Uma Maheswara Rao Seethala: OA Framework Personalization

OA Framework Personalization

OA Framework includes the OAF Personalization allows to personalize an Oracle E-Business Suite application page without modifying any underlying code.

In OAF the page definitions are stored in JDR tables normally called MDS repository (metadata will be available in JDR tables, such as all fields, regions, buttons etc have to be clubbed into a meaningful to make a web page. MDS provides service to store & return page definitions). So it’s easy to modify the pages.

Few JDR tables are JDR_ATTRIBUTES, JDR_ATTRIBUTES_TRANS, JDR_COMPONENTS & JDR_PATHS. Only one JDR API is JDR_UTILS is a PL/SQL package which can be used to query and inspect OA Framework metadata in the MDS repository.

Migrating OA Framework Personalization’s also easy from Functional Administrator Responsibility by export and import by using FND: Personalization document root path profile with FTP from source and target paths (dev to production) in Linux.

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

All Personalization’s you make through the OA Personalization Framework are added on top of the base product meta data at runtime. These personalizations never overwrite the existing base product UI and are therefore preserved during upgrades and patches, and can also be translated. This means you can create your personalization on a test system first, extract your personalization’s to a flat file, then load your finalized personalization to your production system with little interruption.

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

1. Personalize Self-Service Defn: Yes to allow ‘Personalize’ button to appear at the top of the page
2. FND: Personalization Region Link Enabled: Yes to display all the regional links above each region Minimal to display key regional links
3. Disable Self-Service Personal: Yes will disable all personalization at any level
4. FND: Diagnostics: Turns on 'About this Page'
5. FND: Personalization Document Root Path (new in 11.5.10):Required to migrate personalization. Set this profile option to a tmp directory with open (777) permissions.

Personalization levels are administrator or user level or be seeded by Oracle application developers.

Administrator-level personalization: All OA framework-based pages can be personalized by default. However, administrators can't personalize programmatically created pages or regions, or pages or regions for which the application developer has explicitly disabled administrator personalization.

Administrators may personalize pages, for example, by

Changing text for labels, prompts, and tip messages
Hiding or showing components
Reordering components
Restricting query results
Adding items, such as fields, buttons, links, pick lists, or images
Specifying whether fields are required
Changing the destination of hyperlinks

The extent to which an administrator can personalize page flow is limited, and depends on how the flow was implemented. In some cases, you can modify function URLs and personalize the destination URLs that display as navigational elements. Page flow changes are generally beyond the scope of systems administrators, however, because such changes may affect transaction flows, and need thorough testing.

Administrators can personalize OA framework pages at the following levels:
function
location
site
organization
responsibility
As an administrator, you can define personalizations at the function level to determine which users can access specific functions, and when. For example, you can hide the salary field from a user updating an employee record, but display it when the user creates a new employee.

At the location level, you can use locales as the context for personalization – for example, to show different address field labels based on users' country settings.

Site-level – or global – personalizations apply to all users with access to a given application component, such as "setting the number of rows shown in a table."

Organization-level personalizations apply only to users in a specified organization or business unit. You can use organization-level personalizations, for example, to stipulate that notifications be sorted by age for one organization and by urgency for another.

Personalizations at the responsibility level display only to users under a specific responsibility. You may, for example, configure a trend graph to display only to users under the sales manager responsibility.

The level at which an administrator configures personalization settings determines their precedence over other settings. For example, a responsibility-level personalization takes precedence over site-level personalizations for users with the specified responsibility. Users at the site who are not using the relevant responsibility would see only the site-level changes.

User-level personalization:Default user personalizations, or user views, can exist at three levels. They can be seeded by Oracle developers, created by a system administrator, or created by the end user.

End users can access the personalization user interface by clicking the Save View or Personalize button. They can then personalize inquiry pages using query regions to create specific data views. For example, they can

Create and save searches, Configure table column titles, Hide or show columns, Reorder columns, Add data filters, Change sort orders.

OA Framework Examples

1.    Remove a button
2.    Change prompts
3.    Hide/reorder columns in a table
4.    Set initial values
5.    Display a field

Example 1: Remove a work list link in below screen, click the personalize page link to remove work list access on left bottom.