This topic describes using attachments with Oracle E-Records, the types of attachments available, and how attachments are stored.
This chapter covers the following topics:
Electronic records store the snapshot of an ERES event in Oracle Applications. Along with capturing the main transactional details of the event in an XML format, you can store an attachment related to the key business entities involved in the ERES event. These attachments become part of the e-record and e-record storage.
There are two types of attachments:
ERP Documents
Attachments related to the business entities involved in the transaction being snapshot by an e-record. For example, attachments related to a recipe, which is being changed by an ERES event. These attachments are currently attached to different business entities. These attachments are already stored in Oracle Applications.
Non-ERP Documents
Attachments directly related to an e-record entity. For example, a standard operating procedure (SOP) followed during the transaction being snapshot by an e-record. These attachments are attached only to e-records directly. These records must be uploaded into Oracle Applications using Files Approval.
When e-signatures is enabled for a transaction that allows attachments, the attachments are sent through the signature process with the transaction. The attachment is captured as part of the e-record, and once the signature process is complete, the attachment is stored with the e-record.
When the e-record is queried, either by transaction or generic, the attachment is available for viewing.
For setup information, refer to the Oracle E-Records Developers Cookbook available on My Oracle Support.
You can upload a document using Files Approval. Each document is assigned a category, which contains rules for the approval process. Each category has fifteen descriptive flexfield segments that can be used to store information about the documents in that category.
When a document is in either the No Approval Required or Approved status, you can attach the document to an E-Business entity using the Oracle Applications Attachments functionality.
Files Approval has two modes, user and administrator. Depending on how you are logged in, you can either upload, update, and delete all files, or only the files where you are the author.
From the iSignature Administrator responsibility, you can upload, update, delete, and send for approval all documents in the system.
From the iSignature User responsibility, you can upload documents, and update, delete, and send for approval only those documents that you own. You can only view documents you did not author.
There are five statuses for a document:
New
This is the default value for all documents when they are first uploaded.
Approved
A document is approved after all signers approve it.
Waiting for Approval
A document is waiting for approval when it is in the approval process, but not all signoffs have been completed.
Rejected
A document is rejected when one signer rejects the document. Rejected documents are not published and are not available for attaching to ERP entities.
Approval Not Required
When approvals for a document are not required, set the status to No Approval Required. No rules are required to be set for this document status. If you send the document for approvals after upload, then it is automatically set to Approval Not Required.
The following rules are set to determine what privileges you have based on the status of a document.
| Operations | New | Approved | Waiting for Approval | Rejected | Approval Not Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Update | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Delete | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Overwrite | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Send for Approval | Yes | No | No | No | No |
The checklist functionality lets you set up a verification checklist that is uploaded with the document into the iSignatures system. The checklist is a PDF form that contains fields to be entered answering questions about the file being uploaded. This form can be empty fields that you enter information into, or they can have validation against them based on setup in Adobe Acrobat.
The checklist can be created by any product that lets you turn the file into a PDF. Then, the document is edited in Adobe Acrobat to have logic and buttons added to make it a usable form.
The file must be uploaded into the iSignatures system under the EDR iSign Checklist Templates category, and must be in either the Approved or Approval Not Required status. You must set up three configuration variables to activate the checklist. These include:
Checklist Required - valid values are Y, yes the checklist is required and N, no checklist is required.
Checklist Template - enter the full name of the PDF file, including the version.
Checklist Template Version - enter the version number of the checklist.
When a document is uploaded into iSignatures, the checklist appears after the Apply button is clicked. Then, you enter information into the checklist and click the checklist Submit button. As the document moves through the signature process the checklist can be updated. In the e-record, the checklist link is under the Related Applications section.
In Adobe Acrobat, some code has to be added to the top of the PDF file to enable some validation, including the Submit button.
Add the following text fields as hidden in the PDF document:
RETURN_FUNC
RETURN_TYPE
LOBS_ID
TRANSACTION_ID
SUBMIT_ENABLED
Create a button named SUBMIT as Hidden. You can set the display name under the Options tab.
You must attach a javascript to the Submit button. Navigate to the button properties and under the Actions tab --> Mouse Up --> Add --> Type Submit Form --> Select Url. The URL must be OA.jsp?OAFunc=EDR_ISIGN_CHKLST_UPDATE&retainAM=Y&addBreadCrumb=N
Make sure you have the fields as shown here
Export format - HTML Form
Include empty fields
All fields
Set page action to the template, Navigate to Document-Set Page Action. On page open add the following javascript for Page Open action
var submit_on = this.getField("SUBMIT_ENABLED").value;
if (submit_on == "Y")
this.getField("SUBMIT").hidden=false;
else
this.getField("SUBMIT").hidden=true;
When a document is captured, it has an associated category. Each category can have up to 15 descriptive flexfields. This information is stored in the database with the document, and can be used to search for the document.
The list of categories can be restricted by modifying the value set EDR_FILE_CATEGORIES to include a WHERE clause. The clause defines the categories to appear in the category list of values.
Navigate to the Files Approval window.
Click Upload File. The File Upload window displays.
Select the Category for the document. The list is a value set that can be modified through the System Administration responsibility. Each category has rules set up in AME that determine the approval process. Required.
Based on the category selected, the window displays all descriptive flexfield segments set up for the category. Some of these fields are required. Complete all necessary fields based on the category.
Click Browse to select the document to upload. Required.
Enter a Description of the document. This field has a maximum of 255 characters and supports MLS.
Select the If File Exists option. Required. Valid values are:
Don't Overwrite displays an error if the document already exists in the system. You must either select a different document or select one of the other two options.
Overwrite replaces the last version of the document.
Version Existing File versions the new document based on the version label entered. Default.
Enter a Version Label.
Click Apply. A message displays that the file is uploaded.
Query the documents to see the document in the list. You can update, delete, see details, or send the file for approval.
When you query a document, you can view all documents in the system, or narrow your search using the available criteria. The search criteria is not case sensitive and handles trailing wildcards. For example, searching for abc returns all matches for abc% and ABC%.
The Advanced Search option lets you search for the documents based on the descriptive flexfield information associated to the document.
Navigate to the Files Approval window.
Search for documents in the system. You can enter criteria to narrow your search. Enter at least one search criteria.
Select a file name using the list of values.
Select a category to see all documents in that category.
Select an author to see all documents uploaded by one person.
Select a status to see all documents in a specific status. Valid values are: Approved, Not Approved, Waiting for Approval, Rejected, Approval Not Required, All.
Click Go. The search results display. The following information displays for each record:
File Name displays the concatenated name of the file and the file version. For example, the file test.doc at version 1.0 is shown as file_v_1.0.doc.
Version denotes if the file has previous version. Click Details to see the other versions.
Category displays the category for the file.
Status displays the status the document is currently in.
Description displays the long description of the document.
Uploaded By displays the name of the person who uploaded the file.
Last Modified is the last time the document or information about the document was changed.
Click Details to see more information about the document and its history.
Click Update to change information about the document.
Click Delete to delete the document from the system. Refer to Security for information on which documents can be deleted.
Click Send for Approval to begin the approval process for the document.
Viewing the details of a document includes all information stored in the flexfields, as well as the information about all previous versions of the file. In addition, you can open and view all versions of the file from this window. You can view all documents and their properties logged in as either user or administrator.
Click Details for the record. The File Details: <filename> window displays. This window displays all information about every version of the file. The header information is the current document and all flexfields that were defined for that category. The rest of the window displays information about all other versions of the file. This information includes:
A link to the document and the flexfield information about the e-record
Information about the signers of the document, including the name of the signers, their response and the date signed, the reason given, the signer type, comments entered during signing, and any overriding details about the signer
Name of the potential signers, if they have not yet signed the record
The version history of the document, including the file name, category, approval status, description, who uploaded the file and when, and any details
Click the File Name attachment to see the document. The document opens using standard browser plug-ins based on the document type. You can save a copy of the document to your hard drive, but you cannot make edits to the attached copy.
The information about the document, stored in the descriptive flexfield segments, can be updated. If you change the category of a versioned document, then that becomes the first version of a new category for that document. This is not available if the document is approved.
If you are logged into user mode, then you can only update documents you own. If you do not own the document, then the icon is disabled.
Click Update for the selected record on the Files Approval window. The Update File: <filename> window displays.
Update desired fields. If you change the category, then the flexfields change based on the new category.
Click Apply.
Documents can be deleted from the system based on their status. Refer to Security to see which documents can be deleted.
If you are logged into user mode, then you can only delete documents you own. If you do not own the document, then the icon is disabled.
Click Delete for the selected record on the Files Approval window. A warning window displays.
Click Yes to delete the document.
All documents must be sent through an approval process. Based on the rules set up for a category, the document runs through an approval process, either online or by sending notifications to everyone who must sign a document. If a document is rejected by anyone in the signing group, then all other notifications are closed, and a new notification is sent to say that the document was rejected or a message displays saying the signing process was rejected.
When a document is uploaded into the system, it is in a New status. This is the only time a document can be sent for approval. All other statuses occur after the approval process begins.
After a document is sent for approval, all approvers receive a notification in their Workflow notifications list. The document is approved or rejected and signed.
If the rules for a category are set for no approvals, then you must click Send for Approvals for that document, but it is immediately set to Approval Not Required.
If you are logged into user mode, then you can only send for approval documents you own.
The approval process follows several paths based on how the system is configured. You can sign online or deferred, or deferred allowed, which does both. In addition, you can add dynamic users to the signing process for that document, and remove existing users, depending on the setup of the system.
Select the file to send for approval.
Click Send for Approval. The List of Signers window displays.
The List of Signers window displays all the people required to sign the document. In addition, you can see any overriding details about the signers. So, if someone sets their signing rules to someone else while on vacation, you see the original signer's name as well as the overriding signer's name.
After signing has begun, you can also see the time the person signed the document, the signature type, and any other additional comments the signer includes. The status of a signer changes from pending to completed after the signing process is complete.
Note: The following steps are for a FULL signing implementation. If your system is set up for e-initials, then only the signing window displays. Also, you cannot set up Ad Hoc signers with e-initials. For details on e-initials, refer to the section on Implementing E-Records.
Navigate to the List of Signers window by sending a document for approval.
The following information displays:
The window displays the detailed information about the e-record being signed. This information includes the Event Name, Filename if a document was uploaded in iSignatures, whether the event has Defer Signatures Allowed, the E-Record ID, and the Timestamp for the record.
The Sequence is the order each user signs.
The Signer is the username or user ID of the signer.
The Signature Type is populated after signing, and is the type of signer. For example, reviewer or author.
The Additional field is only populated after ad hoc users are added. This then denotes that the signer was added dynamically only for this document.
The Status field displays where your signature is at that time. Before you sign it is Pending, and after you sign it is Complete.
The Signature Time is the time that you signed the document.
Click the Sign icon to begin the online signing process.
Overriding Details displays any changes made to that signer.
View any related events associated to the current event. In the E-signatures History section, there is a References section that contains links to any parent or child events related to the current event. During the signing process, these events are available through the link. These events are viewed based on the following scenarios:
If there is a single parent or child event, then when you click the Related E-Records link, you are taken to the evidence store details page that displays an appropriate message along with the e-record details. You can then return to the notification details page by clicking the Return to E-signature Process link at the end of the page.
If there are multiple child or parent events, then the Related E-records page displays listing the parent and child e-records. You can view any of the records from this page, and use the breadcrumbs to navigate back.
Click the Sign icon on the List of Signers window next to your name. The E-signature Event window displays. This window includes all the e-record header information, as well as the flexfield information about the record, and a link to the attached document.
Answer the prompt I have read the e-record at the bottom of the window.
Select a Signing Reason, if applicable.
Enter a Signer Comment, if applicable.
Select the appropriate Signature Type. You can also configure this list in the Workflow.
Click Approve to complete the signing process, Reject to fail the document, or Cancel to stop the signing process. Cancel brings you back to the List of Signers window. If the document is approved or rejected, then the Sign window displays. This window displays the information entered into the previous window.
Enter your username and password to sign the document.
Click Submit to view the Confirmation window. Cancel brings you back to the previous window.
Ensure that all the information on the Confirmation window is correct. This information includes the name of the event, the e-record ID, the identfier, the identifier value, and the current status of the e-record.
Click OK to complete the process.
Click Submit on the List of Signers window. This can be done before anyone has signed, or after people have begun to sign.
The message Are you sure you want to defer the e-signature process. On deferring the e-signature, offline workflow notifications would be sent out for obtaining the e-signature appears. Click Yes to defer the signing process and view the Confirmation window or No to return to the List of Signers window.
Ensure that all the information on the Confirmation window is correct. This information includes the name of the event, the e-record ID, the identifier, the identifier value, and the current status of the e-record.
Click OK to complete the process.
The Files Approval window displays, and notifications are sent to all the signers.
If you have set up your system to sign with e-initials, then the E-signatures window displays, rather than the List of Signers window.
Select the file to send for approval.
Click Send for Approval. The E-signatures window displays. The following information displays:
The window displays the detailed information about the e-record being signed. This information includes the Event Name, Filename if a document was uploaded in iSignatures, whether the event has Defer Signatures Allowed, the E-Record ID, and the Timestamp for the record.
The Sequence is the order each user signs.
Enter the Signature Type, which is the type of signer. For example, reviewer or author. This list is configurable in Workflow.
Select a Response, which is either Approve or Reject. Depending on how the system is set up, if the response entered is Reject, no other signer can continue, the process is terminated.
Enter any Comments, if applicable.
Enter your username and password to sign the document.
Click the Sign icon to complete the signature process.
Click Submit after all signatures are obtained.
Based on system setup, you can update the list of existing signers for a document. This change is only for the single document being sent for approvals.
Click Update Signers on the List of Signers window. The Update Signers window displays.
From this window, you can delete a signer, add new signers, or continue through to reordering signers.
Click the Delete icon next to the name of the person to be deleted on the Update Signers page. A message displays Are you sure you want to remove this default signer?
Click Yes to delete the signer, and Cancel to return to the previous window.
Adding signers can include adding a single person, or a group of people. No one can be added twice. So, if someone is a single signer to a document and a group is added that the signer is part of, then the rest of the group is added, but that signer is not added again.
Click Add Signer on the Update Signers window. The Add Signer window displays.
Select the search criteria or enter a name or partial name with wildcard. You can search by Group, User, or User ID.
If you search by User or User ID, then the list of names displays.
If you search by Group, the individual users display, with the name of the AME groups they are associated to.
Any overriding details display for the users.
Select the users or group you want to add as signers. If the user or group is already part of the signing list, then the select box is disabled.
Click Apply. The Reorder Signers window displays.
You can change the order of the signers. This change is only valid for the document you are signing. This window does not appear if your event is set up for parallel signing.
Select the name of the signer to move.
Click the up or down arrows to move one space at a time, or click the top or bottom arrows to move to the beginning or end of the list.
When you have finished reordering the users, or you do not want to change the order, click Finish. The List of Signers window displays.
Oracle E-Records supports both XSL and RTF stylesheets. A stylesheet is uploaded into the system using the EDR E-record Templates category.
For XSL stylesheets, there can be a subscription enabled, XSL Upload. If the subscription is enabled for the event, then after approvals are complete, the stylesheet moves to the XSL repository and can be used to create new e-records. Update the input configuration variables for the event to recognize the new stylesheet name and version.
For RTF stylesheets, after being uploaded into the system, the file is processed using the Oracle XML Publisher API. The RTF template is uploaded into the XDO repository and centrally controlled by XDO. An XDO API then generates the PDF. The subscription RTF Upload must be enabled. The file is stored in the XDO Repository. Refer to the Oracle XML Publisher User's Guide for more details.
Oracle E-Records includes the print count as part of the header information when printing e-records. Therefore, you must not include print count as part of your RTF document.
You can link to an iSignatures document from a web site. The document that appears is based on the version, so if a new version is uploaded, then either the link needs to change or you can continue to point to the older version of the document.
You must create a document named GetDocument.htm and place it in a public directory. This is an example of the GetDocument.htm file.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>iSign Repository</title>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="CACHE-CONTROL" CONTENT="NO-CACHE">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="EXPIRES" CONTENT="0">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="PRAGMA" CONTENT="NO-CACHE">
<script language="javascript">
<!-- Define the isign host name and port -->
var isign_host = "qapache.us.oracle.com:5230";
<!-- Define the dbc filename without extension -->
var dbcfile = "qapache.us.oracle.com_ISIGNPRD.dbc";
<!-- Define the protocol -->
var protocol = "http";
<!-- Define the path for OA.jsp -->
var oajsp = "/OA_HTML/jsp/edr/FilePreview.jsp?a=a";
<!-- do not modify these variables -->
var url = protocol + "://" + isign_host + oajsp;
var filecategory = "";
var filename ="";
var uname= document.location.search ;
var idx = location.search.indexOf('$');
<!-- get the handle to the url search and pick the filename and category -->
valLength = uname.length ;
if (idx != -1) {
var pairs = uname.substring(1, valLength).split('$');
filecategory = pairs[0];
filename = pairs[1];
}
else;
{
filename =location.search.substring(1);
}
<!-- attach a random number to the url, to avoid caching issues -->
var rand = Math.random();
url = url + "&rand=" + rand;
if (filecategory != null && filecategory != "")
{
url = url + "&fileCategory=" + filecategory;
}
if (filename != null && filename != "")
{
url = url + "&fileName=" + filename;
<!-- create frameset to not expose the isign url -->
document.write("<frameset border=0 frameborder=no framespacing=0 rows=\"*\">");
document.write("<frame name='isign' src='" + url + "' frameborder='no' scrolling='auto' noresize marginheight=10 marginwidth=10 framespacing=0>");
document.write("</frameset>");
document.write("<noframes>");
document.write("<body>");
document.write("Viewing this page requires a browser capable of displaying frames");
document.write("</body>");
document.write("</noframes>");
}
else
{
<!-- throw error if filename is not a part of the url -->
document.write("<body>");
document.write("Invalid url format.");
document.write("</body>");
}
</script>
</html>
The beginning of every URL must be:
http://.../GetDocument.htm?
The ... must be replaced with the location of the GetDocument.htm file.
The end of every link is a combination of the category and filename. For example, if the URL is pointing to a Technical Design with the name isign_v1.1.txt, then the end of the link is:
Technical%20Designs$isign_sql_v_1.1.txt
Therefore, the entire link is:
http://.../GetDocument.htm?Technical%20Designs$isign_v_1.1.txt