(For more resources related to this topic, see here.)

Getting started with desktop integration

We are now going to create a menu, request group, and responsibility that will be used for the integrators, which we will create in this article. To do this, we will perform the following:

• Configure a menu
• Create a new request group
• Create a new responsibility
• Assign the desktop integration responsibility to a user

Configure a menu

The following article will configure a menu, which will be attached to our new responsibility we are going to create. This will determine the concurrent programs and forms we will be able to access.

How to do it...

To create a menu, perform the following steps:

1. Log in to Oracle with the Application Developer responsibility.
2. Navigate to Application | Menu, and the Menus window will open.
3. Enter data as shown in the following table for the master record:

   Item Name	Item Value
   Menu	XXHR_DI_MENU
   User Menu Name	Test Desktop Integration Menu
   Menu Type	Standard
   Description	Test Desktop Integration Menu

4. Enter data as shown in the following table for the detail records:

   Seq	Prompt	Submenu	Function	Description	Grant
   10	View Requests		View All Concurrent Requests		Select this
   20	Submit Requests		Requests: Submit		Select this

   The screen should now look like the following:

   

5. Click on the Save button in the toolbar (or Ctrl + S) to save the record.
6. Exit the form.

How it works...

We have created a menu that has the standard concurrent request functions added to it, so that we can run and view our concurrent program. The menu is assigned to a responsibility, and this is what a user will see when they switch to the responsibility associated with the menu. We have assigned the View Requests and Submit Requests functions to this menu, as we want to allow users to run concurrent programs from this menu.

Create a new request group

When we define a responsibility, we can also assign a request group to it. This is a list of concurrent programs or request sets that the responsibility will see, when they run a concurrent request through the Standard Request Submission (SRS) form. We need to add a request group that will have our concurrent program in it.

How to do it...

To create a request group, perform the following:

1. Log in to oracle with the System Administrator responsibility.
2. Navigate to Security | Responsibility | Request to open the Request Groups window.
3. Enter data as shown in the following table for the master record:

   Item Name	Item Value
   Group	XXHR DI Request Group
   Application	XXHR Custom Application
   Code	XXHR_REQUEST_GROUP
   Description	XXHR DI Group

   The following screenshot shows the form with the request group data entered:

   

4. Click on the Save button in the toolbar (or Ctrl + S) to save the record.
5. Exit the form.

How it works...

The request group will contain the concurrent programs that we want the user to be permitted to run. We need to assign the request group to a responsibility, and this will allow that responsibility to access the concurrent programs associated with the request group.

Create a new responsibility

Now, we will create a new responsibility that we can associate the menu we have just created to.

How to do it...

Perform the following steps to create a new responsibility called XXHR Desktop Integration.

1. Log in to oracle with the System Administrator responsibility.
2. Navigate to Security | Responsibility | Define, and the Responsibilities window will open.
3. Enter data as shown in the following table for the master record:

   Item Name	Item Value
   Responsibility Name	XXHR Desktop Integration Unlock access to the largest independent learning library in Tech for FREE! Get unlimited access to 7500+ expert-authored eBooks and video courses covering every tech area you can think of. Renews at ₹800/month. Cancel anytime START FREE TRIAL
   Application	XXHR Custom Application
   Responsibility Key	XXHRDINT
   Description
   Name (in Data Group)	Standard
   Application (in Data Group)	Service
   Menu	Test Desktop Integration Menu
   Name (in Request Group)	XXHR DI Group

   The Application field in Request Group will inherit the Application from the Request Group we have previously created and will be populated automatically.

   The screen will now look like the following:

   

4. Click on the Save button in the toolbar (or Ctrl + S) to save the record.
5. Exit the form.

How it works...

The responsibility we have just created can now be added to a user to provide access to the menu and request groups that we have created.

Assign the desktop integration responsibilities to a user

Now we are going to assign the responsibility to our user.

How to do it...

To create a new user, perform the following steps:

1. Log in to oracle with the System Administrator responsibility.
2. Navigate to Security | User | Define, and the Users window will open.
3. Query back and add the following responsibilities to your user:
   • Desktop Integration
   • Desktop Integration Manager
   • Desktop Integrator
   • XXHR Desktop Integration
   • System Administrator
   • Application Developer

   The screen should look similar to the following:

   

How it works...

Assigning these responsibilities to your user will mean that they will be displayed when you log in to the system. Each responsibility will have a menu, which will give users access to different functionalities of the system. In this case, we have provided access to the Desktop Integrator functions that will allow us to create and administer a new integrator. Notice that in release 12.1.3 of EBS, the login screen now has a different menu structure. It is more like a folder structure, which is much easier to navigate with.

The following screenshot is what we will see when we log in to Oracle EBS:

Configuring the browser and MS Office settings

When we create an integrator, the generation is performed through a browser. To allow this to happen, we must ensure that the browser allows certain functionality to be switched on. In this case, we must enable a security setting if using an Internet Explorer browser. In this article, we will perform the following:

• Configure the browser
• Configure MS office security settings

Configure the browser

In this article, we will set the Internet Explorer browser settings.

How to do it...

To set the browser settings, perform the following:

1. Open an Internet Explorer browser window.
2. Click on Internet Options
3. Click on the Security tab.
4. In the security page, click on the Internet zone as shown in the following screenshot:

   

5. Now, click on the Custom level… button.
6. Scroll down Security Settings until you get to Scripting.
7. Set the Allow status bar updates via script radio button to Enable as shown in the following screenshot:

   

8. Click on OK.
9. Click on Yes when prompted with the Are you sure you want to change the settings for this zone warning message.
10. Finally, click on OK to close the Internet Options dialog box.
11. Restart the browser, so that the new settings can take effect.

How it works...

We must change some browser settings to allow integrators to be created, as the integrator creation user interface is browser based.

Configure MS Office security settings

When an integrator is created by Oracle, it uses VBA code in the background. By default, the security settings in Microsoft Office does not allow VBA code to be run. Therefore, we must change the security settings to allow the VBA code to be run.

How to do it...

To configure the MS Office settings, perform the following:

1. Open Microsoft Excel (Office 2010).
2. Click on the File tab and select Options from the menu.
3. Select Trust Center and then click on Trust Center Settings….

   

4. Click on Macro Settings and check the Trust access to the VBA project object model checkbox as shown in the following screenshot:

   

How it works...

When we create integrators, there are a number of macros that Oracle uses, which run in the background. If we do not set the Macro Settings, the integrator will not be created.

Registering a table and its columns within Oracle E-Business Suite

We need to register our table that we are going to load data into within EBS. This is required when we create the integrator, so that we can see the table definition in the user interface. We will run the script to register the XXHR_PARTY_UPLOAD table and all of its columns.

How to do it...

To run the script to register the XXHR_PARTY_UPLOAD table, perform the following:

1. Start SQL Developer and open the XXHR_PARTY_UPLOAD_REG.sql file available from the download bundle.
2. Click the run script icon from the toolbar as shown in the following screenshot.

   You can run the script in SQL*Plus or another development tool such as TOAD if you prefer.

   

Now we have run the script to register the table, we can check that it has been successfully registered in EBS.

How it works...

To register the table, we must use the AD_DD package that is provided by Oracle, as the form does not allow users to enter records. The script has been provided and this has been run to register the database table. Let's have a look at the syntax; an example of the code is shown as follows:

code 1

The parameters are as follows:

Table 5

Likewise, we have added each item and we did this by calling the AD_DD.REGISTER_COLUMN procedure for each column.

An example would be as follows:

code 2

The parameters are as follows:

Table 6

Checking the table has been registered in Oracle

We have run the script to register our table in EBS. Now we will log in to Oracle to check that the table has been registered successfully.

How to do it...

To check that the table has been registered in EBS, perform the following:

1. Log in to Oracle with the Application Developer responsibility.
2. Navigate to Application | Database | Table, and the Tables window will open.
3. Press F11 to enter a query.
4. Enter XXHR_PARTY_UPLOAD in the table name field and press Ctrl + F11 to execute the query.

How it works...

We can see that the table has been registered correctly using the script that we ran. This will mean that the table will be available to the integrator UI. The following screenshot shows the table we have registered in EBS, which means the scripts we ran have been completed successfully: