Release 12.1
Part Number E13481-03
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This chapter covers the following topics:
A business process is a defined sequence of tasks that runs according to a specified schedule and generates data for reporting and analysis. For example, the process of computing projected earnings per share every month can be considered a business process.
Each time an Enterprise Planning and Budgeting business process runs, it generates a process run that either creates a new view or appends data to an existing view. Examples of views are Actuals, Budget 2006, Budget 2006, Budget 2007, and Forecast 2007.
As a Controller or Business Process Administrator, you can create new business processes, modify business processes, duplicate business processes, and delete business processes.
A new business process definition is in a temporary state until it is saved as a draft.
The owner of the business process works in the draft version until he or she is ready to make the business process effective. Making the business process effective validates the business process and makes it available to run according to schedule.
Initially there is a one-to-one correspondence between the effective version and the draft. Subsequently, the business process owner can modify the draft definition and analysts can add exception alerts. When the revised draft is made effective, it overwrites the current effective version.
An effective business process can be disabled by the business process owner or by a Controller. Users can view the parameters of a disabled business process; however no new instances will be created until the process is enabled.
Each execution of a business process is referred to as a "business process run."
The extent to which you work with business processes depends on your Enterprise Planning and Budgeting responsibility:
As a Business Process Administrator you can create new business processes, modify business processes, duplicate business processes, and delete business processes. You can also view effective business processes that have been defined by Controllers and other Business Process Administrators.
Although Business Process Administrators are generally responsible for creating and maintaining business processes, as a Controller you can also create and maintain business processes. You can also view business processes that have been defined by Business Process Administrators and other Controllers and update and duplicate business process owned by Business Process Administrators.
As an Analyst, you can view effective business processes. You can also add exception alerts to draft definitions.
The individual who creates and saves a draft of a new business process is considered to be the "owner" of the draft; similarly, the individual who makes a draft effective is the "owner" of the business process.
You create a business process by specifying the data sets to use, the dimensions, the data processing rules, the interval for running the process, and the tasks to execute. When you make the business process effective, Enterprise Planning and Budgeting automatically runs the process according to schedule.
You can work within a single session or over a number of sessions. You can apply (save) settings at the end of the process, as you complete each page, or whenever you want to retain your work. You can save the business process as a draft and update it at another time. The minimum information required to save a draft is a unique name.
The following procedure describes how to create a business process for which you are specifying new settings. You can also create a new business process by duplicating the settings from an existing business process. For more information, see Duplicating a Business Process.
Log into Enterprise Planning and Budgeting as a Business Process Administrator or Controller.
Choose Administration.
If prompted, choose a business area.
Navigate to the Business Processes page (Administration > Business Processes tab).
Click Create New Business Process.
The Create Business Process page opens. The General subtab is active.
Use the General subtab to name the business process, select one or more data sets, and specify the setting for appending views.
For more information, see Specifying General Information for a Business Process.
Use the Dimensions subtab to specify the logical model for the data associated with the business process. You specify the time range and the dimension members to include.
For more information, see Specifying Dimensions for a Business Process.
Use the Solve subtab to specify source, input, output, and allocation method for the line dimension members.
For more information, see Specifying the Solve for a Business Process.
Use the Tasks subtab to specify the tasks that will be executed each time that the business process runs.
For more information, see Specifying Tasks for a Business Process.
Use the Currency subtab to specify the currency option for the business process.
For more information, see Specifying Currency for a Business Process.
Note: The Currency subtab is only visible if the Currency option has been enabled for the business area.
Use the Schedule subtab to specify the timing and frequency for business process runs. For a versioned view, also specify the number of previous versions to store.
For more information, see Specifying the Schedule for a Business Process.
To validate the business process, click Validate. Validation checks all components for sensibility and synchronization and applies rules that examine dependencies between components.
For more information, see Validating a Business Process.
Note: Validation applies to the entire business process. You might not want to validate a new business process definition until it is complete or near completion.
Save the business process definition.
To save the business process definition as a draft, click Save as Draft.
To validate the business process and make it available for execution, click Make Effective.
For more information, see Making a Business Process Effective.
Note: You can save a draft at any time — the business process definition does not have to be complete or valid.
Use the General page to name a business process, specify data sets that will be loaded from the Enterprise Performance Foundation and specify whether Enterprise Planning and Budgeting will create a new data view each time that the business process runs.
Navigate to the General page (Business Processes > General subtab).
In the Name box, enter a unique name for the business process.
If the business process will load data from the Enterprise Performance Foundation, select data sets. Proceed as follows:
Click Choose Data Set.
The Select Data Set page opens.
Select one or more data sets.
Note: If the Currency option has been enabled for the business area, special considerations apply. For more information, see Data sets and currency specification.
Click Apply.
You are returned to the General page.
(Optional) In the Description box, you can enter a description for the business process.
Specify whether each run of the business process will create a new data view.
Select Append View to incrementally add data from the current run to the initial view.
Clear Append View to create a separate data view for each business process run.
For more information, see About appending views.
Click Apply.
Multiple ledgers with different functional currencies may be contained in a single data set. If the Currency option is enabled for the business area and you choose "Specified" as the currency option on the Currency subtab, only the data from the ledger for the currency will be loaded when a Load Data task runs for the business process. If you choose "Local" as the currency option on the Currency subtab, you can select data sets that include ledgers in several functional currencies — as long as each organization only appears in its local currency in all of the ledgers in the data set.
For more information, see Specifying Currency for a Business Process.
You use the Append View setting on the General page to specify whether a business process run will create a new (versioned) view of the data or be appended to an existing view. The default is a versioned view.
Appended views are recommended for a business process for which a significant portion of the data remains static. This situation commonly arises at the end of a period or month when the financial accounts such as Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet are calculated. Typically accounts are produced in 12 monthly (or 13 period) cycles over a financial year. Once a month's or period's results are reported, they remain static — adjustments being included in the subsequent month. During the course of the year the business process may be run 12 or 13 times, but data need only be calculated for one period in any of those runs. If you were to implement a versioned view for this type of process, the level of data loaded and the processing load would progressively increase to encompass the entire year, while 85% of the data would remain static. Using the Append View option will significantly reduce processing effort.
If you choose Append View, the following will occur:
The initial run of the business process will create a new view. Thereafter, data from subsequent runs will be added to this view.
The time horizon specified on the Dimension subtab will define the gap for incremental processing and solving. This gap is the difference between the horizon of the current business process run and the previous process run. The gap is applied for the time output selections specified for each line dimension member.
If you do not choose Append View, Enterprise Planning and Budgeting will create a new, versioned view each time that the business process runs. Versioned views are recommended when the data within the timespan is variable. For example, you might use versioned views when defining a business process for Annual Budget. This would result in separate budget views for each year. The number of views that will be retained is determined by the value specified for the Number of Process Runs Stored parameter on the Schedule subtab. For more information, see Specifying the Schedule for a Business Process
Tip: If you do not choose Append View, Oracle recommends that you include a Set Current Process Run task on the task list for the business process. The Set Current Process Run task identifies the view generated by the latest run of the business process as the "current" view for purposes of reporting and analysis. Documents created with the current view will always point to the most recent data.
Consider your choice carefully. You will not be able to change the setting for Append View once you make the business process effective.
Dimensions define the logical model of the data associated with a business process. At minimum, you must select a time dimension and a Line Item dimension. If the Currency option is enabled for the business area or if the source data in General Ledger is stored by currency, you must also choose the Currency dimension. You can also specify other dimensions that are relevant to the business process and remove dimensions that are not relevant. If you remove a data set dimension (a dimension included in a data set for which data will be loaded), you must specify how to load the data that is dimensioned by the removed dimension.
The selection for time defines the time period for which calculations will be performed and from which data will be allocated and aggregated, whenever the business process runs. It also affects other business process tasks such as loading data and solves.
The selection for time differs from the business process schedule. For example, in a Budget business process, the budget planning period may be the beginning of the fiscal year to the end of the fiscal year, with the budget updated semi-annually. In this case, the time dimension selection for the business process would be the fiscal year, while the schedule for the business process would be every six months.
Navigate to the Dimensions page (Administration > Business Processes > Dimensions subtab).
In the Time Dimension section, specify the time range for the business process.
Set the Start parameter.
To start the business process at a specified time period, select Fixed. Then click Select.
The Choose Time Member box opens, where you specify a Time hierarchy and search for a Time dimension member.
To start the business process at a time level relative to a specified period, select Relative. In the left box, select Current, Prior, or Future. In the center box, enter the number of time periods. In the right box, select the time level.
A fixed date is static. A relative time level is evaluated based on the business area setting for Current Periods. For more information, see Viewing Current Periods and time range information.
Set the End parameter.
To terminate the business process at a specified time period, select Fixed. Then click Select.
The Choose Time Member box opens, where you specify a Time hierarchy and search for a Time dimension member.
To terminate the business process at a time level relative to a specified period, select Relative. In the left box, select Current, Prior, or Future. In the center box, enter the number of time periods. In the right box, select the time level.
A fixed date is static. A relative time level is evaluated based on the business area setting for Current Periods. For more information, see Viewing Current Periods and time range information.
In the Line Dimension area, select line dimension members for the business process. A business process must include at least one line dimension member. Proceed as follows:
Click Refine Selection. The Refine Selections page opens.
The Refine Selections page opens.
You can define new dimension member selections, edit existing dimensions member selections, and remove dimension member selections. You can also choose a previously saved selection of line members. For more information, see Using the Refine Selection page.
Click Apply.
You are returned to the Dimensions page which now displays a description of your selection.
If you chose a data set on the General tab, the Additional Dimensions area displays dimensions for the lines in the data set. If you did not chose a data set, the Additional Dimension area is empty. In either case, you can select dimensions other than line and time that are relevant to the business process. You can also remove dimensions that are not relevant. Proceed as follows:
Click Update.
The Update List of Dimensions page opens, displaying available dimensions.
Use the Move and Remove icons to make your selections.
Click Apply.
You are returned to the Dimensions subtab, which now reflects your selections.
If you removed a data set dimension (Step 4), the dimension name appears in the Removed Data Set dimensions area. Specify members to load for this dimension. Proceed as follows:
Click the Update Selection icon for the dimension.
The Refine Selections page opens.
Choose a single dimension member or choose multiple members to sum.
Click Apply.
You are returned to the Dimensions subtab, which now displays the number of members.
For more information, see About removing a data set dimension.
Repeat Step 5 for each removed data set dimension.
Click Apply.
In the Time Dimension section of the Dimensions page you set a relative start or end time period and specify whether it is a current, prior, or future period.
Before you make this selection, you should be aware of the extent of the data that is being loaded, the organization's fiscal year, and how the Controller is setting the parameter for Current Periods for the business area.
"Current" always refers to the last completed period for the time level based on the data loaded, the organization's fiscal year, and the setting for Current Periods for the business area. "Prior" refers to the period before the last completed period. "Future" refers to the period after the last completed period.
Note that a period is not marked as current until it has all of its data. Thus, assuming that the calendar year and the fiscal year are the same and the Controller resets Current Periods at the end of each month (for example, in June current period is set at June 30, 2006), current, prior, and future periods would be determined as follows:
For a monthly process, current period would be June 2006, prior period would be May 2006, and future period would be July 2006.
For a quarterly process, current period would be Quarter 2, 2006, prior period would be Quarter 1 2006, and future period would be Quarter 3 2006.
For a yearly process, current period would be 2005, prior period would be 2004, and future period would be 2006.
However, if the Controller were to set Current Periods in the middle of a period (for example, on June 15, 2006), then data for June would not be complete. Current, prior, and future periods would be determined as follows:
For a monthly process, current period would be May 2006, prior period would be April 2006, and future period would be June 2006.
For a quarterly process, current period would be Quarter 1, 2006, prior period would be Quarter 4 2005, and future period would be Quarter 2 2006.
For a yearly process, current period would be 2005, prior period would be 2004, and future period would be 2006.
If the setting for Current Periods falls after the business process ends you will most likely want to select a future period.
Note that in certain circumstances, there may be no current period at certain levels. For example, assume that the calendar year and the fiscal year are the same, loaded time periods begin in 2006, the Controller resets Current Periods at the end of each month, and the current date is February 15, 2006. In this case, the following periods would be identified as current:
Month: January 2006
Quarter: NA
Year: NA
When selecting a relative time horizon, consider the frequency with which the Controller updates the Current Periods parameter. If the setting is updated on a regular basis (commonly before a business process is run), then a current period of September 2 will produce a current month of August. This would be correct for a financial statement. However, for a forecast business process the opening time horizon would be ahead of the current period. Thus for a horizon of September to December, the start time would be future one month.
For more information, see Viewing Current Periods and time range information.
You can view the setting for Current Periods and see how it affects the time range specified for the business process. If you subsequently change a time setting, you can refresh the display. The following information is available:
Current Periods — Displays the setting for Current Periods established by the Controller. For more information, see Setting the Parameter for Current Periods.
Start — Displays he starting member at each time level. For a fixed start date, this is determined by the date. For a relative selection (current, prior, or future), this is determined by the setting for Current Periods as it applies to the time level. For more information, see How Enterprise Planning and Budgeting handles relative time.
End — Displays the ending member at each time level. For a fixed end date, this is determined by the date. For a relative selection (current, prior, or future), this is determined by the setting for Current Periods as it applies to the time level. For more information, see How Enterprise Planning and Budgeting handles relative time.
To view current periods from the Dimensions subtab:
Navigate to the Dimensions page (Administration > Business Processes > Dimensions subtab)
In the Time Dimension section, expand Time Range.
To refresh the view:
With Time Range expanded, click Refresh Time Range.
If you chose a data set on the General subtab and then remove a data set dimension on the Dimensions subtab, you must specify how to consolidate data across the removed dimension when data is loaded from the Enterprise Performance Foundation (EPF). You can select a single member and only load data for that member, or you can choose to summarize data for multiple members. If you do not specify a setting, the validation process will generate an error.
You might remove a data set dimension in the following circumstances:
The dimension is not relevant to the business process. In this situation, you would summarize data for all members before the load.
Only a small set of data actually uses the dimension. It is not relevant for analysis. In this situation, you would summarize data for those members which hold data before the load.
All data for the dimension is held by a single member. In this situation, you would specify this member as the default member to be loaded.
Assume that a data set for a business process includes lines dimensioned by Project, Product, and Geography as well as by the time dimension. However, you decide that the Project dimension is not relevant to the business process, and you remove it.
The following tables represent your data.
| PROJECT 1 | product 1 | product 2 | product 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| geography 1 | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| geography 2 | 40 | 50 | 60 |
| geography 3 | 70 | 80 | 90 |
| PROJECT 2 | product 1 | product 2 | product 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| geography 1 | 100 | 200 | 300 |
| geography 2 | 400 | 500 | 600 |
| geography 3 | 700 | 800 | 900 |
| PROJECT 3 | product 1 | product 2 | product 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| geography 1 | 1000 | 2000 | 3000 |
| geography 2 | 4000 | 5000 | 6000 |
| geography 3 | 7000 | 8000 | 9000 |
If you choose to load the default member (for this example assume that the default is Project 1), then only the Project values in the first table would be loaded. If you choose to load the sum of members for Project 1, Project 2, and Project 3, then the sum of all three tables would be loaded.
The solve is a set of instructions that specifies how to process data for a business process.
Refer to the following topics:
Specifying Dimension Handling for a Loaded Line Dimension Member
Specifying Input and Output Selections for a Line Dimension Member
If the Currency option has been enabled for the business area, a Currency subtab is available. Use the Currency subtab to specify the currency for the business process. The business process currency determines the currency for the shared view that will be generated or appended to each time that the business process runs.
You can set the business process currency to be the local currency for each organization. In this case, the shared view will hold the appropriate currency for each organization, based on an organization/currency attribute defined in the Enterprise Performance Foundation. For example, you would choose this option if you want the shared view to hold US data in dollars, European data in Euros, and so forth.
You can set the business process currency to be a specific currency such as USD or Euro. Available selections for currency are based on exchange rates loaded from General Ledger. In this case, the shared view will hold data in the currency that you specify. For example, you would choose this option if you want the shared view to hold all data in Euros. Available selections for currency are based on exchange rates that have been loaded from General Ledger.
Note: The selection that you make for business process currency pertains to shared views that will be generated by business process runs. Users who enter data in worksheets (personal views) will have the same option to use the business process currency or multiple currencies. Users who analyze data in crosstabs and graphs (also personal views) will be able to convert between supported currencies. For more information, see Choosing the Currency for Data Entry and Currency Conversion Template.
You also specify the exchange rate strategy for historical and future data. If the Enterprise Performance Foundation holds data in entered currency, data in translated currency, or data in both entered and translated currency, you can also specify that these data be loaded when a Load Data task runs. This will cause additional shared views for these currencies to be generated. Users will be able to work with these views as they can with the primary view.
Navigate to the Currency Options page (Administration > Business Processes > Currency subtab).
Select the source currency for the business process.
Local — Indicates that the shared view will display data in the appropriate currency of each organization.
Specified — Indicates that he shared view will display data in a single currency which you will select.
(Optional) If Enterprise Performance Foundation holds data in entered currencies, translated currencies, or in both entered and translated currencies, you can specify that these data be loaded when a Load Data task runs. Choose one or both of the following:
Entered — Loads data in entered currencies from the Enterprise Performance Foundation. Click Choose Currencies to access the Select Entered Currencies to Load page and select currencies. One view, dimensioned by currency, will be generated.
Translated — Loads data in translated currencies from the Enterprise Performance Foundation. Click Choose Currency to access the Select Translated Currencies to Load page and select currencies. A view will be generated for each currency that you choose.
If you do not load entered or translated data, no additional views will be created.
Note: Even though data is aggregated, calculations are not run for entered and translated data.
Specify conversion parameters for historical data.
Note: Historical" applies to periods prior to the Current Periods setting for the business area. For more information, see Viewing Current Periods and time range information.
Select Exchange Rate Scenario. Typical options are Actual, Budget, and Forecast.
Select a setting for Ending/Average. Choose one of the following:
Profit and Loss at Average, Balance Sheet at Period End
Period end
Average
Specify Exchange Rate Timeframe. You can choose the exchange rate in effect at the time, or you can select a time period from which to apply exchange rates. Note that exchange rates are dimensioned by time, indicating effective or average rates for those time periods. For example, an exchange rate stored in JAN06 is the effective rate for that month.
Specify conversion parameters for future data.
Note: "Future" applies to time periods after the Current Periods setting for the business area. For more information, see Viewing Current Periods and time range information.
Select Exchange Rate Scenario. Typical options are Actual, Budget, and Forecast.
Select a setting for Ending/Average. Choose one of the following:
Profit and Loss at Average, Balance Sheet at Period End
Period end
Average
Specify Exchange Rate Timeframe. You can choose the exchange rate in effect at the time or you can select a time period from which to apply exchange rates. Note that exchange rates are dimensioned by time, indicating effective or average rates for those time periods. For example, an exchange rate stored in JAN06 is the effective rate for that month.
Click Apply.
Tasks are the procedures and actions that execute each time that a business process runs. Tasks execute in sequence according to their position on the task list.
See the following topics:
The business process schedule determines the timing and frequency of business process runs. Frequency can be periodic (for example, monthly), an event defined as a task in another effective business process, or a procedure call initiated by another application. The schedule also specifies the number of previous process runs to retain for a business process that has versioned views. You can also specify whether you want to run the business process when warning conditions are encountered.
Note that the schedule for a business process differs from the time dimension selection which is the processing period. For example, in a Budget business process, the budget planning period may be the beginning of the fiscal year to the end of the fiscal year with the budget updated semi-annually. In this case, the time dimension selection for the business process would be the fiscal year, while the schedule for the business process would be every six months.
Navigate to the Schedule page (Business Processes > Schedule subtab).
In the Start Date box, specify the start date for the business process. The date that you specify refers to system time and will take effect when the business process is made effective. Enter a date or click the Calendar icon to select a date. Some considerations:
If the date that you specify here precedes the date on which the business process definition is made effective, the start date will be considered to be the effective date.
If the business process will be initiated by an event (you choose By Create Event Task in Step 3) an event that occurs on or after the start date will initiate an instance of the business process.
If the business process will be initiated by an external application (you choose By Procedure Call in Step 3) and the API is called before the start date has been reached, you will receive an error and a business process run will not start.
In the Frequency Type box, specify how often the business process will run.
Daily — The process will repeat every specified number of days. Enter the number of days in the Repeat Every box.
By Create Event Task — The business process will launch when a specified Create Event task runs. For example, if you want forecasting to begin when monthly accounts processing (another business process) is complete, you would choose this option. For more information, see Defining a Create Event Task.
Monthly — The business process will repeat every specified number of months. Enter the number of months in the Repeat Every box and select a day of the month.
One Time Only — The process will run only once.
Weekly — The business process will repeat every specified number of weeks. Enter the number of weeks in the Repeat Every box and select a day of the week.
Yearly — The business process will repeat every specified number of years. Enter the number of years in the Repeat Every box.
By Procedure Call — The business process will be launched by a workflow event generated by a PL/SQL API call. Choose this option to enable the business process to be initiated by call from another application. For more information, see Starting a Business Process Externally.
Note: Before you choose By Procedure Call, Oracle recommends that you test the business process by running it with a periodic option. For example, you might run it One Time Only.
If you chose Daily, Monthly, Weekly or Yearly in Step 3, in the Repeat Every box enter a number that specifies the interval at which the business process will repeat.
In the Repeat Until box, specify when the business process will end. Enter a date or click the Calendar icon to select a date.
To specify that there is no end, select No End Date.
If you chose By Create Event Task in Step 3, provide information about the event.
In the Business Process box, select the name of the business process definition that includes the event. You will only be able to select an effective business process.
In the Event box, select the name of the event.
For more information, see Defining a Create Event Task.
If you chose By Procedure Call in Step 3, specify Oracle Applications users who are authorized to issue the PL/SQL API call. You can authorize all Oracle Applications users or you can authorize specific users.
To authorize all users, enable the checkbox.
To limit authorization to specific users, clear the check box and click Add User.
The Search and Select: Add Users page opens where you can select users.
If this is a business process with versioned views (the Append View checkbox on the General page has not been selected), in the Number of Process Runs Stored box, enter the number of views for which the system will retain data. Enterprise Planning and Budgeting will automatically roll off views above the number that you specify. For example, if you enter "2," Enterprise Planning and Budgeting will retain data from two completed error-free runs of the business process; earlier versions will be automatically deleted.
The number that you enter must be equal to or greater than 1.
Note: If this is a business process for which views are appended (the Append View checkbox on the General page has been selected), Enterprise Planning and Budgeting will always retain one view.
For more information, see About appending views.
Enterprise Planning and Budgeting validates the business process definition prior to initiating each new run. If errors are encountered, the business process will not run. If only warnings are encountered, the system will generate a notification listing the warnings. Use the Ignore Runtime Validation Warnings checkbox to indicate whether to execute a run when only warnings are encountered. By default, the box is unchecked.
To indicate that the business process should run when there are warnings, check the Ignore Runtime Validation Warnings checkbox. Although you will receive a broadcast notification listing warning conditions, the business process will run.
To indicate that the business process should not run when there are warnings, do not check the Ignore Runtime Validation Warnings checkbox. You will receive a response notification and the business process will not run until you specify that it should proceed.
For more information, see Validating a Business Process.
Click Apply.
Validation checks all business process components for sensibility and synchronization and applies rules that examine dependencies between components. Validation automatically runs when you make a business process effective. Validation also runs before a business process executes. You can also perform an ad hoc (manual) validation at any time.
Note: Validation applies to the entire business process. You might not want to validate a new business process definition until it is complete or near completion
Failure to pass certain conditions generates a Fail notice; failure to pass other conditions generates a Warning notice. Both Failures and Warnings are displayed on the Validation page, which also describes the reason for each problem and directs you to the page where you can make corrections. Before you can make the business process effective, you must correct all conditions that generate a Fail notice. You are not required to correct a condition that generates a Warning.
The Ignore Runtime Validation Warnings checkbox on the Schedule page allows you to specify how to handle validation warnings that may be generated before the business process runs. For more information, see Specifying the Schedule for a Business Process.
Note: In addition to global validations, Enterprise Planning and Budgeting also applies appropriate validations to each page. You must correct page-level errors before you can proceed.
Navigate to the Business Processes page (Administration > Business Processes tab).
Identify the business process that you want to validate.
Click the Draft icon for the business process.
The Draft: Business Process Name page opens.
Click Update Draft.
The General page is active.
On this page or on any other page, click Validate.
The Validation page opens, displaying results.
Making a business process effective validates the draft definition and, if successful, copies the draft definition into the effective definition. An effective business process is available to run according to schedule.
Navigate to the Business Processes page (Administration > Business Processes tab).
Identify the business process that you want to make effective.
Click the Draft icon for the business process.
The Draft: Business Process Name page opens.
Click Update Draft.
Click Make Effective.
You are prompted to confirm this action. The validation routine runs.
If an effective version of the business process already exists, additional prompts are displayed. For more information, see Updating a Business Process.
As a Business Process Administrator or Controller, you can update a business process by changing settings on the General, Dimensions, Solve, Tasks, Currency, or Schedule tabs. As an Analyst you can update a business process by adding an exception alert, deleting an exception alert, or by modifying an exception alert.
There are several update scenarios:
The business process is currently in the draft stage. There is no effective version. In this case, updates will take effect when the draft is made effective and the business process runs.
There is an effective version of the business process but no process run is currently active. In this case updates will take effect the next time that the business process runs after the draft is made effective.
There is an active run of the business process. In this case, if you are a Controller or Business Process Administrator, you are prompted to specify whether to implement the updates for future process runs only, or for both current and future process runs. Note however that there are certain updates which cannot be implemented within a current process run. For example, changes to the schedule, data set, dimensions, and completed tasks will only be implemented in future runs.
Tip: You can use the Monitor tab to identify the status of business process runs and the currently running task. You can use the Disable function to stop a running business process.
Special considerations apply if you are updating the draft of business process that has been made effective:
Do not change the setting for Append View on the General subtab.
If the business process specifies an appended view (the Append View box is checked on the General subtab) you cannot change the data set selection (General subtab), the dimension selections (Dimension subtab), or the Currency settings (Currency subtab). Further limitations apply to solve settings. See Updating the Solve.
If you change the setting for business process frequency (Schedule tab), ensure that the specified Start Date is still relevant.
Also be aware that modifications that you make to one setting might affect other settings. For example, if you add, delete, or change data sets, then the dimensions for the business process may change and you may need to modify the solve.
Log into Enterprise Planning and Budgeting as a Business Process Administrator or Controller.
Choose Administration.
If prompted, choose a business area.
Navigate to the Business Processes page (Administration > Business Processes tab).
Identify the business process that you want to update.
Click the Draft icon for the business process.
The Draft: Business Process Name page opens.
Click Update Draft.
The Update Draft: Business Process Name page opens. The General subtab is active.
Use the General, Dimensions, Solve, Tasks, Currency, and Schedule subtabs to modify settings. Click Apply on any page.
On the Update Draft: Business Process Name page you can enter comments to document your updates.
To add a comment, proceed as follows.
Click Add Comments.
The Add Comments page opens.
Enter text for the comment.
Click Apply.
To validate the business process, click Validate.
To make the current definition effective, navigate to the Draft: Business Process Name page and click Make Effective.
Note: It is not mandatory to make the draft effective immediately. You can always save the draft and return to it at a later time
If an effective version of the business process already exists, you will prompted to specify how to proceed. Select one of the following:
Update the definition for current and future process runs — Enterprise Planning and Budgeting will use the current business process definition until the currently running task is complete. From then on, it will use the updated definition.
Update the definition for future process runs — Enterprise Planning and Budgeting will use the new definition the next time that the business process runs.
Log into Enterprise Planning and Budgeting as an Analyst.
Choose Administration.
If prompted, choose a business area.
Navigate to the Business Processes page (Administration > Business Processes tab).
Identify the business process to which you want to add an exception alert or modify an exception alert. Click Next and Previous to move through the list.
Click the Draft icon for the business process.
The Draft: Business Process Name page opens.
To add an exception alert, click Add Exception Alert. To modify an exception alert, click its name.
The Task: Exception Alert page opens, where you define or modify the exception condition and specify users to notify.
For more information, see Defining an Exception Alert Task.
Duplicating a business process enables you to quickly populate a draft definition for a new business process. You can then modify the settings, if desired.
If you are a Business Process Administrator, you can duplicate your own draft and effective business processes. You can also duplicate an effective business process that has been defined by another administrator.
If you are a Controller you can duplicate your own draft and effective business process . You can also duplicate draft and effective business processes defined by another administrator.
Warning: Copying a business process that you do not own, be sure to review and adjust the selections to ensure validity. For example, there may be differences between your metadata scope and the scope of the individual who owns the process being copied. Metadata scoping excludes specific hierarchies, hierarchy levels, and attributes from an account’s view of a dimension.
To duplicate a business process:
Log into Enterprise Planning and Budgeting as a Business Process Administrator or Controller.
Choose Administration.
If prompted, choose a business area.
Navigate to the Business Processes page (Administration > Business Processes tab).
Identify the business process that you want to copy.
Click the Select column for the process and then click Duplicate.
A page opens, displaying the name of the business process to be copied.
To duplicate comments entered for this business process, click the Comments box.
To duplicate Analyst exception alerts entered for this business process, click the Analyst Exception Alert box.
Click Continue.
The General page opens. The Name box displays a default name for the copy: "Copy of....."
Enter a unique name.
Do one of the following:
Click Finish to complete the copy. Selections for dimensions, solve, tasks, currency, and schedule will be exactly the same as those of the business process that you chose in Step 5.
Use the General, Dimensions, Currency, Solve, Tasks, and Schedule tabs to modify existing settings. Click Finish when your edits are complete.
The Business Processes page displays. The new business process is included on the list. It is in draft state.
Click Validate to check the business process components for sensibility and synchronization and apply rules that examine dependencies between components.
Click Save As Draft to save the business process as a draft.
Disabling an effective business process stops the current process run and prevents a new instance of the process from initializing. You can disable any effective business process that you own: inactive or currently running. Typically, you might disable an active process when you want to make an adjustment that you would not be able to make if the process were running.
Enabling a disabled business process restarts the process at the next scheduled run.
Log into Enterprise Planning and Budgeting as a Business Process Administrator or Controller.
Choose Administration.
If prompted, choose a business area.
Navigate to the Business Processes page (Administration > Business Processes tab).
Identify the business process that you want to disable.
Click the Select column for the process and then click Disable.
Specify how to stop the business process:
Stop active process run(s). No new process run(s) allowed — Any process run that is active will terminate when the currently running task completes. No new process runs will start.
Complete active process run(s). No new process run(s) allowed — Any process run that is active will complete. No new process runs will start.
Tip: Use the Monitor tab to identify the status of business process runs and the current task.
Click Apply.
Log into Enterprise Planning and Budgeting as a Business Process Administrator or Controller.
Choose Administration.
If prompted, choose a business area.
Navigate to the Business Processes page (Administration > Business Processes tab).
Identify the disabled business process that you want to enable.
Click the Select column for the process and then click Enable.
If an active process run was allowed to complete when you disabled the business process or if the process was not running, you will be prompted to confirm your action.
If an active process run was not allowed to complete when you disabled the business process, specify how to restart it:
Restart current process run(s) from last completed task — Disabled runs will restart at the next task on the task list. New runs will be initiated as specified in the business process schedule.
Restart current process run(s) starting over from first task — Disabled runs will start at the first task on the task list. New runs will be initiated as specified in the business process schedule.
Delete current process run(s). Restart with next run — Disabled runs will be deleted. New process runs will be initiated as specified in the business process schedule.
Tip: Use the Monitor tab to identify the status of business process runs and the current task.
Click Apply.
Deleting a business process removes the business process definition from Enterprise Planning and Budgeting. You can delete a process that is in the draft stage or you can delete a process that has been made effective.
When you delete an effective process, you are prompted to specify how to retain data for completed process runs. A process that is currently running will be deleted when the current task completes.
Log into Enterprise Planning and Budgeting as a Business Process Administrator or Controller.
Choose Administration.
If prompted, choose a business area.
Navigate to the Business Processes page (Administration > Business Processes tab).
Identify the business process that you want to delete.
Click the Select column for the process and then click Delete.
You are prompted to confirm the deletion. If this is an effective business process, a Warning page is displayed.
If you are deleting a draft business process, click OK to confirm the deletion.
If you are deleting an effective business process that has previously run, proceed as follows:
Specify what to do with data for the business process:
Delete data for completed and active process run(s) — Delete all data associated with the business process.
Keep all data for completed and active process runs — Retain data generated by previous process runs, including runs that were active when deletion occurred.
Keep data for completed process runs — Retain data generated by previous process runs, excluding runs that were active when deletion occurred.
Note: The Number of Process Runs Stored parameter on the Schedule page determines the number of previous runs that Enterprise Planning and Budgeting automatically retains. For more information, see Specifying the Schedule for a Business Process.
Click OK.
As a Business Process Administrator you can view all effective business processes. You can also view drafts of business processes that you own. As a Controller you can view all business processes. As an Analyst you can view all effective business processes and exception alerts that you have defined for draft processes.
Note: The following procedure describes how to view a business process definition. Use the Monitor tab to view the status of a business process run.
Navigate to the Business Processes page (Administration > Business Processes tab).
Identify the business process that you want to view.
The following information is displayed for each business process:
Enabled — A check indicates that the process is available to execute according to schedule. An "x" indicates that the process is disabled.
Made Effective On — For an effective business process, displays the date on which the process was made available for execution.
Made Effective By — For an effective business process, displays the ID of the user account that made the business process available for execution.
Draft — An active icon indicates that there is a draft version of the business process to which you have access.
To view an effective business process, proceed as follows:
Click the business process name.
A summary page opens.
Click View Business Process.
To view a draft business process, proceed as follows:
Click the Draft icon.
A summary page opens. If you are a Business Process Administrator, this page displays comments and analyst exception alerts. If you are an Analyst, this page displays exception alerts that you have defined.
Click Update Draft (available to Business Process Administrator or Controller).
The subtabs for the business process are displayed. The General subtab is active.
Use the subtabs to view business process settings. Use the hypertext links (Administration > Business Processes >) to move back.
Tip: The Tasks subtab provides information about the task definition. Use the Monitor tab to view the current status of a specific task.
The By Procedure Call frequency option on the Schedule subtab enables authorized Oracle Applications users to launch an Enterprise Planning and Budgeting business process using a workflow business system event called by a PL/SQL API. Typically, the API is packaged in the calling application.
The individual who initiates the API call and the business process owner are automatically notified when the business process runs. The caller can use the generated Workflow ID to examine the Workflow log.
In other respects, a business process that is started from an API procedure call is identical to other business processes. A Business Process Administrator, Controller, or Analyst can monitor the progress of business process runs and view the status of individual tasks. The business process owner can also pause and resume the process run and view the status of data collection templates.
For more information, see the API Guide for Enterprise Planning and Budgeting.
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