Oracle8i Application Developer's Guide - XML Release 3 (8.1.7) Part Number A86030-01 |
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B2B: How iProcurement Uses XML to Offer Multiple Catalog Products to Users, 2 of 16
Oracle iProcurement is a web-based catalog content exchange application that helps users find and order available products and services. It helps automate the entire purchasing life-cycle from sourcing to procurement to payment. iProcurement also has a web-shopping interface with Express and Power checkout options and a built-in Internet Procurement Connector for transactions with third party ERP systems.
iProcurement supports several catalog content management methods. Users can choose any combination of the following:
All of these content-management methods use XML for their web-based data (content) exchange technology. This chapter describes each of these content-management methods and associated XML documents. It also provides several examples.
iProcurement uses XML to load catalogs received from various suppliers or catalog service providers, into "unified catalog tables" in the iProcurement database. See Figure 10-1.
XML also transfers security or authentication objects when communicating with external catalog sourcing companies.
Oracle's Internet Procurement solution leverages the combined power of Oracle Internet Procurement, Oracle Supplier Network, and Oracle Exchange. Companies can buy all types of goods and services at the best value, make better strategic decisions, and improve the bottom line. This solution helps automate and centralize procurement functions such as sourcing, approval routing, and payments while decentralizing the requisitioning and receiving processes.
Oracle Exchange is anopen business-to-business online marketplace that allows companies to buy and sell goods and services using any purchasing method, with content and related services provided by the Oracle Supplier Network. Oracle Exchange is accessible by any company, regardless of size or industry, and does not require any Oracle software.
You can find more information about iProcurement at the following sites:
http://www.oracle.com/products/
http://www.oracle.com/applications/internetprocurement/index.html
You can find more information about Oracle Exchange at:
http://www.oracle.com/applications/exchange/index.html
With buyer-hosted content management, you can request items by searching for products or services in a single "unified catalog" without having to first select a supplier. Content in the unified catalog is received from either of the following sources:
The use of XML in the buyer-hosted catalog exchange process is illustrated in Figure 10-1.
Oracle Applications data is extracted and loaded directly into the unified catalog by a PL/SQL concurrent program. Hence in this case, it is not necessary to generate and parse the XML document.
While creating a requisition, users can also navigate to and select items from external third party catalogs. These can be hosted by a supplier or catalog provider. In this case, users select a link for the desired catalog, select items and then return to iProcurement where they can request additional items, make changes, or complete their order.
You can use Oracle XML interface, which encompasses secure user authentication and item selection to link any externally hosted catalog to iProcurement. This XML interface is used to provide access to a secure, private catalog that aggregates high-quality content from multiple suppliers.
Figure 10-2 illustrates the data exchange process when users select items from supplier-hosted on-line catalogs. While shopping in iProcurement, the following exchange protocol occurs:
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