| Oracle® Fusion Applications Extensibility Guide 11g Release 1 (11.1.1.5) Part Number E16691-02 |
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View PDF |
| Oracle® Fusion Applications Extensibility Guide 11g Release 1 (11.1.1.5) Part Number E16691-02 |
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View PDF |
This chapter describes how to use Oracle Business Intelligence to customize and extend reports and analytics for Oracle Fusion Applications.
This chapter includes the following sections:
In Oracle Fusion Applications, reports and analytics are built using Oracle Business Intelligence:
Reports are built with Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (BI Publisher) and are usually highly-formatted, detailed documents.
Analytics are analyses and dashboards built with Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Services. Analyses are queries based on real-time, transactional or operational data that provide answers to business questions. Dashboards provide personalized views of corporate and external information. A dashboard consists of one or more pages that contain content, such as analyses, links to websites, BI Publisher reports, and so on.
This section describes how to use Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher to customize and extend reports for Oracle Fusion Applications. It includes the following sections:
Section 8.2.6, "Tasks Required to Run Custom Reports with Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Service"
Section 8.2.7, "Securing Custom Reports and Related Components"
Section 8.2.8, "Making Reports Available to Users in the Reports and Analytics Pane"
Reports extract the data from your applications and present it in the formats required for your enterprise. Reports provide the information you need for internal operations and statutory compliance; reports also provide the business documents for communicating with your customers. Many product-specific reports are provided with Oracle Fusion Applications; for example, the invoice register, the pick slip report, the payroll summary, the journals report, and the customer credit memo. To meet the specific needs of your enterprise, you may need to customize the reports provided or you may need to create new reports to capture and present different data.
Understanding the BI Publisher reporting architecture will help you to understand the report customization scenarios and tasks. A report in BI Publisher consists of the following components:
A data model that defines the data source, data structure, and parameters for the report. A data model can be used by multiple reports. Each report has one data model.
One or more layouts to define the presentation, formatting, and visualizations of the data. A report may have multiple layouts of the data model.
A set of properties that specify runtime and formatting options
Optionally, a report may also include:
Translations to provide localized versions of a report
Many Oracle Fusion applications use the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler to submit report requests to BI Publisher. For reports that require parameter value input from users, the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler uses a parameter view object (VO) to collect and validate parameter values to send to BI Publisher.
After you customize the report in BI Publisher, additional tasks are required to set up the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job definition to run your report from Oracle Fusion applications. If your report customization includes customizing parameters that are passed to BI Publisher, you will likely need to customize the parameter VO.
This chapter highlights the additional tasks required for these related components, however, you must also reference the following documents for full descriptions of how to customize them and how to configure the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job definition to integrate the parameter VO:
For customizing Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job definitions, see Chapter 14, "Customizing and Extending Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Jobs" and the chapter "Working with Extensions to Oracle Enterprise Scheduler" in Oracle Fusion Applications Developer's Guide for Oracle Enterprise Scheduler
For information on how to customize view objects in Oracle Fusion Applications, see Chapter 11, "Customizing and Extending ADF Application Artifacts"
For the full description of view objects and creating them in JDeveloper, see the chapter "Defining SQL Queries Using View Objects" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Fusion Developer's Guide for Oracle Application Development Framework.
In many cases, BI Publisher reports delivered with Oracle Fusion Applications will contain the appropriate data elements you expect, but may not provide the presentation of the data just as you would like it. BI Publisher enables you to customize the layouts for reports leveraging the prebuilt data models. If the reports provided by Oracle Fusion Applications do not include the data you require, you can create a new report based on a custom data model.
Important:
Do not edit the predefined report objects. If you change a report and a subsequent patch includes a new version of the report, the patch overwrites any customizations. If subsequent patches do not include a new version of the report, the customizations are retained. When customizing reports, always make a copy of the original object and edit the copy.Some common report customization scenarios are:
| Customization Use Case | Described in |
|---|---|
| Edit the layout of a report provided with an application
For example: Add your company logo to the Receivables Credit Memo report. |
"Customizing Layouts" |
| Add a new layout to a report provided with an application
For example: Design a new form letter users can select when they run the Receivables Credit Memo. |
"Customizing Layouts" |
| Create a new report based on a data model provided with an application | "Creating Custom Reports" |
| Edit a data model provided with an application
For example: Add a field to a data model |
"Editing Existing Data Models" |
| Create a new data model
For example: Define a new query against Oracle Fusion applications tables |
"Creating a New Data Model" |
| Create a new report based on a custom data model | "Creating Custom Reports" |
Depending on how a report is implemented in Oracle Fusion applications and the type of customization you make you may also have to perform additional tasks to implement your custom report in the system.
If you create a new report and you wish to schedule this report through Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Service, you must create an Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Service job for the report. If you require Oracle Enterprise Scheduler to send parameter values to the BI Publisher report via a parameter view object, you must also create the view object.
If you create a custom layout and you require translations of the layout, you must also provide the translations. Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher provides a tool for extracting the translation file for some layout types. The translation file can be translated into the required languages then uploaded to the report.
Table 8-1 Related Report Customization Tasks
| Related Report Customization Task | Described in |
|---|---|
|
Create the Parameter VO for Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Service |
"Customizing Parameters for Reports Submitted Through Oracle Enterprise Scheduler" |
|
Create the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Service job definition and job |
"Tasks Required to Run Custom Reports with Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Service" |
|
Provide translations |
|
|
Secure reports and related components |
Customize reports either within the Oracle BI Publisher application or using one of the tools or applications listed in Table 8-2. For the list of certified versions of third-party applications see "System Requirements and Certification" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.
Table 8-2 Tools for Customizing Report Components
| Component | Tool for Customizing |
|---|---|
|
Report Data Model |
BI Publisher's data model editor |
|
Report properties |
BI Publisher's report editor |
|
Layout |
The following table shows the tools required to customize each template type:
Table 8-3 Tools for Customizing Layouts
| Layout Template Type | Tool for Customizing |
|---|---|
|
RTF template |
Microsoft Word with BI Publisher's Template Builder for Word |
|
BI Publisher template (XPT) |
BI Publisher's layout editor |
|
PDF template |
Adobe Acrobat Professional |
|
Excel template |
Microsoft Excel with BI Publisher's Template Builder for Excel |
|
eText Template |
Microsoft Word |
Before you customize reports, you should be familiar with the Oracle Fusion application architecture that enables customization, as described in Chapter 1, "Customizing and Extending Oracle Fusion Applications." You should also understand the typical workflows for working with runtime customizations, as described in Chapter 2, "Understanding the Customization Development Lifecycle."
In addition, be familiar with the following BI Publisher-specific requirements:
Ensure that you have proper permissions for editing and creating Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation catalog objects
An administrator must grant you the BIAdministrator role (or a role that includes the BIAdministrator role) as well as write permissions on objects in the catalog that you will be editing.
For more information about setting permissions in the catalog, see "Managing Objects in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition).
Understand how the patching process for catalog objects impacts customizations
If a patch includes an update to a catalog object that was delivered with an Oracle Fusion application (for example, the Payables Invoice Register report) the patch will overwrite any customizations applied to the original report. To avoid overwriting a customization, do not customize a predefined Oracle Fusion application object in place; create a copy of the object and customize the copy.
Understand how permissions are set for and inherited by catalog objects
For a user to view a report, the user's role must have read permissions on every object referenced by a report. Permissions can be inherited from the folder in which the object resides.
For ease of maintenance, Oracle recommends that you place customized reports within the same folder as the original; or, if creating a new report that you place it within the same folder as other reports for the same job role.
If you choose to create new folders, bear in mind the catalog security permissions required (see "Managing Objects in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition)).
Be aware of any application-specific guidelines for customizing reports
See product-specific documentation from Oracle Enterprise Repository available from Oracle Support.
Be aware of property settings that determine how the report can be run and viewed
Some reports are configured to run only through an external application or through the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler. While customizing a report, you may want to configure it temporarily for viewing online to facilitate testing. See Task: Review Report Settings for Online Viewing for information about these settings.
Know how to navigate to Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation catalog objects
Navigate to the Oracle BI Presentation catalog as follows:
On the Navigator, under Tools, click Reports and Analytics. In the Reports and Analytics pane, click Browse Catalog.
Alternatively, log in to Oracle Business Intelligence directly (example: http://host:port/analytics/saw.dll).
Oracle Fusion Applications reporting objects are organized by product family in the catalog typically as follows:
Top Level: Shared Folders
Product Family Folder (example: Financials)
Product folder (example: Payables)
--Report group folders (example: Invoices)
-- Reports
-- Data Model folder
The layout defines the presentation of the report data. All reports delivered with Oracle Fusion Applications include at least one predefined layout template file that defines the presentation components (such as tables and labeled fields) and maps the elements from the data model to these components. The layout also defines font sizes, styles, borders, shading, and can also include images, such as a company logo.
To customize a layout, you edit the layout template. BI Publisher supports several types of templates to support different report layout requirements. Most of the templates delivered with Oracle Fusion Applications are rich text format (RTF) templates created using Microsoft Word. Some predefined templates are BI Publisher layout templates created using BI Publisher's layout editor. These are for interactive and more visually appealing layouts. A third type is the eText template, which is used specifically for electronic data interchange (EDI) and electronic funds transfer (EFT).
BI Publisher templates can also be created using Adobe PDF, Microsoft Excel, Adobe Flash, and XSL-FO.
Some examples of layout customizations are:
Style changes only, no changes to data mapping
This is the simplest type of customization. Examples are removing the predefined logo from the report and inserting your own or simply modifying colors and font styles. For these changes you can download the predefined template and edit it. Because there are no changes to the data mapping, style changes do not require sample data from your report, however, having sample data available will enable testing of the template from your desktop.
Changes to mapped data elements within the existing layout
An example of this type of customization is adding or removing a table column or data field from the report layout. For these changes you must have sample data to load to the layout editing tool. You can download the predefined template, load your sample data, insert the required elements, preview your template, then upload your customized template back to the report definition.
New presentation of the data
To create a new layout, start by opening the layout editing tool and loading the sample data to begin designing your custom layout.
Task: Generate Sample Data from the Report
The layout tools require sample data to enable the mapping of data fields to layout components in the report. You can generate sample data in the following ways:
From the report data model
From the report viewer
To generate sample data from the data model:
Navigate to the report data model in the BI Presentation catalog and click Edit.
Tip:
If you are not sure which data model is the source for a particular report, click the report Edit link. The data model is displayed in the upper left corner of the report editor.In the data model editor, click Get XML Output as shown in Figure 8-2.
Enter values for any required parameters, select the Number of rows to return, and click Run.
To save the sample data to the data model, click the Actions menu and then click Save As Sample Data, as shown in Figure 8-3:
If you are designing an RTF template, you may also wish to Export the XML to save the file to a local client for use with the Template Builder for Microsoft Word.
Click Return. Then save the data model.
To save sample data from the report viewer:
Navigate to the report in the Business Intelligence catalog.
Click Open to run the report in the report viewer with the default parameters.
On the Actions menu, click Export, then click Data.
Save the data file.
Task: Make a Copy of the Original Report
Navigate to the report in the BI Presentation catalog. To make a copy:
Select the report by clicking anywhere in the row. On the catalog toolbar, click Copy as shown in Figure 8-4:
Click Paste to place the copy in the current folder. When you paste into the same folder, the copy is created as "copy of original report".
Rename the copied report. For example: Payables Invoice Register Custom, as shown in Figure 8-5
(Optional) Update the report description. In the catalog, click the Edit link. In the report editor, click the Properties link at the top of the page. Enter the Description for your report, for example: "Payables invoice register report with custom layout".
Task: Review Report Settings for Online Viewing
Some reports are configured to view only through an external application or through the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler. If you wish to view your report online while you are customizing it, ensure that the following properties are set as noted.
Report Properties Settings
Run Report Online - must be enabled
Report is Controlled by External Application - must be disabled
To navigate to the report Properties dialog:
Navigate to your report copy in the catalog and click Edit.
In the report editor, click the Properties link at the top of the page.
In the Properties dialog, select Run Report Online and clear Report is Controlled by External Application. These properties are shown in Figure 8-6.
Layout Setting
The layout setting View Online must be enabled.
To view the layout settings:
In the report editor, click View a List. Ensure that the View Online property is enabled.
Task: Edit or Create the Layout
To design an RTF layout, see Section 8.2.2.1, "Customizing RTF Templates."
To design a layout using the BI Publisher layout editor, see Section 8.2.2.2, "Customizing BI Publisher Templates."
To design one of the other supported layout types, see the corresponding chapter in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher:
Creating PDF Templates
Creating Excel Templates
Creating eText Templates
Task: Upload the Template File to the Report Definition
If you created a layout using the layout editor, the layout is automatically saved to the report definition and you can skip this step. For all other layout types upload the template file to the report definition as follows:
Navigate to your custom report in the catalog and click Edit.
On the report definition page, click View a List. On the table that lists the layouts, click Create (the "+" button).
Click Upload to upload the template file from your local directory.
Save the report definition.
Task: Configure the Layout Settings
Tip:
To hide the original layout from users, clear the Active box.To view or edit the current settings applied to a layout:
In the report editor, click View a List. The List View is shown in Figure 8-7
Set the following properties for your custom layout:
Output Formats
Output formats are the file formats available for the generated report, such as PDF, HTML, RTF, Excel. Depending on the requirements of a report you may want to limit the output formats available to users. The output formats available will depend on the Template File Type.
Default Output Format
If multiple output formats are available for the report, the default output format will be generated by default when the report is run in the report viewer.
Default Layout
If multiple layouts are available for the report, the default layout will be presented first in the report viewer. One and only one layout must be selected as the default layout.
Apply Style Template
If a style template is assigned to this report, use this field to apply the style template to the layout.
Active
Active layouts are displayed to report consumers. Inactivate the layout to make it unavailable to report consumers.
View Online
Layouts that can be viewed online are available to report consumers from the report viewer. If this property is not checked, the layout is available only for scheduled jobs.
Task: Delete a Layout
To delete a layout from the report:
In the report editor, click View a List.
Locate the layout that you wish to delete in the table and click anywhere within its row to select it.
Click the Delete toolbar button. Click OK in the confirmation dialog.
Task: (Conditional) Create the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Job to Run the Custom Report
If this report replaces a report that relies on an Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job for submission, you must create a custom Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job to point to your report copy. See Section 8.2.6, "Tasks Required to Run Custom Reports with Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Service."
Task: (Conditional) Enable Access to the Report Through the Reports and Analytics Pane
See Section 8.2.8, "Making Reports Available to Users in the Reports and Analytics Pane."
Most templates delivered with Oracle Fusion Applications are RTF templates. An RTF template is a rich text format file that contains the layout instructions for BI Publisher to use when generating the report. RTF templates are created using Microsoft Word. BI Publisher provides an add-in to Microsoft Word to facilitate the coding of layout instructions. For more information see the chapter "Creating RTF Templates Using the Template Builder for Word" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.
Note:
If you are designing a new layout for the report, consider using the BI Publisher layout editor. The layout editor is an online layout editing tool launched from the report editor. See Section 8.2.2.2, "Customizing BI Publisher Templates."Before you begin:
Ensure that your local client has a supported version of Microsoft Word. BI Publisher provides the Template Builder for Microsoft Word to facilitate RTF template design. Download the tool from the Oracle Business Intelligence home page. For more information see the chapter "Creating RTF Templates Using the Template Builder for Word" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.
Task: Download the Template File
If you are creating a new layout, skip this step.
If you are modifying a predefined layout, navigate to the report in the catalog and click Edit. In the report editor, click the Edit link of the layout to download the RTF file to your local client, as shown in Figure 8-8:
Task: Edit the RTF File in Microsoft Word
Open the downloaded RTF template file in Microsoft Word; or, if you are creating a new template, open Microsoft Word.
Load the sample data to the Template Builder for Word Add-in.
Edit or create the layout following the guidelines in the Template Builder help or in the chapter "Creating RTF Templates Using the Template Builder for Word" and "Creating an RTF Template" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.
Ensure that you save the file as Rich Text Format (rtf).
Task: Upload the Template File to the Report Definition
In the catalog, open the report in the report editor and click View a List. On the table that lists the layouts, click Create (the "+" button). Click Upload to upload the RTF file from your local directory as shown in Figure 8-9.
Task: Add Translations for the Layout
If this report requires translations, see Section 8.2.5, "Adding Translations.".
This section includes two examples of RTF template customizations:
Example 8-1 Changing the Inserted Logo in a Predefined Template
The Payables Invoice Register report layout includes a standard logo in the report header. To change the inserted logo using Microsoft Word 2007:
In Microsoft Word, delete the Oracle logo as shown in Figure 8-10.
On the Insert tab in the Illustrations group click Picture. Select your company logo image file to insert it to the Word document. Resize the image as necessary. An example is shown in Figure 8-11.
Tip:
If the template file includes section breaks, you must insert the new logo for each section header.If you downloaded sample data, you can test the template on your desktop: On the BI Publisher tab, in the Preview group click PDF. The Template Builder will apply the sample data you loaded and generate a PDF output document, as shown in Figure 8-12:
Example 8-2 Customizing an RTF Template Using an Existing Data Model
This example demonstrates the general steps for customizing an RTF template using an existing data model. In this example, the Payables Invoice Register data model is used to create a new layout to display a summary for each currency. This example demonstrates general report layout concepts and features of the BI Publisher Template Builder for Microsoft Word. Follow the steps in this topic and the guidelines in Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.
The final report layout is shown in the following figure:
To create this layout:
Download to your local client sample data from the Payables Invoice Register data model (InvoiceRegisterDM).
In Microsoft Word, on the BI Publisher tab, in the Load Data group, click Sample Data. Select your downloaded file and click OK.
Using Microsoft Word functionality, insert the page header. Type the text for the header, and insert the field for the Business Unit as shown in Figure 8-13:
In this example, the report will repeat the table of invoices for each occurrence of the currency code. To create this behavior, insert a repeating group based on the element C_CURRENCY_CODE. To insert the repeating group:
On the BI Publisher tab, in the Insert group, click Repeating Group.
In the BI Publisher Properties dialog, select the G_CURRENCY group as shown in Figure 8-14:
To display the field value, type the text "Currency:" after the for-each tag. To insert the element from the data: On the BI Publisher tab, in the Insert group, click Field. The Field dialog will display. Select the C_CURRENCY_CODE element, as shown in Figure 8-15
Use the table wizard to insert the table: On the BI Publisher tab in the Insert group, click Table Wizard. Make the following selections:
For the report format, select Table.
For the Data Set select the VENDOR group.
Select the fields to display in your table: C Vendor Name, C Invoice Num, C Invoice Date, C Invoice Amount, and C Amount Rem, as shown in Figure 8-16:
Click Finish. The inserted table will display with the column names from the data; also, if you preview the report, you will notice that no formatting is applied to number and date fields.
Edit the column names by simply editing the text in the column header row.
Apply formatting to the date and number fields. To apply formatting to the date field:
Note:
This example shows simple number formatting. If your report requires locale-driven number and date formatting, see the topic "Number, Date, and Currency Formatting" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.Right-click the date field in the table and select BI Publisher then Properties from the menu.
In the BI Publisher Properties dialog, update the following (shown in Figure 8-17):
Set the Type to Date.
Select the date Format from the list.
Enter Text to display, for example: 8/7/2011.
To apply formatting to a number field:
Right-click the amount field in the table and select BI Publisher then Properties from the menu.
In the BI Publisher Properties dialog, update the following (shown in Figure 8-18):
Set the Type to Number
Select the number Format from the list.
Enter Text to display, for example: 999.00.
To display the total for each currency, enter the text: "Currency Total Remaining:" beneath the table, but inside the for-each / end tags. Insert the field as follows:
On the BI Publisher tab, in the Insert group, click Field.
In the Insert Field dialog, click the "C Amount Rem" field (under the G Vendor group).
In the Calculation field, select Sum from the list as shown in Figure 8-19
Click Insert.
Format the field as a number, as described in Step 7.
Perform any additional formatting of colors, fonts, borders, and text strings using Microsoft Word functionality.
The completed template will appear as shown in Figure 8-20. To preview the template, click the PDF button in the BI Publisher Preview group.
BI Publisher templates are created using the BI Publisher Layout Editor - a design tool that provides an intuitive, drag and drop interface for creating pixel perfect reports in PDF, RTF, Excel, PowerPoint, and HTML. It also provides dynamic HTML output that supports lightweight interaction through a browser.
BI Publisher layouts are best suited for reports of simple to medium complexity. The interactive view is only available for BI Publisher layouts, therefore choose this layout type when you want your report consumers to interact with the report (change sorting, apply filters, and so on).
Before you begin:
The BI Publisher layout editor requires the data model to include sample data. To save sample data to the data model, you must generate data according to the first option described in "Task: Generate Sample Data from the Report".
Task: Launch the Layout Editor from the Report Definition
Navigate to the report and click Edit. Click Add New Layout. Under the Create Layout region, click one of the Basic Templates or Shared Templates to launch the layout editor, as shown in Figure 8-21.
Task: Create and Save the Layout
Create the layout using the guidelines in the online help or in the chapter "Creating a BI Publisher Layout Template" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher. Click Save to save the layout to the report definition.
Task: Add Translations for the Layout
If this report requires translations, see Section 8.2.5, "Adding Translations.".
A data model defines the source and structure of the data for a report. At runtime BI Publisher executes the data model to supply the XML data for a report. Create a custom data model when the data models supplied by your application do not provide the data required in your report. If you need to customize the data that is captured by the report data model, you can either edit an existing data model or create a custom data model.
Before You Begin: Understand the Use of Parameter VOs with Oracle Enterprise Scheduler
If the report requires user input for parameter values and the report is submitted by the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler to BI Publisher, the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler uses a parameter VO to present and validate parameter values in the Oracle Fusion application. The values are then sent by Oracle Enterprise Scheduler to BI Publisher for execution of the data model.
In the parameter VO the parameters are defined as attributes and must be named incrementally as ATTRIBUTE1, ATTRIBUTE2, and so on. In the BI Publisher data model, you must define the parameters in the same order as they are defined in the parameter VO. The mapping of the value passed by Oracle Enterprise Scheduler to the BI Publisher data model is by order alone.
For example, in a BI Publisher data model assume you have defined the following parameters in this order:
P_BUSINESS_UNIT
P_VENDOR_ID
P_INVOICE_TYPE
In the parameter VO you must define ATTRIBUTE1 to retrieve the value for P_BUSINESS_UNIT; ATTRIBUTE2 to retrieve the values for P_VENDOR_ID; and ATTRIBUTE3 to retrieve the values for P_INVOICE_TYPE.
Ensure that any edits you make to the ordering of parameters in the parameter VO, the BI Publisher data model, or the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job definition are reflected in all places. See Section 8.2.6.2, "Customizing Parameters for Reports Submitted Through Oracle Enterprise Scheduler."
Do not directly edit a data model delivered with an Oracle Fusion application. Instead, make a copy and edit the copy. To ensure that the proper privileges are inherited by the copied object, maintain the copy in the same folder as the original.
Task: Copy the Existing Data Model
Navigate to the data model in the BI Presentation catalog. To make a copy:
Click anywhere in the object's row to select the data model.
On the catalog toolbar, click the Copy toolbar button; then click the Paste toolbar button to paste the copy into the same folder.
To rename the copy, click the More link, and then click Rename. Enter the new name, for example: InvoiceRegisterDM Custom.
Task: Customize the Data Model in the Data Model Editor
Click the Edit link in the catalog to open the data model in the data model editor. See "Using the Data Model Editor" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for general information about using the data model editor and the specific chapter for the component you wish to edit, for example:
To add or delete a field from the SQL query, see the topic "Editing an Existing Data Set" in the chapter "Creating Data Sets."
To add or delete a bursting definition, see the chapter "Adding Bursting Definitions."
To edit parameters, see "Adding Parameters and Lists of Values."
Important:
If the report will use the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler to collect parameter values from end users, then the parameter logic, list of values and display attributes that are presented in the application interface are defined in a parameter VO and the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job definition. The parameter values are then passed to BI Publisher when the job is submitted.In this case, edit the parameters in the parameter VO then ensure that the parameters in the BI Publisher data model are in the same order as they are defined in the parameter VO. Do not create the list of values in the BI Publisher data model for reports submitted via Oracle Enterprise Scheduler.
To create a data model:
Open the Data Model editor.
On the global header, click New, then click Data Model to open the data model editor.
Configure the data model properties. For more information see "Setting Data Model Properties" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition).
If your data model will include event triggers you must enter the Oracle DB Default Package.
Create the data set.
You will most likely create data sets from SQL queries against your Oracle Fusion application data tables. The data model editor also supports using an Oracle BI analysis as its source of data as well as entity view objects (VOs) created in Oracle JDeveloper. See "Creating Data Sets" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for more information about all supported data set types and how to create them. Figure 8-22 shows the menu of data set types available.
Create the optional components.
A data model can include the following components:
Event triggers
Flexfields
Lists of values
Parameters
Important:
See "Before You Begin: Understand the Use of Parameter VOs with Oracle Enterprise Scheduler" for information about how to define parameters in the BI Publisher data model when the report is submitted by the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler.Bursting definition
See the Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for details on creating these components.
Add sample data to your data model. See "Task: Generate Sample Data from the Report" for the steps for adding sample data to a data model.
Create a custom report when the reports delivered with your Oracle Fusion application do not provide the data you need; or, if you want to use a predefined data model but change other properties of the report.
Task: Create the Data Model
If you are using a predefined data model, skip this step.
To create a data model, see Section 8.2.3.2, "Creating a New Data Model."
Task: Create the Report Definition in the Catalog and Choose the Data Model
On the global header, click New, then click Report. Select the data model to use for the data source for this report.
Task: Create and Add the Layout
Follow the tasks described in the section "Creating Custom Layouts" beginning with "Task: Edit or Create the Layout".
Task: Configure Report Properties
You can configure a variety of properties to set specific formatting, caching, and processing options for your report. To access the Properties dialog, click Properties in the report editor. For information on report properties see "Configuring Report Properties" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.
Task: (Conditional) Create an Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Job to Run the Custom Report
If you will need to schedule this report from an Oracle Fusion application, you must create an Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job and job definition. This may also require creating a parameter VO. See Section 8.2.6, "Tasks Required to Run Custom Reports with Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Service."
Task: (Conditional) Enable Access to the Report Through the Reports and Analytics Pane
See Section 8.2.8, "Making Reports Available to Users in the Reports and Analytics Pane."
Template translation is a feature of BI Publisher that enables the extraction of translatable strings from a single RTF-based template or a single BI Publisher layout template (.xpt file). Use this option when you need multiple translations of the final report document; for example, you need to generate invoices for both German and French customers.
For information on adding translations for your custom report layouts, see the chapter "Translating Individual Templates" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.
If you created a new report, to run it using Oracle Enterprise Scheduler, you must create a new Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job definition. If you customized an existing report (for example, added a custom layout) for which an Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job definition was defined, you will need to create a new job definition to point to the custom report.
Creating a custom Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job definition is described in Chapter 14, "Customizing and Extending Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Jobs." Information specific to creating a custom BI Publisher job is in the section: "Extending a Custom Oracle BI Publisher Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Job."
This section summarizes the tasks:
To create an Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Job Definition:
Follow the instructions for creating a job definition in the "Extending Custom Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Jobs". Note the following for BI Publisher jobs:
Job Type: Select BIPJobType
ReportID: Enter the path to the report in the BI Presentation catalog, starting with the folder beneath Shared Folders, for example: Financials/Payables/Payables InvoiceRegisterCustom.xdo
Tip:
Ensure that you include the .xdo extension for the report object.Default Output: Select a default output format.
Bursting Job: If the output from this job is to be burst, select this box. The BI Publisher report must have a bursting definition to use this option. When the report is executed, the output and delivery options are determined by the bursting definition. For information on setting up a bursting definition, see "Adding Bursting Definitions" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition).
Define the property parametersVO to point to the parameter VO you defined, if your custom job requires parameter input.
The parameter VO is a view object used by Oracle Enterprise Scheduler to collect user input for report parameters that the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler then sends to BI Publisher. The parameter VO defines the display of the parameters in the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler interface and performs validation of the input. Use JDeveloper to edit the parameter VO.
Task: Create or Customize the Parameter View Object
To customize a parameter VO, see the following information:
Chapter 11, "Customizing and Extending ADF Application Artifacts" for information on how to customize view objects in Oracle Fusion Applications.
"Defining SQL Queries Using View Objects" chapter in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Fusion Developer's Guide for Oracle Application Development Framework for the full description view objects and creating them in JDeveloper.
Task: Align Parameter Order in the BI Publisher Data Model
Ensure that the attributes defined for the parameters in the view object are in the same order as the parameters in the BI Publisher data model. See "Before You Begin: Understand the Use of Parameter VOs with Oracle Enterprise Scheduler" for more information.
Task: Integrate the Parameter VO in the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Job Definition
Follow the instructions for creating a job definition in "Extending Custom Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Jobs".
When you create a custom report you may wish to create a duty role to enable only users that have been assigned the specific report duty role to run the report. If you have also created an Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job to run the report, your users must also be assigned execution permissions for the job. All the tasks in this section are required when you create a custom duty role.
If you choose to enable the custom report for an existing duty role, ensure that this role is assigned to the objects in the BI Presentation catalog and to the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler job definition. In this case, you need only perform the tasks: Task: Configure Permissions in the BI Presentation Catalog and Task: Grant Permissions to the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Job Definition.
Task: Create the Custom Report Duty Role in the OBI Stripe
To create the custom report duty role:
Only a system administrator can create a new role, and optionally include the role in an existing role hierarchy. For information about creating application roles, see the "Managing Security Artifacts" chapter in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Oracle Authorization Policy Manager Administrator's Guide (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition)
Task: Configure Permissions in the BI Presentation Catalog
Read permissions must be granted in the BI Presentation catalog to every object that is used in the report. This will always include at least two objects: the report and the data model. If your report also references a subtemplate or a style template, you must also grant read permissions on those objects. The report object requires additional grants to run, schedule, and view output.
If you create the custom report within an existing product folder, for example Payables/Invoices, the report will inherit permissions that are granted on all objects in the folder. You may wish to delete permissions from your custom report.
See "Managing Objects in the BI Presentation Catalog" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for more information about catalog permissions.
Configuring permissions in the BI Presentation catalog consists of the following subtasks:
Grant the Role Permissions to the Report
To grant permissions in the catalog:
Navigate to the report in the catalog and click More and then click Permissions. The Permissions dialog launches and the inherited permissions are shown.
In the Permissions dialog, click Add users/roles as shown in the following figure:
In the Add Application Roles, Catalog Groups and Users dialog, search for your custom duty and use the shuttle buttons to move it to the Selected Members list. In the Set Permission to list, select Custom, as shown in the following figure, and then click OK. 
In the Permissions dialog, locate the duty you added and click the Edit button as shown in the following figure:
In the Custom Permissions dialog, select the permissions to enable. Typically, you will enable the following for a BI Publisher report:
Read - gives authority to access, but not modify, the report
Run Publisher Report - gives authority to read, traverse the folder that contains the report, and run the report.
Schedule Publisher Report - gives authority to read, traverse the folder that contains the report, and schedule the report
View Publisher Output - enables the user to view the report output generated by the scheduler
The Custom Permissions dialog is shown in the following figure:
Grant the Role Permissions to the Data Model and Other Referenced Objects
Navigate to the data model in the catalog and click More and then click Permissions. The Permissions dialog launches and the inherited permissions are shown.
Follow the instructions in "Grant the Role Permissions to the Report" but in the Custom Permissions dialog, enable only the Read permission, as shown in the following figure: 
Repeat this procedure for any other referenced objects (subtemplates or style templates).
Delete Permissions
If the custom report inherited permissions that you want to remove from the report, you can delete permissions as follows:
Navigate to the object in the catalog and click More and then click Permissions. The Permissions dialog launches and the inherited permissions are shown.
Select the permission to delete and click the delete toolbar button, as shown in the following figure:
Task: Grant Permissions to the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Job Definition
If this report is scheduled through the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler, execution permissions must also be granted to enable users belonging to submit the job. See Task: Grant Relevant Permissions in Chapter 14, "Customizing and Extending Oracle Enterprise Scheduler Jobs."
To make a report available to users through the Reports and Analytics pane, map the report to the work areas of the user roles that will need access. For information on mapping reports to work areas, see "Define Application Toolkit Configuration" in the Oracle Fusion Applications Common Implementation Guide.
To enable scheduling through the Reports and Analytics pane, configure the report properties:
Navigate to the report in the Business Intelligence catalog and click Edit.
In the report editor, click Properties.
On the Properties dialog enter the following fields:
Enterprise Scheduler Job Package Name
Enter the Path for the Job Definition. For example: /oracle/apps/ess/financials/payables/invoices/transactions/Jobs
Enterprise Scheduler Job Definition Name
Enter the Name for the Job Definition. For example: APXINRIR
The Report Properties dialog is shown in Figure 8-23:
This section describes how to use Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition to customize and extend analytics for Oracle Fusion Applications.
Analytics are analyses and dashboards built with Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Services, based on objects in the Oracle BI repository. Analyses are queries based on real-time, transactional or operational data that provide answers to business questions. Dashboards provide personalized views of corporate and external information. A dashboard consists of one or more pages that contain content, such as analyses, links to Web sites, BI Publisher reports, and so on.
You can customize analyses using the Oracle BI Composer interface from within Oracle Fusion Applications. You can customize dashboards using Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
You can also customize objects in the Oracle BI repository (RPD) using the Administration Tool in either online or offline mode. Use online mode only for small changes that do not require running consistency checks. Running consistency checks against the full online repository can take a long time. Instead, make more complex changes that require consistency checks in offline mode against a project extract of the repository.
Table 8-4 provides guidelines for when to perform online and offline edits. See Oracle Fusion Middleware Metadata Repository Builder's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for full information about how to use the Administration Tool to edit RPD files.
Table 8-4 Guidelines for Online and Offline RPD Edits
| Mode | Use This Mode For: | Example Use Cases | Example Operations Information |
|---|---|---|---|
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Online |
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Offline |
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You can customize analyses and dashboards, as well as objects in the Oracle BI repository (RPD).
Customizations to analyses and dashboards result in changes to the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog. Be aware that some patches include updates to the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog. All new objects are preserved during the patch process; in addition, changes to existing objects are preserved when the patch does not include a new version of that object.
If you change an existing presentation catalog object and subsequent patches do include a new version of the object, the patch process detects and logs conflicts, and patching will stop. The catalog administrator must resolve any conflicts manually using Catalog Manager and then rerun the patch.
In the Oracle BI repository, you can create new repository objects such as physical columns, logical table sources, logical columns, and presentation columns. Be aware that some patches include updates to the Oracle BI repository. New objects are preserved during the patch process; in addition, changes to existing objects are preserved when the patch does not include a new version of that object.
If you change an existing object and subsequent patches do include a new version of the object, the Merge Wizard in the Administration Tool provides a method to merge the changes. For most typical customizations, the merge process is straightforward. The exception is when presentation columns have been moved across presentation tables; in this situation, it is important to plan ahead and track the changes carefully to ensure your changes are preserved during the merge.
See "Oracle BI Applications Patching" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Reference Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Applications for more information about patching the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog and Oracle BI repository.
Before you customize analytics, ensure you have proper permissions for editing and creating Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Catalog objects and understand how to set permissions in the catalog. For more information about setting permissions in the catalog, see "Managing Objects in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog" in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition).
In addition, you must have the BIAuthor role to customize analytics (either explicitly granted, or inherited from another role).
Follow these guidelines when customizing analytics:
When customizing referenced objects (such as embedded dashboards or targets of navigation actions), consider customizing them in place using "Save." Note that objects for Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence and Oracle Business Intelligence Applications provide conflict detection so that your customizations will not be overwritten during future patches.
When customizing objects that are not referenced, consider using "Save As." You have the following choices when using Save As:
Existing folder structure (recommended)
Saving to the existing folder structure extends the organization of your existing reports to include the custom reports. To use this approach, make sure that an Oracle BI administrator (a user with the BIAdmin role) grants Write permissions to the BIAuthor role for the given folders. Note that the reports inherit folder permissions that control which roles have Read and Write access.
New folders under Shared Folders
To use this approach, an Oracle BI administrator must create these folders and then grant Write permission to the BIAuthor role, as well as Read permission to other application roles as needed.
My Folders
Because nobody else can access My Folders, you do not typically save analytics to that location except for testing purposes.
You can customize analytics from the Reports and Analytics pane in Oracle Fusion Applications.
Task: Customizing Analytics
To customize analytics, go to the Reports and Analytics pane and locate to the object you want to customize. For analyses, click the object and then select Edit to use the Oracle BI Composer to edit the object. For dashboards, click the object and then select More to go to the Catalog page in Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
For information on customizing analyses using Oracle BI Composer, see "Using BI Composer to Work with Analyses" in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition).
For information on customizing dashboards in the Catalog page, see "Building and Using Dashboards" in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition).
You can customize and extend the Oracle BI repository (RPD file).
Task: Modifying Existing Fact or Dimension Tables
In some cases, you might want to modify existing fact or dimension tables in the Oracle BI repository. For example, say you want to deploy Fusion Projects, but use the PeopleSoft Procurement application as a source. In this situation, you would set up a custom table in Fusion Applications that populates Commitments data from PeopleSoft. Then, you would need to change the Commitments fact table in the Oracle BI repository (RPD file) to point to the new custom table.
To accomplish the task described in this example:
Define the custom VO for the custom table. You must follow the VO guidelines for Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence. See "Designing and Securing View Objects for Oracle Business Intelligence Applications" in Oracle Fusion Applications Developer's Guide for more information.
Use the Import Metadata Wizard in the Oracle BI Administration Tool to import the new VO into the Physical layer of the RPD under the appropriate database object. Then, join the new VO to the existing dimension VOs. You must connect as the FUSION_APPS_BI_APPID user in the Select Data Source screen of the Import Metadata Wizard.
See "Importing Metadata from ADF Business Component Data Sources" and "Working with Physical Foreign Keys and Joins" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Metadata Repository Builder's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for more information.
Create a new logical table source under the existing Commitment logical fact table, and map all metrics to the physical columns from the new VO. Then, deactivate the existing Commitments logical table source.
See "Managing Logical Table Sources (Mappings)" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Metadata Repository Builder's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for more information.
Using this approach, all Presentation layer metadata, analyses, and dashboards will continue to work with data coming from the new physical columns.
Task: Adding New Fact or Dimension Tables
In some cases, you might want to add new fact or dimension tables to your Oracle BI repository. Possible sources include custom tables in Oracle Fusion Applications, additional tables in the data warehouse, or new physical data sources.
To add new fact or dimension tables to your RPD:
For Oracle Fusion Applications sources, ensure that the custom VOs follow the VO guidelines for Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence. See "Designing and Securing View Objects for Oracle Business Intelligence Applications" in Oracle Fusion Applications Developer's Guide for more information.
Use the Import Metadata Wizard in the Oracle BI Administration Tool to import the new VO (for Oracle Fusion Applications) or physical table (for warehouse or other physical sources) into the Physical layer of the RPD. For non-warehouse physical sources, you must create a new connection pool as part of the import process. You must connect as the FUSION_APPS_BI_APPID user in the Select Data Source screen of the Import Metadata Wizard.
For more information, see the following resources in Oracle Fusion Middleware Metadata Repository Builder's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition):
"Importing Metadata from ADF Business Component Data Sources" for Oracle Fusion Applications sources
"Importing Metadata and Working with Data Sources" for other physical sources
Define new logical dimensions and measures to extend the semantic model, and add physical and logical joins.
See "Working with Logical Tables, Joins, and Columns" and "Working with Physical Foreign Keys and Joins" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Metadata Repository Builder's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for more information.
Add corresponding Presentation layer metadata.
See "Creating and Maintaining the Presentation Layer" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Metadata Repository Builder's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for more information.
Task: Changing How Metadata Is Displayed in Answers Reports
In some cases, you might want to change how the names of facts and dimensions in the Presentation layer appear in Answers reports, to comply with naming standards or for other reasons. Table 8-5 summarizes considerations for different use cases.
Table 8-5 Use Cases for Changing How Metadata Is Displayed
| Use Case | For More Information |
|---|---|
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For warehouse sources, display names are typically externalized into a database table. To customize the names, you can change them in the externalized tables with no impact to the metadata itself. Note that for situations where display names are externalized into a database table, changing the names of Presentation layer objects in the RPD has no impact on the names displayed in Answers reports. |
See "Localizing Metadata Names in the Repository" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for more information about externalizing display names. |
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For Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence sources, display names are typically customized using UI hints (labels and tooltips) within Oracle Fusion Applications. Changing the UI hint name does not impact metadata. Note that for situations where display names are customized using UI hints, changing the names of Presentation layer objects in the RPD has no impact on the names displayed in Answers reports. |
See "Propagating Labels and Tooltips from ADF Business Component Data Sources" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Metadata Repository Builder's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for more information about how UI hints are propagated in the RPD. |
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For situations where Presentation layer names are not externalized or tied to UI hints, display names must be modified directly in the RPD. Existing reports will continue to work because the old names are stored as aliases. |
See "Renaming Presentation Columns to User-Friendly Names" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Metadata Repository Builder's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for more information. |
Task: Reorganizing Presentation Layer Metadata
Note the following about reorganizing Presentation layer metadata in the RPD:
Reordering presentation columns within a presentation table will not cause existing reports to break. When subsequent patches are applied, the new custom order is preserved when the patch does not include changes to the column order for that table.
Moving presentation columns across different presentation tables can cause existing reports to break and is not recommended. If you do move presentation columns across tables, it is important to plan ahead and track the changes carefully.
Task: Configuring Descriptive Flexfields and Key Flexfields for Oracle Business Intelligence
You can use the Import Metadata Wizard in the Administration Tool to incrementally import flexfield changes to the Physical layer of the Oracle BI repository (RPD).
Tip:
See Chapter 5, "Using Flexfields for Custom Attributes" for information about changing flexfields. In particular, see "Task: Incorporate Custom Attributes into the Business Intelligence Structure" for information about enabling flexfields for BI.In addition, you can use the Map to Logical Model screen of the Import Metadata Wizard to automatically propagate the flexfield changes to the Business Model and Mapping layer.
Finally, for Oracle BI Applications customers, you can configure and enable the BI Extender functionality to propagate flexfield changes to the data warehouse.
See the following resources in Oracle Fusion Middleware Metadata Repository Builder's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle Fusion Applications Edition) for more information about these topics:
Task: Moving RPD Changes to Production Systems
Typically, data source connection pool settings are different in production repositories. You can use the Oracle BI Server XML API to programmatically update these settings in the repository when moving changes to production systems. See "Moving from Test to Production Environments" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Integrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for more information.
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