Subject: Adding attachment functionality to forms for Oracle Application Solution: A mini guide on the setup required to add

attachment functionality to forms, which can be used both for custom & standard form
Contents
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Enabling functionality Information Required Define Document Entities Define Document Categories Enable attachments for the form Define document categories to be available Define blocks to enable attachments for Identify block Identify Entities Validate functionality

Enabling functionality
With Application Developer responsibility, we'll use forms below Attachments menu to manage this feature. A custom form with this features not enabled, Turtle Logistic Entry (LGT), will be used for this test.

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Information Required
Once the block we want to enable attachments for is identified, we have to identify the following information for it.
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Form Name: MLS_LGTCUSTENTR_NEW Function Name: MLS_LGTCUSTENTR_NEW Block Name: MLS_LGT_TRANSACTIONS Base Table Name: MLS_LGT_TRANSACTIONS Primary Key Columns: MLS_LGT_TRANSACTIONS.LGT_NO

Define Document Entities

Is required to define the entity to which we want to relate attachments, identifying its base table. A table may have more than one entity associated with only one being the base and the others related (usually foreign keys). Open the first form of the attachments submenu, Document Entities. Create a new record with the following values:

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Table: Base table name (MLS_LGT_TRANSACTIONS) Entity Id: Base table name (MLS_LGT_TRANSACTIONS) Entity Name: Business Object (Turtle Logistic Entry) Prompt: (Logistic POD) Application: Choose the application owning the base table from the list (Turtle Custom Application).

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Define Document Categories

We now enable the attachment categories to relate to the business object, given the user requirements. Many are already defined when installing and can be of the following types:
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Short Text. Up to 2000 characters. Long Text. Information is stored in a long column. URL. Standard URI. Opened in a Web Browser. File. External files, loaded to the database trough and upload page akin to web mail attachments.

What we do here is to define a meaningful name to the use the attachment will have, for example Deal, Contract, and assign the adequate type to it. We must review if default categories can be used and if not define new ones. In this example we'll define a Turtle Logistic Attachment category of type file. Open the Document Categories form, create a new record and indicate a name for the category and the type to be used for it.

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Enable attachments for the form

Open the Attachment functions form. Specify the level at which attachments will be enabled, whether form (global) or function (more specific, as we can define more than one function for a same form).

Picture 4 In the Name field specify the form or function short name, save your entry. Don't close the form. Optionally define a context field to be used in the attachments window.

Define document categories to be available

Now, we have to associate document categories to be available as attachments for this form. Click on the Categories button and specify the categories of choice. For this example we'll use a default and a custom one, Comments and Turtle Logistic Attachment. Save definitions and close Window.

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Define blocks to enable attachments for

Multiple blocks can exist in a form. We can optionally define attachments for each one of them, both for the base entity and related ones.

Identify block Click on the blocks button and define a method, which can be Allow Change and Query Only. This in combination with attachment level definition allows for security, having for example a manage function to allow changes and a query only one. Have in mind that we can have more than one block per form. For the Turtle Logistic Entry form we only have a block, MLS_LGT_TRANSACTIONS.

Picture 6 Additional security can be enforced at different levels of access, Organization (Manufacturing), Set of Books (Financials) or Business Unit (Human Resources), one at a time. Additional context fields can also be defined here, in order to have more information related to the entity displayed in the attachments window. Save changes Identify Entities Click on entities button. Consider that we can have more than one entity in a block, for example a base one and a foreign one, such as a PO, having information related to the header (base) and other to the vendor (related).

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Indicate the Entity associated to the block, in this case Turtle Logistic Entry form as previously defined. Use the main Entity display method for attachments for the base entity of the block and related entity otherwise. Main entity is used for the sample. When the first method is used and you want to have the attachment icons to show that attachments are associated with the entity, check the Include in Indicator check box. On the Privileges Tab You can define if Query/Insert/Update and delete of attachments is allowed or not, always, never or based on a condition verified against a field on the block.

Picture 8 On the Primary Key Fields define all the fields used as primary key for the base table. The SQL Statement tab is for advanced functionality and not within the scope of this guide.

Validate functionality

Open the form, and check for the paper clip button to be enabled. Query or enter a new record and click on the attachments icon. Turtle Logistic Attachment and comments must be available for the document categories.

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