Example of Modifying Invoice Approval Workflow Notifications Using Oracle Analytics Publisher

This example shows how to modify workflow notifications for the invoice approval workflow using Oracle Analytics Publisher reports. Any modifications you make apply to both email and in-app notifications.

The following table summarizes the key decisions for this scenario:

Decisions to Consider	In This example
What text changes do you need in the header section of the notifications?	Add custom text to the notification to give instructions to the approvers.
What additional fields should the header section of the notification contain?	Add an additional attribute for displaying Payment Terms for the invoice.

Prerequisites

Download and install the Template Builder for Word, which is an extension to Microsoft Word.

1. In the Reports and Analytics work area, click the Browse Catalog button.

2. Click the Home link.

3. In the Get Started section, click the Download BI Desktop Tools link.

4. Select Template Builder for Word from the list.

5. Save the file and run the installer.

Modifying Invoice Approval Workflow Notification

To add the custom instructions text to the header section of the notification, we need to modify the common subtemplate used for the notifications.

To edit a copy of the predefined subtemplate that contains the shared components:

1. Click on Navigator > Reports and Analytics.

2. Click the Browse Catalog icon.

3. In the BI catalog (the Folders pane), expand Shared Folders> Common Content>Templates.

4. For Workflow Notification Subtemplate, click More and select Customize.

   If you're not using the Customize option:

   1. Click Copy in the toolbar with Workflow Notification Subtemplate selected.

   2. In the BI catalog, expand Shared FoldersCustomCommon Content Templates. Create a Templates folder in this location if it doesn't exist.

   3. Click Paste in the toolbar.

   4. Click the Edit link for the copied subtemplate.

   Note: All reports using the predefined subtemplate automatically redirect to your subtemplate in the Custom folder. This applies:

5. In the Templates section, click the link in the Locale column.

6. Save the subtemplate .rtf file to your computer.

7. Open the .rtf file with Microsoft Word.

   • To add custom instructions text, add a new section with the following details:

     • <template:InstructionText?>

       Approval of all invoices must take no more than 2 working days. In case of any queries, kindly write to [e-mail].

       • <?end template?>

       Note: To ensure that your layout templates reflect these changes without additional rework, don't edit any other text in the subtemplate .rtf file.

8. Update Word options to ensure that existing links remain intact in the subtemplate

   • Click File > Options > Advanced.

   • In the Word Options dialog box, click Web Options in the General section.

   • In the Web Options dialog box, open the Files tab.

   • Deselect the Update links on save check box.

   Note: The exact steps can vary depending on your version of Microsoft Word.

9. Save your changes in Word.

Uploading the Modified Subtemplate

To upload your subtemplate to the BI catalog after previewing the changes:

1. In the BI catalog, expand Shared Folders > Custom > Common Content Templates.

2. Click Edit for Workflow Notification Subtemplate.

3. In the Templates section, click the Upload icon.

4. Select your modified .rtf subtemplate and a locale, and click OK to overwrite the original subtemplate.

   Next, make changes to the layout of the Invoice Approval Workflow Notification report to reflect the updates in the shared component. Additionally, add the new attribute to the report layout. To do this, you must modify the Invoice Approval Workflow Notification report layout.

Downloading the Report Layout Template

The report layout template contains the structure of the workflow notification. To download a copy of the report layout template to your local drive for modification:

1. Sign in to the BI server (for example, http://hostname.com:7001/xmlpserver) as an Application Implementation Consultant to open the Oracle Analytics home page.

2. Click the Catalog link to open the Catalog page.

3. In the Folders pane, expand the Shared Folders>Financials>Workflow Notifications> Payables folder.

4. Click the Invoices folder to display the Data Models subfolder and the Invoice Approval Report.

5. Click the More link for the Invoice Approval Report, and then select Customize from the menu. The Custom folder automatically receives a copy of the Invoice Approval workflow Notification report layout template. You can open the Invoice Approval Report page from within the Custom folder.

6. Click the Edit link on the copy of the Invoice Approval workflow Notification report layout.

7. Save the copy of the .rtf file to your local drive and change the file name to distinguish it from the predefined report layout template. For example, save the file as UpdatedInvoiceApprovalNotificationReport.rtf.

   Note: Be sure to change the name of the .rtf file. Otherwise, you could overwrite the predefined report layout template.

Exporting the Data Model

To add attributes to the report layout template, you must first export the data model for the report.

1. Navigate back to the Oracle Analytics home page, and click the Catalog link.

2. On the Catalog page, in the Folders section, expand Shared Folders>Financials>Workflow Notifications>Payables> Invoices.

3. Click the Data Models folder to display the Invoice Approval Data Model.

4. Click the Edit link for the Invoice Approval Data Model. The Invoice Approval Data Model page opens on the Diagram tab.

5. Click the Data tab. To export the full data model, you must first enter valid values for Business Unit, Supplier, and Invoice Number attributes from an existing Invoice.

6. Click in each of these fields and enter valid values from an existing Invoice approval notification:

7. To include empty attributes in the data model export, click the Properties link in the Data Model section.

8. On the Properties page, select the Include Empty Tags for Null Elements option.

9. In the Data Model section, click the Data Sets link to return to the Data tab.

10. Click the View button to view the data model.

11. Click the Export button and save the Invoice Approval Data Model_.xml file to your local drive.

Modifying the Invoice Approval Workflow Notification Report Layout

To add a reference to the update in the subtemplate for the Instruction text that we want to add to the Invoice Approval Workflow Notification:

1. Open your local copy of the report layout template using Microsoft Word.

2. Replace the path with the location of the modified subtemplate file on your computer. For example, change <?import:xdoxsl:///CommonContent/Templates/Workflow Notification Subtemplate.xsb?> to <?import:file:C:///Template_Directory/Updated Workflow Notification Subtemplate.ret?.

3. Place your cursor at the end of the default header text for Invoice Approval.

4. Add a space and enter the following: <?call-template:InstructionText?>. This action retrieves the custom instruction text from the updated subtemplate and displays it in the workflow notification.

5. Save the file.

6. From the Analytics Publisher tab in the Ribbon, click HTML in the Preview group. If the preview reflects your subtemplate changes as expected, then change the subtemplate path back to the location in the Custom folder, for example: <?import:xdoxsl:///Custom/Templates/Workflow Notifications Subtemplate.xbs?>.

7. If you're not adding attributes to the report layout, close the file and skip to the Uploading the Modified Report Layout task.

   To add an attribute for Payment Terms in the header section of the report layout:

   1. In your local copy of the report layout, select the Analytics Publisher tab.

   2. In the Load Data section on the Analytics Publisher ribbon, click Sample XML.

   3. On the XML data selection dialog box, select the .xml file that you saved in step 11 of 'Exporting the data model' and click Open.

   4. Click OK on the message that appears indicating that the data was successfully loaded.

   5. Place your cursor in the Details section of the notification. Add an additional row after the Description attribute.

   6. In the Attribute column, enter a label for the new attribute. In this case, enter Payment Terms.

   7. Then place the cursor in the Value column and go to the Analytics Publisher add-in. Navigate to Insert > Field and search for Payment Terms in the search field.

   8. Select the Payment Terms attribute and click Insert.

   9. Save and close your copy of the report layout.

Uploading the Modified Report Layout Template

To use the modified report layout template for future Invoice Approval Workflow Notifications:

1. Navigate back to the Oracle Analytics home page and click the Catalog link.

2. On the Catalog page, in the Folders section, expand Shared FoldersCustomFinancials Workflow NotificationsPayables.

3. Select the Invoices folder to display the Data Models folder and the Invoice approval report.

4. Click the Edit link for the Invoice Approval Report to open the Invoice Approval Report page.

5. Click the View a list link to open the Layout page.

   Note: The Layout page displays the copy of the report layout template automatically created in step 5 of the Downloading the Report Layout Template task. Leave this report layout template as is. If the modified workflow notifications don't work, you can revert back to using this report layout template. The report template is a copy of the predefined report layout template.

6. Click the Create icon. A page opens with a Create Layout section and an Upload or Generate Layout section

7. In the Upload or Generate Layout section, click the Upload icon. The Upload Template File dialog box opens.

   Complete with the following information:

   Field	Value
   Layout Name	Enter a name for your modified report layout template. For example, enter Modified Invoice Approval Template.
   Template File	Click Browse. Locate and select the modified report layout template that's on your local drive. Click Open to return to the Upload Template File dialog box.
   Type	RTF Template
   Locale	English

8. Click Upload. The Invoice Approval Report page returns to the thumbnail view of the report layout templates.

9. Click the View a list link to return to the Layout page with the list of the report layout templates

10. Select the row with the report layout template that you just uploaded and click the View Report button.

11. Review the modified report layout template.

12. To view the report layout template with sample data, enter values from an existing notification into the fields and click Apply.

13. Repeat steps 1 through 5 to navigate back to the list of report layout templates. In the row for the report layout template that you just uploaded, click the Default Layout option. This step enables the modified report layout template for future Invoice approval workflow notifications.

14. Click the Save icon.