Before you Begin

This tutorial shows you the approval process, how to set it up, and how to start the planning review cycle. Learn how to enable members for approvals, identify reviewers and owners, define approval groups, manage approval unit hierarchies, define the promotional path based on reviewers and validation rules with financial limits, start the review cycle and get your plan approved. The sections build on each other and should be completed sequentially.

Background

With approvals, you can manage your workflow within a defined process, and formalize authority levels as you prepare budget data. You can review and approve plans submitted by cost centers or departments as part of your overall budgeting process.

You manage the approvals process by:

• Creating approval units based on your organization, geographical regions or product lines
• Setting the promotional path by designating who reviews and approves plan data as it moves through the organization
• Starting the planning review cycle by selecting an approval unit hierarchy scenario and version

You can track budgets and review status, process issues, and approval unit ownership using approval units. Budget cycle time is reduced when:

• The approval path is independent of organizational structure
• Exceptions and problem areas are highlighted
• Audit information includes annotations and process status
• Reviews include annotations and comments

In this tutorial, you learn about the approval process, how to set it up, and start the planning review cycle.

What Do You Need?

An EPM Cloud Service instance allows you to deploy and use one of the supported business processes. To deploy another business process, you must request another EPM Enterprise Cloud Service instance or remove the current business process.

You must have:

• Service Administrator access to an EPM Enterprise Cloud Service instance.
• Upload and import this snapshot into your instance.

  Note:

  If you run into migration errors importing the snapshot, re-run the migration excluding the HSS-Shared Services component, as well as the Security and User Preferences artifacts in the Core component. For more information on uploading and importing snapshots, refer to the Administering Migration for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud documentation.
• Download and save the following Planning Unit Hierarchy files (FS_PUH.exp and Projects_PUH.exp) to a local folder.

  Tip:

  Depending on how your browser is set, you may need to right-click the file's link and select "Save link as" to save a copy of the file locally.
• Users and groups provisioned as noted in this section of this tutorial.

Approval Process Overview

In this section, you learn about the approval process.

You can perform the following planning  tasks with approvals:

• Review and approve planning data
• Track the progress of the budget
• Identify issues in the review process
• View reviewers' remarks through annotations
• View the promotional path of planning data
• Ensure that the plan data meets data validation rules

Plans are tracked and managed through approval units. An approval unit is the basic unit for preparing, annotating, reviewing, and approving plan data.

Approval units are combinations of scenario, version, and entity or part of an entity.

Note:

You can have one scenario/version combination per approval unit.

Scenarios and versions are the basis of the review cycle. Approval units submit planning data for a scenario and version. For example, an approval unit might consist of a version (Best Case), a scenario (Forecast), and an entity (New York).

Approval units can also include secondary dimensions within any entity, refining the granularity of an approval unit.

An administrator kicks off the annual or quarterly planning process by "starting" approval units. Before your approval unit is officially started, you can enter data into it, but the data isn't part of the official planning cycle.

After your administrator starts your approval units, you can enter data into the selected Scenario, Version, and Entity that comprise it. You can annotate, analyze, and revise an approval unit until you promote or submit it. After that, you can no longer change the data until you become the current owner again.

Process Flow for Sample Business Cases

With Planning, you can take advantage of these features when managing approvals:

• Dashboards and analysis for data reporting; including variance reporting between actual data and budget data.
• Ability to add justification and attach documents related to the plan.
• Threshold-based approvals based on your Level of Authority (LOA) matrix.
• Visibility and traceability that aids in decision-making, including a complete audit trail of all approvals.
• Online collaboration and notifications through email across your organization.
• Paperless approval workflow.
• Seamless integration with Oracle ERP Cloud.
• Phased submission using approval groups will enable you to submit a portion of the data for review first, while other data can be reviewed later. 

Here are three (3) sample business cases:

Projects

Your organization plans for internal, capital, and/or contract projects that require different levels of approvals depending on the amount required for each project. You can create threshold-based validation rules that affect the promotional path of your approvals based on your organization's LOA matrix.

In Enterprise Planning, using Projects, you can include financial and non-financial benefits and justification when you add and plan for projects. Review project KPIs to help analyze and plan for future projects, as it goes through the approval process.

Capital Projects

Your organization plans to have large capital spends, including internal projects geared towards business expansion, organic growth, asset replacement, and so on.

When the annual budget for capital expenditure (capex) is approved, each department can initiate capex-related purchases by raising requests and obtaining management approval. In Enteprise Planning, the initiating department creates a Capital Expenditure Request (CER) against an approved budget. When submitting the request for approval, it would include all required justification and related attachments.

Depending on your organization's LOA matrix, the approval may have to go through different approvers based on the value requested. Your LOA can be included by creating validation rules that process based on threshold values.

Once the request is approved, they can start processing their purchase orders using their transactional ERP system.

Marketing Budgets

Your organization plans on preparing campaign and marketing ads to help with company and product advertising.

When the annual budget for marketing is approved, the appropriate department can initiate promotion, advertising, and media placement purchasing by raising requests and obtaining management approval. In Enteprise Planning, the initiating department creates a spend request against an approved budget. When submitting the request for approval, it would include all required justification and related attachments.

You can create threshold-based validation rules that affect the promotional path of your approvals based on your organization's Marketing LOA. This allows for a reduction in redundant manual reviews and processes.

Approval Setup Overview

In this section, you learn about the tasks you need to complete before starting the approval process.

Approval Setup Tasks:

• Enable Scenario, Version, and Entity members for approvals.
• Determine users and groups who will be assigned as reviewers and owners.
• Define Approval Groups.

  Approval groups enable you to submit a portion of the data for review first, while other data can be reviewed later. During the review process, you can promote each phase of the approval unit rather than the entire approval unit.

• Create the Approval Unit Hierarchy.
  • Set the approval hierarchy name, scope, and template.
  • Select an Extended Approval Flow for your Approval Unit Hierarchy:
    • None—The approval workflow will use the Entity dimension only, and not use a secondary dimension or approval groups.
    • Secondary—The approval workflow will use a secondary dimension. 
    • Approval Groups—Enables you to assign approval groups to the approvals workflow. 

    If you selected Secondary or Approval Groups, you can select whether to apply it to all entity levels and enable phased dependency.

    The Approval Unit Hierarchy tabs change according to your selections.

• Select Approval Unit Hierarchy Members.

  Display options by entities (all potential approval units) or by enabled approval units. If you chose Secondary for Extended Approval Flow, add a secondary dimension to the approval unit included in the approval process to provide finer granularity.

• Assign approval unit owners and reviewers. Add users for notifications.
• Manage the promotional path. You can modify the promotional path by:
  • Assigning owners and reviewers directly in the approval unit hierarchy, or
  • Creating data validation rules that determine whether a change in the approval unit promotional path is necessary. You can also specify threshold amounts that guide the approval unit promotional path.
• Set Value Definition Members to define data intersections.

  By selecting members for the rest of the dimensions (non-approval unit dimensions), you specify the exact data slice or data intersection where the plan data will be picked up.

  Note:

  • For non-approval unit dimensions: To view aggregated approval unit values, on Member Selection, you must select one member for each non-approval unit dimension in the cube selected on the Approvals Dimension tab. If you don't select members for the non-approval unit dimensions, the aggregated approval unit value is blank.

  • For approval unit dimensions: Value definition members specified for a parent member in the approval unit hierarchy are inherited by the descendants of that member. If value definition members are selected for both a parent and child member of an approval unit dimension, then the child's selection takes precedence. For example, you select a value definition member for both the parent US and its child, Western Region; the value definition member for Western Region takes precedence. At runtime, the Entity, Scenario, Version, and secondary dimension members specified in the approval unit hierarchy are selected.

Enabling Dimension Members for Approvals

You must enable approvals for scenarios and versions you want to use with your approval unit.

1. On the home page, click Application, then Overview.

   

2. In Application - Overview, click Dimensions.

   

3. From the Cube dropdown list, select OEP_PFP.

   

4. From the list of dimensions, click Scenario.

   

   
   

   Edit Member Properties: Scenario is displayed.

   

5. In the grid, under Scenario, expand OEP Scenarios, and then OEP_Planned Scenarios.

   

6. Right-click the Member Name column heading and, in the dialog, clear Default Mode.

   Tip:

   You may need to scroll to the bottom of the dialog to display Default Mode.
7. Right-click the Member Name column heading and clear Select All.
8. In the dialog, scroll down and select Enabled for Approvals.
9. Then, click a cell outside the dialog to close it.
10. Verify that Enabled for Approvals for OEP_Plan is set to Yes.

    

11. Click the dropdown arrow next to Edit Member Properties: Scenario, and select Version.

    

12. In the grid, under Version, expand OEP_Versions.

    

13. Right-click the Member Name column heading and, in the dialog, clear Default Mode.

    Tip:

    You may need to scroll to the bottom of the dialog to display Default Mode.
14. Right-click the Member Name column heading and clear Select All.
15. In the dialog, scroll down and select Enabled for Approvals.
16. Then, click a cell outside the dialog to close it.
17. Verify that Enabled for Approvals for OEP_Working is set to Yes.

    

18. In Edit Member Properties: Version, click Save.
19. Click Cancel.
20. Return to the home page. On the upper right, click (Home).

Setting up Access Control and Permissions

Assigning Security Roles to Users and Groups

To set up approvals with multiple reviewers or owners, you must provision users with the following application roles:

• One (1) User
• Five (5) Power Users
• One (1) Service Administrator

In this tutorial, the users will be referred to as follows:

Name used in tutorial	Application Role
Carol Judd	User
Kerry Lane	Power User
Betty Anderson	Power User
Alex Smith	Power User
Anita Kennedy	Power User
Casey Brown	Power User
George Foster	Service Administrator

Note:

For more information on Planning security, refer to the Setting Up Security in Planning hands-on tutorial and Getting Started with Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud for Administrators documentation.

Here is an example of the Role Assignment Report for these users in Access Control:

Creating the Strategic Planner Group

After creating users and assigning roles, create a group called Strategic Planner. The Strategic Planner group will be used for access permissions with forms and navigation flows.

1. In Access Control, go to Manage Groups.

   

2. In Manage Groups, click Create.
3. In Create Group, for Name, enter Strategic Planner.

   

4. With Groups selected, click (Search).

   Available groups are listed.

   

5. Click (Move all).
6. Verify that all groups were moved to the Assigned Groups list, then click Save.

   

7. At the information message, click OK.

   

8. Verify that Strategic Planner is listed in Manage Groups.

   

Assigning Access Permissions to Forms

1. Click (Navigator), then under Create and Manage, click Forms.

   

2. In the left pane of Form and Ad Hoc Grid Management, under Folders, make sure that Library is selected and click (Assign Access).

   

3. In Assign Access for Library, click Groups.

   

4. In Groups, click (Add Access).
5. From the list of groups, select Strategic Planner and Write as the Type of Access.

   

6. Click Add.
7. At the information message, click OK.

   

8. Click Close.
9. Click the Groups tab.
10. Verify that Strategic Planner is listed with Write access rights.

    

11. Click Close.
12. In Form and Ad Hoc Grid Management, on the top right, click X to close the dialog.
13. On the upper-right, click (Home).

Assigning Access to the Approvals Navigation Flow

1. On the home page, click Tools, and then click Navigation Flows.

   

2. In Navigation Flow, verify that Approvals is set to Inactive, then click Approvals (Name).

   

3. In Approvals, for Assign to, enter Strategic Planner.

   

4. Click Save and Close.
5. Verify that the Approvals Navigation Flow lists Strategic Planner under Role/Group.

   

6. For Approvals, click Inactive to activate the navigation flow. Verify that the Approvals navigation flow is set to Active.

   

7. On the upper-right, click (Home).
8. On the upper-left, click (Navigator) and verify that Approvals is selected.

   

   
   

   Tip:

   If the Approvals navigation flow is not shown, you may need to log out and log back in Planning.
9. Click (Navigator) to close the menu.
10. On the upper-right, click the down-arrow next to Administrator and click Reload Navigation Flow.

    

11. On the home page, verify the navigation flow displays as:

    

Defining Approval Groups

You can create approval groups to divide approval units into more granular subsets of data which can then be submitted for approval in phases.

1. On the home page, click Application, and then click Approval Groups.

   

2. In Approval Groups, click Create.

   

3. Name the approval group Marketing Expenses.
4. Select Account as the Anchor Dimension.

   

5. Click Add Rule.
6. Next to Account, click the dropdown and select Edit.

   

7. In Selections, click (Settings) and select Remove All.

   

8. Search for Marketing.
9. Hover over Total Marketing and click (Function Selector).
10. Select Descendants Inclusive.

    

11. Click OK.
12. Verify your selections, and then click Save and Close.

    

    
    

    The Marketing Expenses approval group is created and listed on the page.

    

Managing Approval Unit Hierarchies

About Approval Unit Hierarchies

An approval unit hierarchy contains approval units and entities that are part of the review process.

Parent/child relationships between approval unit hierarchy members affect the review process:

• When you promote or reject a parent, its children are promoted or rejected unless they are Approved. The owner for the parent becomes the owner of the children.

• When you approve a parent, its children are approved.

• After all children are promoted to the same owner, the parent is promoted to the owner.

• When the status of all children changes to one status, for example Signed Off, parent status changes to the same status.

Note:

You can't change the status of a parent if its children have different owners. If the children are promoted to, submitted to, or signed off by different users, the parent has no owner and only a Service Administrators can change its status.

You use approval unit hierarchies to adapt the budgeting process to all types of organizational requirements.

• Define approval units based on a combination of the entity and other dimensions. For example, if an application includes all of a company's products, the approval unit hierarchy for North America can include dimensions and members appropriate to products sold in North America. Similarly, the approval unit hierarchy for the European division can include dimensions and members for products sold in Europe. Within the same approval hierarchy, entities can be enhanced using the Account dimension, creating approval units such as Entities by HR, Entities by Capital Expenditures, and Entities by Revenue.

• Select preset approval templates to create hierarchies that are bottom-up, distributed, or free form.

  • Bottom-Up Budgeting—Data is input at the bottom member level and consolidated by rolling data up the organizational hierarchy. When the budget is started, data is populated for each scenario and user independently. The ownership follows the hierarchy of approval in bottom-up mode. Users can view or edit data based on access permissions defined for the approval unit. The topmost Budget Group owner consolidates individually approved budgets into a final consolidated budget.
  • Distributed Budgeting—Data is entered at the leaf level of the organization, and ownership starts at the top level of the organization. Ownership is then distributed down the organization hierarchy. After ownership reaches the lower levels, budgets are submitted back to the top through the approval process. The top budget group owner reviews, approves, and loads the budgets for budgetary control, transaction control, and reporting.
  • Free-Form Budgeting—With free-form budgeting, data is input at the selected member level, and then users select the next owner from a drop-down list.

• Include dynamic links to dimensions based on generation numbers for the entity dimension and the secondary dimension that is used. For example, automatically add generations 0 to 3 in the entity or segment dimension to the approval unit hierarchy. If a change occurs in the dimension, the approval unit hierarchy can be easily updated.

• Import and export approval unit hierarchies.

• Create approval unit hierarchies that differ by scenario and version. For example, the Budget scenario can have a large approval unit hierarchy consisting of departments, accounts, and products, while the Forecast scenario has a simpler process organization with fewer levels of approval.

Creating Approval Unit Hierarchies

Financials Planning Unit Hierarchy

In this section, you create an approval unit hierarchy for the Financials cube that extends the approval flow using phased submission with approval groups. This approval unit is based on the Marketing Budgets sample business case.

1. Click (Navigator), then under Workflow, click Approval Unit.

   

2. In Approval Unit, click (Create).

   

3. In Create Approval Unit Hierarchy, for Hierarchy Name, enter FS_PUH.
4. For Enable Approvals, accept the default selection: None.

   You'll be adding approval units when you select hierarchy members.

5. For Approvals Template, select Bottom Up.
6. For Cube, select OEP_FS.
7. For Extended Approval Flow, select Approval Group.
8. Select Phase Dependency.
9. Verify your selections and click Save.

   

10. At the information dialog, click OK.

    

11. On the bottom-right of the page, click OK.
12. At the information message, click OK.

Projects Planning Unit Hierarchy

In this section, you create an approval unit hierarchy where you will assign approval unit owners and reviewers and later modify the promotional path using validation rules. This approval unit is based on the Projects sample business case.

1. In Approval Unit, click (Create).
2. In Create Approval Unit Hierarchy, for Hierarchy Name, enter Projects_PUH.
3. For Enable Approvals, accept the default selection: None.

   You'll be adding approval units when you select hierarchy members.

4. For Approvals Template, select Bottom Up.
5. For Cube, select OEP_PFP.
6. For Extended Approval Flow, select Secondary.
7. Verify your selections, and then click Save.

   

8. At the information dialog, click OK.

   

9. On the bottom-right of the page, click OK.
10. At the information message, click OK.

Assigning a Scenario and Version Combination to an Approval Unit Hierarchy

1. Click (Navigator), then under Workflow, click Approval Unit Assignment.

   

2. In Approval Unit Assignment, for FS_PUH, click (Actions).

   

   
   

   A new row is added to the grid.

   

3. Under FS_PUH, select the following:
   • Scenario: Forecast (OEP_Forecast)
   • Version: Working (OEP_Working)
4. For Projects_PUH, click (Actions).
5. Under Projects_PUH, select the following:
   • Scenario: Plan
   • Version: Working
6. Review your selections, and at the bottom of the page, click Save.

   

7. At the information message, click OK.

   

Modifying Approval Unit Hierarchy Files

Tip:

See the Setting Up Access Control and Permissions section of this tutorial.

1. Using a text editor, such as Notepadd++, edit the FS_PUH.exp file you downloaded from the What Do You Need? section of this tutorial.

   Primary Member, Primary Enabled, Secondary Dimension, Secondary Parent, Relative Generation, Auto Include, Secondary Member, Include, Owner, Reviewers, Notifiees, Value Definition Members
   NA, true, HSP_SubmissionGroup, HSP_SubmissionGroup, , false, , true, Kerry.Lane, , , 
   US, true, HSP_SubmissionGroup, HSP_SubmissionGroup, , false, , true, Alex.Smith, , , 
   Sales US, true, HSP_SubmissionGroup, HSP_SubmissionGroup, , false, , true, Carol, , , 
   Marketing US, true, HSP_SubmissionGroup, HSP_SubmissionGroup, , false, , true, Betty.Anderson, , , 
   Finance US, true, HSP_SubmissionGroup, HSP_SubmissionGroup, , false, , true, George, , , 
   Operations US, true, HSP_SubmissionGroup, HSP_SubmissionGroup, , false, , true, Kerry.Lane, , , 
   Manufacturing US, true, HSP_SubmissionGroup, HSP_SubmissionGroup, , false, , true, Anita.Kennedy, , , 
   IT US, true, HSP_SubmissionGroup, HSP_SubmissionGroup, , false, , true, George, , , 
   

2. Replace the users in the Planning Approval Unit Hierarchy with the users you defined in your system. You can optionally remove the names instead of replacing them. Do not remove the commas. You can add users when you assign owners in the approval unit hierarchy later. Make sure to save your changes.
3. Using a text edtior, such as Notepadd++, edit the Projects_PUH.exp file you downloaded from the What Do You Need? section of this tutorial.

   Primary Member, Primary Enabled, Secondary Dimension, Secondary Parent, Relative Generation, Auto Include, Secondary Member, Include, Owner, Reviewers, Notifiees, Value Definition Members
   NA, true, , , , false, , true, George, , , 
   US, true, , , , false, , true, , , , 
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, , true, , , , 
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, FM IT, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, Future Engineering 2020, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, CTI, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, New Digital Web Mobile, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, T6, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, Project Diablo, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, EMS Re-Engineering, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, PM Tool, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, New IT Facility, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, UID Project, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, Test Digital, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, Finance 101, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, Digital New, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, Upgrade Network - Manchester, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, Upgrade Network - Dubai, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Manufacturing US, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, Digital Marketing Campaign, true, Carol, Kerry.Lane, , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Data Center Operations, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, , true, , , , 
   Data Center Operations, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, Z9000, true, Carol, , , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages
   Data Center Operations, true, Project, Total Project, 4, false, PI20046, true, Carol, , , OPF_Total Expenses->YearTotal->All Years->USD->OPF_Total Project Element->OPF_Total Resource Class->Total Stages

4. Replace the users in the Planning Approval Unit Hierarchy with the users you defined in your system. You can optionally remove the names instead of replacing them. Do not remove the commas. You can add users when you assign owners in the approval unit hierarchy later. Make sure to save your changes.

Importing Approval Unit Hierarchies

1. Return to Planning. Click (Navigator), then under Workflow, click Import and Export.

   

2. In File Based Import/Export, make sure that Import Approval Unit Hierarchy is selected.

   

3. From the Existing Approval Unit Hierarchy Name dropdown list, select FS_PUH.
4. Next to Approval Unit Hierarchy with Ownership, click Choose File.

   Note:

   Depending on your browser, the button label may display Choose File or Browse.
5. Navigate to where you saved FS_PUH.exp, then select and open it.
6. At the bottom right of the page, click Import.
7. At the confirmation message, click OK.

   

8. From the Existing Approval Unit Hierarchy Name dropdown list, select Projects_PUH.

   

9. Next to Approval Unit Hierarchy with Ownership, click Update.
10. In Update File, click Choose File.

    

    Note:

    Depending on your browser, the button label may display Choose File or Browse.
11. Navigate to where you saved Projects_PUH.exp, then select and open it.
12. In Update File, click OK.
13. Verify your selections for the Projects_PUH. then click Import.
14. At the confirmation message, click OK.
15. Click Done.

Assigning Approval Groups

1. Click (Navigator), then under Workflow, click Approval Unit.
2. In Approval Unit, select the FS_PUH row, and click (Edit).

   

3. In Edit Approval Unit Hierachy: FS_PUH, click Assign Approval Groups.

   

4. In Assign Approval Groups, click (Add).

   

5. In the dialog, select Marketing Expenses.

   

6. Click outside the dialog to close it.
7. Verify that Marketing Expenses is listed on the page, then at the bottom of the page, click Save.

   

8. At the information message, click OK.
9. At the bottom of the page, click OK.
10. At the information message, click OK.

Selecting Approval Unit Members and Value Definition

1. In Approval Unit, select the Projects_PUH row, and click (Edit).

   

2. In Edit Approval Unit Hierachy: Projects_PUH, verify that the Extended Approval Flow is set to Secondary.

   

   
   

   With Secondary selected for Extended Approval Flow, you can add a secondary dimension to the approval unit included in the approval process to provide finer granularity. This sets the value definition for members to define specific data intersections in your approval unit.

3. Click the Primary and Subhierarchy Selection tab.
4. In Primary and Subhierarchy Selection, for Display, select Approval Units.

   

5. In the grid, expand Entity, then NA, then US. Make sure Manufacturing US is displayed.

   

6. For Manufacturing US, verify the following selections:

   

   • Dimension: Project

     In this example, Project is selected as the Secondary dimension.

   • Parent Member: Total Project

     Total Project is the parent member selected.

   • Relative Generation: 4

     Relative generation specifies the parent-member generations to include. Adding a generation adds all members of that generation to the approval process. In this example, the relative generation to Total Project is 4. This points to four generations below Total Project, which are Level0 members. The member names are listed in Selected Members.

   • Selected Members: FM IT,Project Diablo,Future Engineering 2020,EMS Re-Engineering,UID Project,Finance 101,CTI,New Digital Web Mobile,PM Tool,Test Digital,Digital New,Upgrade Network - Manchester,Upgrade Network - Dubai,Digital Marketing Campaign,T6,New IT Facility

     You can further limit the subhierarchy by removing selected members.

     Tip:

     You can view the selected members in relation to the Project dimension hierarchy when you edit member properties in the Dimension Editor.

     

Assigning Owners and Reviewers Members

See the Identifying Users and Groups as Reviewers and Owners section for a list of users referenced in this tutorial.

1. Click the Assign Owners tab.
2. In Assign Owners, in the grid, expand all levels.

   

   
   

   If you replaced the users in the Planning approval unit files you imported, you should see those users under the Owner column.

3. If you removed the users in the Planning approval unit files you imported, add a user in the Owner column of NA and all Manufacturing US rows.

   Tip:

   See the Identifying Users and Groups as Reviewers and Owners section for a list of users referenced in this tutorial.
4. For all project rows under Manufacturing US, assign a reviewer. In this example, a first-level Power User is selected.

   

5. Optional: For Manufacturing US: FM IT, add users to alert in the Notify These Users column.

   

   
   

   You can add reviewers, owners, or any other additional users who may need to be informed when an approval unit is promoted. For example, add a team member who is in charge of payment processing or a team member from your treasury department. Make sure the users you add have notifications enabled. You can enable notifications for these users when you later complete tasks in this section: Setting Up Email for Approval Notifications.

   

6. At the bottom, click Save.
7. At the information message, click OK.

Managing the Promotional Path

Reviewing and Modifying the Promotional Path

1. For Manufacturing US: FM IT, click (Promotional Path).

   

   
   

   The promotional path for the selected approval unit is displayed.

   

2. Click OK to close the Promotional Path dialog.
3. Remove the Owner assigned to Manufacturing US.

   

4. For Manufacturing US: FM IT, click (Promotional Path).
   

   Notice that the promotional path for the approval unit no longer displays an owner for Manfacturing US.

   

5. Click OK to close the Promotional Path dialog.
6. At the bottom, click Save.
7. At the information message, click OK.
8. At the bottom, click OK.
9. At the information message, click OK.

Adding Data Validation Rules for Threshold-Based Approvals

When you select an owner and reviewers for an approval unit and its parents, you set the approval unit promotional path. However, when budget calculation results change, your organization requires additional reviewers and approvers depending on the calculated values. For example, if salaries for a sales group are more than 10% over the previous budget year, approval from someone other than the next reviewer may be required.

To automate redirecting the budget in these cases, you can add conditions and actions to data validation rules in forms that test for these exceptions, and then modify the promotional path when necessary. You can also use data validation rules to stop an approval unit from passing to the next reviewer when data errors exist in the approval unit.

When you design rules that affect the approval unit promotional path, you must consider the order in which these rules are evaluated and applied.

1. Click (Navigator), then under Create and Manage, click Forms.

   

2. In the left pane of Form and Ad Hoc Grid Management, under Folders, expand Library and click Custom.

   

3. In the content area, select Total Project Expenses Validation and click (Edit).

   

4. Click the Layout tab.

   

5. In Layout, right-click the cell labeled A below Columns and select Add/Edit Validation Rules.

   

   
   

   Data Validation Rule Builder is displayed.

   

6. Create a validation rule for project expenses amounting to more than $500,000. In Data Validation Rule Properties, verify, enter, or select the following:
   • Location: Column A
   • Name: > $500K
   • Description: Total project expenses > $500,000
   • Enable validation rule: <Selected>

   

7. Add conditions. In the first row, verify, enter, or select the following:
   • Condition: IF
   • Source Type: Current Cell Value
   • Operator: >
   • Target Type: Value
   • Target Value: 500000
   • Process: AND

   

8. In the Actions column, click (Add Condition).
9. In the new condition row, verify, enter, or select the following:
   • Condition: <Blank>
   • Source Type: Member Name
   • Source Value: Years

     Note:

     "All Year" is the member name. Its alias is set to "All Years".
   • Operator: Equals
   • Target Type: Value
   • Target Value: "All Years"
   • Process: AND
10. In the Actions column, click (Add Condition).
11. In the new condition row, verify, enter, or select the following:
    • Condition: <Blank>
    • Source Type: Member Name
    • Source Value: Account
    • Operator: Equals
    • Target Type: Value
    • Target Value: "OPF_Total Expenses"
    • Process: <Blank>
12. In the Actions column, click (Add Condition).
13. In the new condition row, verify, enter, or select the following:
    • Condition: THEN
    • Source Type: Process Cell
14. In the Actions column, for the last row, click (Process Cell).

    

    
    

    The Format Cell dialog for Data Validation Rule Builder is displayed.

15. In Format Cell, for Cell Background Color, enter 3CB371.
16. For Validation Message, enter Total project expenses exceed $500,000 and will need an additional level of approval.
17. Make sure that Show in Data Validation Messages pane is selected.
18. For Approvals, select Update Promotional Path.
19. Add promotional path conditions. Click (Add Rule).
20. In the new row, verify, enter, or select the following:
    • Approval Unit: Projects PUH
    • Approval Units: Children("Manufacturing US")
    • Position: Before
    • Approval Units: Manufacturing US
    • Role: Reviewer
    • Type: User Name
    • Users: Betty Anderson

      Tip:

      See the Identifying Users and Groups as Reviewers and Owners section of this tutorial.
21. Verify your selections, then click OK.

    

22. In Data Validation Rule Builder, click Validate.
23. At the information message, click OK.

    

24. In Data Validation Rule Builder, click OK.

    In the grid section of Layout, the column and row cell intersection displays as green to indicate that the form contains data validation rules.

    

25. Click Save.
26. At the information message, click OK.
27. In Layout, right-click the cell labeled A below Columns and select Add/Edit Validation Rules.

    

28. In Data Validation Rule Builder, on the top right, click (Add Rule).

    Tip:

    Click (Duplicate) to create a rule similar to an existing rule, and then modify the duplicate rule to meet your requirements.

    

29. Create the following rules, based on steps 6 through 23:
    • Rule: >$1 million
      

      Rule Properties

      

      
      

      Format/Process Cell

      

      
      
    • Rule: >$2 million
      

      Rule Properties

      

      
      

      Format/Process Cell

      

      
      
    • Rule: >$10 million
      

      Rule Properties

      

      
      

      Format/Process Cell

      

      
      
30. Make sure that you validated all four rules.
31. In Data Validation Rule Builder, click OK.
32. In Layout, click Finish.
33. In Form and Ad Hoc Grid Management, on the top right, click X to close the dialog.

Viewing Approval Unit Hierarchy Usage

Approval unit hierarchies might have dependencies such as approval unit assignments or data validation rules which are defined in forms. If dependencies exist for an approval unit hierarchy, the hierarchy can't be deleted until the dependencies are removed.

1. Click (Navigator), then under Workflow, click Approval Unit.
2. In Approval Unit, select the Projects_PUH row, and click (Edit).

   

3. Click the Usage tab.

   

   
   

   The Usage tab enables you to view approval unit hierarchy dependencies and links you to the forms or scenario and version combinations so you can remove the dependencies, if needed.

   

   
   

   On the Forms vertical tab, data validation rules that update the promotional path defined on the Total Project Expenses Validation form are displayed.

4. Click the second vertical tab: (Approval Unit Assignment).
5. In Approval Unit Assignment, review the scenario and version combinations assigned to the Projects_PUH approval unit.

   

Viewing the Updated Promotional Path

1. Click the Assign Owners tab.
2. In Assign Owners, in the grid, expand all levels.
3. For Manufacturing US: FM IT, click (Promotional Path).

   

   
   

   The updated promotional path for the selected approval unit is displayed. Notice that the validation rules you previously defined are included in the updated promotional path.

   

4. Click OK to close the Promotion Path dialog.
5. At the bottom right, click OK.
6. At the information message, click OK.

Starting the Planning Review Cycle

1. Click (Navigator), then under Workflow, click Manage Approvals.

   

2. In Manage Approvals, select the following and click Go:
   • Scenario: OEP_Plan
   • Version: OEP_Working

   

3. In Process Status, towards the right, click View and select Tree View.

   

4. In Tree View, expand all approval units.

   

   
   

   Notice that the Plan Cycle column for all approval units is set to Exclude.

5. For Manufacturing US: FM IT, click Start.
6. At the information message, click OK.

   

7. Verify that the Approval Status now displays as Under Review and a Current Owner is assigned to approval units until Manufacturing US: FM IT.

   

Setting Application and User Preferences

Enabling Notifications and Setting an Application Owner

1. Click (Navigator), then under Application, click Settings.

   

2. In Application Settings, under Current Application Defaults, locate Notifications and select Approvals.

   

   Tip:

   You may need to scroll down to locate Notifications.
3. Under System Settings, locate Enable Use of the Application for and select All users.

   

4. For Assign Application Owner, select a user assigned with the Service Administrator Application Role. in this example, George Foster is selected.

   

5. Scroll up and click Save.
6. At the information message, click OK.

Setting User Preferences

You must enable approval notifications for each user you want to get an email notice when there's a change in approval status or ownership.

User variables act as filters in forms, enabling planners to focus only on certain members. Each user must set values for user variables.

Note:

Make sure you perform the tasks in this section for each user you created for this tutorial.

Setting Up Email for Approval Notifications

1. Log out of Planning and log in as the user you want to set up preferences.
2. Click (Navigator), then under Tools, click User Preferences.

   Note:

   Menu options may differ depending on the application role assigned to the user.

   

3. On the left, click Notifications.

   

4. Enter the email address of the user and make sure Approvals is selected.

   

5. Click Save.
6. At the information message, click OK.

Assigning Values to User Variables

Note:

Menu options may differ depending on the application role assigned to the user.

1. On the left, click User Variables.

   

2. For each variable, click its (Member Selector) to select a member as the variable's value.

   Here's an example:

   

3. Click Save.
4. At the information message, click OK.

Adding Approvals Custom Menu to Forms

1. Make sure you are logged on as a Service Administrator in Planning.
2. Click (Navigator), then under Create and Manage, click Action Menus.

   

3. Scroll down and select Submit for Approval, then click (Edit Menu).

   

4. In Edit Menu, with Submit for Approval selected, click Actions, then select Edit Menu Item.

   

5. Review the action set in this menu. In this example, the menu is set to move to Manage Approvals with a predefined scenario and version.

   

6. Click Cancel, twice.
7. Click (Navigator), then under Create and Manage, click Forms.

   

8. In the left pane of Form and Ad Hoc Grid Management, under Folders, expand Library and click Custom.

   

9. In the content area, select Total Project Expenses Validation and click (Edit).

   

10. Click the Other Options tab.

    

11. From the list of Available Menus, select Submit for Approval and click (Move).

    

    
    

    Submit for Approval is added to the Selected Menus list.

    

12. Click Finish.
13. In Form and Ad Hoc Grid Management, on the top right, click X to close the dialog.
14. On the upper-right, click (Home).

Getting Plans Approved

About Approving Plans

Each approval unit has a status, depending on where it is in the review process.

• Not Started—Initial state of all approval units. An administrator begins the review process using the Start action, which changes an approval unit's state to either First Pass (in FreeForm); Under Review and first in the promotional path (in Bottom Up); or Under Review and last in the promotional path (in Distribute).
• 1st Pass—Beginning state of approval units selected for the budgeting process. Approval units have no owners during First Pass. People having write permission can enter data and promote approval units during the 1st Pass state. During this state, administrators may exclude members from approval units.
  When an approval unit is ready for review, you select one of several actions, changing approval unit status and passing ownership.
• Under Review—Occurs after a Promote or Submit action, and means that someone is reviewing the approval unit. Only the current owner or administrators can change data on approval units whose state is Under Review. While Under Review, approval units may undergo iterations of promotions, submissions, signoffs, and rejections until they are finally approved.
• Frozen—All related data in descendant approval units is locked (read only). The owner who froze the approval units, or an owner above that person, selects Unfreeze to reverse this action.
• Distributed—Multiple people are reviewing the budget. The reviewers are filtered by permissions and specified reviewers for the distribute action selected (Distribute, Distribute Children, or Distribute Owner).
• Not Signed Off—Occurs when the owner or administrator selects Reject. Only the current owner or administrator can change data or perform an action on an approval unit whose state is Not Signed Off.
• Approved—Occurs when Approve is selected. The last person in the promotional path (the owner of the approval unit) becomes the owner, regardless of whether they are an owner or a reviewer. Owners can edit the data if they have write permission to the member combination that defines the approval unit, and can perform the Approve action. Reviewers who are the last person in the promotional path can't edit the data in the approval unit, but can perform the Approve action. After all approval units are approved, the budgeting cycle is complete.

Actions available in an approval unit depend on what state the approval unit is in.

• Start—Starts the approval unit.

  New approval unit state: 1st Pass for Free Form, Under Review for Bottom Up and Distributed.

• Exclude—Stops the approval unit and deletes all its history.

  New approval unit state: Not Started.

• Originate: Bottom Up—Moves the approval unit to first in the promotional path.

  New approval unit state: Under Review.

• Promote—Free Form moves the approval unit to anyone in the list. Bottom Up moves the approval unit to the next position in the promotional path.

  New approval unit state: Under Review.

• Reject—Free Form moves the approval unit to anyone in the list. Bottom Up and, Distributed move the approval unit to anyone previous in the promotional path.

  New approval unit state: Not Signed Off.

• Sign Off—Moves the approval unit to the Signed Off state.

• Delegate—Delegates the approval unit to a newly selected owner.

  New approval unit state: Under Review.

• Take Ownership—Takes ownership away from the current owner. For Groups, claims ownership of the approval unit from the group.

  New approval unit state: Under Review.

• Return—Returns ownership to Group.

  New approval unit state: Under Review.

• Pass—When in a group, passes ownership to another person in the group.

  New approval unit state: Under Review.

• Freeze—Freezes the approval unit from data entry.

  New approval unit state: Frozen.

• Unfreeze—Unfreezes the approval unit and allows data entry again.

  New approval unit state: Under Review.

• Distribute—Moves the approval unit to previous in the promotional path.

  New approval unit state: Distributed.

• Distribute Children—Moves the approval unit to previous in the promotional path. Applied to children of the selected approval unit.

  New approval unit state: Distributed.

• Distribute Owner—Moves the approval unit to first in the promotional path.

  New approval unit state: Distributed.

• Submit—Moves the approval unit to next in the promotional path.

  New approval unit state: Under Review.

• Submit to Top—Moves the approval unit to last in the promotional path.

  New approval unit state: Under Review.

• Approve—Approves the approval unit. This completes the approval process, and users can't perform any additional actions.

  New approval unit state: Approved.

• Reopen—Reopens an approved approval unit. Reopen is available to users and Power Users who are last in the promotional path.

  New approval unit state: Under Review.

Promoting and Approving Plans

In this section, you promote plans until it reaches the final approver.

Promoting Plans

Passes the approval unit to another person to review. This action assigns ownership of an approval unit the first time, and thereafter transfers ownership of an approval unit from one reviewer to another. Promote causes an implicit signoff by the current owner and changes the approval unit status to Under Review.

Approving Plans

Approves the approval unit and changes its status to Approved. With the Distribute or Bottom Up templates, only the last owner in the promotional path can approve the approval unit. With the Free Form template, a person can approve approval units from any status except Not Started. Only the last reviewer in the promotional path can approve from a Not Signed Off or First Pass status.

Here is the promotional path, including data validation rules:

State/Rule	Process Cell Formatting	Reviewer
Owner	N/A	Carol Judd
First Reviewer	N/A	Kerry Lane
> $500K Total project expenses > $500,000	Green: #3CB371	Betty Anderson
>$1 million Total project expenses > $1 million	Blue: #0000FF	Alex Smith
>$2 million Total project expenses > $2 million	Magenta: #D02090	Anita Kennedy
>$10 million Total project expenses > $10 million	Red: #FF0000	Casey Brown
Final Reviewer/Owner	N/A	George Foster

Once the review cycle begins, the budget will go through the applicable promotional path prior to getting its final approval. Based on the promotional path, the budget should pass through all reviewers until Anita Kennedy before it goes for a final approval with George Foster.

Tip:

If you receive an error opening dashboards and forms, make sure you have values assigned to user variables for each user you created.

Carol Judd

1. Log out of Planning and log in as owner of the Manufacturing US: FM IT approval unit. In this example, Carol Judd is logged in.
2. On the home page, click Projects, then Analysis.

   

3. From the vertical tabs on the left, click (Project Analysis and Approval).

   

4. In the data point of view (POV) of Total Project Expenses Validation, set or verify the following:
   • Entity: Manufacturing US
   • Currency: USD
   • Project: FM IT

   

   Tip:

   Make sure to click (Go) if you modified the selections in the POV.
5. In the data form grid, locate Total Expenses for All Year (last row) and verify that the cell background displays green.

   

   
   
6. Submit the budget for the FM IT Project. In the grid, right-click and select Submit for Approval.

   

7. In Manage Approvals, click Manufacturing US: FM IT.

   

8. In Change Status: Manufacturing US: FM IT, select or enter the following, and then click Change Status:
   • Action: Promote
   • Annotation: Please review.

   

9. On the upper-right, click Refresh.
10. Review the updated state of the approval unit, and then click Done.

    

    
    

    The approval unit is now assigned to Kerry Lane.

    

    
    

    If you have email notifications enabled, check your email and review the notification message sent. Here's an example:

    

    
    

    Approvals notification emails contain the following:

    • URL to Check Status
    • Application Name
    • Approval unit
    • Current Owner
    • Previous Owner
    • Last Action
    • Current Status
    • Time
    • Annotation Title
    • Annotation Text

Kerry Lane

1. Log out of Planning and log in as owner of the Manufacturing US: FM IT approval unit. In this example, Kerry Lane is logged in.
2. On the home page, click Projects, then Analysis.
3. From the vertical tabs on the left, click (Project Analysis and Approval).
4. In the data form grid, locate Total Expenses for All Year (last row) and verify that the cell background displays green.

   

5. Submit the budget for the FM IT Project. In the grid, right-click and select Submit for Approval.

   

6. In Manage Approvals, click Manufacturing US: FM IT.

   

7. In Change Status: Manufacturing US: FM IT, select or enter the following, and then click Change Status:
   • Action: Promote
   • Annotation: Please review.

   

8. On the upper-right, click Refresh.
9. Review the updated state of the approval unit, and then click Done.

   

   
   

   The approval unit is now assigned to Betty Anderson.

   

Betty Anderson

1. Log out of Planning and log in as owner of the Manufacturing US: FM IT approval unit. In this example, Betty Anderson is logged in.
2. On the home page, click Projects, then Analysis.
3. From the vertical tabs on the left, click (Project Analysis and Approval).
4. In the data form grid, locate Total Expenses for All Year (last row) and verify that the cell background displays green.

   

5. Submit the budget for the FM IT Project. In the grid, right-click and select Submit for Approval.

   

6. In Manage Approvals, click Manufacturing US: FM IT.

   

7. In Change Status: Manufacturing US: FM IT, select or enter the following, and then click Change Status:
   • Action: Promote
   • Annotation: Budget ready for next reviewer.

   

8. On the upper-right, click Refresh.
9. Review the updated state of the approval unit, and then click Done.

   

   
   

   The approval unit is now assigned to Alex Smith.

   

Alex Smith

1. Log out of Planning and log in as owner of the Manufacturing US: FM IT approval unit. In this example, Alex Smith is logged in.
2. On the home page, click Projects, then Analysis.
3. From the vertical tabs on the left, click (Project Analysis and Approval).
4. In the data form grid, locate Total Expenses for All Year (last row) and verify that the cell background displays green.

   

5. Submit the budget for the FM IT Project. In the grid, right-click and select Submit for Approval.

   

6. In Manage Approvals, click Manufacturing US: FM IT.

   

7. In Change Status: Manufacturing US: FM IT, select or enter the following, and then click Change Status:
   • Action: Promote
   • Annotation: >$2 million

   

8. On the upper-right, click Refresh.
9. Review the updated state of the approval unit, and then click Done.

   

   
   

   The approval unit is now assigned to Anita Kennedy.

   

Anita Kennedy

1. Log out of Planning and log in as owner of the Manufacturing US: FM IT approval unit. In this example, Anita Kennedy is logged in.
2. On the home page, click Projects, then Analysis.
3. From the vertical tabs on the left, click (Project Analysis and Approval).
4. In the data form grid, locate Total Expenses for All Year (last row) and verify that the cell background displays green.

   

5. Submit the budget for the FM IT Project. In the grid, right-click and select Submit for Approval.

   

6. In Manage Approvals, click Manufacturing US: FM IT.

   

7. In Change Status: Manufacturing US: FM IT, select or enter the following, and then click Change Status:
   • Action: Promote
   • Annotation: Total Expenses at 6,626,193USD approved and ready for final approval.

   

8. On the upper-right, click Refresh.
9. Review the updated state of the approval unit, and then click Done.

   

   
   

   The approval unit is now assigned to George Foster.

   

   
   

   Since total project expenses is less than $10 million, the promotional path does not require the budget to be reviewed and approved by Casey Brown and is directly promoted to George Foster.

George Foster

1. Log out of Planning and log in as owner of the Manufacturing US: FM IT approval unit. In this example, George Foster is logged in.
2. On the home page, click Projects, then Analysis.
3. From the vertical tabs on the left, click (Project Analysis and Approval).
4. In the data form grid, locate Total Expenses for All Year (last row) and verify that the cell background displays green.

   

5. Submit the budget for the FM IT Project. In the grid, right-click and select Submit for Approval.

   

6. In Manage Approvals, click Manufacturing US: FM IT.

   

7. In Change Status: Manufacturing US: FM IT, select or enter the following, and then click Change Status:
   • Action: Approve
   • Annotation: Budget approved.

   

8. On the upper-right, click Refresh.
9. Review the updated state of the approval unit, and then click Done.

   

   
   

   The review process for this approval unit is complete.

   

Learn More

• Related videos and documentation

---

Title and Copyright Information

Setting Up Approvals in Planning

F57937-01

July 2022

Copyright © 2022, Oracle and/or its affiliates. 

This tutorial shows you the approval process, how to set it up, and how to start the planning review cycle. Learn how to enable members for approvals, identify reviewers and owners, define approval groups, manage approval unit hierarchies, define the promotional path based on reviewers and validation rules with financial limits, start the review cycle and get your plan approved.

This software and related documentation are provided under a license agreement containing restrictions on use and disclosure and are protected by intellectual property laws. Except as expressly permitted in your license agreement or allowed by law, you may not use, copy, reproduce, translate, broadcast, modify, license, transmit, distribute, exhibit, perform, publish, or display any part, in any form, or by any means. Reverse engineering, disassembly, or decompilation of this software, unless required by law for interoperability, is prohibited.

If this is software or related documentation that is delivered to the U.S. Government or anyone licensing it on behalf of the U.S. Government, then the following notice is applicable:

U.S. GOVERNMENT END USERS: Oracle programs (including any operating system, integrated software, any programs embedded, installed or activated on delivered hardware, and modifications of such programs) and Oracle computer documentation or other Oracle data delivered to or accessed by U.S. Government end users are "commercial computer software" or "commercial computer software documentation" pursuant to the applicable Federal Acquisition Regulation and agency-specific supplemental regulations. As such, the use, reproduction, duplication, release, display, disclosure, modification, preparation of derivative works, and/or adaptation of i) Oracle programs (including any operating system, integrated software, any programs embedded, installed or activated on delivered hardware, and modifications of such programs), ii) Oracle computer documentation and/or iii) other Oracle data, is subject to the rights and limitations specified in the license contained in the applicable contract. The terms governing the U.S. Government's use of Oracle cloud services are defined by the applicable contract for such services. No other rights are granted to the U.S. Government.

This software or hardware is developed for general use in a variety of information management applications. It is not developed or intended for use in any inherently dangerous applications, including applications that may create a risk of personal injury. If you use this software or hardware in dangerous applications, then you shall be responsible to take all appropriate fail-safe, backup, redundancy, and other measures to ensure its safe use. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates disclaim any liability for any damages caused by use of this software or hardware in dangerous applications.

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Intel and Intel Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. AMD, Epyc, and the AMD logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

This software or hardware and documentation may provide access to or information about content, products, and services from third parties. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates are not responsible for and expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind with respect to third-party content, products, and services unless otherwise set forth in an applicable agreement between you and Oracle. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates will not be responsible for any loss, costs, or damages incurred due to your access to or use of third-party content, products, or services, except as set forth in an applicable agreement between you and Oracle.