5 Using RIAF for Generic URLs (Release 9.1 Update 2)

This chapter contains the following topics:

Section 5.1, "Understanding Related Information Application Framework for Generic URLs"
Section 5.2, "Creating a URL Tab"
Section 5.3, "Creating an OBIEE Tab"
Section 5.4, "Viewing a Tab Page"
Section 5.5, "Inspecting the Details of a Tab Page"
Section 5.6, "Editing a Tab Page"
Section 5.7, "Removing a Tab Page"
Section 5.8, "Organizing Tab Pages"

If you are not using Release 9.1 Update 2, please see Appendix A, "Using RIAF for Generic URLs (Release 9.1)"

5.1 Understanding Related Information Application Framework for Generic URLs

The Related Information Application Framework (RIAF) for generic URLs enables authorized JD Edwards EnterpriseOne users to associate an external website URL or Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition object to a JD Edwards EnterpriseOne application form without involvement from development. This association is accomplished by an enabled user opening an enabled JD Edwards EnterpriseOne application form in RIAF and creating a tab page that contains either the website URL or URL to the OBIEE object. The same URL can be reused and shared by multiple end users in multiple transactions on the same application form.

Your system administrator determines whether you can create new generic URL tab pages or whether you can only view existing generic URL tab pages for the environment, form, version combination. If you have permission to create a generic URL tab, your system administrator also determines whether the tab you create can be published for viewing to a list of predefined users or is available to only you. If you have permission to publish your generic URL, the system administrator determines if it can be published as soon as it is created and saved, or whether the URL needs to be manually approved for publishing. Each application form for which the generic URL feature is available must be enabled by your system administrator with user or role, environment, form, and application version combination.

Note:

Unless your system administrator has established other procedures, notify your system administrator when you have created a new generic URL that you want published.

5.1.1 Understanding Generic URLs

The generic URL is a parameterized URL. A parameterized URL contains parameters that are dynamic parts of the URL that can be linked to header fields and their values on the open application form. When a URL parameter is linked to a header field value, the content or reference of the generic URL is changed when you change the value of the header field on the open application form and then click Refresh on the RIAF Title bar.

The following is an example of a generic URL:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=zipcode&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=15&utput=embed

The italics part of the URL contains dynamic parameters. The zipcode parameter is mapped to an EnterpriseOne form-level field. If the content of the form-level field is 80111, the following URL replaces the original URL when you click Refresh.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=80111&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=15&utput=embed

5.1.2 Understanding Oracle Business Intelligence

Typically, organizations track and store large amounts of data about products, customers, prices, contacts, activities, assets, opportunities, employees, and other elements. This data is often spread across multiple databases in different locations with different versions of database software.

After the data has been organized and analyzed, it can provide an organization with the metrics to measure the state of its business. This data can also present key indicators of changes in market trends and in employee, customer, and partner behavior. Oracle Business Intelligence (Oracle BI) helps users obtain, view, and analyze the data.

Oracle BI Applications is a prebuilt business intelligence solution that supports Oracle sources, such as Oracle E-Business Suite Applications, Oracle's Siebel Applications, Oracle's PeopleSoft Applications, Oracle's JD Edwards Applications, and non-Oracle sources, such as SAP Applications. If you already own one of the above applications, you can purchase Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition and Oracle BI Applications to work with the application.

Oracle BI Applications also provides complete support for enterprise data, including financial, supply chain, workforce, and procurement and spend sources. These enterprise applications typically source from both Oracle data sources, such as Oracle EBS and JD Edwards and non-Oracle data sources.

By creating OBIEE tab pages within RIAF, you can provide users quick access to this data from within enabled JD Edwards EnterpriseOne applications.

5.1.3 Enabling RIAF

Your JD Edwards EnterpriseOne system administrator enables users and forms for collaboration in RIAF and grants specific permissions for creating, viewing, and publishing generic URL tabs. Authorized users create, publish, and view generic URL tabs in RIAF.

You are an authorized user when your system administrator enables you, or a role to which you are a member, an environment, and an application form and version to the GenericURL product type. When you open the specified form and application version within the specified environment, you will see the Related Information Application Framework. If the Related Information Application Framework does not appear, verify that the Hide Related Information option in the EnterpriseOne Menu, Preferences section is cleared. This option is located in the EnterpriseOne menu, under the Preferences section.

Before RIAF appears in your web client browser window, these conditions must exist:

You are enabled for viewing or creating generic URLs.
The environment, application form, and application version are enabled for your access.
The Hide Related Information option is cleared.

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne application form and the Related Information Application Framework share vertical space on your web client browser window. You can manage the Related Information Application Framework in the following ways:

Adjust and store the layout of the Related Information Application Framework.
Show and hide the Related Information Application Framework.

Chapter 2 discusses the initial layout of the Related Information framework and provides instructions for adjusting the height of the Related Information framework and for hiding and showing the Related Information framework.

See Understanding RIAF

5.1.4 Using RIAF

If your system administrator has granted you permission to create generic URLs, the Related Information bar shows a Create Tab icon. If your system administrator has granted you viewing permission only, the Create Tab icon is not available. A Refresh Tab Page icon also appears on the Related Information bar. Generic URL tab pages that you create or are permitted to view appear on the Related Information bar as a tab. The first time you open an enabled application form, the Related Information Welcome page appears. The Welcome page explains how to add a new generic URL if you have permission, and also warns you about embedding website URLs that are not trusted or that are copyright protected. Adding a new generic URL is discussed in the Creating a URL Tab and Creating an OBIEE Tab sections.

RIAF provides the following features, which are discussed in detail; however, whether you can perform the feature depends on the permissions your system administrator has granted you:

Create a URL tab
Create an OBIEE tab
View a tab page
Inspect the details of a tab page
Edit a tab page
Remove a tab page
Organize tab pages

The following example shows the layout of the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne application form and the Related Information framework after the user has created several generic URL tab pages:

Description of the illustration image009.gif

5.2 Creating a URL Tab

If you have permission to create generic URL tab pages, the first time you open an enabled JD Edwards EnterpriseOne form, version, and environment combination, the Related Information Application Framework Welcome page appears showing a Create Tab icon. Either clicking this icon or clicking this icon and selecting URL opens the Create link to Webpage page in the Related Information framework. When both URL and OBIEE are enabled, you must select URL explicitly. If only URL is enabled, clicking the Create Tab icon takes you directly to the Create link to Webpage page. You use this page to create and save a URL tab. The Create link to Webpage page is grouped into three sections:

Link Information
What type of link
When do you want to see it

5.2.1 URL Information

To create a URL tab, you must enter a name for the tab in the Name field. Because the system dynamically changes the width of existing tabs as you create new tabs, you should enter a short name. You can include extra information in the Description field. After you create and save the URL tab, the description appears on the tab page toolbar when you open the tab. Entering information in the Description field is optional. You must enter a valid website URL in the URL field. When you enter a URL into the URL field, the website is embedded in JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. You must follow these rules when entering a URL:

The URL must start with http:// or https://.
The URL must be to a trusted website.
Embedding links to only trusted websites helps to avoid the introduction of undesirable content into JD Edwards EnterpriseOne.
The URL must be able to be rendered within a browser iFrame. This is discussed in more detail in the Validate the Template URL section.
The URL must not be to a website that has content that is copyright protected.
The URL must not be to the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne HTML server.

This could cause JD Edwards EnterpriseOne to malfunction.

After you enter the website URL, click Validate to verify that the URL you entered is valid. If the system determines that the website in not valid for embedding into JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, Save is disabled.

This URL is also called a template URL or a parameterized URL and is used by JD Edwards EnterpriseOne to generate URL parameters for mapping to EnterpriseOne.

After entering the tab information, you can click Save to create the URL tab, or you can continue with another section on the Create link to Webpage page. If you save now, without mapping URL parameters to EnterpriseOne, the URL becomes a static resource and does not change dynamically when you change the values on the application form. Mapping URL parameters is discussed in the Define a Dynamic Link section.

5.2.2 Select Fields and Values that Define when to Display Generic URL

When you create a link to a URL, you can specify whether the tab page for the link will always appear on the form regardless of the data in the EnterpriseOne header fields, or whether it will only appear when the application data in the header fields matches the conditional criteria you have defined. When you define the conditional criteria, you can link the URL to one or more fields on the form. These links are called context links because you are associating information in the text fields to the URL. This information tells the system when to open a tab page. If you defined multiple generic URLs with the same EnterpriseOne header fields, each generic URL appears on the Related Information framework as a tab page. If you do not define any EnterpriseOne header field values, the URL is linked to the application form in general and when the form is opened, the tab appears in the Related Information bar.

To specify conditional criteria for when the link displays:

On the Create link to Webpage in the When do you want to see it area, select Sometimes - Only show this link based on your conditional criteria below.

The default value for this option is Always - Show this link without conditions.
Click on the Start Tab Page Filter Capture Mode icon to begin choosing the conditional data for displaying the link.
Select the text fields and values on the application form to define the conditional data for the link to display.

You can select one or more text fields and their values on the application form to create the conditional link definition that links the application data and the generic URL.

During the capture phase, a key indicator, which appears as a green plus sign, shows the text fields that you can select.

You can capture only header fields for the conditional link definition. Data privacy fields, password fields, hidden text, fields with wildcard values, and grid cells cannot be captured.

As you capture fields, the system displays a table of the descriptions, data dictionary aliases, and the values of the fields that you selected.
After you complete the conditional link definition process, click the Stop Tab Page Filter Capture Mode icon.
Click Save.

You can cancel this process by clicking Close instead of Save.

5.2.3 Define a Dynamic Link

Defining URL parameters is optional. The type of link is set to Static Link by default. This means that the page content will stay constant and not change based on the displayed application data. However, after you tab out of the URL field or select a URL template, the type of link is changed to Dynamic Link automatically. This occurs because most URLs contain candidate contextual parameters. You can pass content from the EnterpriseOne form-level fields to the URL parameters by selecting the Dynamic Link option.

When you select Dynamic Link, the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne system formats the URL candidate contextual parameters into table format, and the original URL appears at the bottom of the Related Information pane. When you finish mapping a URL parameter to a form-level field, the value of the form-level field appears in the URL at the bottom of the Related Information pane. If you want to see the original URL, select the Static Link option.

URL parameter mapping enables you to dynamically change the parameters of the URL by changing the value of the EnterpriseOne form-level field. When you or an event rule process changes a field in the form header that is mapped to a URL parameter, all of the content in the tab associated with that form header data is updated. You may only need to manually refresh the Related Information framework by clicking the Refresh icon in some cases. After Refresh, the URL reflects the new parameter value. When a URL contains multiple parameters, you can map multiple fields on the form to multiple parameters. If you want to change a mapping, just change the Configuration column to is mapped to to start a new mapping, and then change the Configuration column to remains as to reset the value to the default mapping.

To map URL parameters to EnterpriseOne form-level fields:

On the Create link to Webpage page, select the Dynamic Link option under the What type of link area.

The system lists the URL parameters on the Create link to Webpage page. The list is in a three-column table:
- The Parameters column lists the URL parameters.
- The Operation column provides a drop-down list from which you choose whether to map a parameter to a field on the current EnterpriseOne form or leave it as is.
- The Parameter Value column shows the value of the form field that is mapped to the parameter.
Select one of the URL parameters.
Change the Operation column to is mapped to.

This action starts the capture mode.
Click a valid form-level field or fields on the open EnterpriseOne form.

During the capture phase, a key indicator, which appears as an orange plus sign, shows the text fields that you can select.

A valid form-level field is a text field and value in the header area of the form. Data privacy fields, password fields, hidden text, fields with wildcard values, and grid cells cannot be mapped.

You can map multiple fields as one parameter. For example, you might use the Address Line 1, City, State, and Postal Code fields as the address parameter. The Separator field in the What type of link area determines how the fields are separated. The default value for this field is a comma. If you do not want to use any separator, you can remove the value from the separator field and it will not be inserted when you append more values.

You can also enter a specific value in the Customized text field and add it to one of the parameters.

After you finish mapping a parameter, the contextual parameter indicator, which is a gold highlight, appears in the parameter value field in the mapping area, and as a parameter in the generic URL.

5.2.4 Validate the Template URL

Validating the template URL is optional, but recommended. When you select a generic URL website, that website is embedded in the Related Information Application Framework. You are responsible for ensuring that the embedded URL website is safe and valid.

The generic URL in the Related Information Framework is implemented as an embedded iFrame. Basically, an iFrame is a website that is embedded within another website with both websites appearing in the browser. Some websites implement code to prevent other websites from embedding their website in an iFrame.

The validate function detects whether the URL you have selected can be embedded in an iFrame within the same browser as EnterpriseOne forms. Clicking Validate triggers a validation process that displays the generic URL in an iFrame of a popup browser window.

If validation is successful, the system displays a message notifying you that validation was successful, and the popup browser window automatically closes.

If validation fails, the system displays an alert notifying you that validation failed, and the popup browser window automatically closes. The system disables the Save option.

Important:

Because of the many different ways a website can be built, the validation process cannot guarantee that a URL you select will always be able to be embedded on the same screen as EnterpriseOne, especially if the website changes dynamically. Please refer to the Troubleshooting tips when a URL that you selected is not displayed in the Related Information tab.

You should review the content of the URL you select to ensure it is legal and appropriate. Clicking the Popup icon enables you to preview the generic URL in a separate browser window. The Popup icon is available on Create, View, Edit, and Inspect the Detail pages.

If you have contextually linked (defined a key field or mapped URL parameters to form-level fields) the generic URL to an EnterpriseOne form, the URL that is validated or available for preview contains the values from the EnterpriseOne application form.

You also are responsible for ensuring that the website is not copyright protected; embedding a website URL that is copyright protected is a legal issue.

5.2.5 Save

After you save your newly created generic URL, a tab with the name you specified appears as the active tab on the Related Information framework.

Access to your newly created generic URL depends on the publishing option and the publication list that your system administrator specified when enabling the form. Your system administrator creates publication lists. Each publication list has a name and a list of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne users who can view your URL tab. Publishing options, also assigned by your system administrator, are as follows:

Create the URL without publish permission-only you can view and edit the URL. No other users will see this URL.
Create the URL with automatic publish permission-only you can edit the URL and all members of the publication list that your system administrator assigned for this form, version, user, and environment combination can view this URL.
Create the URL with approval required to publish permission-only you can edit the URL and all members of the publication list that your system administrator assigned for this form, version, user, and environment combination have PENDING permission to view this URL. Members of the publication list do not have access to this URL until your system administrator manually changes the PENDING permission to VIEWER permission for each member of the publication list. If approval is required to publish your URLs, notify your system administrator and request that the PENDING permission be changed to VIEWER permission.

5.3 Creating an OBIEE Tab

If you have permission to create generic URL tab pages and your environment has been set up to allow the creation of OBIEE tab pages, the first time that you open an enabled JD Edwards EnterpriseOne form, version, and environment combination, the Related Information Application Framework Welcome page appears showing a Create Tab icon. Clicking this icon and selecting OBIEE opens the Select OBIEE Object window and the Create link to Oracle Business Intelligence Page in the Related Information framework. You use this page to create and save a URL tab. The Create link to Oracle Business Intelligence Page is grouped into two or three sections:

Link Information
When do you want to see it
What type of link (This section appears if you select an OIEE Answer instead of an OBIEE Dashboard Page.)

5.3.1 OBIEE Information

To create an OBIEE tab:

Select the Create Tab icon and then select OBIEE.
On the Select OBIEE Object form, find and select the OBIEE object to which you want to link and then click the Select (check mark) icon.

The Link Information section of the Create Link to Oracle Business Intelligence page is automatically populated with the information from the selected object. You can change the Name and Description fields, if desired.

To change the URL field, use the search icon (magnifying glass) to open the Select OBIEE object form again and choose another OBIEE object.

5.3.2 Select Fields and Values that Define when to Display Generic URL

When you create a link to an OBIEE object, you can specify whether the tab page for the link will always appear on the form regardless of the data in the EnterpriseOne header fields, or whether it will only appear when the application data in the header fields matches the conditional criteria you have defined. When you define the conditional criteria, you can link the URL to one or more fields on the form. These links are called context links because you are associating information in the text fields to the URL. This information tells the system when to open a tab page. If you defined multiple generic URLs with the same EnterpriseOne header fields, each generic URL appears on the Related Information framework as a tab page. If you do not define any EnterpriseOne header field values, the URL is linked to the application form in general and when the form is opened, the tab appears in the Related Information bar.

To specify conditional criteria for when the link displays:

On the Create link to URL, in the When do you want to see it area, select Sometimes - Only show this link based on your conditional criteria below.

The default value for this option is Always - Show this link without conditions.
Click on the Start Tab Page Filter Capture Mode icon to begin choosing the conditional data for displaying the link.
Select the text fields and values on the application form to define the conditional data for the link to display.

You can select one or more text fields and their values on the application form to create the conditional link definition that links the application data and the generic URL.

During the capture phase, a key indicator, which appears as a green plus sign, shows the text fields that you can select.

You can capture only header fields for the conditional link definition. Data privacy fields, password fields, hidden text, fields with wildcard values, and grid cells cannot be captured.

As you capture fields, the system displays a table of the descriptions, data dictionary aliases, and the values of the fields that you selected.
After you complete the conditional link definition process, click the Stop Tab Page Filter Capture Mode icon.
Click Save.

You can cancel this process by clicking Close instead of Save.

5.3.3 Define a Dynamic Link

If you select an OBIEE Answer instead of an OBIEE Dashboard Page when creating your OBIEE tab page, you have the opportunity to create a dynamic link. You cannot create dynamic links for OBIEE Dashboard pages.

When you select an OBIEE Answer from the Select OBIEE Object window, the type of link is set to Dynamic Link by default. This occurs so that the page content can dynamically change based on the displayed application data. You can pass content from the EnterpriseOne form-level fields to the parameters by selecting the Dynamic Link option.

Parameter mapping enables you to dynamically change the parameters by changing the value of the EnterpriseOne form-level field. When you or an event rule process changes a field in the form header that is mapped to a parameter, all of the content in the tab page associated with that form header data is updated. You may need to manually refresh the Related Information framework by clicking the Refresh icon in some cases. After Refresh, the tab page reflects the new parameter value.

When you select Dynamic Link, the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne system formats the candidate contextual parameters into table format. The table contains columns representing the parameter name, the operation, and the parameter value.

When an OBIEE Answer contains multiple parameters, you can map multiple fields on the form to multiple parameters. If you want to change a mapping, just change the Operation column to a value other than "all" to start a new mapping.

To map parameters to EnterpriseOne form-level fields:

On the Create link to Oracle Business Intelligence page, verify that the Dynamic Link option is selected under the What type of link area. The default option after selecting an OBIEE Answer is Dynamic Link.

The system lists the URL parameters on the Create link to Oracle Business Intelligence page. The list is in a three-column table:
- The Parameters column lists the parameter names.
- The Operation column provides a drop-down list from which you choose one of the following options to map a parameter to either a field on the current EnterpriseOne form or to customized text:
  - top
  - bottom
  - equal
  - not equal
  - less
  - greater or equal
  - less or equal
  - between
  - in the list
  - begins with
  - ends with
  - contains all
  - contains any
- The Parameter Value column shows the data dictionary item and name for the form field that is mapped to the parameter.
Select one of the parameters.
Change the Operation column to the desired value.

This action starts the capture mode.
Click a valid form-level field or fields on the open EnterpriseOne form or use the Customized Text field to enter a specific value.

During the capture phase, a key indicator, which appears as an orange plus sign, shows the text fields that you can select.

A valid form-level field is a text field and value in the header area of the form. Data privacy fields, password fields, hidden text, fields with wildcard values, and grid cells cannot be mapped.

After you finish mapping a parameter, the contextual parameter indicator, which is a gold highlight, appears in the parameter value field in the mapping area.
If you want to delete a parameter value, hover over it and then click on the red x to remove it.
When you are finished mapping parameters, click Save.

5.3.4 Save

After you save your newly created generic URL, a tab with the name you specified appears as the active tab on the Related Information framework.

Create the URL without publish permission-only you can view and edit the URL. No other users will see this URL.
Create the URL with automatic publish permission-only you can edit the URL and all members of the publication list that your system administrator assigned for this form, version, user, and environment combination can view this URL.
Create the URL with approval required to publish permission-only you can edit the URL and all members of the publication list that your system administrator assigned for this form, version, user, and environment combination have PENDING permission to view this URL. Members of the publication list do not have access to this URL until your system administrator manually changes the PENDING permission to VIEWER permission for each member of the publication list. If approval is required to publish your URLs, notify your system administrator and request that the PENDING permission be changed to VIEWER permission.

5.4 Viewing a Tab Page

For each generic URL that you create, a tab appears on the Related Information framework. When you create a new generic URL tab, that tab appears as the active tab on the Related Information framework. You can view the tab contents by opening the EnterpriseOne form that the tab page is placed on. If a context link has been defined for the URL, the application data in specified header fields must match the conditional criteria in order for the tab page to be displayed.

When you open the tab page, the description you defined when you created it is displayed above the URL contents. If you have been granted editor permission, you can change the conditional data criteria you entered.

5.5 Inspecting the Details of a Tab Page

When you have an active tab page, you can click the Inspect Link icon on the Related Information framework. The detail page is read only and shows this information:

Name of tab.
Description of tab.
Owner of the generic URL link.
Whether the link is static or dynamic and if dynamic, the URL parameter mappings to JD Edwards EnterpriseOne form-level fields.
Whether the link is always shown or only shown when displayed application data matches the conditioned criteria. In the latter case, the fields and values included in the conditional link definition appear.

5.6 Editing a Tab Page

If you are the creator of the tab or if you have been granted Editor permission, you can change the name, description, URL definition, conditional link definition, and contextual parameters on the active tab page.

If you select a different field on the application form (either conditional data field or form-level field for mapping parameters), or if you change the original entry in the application form field, you must manually refresh the contents of the tab page. You refresh the tab page contents by clicking the Refresh icon on the Related Information bar.

If you have been granted permission to publish with approval required, the system displays a confirmation message notifying you that saving the edited tab page revokes the viewer permission for all current viewers of this generic URL. The system changes Viewer status to Pending.

Before saving your edits, you can click Close to cancel your edits.

If an error occurs during the save process, an error message appears.

5.7 Removing a Tab Page

If you are the creator of the tab or have Editor permission, you can remove the URL tab and its contents by clicking Delete on the active tab page bar, and then respond appropriately to the confirmation message. If you do not have Editor permission, you will not see the Delete icon.

When you delete a tab, the tab to the left becomes the active tab. If there are no tabs to the left, the tab to the right of the deleted tab becomes the active tab. If you delete all tabs, the Welcome page appears.

You can request that your JD Edwards EnterpriseOne system administrator remove a generic URL tab and its contents.

5.8 Organizing Tab Pages

The system displays generic URL tabs left to right in the order they are created, with the generic URL tab that was created last being the active tab and appearing to the right of existing tabs. The system determines the width of the tabs and dynamically adjusts the width as you create more tab pages. The system might truncate the name of the tab to allow more tabs to be added to the Related Information framework. You can use the right and left arrow keys on the Related Information framework bar to scroll the range of tabs left or right. If you create more tabs than can be displayed on the Related Information framework, the system displays additional tabs on a drop-down list on the Related Information framework bar. The drop-down list shows all of the generic URL tabs you have defined for the open form. You open a tab page by clicking the tab name in the drop-down list. The drop-down list shows the active tab page in bold type.

You can change the order of the generic URL tabs by dragging and dropping the desired tab between two existing tabs. You drag the desired tab to either the left edge or the right edge of the existing tabs. The system scrolls the existing tabs to either the right or left, depending on which tab edge you chose. When you start dragging the desired tab to the new location, an image of the dragged tab moves with your mouse, and when you release the mouse button, the dragged tab moves to the new location. The system stores the generic URL tab location so that the next time you open the application with the appropriate key field information, the changed location of the generic URL tabs appears.

When you finish your session, the system saves the current active tab and automatically opens that generic URL tab page the next time you access the JD Edwards form and enter the key field that you defined.