+) = 'PHONE'
and    hcpf.owner_table_name(+) = 'HZ_PARTIES'
and    hcpf.owner_table_id(+) = hzr.party_id
and    hcpf.phone_line_type(+) = 'FAX'
and    hcpf.contact_point_type(+) = 'PHONE'
and    hcpe.owner_table_name(+) = 'HZ_PARTIES'
and    hcpe.owner_table_id(+) = hzr.party_id
and    hcpe.contact_point_type(+) = 'EMAIL'
and    hcpp.status (+)='A'
and    hcpf.status (+)='A'
and    hcpe.status (+)='A'
and    hps.party_id = hzr.object_id
and    pvs.party_site_id = hps.party_site_id
and    pv.vendor_id = pvs.vendor_id
and    exists
       ( select 1
         from ap_supplier_contacts ascs
         where (ascs.inactive_date is null
         or ascs.inactive_date      > sysdate)
         and hzr.relationship_id    = ascs.relationship_id
         and hzr.party_id           = ascs.rel_party_id
         and hps.party_site_id      = ascs.org_party_site_id
         and hzr.subject_id         = ascs.per_party_id
       )
and    pv.vendor_id in (select vendor_id from vendors)
)
, bank as
(
select  pv.vendor_id                    vendor_id
,       ss.vendor_site_id               vendor_site_id
,       hopbank.bank_or_branch_number   bank_number
,       hopbranch.bank_or_branch_number branch_number
,       eba.bank_account_num            bank_account_num
,       eba.bank_account_name           bank_account_name
,       piu.start_date                  bank_use_start_date
,       piu.end_date                    bank_use_end_date
,       piu.order_of_preference         bank_priority
from    iby_ext_bank_accounts eba
,       iby_external_payees_all payee
,       iby_pmt_instr_uses_all piu
,       ap_supplier_sites_all ss
,       ap_suppliers pv
,       hz_organization_profiles hopbank
,       hz_organization_profiles hopbranch
where   1=1
and     eba.bank_id = hopbank.party_id
and     eba.branch_id = hopbranch.party_id
and     payee.payment_function = 'PAYABLES_DISB'
and     payee.party_site_id = ss.party_site_id
and     payee.supplier_site_id = ss.vendor_site_id
and     payee.org_id = ss.org_id
and     payee.org_type = 'OPERATING_UNIT'
and     payee.ext_payee_id = piu.ext_pmt_party_id
and     piu.payment_flow = 'DISBURSEMENTS'
and     piu.instrument_type = 'BANKACCOUNT'
and     piu.instrument_id = eba.ext_bank_account_id
and     piu.start_date < sysdate
and     ( piu.end_date is null or
          piu.end_date > sysdate
        )
and     ss.vendor_id = pv.vendor_id
and     pv.vendor_id in (select vendor_id from vendors)
)
-- select distinct v.*, s.*, c.*, b.*
select distinct v.vendor_id             supplier_id
,      v.vendor_number                  supplier_num
,      v.vendor_name                    supplier_name
,      v.vendor_type_lookup_code        supplier_type
,      s.terms_name                     terms_name
,      s.tax_code                       invoice_tax_code
,      s.vat_registration_num           vat_registration_num
,      s.vendor_site_code               site_code
,      s.ss_address_line1               address1
,      s.ss_address_line2               address2
,      s.ss_address_line3               address3
,      s.ss_city                        suburb
,      s.ss_state                       state
,      s.ss_zip                         post_code
,      s.ss_country                     country
,      s.ss_payment_method_code         payment_method
,      b.bank_account_name              bank_account_name
,      b.bank_number                    bank_number
,      b.branch_number                  branch_number
,      b.bank_account_num               bank_account_num
,      s.ss_remit_advice_email          remittance_email
,      s.ss_remit_advice_deliv_meth     notification_method
,      c.c_first_name                   contact_first_name
,      c.c_last_name                    contact_last_name
,      c.c_person_title                 contact_title
,      c.c_email_address                contact_email
,      c.c_phone_area_code              contact_ph_area_code
,      c.c_phone_number                 contact_ph_number
,      c.c_fax_area_code                contact_fax_area_code
,      c.c_fax_number                   contact_fax_number
from   vend v
,      site s
,      cont c
,      bank b
where  v.vendor_id = s.vendor_id (+)
and    s.vendor_id = b.vendor_id (+)
and    s.vendor_site_id = b.vendor_site_id (+)
and    s.vendor_id = c.vendor_id (+)
and    s.vendor_site_id = c.vendor_site_id (+)
and    nvl(b.bank_priority,-1) = (select nvl(min(bank_priority),-1)
                                  from   bank b2
                                  where  b2.vendor_id = b.vendor_id
                                  and    b2.vendor_site_id = b.vendor_site_id)
order by 3,1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13;

Catch ya!
Gareth
This is a post from Gareth's blog at http://garethroberts.blogspot.com

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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Track and Trace E-Business Suite Concurrent Request - EBS Logs, O/S Process IDs, Locks

I often get asked to take a look at an Oracle eBusiness Suite concurrent request to see what it is doing, this can come from a few different angles:

  1. What requests are currently running?
  2. I have an operating system process that is taking too much CPU - what is it doing?
  3. Can you tell me where the request is at? I've clicked on the log but it doesn't show anything!
  4. My request is taking too long - can you check for blocking locks?

There are a number of strategies to track and trace where things are at for a running request, these include:

  1. Monitor the currently running requests in fnd_concurrent_requests
  2. Checking the v$sqlarea to see what SQL statement or PL/SQL is running
  3. Tailing the concurrent request log / output file while it is being written to near realtime - prior to request completing
  4. Checking for locks blocking the concurrent request

So without further ado, let's take a look at the following sweet query. UPDATE: 23-Aug-2012 fixed multi rows due to missing join on inst_id between gv$session and gv$process. Also note for non-RAC environments change gv$ to v$ and remove joins to sys.v_$active_instances:

set pages 9999 feed on lines 150
col user_concurrent_program_name format a40 head PROGRAM trunc
col elapsed format 9999
col request_id format 9999999 head REQUEST
col user_name format a12
col oracle_process_id format a5 head OSPID
col inst_name format a10
col sql_text format a30
col outfile_tmp format a30
col logfile_tmp format a30

REM *********************
REM **** RAC VERSION ****
REM *********************
select /*+ ordered */ 
       fcp.user_concurrent_program_name
,      fcr.request_id
,      round(24*60*( sysdate - actual_start_date )) elapsed
,      fu.user_name
,      fcr.oracle_process_id
,      sess.sid
,      sess.serial#
,      inst.inst_name
,      sa.sql_text
,      cp.plsql_dir || '/' || cp.plsql_out outfile_tmp
,      cp.plsql_dir || '/' || cp.plsql_log logfile_tmp
from   apps.fnd_concurrent_requests fcr
,      apps.fnd_concurrent_programs_tl fcp
,      apps.fnd_concurrent_processes cp
,      apps.fnd_user fu
,      gv$process pro
,      gv$session sess
,      gv$sqlarea sa
,      sys.v_$active_instances inst
where  fcp.concurrent_program_id = fcr.concurrent_program_id
and    fcp.application_id = fcr.program_application_id
and    fcr.controlling_manager = cp.concurrent_process_id
and    fcr.requested_by = fu.user_id (+)
and    fcr.oracle_process_id = pro.spid (+)
and    pro.addr = sess.paddr (+)
and    pro.inst_id = sess.inst_id (+)
and    sess.sql_address = sa.address (+)
and    sess.sql_hash_value = sa.hash_value (+)
and    sess.inst_id = inst.inst_number (+)
and    fcr.phase_code = 'R' /* only running requests */
;

REM *********************
REM ** NON-RAC VERSION **
REM *********************
select /*+ ordered */ 
       fcp.user_concurrent_program_name
,      fcr.request_id
,      round(24*60*( sysdate - actual_start_date )) elapsed
,      fu.user_name
,      fcr.oracle_process_id
,      sess.sid
,      sess.serial#
,      sa.sql_text
,      cp.plsql_dir || '/' || cp.plsql_out outfile_tmp
,      cp.plsql_dir || '/' || cp.plsql_log logfile_tmp
from   apps.fnd_concurrent_requests fcr
,      apps.fnd_concurrent_programs_tl fcp
,      apps.fnd_concurrent_processes cp
,      apps.fnd_user fu
,      v$process pro
,      v$session sess
,      v$sqlarea sa
where  fcp.concurrent_program_id = fcr.concurrent_program_id
and    fcp.application_id = fcr.program_application_id
and    fcr.controlling_manager = cp.concurrent_process_id
and    fcr.requested_by = fu.user_id (+)
and    fcr.oracle_process_id = pro.spid (+)
and    pro.addr = sess.paddr (+)
and    sess.sql_address = sa.address (+)
and    sess.sql_hash_value = sa.hash_value (+)
and    fcr.phase_code = 'R' /* only running requests */
;

PROGRAM                                   REQUEST ELAPSED USER_NAME    OSPID        SID    SERIAL# INST_NAME  SQL_TEXT                       OUTFILE_TMP                    LOGFILE_TMP
---------------------------------------- -------- ------- ------------ ----- ---------- ---------- ---------- ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------
Workflow Background Process               2960551       1 VIRTUATE     24814        130      29699 APPLPROD1  BEGIN WF_ENGINE.BACKGROUNDCONC /usr/tmp/o0068194.tmp          /usr/tmp/l0068194.tmp
                                                                                                              URRENT(:errbuf,:rc,:A0,:A1,:A2
                                                                                                              ,:A3,:A4,:A5); END;

1 row selected.

From the above we can see key information:

  • The running Concurrent Request Program Name and Request_ID
  • The database node operating system process id (OSPID) so we can monitor usage via top / iostat / vmstat
  • The SID / Serial in case we want to kill the session via alter system kill session '130,29699';
  • The instance name the database session is running on in a RAC environment
  • The currently running SQL text
  • The temporary files where concurrent request log/out is being written to via utl_file while running. These files are copied over to the Concurrent Tier $APPLCSF/$APPLOUT and $APPLLOG after completion of the request.

We can break out the above into a few queries and procedures to drill into specific information information from the core EBS tables and DBA v$ views

1. Get concurrent requests running, temp files and Operating System PID

col user_concurrent_program_name format a40 head PROGRAM trunc
col elapsed format 9999
col request_id format 9999999 head REQUEST
col user_name format a12
col oracle_process_id format a5 head OSPID
select  fcp.user_concurrent_program_name
,       fcr.request_id
,       round(24*60*( sysdate - actual_start_date )) elapsed
,       fu.user_name
,       fcr.oracle_process_id
from    apps.fnd_concurrent_requests fcr
,       apps.fnd_concurrent_programs_tl fcp
,       apps.fnd_user fu
where   fcp.concurrent_program_id = fcr.concurrent_program_id
and     fcp.application_id = fcr.program_application_id
and     fu.user_id = fcr.requested_by
and     fcr.phase_code = 'R';

PROGRAM                                   REQUEST ELAPSED USER_NAME    OSPID
---------------------------------------- -------- ------- ------------ -----
Virtuate GL OLAP Data Refresh             2960541       5 VIRTUATE     21681

2. Get current running sql from instance (RAC inst_id/name) where request is running

col inst_name format a10
col sql_text format a30
col module format a20

REM *********************
REM **** RAC VERSION ****
REM *********************
select sess.sid
,      sess.serial#
,      sess.module
,      sess.inst_id
,      inst.inst_name
,      sa.fetches
,      sa.runtime_mem
,      sa.sql_text
,      pro.spid
from   gv$sqlarea sa
,      gv$session sess
,      gv$process pro
,      sys.v_$active_instances inst
where  sa.address = sess.sql_address
and    sa.hash_value = sess.sql_hash_value
and    sess.paddr = pro.addr
and    sess.inst_id = pro.inst_id
and    sess.inst_id = inst.inst_number (+)
and    pro.spid = &OSPID_from_running_request;

REM *********************
REM ** NON-RAC VERSION **
REM *********************

select sess.sid
,      sess.serial#
,      sess.module
,      sa.fetches
,      sa.runtime_mem
,      sa.sql_text
,      pro.spid
from   v$sqlarea sa
,      v$session sess
,      v$process pro
where  sa.address = sess.sql_address
and    sa.hash_value = sess.sql_hash_value
and    sess.paddr = pro.addr
and    pro.spid = &OSPID_from_running_request;

If you're running something that has long SQL statements, get the full SQL Statement by selecting from v$sqltext_with_newlines as follows

select t.sql_text
from   v$sqltext_with_newlines t
,      v$session s
where  s.sid = &SID
and    s.sql_address = t.address
order by t.piece

3. Find currently spooling temp file from request

col outfile format a30
col logfile format a30
select cp.plsql_dir || '/' || cp.plsql_out outfile
,      cp.plsql_dir || '/' || cp.plsql_log logfile
from  apps.fnd_concurrent_requests cr
,     apps.fnd_concurrent_processes cp
where cp.concurrent_process_id = cr.controlling_manager
and cr.request_id = &request_id;

OUTFILE                        LOGFILE
------------------------------ ------------------------------
/usr/tmp/PROD/o0068190.tmp     /usr/tmp/PROD/l0068190.tmp

REM Now tail log file on database node to see where it is at, near realtime
REM tail -f /usr/tmp/l0068190.tmp

Then on the Database node you can tail -f the above plsql_out or plsql_log files to see where program is at. Combine this with good logging techniques (date/time stamp on each entry) and you'll be able to know where your program is at.

If locks are the potential problem, then drill into those:

Currently held locks per concurrent request

set lines 150
col object_name format a32
col mode_held format a15
select /*+ ordered */
       fcr.request_id
,      object_name
,      object_type
,      decode( l.block
             , 0, 'Not Blocking'
             , 1, 'Blocking'
             , 2, 'Global'
             ) status
,      decode( v.locked_mode
             , 0, 'None'
             , 1, 'Null'
             , 2, 'Row-S (SS)'
             , 3, 'Row-X (SX)'
             , 4, 'Share'
             , 5, 'S/Row-X (SSX)'
             , 6, 'Exclusive'
             , to_char(lmode)
             ) mode_held
from   apps.fnd_concurrent_requests fcr
,      gv$process pro
,      gv$session sess
,      gv$locked_object v
,      gv$lock l
,      dba_objects d
where  fcr.phase_code = 'R'
and    fcr.oracle_process_id = pro.spid (+)
and    pro.addr = sess.paddr (+)
and    sess.sid = v.session_id (+)
and    v.object_id = d.object_id (+)
and    v.object_id = l.id1 (+)
;

REQUEST_ID OBJECT_NAME                      OBJECT_TYPE         STATUS       MODE_HELD
---------- -------------------------------- ------------------- ------------ ---------------
   1070780 VIRTUATE_GL_OLAP_REFRESH         TABLE               Not Blocking Exclusive

So there you have it - enough tools to keep you happy Track n Tracing! Maybe next time we'll look at tracing with bind / waits or PL/SQL Profiling concurrent programs

Catch ya!
Gareth
This is a post from Gareth's blog at http://garethroberts.blogspot.com

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Friday, September 11, 2009

Discoverer with EBS R12 - Sheet contains no data for custom Oracle eBusiness Suite Responsibility

So you're working with Discoverer 10g integrated with the Oracle eBusiness Suite on Release 12. You've installed and set everything up per Metalink/MOS Note 373634.1 "Using Discoverer 10.1.2 with Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12" plus created a custom application and responsibility to have it's own menu items corresponding to your Discoverer Workbooks/Worksheets.

You login to your new responsibility and click on your new menu entry that you created per Metalink/MOS Note "How to Create a Link to a Discoverer Workbook in Apps R12" and what do you get when you query subledger data such as Payables Invoices, or secured General Ledger data?

This sheet currently contains no data.

Well, its a quick fix. Simply save the following value in the "Initialization SQL Statement - Custom" profile option at Responsibility level for your new Responsibility.

begin gl_security_pkg.init; mo_global.init('M'); end;

Note: this may depend on your setup of the following profile options:

  • GL Ledger Name
  • GL: Data Access Set
  • MO: Operating Unit
  • MO: Security Profile

All sorted!

References

Related Posts

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Oracle EBS Release 12.1 Released: Top 8 New ATG Features

Oracle has announced the availability of Release 12.1, plenty of buzz around on this and Beehive updates.

Update: Oracle Application Management / Change Management Pack 3.0 also released! See Patch 8333939

Let's take a look at the Top Eight R12.1 new ATG (Applications Technology) features from my perspective.

  1. Out of the box Techstack Upgrades. New R12.1.1 installations are Database 11.1.0.7, Java 6, Application Server (Java/OAF)/JDeveloper Runtime 10.1.3.4, Application Server (Forms/Reports) 10.1.2.3.
  2. OAF: Record History. R12.1.1 OAF allows viewing Row/Blame or Row/Who information similar to that available in Forms interface (who remembers Release 9 character mode key sequences ;-)
  3. OAF: BI Publisher Integration. R12.1.1 provides a personalizable "Print" button for OAF pages. Very Nice.
  4. OAF: Flexfield References support. R12.1.1 gives the same functionality as Forms UI for referencing other fields as part of flexfields.
  5. Attachments APIs. Bulk upload and web services/API for Document Attachments. Sounds great!
  6. Integration / SOA. A bunch of new functionality including Web Services Invocation Framework (WSIF), a step towards easier integration.
  7. Diagnostics upgrades. A variety of changes/functionality to Oracle Diagnostics including BI Publisher enablement for new diagnostics. Oracle Diagnostics is an excellent source of EBS information for techie types!
  8. Autoconfig: Share Applications Tier between environments. R12.1 introduces the ability to share applications executables between instances, like Production and Test. Probably not what you'd want for your typical PROD/DEV/TEST setup, but for a "Production" / "Production Support" mirror setup this is very tempting.

Plenty of other candidates, but those are the ones that took my fancy from the ATG bag of tricks!

So how am I doing against my Chinese New Year predictions?

  1. Release 12.1: AVAILABLE
  2. Patch 5612820 for EBS Release 11i: AVAILABLE
  3. Native Excel Templates for XML / BI Publisher: Still waiting for them!
  4. Further emergence of OBIA with EBS: Release 12.1.1 has specific mention of further integration with Business Intelligence Applications (OBIA), needs a closer look.
  5. Change Management Pack for the eBusiness Suite: AVAILABLE: Patch 8333939.
  6. New Oracle Application Express (APEX) components to allow APEX/EBS Integration/support: Still waiting, but I'm currently looking at alternatives for APEX/Apps integration for R12.x.
  7. Oracle Fusion Applications: As expected delayed until at least 2010.

Disclaimer: The words, ideas and opinions here are my own. Please don't assume they represent the opinion of any other person or organization. This information is based on various sources, so it may not match the actual functionality delivered!

Related Posts

Thursday, November 20, 2008

R12 Patch 5612820 Available: Changing the default layout format between RTF/PDF/Excel when submitting XML / BI Publisher Concurrent Request

In a previous post I provided a temporary solution for the issue where the default value for the Output Format of a BI Publisher based concurrent request was hardcoded to PDF.

For those those customers lucky enough to be on Release 12 I'm glad to say Oracle has provided a patch for this enhancement, the base issue documented in Metalink Note 401328.1 or Bug 5612820 or Bug 5036916:

  • R12 Patch 5612820 DEFAULT OUTPUT FORMAT ATTRIBUTE AT TEMPLATE LEVEL IS REQUIRED

This patch is included in R12 Release Update Pack 12.0.6, but as a note at the time of writing 5612820 is available on controlled release ... not sure of the reason since its in 12.0.6. The code base required for applying 5612820 is:

  • R12.AD.A.delta.4
  • R12.ATG_PF.A.delta.4

For those people on Release 11i, unfortunately you'll have to wait a little longer ... still awaiting the 11i version of the patch.

Here's a screenshot of the new Default Output Format field on the Templates page.

And verification that the default output format is indeed working...

Nice!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Discoverer Plus 10g: contact with Server lost: DiscoApplet Error DiscoNetworkException CORBA.COMM_FAILURE. ICX Territory!

An interesting one today; a Discoverer Plus Workbook called via an eBusiness Suite Menu errored out with:

OracleBI Discoverer: "Contact with the Discoverer Server has been lost. To continue your work, please restart Discoverer Plus. If this problem persists, please contact your Oracle Application Server administrator."

Doh! Who's that Application Server administrator ... oh! me :-(

Attempting to expand the workbook, after going directly into Discoverer Plus errors with:

"This workbook cannot be expanded".

 

Hmm, okay, let's look at the Java Console:

Reading bytes from input stream
   Unmarshalling response
   Session ID:2008111408252618857
   BI Beans Graph version [3.2.3.0.37]
   DiscoApplet[0]: Error received by GlobalStatusListener.workerFailed() in SessionUI.java
   DiscoNetworkException  - Nested exception: org.omg.CORBA.COMM_FAILURE:   vmcid: SUN  minor code: 208 completed: Maybe
   DiscoNetworkException  - Nested exception: org.omg.CORBA.COMM_FAILURE:   vmcid: SUN  minor code: 208 completed: Maybe
   org.omg.CORBA.COMM_FAILURE:   vmcid: SUN  minor code: 208 completed: Maybe
 at com.sun.corba.se.internal.iiop.IIOPConnection.purge_calls(IIOPConnection.java:438)
 at com.sun.corba.se.internal.iiop.ReaderThread.run(ReaderThread.java:70)
 at sun.rmi.transport.StreamRemoteCall.exceptionReceivedFromServer(Unknown Source)
 at sun.rmi.transport.StreamRemoteCall.executeCall(Unknown Source)
 at sun.rmi.server.UnicastRef.invoke(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.remote.rmi.serverbase.RMISessionBase_Stub.sendRecieveData(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.model.corbaserver.ModelInterface.sendRecieveData(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.model.corbaserver.ModelInterface.SendReceiveData(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.model.corbaserver.serverrequest.DsrOpenWorkbook.xmlUpdateServer(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.model.corbaserver.serverrequest.DsrCorbaXML.corbaUpdateServer(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.model.corbaserver.serverrequest.DsrGeneralCorbaXML.updateServer(Unknown Source)
 

Ouch! Sounds like it hurts!

A quick blast through Metalink (oops MOS - My Oracle Support) and a bunch of old bugs later, not looking promising, however there's one major clue - the problem is only occurring for some Users. Okay, lets do a side by side comparison of Profile Options as a first guess:

User Level Profile Option Value Comparison Side by Side

select *
   from (
 with
 prof_di as
 ( select 'USER' level_name, 
 fu.user_name level_value, 
 fpo.profile_option_id,
 fpot.user_profile_option_name,
 fpo.profile_option_name,
 fpov.profile_option_value
 from   fnd_user fu, 
 fnd_profile_options fpo,
 fnd_profile_option_values fpov,
 fnd_profile_options_tl fpot
 where  fu.user_id = fpov.level_value
 and    fpo.profile_option_id = fpov.profile_option_id
 and    fpo.profile_option_name = fpot.profile_option_name
 and    fpot.language = 'US'
 and    fpov.level_id = 10004
 and    fu.user_name = 'SYSADMIN'
 ),
 prof_gr as
 (
 select 'USER' level_name, 
 fu.user_name level_value, 
 fpo.profile_option_id,
 fpot.user_profile_option_name,
 fpo.profile_option_name,
 fpov.profile_option_value
 from   fnd_user fu, 
 fnd_profile_options fpo,
 fnd_profile_option_values fpov,
 fnd_profile_options_tl fpot
 where  fu.user_id = fpov.level_value
 and    fpo.profile_option_id = fpov.profile_option_id
 and    fpo.profile_option_name = fpot.profile_option_name
 and    fpot.language = 'US'
 and    fpov.level_id = 10004
 and    fu.user_name = 'ROBERTSG'
 )
 select pd.profile_option_id
 ,      pd.user_profile_option_name
 ,      pd.profile_option_name
 ,      pd.profile_option_value d_value
 ,      pg.profile_option_value g_value
 ,      decode(pd.profile_option_value,pg.profile_option_value,'EQUAL','DIFF') status
 from   prof_di pd
 ,      prof_gr pg
 where  pd.profile_option_name = pg.profile_option_name (+)
 union
 select pg.profile_option_id
 ,      pg.user_profile_option_name
 ,      pg.profile_option_name
 ,      pd.profile_option_value d_value
 ,      pg.profile_option_value g_value
 ,      decode(pg.profile_option_value,pd.profile_option_value,'EQUAL','DIFF') status
 from   prof_di pd
 ,      prof_gr pg
 where  pg.profile_option_name = pd.profile_option_name (+)
 )
 where status != 'EQUAL';  

The query gets output that includes the following:

USER_PROFILE_OPTION_NAME PROFILE_OPTION_NAME D_VALUE     G_VALUE STATUS
------------------------ ------------------- ----------- ------- ------
ICX: Territory ICX_TERRITORY NEW ZEALAND AMERICA DIFF

Whenever I see anything related to "NLS_LANG" or "Territory" the alarm bells start ringing, and sure enough - for the problem User, just a quick navigate to the "Preferences" responsibility, General Preferences and change the Territory from New Zealand to United States and we're off and laughing again! Alternatively could have looked at the ICX: Territory profile option.

 

What was the real underlying problem? My guess is a clash on date formats for default parameter values ... but that's left for another day.

 

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Top 7 Reasons for a FREE version of BI Publisher a.k.a Uncage Oracle XML Publisher

I'd like to see a "free" (as in beer) version of BI Publisher (XML Publisher) added to the list of "free" Oracle products. Here are my reasons:

1. BI Publisher for everyone.

BI Publisher is fundamentally such a fantastic product that every organization and developer should benefit from it.

2. Remove the quirks.

The accelerated uptake from the "free" version would (hopefully) translate to the quirks of the product being identified and fixed in fraction of the time it would take for a paid expensive product.

3. Ease the expense.

BI Publisher bundled up in a package costing large $$$? I have trouble driving Oracle's online store at the best of times, and I can't find "BI Publisher Standalone" on its own - only bundled with other stuff I don't need or want, yet ;-) Try searching on "Publisher". Now making a free version would solve this problem - no license to find and buy!

4. It needs other technology to lean on.

In a similar nature to a plugin, BI Publisher doesn't stand on its own feet. Like APEX (needing the Oracle RDBMS) and JDeveloper (an IDE) it needs either someone to feed it or something else to connect to. If there is a free version its more likely that the other thing will be Oracle. Update: This point has been updated from the original post to clarify my use of "plugin".

5. It's a killer combo with APEX and XE.

The other "free" products - APEX and XE are natural integration partners with BI Publisher and the resulting combination is a awesome one. I see a number of people wanting this integration - but without the cost.

6. Raise visibility.

Although its been around for a number of years in various forms, the product on its own doesn't seem to be highly visible. Or is that just because of the quirks?! Making it free would bring visibility to new levels.

7. Beat the competition

Various other competitors exist, both in free and paid form. Making at least an entry level version of BI Publisher free would make it a viable competitor, and ensure Oracle customers lock into Oracle products taking out the chance of a competitors plugin being used.

8. Create Leads for Oracle

Oracle would benefit by having a greater stream of leads and support revenue.

Oops, that's 8, oh well, luckier than 7 for some ;-)

Post your support here!

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

XML / BI Publisher concurrent request fails with no error message? Check Output Post Processor (OPP) logfile for errors like: invalid char in text

So your Oracle Reports based concurrent request completed with warning and your concurrent request log file looks like this:

+------------- 1) PUBLISH -------------+
Beginning post-processing of request 1294502 on node XXXX01 at 02-SEP-2008 12:53:28.
Post-processing of request 1294502 failed at 02-SEP-2008 12:53:33 with the error message:
One or more post-processing actions failed. Consult the OPP service log for details.
+--------------------------------------+

And if you go to System Administrator, Concurrent > Manager > Administer, Query up "Output Post Processor", click on Processes, View Manager Log, you see something like:

[9/2/08 10:44:34 AM] [198325:RT1294354]
Template code: XXGLXXXX
Template app:  XXV8
Language:      en
Territory:     US
Output type:   EXCEL
[9/2/08 10:44:49 AM] [UNEXPECTED] [198325:RT1294354] java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
 at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:585)
 at oracle.apps.xdo.common.xml.XSLT10gR1.invokeParse(XSLT10gR1.java:517)
 at oracle.apps.xdo.common.xml.XSLT10gR1.transform(XSLT10gR1.java:224)
 at oracle.apps.xdo.common.xml.XSLTWrapper.transform(XSLTWrapper.java:177)
 at oracle.apps.xdo.template.fo.util.FOUtility.generateFO(FOUtility.java:1044)
 at oracle.apps.xdo.template.fo.util.FOUtility.generateFO(FOUtility.java:997)
 at oracle.apps.xdo.template.fo.util.FOUtility.generateFO(FOUtility.java:212)
 at oracle.apps.xdo.template.FOProcessor.createFO(FOProcessor.java:1657)
 at oracle.apps.xdo.template.FOProcessor.generate(FOProcessor.java:967)
 at oracle.apps.xdo.oa.schema.server.TemplateHelper.runProcessTemplate(TemplateHelper.java:5888)
 at oracle.apps.xdo.oa.schema.server.TemplateHelper.processTemplate(TemplateHelper.java:3438)
 at oracle.apps.xdo.oa.schema.server.TemplateHelper.processTemplate(TemplateHelper.java:3527)
 at oracle.apps.fnd.cp.opp.XMLPublisherProcessor.process(XMLPublisherProcessor.java:247)
 at oracle.apps.fnd.cp.opp.OPPRequestThread.run(OPPRequestThread.java:157)
Caused by: oracle.xdo.parser.v2.XMLParseException: Invalid char in text.
 at oracle.xdo.parser.v2.XMLError.flushErrors1(XMLError.java:324)
 at oracle.xdo.parser.v2.NonValidatingParser.parseDocument(NonValidatingParser.java:290)
 at oracle.xdo.parser.v2.XMLParser.parse(XMLParser.java:266)
 ... 17 more
[9/2/08 10:44:49 AM] [198325:RT1294354] Completed post-processing actions for request 1294354.

You look at your XML file via View Concurrent Requests, Diagnostics, View XML. Then how do you find the invalid character?

Try loading the XML Data in BI Publisher Desktop Word Plugin (Data > Load XML Data), and hopefully you'll see something like the following that gives the details of where the error is occurring (of course without the smudges ;-):

In this case the "invalid char" is indicated by the square box.

Throwing that into a hex editor (part of the highly recommended PSPad) we see character hex 05 followed by the two periods (hex 2E):

Looking at our ASCII table we see 05 is Enquiry - but this isn't a printing character and so will be causing the problem.

Okay, so now we know what's causing it, we can just update the data to remove the special character, and run the report again without hassles!

Or we could write a wrapper PL/SQL procedure to remove the control characters from the affected fields and add to the Report definition SQL.

Or those of you with more problems that just one occurrence of the control character could log an SR and see if something can be done other than that referred to in Note:155078.1!

Monday, April 07, 2008

Oracle Discoverer Statement of Direction March 2008

Quite a bit of noise and even FUD surrounding the position of Oracle Discoverer and its fit (or lack of fit) within the Fusion roadmap. Good to see Oracle come out with a statement of direction on this last month firmly cementing its place in the BI toolset and hence Fusion Middleware stack.

For details see: Statement of Direction Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer March 2008

Great to keep that Disco happenin!

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

BI Publisher: How do I replace linefeeds, newline or carriage return whitespace / special characters

Over on the forums, one post came up that is usually a quick answer.

How do I replace newlines (carriage returns or linefeeds) with a space? Well, with BI Publisher Template Builder things weren't exactly going to plan.

Basically you've got an XML element like this:

<sort_field1_inv>110
000
000
110000
0000
0000</sort_field1_inv>

And you want the output to be this: 110 000 000 110000 0000 0000

Should be easy. The 10.1.3.2.0 documentation for xdofx has replace function for replacing strings. Only problem is no mention of special characters. Doh! Okay, just throw in the chr(10) function and should be fine.

So let's try it out:

<?xdofx:replace(SORT_FIELD1_INV,chr(10),' ')?>  

Uh-oh: lovely error message on preview including:

oracle.xdo.parser.v2.XPathException: Extension function error: Method not found 'chr' 

Oh well, lets try some xsl magic similar to the following, including a bunch of variations not presented here!:

<xsl:value-of select='translate(/SORT_FIELD1_INV,"&#x20;&#x9;&#x10;&#x13;&#xD;&#xA;"," ")'/>

Nope, that didn't change anything, still newlines coming through.

Hmm, now what version of the BI Publisher Desktop Word Addin are on? In my case, a tad behind the times, but still matching the documentation that says chr should be available - 10.1.3.2.0 Build 87.

Luckily with Google, a ounce of Japanese reading ability, and of course Babelfish - found that 10.1.3.3.1 or higher would fix this.

So downloaded BI Publisher Desktop 10.1.3.3.2 from this page, uninstalled 10.1.3.2.0, installed 10.1.3.3.2 and now its all go, solution is as previously:

<?xdofx:replace(SORT_FIELD1_INV,chr(10),' ')?>  

Sorted!

UPDATE: Since the eBusiness Suite is still on 5.6.3, the above solution does not work. Here is an alternative solution:

<fo:inline linefeed-treatment="treat-as-space"><?SORT_FIELD1_INV?></fo>

On with it!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

BI Publisher EBS Bursting 101: A tutorial/case study including Bursting Control File to email Suppliers Remittance Advice in 1 easy step

Here's a brisk case study into the power of core BI Publisher functionality in combination with the Oracle eBusiness Suite with a focus on Bursting.

The requirement here is to send Suppliers their Remittance Advice via email with a pixel perfect PDF attachment, of course with minimal coding. I'm limiting the functionality to email remittance advice for EFT payments in order to simplify this tutorial. Plus there are some coding shortcuts - your're more than welcome to provide free code fixes if you can spot them ;-)

Test Data

Firstly, lets look at the test data ingredients used:

  • 1 Supplier: say "Virtuate"
  • 1 Supplier Site: say "WELLINGTON" with Remittance Email address entered, Payment Method = EFT, Bank Account assigned
  • 2 Invoices for the Supplier say INV0001, INV0002
  • 1 Payment Batch say BURST_01 where payments have been made and payment batch confirmed

XML Data Source

Now, we need to create the Separate Remittance XML file somehow. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I started with a stock standard Payables Separate Remittance Advice report (APXPBSRA.rdf), and did the following:

  1. Setup a new concurrent program definition by copying the existing one, renaming, changing the executable, changing output to XML
  2. Added the new concurrent program to Payables "All Reports" request group
  3. Copied the report definition $AP_TOP/reports/US/APXPBSRA.rdf to a new report XXV8_APXPBSRA.rdf under modifications top directory
  4. Spiced up the new report with a couple of extra fields (Remittance Email, Fax number, etc)
  5. Restricted the data returned to only Suppliers Sites with a Remittance Email address (take this out later for fax/print etc).
  6. Restricted the data returned to only payments with payment method of EFT (checks have their on remittance advice).
  7. Ran to get the XML output. Note the <APXPBSRA><LIST_G_SEL_CHECKS><G_SEL_CHECKS> structure, we will use this later in the Bursting Control File
  8. And of course hacked the XML output - cut'n'paste style to add more data rather than having to key it (an additional supplier and invoices). Note this technique includes overwriting the output file $APPLCSF/$APPLOUT/o{REQUEST_ID}.req and follows the principles in my post on masquerading one request as another.

Layout

Okay, that sorts out the base report and data, now onto the fun stuff with a few screenshots:

  1. Create a new pretty RTF layout template
  2. Register the Data Definition
  3. Register the Template
  4. Run XML Report Publisher on the request that produced the prior XML data, and all lovely!

Bursting

Righto, now onto the Bursting part. We're going to:

  1. Create a Bursting Control File to email Suppliers
  2. Upload the control file to the Data Definition
  3. Test it out by calling the XML Publisher Report Bursting Program
  4. (Optional) Extend the Report to automatically submit the Bursting program

At this point please make sure you have done the following EBS bursting prerequisite steps:

  • (Optional, but highly recommended) Upgrade to 11.5.10.2 / XMLP 5.6.3 or higher (ATG RUP5 or higher is nice)
  • Apply 5968876 XDO:EBS-BURSTING INTEGRATION PATCH
  • Restarted your applications processes - or the button to upload your bursting control file won't appear!
  • Set the Temporary Directory under XML Publisher Administrator, Administration, General - to e.g. /tmp, or you'll get error message:
    java.lang.NullPointerException at oracle.apps.xdo.oa.cp.JCP4XDOBurstingEngine.getSystemTempDirectory(JCP4XDOBurstingEngine.java:413)
  • Assign Concurrent Program "XML Publisher Report Bursting Program" to the appropriate Request Group, e.g. "All Reports" / Payables
  • Make sure you have an SMTP server that you can send your email through!

Bursting Control File

Next, lets get into the Bursting control file and look at it a bit closer:

1. Create Bursting Control File to email Suppliers custom Separate Remittance Advice

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xapi:requestset xmlns:xapi="http://xmlns.oracle.com/oxp/xapi">
<xapi:request select="/APXPBSRA/LIST_G_SEL_CHECKS/G_SEL_CHECKS">
<xapi:delivery>
<xapi:email server="smtp.yourdomain.com" port="25" from="youremail@yourdomain.com" reply-to ="">
<xapi:message id="${C_CHECK_ID}" to="${C_REMITTANCE_EMAIL}" cc="yourcc@yourdomain.com" attachment="true"
subject="Virtuate - Remittance Advice for Payment ${C_CHECK_NUMBER}"> Please find attached Remittance Advice for payment ${C_CHECK_NUMBER}. Regards, The Payables Team Virtuate Limited
</xapi:message>
</xapi:email>
</xapi:delivery>
<xapi:document output="Remit_Advice_${C_CHECK_NUMBER}" output-type="pdf" delivery="${C_CHECK_ID}">
<xapi:template type="rtf" location="xdo://SQLAP.XXV8_APXPBSRA.en.US/?getSource=true" filter=""></xapi:template>
</xapi:document>
</xapi:request>
</xapi:requestset>

Hmm, what does all this jargon in the control file do? Well, here's a pretty picture that explains a lot of it:

2. Make sure it all works ... gotta make sure its the right flavor!

Navigate into Payables, Submit Request, XML Publisher Report Bursting Program, and specify the request from your last custom Separate Remittance Advice request.

Hey presto, take a look at your email:

Check the output:

3. (Optional) Extend the Report to automatically submit the Bursting program

Automatic Burst

Now, we don't want to have to manually (or via request set) submit the Bursting program every time we run the report, so let's automate that. By putting a parameter on the new Separate Remittance Advice report to control whether we Burst, and submitting a new request in the after report trigger, we can achieve this. We'll implement this is a similar fashion to my post on Beautiful Statements in 1 Easy Step.

So lets do this:

  • Add parameter P_BURST to report and concurrent program definition (Yes/No).
  • Add code to after report trigger.
      declare
        v_req_id number := 0;
      begin
        if nvl(:p_burst,'N') = 'Y' then
          v_req_id := xxv8_xmlp_burst_pkg.submit_request_burst('XXV8_APXPBSRA',:p_conc_request_id);
          if v_req_id > 0 then
            srw.message(20002, 'Submitted request_id ' || v_req_id);
            commit;
          else
            srw.message(20002, 'Failed to submit request');
          end if;
        end if;
      end;
    
  • Create PL/SQL package to do the submit of Bursting Program.
    create or replace package XXV8_XMLP_BURST_PKG AUTHID CURRENT_USER AS
      function submit_request_burst
      ( p_code in varchar2
      , p_request_id in number
      ) return number;
    end XXV8_XMLP_BURST_PKG;
    /
    
    create or replace package body XXV8_XMLP_BURST_PKG AS
    function submit_request_burst
    ( p_code in varchar2
    , p_request_id in number
    ) return number
    is
      l_req_id number := 0;
    begin
      if p_code = 'XXV8_APXPBSRA' then
        l_req_id := fnd_request.submit_request('XDO','XDOBURSTREP',NULL,NULL,FALSE,
                                               p_request_id);
      end if;
      return l_req_id;
    end submit_request_burst;
    
    end XXV8_XMLP_BURST_PKG;
    /
    
  • Test it all out!

Sweet, all automatic, working and ready for the primetime!

Issues

But let's note a few issues to look out for.

  1. I'm not very happy about "hardcoding" the SMTP server details in the control file. Would be great if BIP honoured either the Workflow SMTP setup or database smtp_server parameter. However, since the control file is in a structured data field in the database shouldn't be hard to write a script to update them all. Left to a future exercise though!
  2. I'm not very happy about "real" emails being delivered from Test/Development etc. environments. Would be great if BIP honoured the "Test Address" workflow parameter. Left to a future exercise, also related to issue Issue 1.
  3. Resolving items higher up the XML tree seems to be an issue with bursting in that they drop out and the solution as in my post on disappearing parameters doesn't work. Update: This functionality seems to be a known issue. Enhancement Request 6969869 has been logged for this issue. Thanks Lavina! In the meantime looks like XSLT transformation would come in handy, but that's a separate post!
  4. Minor issue that layout is not applied to the Bursting Request so no output, but can just run XML Report Publisher over it.

References:

Thanks to Dilip for the suggestions and request to put this together.

NB: In this tutorial I used Payables (SQLAP) as the application under which I register the new concurrent program and subsequently BIP Template and Data Definition, but custom Virtuate application for concurrent executable. This is to make the tutorial a working example without additional setup. You may want to use your modifications or similar custom application for all new entities.

PS. This Remittance Advice email bursting solution is an alternative to the standard Workflow Remittance Email solution.

PPS. If this all seems to hard and you are interested in BIP or Workflow Supplier Remittance Advice Email/Fax solution as a Consulting solution, contact me - see my Profile for email address.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Would the REAL Excel please stand up?!

One of the considerations of using Microsoft Excel is the underlying format of the data you're looking at.

Lets say you're viewing output from an Oracle eBusiness Suite concurrent request, and Excel is automatically opened like here (SYLK) and here (BI Publisher). These solutions pose a couple of questions:

  • How do you know what the real underlying format is for the Excel file opened?
  • What are the implications of the underlying format?

A "true" Excel workbook format is a binary format. When you view concurrent request output in EXCEL format from BI Publisher then the output is actually XHTML. If a file with .xls suffix is in XHTML format and you do a blind "save" on the file, then you wouldn't know otherwise. Other formats (SYLK, CSV, etc) prompt you with "File.xls may contain features that are not compatible with XXX format. Do you want to keep the workbook in this format." Another alternative I use to identify the format and more often to change the contents without the subtleties of Excel mangling coming into play is to use a non mangling text editor with hex/binary file editing capabilities, my preferred tool is the fantastic free PSPad. As soon as I open the file the format is obvious.

Can the underlying XHTML format cause a problem?

At this stage I haven't identified any issues, but the question has already been asked. I generally don't like to take chances when an easy workaround is available so my advice is:

Use "File, Save As" functionality and save as type "Microsoft Office Excel Workbook *.xls" whenever you're not 100% sure of your underlying Excel file format.

When you do a file save as, the format that Excel thinks the file will be defaulted in the "save as type" field. So then you'll know!

PS. If anyone has any specific isses with the XHTML output from BI Publisher I'd be keen to hear.

PPS. "True" Excel templates are supposed to be coming to the eBusiness Suite BI Publisher sometime soon ... Tim any update?

PPPS. If anyone knows a CSV editor that doesn't mangle the contents (e.g. dates, number formats) like Excel but has functionality similar then I'd also love to hear!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Disappearing Parameters / Top Level Elements in Template after adding @section to BI / XML Publisher Report

A few people have run into this one so worthy of a post.

When you group with a section, you effectively "set" the base level of your XML to the level at which you group'ed. Hmm, better explained with an example.

Let's say your BIP'ing AR Statements and so you have something like this XML (fragment):

<ARXSGPO_CPG>
<LIST_G_SETUP>
  <G_SETUP>
  <COMPANY_NAME>Vision Operations (USA)</COMPANY_NAME>
  <COA_ID>101</COA_ID>
  <FUNCTIONAL_CURRENCY>USD</FUNCTIONAL_CURRENCY>
  <FUNCTIONAL_CURRENCY_PRECI>2</FUNCTIONAL_CURRENCY_PRECI>
  <LIST_G_STATEMENT>
   <G_STATEMENT>
    <SEND_CUSTOMER_NAME>My Valued Customer</SEND_CUSTOMER_NAME>
    <STATEMENT_DATE>25-JAN-02</STATEMENT_DATE>
    <BUCKET1_HEADING>Current</BUCKET1_HEADING>
    <BUCKET2_HEADING>1-30 Days</BUCKET2_HEADING>
    <BUCKET3_HEADING>31-60 Days</BUCKET3_HEADING>
    <BUCKET4_HEADING>61-90 Days</BUCKET4_HEADING>
    <BUCKET5_HEADING>Over 90 Days</BUCKET5_HEADING>
    <BUCKET1>379431.9</BUCKET1>
    <BUCKET2>267494.31</BUCKET2>
    <BUCKET3>0</BUCKET3>
    <BUCKET4>0</BUCKET4>
    <BUCKET5>130291.76</BUCKET5>
    ...

And in your template you "group" and "section" the statement:

<?for-each@section:G_STATEMENT?>
<?SEND_CUSTOMER_NAME?>
<?end for-each?>

And you want to refer to the element <?COMPANY_NAME?> in the Header section, but if you put <?COMPANY_NAME?> then it doesn't appear (is null).

Why? When you section on G_STATEMENT then that becomes the "base" level, so you need to go back up the XML tree to get to your Parameter / Company Name etc.

In this case you'd need to put

<?../../COMPANY_NAME?>

in your Header section. I.e. the parent (G_SETUP) of the parent (LIST_G_STATEMENT) of the current group (G_STATEMENT).

Update:Alternatively you can use xpath from the root node, in this case you could use

<?/ARXSGPO_CPG/LIST_G_SETUP/G_SETUP/COMPANY_NAME?>

in your Header section.

PS. Its been a while since I posted. Busy helping a number of people with BIP and other such sexy things. Means I have a good post pipeline though!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Beautiful Statements in 1 Easy Step - Automatically submit XML Report Publisher request for Oracle Receivables Statements output

Update: This post is specifically for Release 11i. New functionality in Release 12 implements BI Publisher in many of the 3rd party facing documents.

This post is specific to Receivables Statements, but equally applies to Dunning Letters as well. It requires you having setup your Data Definition and Template, in the case of Statements codes ARXSGP/ARXSGPO, and changed your output to XML on the concurrent program setup for Statements/Statement Print.

As per Note:337740.1 and Note:429283.1, and as per Enhancement Request 4461071, there is currently a limitation with Statements/Dunning Letters that you can't automatically get BI Publisher/XML Publisher output from the concurrent request. A couple of attempts have been made to add layouts, submit requests to the after report trigger in ARXSGPO.rdf, but can end up with either:

A reports compilation error when you don't pass all 100 parameters to fnd_request.submit_request:

unsupport construct or internal error [2601]

or the XML Report Publisher request completing with a warning, when all 100 parameters passed to fnd_request.submit_request:

One or more post-processing actions failed. Consult the OPP service log for details.
Output Post Processor log shows [UNEXPECTED] [752224:RT2801518] java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException

with Output Post Processor log showin

 [UNEXPECTED] [752224:RT2801518] java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException

So what can we do? Here's one solution, and this applies equally for any concurrent request producing XML where you don't have control over the template/layout.

Create a package:

create or replace package XXV8_XMLP_PKG AUTHID CURRENT_USER AS
  function submit_request_xmlp
  ( p_code in varchar2
  , p_request_id in number
  ) return number;
end XXV8_XMLP_PKG;
/
create or replace package body XXV8_XMLP_PKG AS
function submit_request_xmlp
( p_code in varchar2
, p_request_id in number
) return number
is
  l_req_id number := 0;
begin
  if p_code = 'ARXSGP' then
    l_req_id := FND_REQUEST.SUBMIT_REQUEST('XDO','XDOREPPB',NULL,NULL,FALSE,
                                           p_request_id,
                                           222, -- Receivables
                                           'ARXSGP', -- Statement Generate
                                           'en-US', -- English
                                           'N','RTF','PDF');
  end if;
  return l_req_id;
end submit_request_xmlp;

end XXV8_XMLP_PKG;
/

Add the following to the after report trigger in ARXSGPO.rdf:

  declare
    v_req_id number := 0;
  begin
    v_req_id := xxv8_xmlp_pkg.submit_request_xmlp('ARXSGP',:p_conc_request_id);
    if v_req_id > 0 then
      srw.message(20002, 'Submitted request_id ' || v_req_id);
      commit;
    else
      srw.message(20002, 'Failed to submit request');
    end if;
  end;

Run Statements and fingers crossed you'll have beautiful output in one easy step!

Update: Fixed mismatch between code passed to package by after report trigger and the "if" statement code, they must match ARXSGP=ARXSGP!

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Excel file output from Oracle Applications concurrent request using SYLK. aka Look Ma, no BIP!

Need to create Microsoft Excel style files directly openable from Oracle Applications concurrent request output ... without using BI Publisher?

A little know file format with acronym SYLK is a handy tool for create files readable in Microsoft Excel. Since I posted about Excel / CSV output from a concurrent request using Oracle BI Publisher, I figured those people that aren't quite up to the latest versions of BI Publisher / XML Publisher might find this post handy. It requires little more than PL/SQL and earlier versions of Oracle eBusiness Suite. Not only that but also aligns nicely to my thick database inclination!

So, without further ado, here's the recipe for a very simple Excel (SYLK) output concurrent program for an FND_USERS listing with creation date from/to parameters.

  1. Take a PL/SQL package based on the Oracle provided OWA_SYLK package (owasylk.sql / owa_sylk.sql) and make some changes:
    • rename it to owa_sylk_apps
    • Change it to use fnd_file.put_line(fnd_file.output instead of utl_file.put_line(g_file
    • Remove parameters for p_file
  2. Create a PL/SQL package for the concurrent program that outputs SYLK file to the concurrent request output.
    create or replace package XXXV8_USERS_SYLK_PKG AUTHID CURRENT_USER
    AS
    procedure main
    ( errbuf      out varchar2
    , retcode     out varchar2
    , p_date_from in  varchar2
    , p_date_to   in  varchar2
    );
    end XXXV8_USERS_SYLK_PKG;
    /
    
    create or replace package body XXXV8_USERS_SYLK_PKG
    AS
    procedure main
    ( errbuf      out varchar2
    , retcode     out varchar2
    , p_date_from in  varchar2
    , p_date_to   in  varchar2
    ) as
      l_date_from date;
      l_date_to   date;
    begin
      l_date_from := fnd_date.canonical_to_date(p_date_from);
      l_date_to   := fnd_date.canonical_to_date(p_date_to);
      owa_sylk_apps.show(
            p_query => 'select user_id user_id, user_name user_name, '
                       '       description description, creation_date created '
                       'from fnd_user '
                       'where trunc(creation_date) >  :DATE_FROM '
                       'and   trunc(creation_date) <= :DATE_TO ',
            p_parm_names =>
                     owa_sylk_apps.owaSylkArray( 'DATE_FROM', 'DATE_TO'),
            p_parm_values =>
                     owa_sylk_apps.owaSylkArray(l_date_from ,l_date_to),
            p_widths =>
                     owa_sylk_apps.owaSylkArray(20,20,20,20)
                     );
    end main;
    
    END XXXV8_USERS_SYLK_PKG;
    /
    
  3. Setup the concurrent program (note the Output Format PCL)

  4. Hijack one of the little used Viewer Options (PCL) so that we can get the Concurrent Request output browser to automatically open Microsoft Excel. Note this is optional, you can just create a new Viewer Option but then you may get the "Choose Viewer" box when viewing concurrent request output. NB: Navigation path is System Administrator, Install, Viewer Options
  5. update fnd_mime_types_tl
    set    mime_type = 'application/vnd.ms-excel'
    ,      description = 'Excel (SYLK) used to be application/vnd.hp-PCL: Printer Control Language'
    ,      last_updated_by = 0
    ,      last_update_date = sysdate
    where  file_format_code = 'PCL'
    and    mime_type = 'application/vnd.hp-PCL';
    
    commit;

  6. Assign the concurrent program to the appropriate request group (e.g. System Administrator, All Reports, Application Object Library) and run the concurrent program to test it all out!

And there you have it - Excel style output direct from concurrent request generated by PL/SQL!

References: