1. Custom Profile Options
NCOAUG Training Day
August 15, 2003
Thanks for coming
Introductions
In today’s presentation we will explore the use of Custom Profile Options in implementing business solutions so that you will become aware of this rarely used yet powerful tool.
We will talk about some real-life scenarios to show you how effective they can be.
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2. Custom Profile Options
What are they?
Why are they used?
Where can they be used?
When can they be used?
When can they not be used?
Implementation Steps
In today’s presentation we will answer the following questions and show you how to set them up.
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What are they?
A feature of Oracle Applications
A place to hold a setup value
Site/Application/Responsibility/User levels
Pre-defined/User-defined
Profile Options are just one of the features of Oracle Applications.
Profile Options are nothing more than a place to hold a setup value which can be used globally by the application.
For each Profile Option, values can exist at Site, Application, Responsibility, and User levels.
Everyone already knows about the profile options which are pre-defined by Oracle for each module. Today we will be talking about creating your own user-defined profile options that you can use to implement a client specific custom solution.
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Why are they used?
Add flexibility to your design
Easy to create/maintain/delete
Control Visible and Updateable access
Will automatically upgrade
Incorporate using standard API’s
The main reason for using Profile Options is to add flexibility to your design. You can alter functionality with minimal or no code changes by simply updating the custom Profile Option value through the System Profile Values screen.
Profile Options are easy to create and maintain. You can End Date or even delete a user-defined Profile Option at anytime.
The Application Developer can control what is visible or updateable by the User at the User level or by the System Administrator at each level.
Unlike other customizations, profile options automatically upgrade without any manual interventions.
You can use the standard FND_PROFILE API’s to incorporate Profile Options into your customization.
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Where can they be used?
SQL
PL/SQL
Forms
Reports
Workflow
Pro * C
Libraries
Discoverer
Making a simple call of the standard API (FND_PROFILE) from one of these is sufficient to drive your business logic.
The standard API can be used across standard or custom applications.
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When can they be used?
Anytime you use a hard coded value
Turn customization On/Off at Site/Application/Responsibility/User level(s)
Vary the functionality per User/Responsibility
They can be used anytime you use a hard coded value such as an Amount, a Date, a Number, a Quantity, a Text String to drive client specific functionality. The Custom Profile value becomes a parameter to the custom application. Changing the value is now as simple a task as changing the Profile Option’s value through the front end and the custom program remains unaltered.
You can use it to turn On or Off portions of, or an entire customization at one or more levels. You can set the Custom Profile Value at the appropriate levels to restrict or override when you want to make the customization effective only for a particular user or responsibility.
You can vary the functionality of the customization per user/responsibility depending on the Custom Profile Option value.
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7. When can they not be used?
Parameters which cannot be initialized before run-time
Parameter dependent on something other than Site/Application/Responsibility/User level
Custom profile Options are not recommended for those parameters which cannot be initialized before run-time.
An example of when you should not use Custom Profile Options is when your code requires a parameter that is dependent on something other than the four levels (Site/Application/Responsibility/User). In this case you might consider using Lookup Codes or Value Sets.
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Implementation Steps
Create Profile Option definition
Application Developer Responsibility
Assign value to Profile Option
System Administrator/User
Use Profile Option value in customization
First you create the definition of a Custom Profile through the Application Developer Responsibility.
Second, you assign a value to the Custom Profile using System Administrator Responsibility or an individual’s User Responsibility if the User Access is set to Visible/Updateable.
Third, you use the value of the Custom Profile Option in your customization.
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9. Implementation Scenarios
#1 – Blanket PO Releases
Customization On/Off
#2 – Limit Batch Name Length
Setup hard coded value
#3 – Grants Award Security
Like Standard Oracle Apps
Scenario 1 shows how to turn a customization on/off for certain user(s).
Scenario 2 shows how to replace a hard coded value in a custom solution with a Custom Profile Option.
Scenario 3 shows how to utilize profile options the way Oracle has.
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#1 – Blanket PO Releases
Requirement
Requisition requestors are not allowed to Unreserve funds on Blanket Purchase Agreement Releases.
Solution
Create a custom profile option and set it to YES at the Responsibility level for Requisition requestors.
Add code to the CUSTOM.PLL library that checks the value of the custom profile. If YES, then turn customization ON which disables the Unreserve functionality on the Approve Document window.
One of our clients had a requirement to prevent requisition requestors from being able to Unreserve the funds that were encumbered for a Release against a Blanket Purchase Agreement.
Our solution was to create a custom profile option and set it to YES at the Responsibility level for all Requisition requestor responsibilities. We then added code to the standard CUSTOM.PLL library which checks the value of the profile option. If YES then it turns the customization ON which disables the Unreserve checkbox on the Action window of the PO Release form.
The alternatives would have been to:
Hard code each responsibility name in custom.pll but this would require an update to the code every time there was a responsibility name change or if responsibilities were added/deleted from the customization requirement.
Create a Lookup Set and list all of the responsibilities included in the requirement. The code would have have to compare the current user responsibility to see if it is in the lookup. A downside of this solution is that the responsibility name must be keyed into the lookup exactly and if the responsibility name changes it must be updated in the lookup set as well.
Create an Independent Value set which would work the same as a Lookuo Set and have the same maintenance issues.
One of the advantages of using a custom profile option in this scenario, is that if the client would ever want to enforce this customization for specific User(s) they could simply set their profile option value to YES at the User level without having to make any code change.
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Create Profile Option
Here is the user-defined profile option created for this scenario.
Responsibility: Application Developer
Navigation: Profile
Explain screen:
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Assign Value
Here is where the value is set to Yes at Responsibility level for GOAA – Purchasing Requisition Requestor.
Responsibility: System Administrator
Navigation: Profile > System
Query up the Profile Option for the appropriate level and assign a value.
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13. Unreserve Function Disabled
The business logic was incorporated in CUSTOM.PLL and the custom profile value was used to turn On the customization which disables the Unreserve checkbox on the Approve Document window of the PO Release form when a Reserved PO Release is queried up.
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14. #2 – Limit Batch Name Length
Requirement
Limit AP Invoice Batch Name to specific length.
Solution
Create a custom profile option and set to 15 at Site level.
Add code to the CUSTOM.PLL library that checks the value of the custom profile. Length of the Batch Name is compared to this value and an error message is displayed if length exceeds specified limit.
The second scenario is an example of using a profile option as a place holder.
One of our clients had a requirement to limit the maximum length of an AP Invoice Batch Name to 15 characters.
Our solution was to create a custom profile option and set it to 15 (client specified limit) that can only be maintained at the Site level. We then added code to the standard CUSTOM.PLL library which checks the value of the profile option. The length of the entered Batch Name is compared to this value and an error message is displayed if length exceeds 15. Note the user is not allowed to save the record unless it passes this validation.
The alternatives would have been to:
Hard code the limit in custom.pll but this would require an update to the code every time there was a change to the limit.
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15. #3 – Grants Award Security
Requirement
Allow any user with Award Status Inquiry menu option to view Award Status and Award Management Information.
Solution
Create custom profile option and set to YES at Site level.
Modify Grants Award Security Extension package to check value of the profile. If YES, then allow user to view information.
In Oracle Grants, the default Award Status Inquiry form allows only Key Members to view Award Status and Award Information. There are clients that want to vary the default functionality and allow any user with access to the form to view this information.
First we created a custom profile option, similar to the seeded PA: Cross Project User – View profile option in Oracle Projects, and set it to YES at the Site level. We then modified the standard Grants Award Security extension (GMS_SECURITY) which checks the value of the profile option. If YES, then it changes the functionality to allow any user to view the information. If the value of the profile is changed to NO or NULL then the default functionality of Key Member access only is applicable.
The alternative would have been to:
Modify the Grants Award Security Extension package but this would require an update to the code every time there was a change in requirement.
The advantages of using a custom profile option in this scenario, is that if the client would ever want to include/exclude this customization at the Application, Responsibility or specific Users they could simply set their profile option value to YES/NO at the appropriate level without having to make any code change.
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Questions & Answers
Ranga Santhanam
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