BI Publisher Highlighted

I want a single application to print my reports, invoices, checks, labels etc. and also want the same application to send these to different destinations like printer, fax and e-mail. These reports should contain:

• Graphs
• Tables in highly formatted fashion like table headers should be repeated on each page
• Section totals
• Page totals
• Should have headers and footers
• Should have conditional formatting
• Cross Tab Support
• Easy to create templates

These are my requirements for reporting. All of these can be fulfilled very easily in Analytics dashboards, but, when it comes to printing, dashboard is not a very good choice. For these reports BI Publisher is a perfect solution. Oracle BI Publisher is a Standalone and Platform Independent reporting tool which creates highly formatted printable reports. Oracle BI Publisher uses Template for formatting purpose .Templates can be created in MSWORD, ACROBAT, EXCEL and many other Formatting Tools.
It takes the data from the source, formats it suitably using Template and prints it in different formats such as PDF, EXCEL and HTML.

The Formatted Reports can be published over Printer, Fax or Internet.Oracle BI Publisher overcomes the shortcomings of Siebel Analytics when it comes to Printing of a Report. It provides a unified solution to the above mentioned requirements, hence reduces cost, complexity and manpower.

It can use data from any source which provides JDBC connection like HTTP XML feeds, web services, file data sources. It is pre integrated with OBIEE Suit. You can also use requests developed in OBIEE as the sources of data for BI Publisher.

Data sources for BI Publisher.
BI Publisher can have many sources like OBIEE, Oracle Database, SQL Server, XML and various other data sources are supported by BI Publisher.

• SQL Query: A connection to a database has to be specified for SQL Query. Then a query to retrieve the required data is fired on the database. Bi Publisher also provides a feature called Query Builder.
• BI Answers: It uses Dashboard requests as the data source.
• Web service: It uses a web service which returns data as its data source.

Creating report templates in BI Publisher
Report templates can be created in RTF Format as well as PDF format. To create templates in RTF format you need to have any text editor with RTF support like MS Word, for PDF template, you need to have any tool which gives facility of PDF creation like Adobe Acrobat Professional.On installation, the BI Publisher Template Builder integrates itself with MS Word.

To create a simple RTF template, load the XML containing your sample data by clicking Data->Load XML Data on Template builder toolbar. Once the data is loaded, you can put the data fields in the template. You can provide groupings, conditional formatting and conditional regions. We can also use the wizard to create tables, crosstabs, and charts. Preview of the report is possible with sample data available in PDF, RTF, PPT, HTML and Excel formats. After creating these templates, these templates have to be uploaded to the server to be used by the report. The output format of reports can also be restricted; we can tell the BI Publisher to output report as only PDF and no other format.

Other features of BI Publisher

• Provides a facility of LOV (List of Values) so that data in a report can be filtered according the value selected in LOV.
• Different layouts for same report are supported.
• Bursting, split a report based on a key in the report data and deliver a report based on the second key in the report data.

– Inputs from Anand M

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Oracle Fusion Middleware

Applications can be integrated using either of the following integration solutions:

• P2P (Point To Point) – It involves creating a direct connection between each pair of application to be integrated.
• Hub-and-Spoke – It involves connecting each application to a central integration server running middleware.

In comparison to P2P integration strategy, Hub-and-Spoke methodology is preferred. Adding an additional application requires only one new data transport to and from the integration server. The numbers of data transports are reduced from n² to n.

Oracle provides a strong Integration Server architecture known as Oracle Fusion Middleware Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) suite. This architecture comprises of Oracle Application server, Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), Business Process Execution Language Process Manager (BPEL PM) and other components for security, BI, administration, monitoring etc.

1. Oracle Application Server provides a J2EE container for other applications and third party applications.
2. ESB is an engine which routes and transforms the data. It can have multiple data entry points.
   Example – The source and target systems are having different schemas. Data transformation can be done using Siebel data mapper and can be transported using the Business Service. The same requirement can also be solved using ESB service. Apart from this, ESB service can be initiated from Siebel CRM after importing the “wsdl” of the Outbound Web Service.
3. BPEL PM automates the business processes across multiple applications. It uses a visual coupled with programmatic constructs.
   Example – Combined information from Siebel CRM, Credit Card Company and a shipping company to generate final form of order. BPEL PM can be used to orchestrate and automate these multiple applications using a single entry point.

SOA suite resides on the Integration Server (IS). Siebel CRM lies on one side of the IS and third party applications reside on other side of the IS. Siebel can thus behave as a Sender or Receiver.

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Ask the Expert

Do you have a question on Siebel Upgrades, Implementation or just about the best Siebel business practices in general? No hassles! Submit your question in the comments section below.

Experts from our Siebel practice will answers your questions twice a week and the answers will be published in the Ask the Expert Section

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Task Based UI and its Usage

In all the Applications a particular task requires performing several steps to complete it which leads to common issues. Some issues are as follows:

• Users may not be familiar with the sequence of steps

• Users may inadvertently skip a step

• Users often require additional training to complete the task.

Many clients prefer implementing a user interaction style that assists end users in completing such tasks.
The latest version Siebel 8.0 provides a feature called as Task Based UI, which enables us to use wizard-like interface( in this we can Use a wizard- like interface) to guide users through steps in a task. This helps in completing the tasks in (leads to complete some steps of a task in) a prescribed order. It supports forward and backward navigation through a sequence of views. In addition to this we can use the pause facility.
In TBUI one can implement the Branching conditions based on the users input. This can be achieved with the use of Transient BC (TBC). The mechanism behind TBC is that-data is collected and used during the execution of a task but not saved afterwards i.e. Transient data disappears when the task ends.
I worked upon a scenario i.e. Quote Generation which processes the Quotation, Opportunity and Account Information for each and every Quote. Following is the description
Requirement
The Process starts with the enquiry raised by the customer to the Customer Service Representative (CSR) for the same he/she will

• Create an Opportunity by adding a Customer Account.
• Create the Product for the same Opportunity from Administration – Products.
• Create an Quote for the Opportunity.
• Add the Price list for the Quote; this price should be available for the Line Items (product).
• Generate the Quote information along with the Opportunity and Account.

Finally that will be delivered to the customer (Account Holder) through mail.
Development

Task, Task Group & Task Pane View: I created a new “Task Group” & a “Task”. Then added that “Task” to the “Task Group”. Later added the “Task Group” to the “View Task Group” named “Task Pane View”.

Views & Applets

I used vanilla Applets such as – Opportunity Entry Applet, Product Form Applet, Quote List Applet, Recipient List Applet etc. Made new Objects by copying the above mentioned applets and then used them on the corresponding Task Views. Also I inactivated the fields in the applet which was not supposed to be displayed.

Configuring TBC & Auto Quote functionality:
There is no change in the BC’s. I used Siebel provided “Auto Quote” functionality for the Quote creation. Due to the requirement of giving a choice to add multiple recipients for the Correspondence I created a Transient Business Component.

Adhoc functionality: All the Adhoc functionality which I used here was vanilla provided.

Pulling Data from Quote to Recipient:The biggest challenge was to pull Quote fields in Recipient BC through indirect Joins. First I created Link between Quote and Correspondence then with the help of Link Specification I pulled the Quote Row Id in the Correspondence then to the Recipient BC. Now by configuring a join in Recipient BC and Quote BC using the pulled Quote Row Id, I pulled all the desired fields of Quote BC.The Below Diagram will help you to understand it more clearly,

The Final Version of Task flow was looking like the below figure:

Finally, everything shaped up well and I delivered my first Task Based UI successfully on time. Please put your comments / suggestions.

Inputs from Abhinav A.

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Missing script for OBIEE Upgrade (7.8.5 to 10.1.3.3.1)

I did OBIEE upgrade with the help of the document Oracle® Business Intelligence Applications Upgrade Guide Version 7.9 February 2007 b31980.pdf
It was configured successfully but I encountered an error in the process of the final testing by running the provided out of box workflow through informatica. The workflows failed showing an ‘INVALID IDENTIFIER’ error indicating that some of the columns in the warehouse tables were missing. Hence I referred the document again.

As per the document the, warehouse Schema has been upgraded with the following mentioned scripts:-
UPGRADE.ctl script.
790_UPGRADE_PRE_CTL_SCRIPT.sql script.
DW.ctl script.
790_UPGRADE_PRE_DIMENSION_SCRIPT.sql script.
Though the above mentioned scripts were successfully executed, the workflows failed with the same error ‘INVALID IDENTIFIER’
Hence I figured out that one more script is required to resolve the above problem.
So after running the script placed at OracleBI\DAC\conf\sqlgen\ctl-file\ oracle_bi_dw.ctl
(DDLimp utility) the issue was resolved.
This script contained all the missing columns.
To run the Script use the following command:-

Here DDLimp is the utility provided by Siebel to run this Script.
Execute the following Command in the CMD Prompt:
—-DDLimp /U USER /P PASSWORD /C <Connect string i.e. system DSN> /G SSE_ROLE /I N /R Y
F <Path for the oracle_bi_dw.ctl Script>/L (location where you want to store log file)

Where,
U is Database Table owner name.
P is Database Table owner Password.
C is System DSN.
For G, I and R use the Default as given.
F indicates the path of the Script.
L indicates the path were the log file is to be stored.
Finally to my relief the upgrade completed by running the above mentioned script!

Inputs from Alok Chowdhary

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Haley’s in a Nutshell

INTRODUCTION:
CRM applications are based on various complex business processes that need to be coded in the application.They can change with time and this can be very often.Implementing the changes can have adverse effects on those parts that weren’t changed!!! Implementing Decision tress can be a nightmare through actual programming…with hundreds of If else conditions which is very difficult to maintain and foolish to code in the first place.

Haley Systems, Inc
has been the recognized global leader in rule-based programming. Haley’s Authority is a Rule authoring tool which allows you to write your Business rules in simple English, maintains them, executes them and allows testing them all in no time. Assume it as a programming language which uses simple English to code. The sentence “Set student’s grade to Distinction if he scored at least 70 in all subjects” can One needs to get back to school grammar to construct English sentences.

About Haley Authority: Mind your language (Grammar)
Get familiar with Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, Determiners, Phrases, Sentences, Subjects, Predicates and Direct & Indirect Objects.Haley adds few more terms such as Concepts, Entities, Relations, Phrasings, Statements, Conditions, Modules, Knowledge Base. With just an initial brush up on these topics you can get going with the wonderful tool.

Integrating with Siebel
Find below the Haley <- -> Siebel Integration Architecture.

Siebel Object Importer
The concepts and relations needed to define rules on Siebel objects are created by importing the selected subset of the Siebel object model into Haley’s.

Siebel Deployment plug-in
Rule modules created in Haley Authority are compiled and stored into runtime tables
Rules Runtime Administration screen
It is used to activate, deactivate, and configure deployed rule modules.

Haley Authority knowledge base
It stores Haley Authority’s metadata, including Object Importer-created Siebel object definitions and rules

Haley inference engine
It executes rules.
Proxy Service

• It is a proxy to the rules engine functionality at runtime.

• It manages Haley’s runtime objects

• It manages deployed rule modules

• Interfaces with Siebel object manager for data

• Interfaces with Haley’s inference engine for rule execution

• Manages the rule execution results from Haley’s inference engine

THE PROS :

• All the business logic can be isolated in a separate database (Knowledge base).

• It can reduce scripting to a great extent.

• Flexible to change the rules, policies on the go

• Allows testing of the Rules created in Haley before actual deployment.

• Easy to understand/write/maintain English Statements than blocks and blocks of code.

THE CONS:

• Need to learn the GRAMMER. Haley Authority cannot write a poem or a play.
• It can not replace all of your code but most of it.Remember everything is built for a purpose.
• There’s no Check in Check out here.Maintaining a development environment where n developers are using Haley’s for constructing rules becomes difficult as only one Knowledge base per environment is supported.

Reader’s Take:

Consider the following scenario wherein an Insurance claim is to be ACCEPTED, PARTIALLY ACCEPTED, REJECTED based on the below decision tree.

I leave the answer to the readers to select between

• A. Coding a mesh of 1000’s of If Else Statements
• B. Using HBR

Comments welcome !

– Inputs from Pinank K.

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