This chapter covers the following topics:
The runtime Oracle Configurator and Oracle Configurator Developer use the CZ schema within the Oracle Applications database to access and store data. There is only one CZ schema within an Oracle Applications database instance.
The CZ schema contains an Item Master subschema. The Item Master is a set of your enterprise data, structured into Items and Item Types, and is the primary source of data for your application. The Item Master consists of Items, which are specific elements of a product, and Item Types, which are logical groupings of Items. An example of an Item Type is "TV Set". The available models are the Items within the TV Set Item Type, such as 19" Black and White, 21" Color, and 42" Wide Screen. When building configuration models in Oracle Configurator Developer, you can use data in the CZ schema’s Item Master to build Model structure.
Items and Item Types also have Properties. Properties are associated with imported Items and Item Types when you import a BOM Model. You manually assign Properties to the Items and Item Types that you create in Configurator Developer. Properties are described in Introduction to Properties.
In Configurator Developer, Item Master data appears in the Item Master area of the Repository. This area of the Repository is described in Introduction to the Item Master Area of the Repository .
Note: Do not confuse the CZ schema’s Item Master with the Oracle Applications Item Master. In this user’s guide, the term Item Master always refers to the CZ schema’s Item Master, unless otherwise indicated.
The Items in the Item Master are either created from scratch in Configurator Developer or are imported from source data in the Oracle Applications Item Master and other tables. In most development situations, Item Master data is imported.
Imported data in the CZ schema represents the source data and is only used for defining the configuration model. At runtime, after a configuration has been created and passed back to the host application, items are ordered from the source data.
Legacy data, such as Bills of Material or pricing information, can be imported into the Item Master. Generally, the data source is either an Oracle Applications database or a non-Oracle Applications database. For consistency, imported data should be maintained in the source database. You can see whether an Item was imported by viewing its details page. (In other words, click on the item’s name in the Item Master area of the Repository, or open it for editing.) If the item was imported, you cannot delete it, or modify its name, description, or other information. The import process is explained in detail in the Oracle Configurator Implementation Guide.
For more information about imported Items and Item Types, see Item Types and Imported BOM Properties.
You can view the contents of the Item Master in the Item Master area of the Repository, or by generating a Model Report. For details, see Introduction to the General Area of the Workbench.
You may want to create Items and Item Types in Oracle Configurator Developer to automate the process of creating and updating Model nodes. For example, you may need to reuse nodes that represent customer requirements questions across multiple Models. Instead of manually recreating the nodes, you can create them once as Items and Item Types and then use the data to automatically create them as many times as necessary.
For more information, see:
Note: When you create Model nodes from scratch in Configurator Developer, they do not appear in the Item Master as Items and Item Types.
The Orderable setting appears in the details page for all imported and manually created Items. This setting indicates whether the Item appears in the Configuration Summary page when it is selected at runtime. For details, see The Configuration Summary Page.
The Orderable setting is automatically selected for all imported BOM Items and is read-only in Configurator Developer.
By default, the Orderable setting is not selected for Items that you create in Configurator Developer. You can select this setting if you want the Item to appear in the Configuration Summary page when it is selected at runtime.
Only BOM Items can be ordered from a host application that is part of Oracle Applications (for example, Order Management). Custom implementations may want to use the Orderable setting, for example, to process non-BOM Items downstream in a non-Oracle system.
Note: If the same item appears multiple times in the Model structure (for example, because it was created by running a Populator) and is selected at runtime, it also appears multiple times in the Oracle Configurator Summary page.