The Feature

Check Out New User Interface Applications from Project Partners

May 29, 2009 on 12:26 pm | by Marian Crkon | In Conversations | 2 Comments |  Print |  Email

Some time ago, I interviewed Randy Egger on this blog about his involvement in establishing the Oracle Projects suite and his current activities as president of Project Partners. We picked it up where we left off last time and talked about their current activities, specifically their release of the User Interface Applications.

Marian Crkon: What are Project Partners User Interface Applications?

Randy Egger: Project Partners User Interface Applications (UI-Apps) are a series of user friendly Microsoft Excel based applications that interact with the Oracle E-Business Suite Project Costing, Project Billing and Project Management applications.  The UI-Apps consist of pre-defined, role based workbooks which are designed to specifically address the needs of users in the Professional Services and Engineering & Construction Industries, and also are easily configurable as a solution for Capital Projects budgeting in any industry.

How is it different from the standard Oracle Applications interface and why is it needed?

The technical difference is that the client software that the user interacts with to connect to the standard Oracle Application is Microsoft Excel, not html pages in a browser. There are three functional differences of this approach.

First, users have an already familiar tool in which they’re performing their work – spreadsheets. Second, users have the ability to configure the Excel worksheets to meet their own business processes – that’s not such an easy thing to do in Oracle Applications. Third – and this is something that especially resonates with users – they have the ability to work in an off-line mode.

They can make updates wherever they are with their laptops, and save their work, and then later reconnect to Oracle and upload their data. Think about it from the perspective of the end users: there’s electricity just about everywhere they go, but there’s not always an available internet connection.

Which Oracle forms can be replaced by the Project Partners User Interface workbooks?

This is not a one for one switch – instead, think of it as a refreshing new paradigm.  Project Partners has developed a proprietary technology to enable bidirectional communication via XML from Excel to the standard Oracle Applications Server, to the Oracle Applications database.

The Project Partners standard, out-of-the-box product just announced this month delivers Excel worksheets which are oriented to project managers who need to maintain WBS tasks/resources, budgets, and enter Estimate to Complete and progress data to create forecasts.  And any one of these activities could take up 20 different forms or html pages in Oracle.

The key here is that we are completely looking at this from the perspective of the end-user.  End users (project managers in this case) look at these activities from the perspective of needing to create forecasts for their projects.  They don’t look at it from the perspective of “which forms do I need to go to?”  Our UI-Apps approach is as revolutionary and radically different from the traditional ERP approach as the Mac was to the PC when it was first introduced in the 1980s.

This is demonstrated by the fact that UI-Apps is highly configurable by our customers’ IT staff (with no special skills at all) to present an end user experience that is a complete solution with only the data fields, terminology, colors, lay-out, and flow that they are already familiar with in their organization’s daily operations.  However, the double-benefit of this is that it’s all delivered to them in a package that they are familiar and comfortable with: spreadsheets.

Which project management processes and tasks can be accomplished in the UI-Apps workbooks?

Project Partners’ UI-Apps offer pre-defined Oracle-integrated workbooks oriented to users who need to create tasks and budgets, and also to those who perform forecasting.  These workbooks are designed to specifically address the needs of users in the Professional Services and Engineering & Construction Industries, and also are easily configurable as a solution for Capital Projects budgeting in any industry.

Which versions of Oracle Applications are supported?

Oracle E-Business Suite Project Management, Project Costing, and Project Billing, R11.5.10Rup3 – through R12.1

How does UI-Apps interface with MS Project or Primavera?

UI-Apps integrates directly with Oracle Projects, and therefore indirectly interfaces with these products.  We are also considering a similar application for Primavera products.

How does this differ from other vendors with Excel based solutions?

Some vendors provide data loading capabilities used by administrative folks, for example, back office users, to collect data for the end users and use their tools to load data and map into Oracle.  Other vendors provide tools to extract data from Oracle for reporting only.  UI-Apps provides a comprehensive user interface for the end user (mainly a project manager) bundled with built-in best practices and data validation, allowing for disconnected and connected, two-way data access to Projects data – pull and push.   It’s not just a data loader, and not just a reporter – it’s both. Two mints in one!  Like I said, it’s a very refreshing paradigm.

You can find more information about UI Applications and other products here.

How to Make ‘Close Other Forms’ Option Updatable

December 12, 2008 on 10:20 am | by Marian Crkon | In Feature of the Week | 2 Comments |  Print |  Email

This feature of the week is for anyone using Oracle Projects 11i plus.

The Feature

When using certain responsibilities the ‘Close Other Forms’ option in the Navigator window, ‘Tools’ menu is protected against an update.

Solution

The function ‘Navigator: Disable Multiform’ needs to be included in menu exclusions of the given responsibility. As System Administrator:

• Navigate to Security > Responsibility > Define.
• Query the responsibility in which you want to allow to control the Close Other Forms option.
• In the Menu Exclusions, enter a function Name: Navigator: Disable Multiform
• Save changes.

The values are stored in FND_USER_PREFERENCES table by user. To see whether the checkbox is checked or not:

select * from fnd_preferences
where preference_name = ‘NEW_WINDOW_FLAG’

‘N’ means defaults to checked, ‘R’ means defaults to not-checked. We have had some inconsistencies with this checkbox. You would un-check it and exit the applications, and the next time when you log in, it’s checked again.

Few Navigation Helpers for New Oracle EBS Users

February 4, 2008 on 1:08 pm | by Mohan Iyer | In How To Guides | Enter Comments |  Print |  Email

I am sure there have been many times that you have sat down at your desk – intent on researching a couple of transactions that the auditor has asked you some questions on. You spend a couple of minutes trying to sift through what needs to be done and start. A little while later you are just a couple of steps into your task, but far from complete. This is a frustrating reality for many Oracle Applications users. They are capable of getting results, but most users are unaware of what to do to get to information quickly.The purpose of this (and other)posts will be to lead the readers down a path of understanding and help them learn tips and tricks that enable more efficient and effective use of the system. It is not intended as a discussion about how frustratingly unfamiliar or unfriendly Oracle E-Business Suite is. This paper is limited to Oracle Applications E-Business Suite, and primarily Financials with some aspects of Purchasing and Order Management. Though the key facets discussed should work in most other modules as well.

When you first log in to your “Home Page,” preferences settings are available in addition to your list of Responsibilities that you see for the first time.

The most interesting and useful feature in the preferences tab is the Date Format. I have heard so many people say that the Oracle Date format (dd-mon-yyyy) is terrible and they want to use their good old mm-dd-yy or dd-mm-yy date format. You can change your preference here. You can also change the way the numbers (amounts) appear on the data entry form, including your password.

You can also change it so that when you log in the first responsibility and form are set to be the one you use most. However, when you do this there are two problems(?) – you lose the Home Page, and if you want to change these setting you need to have a Web based form like the one that is in the ‘i’ products (iExpenses, iProcurement, etc….). This is not a major issue as almost everyone should have the Notification function on one of their Responsibilities, that can be used to change the setting back to default.

Once you log in to the application you see the Oracle forms – the good old forms screen with blue and dark grey colors after you log in. These are the default colors; if your System Administrator has not changed them. Once you reach these screens you see the Navigator – also called the menu list. You have a couple of icons on the toolbar that you may want to check out – the ones that are available for use – Change Responsibility, Print and Help.

In addition, you should see menu options on the toolbar menu – File, Edit, View, Tools, Window and Help. These are available throughout the applications on all the forms.

Take a close look at the following Menu Options as these are handy and are typically available from any form within the application:
Edit > Preferences – used to change password and view and set profile options at user level.

The other option that is used regularly is View à Requests to view concurrent programs that you have submitted and view the output and/or log.

One of the most overlooked is the Tools à Close Other Forms choice. This menu option allows multiple forms to be open within a given responsibility. This allows you to look at Customer, Invoice, and Receipt all together without closing each one of the forms.

The last menu option used also has some valuable choices – Help.

the Help à Record History and Help à About Oracle Applications choices are used very frequently by users to understand and locate generic data about the record and details about the module you in use. The Help à Record History is very crucial if you are trying to figure out what went wrong and would like to know who enterer or updated a particular transaction. This option shows you who created the data set (i.e. created by), when as well as who last updated it and when (last updated by). This information in transaction data entry forms helps when doing some research.

The Help à About Oracle Applications choice can provide you with beneficial information – instance you are using, User Name you are logged in as, Form Name that you are using currently and its version details. All these are very helpful when working with Oracle support for an issue.

The Diagnostics choice is one that, in most cases, you need the Apps password. Unless there is a technical request for you to perform, you will probably not use it. Also, the functions under the Diagnostics choice are very complex and need additional training. This discussion is outside the scope of this post.

On the navigator or the menu list there are submenus and functions. The submenus can be many times deep and to get to a specific function you may have to look for it, and this could be time-consuming. You can then use this option that is a big savior – CTRL-L on the menu form lists all functions available to a specific Responsibility.

I am sure there are many people that understand the Top Ten feature on the menu form and every user should configure this functionality when they start working with the system regularly. The hidden trick however, is that the number assigned to a Top Ten choice; can also be used as a short cut to open the function/form.

In many cases the system is notorious for giving inaccurate or inconsistent messaging, however, the status line for a given form is almost always accurate. The Status Line is shown at the bottom of the screen and in many cases is hidden by the toolbar (Windows toolbar). You can make it visible by clicking on the maximize icon on the top right hand corner of your applications form. Once the status bar becomes visible and messages there are quite useful – especially when you are stuck!

There are multiple tabs on the Navigator menu form – Functions, Documents and Processes. The functions tab gives and lists all the menus and functions associated with the menus for use in the normal working tasks on a day to day basis. The Documents tab can be used to place documents (single transactions) that you may be researching and need to get to quickly until you finish your research, you can have multiple documents (transactions) on the tab, but each is saved separately. The last tab is – Processes. It can be customized to be hidden or not available. The processes tab helps you walk through a process, e.g. Enter Journals through Posting, Reviewing Account Balances, Account Inquiry and Reporting.

The use of this set of functions is a longer discussion and is not covered as part of this post . There is more to come as it would be a little easier to make short posts.

Learn to Love the Folders

December 8, 2006 on 9:28 pm | by Marian Crkon | In How To Guides | 7 Comments |  Print |  Email

I love the folders in Oracle Applications 11i. They are a great way to modify the forms without customizing them. It is too bad they are so poorly advertised or documented. As a result, only few users actually understand and use them. If you haven’t learned yet how to love the folders, this article is for you.

What is a Folder?

First of all, how do you even know the window you are using is a folder form? Folders are provided only with the core Oracle application forms. They allow you to change the form layout and content, define and run queries, export data to Excel without customizing the forms. Look for the yellow folder icon in the upper-left corner of the screen:

How to Define a Folder

When you open a folder form, the Folder option on the application top menu is enabled. You can use this option to configure the layout and settings of the folder. The Folder Tools option will give you a floating menu, from which you can execute some of the folder tasks. A default folder with default settings and seeded columns appears.

Creating a New Folder Version

To create a new folder, or update an existing one, use the options from the folder menu (not from the main applications menu. You can save a new folder as private, or public (other users can see it) version. Each public version must have a unique name! After you created your new folder, hide the columns you don’t need, show the ones you do, change column titles and size, and more. Hit Save As in the Folder Menu. The Save Folder options will be displayed. Here are few tips on how to set these options.

Autoquery

Make sure to select Never (unless you want to save your existing query – the data you currently see in the window). If you do save this query, make sure you reflect that in the folder name and don’t make this folder your default folder.

Open as Default

Do you want the current folder to be the folder that opens as default when you come back? If this flag is enabled, then this will be the default. It is a good idea to save the seeded folder first before your customized folder as default. Otherwise, you’d lose the seeded folder and can’t use it again.

Public

If enabled then the folder version can be used by other users with access to this form, not only the user who created the folder.

Customizing a Folder

You create or update versions of a folder by changing the following options as appropriate:

• What fields are displayed
• Size of fields
• Order fields are displayed

This can be done from the Folder menu or by using the Folder tools. When you are satisfied with the appearance of the folder, save the definition. Hide all the fields you do not need. This will dramatically improve the performance of the data queries and exports in your folder.

Defining a Folder Query

To update the query run by the folder, enter and run the required query and then save the folder. It is possible to view the new query by going to Folder > View Query. The query can be reset to the default by Folder > Reset Query.

For more complex queries it is possible to use a Clever Query. To do this:

• Put the folder in query mode
• Enter :a in any displayed field
• Run the query

This will display a query/where window. Enter the Where Clause you want to execute in the window. You can reference any field associated with the folder, not just those displayed. To check available fields use Help > Tools > Examine, then Block = FOLDER] and [Field = Use pick list to display available fields.

Folder Administration

Folders can be administered using the System Administrator responsibility. Navigate Application > Administer Folders > Find Default Folders.

From here you can determine which folders are used as default by users and responsibilities. When a folder is created and set as default, it is set for all responsibilities of that user. This can be changed so that different responsibilities, under the same user will invoke different default folders.

The custom folder definitions are referenced under a Folder Set. It is possible to change the owner of a folder and set folder options, such as Autoquery. This is very useful when you save as default a folder with a query, which now prevents you from selecting other data in the form.

Folder versions and details are stored in the tables FND_FOLDERS and FND_FOLDER_COLUMNS. see (7 TABLE DEFINITIONS). When a user invokes a folder, the user_name on the table FND_USERS is compared to the Created_by column in the FND_FOLDERS table. This will determine what folder versions are available.

Enhancement Tip:

It would be a great benefit to users if the applications came seeded with meaningful folders reflecting actual transaction workflows. The required columns should be displayed on the left (unlike in AP Payment Batches); the columns that do not make business sense together should not be displayed in the same folders (e.g. Revenue and Invoice Amounts for indirect projects). When exporting, it would be great to be able to export directly into Excel (instead of having to save the file first). Providing more logical choices to the users will encourage a wider use of this great application functionality.

Get More from Apps with More4Apps

December 4, 2006 on 8:03 pm | by Marian Crkon | In Conversations | 1 Comment |  Print |  Email

I am excited to introduce John O’Keeffe, a marketing director from More4Apps, an Oracle Partner and system integrator based in Hamilton, New Zealand. John and I conducted and quick online chat about the More4Apps company and its solutions for Oracle Applications users. Read few excerpts from our conversation below.

John, thank you very much for joining us. If you agree, let’s get right to it.

Yes! Let’s get into it.

So tell me who is More4Apps? Can you give me a brief history of the company?

More4Apps was started by 6 Oracle consultants in 2000. We saw we were repeating many of the same integration tasks, and also how cumbersome the available tools were. We decided to provide shrink-wrapped interface tools that really streamlined the process. No more clunky, unfriendly interfaces based on SQL*Loader and various scripting languages. We started with Budget Wizard for Project Budgets and expanded to include AP, AR, Purchasing and Fixed Assets modules.

Are you providing consulting services also, or do you mostly focus on developing new products?

No, we concentrate on developing and supporting our software products. Our belief is that consulting organizations are in a good position to introduce our products and deliver a valuable solution to their clients. If we also delivered consulting services, that would confuse the market. There is so much more to do we don’t have time for consulting!

I see your list of customers includes companies from all over the world. Being based in NZ, how do you manage those customer relationships?

We are expanding rapidly and now have staff in the UK and the US. As for technical support we do have a good daytime overlap with USA and customers find it very helpful that issues logged today will be worked on overnight and fixed by their morning.

Yeah, there are benefits in being a day ahead.

Yes! We work Saturday morning to service US customers.

What are your most popular products?

Budget Wizard was our first, and is still our most popular product. As many organizations complete their budgets in Excel then re-key them into Project Accounting, Budget Wizard does a superb job of eliminating re-keying. AP Invoice wizard is becoming our most popular product. This is because of 2 things: 1) Oracle Payables has a larger customer base than Projects or AR etc., and 2) AP Invoice Wizard is ideal for automating the vendor invoice entry process.

Being an Oracle Partner you fill in a gap in Oracle’s solution offering. How do you respond to situations when Oracle suddenly becomes your competitor? I am thinking about Project Connect (for uploading projects, and project budgets), or WebADI for example.

Any ERP solution won’t be a 100% fit. Oracle does come out with new tools like Project Connect and that allows customers to have a choice. Also there are many gaps and priorities, so we see ourselves filling a gap that leaves Oracle to concentrate on their bigger picture.

What is the best way for new customers and users to get started with More4Apps?

New customers should visit our website. There are a few automated demos available to be viewed. That will give them a good understanding of what they can expect from More4Apps tools. Then they can contact us to arrange a webex demonstration. This demo will also act as a training session. They will then have enough information to download the trial version and get it working against their test system. Being Excel-based people find them pretty easy to pick up.

For what Oracle EBS releases can More4Apps products be used?

The versions of our tools on our website will run on all versions of Oracle Applications from R11i. For Applications versions 11.0.3 and earlier an ODBC version is required and you may request it. ODBC versions are not available for all tools.

Are you getting ready for Release 12 and Fusion?

Yes. Our technical team is in contact with Oracle and we will be ready with changes to our connection technology where required.

Are you planning to integrate with the packages acquired by Oracle – PeopleSoft, Siebel, and JD Edwards?

We have considered integration with Other ERP systems. But our core experience is Oracle and at the moment we are busy satisfying Oracle users’ requirements.

How about on the other side: MS Windows and MS Office. Are there any constraints as far as Windows and Excel versions you support at this point. I am mainly thinking about an impact of newly released Vista and Office on your customers…

Our tools run on all versions of Excel from 97. The operating system is not important. We will of course thoroughly test our software on Office 2007.

What new products are you working on?

We are currently building a Sales Order Wizard for Order Management and a Supplier Wizard is about to be released. Our new Fixed Asset tools and Bill of Materials Wizard were released in November and December 2006 respectively. There are many others in the pipeline. We are always interested in our clients’ requirements to help us drive new product development.

Perfect. Is there anything else you would like to talk about? Do you have any questions for me?
Not at this point. Thanks for your time.

Thank you! And good luck.

Interview with Luke Kowalski from Oracle

August 14, 2006 on 8:43 am | by Marian Crkon | In Conversations | 2 Comments |  Print |  Email

I had a privilege to talk with Luke Kowalski, an Oracle Corporate User Interface Architect. Mr. Kowalski and the User Experience teams are making sure that the applications are as functional and great value to their customers as they are usable, eye-pleasing and intuitive to their users. Read on for the excerpts from our online chat. You can join the conversation by providing your questions as comments to this post.

I appreciate you are doing this. Please tell us how you got started with Oracle.

I came from a couple of stints at startups. One was bought by Netscape, where I worked in server UI for a couple of years, and the other was almost bought by Microsoft. I have been at Oracle since late 1998. I worked on e-commerce applications, back when being on the team got you an invite to Larry’s house in San Francisco. I then managed the server UI group and subsequently transitioned to an architect position.

What are you responsible now?

I now bridge the User Experience groups at Oracle. I work on partnerships, policy, UI technology, usability, and a number of marketing efforts around User Experience. Most of my time is spent helping either the Apps Middleware team (Thomas Kurian), or the VP of Applications User Experience, Jeremy Ashley.

Will you be so kind and describe the design process? How do those different groups work together?

We have had human factors folks here for the last 14 years. It is an engineering driven bus, but the executives have made considerable investments in user experience. This tends to show in our applications, servers, and the tools UIs.

As with any user centered design process we start by talking to the end user. They help us gather requirements. We then validate those against existing or new marketing data. We transition to low fidelity prototypes and we show them to user groups and in the usability lab. The next step involves a technical validation. As in: “Can we build it?” We repeat, just like the shampoo bottle says: design, get feedback, iterate, test, etc.

The silver bullet in the design process is the idea that we get to embed design patterns (UI building blocks) into the developer tool (JDEV). Before…we had guidelines and a police force…it did not work.

In the When Design Is Not a Problem white paper you co-authored you talked about “overcoming barriers in technology, organizational structure, legal, marketing, documentation and quality assurance (QA), and development tools” to have a design impact. What barriers do you see ahead of you as you design Fusion Applications?

Very few. John Wookey bet a lot on user experience. It is one of the key differentiators and exit criteria for any team in the apps division. UX works very closely with Jesper’s strategy, Fusion Middleware, and other stakeholders to ensure that we deliver the right applications, of the right quality. Have you heard about our Design Partner Program? This is where we involve Peoplesoft, Oracle, Siebel and other customers early in the development process. They tell us what they need!

No, not really. Tell me how do you define a user? Is that a CIO or people who would use the software?

Decision makers are not always the same as the end users. They often have different needs. We cater to the end user (productivity), while keeping the business/financial prerogatives in mind.

You also mentioned the marketing barriers. I totally agree when you say that “business requirements can often be at odds with those articulated by the end users. CIOs making purchase decisions have very different needs from the employees actually using the software”.

Oracle has recently spent a lot of energy articulating its Fusion strategy to its customer base (CEOs and CIOs). What do you think is the best way to get end users passionate about the future releases?

Allowing users to participate in the design process has been motivating for us and the companies we work with. We usually get positive reviews when we invite folks over to the lab to see the new software, or we often go to them (contextual inquiry method).

I agree that nobody cares if a piece of software is usable, if it cannot be implemented or sold. But it also goes the other way: how do we avoid selling software that sells, looks great on datasheets but is unusable, or unfriendly to the users? How do you make sure bad design does not “fall through the cracks”?

Every product goes through concept/prototype/final reviews. That is the process in the applications division. Design patterns will save some labor, of course. IOW, there are only 3-4 ways to do a Master/Detail, or a wizard flow, or whatever. Most important review is the conceptual one.

It is often too late to change anything when we see the finished product in the lab the only thing possible then is “lipstick on a pig”. Information architecture, feature set, and flows have to be right first. Layouts, widget choices, Look and Feel are almost secondary when it comes to usability, efficiency, or having the right tool for the task.

The devil is in details. When users do encounter bad, unintuitive design, what is their best chance to get it corected? And I do not mean software bugs that can be resolved through Metalink SRs, but mostly bad features that work “as designed”.

We mined Metalink for usability issues…not that successful. The best way is to sign up for the design partner program! We do work with account reps and I have dived in on a few usability fires one via Larry, for a Fortune 50 company. That was fun.

It seems like the design discussions happen at too high of a level. On the other hand, it takes very passionate and committed users to spend time documenting and requesting improvements.

But usability issues are bugs. We file them as such internally and get them resolved.

They are not bugs; they are “features”! Now we are getting somewhere…

User groups are an excellent venue. We work closely with OAUG.

The OAUG provides many good tools to users with the Enhancement Request System, Forums, etc. to communicate their needs to Oracle.

Out of the 4 main applications suites now owned by Oracle (Oracle EBS, Peoplesoft, JD Edwards and Siebel) which one you think is best designed? How are you choosing the best features? That must be a lot of fun!

We use cold and hard facts. Siebel and Peoplesoft have had a bit more of a design mindshare. Now we are creating the perfect blend.

And you do not have to wait till Fusion. We are making incremental improvements, adopting a new look and feel for R12, leveraging all the cool things that the application server will get us (declarative UIs, skinning, composite application, Workplace UI shell). A lot of things are possible with 10.1.3. Not that 11g will not kill the competition…

Seeing few R12 screens, they looked “Peoplesoftized”. Where can people see some “sneak peeks”?

We will be showing lots of cool, new stuff at Open World. We are also showing some stuff to early adopters, companies in the design partner program, testing with target users, etc. We have done previews for user groups, at conferences, and just showed a whole bunch of stuff to analysts.

We have a couple of screenshots on the User Experience web site.

What Are Those Oracle Toolbar Icons For?

August 3, 2006 on 8:04 pm | by Marian Crkon | In How To Guides | 4 Comments |  Print |  Email

Here is a thing that should be intuitive and easy to understand but is not always so. It’s one of those “I wish I had a dollar for every time I had to explain”… I wish the Oracle Toolbar icons were as well documented in online help as they are in the Oracle Applications User Guide, (page 2-3, OTN login is required). That would help new users to see the descriptions and learn the funcions when they need to. Hope an overview below will help you with understanding what the toolbar icons there are and the actions they perform:

1. The New icon opens a new record.

2. The Find icon invokes the Find window.

3. The Show Navigator icon invokes the Navigator window, i.e. brings you back to the main menu.

4. The Save icon saves your data.

5. The Next Step icon advances you to the next step of a process.

6. The Switch Responsibilities icon invokes the list of your responsibilities for you to choose another.

7. The Print icon prints the current screen.

8. The Close Form icon closes all windows of the current form.

9. The Cut icon cuts the current selection to the clipboard.

10. The Copy icon copies the current selection to the clipboard.

11. The Paste icon pastes from the clipboard into the current field.

12. The Clear Record icon erases the current record from the form.

13. The Delete icon deletes the current record from the database.

14. The Edit Field icon displays the Editor window for the current field.

15. The Zoom icon invokes customer-defined drill-down behavior.

16. The Translations icon invokes the Translations window.

17. The Attachments icon invokes the Attachments window. If attachments, the paperclip is holding a paper.

18. The Folder Tools icon invokes the Folder Tools palette window.

19. The Window Help icon invokes online help for the current window.

See the Oracle Applications Guide for more on navigation, data entry and other useful tips.

How To Use Oracle Personalization Framework to Customize Fields and Messages

April 18, 2006 on 2:42 pm | by Marian Crkon | In How To Guides | Enter Comments |  Print |  Email

You can use Oracle Personalization Framework to customize standard fields and messages in web-based Oracle modules (iProcurement, iExpenses, iStore, etc.). Here is one example of personalizing expense report fields in iExpenses to make them more intuitive to the end users.

Move the Details Image – Update Expense Report: Cash and Other Expenses Page

1. As System Administrator: Set ‘Personalize Self-Service Defn’ to Yes.
2. Log out of the system.
3. Navigate to Expenses Home page using your iExpenses responsibility
4. Create and submit an expense report
5. In the Update Expense Report: Cash and Other Expenses page, click the ‘Personalize Business Expenses Table’.

6. In the Choose Personalization Context page, click Apply.
7. In the Personalization Structure page, click on Reorder next to the ‘Table: Use this table to’ item.

8. Click on Personalize under the Function section
9. Move Details item up right under Line item. Click Apply.

10. In the Personalize Region page, click Return to Application.

Hide the Itemize Image

11. …continued from Step 10 above.
12. In the Update Expense Report: Cash and Other Expenses page, click the ‘Personalize Business Expenses Table’.
13. In the Choose Personalization Context page, click Apply.
14. In the Personalization Structure page, click on Edit next to the Image: Itemize item.
15. In the Personalization Properties page, select False for the Rendered row at the Function: OIE Expenses Entry Flow level, then click Apply.
16. In the Personalize Region page, click Return to Application.

Hide the Line – Level Attachment Image

17. …continued from Step 16 above.
18. In the Update Expense Report: Review page, click the ‘Personalize Other Expenses Table’.
19. In the Choose Personalization Context page, click Apply.
20. In the Personalization Structure page, click on Edit next to the Column: (AttachmentsColumn) item.
21. In the Personalization Properties page, select False for the Rendered row at the Function: OIE Expenses Entry Flow level, then click Apply.
22. In the Personalize Region page, click Return to Application.

Move the Details Image – Create Expense Report: Cash and Other Expenses Page, Mileage Tab

23. …continued from Step 22 above, the personalization framework is still enabled.
24. Click on Mileage Expenses tab.
25. In the Mileage Expenses window, click the ‘Mileage Table’ link.
26. In the Choose Personalization Context page, click Apply.
27. In the Personalization Structure page, click on Reorder next to the ‘Table: Use this table to’ item.
28. Click on Personalize under the Function section
29. Move Details item up right under Line item. Click Apply.
30. In the Personalize Region page, click Return to Application.
31. Continue creating the expense report.

Move the Details Image – Create Expense Report: Review Page, Business Expenses Table

32. …continued from Step 31 above, the personalization framework is still enabled.
33. In the Business Expenses table, click the ‘Personalize Other Expenses Table’ link.
34. In the Choose Personalization Context page, click Apply.
35. In the Personalization Structure page, click on Reorder next to the ‘Table: Use this table to’ item.
36. Click on Personalize under the Function section
37. Move Details item up right under (DateColumn) item. Click Apply.
38. In the Personalize Region page, click Return to Application.
39. Continue creating the expense report.

Personalize Submission Instructions

40. …continued from Step 39 above, the personalization framework is still enabled.
41. In the Confirmation page, click the Personalize Submission Instructions Header link in the Submission Instructions region.
42. In the Choose Personalization Context page, enter Your Business Group name in the Organization field and click Apply.
43. In the Personalize Region page, click Personalize for the Raw Text item.
44. In the Personalize Raw Text page, select False for the Rendered row at the Site level, then click Apply.
45. In the Personalize Region page, click Create Item for the Header: Submission Instructions item.
46. In the Create Item page, select the ‘Raw Text ‘ value from the Item Style list.
47. Complete the page according to your business requirements:
a. ID = YOUR_COMPANY_SUBMISSION_INSTRUCTIONS
b. Text: Include your customized message here.
c. Click Apply
48. In the Personalize Region page, click Personalize for the message you created.
49. In the Personalize Raw Text page, enter a message in the Text field for the appropriate level, then click Apply.
50. In the Personalize Region page, click Return to Application.

7 Guaranteed Questions from New Oracle Users

March 14, 2006 on 7:26 pm | by Marian Crkon | In Ideas and Opinions | 2 Comments |  Print |  Email

I love novice Oracle Applications users. They help me keep my perspective fresh and remind me that things are not always seen by others the way I see them. Like anyone else involved in this business for a long time, I have developed an “operational blindness” where I avoid certain pitfalls by memorizing the ways around them. Here are few sample questions you are guaranteed to hear when introducing new users to the applications. Go ahead to add your fun user experiences as comments below.

• How do I get in the system? You are thinking that’s silly but you’d be amazed in how many different ways users get to Oracle Applications: desktop icons, instance maps, links on company intranets, links sent via email, bookmarks saved in browsers, and even browser’s recent addresses…
• How do I change the date format? Once a new user gets in the system, that’s the guaranteed next question. I realize Oracle sells applications in a hundred or so countries, so it is impossible to have a common format that fits everybody.
• How do I get to my stuff? Thank goodness for those menus. They make those who can navigate them look like geniuses. I understand there are some major UI improvements coming up in Release 12. All I can say is: keep it simple!
• Why do I see things I don’t need? That’s the price you pay for out-of-the-box applications. There is some flexibility to remove menus and functions, and when available, use folders to customize the forms any way you want. But in general, there will always be fields that others use and you don’t.
• Where is my report? This is my favorite. There may be a 100+ standard reports in each Oracle module, but it always comes down to this question and you have to produce that one report that users are familiar with.
• How do I get my data into Excel? Whether we like it or not, Excel is THE tool of our times. We can argue that the data is available online or on the web, but somehow, it always ends up in Excel. It is good to see that Oracle acknowledged the fact and keeps providing easier integration with Excel (WebADI, Folders, XML Publisher).
• Is this an entry mode or query mode? We have all seen the “%” records people entered assuming they were in a search mode. It takes some time before that CTRL-F11 becomes second nature. A related question: How do I stop that run away query submitted by accident…?

3 Suggestions to Improve the Percent Complete Form

March 10, 2006 on 4:54 pm | by Marian Crkon | In Ideas and Opinions | Enter Comments |  Print |  Email

It must have been a day off at Oracle when the Percent Complete form (Oracle Projects 10.5.10) was created. It somehow fell through the cracks. It is very, how shall I say, impractical. The form’s main purpose in Oracle Projects is very simple – to enter percent complete amounts for percent complete billing or revenue recognition. Ignoring the current bug, which prevents you from saving the record and proceeding (to be resolved on Metalink), the form shows you how little emphasis was placed on business usability and user friendliness. What is really annoying is the fact that you cannot do even the most basic functions like delete or inactive records enterred in error, and you see values entered previously.

To give Oracle some credit, they provided a new API named UPDATE_PROGRESS, which lets you upload the percent amounts. However, in order to use it, you need to create custom code to upload the amounts.

So here are my three humble suggestions to improve the Percent Complete Entry process:

• Enable an option to delete or end-date percent comlete amounts

• Provide an audit trail of previously entered amounts. An audit report would also be nice.

• Provide a Web ADI Integrator for uploading percent complete amounts directly from Excel.