Auto-Update versus Manual Update
In releases earlier than Oracle Smart View for Office 11.1.2.5.400, extensions were updated using the Auto-Update process. To update extensions with Auto-Update, Smart View end users could go to the Extensions tab of the Options dialog box and click the Check for updates link or select the Check for updates when Microsoft Office starts check box to initiate extension updates. For all extensions, if any updates were available, they were retrieved and installations were automatically initiated.
In release 11.1.2.5.400 and later, you can customize the extension update process so that Smart View end users can control when they install, update, and remove extensions. The Smart View administrator configures attributes in the UpdateList.xml manifest file to control the options available to the users. If the administrator does not configure these attributes in UpdateList.xml, extensions will continue to be updated using the existing Auto-Update process.
Types of Extensions
There are two types of extensions that can be installed on a Smart View client machine:
Provider extensions. Extensions that are dependent on, or integrated with, Oracle components are provider extensions. Examples are the Disclosure Management and Oracle Hyperion Financial Reporting extensions. Provider extensions can be configured as required extensions.
Per-user extensions. Extensions that are installed in the user’s application data folder. These extensions may or may not be dependent on Oracle components. Additionally, per-user extensions can also be configured as required extensions.
The Smart View administrator configures the UpdateList.xml file to specify the list of provider and per-user extensions available to end users along with options for installing, updating, and removing them. Additionally, per-user extensions can also be configured to display an indicator for required extensions and does not force the installation. The Smart View end user then accesses the Options dialog box and installs, updates, or uninstalls the extensions that are available to him or her in the Extensions tab.
To configure provider and per-user extension installation, uninstallation, and updating, complete the procedure in Configuring Manual Extension Updates.
If you do not want to make changes to the extension update process, you may refer to Configuring Auto-Update Extensions for information on the structure of the XML and examples, but you do not need to take any further action.
For instructions on installing, updating, and removing extensions in Smart View, end users can refer to the procedure topics in "Extensions" in the "Smart View Options" chapter in the Oracle Smart View for Office User's Guide.
About the Oracle Journals for Financial Management Extension
The Oracle Journals extension is unique among Smart View extensions in that the extension installer file is included in the extensions folder of the Smart View installation. End users can install the Oracle Journals extension directly from the extensions folder of their Smart View installation.
Or, as administrator, you can control how your Smart View end users install the Oracle Journals extension, automatically or manually, via the Extensions page of the Smart View Options dialog box.
If you choose to set up automatic or manual installations of the Oracle Journals extension, you should install Smart View in a test environment first, then refer to the UpdateList.xml file, found in the extensions folder of your Smart View installation. Use the entry in this file as a guideline for the Oracle Journals entry you will add to the UpdateList.xml file, as described in Configuring Manual Extension Updates.