FSG Publishing:

BI Publisher and Report Manager

Mark Bulle, DP&L

Jon Riley, AXIA Consulting
 Introductions

 Mark Bulle
–
DP&L Project Manager
–
Report Manager Implementation Lead

 Jon Riley
–
Consultant, AXIA Consulting
–
XML Publishing Implementation Lead
 Business Scenario

 Create over 125 new Financial Reports by

Business Unit
 Publish reports directly from the Financial System
of Record
 Bypass Excel!
 Professional presentation/format suitable for
executive review
 Paperless distribution preferred
 Project to be completed < 90 days
 Oracle Applications Solution

 FSG Reports
 BI (fka XML) Publishing
–
Microsoft Word RTF templates
–
PDF document output
 Report Manager Repository
–
Electronic distribution
–
Security by User Responsibility
 Nothing new to buy! (11.5.10 CU2)
 BI Publisher Overview

 We created templates using Word

 Published to PDF

Report XSL
Templates

XML EFT

XML Data
(FSG) Report
Output
Source: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/xml-publisher/index.html XMLPUBLISHERINTRO.ppt
 Publishing FSGs using BIP

1. Create the FSG for XML Output

 Publishing FSGs using BIP

2. Create an RTF template

• XML Publisher Administrator responsibility
• Templates page
• Find the FSG: Basic Template
 Publishing FSGs using BIP

2. Create an RTF template

• Click the Template name.
• Download the template.
 Publishing FSGs using BIP

2. Modify the Template

 Publishing FSGs using BIP

2. Modify the Template

 Publishing FSGs using BIP

3. Register / Upload the template

 Publishing FSGs using BIP

3. Register / Upload the template

• Must use General Ledger as the Application
 Publishing FSGs using BIP

4. Run and Publish an FSG (2 step method)

 Run the FSG for XML Output
 Publishing FSGs using BIP

4. Run and Publish an FSG (2 step method)

 Publish the Output
 Publishing FSGs using BIP

4. Run and Publish an FSG (2 step method)

 View Output
 Report Manager
What we will be Covering
• Single Step Financial
Report Submission
• Repository
Management
• Publish Report Set
• Define Report Set
Publishing Parameters
 Financial Report Submission

• Select the FSG report name and period to execute

 Financial Report Submission

• Select the FSG template associated to the report

On hold
pending review
does not work
 Financial Report Submission

• Select the location in the Repository where the

output of this report is to be stored
 Financial Report Submission

• Select the menu location under the responsibility this

report should be posted
• Security Definition
 Financial Report Submission

• Review submission parameters prior to execution

 Repository Management

Archive
process
bugs
Publish Report Set

Be sure to place
date here and
click Save button

• Can not predefine

report set parameters
and create menu option
under Define Report
Set Publishing
Parameters
 Report Viewing

• Drop down box for multiple periods

• Output type can normally be Excel, .pdf or HTML
• Templates created in Word can not be viewed as Excel
 Lessons Learned (FSG and BIP)
 Start at BIP 5.6.2 or 5.6.3
–
Some functions may not work in lower versions
–
Be aware that patching to 5.6.2 disables single-
step submission
 May need patch 5615083 related to MS Word
 Need Adobe Reader 7.x or better to view output
–
Edit, Preferences, Internet, Display PDF in Browser
 Unique requirements for printing PDF from EBS (see
metalink notes 333504.1 and 338990.1)
 Template Builder add-in for Word available, useful for
building reports from scratch
 Lessons Learned (FSG and BIP)

 Not all FSG fields come over in the XML output

 Some FSG functionality not available
–
Page Breaks
–
Line Skips
 Row heights are not dynamic
 Control of FSG definitions becomes important
 Lessons Learned (Report Manager)
 No seeded Report Manager responsibility
 Issues with the Financial Template Editor
–
Technical issues
–
Can’t modify the seeded, generated template
–
High maintenance cost (row and column adds, changes)
 Initial setup for Report Sets can be time-consuming
 Menu Generation does not work – Define Report Set
Parameters
 Currently working issues with:
–
Archiving
–
Review / Approval
 Conclusion
 Successfully developed and implemented >100 new
Financial Reports via electronic publishing in < 90 days.
 BIP is low-cost (lower-frustration!) alternative to
traditional Oracle Reports development.
 Integration with FSG makes professional-quality
presentation relatively simple and easy!
 Integration with Oracle Report Manager enables paperless
publishing/distribution with user security access control.
 Potential for wider use is great, and we already own the
tools we need!
 Good References

 XML Publisher User Guide

 XML Publisher Blog:
http://blogs.oracle.com/xmlpublisher/
 XML Publisher Technical Forum
 Oracle Report Manager User Guide
(B15543-01)
 Metalink Service Requests
 Google!
 Questions / Closing

jon.riley@axiaconsulting.net

mark.bulle@dplinc.com