| Oracle® Retail Merchandising System Custom Flex Attribute Solution Implementation Guide Release 14.1 E55111-01 |
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| Oracle® Retail Merchandising System Custom Flex Attribute Solution Implementation Guide Release 14.1 E55111-01 |
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Custom Flex Attribute Solution (CFAS) for Oracle Retail Merchandising System (RMS) is a metadata driven framework that enables you to set up additional attributes on the pre-enabled RMS entities without having to change the existing screen or make any changes in the application code.
This chapter provides an introduction to the Custom Flex Attribute Solution (CFAS) highlighting the associated components and data flow. It also provides information on the organization of content in this document and how you can use it. This chapter includes the following topics:
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Note: The CFAS framework does not publish new attributes to the follow up systems, such as Oracle Retail Integration Bus, Oracle Retail Stores Inventory Management, or Oracle Retail Warehouse Management System. |
In order to implement CFAS for production, it is recommended that you review the instructions in this guide in the following order.
Table 1-1 Road Map for Implementing CFAS
| Task | Description |
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1. |
Familiarize with CFAS concepts described in the current chapter. See the chapter Introduction. |
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2. |
Review the business process flows and plan the attributes carefully based on your requirements. Consider attribute grouping, performance, detail level, and internationalization. For more information, see Planning Custom Flex Attributes and Planning Your Implementation. |
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Implementation Task |
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3. |
If you want to start using the pre-enabled entities, proceed to the part CFAS Administration in this book. See the chapter CFAS Maintenance Screens. |
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Maintenance Tasks |
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4. |
For more information on the considerations for maintaining and upgrading the flex attributes that are in use, see the chapter Ongoing Maintenance. |
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Additional References |
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For examples of common RMS customization and how you can leverage the CFAS framework, see the appendix CFAS Use Cases. |
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For more information on the CFAS-specific database scripts, see the appendix CFAS Database Scripts. |
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For more information on the validation routines in the CFAS user interface, see the appendix CFAS User Interface Validation Routines. |
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For more information on debugging CFAS, see the appendix Debugging CFAS. |
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For more information on the CFAS table definitions, see the appendix CFAS Table Definitions. |
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Custom Flex Attribute Solution (CFAS) for Oracle Retail Merchandising System (RMS) is a metadata driven framework that can be used to support client-specific customizations.
This section includes the following topics that provides more information on the CFAS framework:
CFAS is designed in such a manner that certain pre-existing form windows can be easily customized to include additional fields or attributes. The CFAS framework enables you to set up additional attributes on existing RMS entities without having to change the existing screen or make any changes in the application code. The additional attributes can be new attributes that are needed to support expanded client functionality or to capture additional information from legacy systems. The CFAS framework also allows the storage and validation of these attributes.
The additional attributes can be accessed using the Options menu in the relevant form windows where they have been enabled. This ensures that the additional attributes do not clutter the existing screen when they have not been implemented or used.
Example: Additional CFAS Attributes in the Transfer Maintenance Form
The following figure illustrates a CFAS user interface that can be accessed by clicking the TSF_TEST1 option from the Options menu of the Transfer Maintenance form:
In the illustration above,
The Transfer Maintenance form is an entity that has been extended to use the CFAS framework.
Additional attributes for the Transfer Maintenance form can be accessed using the TSF_TEST1 menu option from the Options menu.
In the TSF_TEST1 screen, the NAME, NUMBER, and DATE fields correspond to individual CFAS attributes.
These attributes belong to the TSF_HEAD1 attribute group. Each attribute group can include up to 22 such attributes including the header fields. For example, if the attribute group has 4 header fields, only 18 attributes can be under each attribute group.
TSF_HEAD1 and TSF_HEAD2 attribute groups belong to the TSF_TEST1 attribute group set. Attribute group sets appear as menu options in the Options menu and can include many attribute groups.
For more information on these attributes, see Planning Custom Flex Attributes.
The CFAS framework includes the following components:
CFAS Maintenance Screens – Available only to the users with the CFAS Administrator role, these group of screens enable you to set up the attributes for a relevant functional area in RMS. For more information, see CFAS Maintenance Screens.
CFAS Extension User Interface and User Interface (UI) Libraries – The CFAS framework provides a highly configurable metadata-driven user interface built using Oracle Forms. It also includes CFAS UI libraries built specifically to handle metadata. When it is set up, the CFAS UI will be accessible from the Options menu of the relevant RMS form. Users will be able to view extension attributes, capture, or store the relevant information in the CFAS user interface. For more information, see CFAS User Interface Validation Routines.
CFAS Database Objects – The CFAS framework is driven by information stored in the following CFAS-specific database objects:
Extension Installation Tables – These database tables contain information on the extended entities in RMS.
Metadata Tables – These database tables contain all the information required to display and capture actual data on the extended entities.
CFAS Extension Storage Tables (Entity-specific) – By default, RMS data model will include such entity specific CFAS storage database tables for the pre-enabled entities. Each time you extend a business entity (other than the pre-enabled ones) for customization, create a relevant entity specific CFAS storage table by running the cfagen.ksh batch script.
Supporting Custom Objects – The CFAS framework uses the following supporting custom objects that are generated based on the definitions in the Extension Installation and CFAS Metadata tables. These objects are business representation of the data that is to be stored in the generic CFAS extension tables:
CFAS Access Views
CFAS Staging Tables
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Note: Staging tables are optional. |
For more information, see CFAS Table Definitions.
CFAS Scripts – Along with the user interface and database objects, the CFAS framework also includes the following scripts:
CFAS Database Create Script (cfagen.ksh) – Once the attributes are set up in the CFAS Maintenance screens, you must run this script to make or activate the CFAS Extension User Interface for the relevant RMS functional area.
CFAS Load Script (cfastgload.ksh) – This script enables you to bulk load the attributes from the CFAS Staging table to the CFAS Extension Storage tables.
For more information, see CFAS Database Scripts.
The following figure displays the data flow in a CFAS framework:
The Extension Installation Tables define the entities and tables that can be customized using the CFAS framework. By default, only certain entities are enabled for customization with initial entries already defined out of the box. Data can be added to these tables using a simple seed data script. In case you want to extend entities other than the ones already defined, you must use the CFAS Maintenance screens.
The CFAS Metadata Tables define the business extensions for your implementation. These tables are used to drive the CFAS Extension UI that will be available for end users and store the data entered. These tables are part of the base RMS data model and include information defined based on your implementation.
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Note: The Extension Installation Objects and CFAS Metadata Tables are maintained using the CFAS Maintenance screens. |
The CFAS Extension UI is installed as an additional window on the relevant enabled form. This user interface is a reusable component that reads from the CFAS Metadata Tables to display the captured attribute data for the entity in an user-friendly way.
To ensure that the data in the user interface are accurate, the user interface automatically includes validation rules based on the type of attribute set up. As an end user enters relevant values in the fields on the CFAS Extension UI, the relevant validation rules defined in the CFAS Metadata Tables are called out. Validated data is then written to the CFAS Extension Storage Tables. You can choose to define a custom validation function and reference it when you set up an entity, attribute group set, attribute group, or attribute.
The CFAS Extension Storage Tables are used to store the data entered in the CFAS Extension UI or loaded from the metadata generated staging tables. These tables are created as part of the process of implementing the CFAS framework for an entity.
The CFAS Staging Tables enables you to import bulk data from external sources to the CFAS Extension Tables. These tables are created using scripts that function based on the metadata definitions.
The CFAS Load Script (cfastgload.ksh) can then be used to load the data from the CFAS Staging Tables to the CFAS Extension Tables. This script includes procedures that use the metadata definitions to properly insert data to the CFAS Extension Tables.
CFAS Access Views represent the information stored in the CFAS Extension Tables. These views enable you to easily access data or make the data available to custom processes. The views are generated by scripts. For more information, see CFAS Access Views.
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Note: The CFAS Access Views and CFAS Staging Tables are automatically created when you run the CFAS Database Create Scripts (cfagen.ksh) after setting up the Extension Installation Objects and CFAS Metadata Tables. |
