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How can I manage programs using the Oracle Visual Builder Plugin for Microsoft Excel?

Use Oracle Visual Builder Plugin for Microsoft Excel to quickly create and update programs, program stakeholders, and program projects.

Oracle Visual Builder Add-in for Excel integrates Microsoft Excel spreadsheets with your web application to retrieve, analyze, and edit business data from the application. You download your data to an Excel spreadsheet, work with it, and then upload your changes back to the service.

Download and Install the Oracle Visual Builder Plugin for Microsoft Excel

For guidance on installing the Oracle Visual Builder Plugin for Microsoft Excel, see Install Oracle Visual Builder Add-in for Excel in the Developing Integrated Spreadsheets Using Oracle Visual Builder Add-in for Excel guide.

If you have downloaded and installed VBAFE, but the Oracle Visual Builder ribbon tab doesn’t appear:

  1. Click File > Options > Add-ins in Microsoft Excel. The list of available Excel add-ins appears.
  2. Select Oracle ADF Desktop Integration Add-in for Excel from the list of add-ins.
  3. Click the Manage field below the list of add-ins, select COM Add-ins, and click Go. The COM Add-ins modal appears.

Select the Oracle Visual Builder Add-in for Excel check box and click OK.

The Oracle Visual Builder ribbon tab appears, and you can start using it to create and update programs as required.

Download the Manage Programs XLSM File

Once you have VBAFE installed, download the Manage Programs XLSM file, which we’ve designed to simplify work with Program Management data.

If you do not want to use the Manage Programs XLSM file and wish to use the Oracle Visual Builder plugin directly with Excel, see the Introduction to Oracle Visual Builder Add-in for Excel topic in the Developing Integrated Spreadsheets Using Oracle Visual Builder Add-in for Excel guide.

Set up the Manage Programs Spreadsheet

The VBAFE spreadsheet comprises three worksheets:

  • Project Programs: Enables you to manage your programs.
  • Program Stakeholders: Enables you to manage stakeholders associated with your programs.
  • Program Projects: Enables you to manage projects associated with your programs.
Note:
  • You cannot use the VBAFE spreadsheet to create projects and their properties. You can only assign them to programs or delete these assignments.
  • Some of the cells in these sheets display a list of values when clicked. You will be asked to log into your account before these LOVs can be displayed, though.
  • The last column in each worksheet is the Key This is an internal column, and it is important that you do not edit this field.

Click on each column header to learn more about it.

Log into Your Account

You will be asked to log into your account once, either when you attempt to connect to your instance, or when you land on a cell that displays an LOV. Enter your User Name and Password in the fields provided to log into your account.

Connect to Your Oracle Applications Instance

You must connect the Manage Programs XLSM file to your Oracle Applications instance to access the data associated with your account.

  1. Navigate to the Oracle Visual Builder ribbon tab.

  2. Click the Manage Catalogs button on the left side of the toolbar.

    The Manage Business Object Catalogs modal appears. By default, the list of business objects that you need to work with programs is already populated. However, you must connect to your Oracle Applications instance before you can manage your data.

  3. Select the projectPrograms catalog and click Edit Business Object Catalog.

    The Business Object Catalog Editor modal appears.

  4. In the General tab, update the Host field using the URL of your environment and click Done.

    For example, if the URL that appears in your address bar when you log in is https://fa-abcd-pintlabfadev.fa.ocs.oc-test.com/fscmUI/faces/FuseWelcome?_afrLoop=XYZ, enter the following in the Host field: https://fa-abcd-pintlabfadev.fa.ocs.oc-test.com.

  5. Click Done in the Manage Business Object Catalogs modal.

Your Excel sheet is now connected to your Oracle Applications environment.

Download Your Program Data

To download your program data, click the Download Data button in the Oracle Visual Builder toolbar.

You are now ready to start making updates to your program, stakeholder, and program project details.

Create a Program

To create a program using the Excel sheet:

  1. Open the Project Programs sheet in the Program Management XLSM file.
  2. In a new row, enter the Program Name and Program Number of the program that you want to create, in the columns provided.
  3. Click the cell corresponding to the Program Status Name and select the new program’s initial status.
  4. Update additional details using the other columns provided, as appropriate.
  5. You can create multiple programs similarly.
  6. Once you’re ready to upload your changes to your environment, click Upload Changes. The plugin now attempts to create your programs using the details you provided and displays the status of the operation once done.

Update a Program

To update the details associated with a program:

  1. Open the Project Programs worksheet and navigate to the row that contains the program details that you want to update.
  2. Edit the Program Name in the columns provided. You can’t update the program number.
  3. Click the cell corresponding to the Program Status Name and update the program’s status as required.
  4. Update additional details using the other columns provided, as appropriate.
  5. You can update multiple programs similarly.
  6. Once you’re ready to upload your changes to your environment, click Upload Changes. The Oracle Visual Builder plugin now attempts to update your changes and displays upload details once done.

Delete a Program

To delete a program:

  1. Open the Project Programs worksheet and navigate to the row that contains the program details that you want to delete.

  2. Click the Table Row Changes button in the Oracle Visual Builder ribbon tab and, from the options that appear, select Mark for Delete.

    The word ‘Delete’ appears in the Change column associated with the row.
    Note: If you want to cancel the deletion, delete the word ‘Delete’ in the Change column.
  3. You can similarly select multiple programs for deletion.
  4. Once you’re ready to upload your changes to your environment, click Upload Changes.

  5. A warning message asks you to confirm the deletions. Click Yes to proceed.

    The Oracle Visual Builder plugin now attempts to delete the programs you selected and displays the status of the operation once done.

Manage Program Stakeholders and Members Using the Oracle Visual Builder Plugin for Microsoft Excel

To associate stakeholders and members with a program:

  1. Open the Program Stakeholders sheet.
  2. In a new row, enter the Person ID, Access Type Code, and Program ID to respectively specify a person, their access level to a program, and the ID of the program with which they must be associated.
    Note: You must ensure that the combination of values in the Person ID, Access Type Code, and Program ID fields are unique; otherwise, the Create operation fails.
  3. You can similarly add multiple stakeholders to multiple programs.
  4. Once you’re ready to upload your changes to your environment, click Upload Changes. The Oracle Visual Builder plugin now attempts to create program stakeholders using the details you provided and displays the status of the operation once done.
    Note: When your update is done, the plug-in automatically displays the first (Project Programs) worksheet. You must navigate to the Program Stakeholders worksheet to view your updates.

Once you’ve added a stakeholder to a program, you can only update the stakeholder’s Access Type Code. To do so, navigate to the cell that contains the detail, select the updated access type code, and click Update Changes.

Associate Projects with Programs

To associate a project with a program:

  1. Open the Project Programs sheet.
  2. Navigate to the last row in the list of records retrieved.
  3. In a new row, enter the Project ID and Program ID to specify the project that must be associated with a program.
    Note: You must ensure that the combination of values in the Project ID and Program ID fields are unique; otherwise, the create operation fails.
  4. You can similarly associate multiple projects with multiple programs.
  5. Once you’re ready to upload your changes to your environment, click Upload Changes. The Oracle Visual Builder plugin now attempts to create project-program associations using the details you provided and displays the status of the operation once done.
    Note: When your update is done, the plug-in automatically displays the first (Project Programs) worksheet. You must navigate to the Program Stakeholders worksheet to view your updates.

You can update the values in the Project ID and Program ID fields to update project-program associations as required.

Remove Projects from Programs

To remove a project from a program:

  1. Open the Program Projects worksheet and navigate to the row that contains the project-program association that you want to remove.

  2. Click the Table Row Changes button in the Oracle Visual Builder ribbon tab and, from the options that appear, select Mark for Delete.

    The word ‘Delete’ appears in the Change column associated with the row.
    Note: If you want to cancel the deletion, delete the word ‘Delete’ in the Change column associated with the row.
  3. You can similarly select multiple project-programs associations from deletion.
  4. Once you’re ready to upload your changes to your environment, click Upload Changes.

  5. A warning message asks you to confirm the deletions. Click Yes to proceed.

    The Oracle Visual Builder plugin now attempts to delete the project-program association you selected and displays the status of the operation once done.