SBNewsletter 2002 June

Solution Beacon, LLC
Volume No.4, June 2002
Oracle Applications Release 11i Newsletter

The contents of this newsletter were contributed by Solution Beacon consultants who have accumulated extensive experience during the numerous installations, implementations, and upgrades of Release 11i we have performed for our clients. We also welcome your participation in this newsletter. If you would like to contribute on any R11i topic, please send your contact information, topic, and a short abstract to mweiss@solutionbeacon.com.
Mary Lou Weiss and Randy Giefer, Editors, Solution Beacon
Oracle Applications Release 11.5.7

The following release availability information is updated monthly and has been posted to MetaLink: Release 11.5.5 Maintenance Pack ERP 11.5.6 Family Pack CRM 11.5.6 Family Pack 11.5.7 Maintenance Pack Oracle Applications 11i Release 7 CD Pack: (Rapid Install) Estimated Date for Availability Currently Available Currently Available Currently Available Currently Available Currently available on most platforms (see info in Latest Release Information section below) Patch Number 1808429 1939818 2092384 2123967 N/A
Oracle announced on June 17, 2002 in MetaLink that the Release 11.5.7 CD Pack is finally available. It is currently available for order on the Sun Solaris, HP-UX and Linux, IBM/RS6000 AIX, Compaq/Tru64 platforms. The Windows version is scheduled to be available in early July. This Applications 11i Release 7 CD Pack is now the recommended release version for all new Applications customers and for all customers upgrading from Release 10.7 or Release 11.0.3. The CD Packs may be ordered from the Oracle Store website or by logging an I-TAR. Oracle states that All National Language translations are simultaneously available for 11.5.7 and both the Release 11.5.7 Maintenance Pack and the Oracle Applications 11i Release 7 CD Pack contain a consolidated set of recent family packs and product minipacks. The following technology components are included on Applications Release 11.5.7 CD: COMPONENT NAME Oracle8i Enterprise Edition VERSION 8.1.7.3
Oracle 9iAS Forms and Reports (Developer) 6i with Patch 9 JInitiator JDK (web-tier) OJSP JDBC Client libraries (RSF)
1.0.2.2.2 6.0.8.18 1.1.8.16 1.3.1_02 1.1.2 8.1.7.1b 8.0.6.3
MetaLink lists the following advances in the packaging and installation features contained within the Oracle Applications 11i Release 7 CD Pack: New Version of ADS Vision demo database The Oracle Applications 11i Release 7 CD Pack contains the latest available version of the ADS Vision demo database which has more products configured and more data and industries included in the database. Personalized Upgrade Management Script The upgrade management script named TUMS will add benefit to anyone upgrading from Release 10.7 or 11.0.3 to 11.5.7. The TUMS script identifies the manual pre -upgrade steps that need not be executed and so assists the administrator doing the upgrade. AutoConfig A new feature, Autoconfig, is included in this CD Pack. Autoconfig automatically configures all components of the standard Applications technology stack. This feature also allows changing configurations without a lot of trouble. Test Starter Kit This version of 11i is the first to feature a Test Starter Kit CD. The feature is a collection of automated test plans and test scripts created for the Oracle E -Business Suite by Mercury Interactive. This portfolio of automated tests can accelerate and help ensure success of our customers' implementations of the Oracle E-Business Suite. To minimize problems during an 11i install or upgrade, Oracle is strongly encouraging the following upgrade path(s) for applications customers:
Copyright 2002 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved
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New 11i customers: Customers conducting a fresh install of the 11i eBusiness Suite should install the Oracle Applications 11i Release 7 CD Pack, available now on some platforms. The CD Packs contained the latest certified technology components at the time of creation. Although the Applications code is the same, customers who start their 11i implementation with the Oracle Applications 11i Release 7 CD Pack receive a different technology stack than those customers who upgrade their 11i environments from an earlier 11i release via the 11.5.7 Maintenance Pack. Existing 11i customers: Customers already on other versions of 11i (i.e. 11.5.1-11.5.6) are encouraged to apply the 11.5.7 Maintenance Pack directly to their 11i environments. Please note that Maintenance Packs do not update your technology stack, nor is a technology update strictly necessary. However, it is advisable to remain "current" on technology, as technology has a different support lifecycle than the Applications code. Customers On Older Applications Versions (i.e. 10.7 or Release 11): Customers on any version of the Applications other than 11i must upgrade to 11i via the Oracle Applications 11i Release 7 CD Pack as there are a significant number of technology stack changes between versions, and technology stack changes are not included in Maintenance Packs.
John Stouffer, Solution Beacon
11.5.7 iProcurement Exception Errors

This issue is an old one from iProcurement for 11.5.2, but it is still a problem in 11.5.7: symptom: iProcurement Extract Classifications Fails symptom:  symptom:    Cause: /appl1/oracle/udf11/8.1.6/ctx/lib/libctxx8.sl is missing
Fix: SELECT file_spec FROM user_libraries WHERE library_name ='DR$LIBX'; - it should return something similar to the following FILE_SPEC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------/appl1/oracle/udf11/8.1.6/ctx/lib/libctxx8.sl 1. Verify that this file actually exists in the directory shown. ======== OPTIONAL ============ Optionally, to reload the libctxx8.sl file to DR$LIBX do the following: a) login to sqlplus as ctxsys/ b) drop library dr$libx; c) create library dr$libx as ''; d) sqlplus apps/ e) exec ICX_POR_INTERMEDIA_INDEX.drop_index; PL/SQL Procedure successfully completed f) exec ICX_POR_INTERMEDIA_INDEX.create_index; PL/SQL procedure successfully completed ============================== Login to sqlplus as apps/ 2. exec ICX_POR_INTERMEDIA_INDEX.rebuild_index;
Kirby Kraft, Solution Beacon
Release 11i Workshops at OAUG

Solution Beacon, LLC provided two days of Release 11i Workshops at the OAUG in Toronto, May 20-21, 2002. The workshops were well received with standing room only
for most sessions. OAUG and Solution Beacon will be providing the Workshops again at the OAUG San Diego Conference, October 2 7-30. Solution Beacon will be finetuning and adapting the sessions to fit the requests and suggestions received from attendees. Please send any questions or suggestions on the workshop to workshop@solutionbeacon.com.
Mary Lou Weiss, Solution Beacon
Oracle 9i/11i Security Alerts

9i Oracles Security Product Management team has published 2 new alerts:

Security Vulnerability in Oracle Net (Oracle9i Database Server) MetaLink Doc ID:198544.1 ALERT: Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in Oracle9iAS Reports Server MetaLink Doc ID: 198531.1
To view these two alerts in MetaLink (http://metalink.oracle.com/), click on the "Advanced" search button (while in MetaLink) and select the "Doc ID" option and enter the identification number listed above. 11i A problem has been identified in 11i Grants Accounting and Projects. The regeneration of revenue/invoice in marking for already billed_events (billed_flag as N ) makes them candidates for subsequent runs of revenue/invoice. This might result in 0$ invoices being created. This happens only when both project level and task level events exists. To avoid data corruption, Grants Accounting customers MUST apply PA Patch 2389022 - One-Off: 11i.PJ_PF.I: PARGDR Removes Billed Link on Events. See MetaLink Note 198346.1 for more details.
John Stouffer, Solution Beacon
Rumor Mill
Please be aware that the announcement at OAUG about the pending extension of desupport of Release 10.7 was incorrect. Oracle has NOT extended desupport of R10.7 beyond 30-June-2003. The only desupport extension was for 10.7 Payroll users, for whom desupport has been extended to 30-June -2003 (consistent with the other 10.7 application modules). The incorrect information was communicated at SIG
meetings, presentations and panels and was based on an announcement by the Executive Director of OAUG.
Alicia Hoekstra, KPMG Consulting
Release 11i Utility Updates

The Upgrade Manual Script (TUMS)
TUMS is a patch-installed utility that reads your database configuration and product installation information and produces a HTML report that lets know which of the steps in the Upgrading Oracle Applications manual you do not need to perform. Here are the steps to follow to install TUMS: Apply the TUMS patch (1837730) before you upgrade your Applications installation to Release 11i. Execute TUMS: $ cd $AD_TOP/patch/110/sql $ sqlplus <APPS username>/<APPS password> @adtums.sql <DIRECTORY> Note: DIRECTORY is where the HTML report is placed. You MUST specify a directory that is listed in the UTL_FILE_DIR parameter on your database! The HTML report tums.html will be created in the directory specified by the <DIRECTORY> parameter. This report will contain details of the steps in the Upgrading Oracle Applications manual that you do not need to perform for your particular installation. Here is a partial listing of the TUMS report: Oracle Applications Release 11i Based on analysis of your installation it has been determined that you do not need to perform the following upgrade steps. You may cross these steps out of the Upgrading Oracle Applications Release 11.5.7 manual before you begin your upgrade.
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If you are working with the Upgrade Assistant Spreadsheet, you should strike out the steps using the "X" box in the first column. Unnecessary Steps Category 1 Oracle Public Sector Receivables, Category 1, Step 1 (AR_RENAME_CUSTOM_TAX) Oracle Public Sector Receivables, Category 1, Step 3 (AR_VERIFY_GAINS_LOSSES_ACCOUNTS) Oracle Cash Management, Category 1, Step 1 (CE_999_BACKUP)
Randy Giefer, Solution Beacon
Automated Patch Download Utility

Here is a really simple, but useful script if you are downloading a number of patches. Note, please change the "get" line to match your platform: #!/bin/sh # Description: get patch from oracle ftp site err_exit() { echo $*; exit 1 } PLATFORM=`uname -a | awk '{print $1}' | tr "A-Z" "a-z"` case $PLATFORM in sun*) PLATFM="SOLARIS" ;; osf*) PLATFM="TRU64" ;; lin*) PLATFM="LINUX" ;; hp*) PLATFM="HPUX11" ;; aix*) PLATFM="AIX" ;; *) err_exit "Unknown platform" ;; esac [ $# -ne 0 ] && err_exit "Usage: `basename $0`" echo "Patch number(s) [separate with spaces]? \c" read patchnums echo "What is your MetaLink username? \c" read usr echo "What is your MetaLink password? \c" stty=`stty -g` trap 'echo Exiting...; stty $stty; exit 1' 1 2 3 15 stty -echo read psw stty $stty
MGET="mget" for i in $patchnums do MGET="$MGET $i/p${i}_11i_GENERIC.zip" MGET="$MGET $i/p${i}_11i_${PLATFM}.zip" done ftp -nv updates.oracle.com <<eof user $usr $psw lcd $PATCH_TOP bi prompt nmap \$1/\$2 \$2 $MGET eof
Jeff Holt, Solution Beacon
Utilizing Oracle Support

Oracle Support Analysts Still have a Role the Limitations of MetaLink Back in the dark ages of Oracle Applications implementations, prior to the widespread use of the internet, a phone call to ones favorite analyst at Oracle Support was just part of everyday life. In addition to the unwanted pleasures of an endless loop of Vivaldis Four Seasons during hold times, it was common to establish a rapport with the analysts that manned the various modules, and it was even common to find out who the most knowledgeable support personnel were for the various products and areas of expertise. Today - with the all of the information available on MetaLink, it is quite easy to forget that the support analysts can still play a very key role in troubleshooting and supporting an installation of the Oracle Applications. We installed SSP 5.0 against and 11.0.3 Applications environment that was already running Self Service HR. After following the detailed installation instructions, the SSP5.0 login page would not display anything but the login screen. The installation was rerun three separate times but to no avail. A TAR was opened with Oracle Support. After patiently explaining that we were not on 11i (multiple times) and that the 11i debug scripts would not work, we were given many of the same options to try that we had already performed from MetaLink. Our ultimate issue (and resolution) was that when we applied the latest patchset for SSP 5.0 (I), a pre -requisite patch was needed. Unfortunately, the need for the pre Copyright 2002 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved Page 8 of 19
requisite patch was not documented in the readme.txt, on MetaLink or any other public accessible information source. Ultimately, an Oracle Support analyst found the bug in the internal Oracle database, the patch to fix the bug and a note about the bug, all of which are unavailable to the general public. This was three weeks after the original install. An important lesson to be learned is that not all of the information that you might need is available or visible on MetaLink. Once you do your research and exhaust the options that are readily available, it is time to escalate the issue and engage the analysts to assist.
Mark Clark, O2Works and John Stouffer, Solution Beacon
Changes to the Patch Download Area Oracles MetaLink News & Notes section announced that the MetaLink Patch Download area is changing. On June 17, 2002, all patches were combined into a single patch download location. Oracle is decommissioning the old patch download area so that all patches will only be available in the new Patch Download screen from the Patches button from the MetaLink navigation menu. Clicking on the "Patche s" button from the MetaLink navigation menu immediately returns the current and newer patch distribution area. The change will be somewhat transparent as the current interface will still be accessible under the "Patches" button. The "Transitional Information" text: MetaLink is transitioning Database and Tools patches to this new advanced Patch Download screen. During the transition, some Database and Tools patches may only be available on the old Patch Download Screen. will remain on this page for a shorter period of time. However, clicking on the "Patch Download" link will return new information and you will be unable able to access the old patch download area. This should make patch retrieval easier, more efficient and faster. MetaLink will also have new functionality added to the existing patch download area. These changes will make product patches more accessible.
Release 11i Developer Tools Updates

Publishing Patch Lists on the Web
In earlier releases of Oracle Applications, including early 11i releases, the adpatch utility kept a record of already-applied patches in the file applptch.txt. In more recent releases, the record of applied patches is stored in database tables. If you have installed a recent release, or applied an AD patch that enables the tables, then a very simple query can tell you which patches you have applied in your system: SELECT to_number(a.bug_number) bug_number , a.application_short_name , p.patch_name FROM ad_bugs a , ad_patch_run_bugs b , ad_applied_patches p WHERE p.applied_patch_id=b.patch_run_id AND a.bug_id=b.bug_id AND b.applied_flag='Y' ORDER BY application_short_name,bug_number, patch_name Unfortunately, this simple query will probably return thousands of rows, perhaps even tens of thousands. Publishing this list on paper would be wasteful, especially since the list changes every time you apply a patch. You can use Oracle Reports functionality to publish this (or any other) information as a PDF or HTML file, so that developers, support staff, and high level users can access it on the web. In this case, I created a report using the query above, and divided the data into three groups using the data modeler. The master data group contains application_short_name. The middle group contains patch_name, and the lowest detail group contains bug_number. I created the layout manually, with three nested levels of repeating frames. The application_short_name frame has the Maximum Records per Page property set to 1, so that each new application starts a new page. The patch_name frame has the Print Direction property set to Down/Across so that the list will print down the page and start a new column on the same page, like a dictionary or telephone directory. The bug_number frame simply lists the bugs fixed in the patch. For output, I used the web wizard to generate a PDF file. I set the application name as a bookmark, so the PDF file would have a table of contents, and users can navigate directly to the page for the application theyre interested in.
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For a query that returned nearly 9000 rows, I created a 75-page PDF file, which could be posted on the project status page for all users to access, including users who dont have SQL*Plus. This is a static report, of course, so its only useful if it is kept current. If you have your report server configured, you can set up this report to dynamically generate a PDF file directly from the web page. This is probably a better solution, since no one ever has to update the patch list with a more current version.
Kevin Bailey, Solution Beacon
Release 11i Tips/Techniques

Reduce Keystrokes and Improve Productivity With This Tip! Do you still have personnel that perform significant amounts of data entry? Are you interested in an option for reducing ke ystrokes and improving productivity for entering dates? Consider the 11i profile option ICX: Date format which allows you to create a date format for forms other than the default Oracle format of DD-MON-YYYY. This profile option can be set as low as the User level, so you have the flexibility for managing its use. For example, the format could be set to allow a user to enter 5.4.02, and the form will show 05.04.2002, meaning 4th May 2002, or 04-MAY-2002 (for those of us that have been using Oracle for quite some time). This profile option applies only to Forms, but does include Report parameter forms.
Alicia Hoekstra, KPMG Consulting, Inc.
Useful Tip For Reading Patch HTML Readme.txt Files You've probably all encountered this same issue as we have if you are applying Oracle Apps patches. When downloading and unzipping a patch from MetaLink to a UNIX server, the first job is to review the README files. Most people like to print them out for easier review or to use for documentation. The only problem is a lot of the readme files come out in html format and do not print in a readable format if at all from a UNIX server because most Unix servers are only using a network configuration and don't have print drivers associated to format documents properly. One work-around is to pull up the readme file from Metalink on a PC and print it from there, but the readme files can be different from the Metalink patch site and the readme that is zipped up in the patch itself.
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It is easier to email the README.html file to a mail account as an attachment and print it from there. Thus, here's how to email an attachment from a Unix server. I usually put it in a script called "mailme": #!/bin/ksh # usage: mailme attachment_file recipient_email_address # mailme README.html kkraft@solutionbeacon.com uuencode $1 /tmp/$1 |mailx -s $1 $2
Kirby Kraft, Solution Beacon, LLC
Release 11i Cloning Tips

Cloning Tip #1 Have you also noticed that not all system profiles get changed properly from the postcloning procedures? Double check all profiles that you can find with the query of: %WEB%, %AGENT%, ICX%
Kirby Kraft, Solution Beacon, LLC
Cloning Tip #2 After Applying Patches AD.F and FND.E There are additional steps required after applying patch AD.F and FND.E because cloning hangs up when these patches are applied. Please refer to MetaLink 182812.1: As per bug 1672302 AD development has stated that it will not take ownership of changing incorrect profile options during the cloning proce ss except for the ones they have been requested to set them. Besides the profile options however there are a number of tables that can still contain references to the original environment after it's being cloned. The following tables and columns have been identified to possibly still contain references to the original environment: WF_NOTIFICATION_ATTRIBUTES.TEXT_VALUE WF_ITEM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUES.TEXT_VALUE FND_FORM_FUNCTIONS.WEB_HOST_VALUE
FND_FORM_FUNCTIONS.WEB_AGENT_NAME FND_FORM_FUNCTIONS.WEB_HTML_CALL FND_PROFILE_OPTION_VALUES.PROFILE_OPTION_VALUE The above mentioned columns can still refer to the original environment and should be changed manually (i.e. update via SQL*Plus, which is off course not officially supported). The following tables and columns have been identified to still contain the original environment name. Not changing these will mean that the adpatch will not know what's been applied against this cloned environment: AD_APPL_TOPS.APPLICATIONS_SYSTEM_NAME FND_PRODUCT_GROUPS.APPLICATIONS_SYSTEM_NAME The above columns should be changed manually
The following table and columns have been identified to still contain PATH references to the original environment (esp. when cloning on the same system this can become a problem): FND_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS.LOGFILE_NAME FND_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS.OUTFILE_NAME The above columns should be changed manually
If additional tables and columns require updating, then please add a remark to this note so it can be changed accordingly.
John Stouffer, Solution Beac on, LLC
Release 11i Upgrade Tips

Have you seen this error in the Cat 4, step 6, of a 10.7 to 11.5.5 upgrade? /upg/appl/mapupgora/iAS/bin/loadjava[16]:%s_jreLocation%/bin/%s_j reRunCmd%: not found. The error is the result of a path issue. In the loadjava and dropjava scripts there are variables surrounded with %. To fix this error you need to replace the % with the full paths for your directory locations. Once you get the full path set, it should work.
Kirby Kraft and James Jones, Solution Beacon
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ORACLES UPGRADE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM Oracle offers a free Upgrade Assistance Program designed to assist their customers in the task of upgrading from 10.7 or 11.0.X instances to 11i. Only customers with a valid products support contract are eligible for this program. Once a customer is selected into the program, they are given a software tool that will guide them through the upgrade in a methodical and repeatable manner. The tools is the Upgrade Support Assistant and is sent to the customer at the beginning of their first scheduled test upgrade. When the customer begins the upgrade, Oracles service engineers are available to assist in the resolution of problems during the upgrade process. The customer logs an iTAR, uploads the tool logfiles, and makes a secure connection using Oracles Direct Connect web tool. The service engineers will connect to the customers system and make the necessary corrections to the instance. Oracle recommends that the customers go through a minimum of three test upgrades prior to the upgrade of the production system. This allows the customers to become familiar with the Upgrade Support Assistant tool and experience and correct problems that you would encounter in your production upgrade. Oracle has some basic requirements for a customer to be accepted in the Upgrade Assistance Program so they can provide the best service. At a minimum, the customer must agree to the following conditions: 1. Be Internet WEB enabled and to use Oracle Direct Connect for assistance 2. Have an upgrade schedule that will allow for three test upgrades prior to upgrading your production system 3. Follow the exact path outlined in the tool 4. Be responsible for upgrading your own customizations 5. Due to the nature of 11i architecture, Multiple Sets of Books (MSOB) are not supported in this program. If you are using MSOB, the process of migrating to Multiple Organizations(MO) must be completed prior to the upgrade. This is a requirement independent of this service.
Oracles service does support the installation of new products but it does not include the setup, integration, configuration and/or implementation of any new products. Use MetaLink to register for Oracles Upgrade Assistance Program. Create an iTAR on MetaLink using the Upgrade Assistance Registration iTAR template and follow the instructions in MetaLink.
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Product Spotlight
Optio Softwares eComIntegrate integrates seamlessly with Oracle 11i
As you move from the paper-intensive environment to e-business, selecting the right ERP and complementary software is crucial to your ability to exchange information with all your trading partners. Thats why Oracle has designated Optio Software as an e-Business Suite Certified Solution Provider. Optios eComIntegrate product allows companies to seamlessly transform output from their Oracle 11i application into customized documents that meet the specific requirements of each individual recipient and/or trading partner. Essential business documents such as checks, invoices, purchase orders, packing lists and shipping statements can be customized and distributed across global operations in a variety of formats print, Web, fax, email and XML. The Vice President/IS of a recently implemented customer said, The Optio solution allowed us to quickly and effectively develop new and much improved document process flow during a recent Oracle 11i implementation. The speed and ease of using Optio to develop these business documents was critical in helping us reach our deadline.
Christian Rosetti, OptioSoftware
Guest Contributor Spotlight The iProcurement Catalog: Elements of a Successful Strategy

Keys to Creating a Successful Strategy
Background Many companies implement Oracle iProcurement as a way to manage spend and drive dollars to the bottom line. The self-service catalog in iProcurement plays a key factor in a projects return as it frees up procurement professionals for more value added activities such as maintaining strategic supplier relationships. Employees use this next generation catalog engine to efficiently locate pre-negotiated sources for goods and services. A successful implementation strategy should focus on what iProcurement offers, and does not offer, for loading and maintaining the internal catalog of data from Oracle Purchasing, electronic catalogs provided by suppliers, and opportunities for punching out to internet catalogs in order to optimize the self-service deployment.
Oracle iProcurement stores catalog management data within its own table structure. Realms can be established to control user access to specific item sources or categories in these tables. The schema uses a category structure separate from Oracle Purchasing to group records in a drill down hierarchy provided by the Table of Contents. Each data element in the catalog record attaches to a base or local descriptor. A base descriptor, such as supplier or unit price, exists for all catalog records, while a local descriptor, such as color or wattage , relates to records in a specific category. Information Templates, attached to specific catalog items or categories, provide users with additional ordering information fields and allow standardized input to the purchase order creation process. To maximize the search and selection capabilities of the catalog engine, ensure that these catalog elements that you establish provide for decision making criteria in-line with your procurement initiatives. Catalog Management The Oracle Purchasing catalog loader and purge programs maintain the internal catalog data in iProcurement. The initial load creates catalog categories from web enabled records in the default Purchasing Category Set (determined by a Yes/No flag on a descriptive flexfield). The loader then creates unique catalog records for each active Purchasing item, Catalog Quotation line, Blanket Agreement line, and Approved Supplier List entry that reference the enabled categories. The loader also inserts Requisition Templates, called Public Lists in iProcurement, into the catalog to enable selection of commonly grouped goods and services. Subsequent loads add new records and update changes to existing records based on the last run time of the loader programs, therefore a planned execution of a scheduled request set is necessary to keep data in sync. In similar fashion, schedule the purge utility as needed to manage the changing statuses and effective dates of catalog items and agreement lines. If there is a plan to implement iProcurement on an existing Purchasing installation, dedicate resource time to analysis and cleansing of existing procurement data. Determine if the existing category structure and sourcing elements work in the selfservice catalog model. Starting with clean data in Purchasing becomes more crucial if there is a plan to automate the creation and approval of Purchase Orders and Releases through the PO Create Documents workflow. Use the results of this analysis to develop effective procedures for maintaining the catalog items, sources, and templates in Purchasing. As the applications do not provide catalog reports, develop custom reports or queries in the initial stages of the implementation to increase your knowledge of the catalog schema and to minimize the ongoing efforts of catalog manage ment. iProcurement provides a browser based bulk loader utility to maintain electronic catalog data provided by key suppliers. If there is a plan to load external catalogs,
there must be a catalog management strategy that addresses data criteria, frequency of loads, error reporting, and purging. The application provides spreadsheet and XML formatted templates that highlight the required base descriptors for a catalog load. Analyze each unique catalog file to determine the category structure to use, check that required base descriptors exist, and include additional descriptor elements that add value to the catalog. The loader utility includes functionality, controlled by profile options, to dynamically create categories and descriptors. Once the catalog load submits, a separate page displays the status of each load including the number of records in error. As no error reporting exists, develop custom reports or queries to assist with error resolution. The bulk loader only creates catalog records in iProcurement so consider using the Price/Catalog API to create Catalog Quotations to meet process requirements for Oracle Purchasing. Supplier products that include dynamic configurations and pricing structures lead to increased catalog management costs. To offset this dilemma, iProcurement offers punchout functionality that connects an employee to a suppliers site to search for items within their catalog. The end-result of a punchout transaction includes up-todate pricing and correct production information for the purchase request. The configuration necessary for punching out from iProcurement involves additional application setup steps along with a technological commitment from your supplier. Establish the punch out supplier in iProcurement and specify the keywords that should return the supplier link in a catalog search. In addition, set up the supplier as a trading partner in the eCommerce Gateway along with the necessary conversions for category, unit of measure, and currency codes. The suppliers web site must handle the existing XML protocol provided by iProcurement. Conclusion Analyze the use of items and their sources in the current procurement environment to assist with the self-service deployment strategy. Develop an overall strategy that considers features of internal, external and punchout catalogs in order to minimize the overhead costs of catalog management. Start the design with a category structure and descriptors that add value to the searching and comparing functions in the self-service model. Consider the use of realms to control data access and establish information templates to effectively capture order information from employees. Design custom queries as part of the strategy to transfer knowledge and to provide ongoing support for error corrections and purging. Execute the strategy with documented procedures and committed resources to maximize the return on the iProcurement catalog.
Cal Kondratiuk, O2Works
OAUG Upgrade SIG

The Upgrade SIG met May 19 at the recent OAUG Conference in Toronto. The second meeting of the year will be held in at the San Diego OAUG, Oct. 27-30, 2002. The Upgrade SIG is soliciting people to provide useful information for the Upgrade SIG website at http://www.oaug.org/upgdsig/. If you would like to join the Upgrade SIG or have suggestion, please send email to UPGSig@solutionbeacon.com.
John Stouffer, Upgrade Chair, Solution Beacon
OAUG Sys Admin SIG

The newly formed Sys Admin SIG had its first meeting at the OAUG Spring 2002 Conference in Toronto on May 19. The second meeting will be held in San Diego at the Fall 2002 Conference. Please stay tuned for the Sys Admin SIG webpage on the OAUG website. If you would like to join the Sys Admin SIG or have suggestion, please send email to sysadminsig@solutionbeacon.com.
Randy Giefer, Sys Admin Chair, Solution Beacon
Helpful Links
Here are some good links for Oracle training: Oracle Learning Network (OLN) - http://oracle.com/education/oln/ Oracle iSeminars - http://oracle.com/iseminars eLearning Fast Track http://www.oracle.com/global/us/education/trng_methods/elearning/index.html Oracle Webcasts - http://partner.oracle.com/webcasts OAUG Online Help & Hotlinks - http://www.oaug.org/public/online_help.htm
Upcoming Solution Beacon Events

EVENT North Central Oracle Applications Users Group Training Day NCOAUG: R11i Apps DBA 40 Ways to Speed Up Your Upgrade and Reduce Downtime, Randy Giefer, Solution Beacon
DATE/TIME August 16, 2002 August 16, 2002
LOCATION Palatine, IL Palatine, IL
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NCOAUG: Upgrading to R11i Lessons Learned, John Stouffer, Solution Beacon and Alicia Hoekstra, KPMG Consulting Houston Oracle Users Group Meeting HOUG: R11i Administration and Maintenance, John Stouffer, Solution Beacon OAUG Fall 2002 OAUG Fall 2002: R11i Workshops
August 16, 2002
Palatine, IL
October 16, 2002 Houston, TX October 16, Houston, 2002, Time TDB TX October 27-30, San Diego, 2002 CA October 28-29, San Diego, 2002 CA
Mary Lou Weiss, Solution Beacon Solution Beacon Newsletters are designed to help users of Oracle Applications and Solution Beacon makes no warranty for the accuracy, veracity, or completeness of any information herein, nor do they have any responsibility or liability for any losses or damages incurred as a result of reliance on any information provided herein or from the use of any program or program segment discussed herein. Solution Beacon assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear herein. The information published herein is subject to change without notice. Copyright 2002 Solution Beacon, LLC. All rights reserved. Any trademarks cited herein are the property of its owner. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced without the prior written consent of Solution Beacon, LLC.
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Solution Beacon, LLC

Volume No.4, June 2002

Oracle Applications Release 11i Newsletter

Oracle Applications Release 11.5.7

Solution Beacon, LLC

Volume No.4, June 2002

1.0.2.2.2 6.0.8.18 1.1.8.16 1.3.1_02 1.1.2 8.1.7.1b 8.0.6.3

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Volume No.4, June 2002

11.5.7 iProcurement Exception Errors

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Release 11i Workshops at OAUG

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Oracle 9i/11i Security Alerts

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Release 11i Utility Updates

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Automated Patch Download Utility

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Utilizing Oracle Support

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Release 11i Developer Tools Updates

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Release 11i Tips/Techniques

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Release 11i Cloning Tips

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Release 11i Upgrade Tips

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Volume No.4, June 2002

Copyright 2002 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved

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Volume No.4, June 2002

Guest Contributor Spotlight The iProcurement Catalog: Elements of a Successful Strategy

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Volume No.4, June 2002

OAUG Upgrade SIG

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OAUG Sys Admin SIG

Upcoming Solution Beacon Events

DATE/TIME August 16, 2002 August 16, 2002

LOCATION Palatine, IL Palatine, IL

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Volume No.4, June 2002