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Oracle

r

Applications User sGuideRELEASE 11i

October 2001

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Oracle Applications Users Guide Release 11i

The part number for this book is A7539404.

CopyrightE 1990, 2001, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved .

Primar y Auth ors: Leslie Stud dard

Major Contributors: Mildred Wang

Contribu tors: Anne Carlson, Steve Carter, Peter Wallack, Maxine Zasowski

The Programs (which include both the software and documentation) contain proprietary information

of Oracle Corporation; they are provid ed u nder a license agreement containing restrictions on u se and

disclosure and are also protected by copyright, patent and other intellectual and industrial property

laws. Reverse engineering, disassembly or decompilation of the Programs, except to the extent

required to obtain interoperability with other indep enden tly created software or as specified by law, is

prohibited.

The informa tion contained in th is document is subject to change without notice. If you find any

problems in the documenta tion, please report them to us in writing. Oracle Corporation does not

war rant that this docum ent is errorfree. Except as may be expressly permitted in your license

agreement for these Programs, no part of these Programs m ay be reproduced or transmitted in any

form or by any m eans, electronic or mechanical, for any p urp ose, without the express w ritten

perm ission of Oracle Corporation.

If the Programs are delivered to the US Government or anyone licensing or using the Programs on

behalf of the US Government, the following notice is applicable:

RESTRICTED RIGHTS NOTICE

Programs delivered subject to the DOD FAR Supplement are commercial compu ter software and

use, duplication and disclosure of the Programs including d ocumentation, shall be subject to the

licensing restrictions set forth in th e app licable Oracle license agreemen t. Otherw ise, Program sdelivered subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations are restricted comp uter software and use,

du plication and disclosure of the Programs sha ll be subject to th e restrictions in FAR 52.22719,

Commercial Computer Software Restricted Rights (June, 1987). Oracle Corporation, 500 Oracle

Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065.

The Programs a re not intended for u se in any nu clear, aviation, mass transit, medical, or other

inherently dangerous app lications. It shall be licensees responsibility to take all approp riate failsafe,

back u p, redund ancy and other measures to ensure the safe use of such app lications if the Programs

are used for such purposes, and Oracle disclaims liability for any damages caused by such use of the

Programs.Oracle is a registered trad emark, and Enabling th e Information Age, JInitiator, Oracle Financials,

OracleMetaLink, Oracle Store, Oracle 8i, PL/ SQL, and SQL*Plus are trad emarks or registered

trademarks of Oracle Corporation. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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iiiContents

Contents

Preface ix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 1 Getting Started 1 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Overview of Oracle Applications 1 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Basic Business Needs 1 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Basic GUI Terminology 1 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Starting Oracle Applications 1 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Starting and Logging On 1 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Getting Started in Oracle Applications 1 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Choosing a Responsibility 1 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Setting your Preferences through the Personal Homepage 1 10.

Opening a Form from the Navigator Window 1 10. . . . . . . . . . . .

Using the Navigator s Functions Region 1 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using the Top Ten List 1 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using the Navigator s Documents Region 1 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using the Navigator s Processes Region 1 15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Changing Your Security Access 1 18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using Menus 1 20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pulldown Menu 1 20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Right Mouse Button Menus 1 20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using Keyboard Shortcuts 1 21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Getting Help 1 24. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Exiting Oracle Applications 1 28. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 2 Oracle Applications User Interface Basics 2 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Oracle Applications User Interface 2 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Components of the User Interface 2 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Navigating in Oracle Applications 2 15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Navigating Within a Window 2 15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Navigating Between Windows 2 17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Navigating to Another Form 2 17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Navigating to a CustomDefined Form 2 18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using Window Functions 2 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Printing a Window 2 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Saving Your Work 2 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Closing a Form 2 20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Interpreting Messages 2 21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Linked Forms 2 22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Export 2 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hierarchy Screen 2 25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Menu Structure 2 25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Toolbar Structure 2 26. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 3 Entering and Querying Data 3 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using Editing Functions 3 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Text in a Field 3 2. . . . . . . . . . . .

Clearing Data 3 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duplicating Data From a Previous Record 3 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Creating and Deleting Records 3 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Creating Translations for a Record 3 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Invoking an Editor for a Field 3 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Learning About a Record 3 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using a List of Values 3 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Choosing a Value from a List 3 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Modifying a List 3 15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using the Calendar to Enter Dates 3 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Searching for Information 3 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using Query Find 3 20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Perform ing Qu erybyExam ple and Qu ery Cou nt 3 22. . . . . . . .

Reviewing Records 3 25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Usin g a Direct En try Win dow to Retrieve a Record 3 26. . . . . . . .

Selecting Multip le Records 3 26. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 4 Customizing the Presentation of Data 4 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Customizing the Presentation of Data in a Folder 4 2. . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Using Folder Tools 4 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Querying Records in a Folder 4 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Customizing the Layout of a Folder 4 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Managing Folder Definitions 4 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 5 Using Flexfields 5 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Overview of Flexfields 5 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Entering Data into Flexfields 5 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Entering Data in a Descrip tive Flexfield Wind ow 5 10. . . . . . . . .

Entering Data Directly in a Key Flexfield 5 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Data Entry in a Key Flexfield Window 5 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using Shorthand Aliases in a Key Flexfield 5 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Entering Data in a Range Flexfield 5 17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Searching for Data Using Flexfield Criteria 5 21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 6 Running Oracle Applications Reports and Programs 6 1. . . . . . . .

Overview of Reports and Programs 6 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Overview of Concurrent Processing 6 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Overview of Standard Request Submission 6 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Concurrent Processing Options 6 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Using Standard Request Submission 6 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Submitting a Request 6 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rerun a Prior Request 6 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Submitting a Request Set 6 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Defining Request Sets 6 28. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Who Can Use a Request Set 6 41. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 7 Monitoring Oracle Applications Reports and Programs 7 1. . . . . .

Viewing Requests 7 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Viewing Request Output and Log Files 7 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Monitoring Requests 7 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Concurrent Request Phase and Status 7 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cancelling Requests 7 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Changing Request Options 7 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 8 Working with Attachments 8 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

About Attachments 8 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Attachments Window 8 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Adding an Attachment 8 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Viewing an Attached Document 8 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Deleting an Attachment 8 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Copying an Attachment from Another Record 8 7. . . . . . . . . . .

Uploading and Downloading Attachment Files 8 8. . . . . . . . . .

Documents Window 8 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 9 Using User Profiles 9 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Overview of User Profiles 9 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Setting Your Personal User Profile 9 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Common User Profile Options 9 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Appendix A Oracle Applications Menus A 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Oracle Applications Pulldown Menu Bar A 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

File Menu A 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Edit Menu A 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

View Menu A 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Folder Menu A 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tools and Special Menus A 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Window Menu A 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Help Menu A 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Menu Mapping from Release 11 to 11i A 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .New for Release 11i A 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Appendix B Personal Homepage in Oracle Applications B 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Personal Homepage in Oracle Applications B 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Welcome Toolbar B 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tab Pages B 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Navigation and Favorites B 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Worklist B 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ask Oracle B 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Business Views Catalog B 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Use of Colors in Performance Measures B 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Notification and Worklist Flags B 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Customizing the Personal Homepage B 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Maintaining Tab Pages B 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Customizing a Tab Page B 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Preferences B 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Language Session Preference B 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

General Preferences B 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Extensible Links Forms B 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Parameter Passing B 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

UserDefined Links to BIS Reports B 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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UserDefined Links to Discoverer Workbooks B 9. . . . . . . . . . . .

Indicators Region B 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mon itor ing PMF Actua ls on the Per sonal Home Page B 9. . . . .

Trends Region B 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Appendix C User Accessibility C 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Oracle Applications Accessibility Features C 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

General Features C 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Look and Feel of the User Interface C 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Navigating the Interface C 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Specific Accessibility Techniques C 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Techniques for LowVision Users C 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Techniques for Physically Disabled Users C 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Glossary

Index

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viii Oracle Applications Users Guide

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ixPreface

Preface

Welcom e to Release 11i of the Oracle Applications Users Guide .

This user s guide includ es the information you n eed to work with

Oracle Applications effectively. It contains detailed information abou t

the following :

Overview and reference information

How to navigate through Oracle App lications Windows

How to submit Oracle App lications program s, reports, and

listings

This preface explains how th is users guid e is organized an d introd uces

other sources of information that can h elp you.

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Audience for This Guide

This guid e assum es you have a working kn owled ge of the following:

The principles and custom ary p ractices of your business area

Oracle App lications

If you h ave never u sed Oracle App lications, we suggest you

attend one or more of the Oracle App licationstraining classes

available through Oracle University.

See: Other Information Sources for m ore information about Oracle

Applications product information.

How To Use This Guide

This guide contains the information you n eed to u nderstand and use

Oracle App lications.

Chap ter 1, Getting Started , introduces you to Oracle

App lications and to some basic features comm on to all Oracle

App lications products. It tells you how to log in, choose a

responsibility, use the m enu , get Help, u se keyboard shor tcuts,

and exit.

Chap ter 2, Oracle App lications User Interface Basics,

introdu ces you to th e Oracle Applications user interface and

teaches you a few simp le concepts and functions you need to

start working. Specifically, this chapter describes the anatomy of

the Oracle App lications user interface, how to navigate aroundOracle Applications, how to view message explanations, and

how to access linked forms.

Chap ter 3, Entering and Querying Data, discusses advanced

features that help you enter an d query d ata from Oracle

Applications. Specifically, this chap ter describes how to simplify

da ta entry u sing a list of values, how to enter a d ate using the

Calendar, and how to search for information. Chap ter 4, Custom izing the Presentation of Data, discusses

how you can customize the layout of your d ata in a folder.

Chap ter 5, Using Flexfields, contains an explanation of

flexfields and tells you how to use them . You learn abou t the

features of flexfields, the d ifferences between a key and a

descriptive flexfield, how to enter da ta into flexfields, and how

to query d ata u sing flexfields.

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xiPreface

Chap ter 6, Runn ing Oracle App lications Reports and

Programs, gives you an overv iew of how to run rep orts and

program s in Oracle Applications. Specifically, you learn abou t

the concur rent processing feature that allows you to ru n repor ts

and program s noninteractively, how to run rep orts and

program s using Stand ard Report Subm ission, and h ow to definerequest sets.

Chap ter 7, Monitoring Oracle App lications Reports and

Programs, tells you how to view and monitor your requests.

Specifically, this chapter tells you how to use the Concurrent

Requests, Requests, and Comp leted Requests wind ows, how to

view the progress of a concurrent requ est, how to cancel a

request or change its processing options, and how concurrentprocessing recovers from u nforeseen system events.

Chap ter 8, Working w ith Attachm ents, describes attaching a

docum ent to a d ata record, as well as how to view, delete, or

copy an attachment.

Chap ter 9, Using User Profiles, teaches you abou t Oracle

App lications user p rofiles. User profiles give you control over

the behav ior of certain Oracle App lications features. Thischapter tells you h ow to set user p rofile options for all Oracle

Applications products.

App end ix A, Oracle App lications Menu s, d escribes the Oracle

App lications main menu ba r.

App end ix B, Custom izing the Personal Homep age, describes

how to use and customize your personal homepage.

Appen dix C, User Accessibility, describes specific featu res in

Oracle App lications to enhan ce usability.

Documentation Accessibili ty

Our goal is to make Oracle prod ucts, services, and sup porting

docum entation accessible, with good usability, to the disabled

commu nity. To that end , our documen tation includ es features thatmake information available to users of assistive technology. This

docum entation is available in HTML format, and contains marku p to

facilitate access by the disabled commu nity. Stand ards w ill continue to

evolve over time, and Oracle Corporation is actively engaged w ith

other marketleading technology vend ors to add ress technical

obstacles so that ou r d ocumen tation can be accessible to all of our

customers. For additional information, visit the Oracle Accessibility

Program Web site at http:/ / ww w.oracle.com/ accessibility/ .

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xii O ra cle Ap p lica tion s User s Gu id e

Accessibil ity of Code Examples in Documentation

JAWS, a Window s screen read er, may not a lways correctly read the

code examples in this docum ent. The conventions for writing code

require that closing braces should ap pear on an oth erwise emp ty line;

how ever, JAWS may not a lways read a line of text that consists solelyof a bracket or brace.

Accessibil ity of Links to External Web Sites in D ocumentation

This documen tation m ay contain links to Web sites of other compan ies

or organizations that Oracle Corporation d oes not own or control.

Oracle Corporat ion neither evaluates nor makes any representations

regard ing the accessibility of these Web sites.

Other Information Sources

You can choose from m any sources of information, includ ing online

docum entation, training, and sup port services, to increase your

knowledge and und erstanding of Oracle Applications.If this guide refers you to other Oracle App lications documen tation,

use only th e Release 11i versions of those guides.

Online D ocumentation

All Oracle App lications d ocumen tation is available online (HTML or

PDF). Online Help The new features section in th e HTML help

describes new features in 11i. This information is upd ated for

each new release of Oracle App lications. The new features

section also includes information about an y features that w ere

not yet available when th is guide was printed . For example, if

your ad ministrator has installed software from a minipacks

up grad e, this docum ent describes the new features. Online help

patches are available on MetaLink.

11i Features Matrix This docum ent lists new features available

by patch and identifies any associated new docum entation. The

new features matrix docum ent is available on MetaLink.

Readme File Refer to th e readm e file for patches that you have

installed to learn about new documentation or d ocum entation

patches that you can d ownload.

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xiiiPreface

Related Users Guides

Oracle App lications shares business and setup information with oth er

Oracle Applications prod ucts. Therefore, you may w ant to refer to

other users guides w hen you set up and use Oracle App lications.

You can read the gu ides online by choosing Library from th e

expand able menu on your H TML help wind ow, by reading from th e

Oracle App lications Docum ent Library CD includ ed in your m edia

pack, or by using a Web browser w ith a URL that your system

adm inistrator provides.

If you requ ire printed guid es, you can pu rchase them from the Oracle

Store at http :/ / oraclestore.oracle.com.

Installation and System Administration

Oracle Applications Concepts

This guide p rovides an introd uction to the concepts, features,

technology stack, architecture, and terminology for Oracle App lications

Release 11i. It provides a useful first book to read before an installationof Oracle Ap plications. This guide also introduces the concepts behind

Applicationswide featu res such as Business Intelligence (BIS),

languages and character sets, and SelfService Web Applications.

Installing Oracle Applications

This guide p rovides instructions for manag ing the installation of Oracle

Applications products. In Release 11i, mu ch of the installation p rocessis hand led using Oracle Rapid Install, wh ich m inimizes the time to

install Oracle Ap plications, the Oracle8 technology stack, and the

Oracle8i Server technology stack by au tomating many of the required

steps. This gu ide contains instructions for u sing Oracle Rapid Install

and lists the tasks you need to perform to finish your installation. You

should u se this guide in conjunction w ith individual prod uct user s

guides and imp lementation guides.

Upgrading Oracle Applications

Refer to this guide if you are upgrad ing your Oracle App lications

Release 10.7 or Release 11.0 prod ucts to Release 11i. This guide

describes the up grad e process and lists da tabase and p rodu ctspecific

up grad e tasks. You mu st be either at Release 10.7

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xiv O ra cle Ap p lica tion s User s Gu id e

(NCA, SmartClient, or character mod e) or Release 11.0, to up grad e to

Release 11i. You cannot u pgrad e to Release 11i directly from releases

pr ior to 10.7.

Maintaining Oracle ApplicationsUse this guide to help you run the various AD u tilities, such as

AutoUpgrade, Au toPatch, AD Ad ministration, AD Controller, AD

Relink, License Manager, and others. It contains howto steps,

screenshots, and other information that you need to run the AD

utilities. This guid e also provides information on maintaining the

Oracle app lications file system and database.

Oracle Applications System Administrators Guide

This guide p rovides plann ing and reference information for the Oracle

App lications System Ad ministrator. It contains information on how to

define security, custom ize menu s and on line help, and manage

concurrent p rocessing.

Oracle Alert Users Guide

This guid e explains how to define periodic and event alerts to mon itor

the status of your Oracle App lications data.

Other Implementation Documentation

Oracle Applications Product Update NotesUse this guid e as a reference for u pgrading an installation of Oracle

App lications. It p rovides a history of the changes to ind ividua l Oracle

Applications prod ucts between Release 11.0 and Release 11i. It includ es

new features, enhan cements, and changes made to d atabase objects,

profile options, and seed d ata for this interval.

Oracle Workflow GuideThis guid e explains how to define new w orkflow bu siness processes as

well as customize existing Oracle App licationsembed ded workflow

processes.You also use th is guide to complete the setup steps necessary

for any Oracle App lications prod uct that includ es workflowenabled

processes.

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xvPreface

Oracle Applications Flexfie lds Guide

This guide p rovides flexfields p lanning, setup , reference, and ongoing

maintenance information. This man ual also provides information on

creating custom rep orts on flexfields data.

Oracle eTechnical Reference Manuals

Each eTechnical Reference Manu al (eTRM) conta ins da tabase diagrams

and a detailed d escription of database tables, forms, reports, and

programs for a specific Oracle Ap plications p rodu ct. This information

helps you convert data from your existing ap plications, integrate

Oracle Applications data w ith nonOracle app lications, and write

custom rep orts for Oracle Ap plications. Oracle eTRM is available onMetaLink.

Oracle Applications Message Reference Manual

This manu al describes all Oracle App lications messages. This manu al is

available in H TML format on the d ocumen tation CDROM for Release

11i.

Training and Support

Training

Oracle offers a complete set of training courses to help you an d your

staff master Oracle App lications an d reach full prod uctivity quickly.

These courses are organized into functional learning p aths, so you takeonly those cour ses app ropriate to your job or a rea of responsibility.

You have a choice of educational environm ents. You can attend courses

offered by Oracle University at any one of our m any Edu cation

Centers, you can arrange for our trainers to teach at you r facility, or

you can use O racle Learning Netw ork (OLN), Oracle Universitys

online edu cation u tility. In ad dition, Oracle training professionals can

tailor stand ard courses or develop custom courses to meet your need s.

For example, you may wan t to use your organ ization structu re,terminology, and d ata as examp les in a custom ized training session

delivered at your own facility.

Support

From onsite support to central support, our team of experienced

professionals provides the help and information you need to keep

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xvi O ra cle Ap p lica tion s User s Gu id e

Oracle Applications working for you. This team includ es your

Technical Represen tative, Account Man ager, and

Oracles large staff of consultants an d sup port specialists with expertise

in your bu siness area, managing an Oracle8i server, and your hardw are

and software environment.

Do Not Use Database Tools to Modify Oracle Applications Data

Oracle STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that you never use SQL*Plus,

Oracle Data Brow ser, database triggers, or any ot her tool to modify

Oracle Applicat ions dat a unless otherw ise inst ructed.

Oracle provides p owerfu l tools you can use to create, store, change,

retrieve, and maintain information in an Oracle database. But if you u se

Oracle tools such as SQL*Plus to m odify Oracle App lications data, you

risk destroying the integrity of your d ata and you lose the ability to

aud it changes to your data.

Because Oracle App lications tab les are interrelated, any change you

make using Oracle Applications can upda te many tables at once. Butwh en you mod ify Oracle App lications data u sing anything other than

Oracle Applications, you may change a row in one table withou t

making correspon ding chan ges in related tables. If your tables get out

of synchronization w ith each other, you risk retrieving erroneou s

information and you risk un pred ictable results throughou t Oracle

Applications.

When you use Oracle Applications to mod ify your d ata, Oracle

App lications au tomat ically checks that your changes are valid. OracleApp lications also keeps track of who changes information. If you en ter

information into database tables using d atabase tools, you may store

invalid information. You also lose the ability to tr ack wh o has changed

your information because SQL*Plus and other d atabase tools do not

keep a record of changes.

About Oracle

Oracle Corpora tion develops and markets an integrated line of

software produ cts for da tabase managem ent, app lications

developmen t, decision supp ort, and office automation, as well as

Oracle App lications, an integrated suite of more than 160 software

mod ules for financial managem ent, supply chain man agement,

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xviiPreface

manu factur ing, project systems, hu man resources and customer

relationship managem ent.

Oracle produ cts are available for mainframes, minicompu ters, persona l

computers, network computers and personal digital assistants,

allowing organ izations to integrate d ifferent comp uters, d ifferentoperating system s, different netw orks, and even different database

managem ent systems, into a single, un ified comp uting and information

resource.

Oracle is the w orlds leading supp lier of software for information

managem ent, and the w orlds second largest software company. Oracle

offers its da tabase, tools, and app lications prod ucts, along w ith related

consulting, education, and sup port services, in over 145 coun tries

around the world.

Your Feedback

Thank you for using Oracle App lications and this user s guide.

Oracle values your commen ts and feedback. At the end of this guide isa Reader s Comment Form you can u se to explain w hat you like or

dislike about Oracle Applications or this u sers guide. Mail your

comm ents to the following ad dress or call us d irectly at (650) 5067000.

Oracle Applications Docum entation Manager

Oracle Corporation

500 Oracle Parkway

Redw ood Shores, CA 94065

U.S.A.

Or, send electronic mail to [email protected] .

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xviii Oracle Applica tions Users Guide

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C H A P T E R

1T

1 1Getting Started

Getting Started

his chap ter introd uces you to Oracle Applications. Specifically,

this chap ter teaches you how to:

Start Oracle App lications

Use Oracle App lications menus

Use keyboard shortcut s

Get help in Oracle Applications

Exit from Oracle Applications

In ad dition, this chapter also lists some basic graph ical user interfaceterms used throughout the guide.

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1 2 O racle App lica tions U ser s Gu ide

Overview of Oracle Applications

Oracle App lications is a tightlyintegrated family of app lication

prod ucts that share a comm on look and feel. Using the menus and

window s of Oracle App lications, you have access to all the functions

you n eed to m anage your business information.

Oracle Applications is highly responsive to users, sup porting a

mu ltiwindow graphical user interface (GUI) that provides you w ith

full pointandclick capability. You can use you r m ouse or keyboard to

operate grap hical controls such as pulldown menus, buttons, poplists,

and check boxes.

In addition, Oracle Applications offers man y other features such as

fieldtofield validation and list of values to help you simplify d ataentry and maintain the integrity of the da ta you enter.

The best way to familiarize yourself with the comm on look and feel of

Oracle App lications produ cts is to log in and u se the produ cts. This

chapter d escribes how to get started w ith Oracle App lications and

provid es you with the basic information you n eed to explore Oracle

App lications in greater dep th.

Suggestion: This guid e teaches you how to u se the OracleApp lications GUI and other comm on Oracle Applications

features. If you need specific information abou t a particular

Oracle Applications prod uct, you should consult the help or

reference guid e for that p rodu ct. For example, if you w ish to

learn how to enter a journ al, you shou ld consult the Oracle

General Ledger Users Guide or the Oracle Public Sector General

Ledger Users Guide.

Basic Business Needs

Oracle App lications provides you w ith features you need for your

business. With Oracle App lications you can:

Learn how to use the system quickly. Oracle App lications uses

familiar and easytouse menu s so you, your staff, and your n ew

emp loyees can be prod uctive after a few m inutes of coaching

from a colleague.

Be productive even if you are a novice user. A simple, intuitive

graphical user interface (GUI) lets you use all of the pow er of

Oracle Applications.

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1 3Getting Started

Increase your productivity as a pow er user. When you become

familiar w ith Oracle App lications, you can use shortcuts in th e

graphical user interface to quickly navigate and w ork with

mu ltiple window s at once.

Get help when you need i t. Contextsensitive on line help is

always available whenever you need assistance.

Secure your application data from unauthorized access. You

can control access to your application d ata and customize the

wind ows ava ilable for each user based on that user s level of

authority.

Basic GUI Terminology

Before u sing Oracle App lications, you should familiarize yourself with

the specifics of your GUI environmen t and how to perform basic tasks,

such as using a menu or selecting an item. In doing so, you shou ld

come across and become familiar w ith the following generic terms:

The part of your comp uter m onitor that d isplays

information and wh ere your w ork takes place.

This is also referred to as you r screen.

A box around a set of related information on your

desktop.

A list that app ears in a bar across the top of a

window that consists of command s or actions you

can perform.

Quickly press and release a mou se button while the

mou se pointer is on a part icular item.

Rapidly click a mouse bu tton tw ice wh ile the

mou se pointer is on a part icular item.

Move the mouse while holding down a mou se

button.

Mark an item. Examples include highlighting text,

or clicking on a value from a list.

Select an item an d initiate the action associated

with the item. Examp les includ e choosing a menu

item or choosing a bu tton.

A vertical or horizontal bar tha t app ears on a

window wh ose contents are not entirely visible.

desktop

window

menu

click

doubleclick

drag

select

choose

scroll bar

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Click on the ar rows, or d rag on the box of a scroll

bar to scroll throu gh the hidd en contents, or click

in the bar itself to move to either th e previous or

next page.

Note: The mouse bu tton tha t we refer to in the term s above isthe mou se button that you p rogram for selecting text and

choosing items. (Usually the left mou se button)

Once you get started in Oracle App lications, you can refer to the Oracle

App lications User Interface section of this gu ide for a m ore

comp rehensive list of user inter face term s. See: Oracle Applications

User In terface: page 2 2.

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1 5Getting Started

Starting Oracle Applications

To start Oracle Applications, you need to:

Start up your comp uter system

Start your Web Brow ser

Start the Oracle App lications p rogram

Log on to Oracle Applications

Choose a resp onsibility (if necessary)

Navigate to an app lication wind ow (if necessary)

Starting and Logging On

The first step in starting Oracle App lications is to enter the ap prop riate

URL for you r site in an Oracle App lications certified brow ser.

After starting Oracle Applications, the first wind ow you see is the

signon window.

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You need an Oracle Applications usernam e and p assword , also know n

as an O racle Applications signon, to log on to Oracle App lications. It

is different from th e username an d password you u se to log on to your

compu ter. If you are not su re of your Oracle App lications signon,

consult your system adm inistrator.

Oracle App lications security is based on your Oracle App lications

signon. Your signon connects you to your responsibilities, wh ich

control your access to app lications, fun ctions, reports, and da ta.

Note: The exact app earance of your signon wind ow m ayvary d epending on how it is customized at you r site.

G tti St t d i O l A li ti

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1 7Getting Started

Getting Started in Oracle Applications

" To log on to Oracle Applications:

1. Enter your username in the User Name field.

Attention: Do not p ress [Enter] after entering each item, as [Enter]

is normally used to accept the default bu tton. Instead, use [Tab] or

the mouse to navigate between fields.

2. Enter your password in the Password field.

3. Choose Connect.

Notice your password does not app ear as you type it, to prevent

others from seeing it. Keep your password confiden tial to preventaccess to Oracle App lications by unauth orized u sers.

Choosing a Responsibili ty

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Choosing a Responsibili ty

From the main tab on your p ersonal homep age you can access a

list of links to you r responsibilities.

A responsibility is a level of auth ority in Oracle Ap plications tha t lets

you access only those Oracle App lications functions and data

app ropriate to fulfill your role in an organization. Each responsibility

allows access to:

A specific app lication or app lications, such as Oracle GeneralLedger or Oracle Plann ing.

A set of books, such as U.S. Operations or German Sales or an

organization, such as N ew York Manufacturing or New York

Distribution.

A restricted list of wind ows that you can navigate to; for

example, a responsibility m ay allow certain Oracle Plann ing

users to enter forecast items but not enter master d eman d

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1 9Getting Started

users to enter forecast items, but not enter master d eman d

sched ule items.

A restricted list of functions you can perform. For examp le, two

responsibilities may have access to the same window, but one

responsibilitys window m ay have additional fun ction button s

that the other responsibilitys wind ow d oes not have.

Reports in a sp ecific app lication; your system administrator can

assign group s of reports to one or more responsibilities, so the

responsibility you choose determ ines the reports you can subm it.

Each u ser has at least one responsibility and several users can sha re the

same respon sibility.

Two Types of Responsibi lities

The Navigate region m ay contain links to SelfService Web app lications

as well as Formsbased ap plications. Formsbased resp onsibilities

launch Oracle Applications Forms.

For information abou t Oracle SelfService Web Ap plications, see

Personal Hom epage in Oracle SelfService Web Applications: page

B 2.

You w ill see a link for each responsibility assigned to you .

" To choose a Formsbased responsibility:

Simp ly click on a link in the N avigate region of your Personal

Hom epage. Doing this will open the Oracle App lications

Navigator wind ow for the responsibility you have chosen.

For more information about the Navigator Window, see Opening a

Form from the Navigator Window : page 1 10.

Note: If your system adm inistrator assigns you just oneFormsbased responsibility with no other options on you r

hom epage, your responsibility will launch w hen you sign on.

If you are assigned one SelfService responsibility with many

functions, and you have no other options on your personalhom epage, you r respon sibilitys list of functions w ill display as

if you had clicked the link.

If you are assigned on e SelfService respon sibility w ith just one

function, and you have n o other options on your p ersonal

hom epage, your function will launch au tomatically wh en you

sign on.

Setting your Preferences through the Personal Homepage

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1 10 Oracle Applications Users Guide

Setting your Preferences through the Personal Homepage

There are several choices you can m ake about h ow you want to view

information in Oracle App lications. These choices include languages,

date formats, and num ber formats.

To access you r p references, choose the Preferences link in th e Favoritesregion of your p ersonal homepage.

" To select your language

Click on the drop d own list labeled Langu age.

Select the language in w hich you prefer to w ork. You will see

screens, reports, and som e data in the language you choose.

" To select your date format

Click on the drop d own list labeled Date Format.

Select the format in which you w ould like to view da tes.

" To se lect your number format

Click on the d rop d own list labeled N um ber Format

Select the format in which you w ould like to view numbers.

Attention: Curren tly only the US nu mber format isrecognized in Oracle selfservice applications.

For information about Oracle Self Service Web Ap plications, see

Personal Hom epage in Oracle SelfService Web Applications: page

B 2.

Opening a Form from the N avigator Window

Use the Navigator window to navigate to a form th at lets you p erform

a specific business flow. The Navigator w indow is always present

du ring your session of Oracle Applications and displays the nam e ofyour cu rrent responsibility in its window title.

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1 11Getting Started

The Navigator consists of three regions: Fun ctions, Documen ts, and

Processes. The Functions region p rovides a list of forms displayed like

the files in a file system, the Documen ts region is a customizable region

that allows you to create links to specific documents that you use

frequently, and the Processes region provides graph ical map s of

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business processes, allowing you to au tomate business flows across

forms.

Using the Navigators Functions Region

The forms that you can navigate to are displayed in a navigation liston

the lefthand side of the Navigate wind ow. The navigation list is

organized m uch like the hierarchy of a file system, where you can

expand items that begin with a plus sign (+) to further sublevels un til

you find your form of interest. Sublevels appear ind ented below the

items from w hich they are expand ed. Items that are expanded arepreceded by a minu s sign (). You can expand no further w hen an item

displays neither a plus or minus sign.

Above the nav igation list, you shou ld see two fields that span the

width of the window. These two fields help you iden tify your

selection. The top field displays the name of the item currently

selected, while the bottom field d isplays a description of that item.

" To expand or collapse the navigation list:

1. Choose one of the following methods to expand an expandable

item to its next sublevel:

Doubleclick on the item.

Select the item an d choose Open.

Select the item an d choose the Expand button.2. Choose one of the following methods to collapse an expanded item:

Doubleclick on the item.

Select the item an d choose the Collapse button.

3. To expand or collapse several items at once, choose one of the

following bu ttons:

Expand All Childrenexpan d all the sublevels of the currentlyselected item

Expand Allexpan d all the sublevels of all expan dable items in

the navigation list

Collapse Allcollapses all curren tly expand ed item s in the

navigation list

" To open a form from the navigation list:

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1 13Getting Started

" To open a form from the navigation list:

1. Select your form of interest..

2. Choose Open.

Suggestion: Alternatively, you can doubleclick d irectly onthe form of interest to open it. How ever, do not doubleclick

on the Op en but ton. All buttons require only a single click to

activate; using a dou ble click w ill activate the action tw ice.

" To open a form using an LOV window :

1. Use the keyboard shortcut (usually Ctrl L) to open the LOV (List of

Values) window.2. Select the form from the list and choose OK or first redu ce the list

by entering a p artial form title.

See Also

Using Keyboard Shortcuts: page 1 21

Using a List of Values: page 3 9

Using the Top Ten List

If there are forms that you u se frequent ly, you can copy them over to a

navigation top ten listlocated on the righthand side of the Navigate

window. The top ten list displays your forms nu merically so you canchoose them instantly withou t having to search for them in th e

navigation list. You can ad d a m aximum of ten forms to the top ten list

and you can create a different top ten list for each responsibility you

hav e access to.

Note: A top t en list is un ique for the responsibility and usersignon combination you use.

" To create a navigation top ten list:

1. Select a frequently used form from the navigation list.

2. Choose the arrow p ointing to the Top Ten List.

The form now ap pears in the navigation top ten list preceded by a

top ten list num ber.

3. If you wish to remove a form from the top ten list, select that form

i h li d h i i f h T

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in the top ten list and choose arrow pointing aw ay from the Top

Ten List.

" To open a form from the navigation top ten lis t:

Type the top ten list num ber that precedes the form you wan t to

open . You can also select the form you want and choose Open, or

dou bleclick on the form n ame.

Notice that the nam e and d escription of that form also appear in

the cur rent selection fields above th e nav igation list.

Using the Navigators Documents Region

If you h ave a d ocumen t, such as a p articular pu rchase order, invoice, or

sales order that you want to access later, you can create a link to the

docum ent using the Navigator s Documen t feature. The Navigator s

Document feature allows you to create as many links as you wan t and

save them in the Docum ents region of the Nav igator wind ow. The

links can be represented as icons in the wind ow or m ay be viewed as alist. Documents are defined as realworld documen ts such as those

listed above, but m ay also include such docum ents as employees or

plans. When you u se a link to open a docum ent, Oracle App lications

opens the docum ent in the approp riate form w indow. You can access

the Document region using the tab control.

" Adding new Documents to the Navigator

Forms that sup port ad ding d ocum ents to the Navigator enable the

Place on Navigator men u item in the File menu. Use this menu

item to ad d you r docum ent to the Navigator.

" Opening the Navigators Document Region

Choose Documents from the tab control in the Navigation wind ow.

Once you create a link to a docum ent, the Docum ent region will

open by d efault wh en you log on.

" To open a form from the D ocument Region

1. Select the document link you want to open.

2. Choose Open or d oubleclick it.

" Renaming Documents in the Navigator

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1 15Getting Started

1. Select the document link you want to rename.

2. Ch oose th e Rename... button , or d oubleclick the label.

3. Enter the new name, then press OK.Note: There is a limit of 80 characters for documen t names.

" Removing Documents from the Navigator

1. Select the document link to be discarded.

2. Choose Remove.

Removing the d ocumen t link from th e Nav igator has no effect onthe actual documen t. How ever, if a record such as a purchase

order is deleted in the Enter Pu rchase Orders form, the link in

your N avigator d isplays a message letting you know that your link

is now invalid.

Using the N avigators Processes Region

The Processes region of the Navigator (the Process Navigator)

autom ates business flows across Oracle App lications forms. It allows

you to m odel and execute comp lex business processes through an

easytouse, grap hical user inter face. The business processes enabled

through the Process Navigator can cross produ ct boun daries and

includ e comp lete business cycles.

The Process Navigator guid es you stepbystep throu gh each required

function in a business process. In add ition to providing a visual map of

a business process, the Process Nav igator can launch the app ropriate

Oracle Applications forms or standard rep orts at each step.

Each time you start a bu siness process, you create an instance of that

process. You can create as many instances as you need. Each instance

maintains its own version of the process diagram id entified by a name

you assign. As you complete each form or step within your p rocess,you can save the data and up date your d iagram to indicate that this

step is complete. When you op en a subsequent form, the information

you entered in prior forms is used to query the ap propriate data.

You are not requ ired to complete a process before closing the process

instance. A p rocess instance can be closed for later completion, or you

can choose to end th e instance before comp letion. Ending a p rocess

instance does not change or mod ify any d ata you h ave entered

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instance does not change or mod ify any d ata you h ave entered.

Creating and Opening a Process

When you enter the Processes region, the processes assigned to yourcurrent responsibility are displayed in a list. To use a process, you

create an instance of the process, and enter a n ame for the instance.

This instance remains active until you complete or cancel the p rocess.

Active instances are listed in th e Navigator below the p rocess from

which they were derived. Instances are available only to the user wh o

created them .

" Creating a new instance

1. Select a process.

2. Choose Launch .

3. Enter the name for the new instance. This name appears in the

Navigator Processes list.

" Open an existing process instance

Single click on th e process instance you want to open in the

Navigator Processes list.

The Navigator continues to display the cur rent process instance until

you select another.

Working in a Process InstanceThe process instance displays a diagram containing various steps, with

each step represented by an icon. The active step or steps are ind icated

by green boxes drawn around the step icons. There may be more than

one active step if your p rocess contains multiple path s.

The diagram allows you to view a brief description of each step or to

open th e form associated w ith a step.

" Opening a form

Click once on any step icon w ithin a p rocess to display a brief

description of that step.

Doubleclick on an icon to op en the related Oracle Applications

form.

Note: You can open a step in a p rocess instance regardless ofwh ether it is an active step. If you op en a nonactive step, the

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1 17Getting Started

wh ether it is an active step. If you op en a non active step, the

system w arns you that up on step completion, you cannot use

the Next Step op tion from the File menu . In add ition, the

process instance diagram will not ind icate that th e step is

complete.Attention: Function Security is enabled in the Processesregion of the Navigator. If your cur rent responsibility does not

have access to a form, you cannot op en tha t form.

" Completing a Step

When a step represents a transaction u pd ated through an Oracle

App lications form, there are two w ays you can complete that step:

You can select Next Step from th e File menu, or

You can return to the Process Navigator, and with the comp leted

step highlighted, choose the Comp lete button .

Use the second m ethod for any step that d oes not represent a

transaction based on an Oracle App lications Form.

" Ending a Process Instance

A process instance may be terminated a t any time du ring the process

without affecting any d ata you have entered. A process instance is

autom atically terminated w hen the last step in the process is comp lete.

The system removes th e process instance from the Process Navigator

list the next time you log in. You m ay also choose to terminate a

process instan ce before all of the steps are comp lete. To do th is:

1. Select the process instance to be terminated.

2. Choose the Abort button.

Changing Your Security Access

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If you h ave several responsibilities and you w ant to w ork in Oracle

App lications und er a d ifferent responsibility, you can do so withou t

exiting Oracle Ap plications.

You can also change the passw ord to you r user signon at any time.Your system adm inistrator may requ ire all users to periodically change

their passw ords to m aintain better secur ity to Oracle App lications.

" To sw itch your responsibi lity:

1. Click in the Navigate window or choose Navigator from the

Wind ow m enu to m ake the Navigate window active.

2. Choose Switch Responsibility from the File menu .

If there are w indow s still open in your current responsibility,

Oracle App lications asks you to save you r changes, if there are any,

before it closes those wind ow s. You may cancel switching

responsibilities by choosing Cancel in the save chan ges wind ow.

Note: The save changes wind ow on ly appear s if there are any

changes to save. If there are no changes to save, all open w indow s

other than th e Navigate wind ow close, and Oracle App lications

displays your responsibility list.

Note: If you have only one responsibility, the Switch Responsibility

menu item is disabled.

3. Select a new responsibility from the Responsibilities wind ow and

choose OK.

The Navigate window title and contents then u pd ate to reflect thenew responsibility you chose.

" To change your password:

1. Click in the Navigate window or choose Navigator from th e

Wind ow m enu to m ake the Navigate window active.

2. Choose Change Password... from the Edit, Preferences menu , to

display the Password Upd ate window.

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1 19Getting Started

3. Enter your old password in the Old Password field.

4. Enter your new password in the New Password field.

5. Enter your new password again in the Reenter New Password

field.

6. Choose OK.

If the second entry of your new password does not m atch your

first, Oracle App lications asks you to reenter your new passw ord

again, until both entries match. Your n ew p assword takes effect

immediately.

Note: If you change your mind and d o not want to alter your

passw ord, choose Cancel to close the Password Upd ate wind ow.

Using Menus

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Oracle App lications u se a Multiple Document Interface (MDI). All

window s are displayed inside a single container w indow, with a single

toolbar, menu , message line, and status line attached to that w indow.

Pulldown Menu

The pulldown menu bar includes the following menus:

File

Edit

View Folder

Tools

Special A & B (only visible when active)

Window

Help

Use these menu s to navigate through a form, to edit or retrieve data, or

to perform var ious other actions.

See Also

Oracle App lications Pu lldown Menu Bar: page A 2

Right Mouse Button Menus

In addition to the Pulldow n m enu, using the right mou se button allows

you to access the following menu items:

Cu t

Copy

Paste

Folder Menu

Help

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

E i d O l A li i h b i

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1 21Getting Started

Experienced Oracle Applications users can access the menu by using a

keyboard shortcut, a specific combina tion of keystrokes that p erforms the

same function as a correspond ing menu item. Oracle App lications

assigns many commonly used functions, such as Run Query, Save, orClear Record to keyboard shortcuts.

You can d isplay a list of the keyboard shortcuts that m ap to your

compu ter terminals keyboard at any time.

Note: Rather than list the actual keys for a keyboard shortcut,we refer to keyboard shortcuts in this guide u sing the format

[Function] where Function represents the function that the

keyboard shortcut performs.

" To display a list of keyboard shortcuts:

1. Choose Keyboard Help... from the Help menu .

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2. When you finish scrolling through the listing, choose OK to close

the window.

Most window bu ttons are also mapp ed to keyboard shortcuts. The

shortcut key is ind icated w ith an und erline in the button label. Forexample, in the Request Sum mary window, the button label Hold

Request has the H u nd erlined. This indicates that you can use the

keyboard shortcut AltH to pu t a request on hold instead of using the

mouse.

Attention: Depending on your GUI environment, you can alsoinvoke men u items u sing keystroke combinat ions that are d ifferent

from the keyboard shortcuts described above. For example, each

men u item is identified by a un ique un derlined character. You can

press a function key that invokes the menu , and then type in the

un derlined character of the menu item you w ant to invoke For

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1 23Getting Started

un derlined character of the menu item you w ant to invoke. For

example, the function key in Window s that invokes the menu is

[Alt]. To choose Prin t... from th e File menu , you en ter [Alt] [F] [P],

where F is un derlined in File and P is underlined in Print....

See Also

Toolbar: page 2 10

Getting Help

Oracle App lications p rovides you with a comp lete online h elp facility

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Oracle App lications p rovides you with a comp lete online h elp facility.

Whenever you need assistance, simply choose an item from the H elp

menu to pinpoint the type of information you w ant.

" To display he lp for a current window :

1. Choose Window Help from the Help menu , click the Help bu tton

on the toolbar, or hold dow n the Control key and type h.

A w eb browser wind ow app ears, containing search and navigation

frames on the left, and a frame that displays help d ocumen ts on the

right.

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Example

1 25Getting Started

g t.

The document frame p rovides information on the w indow

containing the cursor. The navigation fram e displays the toplevel

topics for your responsibility, arranged in a tree control.

2. If the document frame contains a list of topics associated w ith the

window, click on a topic of interest to d isplay more d etailed

information.

3. You can navigate to other topics of interest in the help system, or

choose Close from your web brow sers File menu to close help.

Sup pose you are u sing Oracle General Ledger an d are in the DefineBud get Organization window. You w ant to know how to create a

bud get organization using this window. Choose Window Help from

the H elp m enu to d isplay a help on this topic.

" To display online help for any of the Oracle Applications products:

1. Choose Oracle Applications Library from the Help menu.

A w eb browser wind ow app ears, containing search an d navigation

frames on the left, and a docum ent frame on the right.

2. In the navigation frame, click on the name of a product family to

display a list of prod ucts in that family. Click on a prod uct nam e to

display the list of toplevel topics in th at p rodu cts online

documentation.

3. Click on a topic of interest. Topics preceded by a plus sign (+)

expand to show su btopics. Help on the topic displays in the

document frame.

4. To collapse sections of the tree you p reviously expanded , click on

topics preceded by a m inus sign ().

5. When you are finished, choose Close from the web browsers File

men u to close help.

Note: A topic called Library and topics correspond ing toother produ cts and produ ct families are often includ ed on the

navigation tree associated w ith a par ticular responsibility.

These topics fun ction in a fashion similar to the Library tree

described here.

" To display version information for Oracle Applications:

1. Choose About Oracle Applications from the H elp m enu .

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pp p

2. An About Oracle Applications window ap pears on your screen.

The wind ow p rovides details about the version of the Oracle

App lications compon ents you are using, your login information,

and information about the current form you are u sing.

You can sup ply this information to your system ad ministrator or to

Oracle Custom er Sup port if you need to report a problem.

3. Choose OK to close this wind ow.

See Also

Searching for Help: page 1 26

Toolbar: page 2 10

Using Keyboard Shortcuts: page 1 21

Learning Abou t a Record: page 3 7

Interp reting Messages: page 2 21

Requests Window : page 7 2

Searching for Help

You can perform a search to find the Oracle Ap plications helpinformation you w ant. Simply enter your query in the text field located

in the topleft frame of the browser w indow wh en viewing help, then

click the ad jacent Find button.

A list of titles, ranked by relevance and linked to the d ocumen ts in

question, is returned from your search in the righthand d ocumen t

frame. Click on w hichever title seems to best answ er your need s to

display the complete docum ent in this frame. If the docum ent doesnt

fully answ er your qu estions, use your browser s Back button to returnto the list of titles and try another.

The search syntax to u se in constructing you r qu ery can be any of those

shown in the following table.

Use this syntax . . . To find files containing . . .

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Example

1 27Getting Started

term the word term

string* words that begin with string

words, and punctuation the precise phrase words, and p unctuation

term1 OR term2 either term1 or term2

term1 term2

term1 AND term2 both term1 and term2

term1 +term2

term1 AND NOT term2 term1, but not term2

term1 term2

Table 1 1 Help Search Syntax (Page 1 of 1)

You w ant to know how to create a bud get organization in Oracle

General Ledger. You enter budget organization in the search

field , and clickFind. A linked list of help d ocumen ts that contain thisph rase app ears in the d ocumen t frame. You click on one th at seems

app ropriate and start reading.

Exiting Oracle Applications

When you complete your w ork, you can choose to save or discard an y

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un saved work in you r form(s) before exiting Oracle App lications.

" To exit Oracle Applications:

1. Choose Exit Oracle Applications from the File menu .

If there are no changes to save in your wind ow or w indow s, Oracle

App lications asks you to confirm your exit.

2. Choose OK to exit Oracle App lications and retu rn to your d esktop.

If there are recent changes that you have not yet saved , a window

app ears as shown:

3. Choose Save to save the changes before exiting. Choose Discard to

exit withou t saving any changes. Choose Cancel to close this

wind ow and cancel the exit.

Note: You will be asked once for each form that is curren tlyopen and has changes pending.

See Also

Closing Multiple Wind ows: page 2 20

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C H A P T E R

2T

2 1Oracle Applications User Interface Basics

Oracle Applications

User Interface Basics

his chap ter introdu ces you to the an atomy of the OracleApp lications user interface and teaches you a few simp le concepts and

functions you need to start w orking with Oracle App lications.

Specifically, this chap ter d escribes how to:

Navigate around Oracle Applications

Use window functions

Interpret message explanations

Access linked forms

Export d ata to a spreadsheet

Oracle Applications User Interface

To use Oracle App lications effectively, you n eed to un derstan d the

compon ents that make up its user interface The following major

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compon ents that make up its user interface. The following major

comp onents and terms w ill be discussed and illustrated in this chapter:

screen

window

wind ow title

Oracle App lications wind ow

modal window

form

block

field

region

record

current record ind icator

message line

status line

toolbar

tabbed region

masterdetail relations

combination block

For information on features for d isabled u sers see Oracle App lications

Accessibility Features: page C 2.

Components of the User Interface

The following figures show O racle Applications runn ing in a Browser

window, displaying windows typ ically seen when submitting a single

request. The various user interface compon ents are iden tified on these

figures.

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1. Oracle Applications Window

2. Title Bar

3. Menu

4. Toolbar

5. Window Title

6. Required Field

7. Field (display only)

8. Region Tit le

9. Disabled Button

10. Checkbox

11. Region Border

12. Button (enabled)

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. utto (e ab ed)

13. Message Line

14. Status Line

15. Option Group

16. Selected Op tion

17. Disabled Option

18. Poplist

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19. Curren t Record Ind icator (If the record allows drilldow n the

Curren t Record Indicator is twice as wide.)

20. Scroll Bar

Screen

A screen represents the part of your computer monitor that d isplays

information. A screen is also referred to as a desktop.

Window

A window, is a box around a set of related information on your screen.

Many w indows can ap pear on your screen simu ltaneously and can

overlap, app ear ad jacent to, or on top of each other. You can m ove a

window to a different location on your screen.

Window Title

A window t itle at the top of each w indow indicates the name of the

window, and occasionally, context information p ertinent to th e contents

of the window. The context information, which is contained in

paren theses, can includ e the organ ization, set of books, or business

group that the w indow contents is associated with.

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Oracle Applications Window

Every session of Oracle Applications is displayed in a special wind ow

called the Oracle Applications window. The Oracle Applications window

displays form w indows and comm on elements such as the main menu

bar, toolbar, status and message lines. The app earance of the Oracle

App lications window may vary d epending on th e Browser you use.

Title BarAcross the top of the Oracle Applications window is the Title Bar. The

title contains the Oracle App lications title and the icons for minimize,

maximize, and close.

Modal Window

Certain actions that you perform in Oracle Applications may cause amodal window to display. A mod al window requ ires you to act on its

contents before you can continue, u sually by choosing OK or Can cel.

Examples of mod al wind ows include the list wind ow, the field editor

wind ow, or any error or message wind ow th at may ap pear.

Form

Aform is an organized d isplay of fields through w hich you can qu icklyand easily access and en ter information to comp lete a business task.

When you u se the Navigate wind ow in Oracle Applications, you

navigate to a form. Each form d isplays one or more window s and

maps to a comp lete business or task flow. Note that a given window

can app ear in more than one form if it accomplishes a task that is part

of more than one bu siness flow.

The forms you can navigate to dep end on the responsibility you choosewhen you sign on to Oracle Applications. A form in one responsibility

may vary from th e same form in an other respon sibility, such that

certain window s or button s may exist in one but not the other. This

enables your organ ization to maintain security at a functional level so

that on ly a user w ith a given resp onsibility can access a part icular set of

functions (for examp le, window s or buttons). Overview of Fun ction

Security, Oracle Applications System A dministrators Guide.

Block

Every Oracle App lications wind ow consists of one or m ore blocks. A

block contains information per taining to a specific business entity. All

required fields in a block mu st be comp leted before you can m ove to

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required fields in a block mu st be comp leted before you can m ove to

the next block. Generally, the first or only block in a w indow assum es

the nam e of the wind ow. Otherw ise, a block name appear s across thetop of the block with a horizontal line m arking the beginn ing of the

block.

Field

Each block containsfields you u se to enter, view, up da te, or delete

information. Afield promptdescribes each field by telling you w hat

kind of information app ears in the field or what kind of information

you shou ld enter in the field. Fields are color coded to indicate their

type.

White Fields allow data entry

White Fields w ith Green Un derlined Text ind icate d rilldown

capability

Yellow Fields requ ire data entry

Gray Fields w ith Black Text are disp layonly

Gray Fields w ith Gray Text are d isabled

Blue Fields indicate fields to use in Qu eryEnter m ode

The term fieldgenerally refers to a text field, an a rea in a w indow that

either displays data or allows you to enter data. How ever, a field can

also includ e the following :

buttonYou choose a button to initiate a predefined action. A

button is usually labeled with text to describe its action or it can be

an icon w hose image illustrates its action.

A button can be enabled or disabled. A button is disabled wh en its

function is not cur rently available. A disabled button is

distungu ised by the lightened app earance of its label.

check boxYou can indicate an on/ off or yes/ no state for a value

by checking or u nchecking its check box.

option groupAn option group is a set of option bu ttons. You can

choose only one option button in an option group at a time, and the

option group takes on that bu ttons value after you choose it. An

option bu tton or opt ion group is also referred to as a radio button or

radio group, respectively, using the metaphor of a car rad ios station

buttons.

poplistA pop list lets you choose a single value from a shor t list.

To choose a valu e, click on th e pop list to disp lay the list of choices,

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, p p p y ,

then d rag your mou se throu gh the list to the desired value. Release

your m ouse button to choose the value you h ighlight and display itin the pop list field. A pop list is also sometimes know n as a list.

Region

A region is a collection of logicallyrelated fields set ap art from other

fields by a hor izontal line across the wind ow or a rectangular box.

Each block can op tionally contain one or m ore regions. Regions help to

organize the information w ithin a block.

A scrollable region is a region w hose contents are not entirely visible in a

window. A scrollable region contains a horizontal or vertical scroll bar

so that you can scroll horizontally or vertically to view ad ditional fields

hidd en in the region. In add ition, if a field is par tially hidd en you can

scroll the region to fully d isplay the field by clicking on the p artially

hidd en field.

Record

A recordis one occur rence of data stored in all the fields of a block. A

record is also referred to as a row or a transaction, since one record

either correspond s to one row of data in a d atabase table or one logical

transaction.

The Subm it Request w indow is an example of a singlerecord block. Toview the next record of information, use the dow n arrow s on your

keyboard. The up ar row takes you to the previous record.

The Requests window, by contrast, displays up to ten records of

information simultaneously, with each record rep resenting a request

subm itted from the Subm it Request wind ow. The Requests window

contains fields arran ged on the screen horizontally adjacent to each

other, leaving enough space in the wind ow to d isplay up to ten records

of information beneath the field head ings. The Requests wind ow is an

example of a multirecord block.

The fields in a m ultirecord block app ear as colum ns. You can u se the

vertical scroll bar located to the left of the first column to view any

additional records hidd en in that block.

Current Record Indicator

Multirecord blocks often d isplay a current record indicatorto the left of

each record. A current record indicator is a one character field th at

when filled in, iden tifies a record as being the curren t or active

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when filled in, iden tifies a record as being the curren t or active

record.

Sometimes, a current record indicator app ears as a two characterwide

field, indicating that the current m ultirecord block sup ports a

capability called drilldown. Drilldown lets you click on a cur rent

record ind icator to navigate directly to another window that d isplays

either details of the current record or information related to the cur rent

record. See: Combinat ion Block: page 2 14.

Message Line

The message line near the bottom of the Oracle App lications window

displays helpful hints or messages when you en counter a minor error.

See: Interpreting Messages: page 2 21.

Status Line

Figure 2 1

The status line app earing below the message line of a Oracle

App lications window displays status information abou t the current

window or field. A status line can contain the following:

Record: 1/3this examp le ind icates that th e current record is one

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of three records in the curren t block. If an un determ ined nu mber

of records have been retrieved, the message will app ear as 1/ ?.

EnterQuerythis phrase ind icates that th e current block is in

Enter Query m ode, so that you can specify search criteria for a

query.

List of Valuesthis lamp app ears when a list of values is

available for th e current field.

See Also

Using a List of Values: page 3 9

Searching for Inform ation: page 3 19

Toolbar

The toolbaris a collection of iconic buttons, w here each bu tton p erforms

a specific action w hen you choose it. Each toolbar bu tton rep licates a

common lyused m enu item. Depend ing on the context of the cur rent

field or window, a toolbar button can be enabled or d isabled. You can

display help for an enabled toolbar button by h olding your mou se over

the button.

The toolbar buttons and the actions they perform are as follows:

The New iconopens a new record in the active form.

The Find... icon d isplays the Find w indow to retrieve records.

The Show Navigator icon displays the Navigator w indow.

The Save icon saves any p end ing changes in the active form.

The Next Step icon upd ates the Process workflow in th e Navigator

by advancing to the next step in the process.

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The Print... icon p rints the current screen that th e cur sor is in. In

some cases it may pr int a report associated w ith the cur rent data .

The Close Form icon closes all wind ows of the cu rrent form.

The Cut icon cuts th e current selection to the clipboard .

The Copy icon copies curren t selection to th e clipboard .

The Paste icon p astes from th e clipboard into the cur rent field.

The Clear Record icon erases the current record from th e wind ow.

The Delete icon d eletes the current record from th e database.

The Edit Field... icon displays the Editor wind ow for the current

field.

The Zoom icon invokes customerdefined Zoom (drilldown

behavior).

The Translations... icon invokes the Translations window.

The Attachments... icon invokes the Attachments window. If one

or more attachments already exist, the icon changes to a p aper clip

on a piece of pap er.

The Folder Tools icon d isplays the folder tool palette.

The Window Help icon d isplays help for the current w indow.

Tabbed Regions

A tabbed regionis one of a collection of regions that occup y the same

space in a wind ow w here only one region can be d isplayed at any time.

Each tab d isplayed in a w indow represents a different region. You can

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view a tabbed region by clicking on the tab d isplaying the nam e that

represents it. The region upd ates to display the fields of the tab regionyou choose.

MasterDetail Relations

A MasterDetail relation is an association betw een tw o blocksa master

block and its detail block. An examp le is the relationship betw een theBatch and Journ als windows in your Oracle General Ledger

app lication. Each batch (master record) is associated w ith a set of

journal entries (detail records).

When tw o blocks are linked by a masterdetail relation:

the d etail block displays only th ose records th at are associated

with the current (master) record in the master block

querying betw een the tw o blocks is always coordinated

usually you cannot enter information in the d etail window until

you have selected a master record.

For examp le, when you display a d ifferent record in a m aster block, the

detail block d isplays the detail record(s) that correspond to the new

master record. Similarly, if you p erform a search in a master block, the

detail block d isplays the detail record(s) associated w ith the m asterrecord th at w as retrieved from the search.

Master and detail blocks can often appear in th e same w indow or they

can each appear in separate window s. When in separate wind ows an

unlabeled coordination check box app ears in the u pp er right corner of the

detail block wind ow. This check box lets you decide w hether to

constantly upd ate the coordination of records between a master and a

detail wind ow w hen the detail wind o

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