1 Introduction

Welcome to the Oracle Retail Merchandising Operations Guide. The guide is designed to inform you about the ’backend' of RMS: data inputs, processes, and outputs. As a member of the Oracle Retail family, RMS provides the many benefits of enterprise application integration (EAI). A primary benefit of EAI is the near real-time view of data that results from message-based processes between RMS and other products on the Oracle Retail Integration Bus (RIB). RIB integration allows RMS to overcome time lags to data updates. As a result, RMS is less dependent upon the batch window.

Contents of This Guide

The major components of the Operations Guide include the two volumes described below.

Volume 1 - Batch Overviews and Designs

Batch overviews tie a functional area description to the batch processes illustrated in the designs.

Batch designs describe how, on a technical level, an individual batch module works and the database tables that it affects. In addition, batch designs contain file layout information that is associated with the batch process.

Batch designs can be referenced by name through the table of contents of this volume.

Volume 2 - Message Publication and Subscription Designs

Oracle Retail Integration Bus (RIB) RMS functional overviews are incorporated into the publication and subscription designs. Therefore, the retailer can extract the business rationale behind each publication or subscription as well as the technical details that describe, on a technical level, how RMS publishes messages to the RIB or how RMS subscribes to messages from the RIB. A chapter in this volume also addresses how RMS utilizes the Oracle Retail Service Layer (RSL).

External Subscription RIB APIs

Subscription APIs that are designated as ’External' are designed to be interfaces for external systems that maintain the applicable data. In other words, RMS is not the ’system of record' for maintaining the data. Instead, RMS subscribes to consume the data when it is published so that the corresponding data in RMS can be kept in sync with the external system that maintains the data.

RMS Modules

For RMS retailers who purchase additional modules, the guide includes descriptions of the batch programs related to the following:

• Oracle Retail Trade Management™ (RTM)

Batch Schedule

The batch schedule is a program list with pre/post dependencies for each batch job. For each individual user, the schedule is a suggested starting point for the installation. Some programs are specific to products that may not be installed, so these programs may not be used at all.

Pro *C Input and Output Formats

Oracle Retail batch processing utilizes input from both tables and flat files. Further, the outcome of processing can both modify data structures and write output data. Interfacing Oracle Retail with external systems is the main use of file based I/O.

General Interface Discussion

To simplify the interface requirements, Oracle Retail requires that all in-bound and out-bound file-based transactions adhere to standard file layouts. There are two types of file layouts, detail-only and master-detail, which are described in the sections below.

An interfacing API exists within Oracle Retail to simplify the coding and the maintenance of input files. The API provides functionality to read input from files, ensure file layout integrity, and write and maintain files for rejected transactions.

Standard File Layouts

The RMS interface library supports two standard file layouts; one for master/detail processing, and one for processing detail records only. True sub-details are not supported within the RMS base package interface library functions.

A 5-character identification code or record type identifies all records within an I/O file, regardless of file type. The following includes common record type values:

• FHEAD—File Header

• FDETL—File Detail

• FTAIL—File Tail

• THEAD—Transaction Header

• TDETL—Transaction Detail

• TTAIL—Transaction Tail

Each line of the file must begin with the record type code followed by a 10-character record ID.

Detail-Only Files

File layouts have a standard file header record, a detail record for each transaction to be processed, and a file trailer record. Valid record types are FHEAD, FDETL, and FTAIL.

Example:

FHEAD0000000001STKU1996010100000019960929
FDETL0000000002SKU100000040000011011
FDETL0000000003SKU100000050003002001
FDETL0000000004SKU100000050003002001
FTAIL00000000050000000003

Master and Detail Files

File layouts consists of:

• Standard file header record

• Set of records for each transaction to be processed

• File trailer record.

The transaction set consists of:

• Transaction set header record

• Transaction set detail for detail within the transaction

• Transaction trailer record

Valid record types are FHEAD, THEAD, TDETL, TTAIL, and FTAIL.

Example:

FHEAD0000000001RTV 19960908172000
THEAD000000000200000000000001199609091202000000000003R
TDETL000000000300000000000001000001SKU10000012 
TTAIL0000000004000001
THEAD000000000500000000000002199609091202001215720131R
TDETL000000000600000000000002000001UPC400100002667 
TDETL0000000007000000000000020000021UPC400100002643 0 
TTAIL0000000008000002
FTAIL00000000090000000007

Table 1-1 File Layout

Record Name	Field Name	Field Type	Default Value	Description
File Header	File Type Record Descriptor	Char(5)	FHEAD	Identifies file record type.
	File Line Identifier	Number(10)	Specified by external system	Line number of the current file.
	File Type Definition	Char(4)	n/a	Identifies transaction type.
	File Create Date	Date	Create date	Date file was written by external system.
Transaction Header	File Type Record Descriptor	Char(5)	THEAD	Identifies file record type.
	File Line Identifier	Number(10)	Specified by external system	Line number of the current file.
	Transaction Set Control Number	Char(14)	Specified by external system	Used to force unique transaction check.
	Transaction Date	Char(14)	Specified by external system	Date the transaction was created in external system.
Transaction Detail	File Type Record Descriptor	Char(5)	TDETL	Identifies file record type.
	File Line Identifier	Number(10)	Specified by external system	Line number of the current file.
	Transaction Set Control Number	Char(14)	Specified by external system	Used to force unique transaction check.
	Detail Sequence Number	Char(6)	Specified by external system	Sequential number assigned to detail records within a transaction.
Transaction Trailer	File Type Record Descriptor	Char(5)	TTAIL	Identifies file record type.
	File Line Identifier	Number(10)	Specified by external system	Line number of the current file.
	Transaction Detail Line Count	Number(6)	Sum of detail lines	Sum of the detail lines within a transaction.
File Trailer	File Type Record Descriptor	Char(5)	FTAIL	Identifies file record type.
	File Line Identifier	Number(10)	Specified by external system	Line number of the current file.
	Total Transaction Line Count	Number(10)	Sum of all transaction lines	All lines in file less the file header and trailer records.