>>More4Apps Spreadsheet Wizards

README.html and Installation Instructions

Last Update: 6 March 2008
Status: Production
Version: 1.0.8

Introduction

The More4Apps web-based series of Excel wizards for Oracle Applications utilize web-based XML to communicate with the server for all uploads and downloads. No additional software apart from Microsoft Excel is required on the PC.

Key features are:

  • Full integration with the Oracle Applications login and security functionality
  • Respect for session timeout rules
  • Single Sign On integration
  • Supports non-APPS schemas - Oracle On Demand (OOD)
  • All versions of R11i and R12 (please note that not all of our wizards have been upgraded to support R12 yet, if you intend to use a wizard against R12 please contact us by email to check for the R12 support status)

Components

The More4Apps Excel wizards consist of the following components:

  1. Spreadsheet (e.g. BudgetWizard.xls) which is deployed to each client PC.
  2. Server packages. There are several packages in the APPS (or BOLINF) schema: there is always m4aps_xml for the core communication infrastructure; and for each More4Apps Wizard installed there is a product-specific package (e.g. m4aps_budgetwizard ).
  3. Applications Settings. The installation process will automatically create several Profile Options. Most of these are for internal use by the tools. Only some tools have Profile Options related to functionality. These enable you to centrally control certain behaviour in the wizards and are documented in the product-specific documentation. Other settings are sometimes automatically made, such as ensuring the AMG framework for Oracle Projects is enabled for some of the PA tools.
  4. Mid-Tier Servlet (R12 only). For R12 a servlet is installed into the mid-tier to facilitate communication between the spreadsheet and the database.

Licensing

The wizards by default run in "Trial Version" mode, which normally has some restrictions or disabled functionality. Once you purchase a full license for the product you will be issued with a License Key. When this is entered in the appropriate Profile Option, the full functionality of the product will be unlocked.

Installation

  1. Download the Infrastructure Zip File

    Please go to the More4Apps Installation Page and download the Infrastructure zip file appropriate for your database.

  2. Database Packages

    Now you should have the Infrastructure zip file and the zip file contained in the product download.  There will be a .SQL installation script in each of the two Zip files. Run these scripts in SQL*Plus as the APPS user, or if you are an Oracle On Demand site then run the scripts as BOLINF. There is always an install.sql, run this first. It installs the core XML communication and security framework components.

    Then run the second script. This second script will have a different name depending on which of our applications you are installing (for example bw_install.sql). This installs the product-specific package.

    At the end of each install script are commands to create a custom package header and body. The packages are wrapped.

    Note
    The names of all our packages start with M4APS_
    The names of all our Profile Options start with More4Apps:

  3. Oracle On Demand (Conditional)

    Oracle On Demand customers please follow these additional steps.

    • Ensure you have run the installation scripts as the BOLINF user.
    • Ask the DBA to create a synonym as APPS called M4APS_XML to point to BOLINF.M4APS_XML
    • (Conditional) If you are on 11i then navigate to the Security/Web PL/SQL screen as System Administrator and add Type=Package, Name=M4APS_XML.This is unnecessary in R12.

  4. Install Servlet for Release 12 (Conditional)

    Release 12 customers please follow these steps to install the communication servlet in the mid tier. (This servlet is not required in 11i). To enable the servlet we modify the server configuration files by implementing a fully supported Autoconfig customization, as documented in Metalink Note 387859.1.

    Note
    If you have multiple mid-tier servers then you must repeat these steps on each server.

     

    Attention
    Windows users - this document uses UNIX syntax when specifying directories and Operating System commands. Substitute the appropriate Windows syntax where applicable.

     

    1. Unzip m4aServlet.jar

      Copy the file m4aServlet.jar to the mid-tier server and unzip in $JAVA_TOP. This will install the java classes in directory $JAVA_TOP/com/more4apps/r12/servlet.

    2. Edit Autoconfig Template

      • Navigate to the template directory.

        cd $FND_TOP/admin/template

      • Create the "custom" directory if it does not already exist.

        mkdir custom

      • If the file orion_web_xml_1013.tmp does not already exist in the "custom" directory then copy it in. Be careful not to overwrite an existing copy of this file or you may lose pre-existing customizations.

        cp orion_web_xml_1013.tmp custom

      • Move into the custom directory and edit the custom template file.

        cd custom
        vi orion_web_xml_1013.tmp

      • Paste the following lines just before the TCF servlet (approximately line 162).


        <servlet>
        <servlet-name>m4aServlet</servlet-name>
        <servlet-class>com.more4apps.r12.servlet.XmlServlet</servlet-class>
        </servlet>

      • Paste the following lines just before the TCF alias (approximately line 853).


        <servlet-mapping>
        <servlet-name>m4aServlet</servlet-name>
        <url-pattern>/m4aServlet/*</url-pattern>
        </servlet-mapping>

    3. Run Autoconfig

      Run Autoconfig as described in Note 387859.1 .

      cd $ADMIN_SCRIPTS_HOME
      adautocfg.sh

    4. Bounce Apache

      adapcctl.sh stop
      adoacorectl.sh stop
      adoacorectl.sh start
      adapcctl.sh start

    5. Test the Servlet

      To test whether the servlet has been installed correctly, first get the value of profile option "Apps Servlet Agent". Then enter the following URL in your browser:

      <<value of profile option>>/m4aServlet/hello

      The full URL will look something like like this:

      http://tornado.more4apps.com:8000/OA_HTML/m4aServlet/hello

      If the servlet has been installed correctly a simple information page will render.

Completing and Verifying your Installation

Once the server-side elements have been installed you can now configure your More4Apps Wizard spreadsheet to connect to the Applications instance. In your Database Connection dialog box click on the Database lookup button and change the 11i or R12 Example line to match your site settings. Diagnostics can be performed as follows:

  1. 11i

    Along the bottom of the Database Setup dialog box there are three diagnostic buttons:
    • Oracle Servlet Test : Use this button to test the basic webserver connectivity. This should work whether the More4Apps servlet is installed or not.
    • XML Installation Status : Use this button to display the XSU and XML pl/sql packages in the database
    • XML Diagnostics : Use this button to send "SELECT * FROM DUAL" to the XSU framework
    Ensure these three buttons can be selected with success.

  2. R12

    Along the bottom of the Database Setup dialog box there are two diagnostic buttons:
    • Oracle Servlet Test : Use this button to test the basic webserver connectivity. This should work whether the More4Apps servlet is installed or not.
    • More4Apps Servlet Test : Use this button to test the More4Apps servlet installed in the previous section.
    Ensure these two buttons can be selected with success.

Deinstallation from Server

The More4Apps products consist of a central framework in the APPS schema of the database server used by all products, and product-specific code for each product.

To deinstall a Product (e.g. Budget Wizard) but leave the framework installed, do the following in the APPS (or BOLINF) schema:

 

  • Drop the M4APS package(s) created by the <product>_install.sql script (e.g. BW_install.sql).

To completely deinstall the More4apps Products including the XML framework do the following in the APPS (or BOLINF) schema:

  • Drop all packages beginning with M4APS and the synonym M4APS_XMLQUERY
  • Run the following : delete from fnd_enabled_plsql where plsql_name='M4APS_XML';
  • (Conditional) If you are on R12 then you can remove the servlet configuration by deleting $FND_TOP/admin/template/custom/orion_web_xml_1013.tmp and running Autoconfig. You can remove the servlet java classes by deleting directory $JAVA_TOP/com/more4apps, however there is no harm done by leaving them in place.

Profile Options

There is no automated mechanism in Oracle Applications for complete removal of Profile Options. To disable the Profile Options created by the More4Apps products, query them up in the "Profile Options" screen of the "Application Developer" responsibility (they all start with "More4Apps%") and disable them at all levels. When not used by More4Apps products they are benign and will not affect the standard features of your Applications instance.

Reinstallation and Upgrades

The installation scripts are all re-runnable. If you mistakenly removed a package (eg the framework package M4APS_XML) or you want to upgrade to a newer version then run the install or <product>_install.sql in the APPS (or BOLINF) schema.

To upgrade the R12 servlet, simply follow steps 1 (unzip) and 4 (bounce Apache) from the servlet installation steps above. There is no need to redo the Autoconfig steps.

Installation Support

If you have any questions about these installation or de-installation steps please ask us at info@more4apps.com

More4Apps
http://www.more4apps.com/ 		Inquiries:
support@more4apps.com