Introduction to Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework

This chapter covers the following topics:

Overview

Oracle Web Applications Desktop Integrator brings Oracle E-Business Suite functionality to the desktop where the familiar Microsoft Excel, Word, and Project applications can be used to complete Oracle E-Business Suite tasks. Oracle Web Applications Desktop Integrator uses a set of metadata called an integrator to encapsulate all the information needed to integrate a particular Oracle E-Business Suite task with a desktop application. Several Oracle E-Business Suite applications provide seeded integrators for their functionality. With Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework, you can define custom integrators for additional tasks according to your users' needs.

By defining an integrator, you enable your users to do the following.

Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework provides a graphical user interface in which developers can define integrators and all associated supporting objects, without needing to work directly with the underlying Oracle Web Applications Desktop Integrator tables and APIs. Through this user interface, Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework reduces development time, increases developer productivity, and enhances ease of maintenance for the integrators you define.

Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework Architecture

Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework Architecture

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The Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework user interface lets developers define all the metadata required to create a custom integrator, accessing design information from the associated Oracle E-Business Suite application as needed. The integrator metadata is stored in the Oracle Web Applications Desktop Integrator metadata repository, alongside the metadata for seeded integrators.

When a user downloads or uploads data between Oracle E-Business Suite and a desktop document, the runtime integrator services for Oracle Web Applications Desktop Integrator use the metadata stored in the repository to perform the specified task in the associated Oracle E-Business Suite application.

Process Flow for Integrator Definition

An integrator is a set of metadata that encapsulates all the information needed to integrate a particular Oracle E-Business Suite task with a desktop application.

Process Flow for Integrator Definition

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Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework provides a wizard interface to guide you through the main steps for defining integrators. In the integrator definition wizard, you can perform the following tasks:

Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework also provides a user interface that lets you manage and create components for use in integrators. A component is a set of metadata that provides a list of values for a field in a document.

Additionally, Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework provides a user interface that lets you define parameters for an integrator.

After completing the main integrator definition in the wizard, you can also optionally define layouts and mappings for use with your integrator. A layout is a set of metadata that determines what fields appear in the desktop document and how those fields are displayed and formatted. A mapping is a set of metadata that links content columns to the corresponding interface attributes. You can create layouts and mappings for your users to use with the integrator you defined. Depending on the access granted to them, users can also define layouts and mappings themselves. See: Oracle Web Applications Desktop Integrator Implementation and Administration Guide.