Reference Number and Remark Qualifiers

This page is accessed in most menu sections via Power Data > Qualifiers. Select a Qualifier.

Note: Qualifiers are not available in several menu sections including Sourcing and Transportation Intelligence.

Many business objects support the assignment of reference numbers and remarks. Qualifiers are used to define the meaning of these numbers and text. For example, you can record a reference number on a shipment and identify it as a service provider PRO number.

To create a new qualifier (regardless of type), enter alphanumeric text as the Qualifier and a brief Description (for reference). The text you enter appears as a qualifier value on the Reference Number/Remark grid for the business object. Some reference numbers and remarks provide additional options as described next.

Typically, two-character EDI codes (for example CO for a customer order or EQ for an equipment number) are used as reference qualifiers. If you select GLOG as the qualifier, be sure to enter the reference number in the DOMAINNAME.NUMBER format.

Defining Remark Qualifiers

Remark Qualifiers are defined via Configuration and Administration > Power Data > Qualifiers > Remark Qualifiers.

1. Enter a Remark Qualifier ID.
2. Select a Remark Level from the drop-down list. This is used to distinguish between types of remarks to decide which are more import. They can be used when writing reports or doing queries. They are only used when running the order remarks or shipment remarks SmartLinks. These actions only return remarks which have a value of Level=1.
3. Enter a Description for the remark qualifier.
4. Determine which remarks/reference numbers should be visible on related shipments selecting the Allow Visibility on Related Shipments check box.
5. The Reference Sequence Number field, if available, allows you to assign sequence numbers so reference numbers display in the order that you prefer. If there are no sequence numbers, the display is alphabetical. If some have sequence numbers and some do not, the ones with sequence numbers appear first and the remaining ones display alphabetically. Sequence numbers are available for order bases, order releases and shipments.
6. Choose one of the Updates Allowed options to configure whether remarks with a certain qualifier are updated or appended to as a result of object updates that are made via XML interfaces.
7. Select a Qualifier Type from the drop-down list, if available.
   
   Remarks can be used as date fields in manager layouts so remark qualifiers can be designated as dates. This allows you to use remarks as date fields on user-defined managers i.e. enter date information against the object being edited and retrieve their information back and display it as dates. However, the Remark Qualifier Type is used only by manager layouts and not finder sets.

   Note: This is used only with grid-flattened fields.

8. Select a Data Query Type to limit the qualifier so that only qualifiers associated with the data query type are displayed.
9. Select a Domain Name for the remark qualifier.
10. Click Finished.

Allowing Visibility on Related Shipments

You can control the display of specific remarks and reference numbers from related objects when running the View Related Remarks or View Related Reference Numbers SmartLink from the Shipment Manager.

For example, if you have a series of three related shipments (#1 - truckload to port, #2 - ocean move, and # 3 - delivery to the final destination via a rail car), you can designate one shipment as primary and then view the remarks and reference numbers on the primary shipment from one of the related shipments. In this scenario, you could define shipment #2 as the primary leg and then grant access to either shipment #1 or #3 to view its remarks/reference numbers based on the qualifier that has been assigned to them. Granting access to shipment #1 or #3 is based on the transportation mode of those shipments. You could decide to limit access to only shipment #1 by configuring the TL (truckload) transport mode only or vice versa.

In summary, the display of remarks/reference numbers is based on the following attributes:

• designation of a Primary shipment,
• configuration of the Transportation Mode shipments related to the primary shipment,
• configuration of the Remark/Reference Number Qualifier assigned to each remark or reference number.

To configure remark/reference number visibility:

1. Select Transportation Planning and Execution > Power Data > General > Transport Modes and edit the Transport Modes that you want to have visibility access to a primary shipment's remark/reference numbers.
2. Select the Allow Remark/Reference Visibility check box.
3. Save the transport mode.
4. Determine which remarks/reference numbers should be visible on related shipments by editing the appropriate qualifiers and selecting the Allow Visibility on Related Shipments check box.
5. Save the qualifiers that you have edited.
6. Assign remarks and/or reference numbers to the primary shipment.
7. Choose a related shipment whose transport mode is configured for access and run the View Related Remarks or View Related Reference Number SmartLink.

The related remarks/reference numbers appear under a folder called Primary Shipment ID: (shipment ID).

Auto-Generating Reference Numbers (BN Type ID)

Reference Numbers can be entered manually in the various managers or they can be automatically generated by the Business Number Generator (BNG) for some business objects.

The auto-assignment of numbers can be done manually by assigning a Reference Number Qualifier to a business object or numbers can also be assigned by an Automation Agent using the Generate RefNum business action.

To configure the auto-generation of reference numbers, you must choose a BN Type with a BN Context that is appropriate for the business object. For example, you should not choose an order base context for shipment reference numbers. A BN Rule should be defined for the BN Type that you select for auto-generate to work. The BN Rule controls the content/format of the reference number that is generated. You associate the BN Type with a specific reference number qualifier or specify it when configuring the Generate Refnum agent action.

See an example of creating an agent action to generate a reference number by the BNG.

Removing Reference Number on Service Provider Change

You can select the Remove on Servprov Change check box on the Shipment Reference Number Qualifier to have Oracle Transportation Management remove any shipment reference number with the specified qualifier from a shipment when the service provider changes from one to another as a result of running an action.