Using Mobile Application Archives for Enterprise Distribution

Introduction

This chapter explains the concept of enterprise distribution and provides the step-by-step instructions guiding you to use Mobile Application Archive (MAA) files to distribute mobile apps to internal users on an internal corporate location. It includes the following topics:

Understanding Enterprise Distribution

What is enterprise distribution?

It is the distribution of apps to mobile users through an enterprise-controlled location rather than through a public app store, such as Apple App Store or Google Play.

This capability allows enterprises to achieve the following main objectives, available from Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation Release 4.0:

Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps allow you to perform certain customization; however, any additional changes beyond the content described in this book may not be supported.

With this capability, enterprise users can download the apps directly from an enterprise's internal location, such as an enterprise's own site, not from a public app store. Additionally, enterprises can only distribute these apps to their internal enterprise users through internal locations. These apps cannot be redistributed to a public app store or third-party users.

To accomplish these goals, Oracle E-Business Suite provides Mobile Application Archive (MAA) files for Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps. Enterprises can use these MAA files for customization as allowed, generate their own application binaries such as iOS application bundle (.ipa) or Android application package (.apk), and deploy them to their own sites.

Understanding Mobile Application Archive Files

Oracle delivers mobile application archive (MAA) files for Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps to enable changes for enterprise distribution.

An MAA file is an application archive that allows developers to use Oracle Mobile Application Framework (Oracle MAF) to customize the app and generate the enterprise version of the app to meet enterprise needs.

Important: Oracle will provide technical support for issues that can be reproduced with MAA files delivered from Oracle and modified as documented in this book. When Oracle makes changes or provides fixes for the mobile apps, the updates will be delivered as new MAA files, and you will need to reapply your changes to the latest files.

Oracle provides MAA files for most Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps, including:

For information on creating enterprise-distributed mobile apps through the MAA files, see Creating Mobile Apps through MAA Files for Enterprise Distribution.

Creating Mobile Apps Through MAA Files for Enterprise Distribution

After setting up the development environment as described in the previous chapter, you can perform the following tasks to create enterprise-distributed apps from the mobile application archives:

  1. Creating an Oracle JDeveloper Application from an MAA File

    1. Downloading Mobile Application Archives Files

    2. Importing an MAA File to Create a MAF Application

  2. Updating the MAF Application with Required Changes

    1. Changing Application Bundle Id

    2. Changing the Privacy Policy Link

    3. Changing Mobile App Access Roles

  3. Customizing Mobile Apps for Corporate Branding (Optional)

  4. Modifying an Existing Deployment Profile (Conditional)

  5. Updating Other Optional Application Configurations

    1. Updating Plug-in Configuration (Optional)

    2. Enabling the Push Plug-in (Optional)

    3. Importing Additional Root-CA Certificates (Optional)

    4. Configuring Default Server URL (Optional)

    5. Configuring Login Credentials in the Sign In Screen (Optional)

  6. Upgrading Your Enterprise Mobile Apps

  7. Deploying Your Enterprise Mobile Apps

For information on creating an enterprise-distributed app for Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications for Oracle E-Business Suite, see Creating an Enterprise-Distributed App for Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications for Oracle E-Business Suite (MSCA).

Creating an Oracle JDeveloper Application from an MAA File

Once a development environment is set up on the client side, you can download the MAA files and create an application from a downloaded MAA file.

To better understand each task performed on the client side, this section includes the following topics:

  1. Downloading Mobile Application Archives Files

  2. Importing an MAA File to Create a MAF Application

Downloading Mobile Application Archives Files

Use the following steps to download Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive (.maa) files, along with consolidated server-side patches, Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation, and Oracle Mobile Application Framework 2.6.3 for Oracle EBusiness Suite Mobile Foundation Release 9.1.

Important: Oracle is discontinuing selected Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps. To download the corresponding MAA files for these discontinued apps for enterprise distribution and corporate branding, see: Discontinued Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps in Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 9.1 Software Distribution and Discontinued Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps in Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 7.0 Software Distribution.

  1. Log in to the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud (https://edelivery.oracle.com/) page.

  2. Click the Sign In button.

    You are now signed in to the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud.

    If you do not have an Oracle account, click the New User? Register Here link instead to create one.

  3. On the Oracle Service Delivery Cloud page, perform the following tasks:

    • Select "Release" from the drop-down list.

    • In the text field, enter "Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive".

      The search results display the software distributions that meet your criteria. Click the Select button to choose your desired software distribution from the populated package list. This action adds the selected package to the cart.

      For example, select "Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 9.1".

    • Click the View Items link.

      This displays the selected "Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 9.1" software distribution.

      Click the Continue button.

    • Platform/Language: Select a desired platform, such as Linux x86-64 bit.

  4. Click the Continue button and accept the Oracle Standard Terms and Restrictions.

    You must do so before you can download the desired media pack.

  5. Click the Continue button again.

    This retrieves the download window with your selected software distribution.

For information on downloading mobile application archives files for earlier Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation releases, see Mobile Application Archives for Earlier Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation Releases.

Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive Files for Release 9.1

This "Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 9.1" software distribution (V1031711-01) is delivered in zip files. You should download the zip files to obtain the needed components for enterprise distribution and custom app development.

Note: This software distribution also contains the Mobile Application Archive file for Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications for Oracle EBusiness Suite (MSCA), although this app is not developed based on Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation.

This software distribution contains the following components:

Discontinued Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps in Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 9.1 Software Distribution

Oracle is discontinuing selected Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps as of November 1, 2022. Oracle will support these apps, but will not deliver any new updates to the apps.

Customers who have installed these apps will continue to receive technical support including access to online support tools, knowledge bases, pre-existing fixes, and service request resolution. As of November 1, 2022, error correction support will no longer be available for these apps.

Additionally, Oracle will not certify these apps with any further operating system updates, new devices, or new Oracle E-Business Suite releases after its discontinuation date. Oracle will continue to assist you to the best of our ability; however, we are unable to provide any new fixes.

The following table lists the MAA files for the discontinued Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps as of November 1, 2022.

Discontinued Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps in Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 9.1 Software Distribution
Mobile App Name Associated MAA Patch Associated MAA File
Oracle Mobile Discrete Production Supervisor for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 32358556 p32358556_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile Inventory for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 32348102 p32348102_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile Learning for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 32336727 p32336727_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile Person Directory for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 32338590 p32338590_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile Process Production Supervisor for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 32359457 p32359457_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile iProcurement for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 32391756 p32391756_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile Sales Orders for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 32353121 p32353121_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile Yard for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 32353578 p32353578_R12_GENERIC.zip

For instructions on downloading these discontinued apps contained in Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 9.1 Software Distribution, see Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive Files for Release 9.1.

Discontinued Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps in Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 7.0 Software Distribution

Oracle is discontinuing selected Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps as of August 3, 2018. Oracle will support these apps, but will not deliver any new updates to the apps.

For more information about these discontinued apps, see the Discontinued Oracle E-Business Mobile Apps section in Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps, Release 12.1 and 12.2 Documentation Index, My Oracle Support Knowledge Document 1641772.1.

Downloading the "Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 7.0" Software Distribution

Follow the instructions described earlier to download the software distribution from the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud. In step 3, select "Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 7.0" (V861706-01) software distribution instead.

Similar to the "Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 9.1" software distribution described earlier, this software distribution contains the following components:

The following table lists only the associated MAA files for the discontinued apps described in this section.

Discontinued Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive Files, built with Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation 7.0
Mobile App Name Associated MAA Patch Associated MAA File
Oracle Mobile Discrete Quality Manager for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 26160018 p26160018_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile Process Quality Manager for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 26180810 p26180810_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile Procurement for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 26197483 p26197483_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile Product Information for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 25949274 p25949274_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile Project Manufacturing for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 25933918 p25933918_R12_GENERIC.zip
Oracle Mobile Project Manager for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 25949676 p25949676_R12_GENERIC.zip

For more information about this "Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Application Archive 7.0" software distribution and the included components described above, see Mobile Application Archives for Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation Release 7.0.

Importing an MAA File to Create a MAF Application

Use the following steps to create a MAF application by importing a downloaded MAA file:

  1. In Oracle JDeveloper, choose File and then New.

  2. In the New Gallery, choose Applications and then MAF Application from Archive File and click OK.

    Alternatively, choose File, then File Import, and then select MAF Application from Archive File.

  3. In the Location page, choose Browse in the MAA File field to locate the .maa file (such as "iProcurement_Archive.maa") to be imported in the Select MAA File to Import page. Click Open.

    Select MAA File to Import Page

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    Note: The screenshots in this guide show the appearance of the pages on a Mac system. The look and feel may vary on a PC.

    The selected iProcurement_Archive.maa file is displayed in the MAA File field.

  4. Perform the following steps if needed or accept the default values in the Location page:

    MAF Application from Archive: Location Page

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    1. In the Application File field, enter a name of the mobile application derived from .maa file, such as "XXX_iProcurement".

    2. In the Directory field, click Browse to retrieve the directory of the mobile application.

  5. Click Next.

  6. Review the import summary information and then click Finish.

    A new MAF application is created.

For information on creating an unsigned application and what happens after importing an MAA file, refer to Creating Unsigned Deployment Packages, Developing Mobile Applications with Oracle Mobile Application Framework.

Updating the MAF Application with Required Changes

For enterprise distribution, even if no change is planned to an MAA file but simply distribute the associated app to an enterprise's own site, it is still required to make certain changes to the app. For example, the Application Bundle Id must be unique for each app installed on an iOS or Android device, although the app content itself is exactly the same.

Specifically, you need to update the MAF application with the following required changes:

  1. Changing Application Bundle Id

  2. Changing the Privacy Policy Link

  3. Changing Mobile App Access Roles

Changing Application Bundle Id

Changing Application Bundle Id is internal to an app, but it helps technically differentiate an enterprise app from a public one in the backend.

Instructions to Change the Application Bundle Id

Perform the following steps to change the Application Bundle Id:

  1. Open Oracle JDeveloper.

  2. In the Applications Navigator, expand the Application Resources panel, then the Descriptors folder, and then the ADF META-INF folder.

    Double-click the maf-application.xml file to open the overview editor for the maf-application.xml file.

    For information on the maf-application.xml file, see About the MAF Application Feature Configuration File, MAF Application and Project Files, Developing Mobile Applications with Oracle Mobile Application Framework.

    Overview Editor for the maf-application.xml File

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  3. Modify the Id field in the maf-application.xml file. Do not change any other fields in this file.

    Important: For enterprise distribution, the Application Version delivered in the MAA file for each app is prefixed with a letter "E" to indicate this app is created from the MAA file. For example, "E1.8.1" is the Application Version shipped in the MAA file for a seeded app version 1.8.1, built with Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation Release 9.1. This helps distinguish the enterprise-distributed apps from the publicly-distributed ones. This app version information is displayed in the About page for each app.

    To keep track of the enterprise app versions used in your company, you must continue to use the version provided in the MAA file, but you can add additional decimals at the end of the version.

    • Standard MAA version: E1.8.1

      This is the version of the corresponding out-of-the-box apps from pubic stores, but prefixed with a letter "E". In this example, 1.8.1 represents the version of the seeded apps built with Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation Release 9.1.

      For Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications for Oracle E-Business Suite, standard MAA version is E1.4.4.

    • Suggested customized version: E1.8.1.x.x, such as E1.8.1.1.0

      For Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications for Oracle E-Business Suite, suggested customized version is E1.4.4.x.x, such as E1.4.4.1.0.

    Id: Replace the Id with a unique Id to identify the mobile app for enterprise distribution.

    The downloaded Oracle E-Business Suite mobile app MAA file contains the Application Bundle Id in the following format: com.company.ebs.<prodfamily>.<product>.<AppName>

    For example, the Bundle Id from the MAA file corresponding to Oracle Mobile iProcurement for Oracle E-Business Suite is com.company.ebs.prc.icx.iProcurement.

    In this example, use com.company.ebs.xxxapp.iProcurement as the Id.

    • company- This can be replaced with your company name.

    • xxxapp- It indicates to which Oracle E-Business Suite application it belongs.

    Important: For mobile apps developed based on Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation, the Id value in the maf-application.xml file is used to download configuration details for the app. Therefore, use this Id as the Application Bundle Id value in the Application Details page when registering an enterprise app on the Oracle E-Business Suite server through the Mobile Applications Manager responsibility. See: Registering and Updating Your Mobile App Definition Metadata. If the registration corresponding to this Id is not found on the server, the associated mobile app cannot connect to that Oracle E-Business Suite instance.

    This note does not apply for Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications for Oracle E-Business Suite.

    Administrators use the Application Bundle Id to construct and validate the configuration service URL to ensure the app can be accessible from mobile users. For information on how to construct the configuration service URL using the Application Bundle Id, see Validating the Configuration, Setting Up the Mobile Apps, Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps Administrator's Guide, Release 12.1 and 12.2.

    Additionally, use the Application Bundle Id to help diagnose and troubleshoot any potential issues if occur on a mobile client. See: Enabling Client Logging, Diagnostics and Troubleshooting, Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps Administrator's Guide, Release 12.1 and 12.2.

  4. Leave the rest of the fields unchanged. Save your work.

Changing the Privacy Policy Link

The privacy policy change is reflected in the About page of the app. After the change, when a user clicks the link, it should point to your company's privacy policy, not Oracle's Privacy Policy.

Instructions to Change the Privacy Policy Link

Perform the following steps to change the privacy policy URL link:

  1. Open Oracle JDeveloper.

  2. In the Applications Navigator, expand the Application Resources panel, then the Descriptors folder, then the ADF META-INF folder, and then the ebs folder.

    Double-click the ebs.properties file to open it in an editor.

  3. Replace the following privacy policy URL in the ebs.properties file with your company's policy URL, such as

    oracle.ebs.login.branding.privacypolicyurl=http://www.example.com/privacy-policy.html.

    Please note that the downloaded Oracle E-Business Suite mobile app MAA file contains the following dummy URL: http://www.company.com/privacy-policy.html

    Privacy Policy URL Property in ebs.properties

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  4. Save your work.

The following example shows the revised privacy policy URL link in the About page for the iProcurement app (Oracle Mobile iProcurement for Oracle E-Business Suite) on an iOS device.

In this example, nothing is changed in the app from the associated MAA file except that the privacy policy URL link is changed from pointing to a dummy URL to your company's privacy policy URL.

Privacy Policy Link in the About Page

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Changing Mobile App Access Roles

Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps use role-based access control to allow users who are assigned the appropriate access roles to access Oracle E-Business Suite.

Access roles are set up in the MAF application's ebs.properties file for each app to validate whether a mobile user has the privileges to access a designated app and connect to Oracle E-Business Suite. Therefore, once mobile app access roles are created in Oracle E-Business Suite, developers need to specify the corresponding access roles in the ebs.properties file for the mobile apps.

For information on creating the mobile app access roles on the Oracle E-Business Suite server, see Creating Mobile App Access Roles.

Perform the following steps to add the mobile app access roles in the ebs.properties file:

  1. Open Oracle JDeveloper.

  2. In the Application Navigator, expand the Application Resources panel.

  3. Expand the Descriptors folder node and then the ADF META-INF folder node. Expand the ebs folder node.

    Double-click the ebs.properties file to open it in an editor.

  4. Change the following properties to specify the role that your enterprise app (such as XXX_iProcurement) uses:

    • oracle.ebs.login.rolecode=<UMX Role Code>

      If UMX|XXX_IPROCUREMENT_MBL_ROLE is a new role created earlier under the custom application called XXX, then replace <UMX Role Code> with this role UMX|XXX_IPROCUREMENT_MBL_ROLE in the property as shown here:

      oracle.ebs.login.rolecode=UMX|XXX_IPROCUREMENT_MBL_ROLE

    • oracle.ebs.login.roleappname=<Application Code>

      Replace <Application Code> with XXX_APP in the property as shown here:

      oracle.ebs.login.roleappname=XXX_APP

    Mobile App Access Role Properties in ebs.properties

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  5. Save your work.

Customizing Mobile Apps for Corporate Branding (Optional)

In addition to the required changes for enterprise app creation, you can further implement corporate branding for the app to establish corporate identity by replacing Oracle logo with your own company logo.

Instructions on replacing Oracle logo with your company and app logos or images are documented in a separate chapter in this book. See: Implementing Corporate Branding.

Note: Please note that functional customization and personalization of the apps modified from MAA files are not supported in this release.

Modifying an Existing Deployment Profile (Conditional)

After modifying the required changes for enterprise distribution, you need to prepare the platform-specific deployment profile by editing an existing deployment profile that is associated with the app provided with the MAA file.

Important: If you have customized the mobile app for corporate branding as described in the previous section, you must have already created a new deployment profile. In this situation, skip this step and do not modify an existing deployment profile.

Please note that a deployment profile defines how an app will be deployed to iOS or Android powered devices, iOS simulators, or Android emulators.

Perform the following steps to modify an existing deployment profile for your desired platform:

  1. In the Applications Navigator of Oracle JDeveloper, select and right-click the Application. Choose Application Properties from the selection window.

    Oracle JDeveloper Navigation Menu with Application Properties Selected

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  2. In the Application Properties window, select the Deployment node from the left pane.

    In the Deployment Profiles region, select the deployment profile you want to edit based on the platform and click on the Edit icon.

    Note: For each mobile app, there are three deployment profiles delivered with the MAF archives, specifically one for the iOS platform (<AppName>_iOS), another for the Android platform (<AppName>_Android), and the other for the MAA file (<AppName>_Archive).

    Application Properties Window with a Selected Deployment Profile

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  3. Editing the MAF for iOS Deployment Profile

    If the selected deployment profile (such as iProcurement_iOS) is for the iOS platform, the MAF for iOS Deployment Profile Properties page appears.

    MAF for iOS Deployment Profile Properties Page

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    Replace the Application Bundle Id with a unique Id for your app, such as com.company.ebs.xxxapp.iProcurement.

    • If you deploy the app to an iOS device, the Application Bundle Id should match the iOS provisioning profile that you receive after registering with Apple's iOS Developer Program.

      Note: If the app supports push notifications, such as an enterprise-distributed Approvals app, the Application Bundle Id used here in the iOS deployment profile is also used when creating the iOS mobile client in Oracle Mobile Hub or Oracle Mobile Cloud Service. See: Creating Mobile Clients, Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps Administrator's Guide, Release 12.1 and 12.2.

      For more information about push notifications, see Implementing Push Notifications.

    • If you deploy the app to an iOS simulator for testing the mobile app, you can use any Application Bundle Id of your choice but you could use the same Application Bundle Id required by the iOS provisioning profile.

    The Application Bundle Id is used to package the application binary for iOS. Please note that the Application Bundle Id must be unique for each app installed on an iOS or Android device. Even if the same app has been deployed twice for an enterprise, a different Bundle Id uniquely represents each individual app. For example, one app can be used for production and the other one can be for testing purposes if desired.

    Additionally, the Application Bundle Id used here impacts only the application binary packaging and its installation on mobile devices. It does not have any impact on the Oracle E-Business Suite server. For example, you could have packaged two apps with two different Application Bundle Ids in the MAF deployment profiles, such as com.company.ebs.xxxapp.XXiProcurement and com.company.ebs.xxxapp.YYiProcurement, but both could have the same Id in the maf-application.xml file, such as com.company.ebs.xxxapp.iProcurement. Both apps can be installed on the same mobile device and can connect to the same Oracle E-Business Suite server using single registration on the Oracle E-Business Suite server.

    This is useful that you create the app registration once on the server, but you can download and apply it to other Oracle E-Business Suite instances. You can then use multiple installations of the same app on a single test device and test against different Oracle E-Business Suite instances.

  4. This Application Bundle Id is the only field you need to modify in this page. Click OK.

  5. Editing the MAF for Android Deployment Profile

    If the selected deployment profile (such as iProcurement_Android) is for the Android platform, the MAF for Android Deployment Profile Properties page appears.

    Select "Application Details" from the Android Options tree node.

    MAF for Android Deployment Profile Properties Page

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    Similar to the update for the iOS deployment profile, you only need to replace the Package Name with a unique Id, such as com.company.ebs.xxxapp.iProcurement in this page. Use the same value from the Id field that you modified in the maf-application.xml file, as described earlier in the Changing Application Bundle Id.

    Note: If the app supports push notifications, such as an enterprise-distributed Approvals app, the Package Name used here in the Android deployment profile is also used when creating the Android mobile client in Oracle Mobile Hub or Oracle Mobile Cloud Service. See: Creating Mobile Clients, Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps Administrator's Guide, Release 12.1 and 12.2.

    For more information about push notifications, see Implementing Push Notifications.

    Click OK to save your work.

For information on creating deployment profiles, see Working with Deployment Profiles, Developing Mobile Applications with Oracle Mobile Application Framework.

Updating Other Optional Application Configurations

You can optionally perform the following tasks if desired for your enterprise apps:

  1. Updating Plugin Configuration (Optional)

  2. Enabling Push Plugin (Optional)

  3. Importing Additional Root-CA Certificates (Optional)

  4. Configuring Default Server URL (Optional)

  5. Configuring Login Credentials in the Sign In Screen (Optional)

Updating Plug-in Configuration (Optional)

If your mobile apps include a Cordova plug-in, such as barcode scanner, to provide support for scanning barcodes to capture data, the related plug-in library is already packaged with the associated MAA files. For information about Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps with barcode scanner, see Supporting for Barcodes, Setting Up the Mobile Apps, Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps Administrator's Guide, Release 12.1 and 12.2.

In order for your app to use the plug-in, before you deploy the app, perform the following steps to update the plug-in's path after creating the application:

  1. Open Oracle JDeveloper.

  2. In the Applications Navigator, expand the Application Resources panel, then the Descriptors folder, and then the ADF META-INF folder.

  3. Double-click the maf-application.xml file.

  4. In the overview editor that appears, click the Plugins navigation tab.

  5. For the Cordova plug-in, update the path to point to the <Application Root Folder>/src folder where the barcode scanner is placed.

For more information on registering additional plug-ins in your MAF applications, see Using Plugins in MAF Applications, Developing Mobile Applications with Oracle Mobile Application Framework.

Enabling the Push Plug-in (Optional)

If your mobile app supports push notifications, you can optionally enable this feature by enabling the push plug-in to allow the app to receive push notifications on the mobile devices.

Note: Push notifications are currently supported only when using Oracle Mobile Hub or Oracle Mobile Cloud Service for the following apps. Note that in addition to Oracle Mobile Cloud Service, starting from Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation Release 9.0 and onwards, Oracle Mobile Hub provides support for push notifications when an appropriate patch is applied.

See: Enabling the Push Plug-in.

For more setup tasks to enable push notifications, see Implementing Push Notifications.

Importing Additional Root-CA Certificates (Optional)

For Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps with enterprise distribution, custom certificates can be imported into cacerts of the mobile application. If your Oracle E-Business Suite environment is TLS-enabled, you can import additional root-CA certificates into your MAF application's truststore if the HTTPS server contains certificates not present in your MAF application's cacerts file.

Note: You do not need an Oracle MAF license to add custom certificates to a mobile application for enterprise distribution.

Note: Starting from Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation Release 7.0 and onwards, you can dynamically add custom CA or self-signed server certificates to the standard Oracle E-Business Suite apps, downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play, for TLS connections to an Oracle E-Business Suite server.

In the releases earlier than 7.0, to use custom CA or self-signed certificates, you may create a custom app with updated certificate list and distribute that app through enterprise distribution.

For information on updating and managing certificates in the cacerts file, see Migrating to New cacerts File for SSL in MAF 2.x.x, Installing Oracle Mobile Application Framework. For example, for mobile apps developed based on Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation 9.1, see the Oracle Mobile Application Framework 2.6.3 Migration Notes (https://www.oracle.com/application-development/technologies/maf/maf263migration.html) and "Migrating to New cacerts File for SSL in MAF 2.6.0".

For more information about support for custom CA or self-signed certificates and validating if the TLS certificate is valid or trusted, see Advanced Configurations for Secure Communication with HTTPS, Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Apps Administrator's Guide, Release 12.1 and 12.2.

Configuring Default Server URL (Optional)

Starting from Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation Release 8.0 and onwards, you can preconfigure the Oracle E-Business Suite server URL that an app will use to connect to Oracle E-Business Suite. Once this configuration is complete, the app users no longer need to enter this URL manually after launching the app.

Depending on whether you use Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solutions, you can configure the default server URL in the following ways:

Configuring Login Credentials in the Sign In Screen (Optional)

Oracle E-Business Suite mobile apps have the "Remember User Name" feature turned on in the Sign In screen by default. When this feature is enabled, the user name is retrieved from cache and automatically displayed in the screen during the login process. The app user only needs to enter the password to log in to the app.

For enterprise distributed mobile apps, you can optionally update the login credentials configuration for the Sign In screen through the Create MAF Login Connection page in the maf-application.xml file. For example, you can disable this "Remember User Name" feature if you want the user name to be entered each time when a user logs in to an app or enable other automatically login features which have been turned off during the mobile app development if you want to enhance the user login experiences.

For information on configuring the login credentials in the Sign In screen, refer to "How to Store Login Credentials" from the Securing MAF Applications chapter in Developing Mobile Applications with Oracle Mobile Application Framework.

Upgrading Your Enterprise Mobile Apps

If you would like to upgrade your enterprise-distributed mobile app from a previous version of the corresponding mobile application archive (MAA) file to a new version, there is no direct upgrade path by retaining all the documented changes you completed previously. In order to upgrade the app to a new version, you should repeat the steps as described earlier in this chapter. These tasks include:

  1. Creating an Oracle JDeveloper Application from an MAA File

  2. Updating the MAF Application with Required Changes

  3. Customizing Mobile Apps for Corporate Branding (Optional)

  4. Modifying an Existing Deployment Profile (Conditional)

  5. Updating Other Optional Application Configurations

As part of this upgrade to a new version of MAA, it is very important to use the exact same Application Bundle Id that was used in the previous version in maf-application.xml and the deployment profiles. Once you have completed the required changes to create an enterprise app from the new version of the MAA file, you can host it at the same location as the previous version and then coordinate with the mobile applications administrator for user upgrade.

Deploying Your Enterprise Mobile Apps

After completing the required changes for an enterprise app, you can deploy the app for the iOS, Android, or both platforms. For information on deploying your enterprise apps, see Deploying Your Mobile Apps.

Creating an Enterprise-Distributed App for Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications for Oracle E-Business Suite

Oracle Mobile Supply Chain for Oracle E-Business Suite (MSCA) mobile app supports enterprise distribution through the Mobile Application Archives (MAA) file.

Because this app is not built based on Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation, when you create an enterprise-distributed app from the MSCA mobile application archive, follow the instructions as described earlier in Creating Mobile Apps through MAA Files for Enterprise Distribution except the following tasks that are not applicable to the enterprise version of the MSCA app:

Important: Although the steps for creating an enterprise-distributed MSCA mobile app are not exactly the same as the tasks described earlier for creating enterprise distribution from the apps developed based on Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation, the concept of enterprise distribution discussed earlier remains the same for the MSCA app.

Note that you can implement corporate branding for the enterprise-distributed MSCA app. When replacing Oracle logo with your company logo by following the instructions described in Implementing Your Company Logo, this changes the company logo in the Server URL screen only. Additionally, the MSCA app does not leverage the Oracle E-Business Suite Mobile Foundation Login component for custom app development.

For information on the underlying Oracle MAF version for your MSCA app, see Section 1: Release Update History, Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications for Oracle E-Business Suite Release Notes, My Oracle Support Knowledge Document 2108155.1.