Oracle Application Framework User Manual

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Oracle® Application Framework

Personalization Guide Release 12.1

Part No. E12646-02

March 2009

Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide, Release 12.1

Part No. E12646-02

Primary Author:  Siu Chang, Lauren Diana Cohn

Contributing Author:  David Weld

Contributor:  Jeremy Liu, Charu Chandra, Yuanjing Xu, Sara Woodhull

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Preface

1 Customization Primer



Contents

Customization Overview

Configuration............................................................................................................................ 1-2

Personalization.......................................................................................................................... 1-4

Extensibility............................................................................................................................... 1-7

Interoperability......................................................................................................................... 1-9

.......................................................................................................... 1-1

2 Personalizing OA Framework Applications

Branding.................................................................................................................................... 2-1

Customizing Look-and-Feel (CLAF)......................................................................................... 2-4

......................................................................................................................................... 2-26

Icons

Responsibilities and Menus................................................................................................... 2-27

Messages

Lookup Codes.......................................................................................................................... 2-27

Style Sheets

.................................................................................................................................. 2-27

..............................................................................................................................2-28

3 Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets

Overview

Personalization Levels

OA Personalization Framework Features

Profile Options Used By OA Personalization Framework

................................................................................................................................... 3-1

...............................................................................................................3-2

................................................................................. 3-5

.......................................................3-8

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4 Administrative-Level Personalizations

Overview................................................................................................................................... 4-1

Creating Admin-Level Personalizations................................................................................... 4-3

Using the Page Layout Personalization Page....................................................................... 4-6

Using the Page Hierarchy Personalization Page................................................................ 4-16

Examples: Creating New Items Using the Personalization UI........................................... 4-23

Function-Level Personalizations............................................................................................. 4-26

Known Issues.......................................................................................................................... 4-27

Related Information................................................................................................................ 4-28

5 Administrative-Level Personalization User Interface

Overview................................................................................................................................... 5-2

Focused Page Hierarchy Personalization Page......................................................................... 5-2

Choose Personalization Context Page.......................................................................................5-5

Personalize Page........................................................................................................................ 5-8

Create Query Page................................................................................................................... 5-16

Page Hierarchy Personalization Page: Expanded Search Region...........................................5-19

Update Layout Page................................................................................................................. 5-22

Reorder Contents Page

Add Content Page

Create Content Page

Create Item Page...................................................................................................................... 5-27

Update Item Page.................................................................................................................... 5-48

Manage Personalization Levels Page...................................................................................... 5-50

Extract Translation Files Page................................................................................................. 5-52

Upload Translations Page....................................................................................................... 5-53

Translate Page..........................................................................................................................5-54

Choose Languages Page

Personalize Views Page........................................................................................................... 5-56

Create View, Update View, and Duplicate View Pages

Rename Columns / Totaling Page

Setting the Record Set Size for nodeDefinition under a HGrid

Hiding the Save Search and Personalize Buttons

Change Display Size for Various TextInput fields

Adding Search Mappings

............................................................................................................ 5-23

.................................................................................................................... 5-25

................................................................................................................ 5-27

.......................................................................................................... 5-55

......................................................... 5-58

........................................................................................... 5-65

............................................ 5-67

.................................................................. 5-67

................................................................ 5-68

....................................................................................................... 5-68

6 User-Level Personalization User Interface

Overview

Personalizing the Views Panel of a Search Page

................................................................................................................................... 6-1

...................................................................... 6-1

Personalizing a Table Region at the User Level....................................................................... 6-2

Personalize Views Page............................................................................................................. 6-3

Create View, Update View, and Duplicate View Pages........................................................... 6-4

Rename Columns / Totaling Page............................................................................................. 6-8

Personalizing an LOV Choice List............................................................................................ 6-8

Known Issues............................................................................................................................ 6-9

7 Portlet-Level Personalization User Interface

Overview................................................................................................................................... 7-1

Personalizing a Portlet.............................................................................................................. 7-1

Create View and Update View Pages....................................................................................... 7-2

Rename Columns / Totaling......................................................................................................7-4

Known Issues............................................................................................................................ 7-4

8 Translating Personalizations

Overview................................................................................................................................... 8-1

Translating Personalizations Stored in MDS........................................................................... 8-1

OA Extension Translation Toolset............................................................................................ 8-7

XLIFF Extractor.................................................................................................................... 8-7

XLIFF Importer

Mapping a Language Code to a Language-Territory Code

Known Issues

Related Information................................................................................................................ 8-16

.................................................................................................................. 8-13

.................................................... 8-14

.......................................................................................................................... 8-15

9 Deploying Personalizations

Overview

Deploying Personalizations Using the Functional Administrator Responsibility................. 9-1

Deploying Personalizations Using the Import/Export Command Line Tools.........................9-4

Known Issues.......................................................................................................................... 9-15

Related Information

................................................................................................................................... 9-1

Export Tool.......................................................................................................................... 9-5

Import Tool

........................................................................................................................ 9-11

................................................................................................................ 9-15

10 Migrating AK Personalizations

Overview

Migrating Customer Personalizations.................................................................................... 10-2

Known Issues

Related Information

................................................................................................................................. 10-1

.......................................................................................................................... 10-4

................................................................................................................ 10-4

 v

A Personalization Considerations

Overview................................................................................................................................... A-2

Attachments.............................................................................................................................. A-2

Auto-Repeating Layout............................................................................................................. A-3

Bound Values............................................................................................................................ A-3

Branding ................................................................................................................................... A-3

Buttons (Global)........................................................................................................................ A-3

Charts and Graphs.................................................................................................................... A-4

Concurrent Processing.............................................................................................................. A-5

Configurable Pages................................................................................................................... A-5

Custom HTML.......................................................................................................................... A-6

Date Picker................................................................................................................................ A-6

Declarative Page Flow............................................................................................................... A-6

Dialog Pages.............................................................................................................................. A-6

Dynamic User Interface............................................................................................................ A-6

Flexfields

Forms / OA Framework Page Integration

formValue

HGrid........................................................................................................................................ A-7

Hide/Show................................................................................................................................. A-7

Images in Your Pages................................................................................................................ A-7

List of Values (LOV)................................................................................................................. A-7

Locator Element: Breadcrumbs................................................................................................. A-7

Mobile Applications................................................................................................................. A-7

Page Contents Bottom Line.......................................................................................................A-8

Page Footer................................................................................................................................ A-8

Printable Page

Processing Page......................................................................................................................... A-8

Rich Text Editor

Save Model (Warn About Changes)

Shuttle

Standard Web Widgets

SubTab Navigation................................................................................................................... A-9

Switchers (Application, Context and Table Content)

Tables - Advanced..................................................................................................................... A-9

Tables - Classic

Tree ......................................................................................................................................... A-14

Workflow Worklist

................................................................................................................................... A-6

.................................................................................A-6

................................................................................................................................. A-7

........................................................................................................................... A-8

.........................................................................................................................A-8

......................................................................................... A-8

....................................................................................................................................... A-8

............................................................................................................. A-9

............................................................. A-9

........................................................................................................................ A-12

................................................................................................................. A-14

B OA Framework Personalization and Customization Known Issues

Overview................................................................................................................................... B-1

Personalization/Extensibility.................................................................................................... B-1

Translation................................................................................................................................ B-2

Customizing Look-and-Feel (CLAF)........................................................................................ B-2

C OA Framework Personalization Caveats

Overview................................................................................................................................... C-1

Personalization Caveats - for Customers................................................................................. C-1

D Personalization FAQ

Overview

Customizing Look-and-Feel (CLAF)

................................................................................................................................... D-1

Index

........................................................................................ D-1

 vii



Send Us Your Comments

Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide, Release 12.1

Part No. E12646-02

Oracle welcomes customers' comments and suggestions on the quality and usefulness of this document. Your feedback is important, and helps us to best meet your needs as a user of our products. For example:

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 ix

Intended Audience

Welcome to Release 12.1 of the Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide.

This guide assumes you have a working knowledge of the following:

• The principles and customary practices of your business area.

• Computer desktop application usage and terminology.

This documentation assumes familiarity with Oracle Applications. It is written for the consultants and administrators who oversee the functional requirements of these applications and deploy the functionality to their users.



Preface

If you have never used Oracle Applications, we suggest you attend one or more of the Oracle Applications training classes available through Oracle University.

Some of the screenshots used in this guide depict Oracle's default

Note:

corporate browser Look-and-Feel (LAF), while others depict an alternative LAF. Although the colors and interface elements of these images may vary, the underlying functionality they illustrate remains the same, regardless of the LAF that you have implemented.

See Related Information Sources on page xiii for more Oracle Applications product information.

Deaf/Hard of Hearing Access to Oracle Support Services

To reach Oracle Support Services, use a telecommunications relay service (TRS) to call Oracle Support at 1.800.223.1711. An Oracle Support Services engineer will handle technical issues and provide customer support according to the Oracle service request process. Information about TRS is available at

 xi

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/trs.html, and a list of phone numbers is available at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/trsphonebk.html.

Documentation Accessibility

Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible to all users, including users that are disabled. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Accessibility standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For more information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/.

Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation

Screen readers may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise empty line; however, some screen readers may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace.

Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation

This documentation may contain links to Web sites of other companies or organizations that Oracle does not own or control. Oracle neither evaluates nor makes any representations regarding the accessibility of these Web sites.

Structure

1 Customization Primer 2 Personalizing OA Framework Applications 3 Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets 4 Administrative-Level Personalizations 5 Administrative-Level Personalization User Interface 6 User-Level Personalization User Interface 7 Portlet-Level Personalization User Interface 8 Translating Personalizations 9 Deploying Personalizations 10 Migrating AK Personalizations A Personalization Considerations B OA Framework Personalization and Customization Known Issues C OA Framework Personalization Caveats D Personalization FAQ

xii

Related Information Sources

This book is included on the Oracle Applications Documentation Library, which is supplied in the Release 12 Media Pack. You can download soft-copy documentation as PDF files from the Oracle Technology Network at http://otn.oracle.com/documentation, or you can purchase hard-copy documentation from the Oracle Store at http://oraclestore.oracle.com. The Oracle Applications Release 12 Documentation Library contains the latest information, including any documents that have changed significantly between releases. If substantial changes to this book are necessary, a revised version will be made available on the "virtual" documentation library on My Oracle Support (formerly OracleMetaLink).

If this guide refers you to other Oracle Applications documentation, use only the latest Release 12 versions of those guides.

Online Documentation

All Oracle Applications documentation is available online (HTML or PDF).

• Online Help - Online help patches (HTML) are available on My Oracle Support.

• PDF Documentation - See the Oracle Applications Documentation Library for

current PDF documentation for your product with each release. The Oracle Applications Documentation Library is also available on My Oracle Support and is updated frequently.

• Oracle Electronic Technical Reference Manual - The Oracle Electronic Technical

Reference Manual (eTRM) contains database diagrams and a detailed description of database tables, forms, reports, and programs for each Oracle Applications product. This information helps you convert data from your existing applications and integrate Oracle Applications data with non-Oracle applications, and write custom reports for Oracle Applications products. The Oracle eTRM is available on My Oracle Support.

Related Guides

You should have the following related books on hand. Depending on the requirements of your particular installation, you may also need additional manuals or guides.

Oracle Applications Concepts

This book is intended for all those planning to deploy Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12, or contemplating significant changes to a configuration. After describing the Oracle Applications architecture and technology stack, it focuses on strategic topics, giving a broad outline of the actions needed to achieve a particular goal, plus the installation and configuration choices that may be available.

Oracle Applications Developer's Guide

This guide contains the coding standards followed by the Oracle Applications

 xiii

development staff. It describes the Oracle Application Object Library components needed to implement the Oracle Applications user interface described in the Oracle Applications User Interface Standards for Forms-Based Products. It provides information to help you build your custom Oracle Forms Developer forms so that they integrate with Oracle Applications. In addition, this guide has information for customizations in features such as concurrent programs, flexfields, messages, and logging.

Oracle Applications Flexfields Guide

This guide provides flexfields planning, setup, and reference information for the Oracle Applications implementation team, as well as for users responsible for the ongoing maintenance of Oracle Applications product data. This guide also provides information on creating custom reports on flexfields data.

Oracle Application Framework Developer's Guide

This guide contains the coding standards followed by the Oracle Applications development staff to produce applications built with Oracle Application Framework. This guide is available in PDF format on My Oracle Support and as online documentation in JDeveloper 10g with Oracle Application Extension.

Oracle Applications Installation Guide: Using Rapid Install

This book is intended for use by anyone who is responsible for installing or upgrading Oracle Applications. It provides instructions for running Rapid Install either to carry out a fresh installation of Oracle Applications Release 12, or as part of an upgrade from Release 11i to Release 12. The book also describes the steps needed to install the technology stack components only, for the special situations where this is applicable.

Oracle Applications System Administrator's Guide Documentation Set

This documentation set provides planning and reference information for the Oracle Applications System Administrator. Oracle Applications System Administrator's Guide - Configuration contains information on system configuration steps, including defining concurrent programs and managers, enabling Oracle Applications Manager features, and setting up printers and online help. Oracle Applications System Administrator's Guide

- Maintenance provides information for frequent tasks such as monitoring your system with Oracle Applications Manager, administering Oracle E-Business Suite Secure Enterprise Search, managing concurrent managers and reports, using diagnostic utilities including logging, managing profile options, and using alerts. Oracle Applications System Administrator's Guide - Security describes User Management, data security, function security, auditing, and security configurations.

Oracle Applications User's Guide

This guide explains how to navigate, enter data, query, and run reports using the user interface (UI) of Oracle Applications. This guide also includes information on setting user profiles, as well as running and reviewing concurrent requests.

Oracle E-Business Suite Diagnostics User's Guide

This manual contains information on implementing, administering, and developing diagnostics tests in the Oracle E-Business Suite Diagnostics framework.

xiv

Oracle E-Business Suite Integrated SOA Gateway User's Guide

This guide describes the high level service enablement process, explaining how users can browse and view the integration interface definitions and services residing in Oracle Integration Repository.

Oracle E-Business Suite Integrated SOA Gateway Implementation Guide

This guide explains how integration repository administrators can manage and administer the service enablement process (based on the service-oriented architecture) for both native packaged public integration interfaces and composite services (BPEL type). It also describes how to invoke Web services from Oracle E-Business Suite by employing the Oracle Workflow Business Event System; how to manage Web service security; and how to monitor SOAP messages.

Oracle E-Business Suite Integrated SOA Gateway Developer's Guide

This guide describes how system integration developers can perform end-to-end service integration activities. These include orchestrating discrete Web services into meaningful end-to-end business processes using business process execution language (BPEL), and deploying BPEL processes at run time.

It also explains in detail how to invoke Web services using the Service Invocation Framework. This includes defining Web service invocation metadata, invoking Web services, managing errors, and testing the Web service invocation.

Oracle Web Applications Desktop Integrator Implementation and Administration Guide

Oracle Web ADI brings Oracle E-Business Suite functionality to a spreadsheet where familiar data entry and modeling techniques can be used to complete Oracle E-Business Suite tasks. You can create formatted spreadsheets on your desktop that allow you to download, view, edit, and create Oracle E-Business Suite data that you can then upload. Use this guide to implement Oracle Web ADI and for information on defining mappings, layouts, style sheets, and other setup options.

Oracle Workflow Administrator's Guide

This guide explains how to complete the setup steps necessary for any product that includes workflow-enabled processes. It also describes how to manage workflow processes and business events using Oracle Applications Manager, how to monitor the progress of runtime workflow processes, and how to administer notifications sent to workflow users.

Oracle Workflow Developer's Guide

This guide explains how to define new workflow business processes and customize existing Oracle Applications-embedded workflow processes. It also describes how to define and customize business events and event subscriptions.

Oracle Workflow User's Guide

This guide describes how users can view and respond to workflow notifications and monitor the progress of their workflow processes.

 xv

Oracle Workflow API Reference

This guide describes the APIs provided for developers and administrators to access Oracle Workflow.

Oracle Workflow Client Installation Guide

This guide describes how to install the Oracle Workflow Builder and Oracle XML Gateway Message Designer client components for Oracle E-Business Suite.

Integration Repository

The Oracle Integration Repository is a compilation of information about the service endpoints exposed by the Oracle E-Business Suite of applications. It provides a complete catalog of Oracle E-Business Suite's business service interfaces. The tool lets users easily discover and deploy the appropriate business service interface for integration with any system, application, or business partner.

The Oracle Integration Repository is shipped as part of the E-Business Suite. As your instance is patched, the repository is automatically updated with content appropriate for the precise revisions of interfaces in your environment.

Do Not Use Database Tools to Modify Oracle Applications Data

Oracle STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that you never use SQL*Plus, Oracle Data Browser, database triggers, or any other tool to modify Oracle Applications data unless otherwise instructed.

Oracle provides powerful tools you can use to create, store, change, retrieve, and maintain information in an Oracle database. But if you use Oracle tools such as SQL*Plus to modify Oracle Applications data, you risk destroying the integrity of your data and you lose the ability to audit changes to your data.

Because Oracle Applications tables are interrelated, any change you make using an Oracle Applications form can update many tables at once. But when you modify Oracle Applications data using anything other than Oracle Applications, you may change a row in one table without making corresponding changes in related tables. If your tables get out of synchronization with each other, you risk retrieving erroneous information and you risk unpredictable results throughout Oracle Applications.

When you use Oracle Applications to modify your data, Oracle Applications automatically checks that your changes are valid. Oracle Applications also keeps track of who changes information. If you enter information into database tables using database tools, you may store invalid information. You also lose the ability to track who has changed your information because SQL*Plus and other database tools do not keep a record of changes.

xvi

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Customization Overview

• Configuration

• Personalization

• Extensibility

• Interoperability

Customization Overview

Oracle Applications has a layered architecture, where each layer encapsulates the maximum reusable set of features without creating dependencies on higher layers. Such architecture enhances reusability of functionality and makes possible global customizations. The task of customizing an Oracle Application can fall into one of a few categories:

Customization Primer

• Configuration, page 1-2: using pre-built features to fine-tune the application to match the business and deployment practices of a particular customer. Configuration examples:

• Setup of a chart of accounts.

• Setup of business groups or organizations.

• Setup of logging and auditing profiles.

• Personalization, page 1-4: declaratively tailoring the user interface (UI) look-and-feel, layout or visibility of page content to suite a business need or a user preference. Personalization examples:

• Tailor the color scheme of the UI.

Customization Primer 1-1

• Tailor the order in which table columns are displayed.

• Tailor a query result.

• Extensibility, page 1-7: extending the functionality of an application, beyond what can be done through personalization. Extensibility examples:

• Add new functional flows.

• Extend or override existing functional flows.

• Extend or override existing business logic.

• Interoperability, page 1-9: interfacing Oracle Applications with third party applications and service providers. Interoperability examples:

• Interface with a single sign on server.

• Interface with a credit rating service.

• Interface with a legacy application.

These customization categories aren't always clear cut. Certainly, in some cases, customization tasks can even span a couple of categories. This book is designed to give a high level perspective of the various customization categories, and discusses only those categories that OA Framework facilitates. References to other resources are provided, where other customization categories are discussed in more detail.

Configuration

Configurations exist almost in every layer and every application. Broadly, configurations can be classified into three classes, as follows:

Deployment Topology Configurations

Deployment topology configurations map closely to the hardware topography of a deployment and are mostly done through technology stack configuration parameters. Examples:

• Setting up the number of Java Virtual Machines (VM) to run on each middle-tier server.

• Setting up the number of database connections.

• Setting up the JServ parameters.

Configurations under this category are documented in greater detail in each technology

1-2 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

stack layer's respective administration manuals, which include the following:

• Oracle Applications Maintenance Procedures

• Oracle Applications Maintenance Utilities

• Oracle Applications Installation Guide: Using Rapid Install

• Oracle Applications Upgrade Guide

Global Functionality Configurations

Global functionality configurations cut across application families and are mostly done through shared technologies such as AOL (Applications Object Library), TCA (Trading Community Architecture), Tasks, Notes, and so on. Examples:

• Setting up the multi-org hierarchy.

• Setting up the various party business relationships.

• Setting up various Profiles and Responsibilities.

Configurations under this category are documented in greater detail in the respective layer's implementation and administration manuals, which include the following:

• Oracle Applications Multiple Organizations Implementation Guide

• Oracle Applications Flexfields Guide

• Oracle Applications System Administrator's Guide Documentation Set

• Oracle Workflow Administrator's Guide

Application or Functional Area Configurations

Configurations associated with a particular functional area (such as accounting) or application. Examples:

• Setting up General Ledger chart of accounts.

• Setting up employee benefit packages.

• Setting up an online catalog.

Configurations under this category are documented in a greater detail in a respective application's implementation manual, grouped under:

• ERP product manuals

Customization Primer 1-3

• CRM product manuals

Personalization

OA Framework was designed with durable personalization capabilities. Durability of OA Framework personalization is largely attributed to the declarative architecture and the object-oriented approach underlying the implementation. Declarative UI component definitions are stored in the form of meta-data in a database repository. Personalizations are translated into offsets from the base meta-data definition and stored separately. At runtime, the applicable personalizations meta-data is uploaded from the repository and layered over the base meta-data definition to produce the net effect. Product upgrades and patches affect only the base meta-data definition, so customer personalizations continue to function properly as applicable.

Personalization Levels

The built-in personalization UI facilitates a variety of personalization features at a number of different levels within the following user groups:

Oracle's In-House E-Business Suite Developer

• Seeded Function Level - like the Function Level available to Administrators (see the following section), but personalizations made at this level can only be changed or deleted by Oracle.

• Seeded User Level - like the User Level available to End Users (see the following section), but personalizations made at this level can only be changed or deleted by Oracle. (Also referred to as "Oracle-seeded user-level" personalizations.)

• Other seeded levels - Oracle Applications Developers can create and ship personalizations at any of the Administrator personalization levels discussed in the following section, but these are not protected against change and deletion by Administrators at the customer site.

For additional information, refer to Chapter 4: Implementing Specific UI Features: Personalizable Pages in the OA Framework Developer's Guide.

Oracle Applications Administrator

• Function Level - the customer administrator can define functions and use them as context for granular level personalizations. For example, you can create a function-level personalization to "hide the salary field, if the user is updating an employee record, but not when the user is creating a new employee".

• Industry Level - the customer administrator can use the delivered set of predefined industry categories to define personalizations according to vertical market

1-4 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

distinctions.

Seeded personalizations may be provided at this level, but customer administrators can also create their own admin-level Industry personalizations.

• Localization Level - the customer administrator can use locales as context for

personalizations such as "showing a different address field label based on country settings".

• Site Level - the customer administrator can introduce global personalizations that

affect all users with access to the given application component, such as "setting the number of rows shown in a table".

• Organization Level - the customer administrator can introduce personalizations

that affect all users belonging to a particular organization or business unit with access to the application component. Example: "sort notifications by age for one organization and by urgency for another".

• Responsibility Level - the customer administrator can introduce personalizations

that affect all users of a particular responsibility with access to the application component. Example: "show a trend graph for the sales manager responsibility".

• Seeded User Level - like the User Level available to End Users (see below), but

personalizations made at this level are visible to all users and can only be changed or deleted by the customer administrator. (Also referred to as "admin-seeded user-level" personalizations.)

• Refer to Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets, page 3-1 for additional information.

Oracle Applications User

• Application Users can save personalized views of a query results region and retrieve them at a later time. User level personalizations aren't seen by other users.

• Refer to Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets, page 3-1 for additional information.

Available Personalizations

The following administrator and end user personalizations are available:

Administrator Personalizations

• Change number of rows displayed in a table.

• Change product branding (image).

Customization Primer 1-5

• Change region header icon.

• Hide or show regions and items.

• Change layout order of regions and items within the boundaries of the parent region.

• Include or exclude descriptive flexfield segments.

• Define up to three sorting levels for tabulated data.

• Filter (restrict querying of) tabular data.

• Change item labels and region headers.

• Change required state of non-mandatory items.

• Update allowed state for updateable items.

• Enable totals for table columns, when applicable.

• Alter the item cascading style sheet (CSS) - to personalize the look and feel of an item.

• Set a default value for an item.

• Define tips (in line instructions and usage help) for associated items.

• Add new items to an existing region. Typically, as part of an extensibility project, where new items are limited to specific styles.

• All administrator personalizations are visible to the end user.

• System Personalizations - in addition to the above, the following are some cross application personalizations facilitated by both OA Framework and Application Object Library:

• Branding

• Style sheets

• Images

• Responsibilities

• Menus

• Messages

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• Lookup Codes

• Pre-packaged Flexfields

• Customizing Look and Feel

End User Personalizations

Unlike Administrators, Users can create and save several personalized viewsthat can be retrieved conveniently at a later time. That said, end-user personalized views are limited in scope to Query regions with search results tables. For these regions, end-users can personalize any of the following features:

• Change the number of rows displayed in a table.

• Hide or show regions and items (results table columns are a popular example).

• Change the layout order of regions and items within the boundaries of the parent region (order of results table columns are a popular example).

• Define up to three sorting levels for tabulated data.

• Filter (restrict query) tabular data.

Extensibility

• Change item labels and region headers.

• Enable totals for table columns, when applicable.

OA Framework was designed with durable extensibility capabilities. Durability of OA Framework extensibility is largely attributed to the declarative architecture and the object-oriented approach underlying the implementation. The JDeveloper wizards and built-in personalization UI make it easier to extend Oracle Applications. In addition, Oracle customers can take advantage of the extensibility offered by Flexfields (Oracle

Applications Flexfields Guide) and Oracle Workflow (Oracle Workflow Administrator's Guide).

OA Framework extensibility is geared to enable customers to add new functionality and override or extend existing business logic beyond what can be accomplished via personalization. This includes the following extensibility scenarios:

• Adding new pages or complete flows.

• Adding a new attribute (i.e. field) to a prepackaged page.

• Extending attribute defaulting logic.

Customization Primer 1-7

• Extending validation logic.

To understand how extensibility works, one must understand how OA Framework applications are built. Please refer to the following sections in the OA Framework

Developers Guide:

• Chapter 2: OA Framework Essentials: Anatomy of an OA Framework Page

• Chapter 3: Building an OA Framework Application: Implementing the Model

• Chapter 3: Building an OA Framework Application: Implementing the View

Extensibility is often observed in the UI, but implementation is mostly centered on the underlying business objects. The following diagram depicts the BC4J objects involved when extending an OA Framework application.

The first row of the diagram represents an exhaustive list of all possible objects a developer might create when creating an entity object. The first box illustrates that when creating an entity object, two files are generated: the meta-data definition XML file and the actual implementation Java class file. Entity Objects handle attribute level and record level validations. These validations often need to use other View Objects, called Validation View Objects (VVO). Validation View Objects are grouped under a Validation Application Module (VAM). Like Entity Objects, creating a VVO and a VAM generates a meta-data definition XML file and an implementation java class file for each object.

Finally, the Entity Object sometimes relies on a helping class to offer, among other services, a validation service optimized for usage by other Entity Objects. This helper class is called the Entity Expert and is linked to the Entity Object through an Entity Object property.

1-8 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

For example, you may be satisfied with extending the Entity Expert to override a validation method such as isSupplierValid. In such a case, it is not wise to reference the extended Entity Expert (MyEntityExpert) directly from the base Entity Object (EntityEO.XML), as such an approach does not survive upgrades.

A durable approach requires extending the base Entity Object (using the JDeveloper Wizards) and updating the entity expert property on the extended Entity Object to point to the extended Entity Expert.

Interoperability

Implementing Oracle Applications for established customers sometimes involves interfacing with legacy applications or third party services. Interoperability scenarios can be classified into three levels:

Note: The diagram illustrates a case in which all objects are extended,

which is not always the case. In most of the situations, you may be satisfied with extending just a portion of these objects.

Caution: Never edit the base definition of an object or make a copy of a

base object. Always extend the relevant object and use BC4J substitutions to reference the extended object.

• Deployment Wide - these involve cross application services that can be interfaced transparently from the application. Example: integration with a single-signon server.

• Application Specific - these involve special interoperability features that the application is directly aware of. Example: integration between Oracle iPayment and credit card processors. These are documented in the respective application implementation manuals.

• Function Specific - these involve industry standards for publishing a variety of interfaces used to interoperate with third party applications and services. Such industry standards include Web Services, Enterprise Java Beans, MIME, and so on.

In addition to the above, the Oracle Applications technology stack is consolidating around the OA Framework technology stack. In the interim, some CRM applications are not migrated from the JTT technology stack. Instead, OA Framework has created interoperability solutions that allow for these technology stacks to coexist and facilitate a smooth user experience upon transition between technology stacks.

Customization Primer 1-9

Personalizing OA Framework Applications

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Branding

• Customizing Look-and-Feel (CLAF)

• Icons

• Responsibilities and Menus

• Messages

• Lookup Codes

• Style Sheets

Branding

As described in the Browser Look-And-Feel (BLAF) guidelines for branding on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) [http://otn.oracle.com/tech/blaf/specs/branding.html], every OA Framework page reserves the upper left-hand corner for either of the following:

• Basic (Non-Contextual) Branding, page 2-1 - includes corporate ("Oracle") and product brand names

• In-Context Branding, page 2-3 - includes user-selected contextual information in addition to the corporate and product brand names

All OA Framework pages must provide basic branding support. In-context branding may be used in select cases.

Basic (Non-Contextual) Branding

Basic branding includes the display of corporate ("Oracle") and product brand names. It displays the product branding as text drawn from one of several possible sources. The global buttons are displayed as text links only. It supports a regular layout style, as in

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-1

the following example.

Basic branding (corresponds to BLAF "Regular" layout)

Personalizing the Corporate Branding Image

Every page contains a corporateBranding page element that has an Oracle corporate image file assigned to it. That image file is /OA_MEDIA/FNDSSCORP.gif, which contains the Oracle corporate image. You can change the corporate branding image that appears on your pages in one of two ways:

• To globally override the Oracle corporate branding image with your own corporate

branding image, set the profile option Corporate Branding Image for Oracle Applications (FND_CORPORATE_BRANDING_IMAGE) to the name of an image file (GIF) that contains your corporate image. For example, MyCompanyImage.gif . The image file MyCompanyImage.gif should be placed under the $OA_MEDIA directory. This profile option should be set at the Site level and does not have a default value.

• Or, create an administrative-level personalization, page 5-8 for a specific page by

setting the Image URI property on the corporateBranding page element to a different image file. This updates the image only for the specific usage on that page.

Warning: Do not attempt to globally override the corporate branding

image by renaming your custom corporate branding image file as /OA_MEDIA/FNDSSCORP.gif. This results in distortion of your corporate image. When you render a page, OA Framework checks whether a value is set for the profile option Corporate Branding Image for Oracle Applications. If no value is set, it renders /OA_MEDIA/FNDSSCORP.gif as the corporate branding image and sets the image area size to 134 x 23 (which is the actual size of the image in FNDSSCORP.gif). If this profile option has a value set, it renders the content of the specified image file without specifying an image area size since the image size is as yet, unknown.

Personalizing Product Branding

The product branding is derived in one of three possible ways:

• Default behavior - If your OA Framework page is launched from the Navigator in

the E-Business Suite Personal Home Page, OA Framework automatically sets the

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branding text for you based on the current selected responsibility and page link. This ensures consistency between the options presented in the Navigator and the branding text displayed on the application page.

Note: The default branding is set only if the FND:Framework

Compatability Mode profile option value is set to 11.5.10.

• Declarative branding behavior - A developer may set the product branding declaratively on the page itself and override the default branding behavior. If this is the case, you can personalize the product branding text by creating an administrative-level personalization, page 5-8 for the page which sets the Text property on the productBranding: formattedText page element to the product name you want to display.

• OAPB override behavior - A developer may also define a form function and call it using the OAPB URL parameter with the page to specify the product branding text. When a developer specifies an OAPB parameter programmatically, it overrides both the default and the declarative branding behavior, if any. The only way to personalize the product branding text in this case is by logging into Oracle Applications and updating the User Function Name value for that branding function, using the Form Functions screen.

In-Context Branding

The in-context brand includes the corporate and product brand images. Additionally, contextual information renders below the corporate and product information, as shown in the following example.

Example of In-Context Branding

To personalize in-context branding, create an administrative-level personalization, page 5-8 for the page that sets the Text property on the productBranding: formattedText page element to the product name you want to display. Then set the Text property on the inContextBranding: formattedText page element to the context you wish to display. For example, the Text property of the inContextBranding: formattedText page element displayed in the preceding example is "Customer <b>Sun Microsystems -

Note:

This style of branding is intended to be used only for cases where the user makes a contextual selection when starting work that remains unchanged for the life of the application or task.

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-3

Menlo Park</b>".

Customizing Look-and-Feel (CLAF)

Oracle E-Business Suite applications are currently shipped with Oracle's corporate Browser Look-and-Feel (BLAF), which supplies a rich set of components for web-based applications. Although OA Personalization Framework provides you with the ability to change the look of a page by changing user interface (UI) component properties, adding UI components, and so on, it does not allow you to create and apply an entirely new Look-and-Feel to an application.

The Customizing Look-and-Feel (CLAF) feature addresses this issue by providing a self-service based UI to modify the Look-and-Feel of an application. The feature enhances OA Personalization Framework by allowing personalization administrators to:

• Create a new Look-and-Feel (LAF).

• Register the new LAF.

• Apply the LAF at the Application, Responsibility, Site, Organization or User levels.

• Update a custom LAF.

UIX currently provides OA Framework with the following LAFs, which can be used directly in web applications:

• Browser Look-and-Feel (BLAF) - the default LAF that conforms to Oracle's

corporate UI guidelines.

• Minimal Look-and-Feel (MLAF) - a simplified version of BLAF with a lightweight

UI.

• Base Look-and-Feel - the root of all LAF implementations.

• Simple Look-and-Feel (SLAF) - a LAF built on top of Base Look-and-Feel to offer

more customization features, and to serve as an illustration of how to create LAF extensions on top of a base LAF.

You can build custom LAFs by extending Base LAF, Simple LAF, or another custom LAF.

Note:

You cannot extend BLAF or MLAF.

Infrastructure of a Look-and-Feel

A Look-and-Feel is defined by three major components: style sheets (XSS), page 2-5,

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Style Sheets

Icons

Renderers

icons, page 2-5, and renderers, page 2-5.

A style sheet document (.xss extension) lists the styles for the Look-and-Feel. Styles control the color and font of HTML components. For a complete discussion of style sheets and styles, please refer to the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 in this chapter. Style sheets are located in /OA_HTML/cabo/styles.

See also the list of global styles, page 2-21 provided by UIX later in this chapter.

Some web beans are composed of one or more icons that control the web bean's Look-and-Feel. Icons are identified by a name. For example, the Hide/Show web bean consists of the "disclosed" icon. Icons are present in the LAF configuration file. For additional information, refer to the Icons topic, page 2-26 in this chapter.

A renderer controls how a web bean lays out its children and generates HTML. If the layout of the LAF you wish to create is different from the standard layout provided by Oracle, you will have to write new renderers for those components that differ in their layout. You define renderers declaratively as templates (.uit extension). Following is an example template definition for a sidebar component:

<templateDefinition xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/uix/ui" xmlns:ui="http://xmlns.oracle.com/uix/ui" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" targetNamespace="http://www.example.org/demo/templates" localName="sidebar"> <content> … </content> </templateDefinition>

You should have one template renderer for each component that has a custom layout. The section between the <content> and </content> tags contains the desired UI layout and any references to other UI components. The UI layout is represented in uiXML and HTML.

Important:

You can use a template renderer to customize the layout of some - but not all - components. Following is a list of the components with customizable layouts:

• borderLayout

• breadCrumbs

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-5

• bulletedList

• button

• contentContainer

• flowLayout

• footer

• globalButtonBar

• globalHeader

• header

• hideShow

• link

• messageComponentLayout

• pageButtonBar

• pageLayout

• printablePageLayout

• rowLayout

• sideBar

• sideNav

• stackLayout

• subTabBar

• subTabLayout

• tabBar

• tableLayout

• tip

• train

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Look-and-Feel Extension (Custom Skins)

When you define a new Look-and-Feel, you can also alter the layout of its inherited Look-and-Feel, thereby creating what is called a custom skin. To complete the creation of a custom skin, you must register any custom renderers, page 2-20, custom facet renders, page 2-7, and custom icons, page 2-20 for that skin, on your custom Look-and-Feel using the Customizing Look-and-Feel UI.

Note: A facet is an optimized variation of a LAF, usually created for a

specific output medium. For example, a printable version of a page can be implemented as a facet by excluding superfluous navigation and personalization controls that are not necessary for printed output.

OA Framework will provide a set of skins or web page layout themes that extend the base and simple LAFs from UIX. You can use these skins to change the way Oracle E-Business Suite application pages lay out their content. These skins may be applied at the Site, Responsibility, Application, Organization or User level by setting the profile option Oracle Applications Look and Feel (APPS_LOOK_AND_FEEL). The skins that OA Framework will provide are under development.

For more information, see Custom Renderer and Custom Icon Standards, page 2-20.

Example

The following code is an example of content in a LAF extension XML that defines a new skin. This example represents a LAF identified by a family called customlaf. Since it extends the simple.desktop LAF, it inherits all the styles from the UIX Simple Look-and-Feel (SLAF). This custom LAF overrides the renderer for page layout by providing its own template-based renderer for page layout. It also provides a custom printable facet page layout renderer (which is initiated to render the page when you run the page in printable page mode) and some custom icons.

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-7

<renderers>  <renderer name="ui:pageLayout"> <template name="pageLayout.uit"/> </renderer> </renderers>

<renderers facets="printable">  <renderer name="ui:pageLayout"> <template name="printablePageLayout.uit"/> </renderer> </renderers>

<icons>  <icon name="ui:tabBarStart"> <contextImage uri="images/laf/customlaf/tbs.gif" width="8" height="26"/> </icon> </icons>

Customizing Look-and-Feel (CLAF) User Interface

The Customizing Look-and-Feel feature provides a self-service user interface that allows you to create a new Look-and-Feel, as well as update an existing Look-and-Feel. It does not, however, provide a user interface to create custom template renderers. You must first create/write any custom template renderers that you require before you can create the look and feel.

Prerequisites

• You should have a good knowledge of UIX web beans and be able to identify which specific UIX component maps to a given component in your web site.

• You should have a good understanding of UIX XSS infrastructure and be able to identify what color and font styles are associated with each component. Refer to the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 and the Global Styles table, page 2-21 for additional information.

• You must ensure that you have write permission on the file system where OA Personalization Framework is running. If write permission is not granted before you attempt to create or update a Look-and-Feel, the UI will throw an exception.

• You need to write a template renderer only if a component has a layout and

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children that are different from that of the Browser Look-and-Feel (BLAF). If you need to register a new template renderer, follow these steps before proceeding to the Accessing the CLAF UI section, page 2-9 following:

1. Name your custom template renderer file as <webBeanType>.uit. For example:

sideBar.uit, tabBar.uit, or pageLayout.uit.

2. Create a folder named <lookandFeelId> under $HTML_TOP/cabo/templates,

where <lookandFeelId> would be a LAF name, such as custom-desktop.

Place the <webBeanType>.uit file in the folder $HTML_TOP/cabo/templates/

<lookandFeelId>. For example to register a new template renderer for tabBar, move tabBar.uit so that resides as

$HTML_TOP/cabo/templates/custom-desktop/tabBar.uit, where custom-desktop is the <lookandFeelId> folder.

Continue with the Accessing the CLAF UI, page 2-9 and Creating a New LAF,

page 2-10 sections to create new LAF.

To update an already registered template renderer, first replace the old <webBeanType>.uit file with your new modified version of the <webBeanType>.uit file. Next, proceed to the Accessing the CLAF UI, page 2-9 and Updating a LAF, page 2-18 sections. Make sure you replace <webBeanType>.uit in the appropriate <lookandFeelId> folder.

Accessing the CLAF UI

The Customizing Look-and-Feel user interface can be accessed in one of two ways:

• Using the Oracle Applications Users window, add the responsibility

FND_CLAF_ADMINISTRATOR to the user who should be given permission to create new LAFs. Make sure you bounce your web server after saving the change so that the setting takes effect. A Customizing Look and Feel Administrator responsibility should now be available for the user. After selecting that responsibility, the user should then select Customizing Look and Feel Administrator to navigate to the first page of the CLAF UI.

Important:

To ensure that your template renderer registers

properly, make sure the new LAF you create has the same LAF name as the <lookandFeelId> folder you created in the second step.

• In the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 4-16 of the Admin Personalization UI, the Page Hierarchy HGrid displays a column called Customize Look and Feel. A Customize Look and Feel (pen) icon appears in the column if the following two conditions are met:

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-9

When you select the Customize Look and Feel icon in the HGrid for a specific page element, you navigate to the second page of the CLAF UI (Customize Styles and Icons, page 2-12 ) for that page element.

Creating a New LAF

Aside from creating custom template renderers yourself, the CLAF UI provides all the other features needed to create a new look and feel. The UI allows you to:

• Specify the new Look-and-Feel identifier or name. The identifier must be unique, all

• The application page's current Look-and-Feel is customizable. For example if the current Look-and-Feel is BLAF, an icon will never appear because BLAF is not customizable.

• The component is LAF customizable, page 2-25. This means that only a component associated with a style or icon can have the Customize Look and Feel icon enabled. If a personalization administrator does not have access to the Customizing Look and Feel Administrator responsibility when he or she selects the icon, OA Framework returns an error.

lower case, and must follow the standard <lookAndFeelFamilyName>-<device> naming convention, where <device> is either desktop or pda.

• Specify the family under which the Look-and-Feel belongs (in all lower case). Multiple LAFs for different devices can exist under the same family. For example, myclaf-desktop and myclaf-pda both exist under the myclaf family.

• Specify the base Look-and-Feel that your new custom Look-and-Feel shall extend. All styles, icons, and renderers are inherited from this base look and feel, and can be overridden.

• Modify the styles inherited from the base Look-and-Feel to suit the colors and fonts of the new Look-and-Feel you want to create.

• Modify the icons inherited from the base Look-and-Feel to suit the new look and feel you want to create.

• Get immediate feedback on the changes being made to styles and icons using the preview page.

• Register any custom template renderers you define for any web beans.

The following steps outline how to create a new custom LAF or skin using the CLAF user interface:

Evaluate a good sampling of pages in the web site for which you want to create a new Look-and-Feel or skin. Determine whether the overall layout and component order as specified in BLAF is sufficient for the new skin. If it is, then you do not

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need to create a new LAF, but simply need to modify certain styles or icons. If it is not, that is, the layout and component order differs from that of BLAF, you will need to define renderers for each of those components.

2. Log in as a user with access to the Customizing Look and Feel Administrator

responsibility. Select the menu option Customizing Look and Feel Administrator to initiate the CLAF UI.

3. In the Look and Feel Configuration page, select the Create Look and Feel radio

button.

Creating a LAF in the Look and Feel Configuration page

Specify values for the following parameters, then select Next:

• Name - (Required) A unique name for the LAF, in all lower case, following the

naming standard <lookAndFeelFamilyName>-<device>.

Caution:

The name of your new LAF must not contain upper case letters. Although you can enter a name with upper case letters, the OA Personalization Framework converts them to lower case in the filename when saving the LAF. If you try to update this LAF later, the system will not be able to find it, and will generate an error.

OA Framework automatically generates an internal .xml file and an .xss file using this name. For example, if you name your LAF custom-desktop, OA

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-11

Framework automatically generates the Look-and-Feel configuration file $HTML_TOP/cabo/lafs/custom-desktop.xml, and the stylesheet file $HTML_TOP/cabo/styles/custom-desktop.xss.

• Family - (Required) The family under which this LAF is being created. Specify

the family as all lower case. For example, the custom LAF family can have two LAFs named custom-desktop and custom-pda.

• Description - (Optional) Enter text to describe the LAF that you are creating.

• Base Look and Feel - (Required) The base LAF that the LAF you are creating

will extend. The set of existing LAFs in your environment is displayed in the poplist.

Note: You cannot extend the Oracle corporate BLAF (Browser

Look-and-Feel) or the MLAF (Minimal Look-and-Feel).

In the Customize Styles and Icons page that appears, the set of global named styles

is displayed by default. The Component poplist also displays global by default to indicate that the page is currently displaying the global named styles, page 2-21 that affect more than one component. You can also choose the Selectors or Icons sub tabs to display any global selectors or global icons.

2-12 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

Customize Styles and Icons page.

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-13

6. Modify named styles or selectors - In the Named Styles or Selectors sub tabs,

identify the style you want to change. Styles control color or font properties. You can add a new custom style by selecting Add Style or delete a custom style by selecting the Delete icon.

Select Show to expand the detail region for a style or selector to make any of the following modifications:

• Add a new property or included style to a style or selector by choosing Add Property and using the Type poplist to specify the type of property to add.

• Change the value of any existing property.

• Delete any property or included style from a style or selector .

Note: You cannot directly update an included style. To replace an

included style, delete the existing one, then add a new one using the Add Property button.

Expanded detail region of the DarkAccentBorder global named style.

Modify icons (icons, page 2-20 may either be text-based or GIF image-based). Select the Icons sub-tab and identify the icon you want to modify. Select Show to expand the detail region for the icon to make any of the following modifications:

• Alter the icon's properties, such as height or width.

• Replace the existing icon with a different icon (such as replacing a text icon with an image icon).

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Expanded detail region of the global required icon.

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-15

8. If you wish to add or modify named styles, selectors or icons that are specific to a

component, use the Component poplist to select the component you wish to customize. Once you select a component, the page refreshes with a preview of the component beneath the Component poplist.

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Customize Styles and Icons page with a preview of the contentContainer component

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-17

Repeat Step 6, page 2-14 if you wish to modify the component's named styles/selectors or Step 7, page 2-14 to modify the components named icons. Repeat this step for all the components you want to customize. Select Next when you are done.

Note: Any custom template renderers you defined are registered

here.

9. In the Review and Submit page, select Go if you wish to preview your new custom

LAF against the Toolbox Tutorial Home Page that is shipped with OA Framework.

Alternatively, you may specify your own page to preview, using the format OA.jsp?param1=value1&param2=value2&... in the Page Preview URL field and selecting Go.

Review and Submit page

10. If you are satisfied with the previewed changes, select Finish to save your changes

and create/register your new custom LAF, otherwise select Back to return to the previous pages in the CLAF flow to make additional modifications.

11.

To run your Oracle E-Business Suite applications pages with your custom LAF, log in to Oracle Applications and set the profile option Oracle Applications Look and Feel (APPS_LOOK_AND_FEEL) to the custom LAF that you created, as it appears in the poplist.

12.

Bounce your web server, then run your application pages to see the new LAF take effect.

Updating a LAF

You can also use the CLAF UI to update an existing Look-and-Feel. The UI allows you

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to:

• Modify any styles or icons defined in the Look-and-Feel.

• Change any renderers registered with the Look-and-Feel.

The following steps outline how to update a LAF or skin using the CLAF user interface:

1. Access the CLAF UI using one of these two methods:

• Log in as a user with access to the Customizing Look and Feel Administrator

responsibility, and select the menu option Customizing Look and Feel Administrator to initiate the CLAF UI.

• In the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 4-16 of the Admin

Personalization UI, select the Customize Look and Feel (pen) icon in the Customize Look and Feel column of the Page Hierarchy HGrid. You can access the CLAF UI using this method if the appropriate conditions, page 2-9 are met.

In the Look and Feel Configuration page, select the Update Look and Feel radio

button.

Updating a LAF in the Look and Feel Configuration page

Specify the name of the Look-and-Feel that you want to update, then click Next.

Refer to Steps 5 and on, page 2-12 in the Creating a New LAF section, page 2-10 for the remaining steps that are also common to updating a LAF.

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-19

Deleting a LAF

You can use the CLAF UI to delete an existing custom Look-and-Feel.

To delete a custom Look-and-Feel:

1. Access the CLAF UI using one of the following methods:

• Log in as a user with access to the Customizing Look and Feel Administrator responsibility, and select the menu option Customizing Look and Feel Administrator to initiate the CLAF UI.

• In the Page Hierarchy Personalization page of the Admin Personalization UI, page 4-16, select the Customize Look and Feel (pen) icon in the Customize Look and Feel column of the Page Hierarchy HGrid. You can access the CLAF UI using this method if the appropriate conditions, page 2-9 are met.

2. On the Look and Feel Configuration page, select the Delete Look and Feel radio

button.

Deleting a LAF on the Look and Feel Configuration page

3. Select the name of the custom Look-and-Feel that you want to delete, then click

Delete.

4. On the Confirmation page that appears, click OK.

Custom Renderer and Custom Icon Standards

The following naming and directory standards must be followed:

• All custom template renderer files should be named as <webBeanType>.uit. For

example: sideBar.uit, tabBar.uit, or pageLayout.uit.

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Global Styles

• All template renderer files should reside under $HTML_TOP/cabo/templates/

<lookandFeelId>/ where <lookandFeelId> would be a LAF name, such as custom-desktop.

• All custom icon files should reside under $HTML_TOP/cabo/images/<lookandFeelId>

/ where <lookandFeelId> would be a LAF name, such as custom-desktop.

The following tables list description of the global styles that are provided by UIX.

Global alignment styles provided by UIX

Alignment Styles Description

CenterTextAlign Sets the text-align property to "center" regardless of the reading

direction.

RightTextAlign Sets the text-align property to "right" regardless of the reading

direction.

LeftTextAlign Sets the text-align property to "left" regardless of the reading

direction.

EndTextAlign Sets the text-align property to "right" for left-to-right reading

direction and "left" for right-to-left reading direction.

StartTextAlign Sets the text-align property to "left" for left-to-right reading

direction and "right" for right-to-left reading direction.

Global color styles provided by UIX

Color Style Description

LightAccentBorder The lightest border color in the accent color ramp.

MediumAccentBorder A slightly lighter border color in the accent color ramp.

VeryDarkAccentBorder The darkest border color in the accent color ramp.

DarkAccentBorder The primary border color in the accent color ramp.

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-21

Color Style Description

LightBorder The lightest border color in the core color ramp.

MediumBorder A slightly lighter border color in the core color ramp.

VeryDarkBorder The darkest border color in the core color ramp.

DarkBorder The primary border color in the core color ramp.

DisabledLinkForeground The default foreground color for disabled links.

VisitedLinkForeground The default foreground color for visited links.

ActiveLinkForeground The default foreground color for active links.

LinkForeground The default foreground color for inactive, unvisited links.

ErrorTextForeground The foreground color for error text (red).

SelectedTextForeground The foreground color for selected/highlighted text, or text which is

drawn on a dark background.

TextForeground The default text foreground color (black). See the Color Styles

section, page 2-34 in the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 for more information.

LightAccentForeground The lightest foreground color in the accent color ramp. This value is

computed relative to the DarkAccentForeground color.

MediumAccentForegroundA slightly lighter foreground color in the accent color ramp. This

value is computed relative to the DarkAccentForeground color.

VeryDarkAccentForegro und

DarkAccentForeground The primary foreground color in the accent color ramp.

LightForeground The lightest foreground color in the core color ramp. This value is

MediumForeground A slightly lighter foreground color in the core color ramp. This

The darkest foreground color in the accent color ramp. This value is computed relative to the DarkAccentForeground color.

computed relative to the DarkForeground color.

value is computed relative to the DarkForeground color.

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Color Style Description

VeryDarkForeground The darkest foreground color in the core color ramp. This value is

computed relative to the DarkForeground color.

DarkForeground The primary foreground color in the core color ramp.

TextBackground The default text background color (white). See the Color Styles

section, page 2-34 in the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 for more information.

LightAccentBackground The lightest background color in the accent color ramp. This value

is computed relative to the DarkAccentBackground color.

MediumAccentBackgroundA slightly lighter background color in the accent color ramp. This

value is computed relative to the DarkAccentBackground color.

VeryDarkAccentBackgro und

DarkAccentBackground The primary background color in the accent color ramp. Also

LightBackground The lightest background color in the core color ramp. This value is

MediumBackground A slightly lighter background color in the core color ramp. This

VeryDarkBackground The darkest background color in the core color ramp. This value is

DarkBackground The primary background color in the core color ramp. Also known

The darkest background color in the accent color ramp. This value is computed relative to the DarkAccentBackground color.

known as the Accent background color. See the Color Styles section, page 2-34 in the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 for more information.

computed relative to the DarkBackground color.

value is computed relative to the DarkBackground color.

computed relative to the DarkBackground color.

as the Core background color. See the Color Styles section, page 234 in the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 for more information.

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-23

Global font styles provided by UIX

Font Style Description

VeryLargeFont A very large version of the default font.

See the Font Size Styles section, page 2-32 and the Font Size Styles for Microsoft Windows Explorer section, page 2-33 in the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 for more information.

LargeFont A large version of the default font.

See the Font Size Styles section, page 2-32 and the Font Size Styles for Microsoft Windows Explorer section, page 2-33 in the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 for more information.

MediumFont A version of the default font which is slightly larger than the

default size. This is used for medium sized text, such as level 2 headers.

See the Font Size Styles section, page 2-32 and the Font Size Styles for Microsoft Windows Explorer section, page 2-33 in the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 for more information.

SmallFont A small version of the default font. This style is used for text which

is slightly smaller than the default, such as breadCrumb links.

See the Font Size Styles section, page 2-32 and the Font Size Styles for Microsoft Windows Explorer section, page 2-33 in the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 for more information.

VerySmallFont A very small version of the default font. This style is used for very

small text such as inline messages, and copyright and privacy messages.

See the Font Size Styles section, page 2-32 and the Font Size Styles for Microsoft Windows Explorer section, page 2-33 in the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 for more information.

DefaultBoldFont A bold version of the default font.

DefaultFont Specifies the default font for the Look-and-Feel. This style defines

both the default font family (as specified by the DefaultFontFamily named style) and the default font size.

See the Font Size Styles section, page 2-32 and the Font Size Styles for Microsoft Windows Explorer section, page 2-33 in the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 for more information.

2-24 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

Font Style Description

DefaultFontFamily Specifies the default font family list ("font-family" property) for the

Customizable Components

The following is a list of components whose Look-and-Feel may be customized using the CLAF UI:

• applicationSwitcher

• breadCrumbs x train

• button

• colorField

• contentContainer

• dateField

Look-and-Feel. See the Font Styles section, page 2-31 in the Style Sheets topic, page 2-28 for more information.

• footer

• globalButton

• globalHeader

• hGrid

• header

• hideShow

• lovInput

• messageBox

• separator

• sidebar

• sortableHeader

• tabBar

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-25

• table

• train

Known Issues

See a summary of key CLAF issues, page B-2 with suggested workarounds if available.

Personalization FAQ

The Personalization FAQ includes a number of entries that cover Customizing Look-and-Feel, page D-1 issues.

Note: If a side navigation menu is created by adding functions with

prompts to an HTML Sub Tab menu instead of an HTML sideBar menu, any look-and-feel changes using the CLAF tool on the sideBar component will not be supported on the menu.

Icons

For a detailed discussion of icons, refer to the BLAF Icon Specifications [http://otn.oracle.com/tech/blaf/specs/icons.html] on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

If you need to develop new icons to support your customizations, refer to Icons in BLAF Applications [http://otn.oracle.com/tech/blaf/specs/icons.html] and the BLAF Icon Naming Strategy [http://otn.oracle.com/tech/blaf/specs/icons/blaficon_namingstrategy.html] on OTN.

You may also want to look at the Icon Repository for BLAF [http://otn.oracle.com/tech/blaf/specs/iconList.html] on OTN to find the base templates that were used to create icons.

Icons are stored as gif image files in the OA_MEDIA directory. You can change the image of an icon in one of two ways:

• You can replace the appropriate image file with a file of the same name that contains an updated icon. This updates all instances of that icon globally.

• You can create an administrative-level personalization, page 5-8 for the page by setting the Image URI property on the image page element to a different image file. This updates the image for that specific usage of the icon.

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Responsibilities and Menus

For a detailed discussion of menus, responsibilities and other Applications security issues, refer to the "Managing Oracle Applications Security" chapter of the Oracle Applications System Administrator's Guide.

For a detailed discussion of menus in OA Framework pages, refer to "Menus" in the "Implementing the View" section of the OA Framework Developer's Guide.

Using the Oracle Applications Responsibilities screen, you can modify seeded responsibilities or define new ones to create the menu structure and business flows that match your business roles and requirements.

Menus serve two major purposes in Oracle Applications:

• Oracle Applications menus are a navigation tool for the user.

The menus are fully independent of the underlying code, whether it is OA Framework-based or Forms-based. In fact, the same page can be available from multiple menus, where the navigation paths can all vary substantially. You can use the Oracle Applications Menus screen to modify or define new menus.

• Oracle Applications menus are part of the Oracle Applications security model.

A menu must be assigned to a responsibility using the Oracle Applications Responsibilities screen, and a responsibility must be assigned to a valid user using the Oracle Applications Users screen. To see a given menu, you must be logged into Oracle Applications as the appropriate user.

Messages

For a detailed discussion of the Message Dictionary, refer to the Oracle Applications Developer's Guide. Also, the Oracle Applications User Interface Standards for Forms-Based Products guide has a nice summary of using messages, and contains useful general

rules.

You can change messages for OA Framework-based applications in the same way that you change messages for Forms-based applications. If you wish to personalize an error message or other long text, such as a long tip message, you can edit the message in which the error message or long text is stored. To identify the name of the message used for a long tip on a given page, navigate to the Personalize page, page 5-8 in the Admin-level Personalization UI, page 4-1 to identify the values set for the Tip Message Name and Tip Message Appl Short Name properties.

Lookup Codes

Lookup codes which define the display values primarily seen in poplists are handled in OA Framework-based applications the same way that they are handled in Forms-based

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-27

Style Sheets

applications. You can use the Oracle Applications Lookups page to update or define new lookups and lookup codes. For further information, refer to the online help for the Lookups page. The lookups data is stored in the FND_LOOKUPS table, and you may extract the lookups from there.

OA Personalization Framework uses custom style sheets (.xss files) to specify and manage the visual styles of the Look-and-Feel of applications built with OA Framework. One of the goals of custom style sheets is to allow presentation styles, such as fonts and colors, to be separated from the HTML content to which the styles are applied. This enables you to maintain a consistent Look-and-Feel for the application, yet manage the customizations of styles for different target audiences.

The custom style sheets employ XML Style Sheets (XSS) language, a language that is based on Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), but is designed for easy extraction of style information.

Style sheets are associated with a specific Look-and-Feel that you can create or update using the Customizing Look-and-Feel (CLAF) user interface, page 2-4. Creating a custom Look-and-Feel is also referred to as creating a new skin. With the CLAF UI, you do not need to create or modify custom style sheets directly to alter the styles in your Look-and-Feel. Instead, you use the CLAF UI to create or modify a custom Look-and-Feel (LAF) and modify the styles for that custom LAF.

Some of the benefits of the CLAF UI include:

• Applicable over any LAF (other than BLAF and minimal).

• Allows stylesheet, icon and layout (renderer) customization.

• Can define a new skin.

• One Look-and-Feel can extend another Look-and-Feel.

• Supported by UIX.

Although you do not have to work with XSS style sheets directly, the content of this document provides important information about the concepts of XSS that you should know before you start modifying styles in the CLAF UI.

The BLAF (Browser Look-and-Feel) style sheet (blaf.xss) defines Oracle's corporate Look-and-Feel for HTML applications.

Note:

You cannot extend BLAF or MLAF.

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Introduction to XSS

An XSS (stylesheet) document consists of a set of style sheets, each of which defines a set of visual styles to be applied to the Look-and-Feel of a web page. Styles control two key aspects of HTML components - color and font. Following is an example of a base style sheet document:

<style selector=".OraGlobalButtonText"> <property name="color">black</property> <property name="font-weight">bold</property> <property name="font-size">80%</property> <property name="text-decoration">none</property> </style> </styleSheet> </styleSheetDocument>

Style Sheets

Each style sheet is defined with a <styleSheet> element. You can designate which end-user environment to apply a style sheet to by assigning attributes, also called "variants", to the <styleSheet> element. XSS supports the following five variants:

Styles

• Locale (e.g. locales="ja" or "en_US")

• Reading direction (e.g. direction="rtl" or "ltr")

• Browser (e.g. browsers="Netscape" or "Internet Explorer")

• Browser major version (e.g. versions="4" or "5")

• Operating system (e.g. platforms="Windows" or "Linux")

A style sheet that contains no variant attributes is known as a base style sheet. The following example shows a style sheet that defines styles for Internet Explorer users in the Japanese locale:

Each <styleSheet> element contains one or more <style> elements. In general, a style element is identified by a name and a set of one or more properties as shown below:

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-29

Named Styles

A property is identified by a name and a value. It defines a facet for the style (for example, font size for a particular font style) and is a CSS property. Generally, an XSS document would have about 100-250 style definitions. Each XSS style definition can use from 1 to 5 CSS properties. There are about 100 valid CSS properties available in all. These properties are listed in the W3C CSS Reference [http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_reference.asp].

Styles are classified into two types:

• Named styles, page 2-30 - which are named bundles of properties that may also include other named styles and is used to define some of the basic units of reusability for the Look-and-Feel.

• Selectors, page 2-30 - which include properties, and/or named styles and is used by a specific web bean to control its Look-and-Feel.

Often, many style definitions share common properties, such as a base font or standard background color. In XSS, you can define a named style for such common properties, which can then be referenced by other named styles or selectors in the XSS document. This ability to include a named style allows you to make and maintain simple and concise customizations to the style sheets.

Selectors

For example, the "DefaultFont" named style below defines the font and font size for two other styles, each of which reference the "DefaultFont" using the <includeStyle> element.

<stylesheet><style name="DefaultFont"> <property name="font-family">Arial</property> <property name="font-size">10pt</property> </style> <style selector=".OraFieldText"><includeStyle name="DefaultFont"> <property name="color">#000000</property> </style> <style name="LinkFont"><includeStyle name="DefaultFont"> <property name="color">#663300</property> </style> </styleSheet>

A <style> element can also be identified by a selector, which associates the style with a particular web bean or set of web beans in a HTML document. Selectors are defined by a list of properties and can also reference other named styles using the <includeStyle> element. The following example shows the style definition for the HTML OraFieldText element:

2-30 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

In this example, the selector ".OraFieldText" indicates that the properties defined by this style should be applied to any HTML element with a class attribute value of OraFieldText. The style itself is a black Default Font (Arial 10pt) text.

Reusing Styles and Properties

As mentioned above, you can use the <includeStyle> element in your style definition to include all the properties from another style in your style definition. You can also use the <includeProperty> element to include only a specific property of another style in your style definition. For example, the following styleA is defined by a property called prop1, all the properties from styleB, and a property called prop3, which is derived from property prop2 of styleC.

Global Versus Component-Specific Styles

All styles and selectors can be further grouped as global styles or component-specific styles:

• Global styles - affect more than one component. Examples of global styles include

DefaultFont and LightBackground.

• Component-specific styles - affect only one component. An example of a

component-specific style is OraContentContainerHeaderText which controls the font properties of the header text of the content container web bean. A set of twenty-one web beans in OA Framework have custom styles defined for them that can be further customized.

Most customizations that you make to a style sheet involve the set of forty-five Global named styles that control about ninety percent of the Look-and-Feel of the application.

Font Styles

One of the most common customizations you may wish to make to the look and feel of the Oracle Applications user interface is to modify the default font. Although a stylesheet may define many different styles that affect font properties, all these styles refer to a single named style that defines the default font family. As a result, if you wish to change the font family properties for all the styles defined in a style sheet, you need to make only a single style override to the DefaultFontFamily style.

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-31

Style Properties Description

Font Size Styles

DefaultFontFamily font-family = Arial,

Helvetica, Geneva, and sans-serif

Specifies the default font family list for the Look-and-Feel.

For example, suppose you want to change the default font family for all styles to include only the CSS "serif" font family. In the Customizing Look and Feel UI, page 2-4, you would update your Look-and-Feel by modifying the global DefaultFontFamily style such that the value of its font-family property is changed to serif.

Another common customization you may wish to make to the Look-and-Feel of the user interface is to alter the default font size. Almost all the font size styles defined in a style sheet reference a common named style that defines the default font size:

Style Properties Description

DefaultFont includeStyle =

DefaultFontFamily

font-size = 10pt

Specifies the default font and default font size for the Look-and-Feel.

To change the default font size, in the Customizing Look-and-Feel UI, page 2-4 , you would modifying the DefaultFont style such that the value of its font-size property is changed to something like 12pt.

Style sheets may also make use of several other font sizes. A smaller font size may be used for in line messages, while a larger font size is used for headers, and so on. Each of the different font sizes may be defined in style sheet, as shown:

Style Properties Description

VerySmallFont includeStyle =

DefaultFont

font-size = -2pt

SmallFont includeStyle =

DefaultFont

font-size = -1pt

A very small version of the default font. This style is used for very small text such as inline messages, and copyright and privacy messages.

A small version of the default font. This style is used for text which is slightly smaller than the default, such as breadCrumb links.

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Style Properties Description

MediumFont includeStyle =

DefaultFont

font-size = +1pt

LargeFont includeStyle =

DefaultFont

font-size = +3pt

VeryLargeFont includeStyle =

DefaultFont

font-size = +6pt

Each of these font size definitions includes the DefaultFont, using the <includeStyle> element, and then specifies a point size increment or decrement relative to the default font size. By using this XML Style Sheet Language technique, it is possible for you to change all font sizes defined in blaf.xss with a single override of the DefaultFont style.

Font Size Styles for Microsoft Internet Explorer

The DefaultFont style may be defined twice, once in a generic style sheet as described previously, and once in an environment-specific style sheet. The latter style sheet overrides the default font size specifically for the Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) browser, to take advantage of some IE-specific functionality.

A version of the default font which is slightly larger than the default size. This is used for medium sized text, such as level 2 headers.

A large version of the default font. This is used for large text, such as level 1 headers.

A very large version of the default font.

In particular, IE provides a text zooming feature that allows you to scale text to a larger or smaller size, via the View > Text Size menu. This functionality does not work with sizes specified in point units, but does work with sizes specified using the CSS "absolute size" keywords. Hence, the IE-specific style sheet uses the "x-small" keyword for its default font size, which is rendered as 10 point text by default. The size is scalable, so the other font sizes defined for IE are specified as a percentage of the default font size.

Style Properties Description

DefaultFont font-size = x-small Overrides the default font size

specifically for the Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) browser.

VerySmallFont font-size = 67% A very small version of the default font

specifically for IE.

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-33

Color Styles

To change the default font size for IE, use the Customize Look-and-Feel UI, page 2-4 to update the Look-and-Feel for the IE browser. Modify the DefaultFont style such that the value of its font-size property is changed to something like small.

The Browser Look-and-Feel makes use of four colors that you may potentially want to change:

• Text foreground color - Color used for almost all text. The default is black.

• Text background color - Color used for almost all content. The default is white.

• Core background color - This is the default blue color that appears throughout the user interface. For example, the color is used as the background color for the selected link in the level one tab bar, as well as the background color of the global header and footer. A style sheet may derive a color ramp that includes lighter and darker shades based on the core background color. For example, a Look-and-Feel may have a light blue foreground color for a selected link in a level one tab bar.

• Accent background color - This is the default tan color that appears through the user interface. For example, the color is used as the background color for the unselected links in the level one tab bar. As with the core background color, style sheets may derive a color ramp based on the accent background color. For example, the dark brown foreground color used for hypertext links, as well as the lighter yellow colors used for action button backgrounds may be variations of the accent background color.

As is the case with fonts, style sheets may use the <includeStyle> element to share the set of color-related named styles with other defined styles. So if you wish to change the colors in the user interface, you need only override these four named styles using the Customize Look-and-Feel UI, page 2-4. These four color styles are defined as follows:

Style Properties Description

TextForeground color = #000000 The default text foreground color

(black).

TextBackground background-color =

#ffffff

DarkBackground background-color =

#336699

The default text background color (white).

The primary background color in the core color ramp. Also known as the Core background color.

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Style Properties Description

DarkAccentBackground background-color =

#cccc99

The primary background color in the accent color ramp. Also known as the Accent background color.

The "DarkBackground" and "DarkAccentBackground" styles define the primary colors in the core and accent background color ramps respectively.

If you decide to customize the colors for the user interface, you should try to maintain the contrasts between the text foreground and background colors, as well as between the core and accent colors.

In general, try to select colors from the web safe color palette, as these colors have the most consistent results across the widest range of browsers and platforms. The web safe color palette is a set of 216 colors, where each red, green, or blue component of that color is a multiple of 51 in decimal (0, 51, 102, 153, 204, or 255) or #33 for hexadecimal values (#00, #33, #66, #99, #cc, or #ff).

Also consider, that when you select a new core or accent background color, blaf.xss derives a ramp of lighter and darker shades from that color. As a result, selecting very dark or very light color values may result in less distinction between various darker or lighter shades in the color ramp.

CSS Style Lookup

You can use an interactive user interface called the Item Style and Style Type Selection page to preview a specific item style with a selected CSS Style applied to it. You should use this feature to simulate the Look-and-Feel of an item style before making the actual CSS style change to your pages with OA Personalization Framework, page 4-1.

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-35

Item Style and Style Type Selection page

To access the Item Style and Style Type Selection page:

1. Sign on to Oracle Applications and select the System Administration responsibility.

Use the Oracle Applications Menus form to add the function FWK_CSS_LOOKUP

to your System Administration menu.

To preview an Item Style with different CSS styles applied to it:

1. Sign on to Oracle E-Business Suite and select the System Administration

responsibility.

2. Select CSS Style Lookup from the menu.

3. In the Item Style and Style Type Selection page, there is a required Item Style

poplist and a Style Type poplist. Use the Item Style poplist to select an item style for which a CSS Style may be applied. Use the Style Type poplist to select a CSS Style to apply. The Style Type poplist lets you select from all the CSS styles that have a selector defined in custom.xss. If you select All Styles, the selected item renders with all the available CSS styles applied.

Choose Go to apply the CSS style(s). The results are displayed in a table with two columns. The first column lists the name of the CSS style that has been applied and the second column renders the item style with the CSS style applied to it.

Note:

If the selected Item Style is Text Input or Static Styled Text, the

results table displays three columns. The first column always lists the

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name of the CSS style that has been applied. For Text Input, the second column renders the Text Input with the applied CSS style, and the third column renders the Text Input as a multi-line Text Area with the applied CSS style. For Static Styled Text, the second column renders the Static Styled Text with the applied CSS style, and the third column renders the Static Styled Text as a URL with the applied CSS style.

Personalizing OA Framework Applications 2-37

Overview

Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Overview

• Personalization Levels

• OA Personalization Framework Features

• Profile Options Used By OA Personalization Framework

OA Framework includes the OA Personalization Framework which allows you to personalize an Oracle E-Business Suite application page without modifying any underlying code. Personalizing the appearance of or the data displayed in an OA Framework-based page is easy and straightforward.

Important:

recommend and support only the use of OA Personalization Framework.

Dynamically created pages without OA Extension metadata behind them are not personalizable with the OA Personalization Framework.

Caution:

that you personalize. To avoid unintended consequences, you should always familiarize yourself with the page's logic and thoroughly test your personalization before deploying it to a production environment.

All personalizations you make through the OA Personalization Framework are added on top of the base product meta data at runtime. These personalizations never overwrite the existing base product UI and are therefore preserved during upgrades and patches, and can also be translated. This means you can create your

To personalize your OA Framework-based applications,we

A page may contain logic that depends on the regions or items

Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets 3-1

personalizations on a test system first, extract your personalizations to a flat file, page 91 , then load your finalized personalizations to your production system with little interruption.

With OA Personalization Framework, your personalizations are reflected immediately on the page.

To begin personalizing your pages and portlets, refer to the instructions in these chapters:

• Administrative-Level Personalizations, page 4-1

• User-Level Personalization User Interface, page 6-1

• Portlet-Level Personalization User Interface, page 7-1

Personalization Levels

OA Personalization Framework supports end-users as well as localization and customization teams in their efforts to tailor OA Framework-based applications to different users. OA Personalization Framework accomplishes this by allowing you to make personalizations at distinct levels so that you may target those personalizations to specific audiences.

Function Level

There are different personalization levels available from the system administrative standpoint: Function, Industry, Localization, Site, Organization, Responsibility, and Admin-Seeded User. When you make personalizations at any of these levels, the personalizations are available only to the audience defined by that level. Since personalizations should only be made at these levels by a system administrator, these are collectively referred to as administrative-level (or admin-level) personalizations. Admin-level personalizations can be performed on any component in a page, including shared (extended) regions. Except for the Admin-Seeded User level, you can only have one set of personalizations per region per admin-level.

User-level or portlet-level personalizations, on the other hand, can be made only to certain tables in query regions or portlets. User or portlet-level personalizations can be made directly by an end-user and are visible only to that end-user, hence they are collectively referred to as end user-level personalizations.

All personalization levels are described in the following sections.

A function in Oracle Applications is a token that is registered under a unique name for the purpose of assigning it to, or excluding it from, a responsibility. The OA Personalization Framework leverages the same infrastructure to drive the Personalization context at a feature or flow level. You can create personalizations for a region at the Function level, such that the personalizations are visible only when you display the region while the specific function is in context. For example, suppose you

3-2 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

Industry Level

have an updatable region and you want that region to be updatable when accessed from FunctionA in the menu, but to be read-only when accessed from FunctionB in the menu. To accomplish this, you create a Function level personalization that makes all the fields read-only for FunctionB.

You can have only one set of personalizations per region per function; however, you can have as many functions as personalizations are needed, provided that these functions can be brought into context at runtime, such as by linking them to menus or passing them as parameters on the URL.

With the Industry personalization level, the OA Personalization Framework provides a way to tailor an application's user interface to suit a particular industry segment.

The Industry level includes a predefined list of vertical market categories, such as Healthcare - Provider and Utilities - Electricity. For each category, you can personalize the application interface to incorporate a unique combination of industry-specific terminology. For example, where one type of business might use the term "business unit," another might use the term "store," and another might use "location" or "franchise."

Localization Level

Suppose you need to distribute your applications to a particular locale of users, where certain fields or buttons are hidden and labels need to be changed to accommodate that locale. You can do that by creating Localization level personalizations in the relevant regions before delivering your applications. All end-users for the specific locale will see the applied localization personalizations. For example, Oracle's localization teams would make country-specific localization-level personalizations in HR applications before delivering the applications to customers in a given country.

Site Level

A site refers to an installation of Oracle Framework-based applications. Personalizations that you make at the site level affect all users of the current installation. For example, as a system administrator, you might want to make a site level personalization where you change the table column labels to match your corporate standards.

Organization Level

An Org is an Organization or a business unit. Depending on the context, an Org can be a plant, a warehouse, a department, a division within a company or even a complete company. Personalizations that you make at the Org level affect all users of that Org. For example, you might make a personalization at the Org level to hide certain fields because they are not pertinent to the context of a particular Org.

Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets 3-3

Responsibility Level

A responsibility represents a specific level of authority within an application. Each responsibility lets you access specific functions or a set of product pages, menus, reports and data to fulfill your role in an application. When you make personalizations at the responsibility level, the changes are effective only for the users of a given responsibility. For example, you can personalize the Open Requisitions Line page for the "Office Supplies Purchasing Manager" responsibility to display only open requisition lines from a particular supplier.

Admin-Seeded User-Level

As an administrator you may want to create some personalizations that are available to all your users and allow your users to choose whether they want to use those personalizations. You can accomplish this by creating an "admin-seeded user-level" personalization, also known as an "admin-seeded" end user view. For example, you can create two personalized views of the Oracle Workflow Worklist. One view shows open workflow notifications and the other view shows FYI notifications. Each user can have access to both of these views.

You can only create "admin-seeded user-level" personalizations on tables (including hierarchy tables) in a Query region. You can also secure "admin-seeded user-level" to a specific function so that is is published only to a specific group of users. These personalizations then get seeded into the appropriate users' Personal Table Views page, so that individual users can choose which views to display. You can have more than one "admin-seeded user-level" personalization per region.

Note: Although both "admin-seeded user-level" personalizations and

site-level personalizations are propagated to all users, the two personalization levels are different. An "admin-seeded user-level" personalization is saved as a personalized view that a user can choose to display from the Personal Table Views page, whereas a site-level personalization is a change that is made across the entire site that all users see automatically.

Both Oracle-internal developers and customers are able to create seeded user-level customizations. To distinguish between seeded user-level personalizations that are shipped by Oracle and those that are defined by administrators at a customer site, the two types of personalizations are referred to as "Oracle-seeded user-level" personalizations (seeded by Oracle) and "admin-seeded user-level" personalizations (seeded by administrators at the customer site), respectively.

Note: An "Oracle-seeded user-level" personalization cannot be updated

or deleted at the customer site; however, an administrator at a customer site who creates an "admin-seeded user-level" personalization can edit

3-4 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

Portlet Level

or delete that personalization.

Note: You can mark a seeded user-level personalization as a default

view. End-user personalized views take highest precedence, followed by "admin-seeded user-level" personalizations, then "Oracle-seeded user-level" personalizations.

Oracle Portal provides users with corporate and customized personal home pages accessible via web browsers. These home pages may contain corporate announcements, stock tickers, news headlines, and links to other web-based services. Oracle Portal may also connect to partner applications that share their user authorization and session management models with Oracle Portal. Oracle Applications is a partner application to Oracle Portal. Oracle Portal users can add links to their home pages to access Oracle Applications modules, and can display Applications information, such as Oracle Workflow notifications, directly on their home pages. These links are called portlets. You can personalize these portlets just as you can personalize the tables of a query region in an application. Any personalizations you make at the portlet level affect only the portlet used to display the region. You can have only one set of personalizations per region per portlet.

User Level

As an end-user, you can personalize certain tables in query regions and the personalizations would affect no one else. For example you can personalize the Requisitions History page to display only requisitions prepared by you. Each user can save multiple sets of personalizations per page region. A saved set of personalizations is also known as a personalized "view" and can be selected and applied from the "View Personalizations" list.

OA Personalization Framework Features

Cumulative Personalizations

The personalizations you make at the various levels are cumulative. Personalizations at the higher levels typically apply to broadly defined user populations, and those at lower levels apply to more narrowly defined groups. Personalizations made at lower levels are applied after those made at higher levels. The personalization levels are ordered as follows, from highest to lowest:

• Function (highest)

Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets 3-5

• Industry

• Localization

• Site

• Organization

• Responsibility

• Seeded-User

• Portlet (lowest)

• User (lowest)

For example, the personalizations made at the Portlet and User levels always overlay personalizations made at the Organization level.

Note: Personalizations made at the Portlet and User levels are mutually

exclusive.

For Oracle-internal developers, Function is the highest level at which you can personalize, followed by Industry, Localization, Site, and so on.

The granular nature of each personalization is maintained throughout the layering of personalizations for the different levels. For example, suppose you make a set of Site level personalizations to a region by changing the label of four fields from a, b, c and d to w, x, y, and z. Now suppose you want to make additional changes to that same region, where those changes are available only for users of Org 2. The Organization-level change for Org 2 that you make includes hiding the second and third fields and changing the label of the last field to zz. A user of Org 2 would see, as a result of the cumulative personalizations, a region with two fields labeled w and zz.

Personalization Ownership

Personalizations made at an Admin level can only be modified, viewed, or deleted by an administrator at that respective level. Similarly, a personalized view made at the Portlet or User level can only be modified, viewed, or deleted from the portlet where the view was created or by the user who created the view.

Multiple Personalizations

At the User level, a particular region of an HTML page may have one or more sets of personalizations associated with it. Each set of personalizations is referred to as a personalized view of the region. You can identify a personalized view by assigning a view name to it. OA Personalization Framework also identifies each personalized view

3-6 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

Default Views

by assigning a unique ID to it.

Since you may define more than one personalized view at the User level, OA Personalization Framework lets you mark a specific view as the default view to apply to the region when you run the application.

Note: In the case of seeded personalized views, OA Personalization

Framework applies a precedence rule to determine the default, if multiple defaults are defined (for example, if defaults exist at the User level, "Admin-seeded user level" and "Oracle-seeded user level"). The User-level default overrides any default set at any level. If no user-level view is marked as a default, then the "admin-seeded" default view takes precedence. Similary, if no user-level or "admin-seeded user-level" views are marked as defaults, the "Oracle-seeded" view becomes the default.

In the case where personalizations are made on a region that extends another region, at the User, "Admin-seeded user" or "Oracle-seeded user" levels, the default is resolved horizontally across the layers of the region. All of the default User views take precedence, followed by the default admin-seeded views, then the default Oracle-seeded views.

Example

Suppose you have region A, which extends region B, which in turn extends region C, and the following views have been created and marked as "Default":

Region Views Defined

A (extends B) A.UserView - default

A.Admin-seededUserView - default

A.Oracle-seededUserView - default

B (extends C) B.UserView - default

B.Admin-seededUserView - default

B.Oracle-seededUserView - default

C C.UserView - default

C.Admin-seededUserView - default

C.Oracle-seededUserView - default

Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets 3-7

The final default view is resolved based on the following order of precedence:

A.UserView > B.UserView > C.UserView > A.Admin-seededUserView > B.Admin-seededUserView > C.Admin-seededUserView > A.Oracle-seededUserView > B.Oracle-seededUserView > C.Oracle-seededUserView

Personalization Caching

The personalizations that you make to a region do not cause any performance degradation in your application. Admin-level personalizations for a region are statically cached on the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) and user-level personalizations are cached on the session.

Profile Options Used By OA Personalization Framework

The following system profile options affect the behavior of the OA Personalization Framework.

Disable Self-service Personal (FND_DISABLE_OA_CUSTOMIZATIONS)

This is a system profile option specifically created for use by Oracle Support. You can set this profile option to Yes at the site or application level. If this system profile option is set to Yes, any personalizations you make, regardless of the level at which you make the personalizations, will not be applied. Only the original base definition of each OA Framework-based application page is ever displayed. Use this profile option to help Oracle support staff determine whether a problem arises from applied personalizations or from the base application. The default is No.

FND: Personalization Region Link Enabled (FND_PERSONALIZATION_REGION_LINK_ENABLED)

When you set this profile option to Yes, Personalize Region links appear above each region in a page. Each link takes the user first to the Choose Personalization Context page, page 5-5, then to the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 4-16 with focus on the region from which you selected the Personalize Region link. The default is null (not set).

Note:

Note that enabling the Personalize Region links allows

administrators to also personalize regions that are dynamically added to the page from custom code in the controller.

3-8 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

Personalize Self-service Defn (FND_CUSTOM_OA_DEFINTION)

You should set this profile option to Yes at the user level for an administrator. If you set this profile option to Yes, then when you log on as the Administrator, a global Personalize Page button appears on each OA Framework-based application page. When you select the global Personalize Page button on any page, the personalization user interface prompts you for the scope and administrative level at which you wish to create your personalizations before displaying the OA Personalization Framework UI. The default is No.

Xliff Export Root Path (FND_XLIFF_EXPORT_ROOT_PATH)

Use this profile option to specify the root path for extracting translated personalizations. The Xliff Export root path is used to generate the full path where the Xliff files are exported when administrators extract their translated personalizations from the Extract Translation Files page, page 5-52 in OA Personalization Framework. The default is null (no root path is set).

Xliff Import Root Path (FND_XLIFF_IMPORT_ROOT_PATH)

Use this profile option to set the root path for uploading translated personalizations. The Xliff Import root path is used to derive the full path from where the Xliff files are uploaded when administrators use the Upload Translations page, page 5-53 in OA Personalization Framework to upload translated personalizations. The default is null (no root path is set).

Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets 3-9

Overview

Administrative-Level Personalizations

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Overview

• Creating Admin-Level Personalizations

• Function-Level Personalizations

• Known Issues

• Related Information

Administrative-level (admin-level) personalizations are performed by Oracle Application administrators who are often department-level functional consultants or administrators who understand, design and tailor the functional business flows of their organization. As an Oracle Applications Administrator, you can use OA Personalization Framework to personalize the pages of OA Framework-based applications at various personalization levels, page 1-4 without modifying any code. Refer to the Customization Primer, page 1-1 and the discussions of Personalization Levels, page 3-2 and OA Personalization Framework Features, page 3-5 for an overview of what you can accomplish.

Note: The term "Administrator" used throughout this document refers

to the Oracle Applications Administrator described above and not to the System Administrator who configures and maintains the application system.

Note:

If you use Netscape 4.7 or earlier or if you turn Partial Page

Rendering (PPR) off by setting the FND: Disable Partial Page Rendering profile value to Yes, you may see additional Go buttons rendered throughout the OA Personalization Framework user interface.

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-1

These Go buttons allow you to refresh parts of the page with changes that PPR would have otherwise taken care of.

Personalization Profile Options

Before you can personalize a region at a personalization level, you must set the Personalize Self-service Defn (FND_CUSTOM_OA_DEFINTION) profile option to Yes for the user you are signing in as. Every OA Framework-based application page contains a global Personalize Page link. This profile option enables the global Personalize Page link on every page so that you can personalize any page or region. The Personalize Page link first navigates to the Choose Personalization Context page, page 5-5, then to the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 4-16 or to the Page Layout Personalization page, page 4-6, where you can drill down to the region you wish to personalize.

Additionally, you may set the FND: Personalization Region Link Enabled ( FND_PERSONALIZATION_REGION_LINK_ENABLED) profile option to Yes or Minimal, to enable Personalize Region links for each region in a page. When this profile is enabled, Personalize Region links appear above each region, unless the region is a table, hierarchy grid, or table layout region, in which case the link appears below that region. Rather than use the global Personalize Page link on every page, you can use any of the Personalize Region links to first navigate to the Choose Personalization Context page, page 5-5, then to the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 4-16 with immediate focus on the region from which you selected the Personalize Region link.

Enabling the "Personalize Region" links allows users to also

Note:

personalize regions that are dynamically added to the page from custom code in the controller.

For more information about the FND: Personalization Region Link Enabled profile option, refer to the Personalization section in the OA Framework Profile Options appendix of the Oracle Application Framework Developer's Guide.

Tip:

You may also want to set the FND: Diagnostics

(FND_DIAGNOSTICS) profile option to Yes to render the "About this page" link at the bottom of each OA Framework-based page. The About this page link takes you to the "About" page which displays information about the current page, the page's context, and the environment. The Personalization subtab on the "About" page also identifies personalizations that are in effect on the current page for the current personalization context and provides a Manage Personalization Level button that lets you navigate to the Manage Personalization Levels page, page 5-50 directly to recover from errors

4-2 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

that result from a personalization.

For more information about the FND: Diagnostics profile option, refer to the Logging / Diagnostics section in the OA Framework Profile Options appendix of the Oracle

Application Framework Developer's Guide.

For more information about the "About" Page, refer to the Discovering Page, Technology Stack and Session Information section in the Testing and Debugging

chapter of the Oracle Application Framework Developer's Guide.

Creating Admin-Level Personalizations

As an administrator, there are two ways in which you can initiate Admin-level personalizations. You can either search for the page using the Functional Administrator Home page, page 4-3 and personalize the page without running it, or run the actual page in Oracle E-Business Suite and initiate the Personalization UI from the Personalize Page global link on the rendered page, page 4-5.

Important: PERSONALIZING PROGRAMMATICALLY INSERTED

REGIONS - A region that is programmatically inserted into a page by a page controller is not available for personalization when you initiate the OA Personalization Framework from the Functional Administrator responsibility or by clicking the Personalize Page global link.

The page's metadata does not include a reference to the metadata of the dynamic region because the region is not a part of the page until runtime, when the controller is executed. As a result, the page is not aware of the dynamic region and cannot reference it for personalization from the Functional Administrator responsibility or from the Personalize Page global link. Instead, to personalize a dynamic region, you must set the FND: Personalization Region Link Enabled profile option to Yes or Minimal to render Personalize Region links for each region in the page. Since the Personalize Region links are displayed based on the page's current run-time status, you can then select the Personalize Region link for that dynamic region to personalize it.

From the Functional Administrator Responsibility

To initiate OA Personalization Framework from the Functional Administrator tool in Oracle E-Business Suite:

1. Sign on to Oracle E-Business Suite and under the Functional Administrator

responsibility, select the Functional Administration Home page. Refer to the Oracle Applications System Administrator's Guide for additional information about the

Functional Administrator feature.

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-3

2. Select the Personalization tab to display the Application Catalog.

3. Specify an Application and optionally, a Document Path, to search for the page or

pages you wish to personalize.

Note: This search does not use a standard Query region -

• The Document Path field has no support for wildcards.

• If you specify a package in the Document Path field, the results will list all of the documents in the repository under that package and its subpackages.

Select the pen icon in the Personalize Page column for the page you want to personalize. This icon directs you to one of the following two personalization launch pages, depending on the page you are personalizing:

• Page Layout Personalization - if the page you are personalizing is a

configurable page, you navigate to this page.

Warning:

You should not personalize a configurable page by accessing it from the Functional Administrator responsibility. Your configurable page might contain controller code that is dependent on certain parameters that are available only when the page itself is launched from its intended flow, and the page might fail with unexpected errors. You can safely personalize your configurable page by accessing the Page Layout Personalization page using the global Personalize Page link, page 4-5 on the rendered configurable page.

For additional information, refer to the section on Configurable Pages, page A-5 in the Personalization Considerations appendix.

• Page Hierarchy Personalization - if the page you are personalizing is not a

configurable page, you navigate to this page. Like the Page Layout Personalization page, the Page Hierarchy Personalization is also a launch pad for personalization options, but it displays the entire structure of the page in a Hierarchy table (HGrid) rather than as a visual boxed layout. Refer to the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 4-16 for an example of this page and to the Page Hierarchy Task Flows section, page 4-18 for a list of the tasks that you can launch from this page.

Select the pen icon in the Manage Personalizations column to navigate to the Manage Personalization Levels page, page 5-50 where you can

4-4 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

activate/inactive/delete specific personalizations or manage the translation of the personalizations made for the page in question.

6. If you wish to personalize the Standard Footer that appears in OA

Framework-based pages, select the Standard Footer link under the Personalizations Shortcuts. This link takes you to the Choose Personalization

Context page, page 5-5, where the Scope is set to Region: Standard Footer. When you choose Apply on this page, you navigate to the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, where you can personalize the Standard Footer.

From the Personalize Page Global Link

To initiate OA Personalization Framework from the global Personalize Page link:

Sign on to Oracle E-Business Suite as an administrator and navigate to the

application page that you wish to personalize.

2. Choose the Personalize Page global link.

3. This link defaults to the current personalization context and takes you directly to

one of the following two personalization launch pages, depending on your page of origin or your Accessibility mode:

• Page Layout Personalization - if the page you are personalizing is a

configurable page, you navigate to this page. A configurable page is a page designed with personalizable layout components called flexible layout regions and self-contained content components called flexible content regions. These flexible regions support a more graphical approach to rearranging the layout and visibility of page content.

The Page Layout Personalization page is a visual launch pad from which you can personalize a configurable page. It provides a boxed preview of the flexible layout structure within your page and displays controls that take you to different pages or flows where you specify and apply your actual personalizations. Refer to the Page Layout Personalization page, page 4-6 for an example of this page and to the Page Layout Task Flows section, page 4-7 for a list of the tasks that you can launch from this page.

• Page Hierarchy Personalization - if the page you are personalizing is not a

configurable page or if you are running Oracle Applications in Accessibility mode (that is, the profile option Self Service Accessibility Features (ICX_ACCESSIBILITY_FEATURES) is set to Standard Accessibility), you navigate to this page. Like the Page Layout Personalization page, the Page Hierarchy Personalization is also a launch pad for personalization options, but it displays the entire structure of the page in a Hierarchy table (HGrid) rather than as a visual boxed layout. Refer to the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 4-16 for an example of this page and to the Page Hierarchy Task Flows

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-5

section, page 4-18 for a list of the tasks that you can launch from this page.

Note: If there is an problem with the current personalization

context, OA Personalization Framework will display the Choose Personalization Context page, page 5-5, showing the error message above the page.

From a Personalize Region Link

To initiate OA Personalization Framework from a Personalize Region link, page 4-2:

1. Select the Personalize Region link for the region you wish to personalize.

2. This button defaults to the current personalization context and takes you directly to

the "complete" view of the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 4-16 with immediate focus on the region from which you selected the Personalize Region link.

Note: If there is a problem with the current personalization context, OA

Personalization Framework will display the Choose Personalization Context page, showing the error message above the page.

Using the Page Layout Personalization Page

The Page Layout Personalization page provides a WYSIWYG user interface for personalizing a configurable page or region.

Note: If you personalize a non-configurable page (a page that does not

have the necessary metadata to personalize its layout) or when you run your application in Accessibility mode (profile option Self Service Accessibility Features (ICX_ACCESSIBILITY_FEATURES) is set to Standard Accessibility), you will not see the Page Layout Personalization page, as shown below. Instead, you will see the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 4-16, where you can perform the same personalization functions, using a descriptive tabular user interface.

Note:

With the Page Layout Personalization page, you can launch most of the personalization operations from the Layout mode or Content mode of the page. You can also personalize individual properties of a page element through the focused version of the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 5-2 that you navigate to by selecting the

4-6 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

Layout Mode

Personalize icon on a boxed region in the Page Layout Personalization page.

The Page Layout Personalization page has two modes, Layout, page 4-7 and Contents, page 4-11, which you can access from the subtabs on the page. These modes organize the personalization tasks that you can perform so that they correlate directly to the flexible layout or flexible content regions on the page.

The View Level poplist that appears for both Layout and Contents mode, allows you to select a single personalization level from your specified context for which you wish to personalize the layout. Note that even though you can choose more than one personalization level in the Choose Personalization Context page, OA Personalization Framework only allows you to save a configurable page personalization at one level. The default value of the View Level poplist is the lowest applicable level specified in your context.

The Layout mode of the Page Layout Personalization page renders boxes around each region on the page regardless of whether the region is a flexible layout or not. Control icons that allow you to configure a region, however, are displayed only for boxed flexible layout regions. The actual content of a boxed flexible layout region is not displayed. Note that in this particular example, the instruction text and region immediately below the Update Customer header is not a flexible layout region, therefore its content is fully displayed.

In the Layout mode, flexible layout content is simply represented as a header title within each flexible layout box. This frees up screen space so that all nested levels of flexible layout regions can be represented on the page without further drilling.

The Layout Mode Task Flows section, page 4-8 below describes the personalizations you can accomplish in the Layout Mode.

If you wish to exit from the Page Layout Personalization page, select the Return to Application link at the bottom of the page to return to the original page.

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-7

Layout Mode of the Page Layout Personalization page for the Update Customer page.

Layout Mode Task Flows

The following table lists the personalization tasks you can accomplish from the Layout Mode of the Page Layout Personalization page.

4-8 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

Task Launch Point from

Layout Mode

Description

Personalize the properties (such as Prompt name, default value, and so on) of a specific page element

Launches a focused version of the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 5-2 for the selected region. The Personalization Context shown at the top of the page lists the personalization context for the top-level object, which in the case of Oracle Applications, is the page layout.

Select the pen icon from the Personalize column to navigate to the Personalize page, page 5-8 for the page element.

In the Personalize page, you can edit the personalizable properties of the element at the personalization levels specified for the current context.

When you are done, select Apply to save your personalization or select Apply and Personalize Another to save your personalization and return to the focused Page Hierarchy Personalization page where you can select another element to personalize.

Alter the layout of a boxed region

Splits the current flexible layout region vertically into two peer layout regions, displayed as rows. This change is automatically committed.

Splits the current flexible layout region horizontally into two peer layout regions, displayed as columns. This change is automatically committed.

Changes the flexible content to a horizontal layout. Icon also updates to "Change to Vertical Layout". This change is automatically committed.

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-9

Task Launch Point from

Layout Mode

Description

Alter the layout of a boxed region

Reorder the children of a boxed region

Remove a row or column

Changes the flexible content to a verticallayout. Icon also updates to "Change to Horizontal Layout". This change is automatically committed.

Launches the Reorder Contents page, page 5-23 where you can reorder the children of the current boxed region. Choose "Apply" from the Reorder Contents page to save your changes.

Note: Use this control for reordering

only the immediate children of this region. To reorder contents below that level, select the region's Personalize icon, page 4-9 to access the focused version of the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, which contains a Reorder icon for each applicable item within the region.

Removes a row or a column from the page. The Remove Column icon appears on the right, above each column. The Remove Row icon appears to the left of the each row. Both Remove icons direct you to a warning page that asks you to confirm whether you really want to remove the row or column.

Change the personalization context

Activate, Inactivate, or Delete existing personalizations

4-10 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

Choose Context button Launches the Choose Personalization

Manage Levels button Launches the Manage Personalization

Context page, page 5-5. Choose Apply from the Choose Personalization Context page to save your changes.

Levels page, page 5-50 where you can select existing personalizations to activate, inactive or delete.

Task Launch Point from

Layout Mode

Description

Contents Mode

Translate personalizations

Extract or Upload translations of a personalization

Manage Levels button Launches the Manage Personalization

Levels page, page 5-50 where you can select the Translate icon for a specific personalization to translate it to another language in the Translate page, page 5-54. Choose Apply from the Translate page to save your changes.

Manage Levels button Launches the Manage Personalization

Levels page, page 5-50 where you can choose the Upload Translation button, page 5-53 or Extract Translation File button, page 5-52 to upload or extract the translations for a specific personalization, respectively. Choose Apply from the Upload Translations page or Extract Translation Files page to save your changes.

The Contents mode of the Page Layout Personalization page displays all content in the page, including the content attached to flexible layout regions.

The Contents Mode Task Flows section, page 4-13 below describes the personalizations you can accomplish in the Contents Mode. You can add new content to the layout, create new items in an existing boxed content region, as well as update the personalizable properties of specific elements in the page. You can also remove or reorder contents from different regions on the page. To rearrange contents across different regions, you must first remove them from their current location and then add them to the new destination region.

If you wish to exit from the Page Layout Personalization page, select the Return to Application link at the bottom of the page to return to the original page.

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-11

Contents Mode of the Page Layout Personalization page for the Update Customer page.

4-12 Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide

Contents Mode Task Flows

The following table lists the personalization tasks you can accomplish from the Contents Mode of the Page Layout Personalization page.

Task Launch Point from

Contents Mode

Personalize the properties (such as Prompt name, default value, and so on) of a specific page element

Flow Description

Select the pen icon from the Personalize column to navigate to the Personalize page, page 5-8 for the page element.

In the Personalize page, you can edit the personalizable properties of the element at the personalization levels specified for the current context.

Add content to a boxed region

Launches the Add Content page, page 525, allowing you to select predefined resource content from a catalog in the database. Select "Apply" to save your changes when you are done. The new content is added as the last child of the current layout.

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-13

Task Launch Point from

Contents Mode

Flow Description

Create a new item in a boxed region

Reorder the children of a boxed region

Launches the Create Item page, page 5-27 where you can create a new item for the content region. Select "Apply" to save your changes when you are done. The new item appears as the last item in the region. Use the Reorder Content icon to reorder the layout sequence of the new item. You can only create new items in boxed content regions or in the top page layout region.

Note: Use this control only for creating

immediate children of a given region. To create items below that level, select the region's Personalize icon, page 4-13 to access the focused version of the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, which contains a Create icon for each applicable item within the region.

Launches the Reorder Contents page , page 5-23 where you can reorder the children of the boxed region. Select "Apply" to save your changes when you are done.

Note: Use this control for reordering

only the immediate children of this region. To reorder contents below that level, select the region's Personalize icon, page 4-13 to access the focused version of the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, which contains a Reorder icon for each applicable item within the region.

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Task Launch Point from

Contents Mode

Flow Description

Remove a boxed region

Create, Duplicate, Update or Delete an "admin-seeded user-level" personalization

Removes the boxed content. Directs you to warning page that asks you to confirm whether you really want to remove the flexible content. Although a removed content no longer renders in the configurable page, page 4-5, you can add it back using the Add Content icon, page 4-

13.

Select the Personalize pen icon to launch a focused version of the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, page 5-2 for a selected boxed region.

Use the Hierarchy Page HGrid to identify the query region for which you wish to create an "admin-seeded user-level" personalization. (You can create seeded user-level personalizations only for a table or a HGrid in a query region.)

Select the Seeded User Views icon to launch the Personalize Views page, page 5-56 where you can create, update, duplicate or delete "Admin-seeded user level" personalizations.

Change the personalization context

When you create, duplicate or update a seeded view, you navigate to the respective Create/Duplicate/Update Views page, page 5-58. Select Apply to save your changes when you are done.

Choose Context button Launches the Choose Personalization

Context page, page 5-5. Choose "Apply" from the Choose Personalization Context page to save your changes.

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-15

Task Launch Point from

Contents Mode

Flow Description

Activate, Inactivate, or Delete existing personalizations

Translate personalizations

Extract or Upload translations of a personalization

Manage Levels button Launches the Manage Personalization

Levels page, page 5-50 where you can select existing personalizations to activate, inactive or delete.

Manage Levels button Launches the Manage Personalization

Using the Page Hierarchy Personalization Page

In the Page Hierarchy Personalization user interface, the entire layout of a configurable page is displayed in a hierarchy table (HGrid). The Page Hierarchy HGrid displays nodes for all the structures that make up the page. The initial focus of the Page Hierarchy is at the page layout level. As in all HGrids, you can change the focus of the Page Hierarchy HGrid, as well as drill in or out of the various page structure nodes. The HGrid location indicator keeps track of where you are within the page structure.

Note:

If the page you personalize is a configurable page, page 4-5 (a page that contains metadata to personalize its layout) and you are not running your page in Accessibility mode (profile option Self Service Accessibility Features (ICX_ACCESSIBILITY_FEATURES) is set to None), you will not see the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, as shown below. Instead, you will see the Page Layout Personalization page, page 4-6, where you can perform the same personalization operations, using a more graphical user interface.

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Page Hierarchy Personalization page for the Update Customer page in Accessibility mode

Personalization Context

The Personalization Context shown at the top of the page lists the context for the top-level object, which in the case of Oracle Applications, is the page layout. It identifies the scope of the personalizations you are about to make, as well as to what personalization level(s) and value(s) these personalizations apply.

Personalization Structure

The Simple View and Complete View radio buttons in the Personalization Structure region allow you to toggle between a Simple or Complete view of the page structure in the HGrid below. When you select the global Personalize Page button, you automatically navigate to the Simple view of the page structure hierarchy. The Simple view does not show some of the layout elements that create unnecessarily complex nesting within the page structure hierarchy. This simplified structure allows you to quickly locate the region or item you wish to personalize.

If you initiate personalizations by selecting a Personalize Region link, you always navigate to a Complete view of the page hierarchy, with focus on the region from which you selected the Personalize Region link.

Both Simple and Complete views remember their status when you switch from one

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-17

type of view to another. For example, if you focus on a particular page element node in the Complete view, then switch to the Simple View, and finally return to the Complete view, the focus will be on the same node from which you first left the Complete view. There are, however, exceptions:

• When you navigate to the Choose Context page, then select Apply to return to the

Page Hierarchy Personalization page, the view is reset to Simple and the focus of the HGrid is also reset.

• When you navigate to the Choose Context page, then select Cancel to return to the

Page Hierarchy Personalization page, you always return back to the same view and focus.

• When you navigate to the Manage Levels page, then select Return to Personalization Structure to return to the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, the view is reset to Simple and the focus of the HGrid is also reset.

When you display the Simple view of the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, a column called Show in Complete View is displayed in the HGrid. If you select the icon in this column for a page element node, the page switches to the Complete view, with the focus on that page element node.

If the Page Hierarchy Personalization page is in the Simple view, and the children of a node do not reflect the actual hierarchy structure of the children (because some layout elements are not shown), the Reorder and Create icons will be disabled. To enable the

Reorder and Create icons for the children of that node, select the Show in Complete View icon for that node, so that the correct hierarchy of the children is shown in the

Complete view.

Personalization Structure HGrid

The Shown column in the HGrid indicates whether the page element is rendered after applying all existing personalizations for the current context. The User Personalizable column indicates whether the page element is user personalizable.

The Page Hierarchy Task Flows section, page 4-18 describes how to accomplish your personalization needs using the various launch controls on this HGrid.

If you wish to exit from the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, select the Return to <Page_Title> link at the bottom of the page to return to the original page.

Page Hierarchy Task Flows

The following table lists the personalization tasks you can accomplish from the Page Hierarchy Personalization page. Each task starts from a single launch point on the page. Note that all tasks take you to different pages within the Personalization user interface. From these launched pages, you specify and save your personalization changes. No changes are ever committed on the Page Hierarchy Personalization page itself.

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Task Launch Point from Page

Hierarchy Personalization page

Flow Description

Search the Page Hierarchy HGrid for specific page elements

Expand the Search region, page 5-19.

Specify criteria to search for specific nodes based on a particular style or a particular title, prompt, or text and display these nodes in a flat table.

Separately or additionally, check Personalized Only, to filter the hierarchy to display already-personalized nodes in a flat table.

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-19

Task Launch Point from Page

Hierarchy Personalization page

Flow Description

Personalize the properties (such as Prompt name, default value, and so on) of a specific page element

Locate the page element you wish to personalize in the Page Hierarchy HGrid.

Select the pen icon from the Personalize column to navigate to the Personalize page, page 5-8 for the element.

In the Personalize page, you can edit the personalizable properties of the element at the different personalization levels specified for the current context.

When you are done, select "Apply" to save your personalization and return to the previous page.

Note: Although a region may be

personalizable, not all region items in a region are personalizable. Each region item in a region has an ADMIN_CUSTOMIZABLE property associated with it. If the property is set to false by the developer of the region, the region item is not personalizable at the personalization level. For example, a developer would very likely set ADMIN_CUSTOMIZABLE to false for the vertical spacer item in a table layout region to prevent disruption of the spacing in a table.

Reorder the children of a region

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Launches the Reorder Contents page, page 5-23 where you can reorder the children of the current region.

Task Launch Point from Page

Hierarchy Personalization page

Flow Description

Add content to a layout region

Remove content from a layout region

Launches the Add Content page, page 525, allowing you to select predefined resource content from a catalog. The new content is added as the last child of the current layout region. You can add content to a layout region only if the layout has no other layout children.

Note: Add Content is available only if

the page you are personalizing is a configurable page, page 4-5.

Directs you to warning page that asks you to confirm whether you really want to remove the current region. Although a removed region no longer renders in the page, you can add it back using the Add Content icon.

Note: Remove Content is available

only if the page you are personalizing is a configurable page.

Create a new item in a region

Launches the Create Item page, page 5-27 where you can create a new child item in a region. The new item appears as the last item in the region. Use the Reorder Content icon to reorder the layout sequence of the new item. You can only create new items in boxed content regions or in the top page layout region.

Note: You can only create a new item if

you have your personalization context set to include the Site level.

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-21

Task Launch Point from Page

Hierarchy Personalization page

Flow Description

Update an item created with the Create Item page

Delete an item from a region

Create, Duplicate, Update or Delete an "admin-seeded user-level" personalization

Launches the Update Item page, page 5-48 where you can update an item for the region. Note that you may only update an item that was previously created with the Create Item page, page 5-27.

Directs you to warning page that asks you to confirm whether you really want to delete the current item. Deleted items are non-recoverable.

Note: Delete Item is available only if

the page element is an item that was created at the Site level using the Create Item page, page 5-27.

Customize Look and Feel

Change the personalization context

Select the Seeded User Views icon to launch the Personalize Views page, page 5-56.

In the Personalize Views page, where you select different buttons or icons to create, duplicate or update a seeded view, you navigate to the respective Create/Duplicate/Update Views page, page 5-58.

Launches the Customizing Look-and-Feel user interface, page 2-9.

Choose Context button Launches the Choose Personalization

Context page, page 5-5.

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Task Launch Point from Page

Hierarchy Personalization page

Flow Description

Activate, Inactivate or Delete existing personalizations

Translate personalizations

Extract or Upload translations of a personalization

Manage Levels button Launches the Manage Personalization

Levels page, page 5-50, where you can select existing personalizations to activate, inactive or delete.

Manage Levels button Launches the Manage Personalization

Levels page, page 5-50, where you can select the Translate icon, page 5-54 for a specific personalization to translate it to another language.

Manage Levels button Launches the Manage Personalization

Levels page, page 5-50, where you can choose the Upload Translation button, page 5-53 or Extract Translation File button, page 5-52 to upload or extract the translations for a specific personalization, respectively.

Examples: Creating New Items Using the Personalization UI

You can declaratively add new items or fields to regions using the Personalization UI.

Since you can only add new items to an OA Framework application page at the Admin-level, you need to first enable Admin-Level personalizations, page 4-1 for your application by setting the Personalize Self-Service Defn (FND_CUSTOM_OA_DEFINTION) profile option to Yes. From the Functional Administrator responsibility, page 4-3, or in the page you wish to personalize, select the Personalize Page global link, page 4-5 to navigate to the Create Item page, page 5-27 in the Personalization UI.

Example: Adding a URL Link to the Advanced Worklist Page

The Personalization UI provides you with the ability to add new items as well as include other sources of information to a personalizable region. This example illustrates how to create a URL link in the Advanced Worklist page for all users of the site that displays additional information. This example creates the URL link within the page layout level

Important:

URL link back to the source page.

Be sure that in the page you wish to link to, you also create a

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-23

1. Enable Admin-Level personalizations for your application by setting the

Personalize Self-service Defn (FND_CUSTOM_OA_DEFINTION) profile option to

Yes at the user level for the user who has access to the Workflow User Web Applications responsibility.

2. Log in to the Personal Home Page as that user and select the Workflow User Web

Applications responsibility. Navigate to the Advanced Worklist.

3. Select the Personalize Page global link.

In the Choose Personalization Context page, page 5-5, set the Scope to the current

page and check Include for Site. Leave all other fields blank. Choose Apply.

5. In the Personalize page, page 5-8, select the Create Item icon for the Page Layout:

(WFNTFWORKLISTFNPAGE) page element.

6. In the Create Item page, page 5-27 that appears, set the Item Style as Static

Styled Text. Set the following properties for the new Static Styled Text item as

indicated:

• ID - NtfAddInfo

• Prompt - Additional Information

7. If you want to navigate to some arbitrary URL from this region item, you should

specify the Destination URI property as: protocol>://<machine>:<port> /..., such as http://www.abcompany.com/home/page1.htm.

If you want to call an Oracle Applications function, set the Destination Function property to the function name, for example to call the PL/SQL General Preferences page, you would enter ICX_USER_PREFERENCES for the Destination Function.

Note: If you wish to call a secured function, please refer to the

Oracle Applications System Administrator's Guide - Security for additional information.

Choose Apply on the Create Item page when you are satisfied with the changes. The new item, Static Styled Text: Additional Information is created after the Stack Layout: Notifications Worklist Function page element within the Page Layout level. If you choose Return to Application, the new Additional Information link renders after all the content for the Notifications Worklist Function.

9. If you wish to move the Additional Information link so that it renders above the

Notifications Worklist Function content, choose the Personalize Page link to return to the Personalization UI and navigate back to the Personalize page. Select the Reorder icon for Page Layout: (WFNTFWORKLISTFNPAGE). In the Reorder

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Contents page, select Additional Information from the Site list and select the up arrow to move the Additional Information page element so that it appears before Notifications Worklist Function. Choose Apply on this page. Then choose Return to Application on the Personalize page to see the change.

10. When you select the new Additional Information link that appears in the Advanced

Worklist, you navigate to the URL or function that you specified in the Create Item Page.

If you add a new item to a region and it does not appear on the

Note:

page, it is likely that the region you added the item to does not have the Add Indexed Children property in OA Extension set to True in by the developer. If this occurs and adding the new item to a different region within the region hierarchy is not an option, contact Oracle Support for assistance.

If you make a mistake when you create a new item, such that it

Tip:

causes the base page to display an error, you can sign on to Oracle Applications as the Functional Administrator responsibility, page 4-3 and remove the personalization using the Manage Personalization Levels page, page 5-50.

Example: Adding New Instruction Text to a Page

You can use OA Personalization Framework to add additional instructional text for your users in the form of tips. This example illustrates how to add a new tip to a page at the Site level.

Enable Admin-Level personalizations for your application by setting the

Personalize Self-service Defn (FND_CUSTOM_OA_DEFINTION) profile option to

Yes at the user level.

3. Select the Personalize Page global link.

In the Choose Personalization Context page, page 5-5, set the Scope to the current page and check Include for Site. Leave all other fields blank. Choose Apply.

In the Personalize page, page 5-8, select the Create Item icon for the region or page element where you want to add the tip.

In the Create Item page that appears, set the Item Style as Tip, and set the following properties:

Administrative-Level Personalizations 4-25

• ID - specify an ID, such as HRPageTip.

• Text - set the text that you want to display on the page, next to the tip. For

example: HR Page Tip.

• Tip Message Appl Short Name - specify the application short name of the tip.

For example, HR.

• Tip Message Name - specify a message name. For example, HR_BIS_PERIOD.

Choose Apply when you are done. Then choose Return to Application on the Personalize page to see the change.

7. The new tip is added to the end of the region in which you created the new item. If

you wish to move the tip so that it renders elsewhere within the region, choose the Personalize Page link to return to the Personalization UI and navigate to the Personalize page. Select the Reorder icon for the page element under which the tip resides. In the Reorder Contents page, select the tip from the Site list and select the up or down arrow to reorder its position within the page element. Choose Apply on this page. Then choose Return to Application on the Personalize page to see the change.

Note: If you add a new item to a region and it does not appear on the

Tip: If you make a mistake when you create a new item, such that it

Function-Level Personalizations

A function in Oracle Applications is a piece of application logic or functionality that is registered under a unique name for the purpose of assigning it to, or excluding it from, a responsibility. You can create standard personalizations for a region at the Function level so that the personalizations are effective only for users of a specific function. Once you create a function-level personalization, you can update it or delete it.

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Oracle Application Framework User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Preface

Customization Overview

Customization Primer

Configuration

Personalization

Extensibility

Interoperability

Personalizing OA Framework Applications

Branding

Customizing Look-and-Feel (CLAF)

Icons

Responsibilities and Menus

Messages

Lookup Codes

Style Sheets

Overview

Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets

Personalization Levels

OA Personalization Framework Features

Profile Options Used By OA Personalization Framework

Overview

Administrative-Level Personalizations

Creating Admin-Level Personalizations

Using the Page Layout Personalization Page

Using the Page Hierarchy Personalization Page

Examples: Creating New Items Using the Personalization UI

Function-Level Personalizations