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Oracle® Fusion Applications Extensibility Guide
11g Release 5 (11.1.5)
Part Number E16691-07
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A Troubleshooting Customizations

This appendix describes common problems that you might encounter when extending and customizing Oracle Fusion Applications and explains how to solve them. It contains the following topics:

In addition to this appendix, review Oracle Fusion Middleware Error Messages Reference for information about the error messages you may encounter.

A.1 Introduction to Troubleshooting Customizations

Use the following guidelines and process within this appendix to help focus and minimize the time you spend resolving problems.

Guidelines

When using the information in this appendix, consider the following guidelines:

Process

Follow the process outlined in Table A-1 when using the information in this appendix. If the information in a particular section does not resolve your problem, proceed to the next step in this process.

Table A-1 Process for Using the Information in this Appendix

Step Section to Use Purpose

1

Section A.2

Get started troubleshooting customizations. The procedures in this section quickly address a wide variety of problems.

2

Section A.3

Perform problem-specific troubleshooting procedures for customizations. This section describes:

  • Common problems

  • Solution procedures corresponding to each of the possible problems

3

Section A.4

Use My Oracle Support to get additional troubleshooting information about Oracle Fusion Applications or Oracle Business Intelligence. My Oracle Support provides access to several useful troubleshooting resources, including Knowledge Base articles and Community Forums and Discussions.

4

Section A.4

Log a service request if the information in this appendix and My Oracle Support does not resolve your problem. You can log a service request using My Oracle Support at https://support.oracle.com.

A.2 Getting Started with Troubleshooting and Logging Basics for Customizations

This section provides the following general approaches for managing and diagnosing customization issues:

A.2.1 Diagnosing Customization Issues Using the Manage Customizations Dialog

The Manage Customizations dialog displays the customizations of the task flows in a page. You can access the Manage Customizations dialog from Page Composer and from the Administration menu in the global area of Oracle Fusion Applications. You can also use this dialog to delete page customizations, and to upload and download page customization files. For more information, see Section 2.3, "Viewing and Diagnosing Runtime Customizations."

A.2.2 Importing and Exporting Customizations

Customizations are stored in XML files. You can export the customizations in one of two ways:

You can also use Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Applications Control to export an application's customization files. For more information, see the "Transferring Metadata Using Fusion Middleware Control" section of the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide. The referenced procedure describes using Fusion Middleware Control, but also applies to Fusion Applications Control.

A.2.3 Deleting Customizations

You can use the Manage Customizations dialog to delete customizations. In the Name list, find the page that contains the customizations and click Delete for the customization document that you want to delete.

If the customizations were made by someone other than the logged-in user, and you have administrator privileges, you can display that person's customizations by selecting Select User from the Layer Name dropdown list.

For more information about the Manage Customizations dialog, see Section 2.3, "Viewing and Diagnosing Runtime Customizations."

You can also use Oracle WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) commands to delete customizations, as shown in Example A-2.

Example A-2 WLST Command to Delete a Customization Document

deleteMetadata (application='application name', 
server='server name', 
docs=
'/oracle/apps/hcm/dashboard/hrSpecialist/publicUi/page/mdssys/Site/SITE/VisaWorkPermitExpirationRegion.jsff.xml');

For more information about the deleteMetadata command, see the "Application Metadata Management Commands" section of Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference.

Alternatively, you can use Fusion Applications Control to delete an application's metadata. For more information, see the "Managing the Metadata Repository" chapter in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.

A.2.4 Backing Up and Restoring Customizations

Before you make customizations, you can create a backup of a known good state by creating a label. If an issue occurs after creating the label, you can revert back to that label by promoting it to the tip. For more information, see the "Creating Metadata Labels" and "Promoting Metadata Labels" sections of the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.

Another way to back up and restore customizations is by exporting and importing customization files, as described in Section A.2.2, "Importing and Exporting Customizations."

A.2.5 Choosing the Right Customization Layer

When you make customizations, be careful to choose the correct layer.

  • Use the site layer for customizations that affect all end users.

  • Use the global layer for ADF Business Components customizations.

  • Use product-specific layers appropriately as documented.

A.2.6 Determining the Full Path for a Customizations Document

The following string shows the structure of the full document path for a customization document:

/package/mdssys/cust/layer-name/layer-value/document-name.suffix.xml

For example, the full document path for the Visa Work Permit Expiration region is /oracle/apps/hcm/dashboard/hrSpecialist/publicUI/page/mdssys/Site/SITE/VisaWorkPermitExpirationRegion.jsf.xml.

You can obtain the full document path of a customized region on a page by completing the following steps:

  1. Go to the page that contains the customized region and choose Customize page_name Pages from the Administration menu in the global area of Oracle Fusion Applications to open Page Composer.

  2. If you have more than one layer available for customization, the Layer Picker dialog is displayed. In the Edit column, select the desired layer.

  3. Choose Source from the View menu.

  4. In the hierarchical list, drill down to and hover over the customized region to display the full document path of the JSF fragment that contains the customization, such as /oracle/apps/hcm/dashboard/hrSpecialist/publicUI/page/mdssys/Site/SITE/VisaWorkPermitExpirationRegion.jsf.xml. Make a note of this path.

For descriptive flexfield configurations, you can use the Register Descriptive Flexfields task to find the name of the flexfield's package.

A.2.7 Determining Whether a Customization Layer is Active

Customizations will not appear if the customization layer is not active in a product. To determine if a customization layer is active, open the adf-config.xml file for the application and look for the <cust-config> tag, as shown in Example A-3. The nested <customization-class> tags show the active layers.

Example A-3 Active Customization Layers

<adf-mds-config xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/adf/mds/config">
<mds-config xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/mds/config" version="11.1.1.000">
<cust-config>
  <match path="/">
    <customization-class name ="oracle.apps.fnd.applcore.customization.GlobalCC"/>
    <customization-class name ="oracle.apps.fnd.applcore.customization.SiteCC"/>
    <customization-class name ="oracle.apps.fnd.applcore.customization.UserCC"/>
  </match>
</cust-config>
</mds-config>
</adf-mds-config>

A.2.8 Logging Customizations that Are Applied to a Page

To turn on runtime logging for customizations that are applied to a page, set the log level for the oracle.mds.custmerge module to FINEST. You can set the application's log level by choosing Troubleshooting from the Help menu. You might need to ask your administrator to give you privilege to set the log level.

If you have administration privileges, you can also use Fusion Applications Control to set the log level.

A.2.9 Determining Whether a Page Has Customizations

You can use logging, as described in Section A.2.8, "Logging Customizations that Are Applied to a Page," or you can use the Manage Customizations dialog, as described in Section A.2.1, "Diagnosing Customization Issues Using the Manage Customizations Dialog," to determine whether customizations have been applied to a page.

If you suspect that a problem might have been caused by a customization on a page, such as a user interface component disappearing from a page, you can export the page's customizations as described in Section A.2.2, "Importing and Exporting Customizations" and examine the document file.

A.2.10 Using Sandboxes for Page Customizations

You should perform your page customizations in sandboxes and publish only after full testing. You can use any number of sandboxes for testing, but you should use just one sandbox for publishing to prevent merge conflicts, as described in Section 2.2.1, "Sandboxes and Concurrent Usage." For information about analyzing merge conflicts, see Section A.3.2, "Conflict Errors Reported When You Publish a Sandbox."

A.2.11 Using Sandboxes for Flexfield Configurations

When you deploy a flexfield, you have a choice of deploying to the full test environment or deploying to a sandbox. You should first deploy a flexfield to a sandbox so that you can test the configuration without affecting other end users. A flexfield that is successfully deployed to a sandbox will have a status of Deployed to Sandbox. After deploying to a sandbox, log out and log back in. The flexfield's sandbox will be active in your session for you to test. After testing, deploy to the full test environment so that the changes can be seen by other users. For more information, see Section 5.7, "Deploying Flexfield Configurations."

A.2.12 Troubleshooting Flexfield Deployment

After you deploy a flexfield using the Manage Descriptive Flexfields task or the Manage Extensible Flexfields task, look at the value in the Deployment Status column to ensure that its status is Deployed (or Deployed to Sandbox if you are testing in a sandbox). If not, review the message in the Deployment Error Message column. For more information, see Section 5.7, "Deploying Flexfield Configurations."

If you successfully deployed a flexfield, but the custom attributes do not appear on the user interface page, ensure that you logged out and logged back in after deploying the flexfield. The changes do not appear until you log back in.

In the case of an extensible flexfield, if a context does not appear in the user interface, verify that the context is associated with one of the category's pages.

To examine a flexfield's configuration, export the deployed artifacts using the exportMetadata WLST command as described in Section A.2.2, "Importing and Exporting Customizations."

A.2.13 Validating Flexfield Metadata

When you deploy a flexfield from the Manage Descriptive Flexfields task or the Manage Extensible Flexfields task, the metadata is validated and, if errors are found, the flexfield is not deployed. If you want to check whether a flexfield will pass validation, choose Validate from the Actions menu.

A.3 Resolving Common Problems

The following are common problems and solutions:

A.3.1 User Interface is not Displaying the Active Sandbox Customizations

Problem

The customizations that were made in the active sandbox are not appearing in the user interface.

Solution

Log out and log in again.

To ensure that the sandbox customization cache is cleared, log out and log back in before you enter a sandbox and after you perform any of the following sandbox-related actions:

  • Exit a sandbox

  • Publish a sandbox

  • Destroy a sandbox

A.3.2 Conflict Errors Reported When You Publish a Sandbox

Problem 1

You created customizations in a sandbox using the guidelines suggested in Section 2.2, "Using the Sandbox Manager." When you published the sandbox, merge conflicts were detected but not resolved.

Conflicts between sandboxes can arise when there is more than one sandbox that is intended for publishing in use. If two sandboxes contain customization changes to the same artifact and both are being published, the sandbox that is published last is given an option (by the sandbox manager) to overwrite the changes for that artifact from the sandbox that was published first. If the user working in the second sandbox decides to force-publish the second sandbox, the changes published by the first sandbox are overwritten. These types of conflicts can also occur with shared metadata files such as resource bundles that store translatable strings.

For more information, see Section 2.2.1, "Sandboxes and Concurrent Usage."

Solution 1

Before forcing the publishing of the sandbox, complete the following steps to analyze the conflicts:

  1. Use the Manage Customizations dialog to download the customization document from the mainline code.

  2. Make the sandbox active and use the Manage Customizations dialog to download the customization document from the sandbox.

  3. Compare the two document files to analyze the conflicts.

Problem 2

When you publish a sandbox, you get a message that reports a conflict with oracle/apps/menu/fnd/applcore/dataSecurity/dataSecurityService/mds/DSMO.xml.

Solution 2

The security changes that you made in your sandbox conflict with other security changes in the mainline code. Abort the sandbox and recreate the changes in a new sandbox.

Problem 3

When you publish a sandbox, you get a message that reports a conflict with /oracle/apps/fnd/applcore/profiles/profileService/mds/ProfileMO.xml.

Solution 3

Ignore the message, continue the process, and force the sandbox to be published.

A.3.3 Dashboard Title Change Does Not Appear in Browser Title Bar, Navigator Link, or Tab

Problem

After using Page Composer to change a dashboard page title, the old name is still displayed in the browser title bar, navigator link, or tab.

Solution

In addition to changing the page title property in the Task List Properties tab in Page Composer, which affects the browser title, you must also make the following changes:

A.3.4 Cannot Open Page After Personalizations

Problem

After making personalizations to a page, an end-user cannot open that page.

Solution

An administrator can use the Manage Customizations task to display and delete that user's personalizations for the page as described in Section A.2.3, "Deleting Customizations."

A.3.5 Missing Navigator Menu Item

Problem

An expected menu item is not appearing in the Navigator menu.

Solution

Verify whether the menu item has been hidden from view as described in Section 6.4, "Hiding and Showing Nodes."

A.3.6 Navigator Menu Item Does Not Work

Problem 1

A custom menu item was added and the browser is not displaying the page indicated by the URL.

Solution 1

Open the Manage Menu Customizations task and verify that the web application name is the same as the context root for the application, and that the view ID is the id attribute for the page's <view> tag in the product's public_html/WEB-INF/adfc-config.xml file. The URL should not contain the.JSPX suffix.

For more information, see Section 6.3, "Adding Items."

Problem 2

When you choose an item in the Navigator menu, you get a "webApp value not defined" error message.

Solution 2

Verify that the application is in the topology tables, as described in the "Viewing the Routing Topology of an Oracle Fusion Applications Instance, Product Family, or Product" section in the Oracle Fusion Applications Administrator's Guide.

A.3.7 Customizations Context Table Is Empty in Oracle JDeveloper

Problem

You are using JDeveloper in the Oracle Fusion Applications Administrator Customization role. The Customization Context table does not display the customization classes, as shown in Figure A-1, and the messages log displays an error message similar to the following text:

Error initializing MDS configuration for application
"file:/somepath/TestCustomHR.jws". Customizations disabled for this application.
MDS-00035: cannot load the class: oracle.apps.hcm.common.core.HcmCountryCC

Figure A-1 Empty Customization Context Table

Empty customization context table

Solution

Enable JDeveloper to see the customization classes that define the customization layers as described in Section 10.1.3, "Before You Begin Using JDeveloper to Customize."

A.3.8 Application Is Not Displayed Correctly After Applying a Customized Skin

Problem

After applying a customized skin that is based on the Oracle Fusion Applications Skin Extension (fusionFx-simple), the application does not show the expected customizations. For example, one or more of the following might occur:

  • The background is not in the expected color.

  • The user interface pages have a simple, minimal appearance instead of the expected skin.

  • Expected images do not appear.

Solution

Verify that you used the correct target application version when you created the custom skin. Try repackaging and redeploying the JAR file and ensure that no problems occur during the packaging process.

Ensure that you copied the necessary JAR files to all the Oracle Fusion applications and that you spelled the name of the skin correctly in the profile option.

For more information, see Section 19.3, "Applying a Custom Skin to Your Oracle Fusion Applications."

A.3.9 Nothing Changes After Clicking Cancel in Set Preferences Page

Problem

You click the Cancel button in the Set Preferences page and nothing changes.

Solution

The cancel action resets the page to the same values that appeared when you accessed the page. If you have not made any changes, the page appears exactly the same. To navigate away from the page, select Recent Items or Navigator from the global area of Oracle Fusion Applications or use the text box to search for a different page.

A.3.10 Finding the EAR File for an Application

Use Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console to locate a deployed application's enterprise archive (EAR) file.

To find the EAR file for a deployed application:

  1. Make a note of the string that follows the host name in the URL of the deployed application. For example, if the URL is http://myhost.mycompany.com:7401/myProd/faces/MyPage, make a note of myProd.

  2. Open Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

  3. Select Deployments.

  4. In the Overview tab, click the entry with a name similar to the text that you noted in Step 1, such as MyProdApp (V2.0), to display the settings for that deployed application.

  5. In the Overview tab, find the Path setting to see the path to the EAR file.

A.4 Using My Oracle Support for Additional Troubleshooting Information

You can use My Oracle Support (formerly MetaLink) to help resolve Oracle Fusion Middleware problems. My Oracle Support contains several useful troubleshooting resources, such as:

Note:

You can also use My Oracle Support to log a service request.

You can access My Oracle Support at https://support.oracle.com.

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