advanced formpersonalization

8/14/2019 Advanced FormPersonalization

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1-1 Copyright 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.TCS Internal

Form Personalization

Advanced Concepts


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After completing this module, you should be able to dothe following:

Work with GLOBAL variables

Understand Oracle Forms Query-by-Example

(QBE) mode

Create Special menu entries

Zoom to other functions

Objectives


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The viewlet Oracle Applications FormPersonalization Demonstration AdvancedConcepts shows many of the concepts included inthis module.

Related Course Material


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Agenda

Global Variables

Query-by-Example (QBE) mode

Special menu entries

Zooming


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Form Personalizations allows you to

fundamentally alterthe behaviorof theproduct that Oracle ships, and access any andall data. Therefore,

This feature should only be made available to

trusted users. Avoid building Personalizations on a production

system.

Form Personalizations should first be

entered and thoroughly QAed on a testsystem before they are loaded to aproduction system

WARNING!


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GLOBAL variables are dynamically created at

runtime They can hold up to 255 bytes

They are visible across all forms that arecurrently running

They are very useful for Form Personalizations!

Allow you to establish a value once then re-use it

Allow you to pass information betweenforms

Global Variables


7/231-7 Copyright 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.TCS Internal

2 Properties affect them:

VALUE:

Creates it if it does not exist

Always sets the value

INITIAL VALUE: Creates it if it does not exist, setting it to null

Only sets the value if it is currently null

Global Variables, continued



Name any you create starting with XX

Prevent collisions with global variables that baseproduct code creates

In Conditions and evaluated strings, refer tothem with :global.

Example: ='Your password must have at least '||:global.xx_password_length||' characters.'

References will produce an error if the variabledoes not exist yet

Make sure they exist by first setting the INITIALVALUE property in a prior action or rule

Remember, they are shared across all forms





Creates the global variable:global.xx_password_failures if it did not alreadyexist

Sets its value to :global.xx_password_failures Because the example is self_referencing, a prior

Action needs to have created it!



QBE is a power-user mechanism to locate

records, instead of Find Windows Normally invoked by selecting View > Query By

Example > Enter from the pulldown menu

The builtin DO_KEY with argument

ENTER_QUERY will invoke this mode, for thecurrent block

It is a mode

Things operate differently, or are suspended, until

you exit this mode by Running a query or selectingCancel

Specifically, any actions after invoking the mode willnot be executed until the mode is exited

QBE Mode



Trigger Events can fire in QBE mode, or not

Set Fire in Enter-Query Mode as desired This will cause the Rule to execute in both QBE

and normal mode

It is very, very, very rare that you would want your

rules to fire in this mode! Later well discuss one example where this could

be used.

QBE Mode, continued


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Embedded in every menu are 45 entries you

can activate

Special Menus

Each has the name SPECIAL#

SPECIAL1 though 15: under Tools

SPECIAL16 though 30: under Reports SPECIAL31 though 45: under Actions

Must be activated in a Rule based on theWHEN-NEW-FORM-INSTANCE event


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Special menus, continued

Menu Entry: which entry you want to activate

Menu Label: the text for the menu entry

Render Line before menu: will draw a separator line above themenu entry

Enabled In Block(s): the blocks for which the menu entry should beenabled.

Leave blank to enable for all blocks.

Icon Name: the name of an optional .ico file, which will render in thetoolbar


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This action:

Activates the Tools

menu and creates

the menu entry, for

all blocks of the

form:


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But Special simply activates the menu entry

At runtime, if the user selects it, it emits an eventname that matches the menu entry name

For example, if you activate SPECIAL1, when theuser selects it the event SPECIAL1 will be sent

You create a second rule that triggers off that eventand does what you want

WARNING

Base product code uses these menu entries too.Select an entry they do not use

The Menu Entry list shows the current label ifthere is one; no label is an indication it is currentlyunused


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Zooming

One of the most commonly requested

enhancements: The ability to open a function, passing

context from the current function

For example, from the Purchase Orders

form, open the Vendors form, and passthe vendor on the current PO to query itsdetails

Special+Globals+QBE lets you define these

yourself!


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Zooming: One Strategy Activate a Special menu

In response to that menu (when selected by the user),

Copy context, like primary key fields, into globals Use Conditions to test those values

If they are not set yet, show an error message

If they are set, Open the desired function

In the target form, Create a rule that sets the initial value of those globals to null,

to insure they exist

Then test them: if they are not null,

{this is where other strategies, discussed later, could be used}

Invoke QBE mode on the appropriate block Copy the values into base table fields

Execute the query

Clear the globals


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Zooming: One Strategy, continued

To open the desired function

Create an Action of type Builtin, with the TypeFND_FUNCTION.EXECUTE

This example would open the Responsibilitiesform (after first checking security):


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Rules in the target form

Rule 1: Trigger Event: WHEN-NEW-FORM-INSTANCE

Action: For one of the global variables being passed, set itsINITIAL VALUE property to null (empty)

This makes sure the next rule will not fail when the form is

opened standalone Rule 2:

Trigger Event: WHEN-NEW-FORM-INSTANCE

Condition: test if that global variable is not null

Action 1: Builtin GO_BLOCK to the block you want to query Action 2: Builtin DO_KEY with ENTER_QUERY to invoke

QBE

Dont put more actions here - they will not fire!



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Rules in the target form, continued

Rule 3: Trigger Event: WHEN-NEW-RECORD-INSTANCE, for the

block you are querying

Condition: test if that global variable is not null

Fire in Enter-Query mode checked

Action 1+: set the VALUE of the appropriate fields to have thevalues of the globals you passed

The Value is of the format =:global.

Create an Action for each variable you need to process

Action 2+: Set the VALUE of the globals to null (empty)

This prevents future queries from re-running just this one

Create an Action for each variable you need to process

Action 3: Builtin DO_KEY with EXECUTE_QUERY to run thequery



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Zooming: Other Strategies

Each form in Oracle Applications has its unique quirks. Youmay discover other ways to force it to query:

The target function may already accept the value(s) asan input parameter Use the Add Parameters button to see parameters

associated with other functions on the same form

Note that this will not reveal every parameter that a functiontakes, nor its intended usage

Examining source code is the only way to know exactly howparameters work

Oracle does not warrant that a parameter will exist or functionthe same after a patch

In forms that have Find Windows, it may be possible topopulate the appropriate field(s) in the Find window,then issue builtin DO_KEY with argumentNEXT_BLOCK


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Zooming: Other Strategies, continued You could modify the DEFAULT_WHERE clause of the

appropriate block, then query it using DO_KEY with

argument EXECUTE_QUERY, then reset theDEFAULT_WHERE clause back to its original value

A little bit of experimentation and creativity is all it takes!

Zooms need to be extensively tested after a patchbecause of their inherent complexity


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Summary

In this module, you should have learned how to:

Work with GLOBAL variables, including the differecnesbetween the properties VALUE and INITIAL VALUE

Understand Oracle Forms Query-by-Example (QBE) mode

Create Special menu entries, and write Rules that respondto their selection

Zoom to other functions, and various strategies to try

advanced formpersonalization

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