Oracle Application

Express and Oracle

E-Business Suite

Content
1

About me

EBS Development Challenges

EBS and APEX

Configuring EBS for APEX

Examples of APEX extension for EBS

Conclusion

Francis Mignault

CTO and Co-Founder of Insum Solutions

28 Years in IT, 25 with Oracle databases, APEX since
2004.
Presenter:

ODTUG Kscope & APEXposed, IOUG Collaborate, Oracle

OpenWorld, ORA*GEC

Co-author: Expert Oracle Application Express

Twitter : @Fr4ncis
Member of the APEX Advisory board

Oracle APEX expert practice since 2004

Oracle APEX Center of Excellence
Comprehensive Consulting Services

Training & Coaching

Architecture & Analysis
Project Management
On-site / Off-site Development
APEX Best Practices and Methodologies

Offices in Canada and USA

Our Core Values : Respect, Teamwork, Integrity, Innovation, Quality
and Fun !
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EBS Development
challenges

EBS Development Challenges

Integrate
Provide
Reuse

more business processes in EBS

lightweight customized solutions to users

internal development expertise and skillsets

Improve

user productivity (remove manual processes)

Facilitate

Maintenance and EBS Upgrades

Excel

/ Access replacement for security and data

centralization

Mobile
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E-Business Suite Extensions

Interfaces

Mobile

Reports

Dashboards

EBS Development Types

Personaliza9on

Customiza9on

Extension

EBS Development Types - Personalization

Options for Personalization

OA Framework
Administrator personalization
User personalization
Forms

Personalization

EBS Development Types - Customizations

Options for Customizations

Adding triggers to Oracle database tables

Modifying OAF controllers, Forms code, PL/SQL code, etc.

Modifying an existing object and saving it to a new name (forms,

reports, etc.)

Customizations-in-place will be overwritten by patches and

upgrades
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EBS Development Types - Extensions

Options for Extensions

Oracle

Forms

Oracle

Reports / BI Publisher

Oracle Application
Application

Framework (OAF)

Development Framework (ADF)

Oracle Application

Express (APEX)

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EBS And APEX

Why use APEX ?

Oracle Application Express

Rapid Application Development (RAD) browser based tool for the

Oracle Database

Leverages full Oracle database capabilities and existing SQL & PL/
SQL skills

Fully integrate with E-Business Suite

Can define RESTful services (allowing to act as web service

provider)

Mobile ready
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Why use APEX ? contd

Declarative programming framework

Lightweight browser based solution using existing infrastructure for

Development, Deployment & Runtime

Fully supported, no-cost standard component with all editions of

the Oracle Database

Out of the box declarative Web 2.0 reporting

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Why use APEX ? contd

Dramatically enhances end-user capabilities (Ex.: Interactive

Reports, Searches on multiple fields, etc.)

Can provide the same look and feel as the E-Business Suite R12

Provides seamless session management (integration) with EBusiness Suite R12

APEX Plugins

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Recommended Architecture

Oracle Application Express resides within the Oracle

database in its own schema

REST Data Services / Weblogic installed on the application

server

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Recommended Architecture

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APEX integration with EBS

1 APEX application accessing EBS Data externally
2 APEX application integrated in EBS menu structure

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EBS Security Overview

Users

Responsibili9es

Menus
Func9ons
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EBS Security Overview contd

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EBS Security Overview contd

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APEX Security Overview contd

Authentication

Oracle Single Sign-On / SSO authentication in APEX

Oracle Access Manager (OAM) authentication in APEX

HTTP Header Based, See white paper.

APEX Authentication with EBS Credentials (When outside of EBS)

Custom Authentication (Integrated in EBS Menu)

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APEX Security Overview contd

Custom Authentication
Validate Func9on/Menu
Session ID
Generate
Password

Validate
Password

Shared Secret Key

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APEX Security Overview contd

Authorization

Validate APEX page authorization against EBS function within

menu and responsibility

Validation can also be against page components just like EBS

forms security

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Configuring EBS for

APEX

Overview of steps for APEX/EBS Integration

Install APEX as recommended

Create an Oracle Application Express application

Install common PL/SQL procedures and functions (insum)

Configure the Oracle Application Express login process (authentication)

Define Oracle Application Express authorizations

Define EBS functions to link to APEX pages

Define EBS Security (menu and responsibility)

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Accessing EBS via APEX

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Custom utilities for APEX Integration

For any APEX application to integrate with EBS, custom functionalities are
required, for example :
Get EBS user session ID
Validate Login
APPS_INITIALIZE (EBS Context)
Get FND_GLOBAL values (user_id, resp_id, appl_id, security_group_id, etc.)
Get session language

The common insum package is created in the APPS schema (as per EBS
development standards) and granted to the custom APEX schema
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APEX Integration / EBS Versions

Version 11i
Version R12.1 with 12.1.3 integration patch
Version R12.2

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Technical Requirements for EBS 12.1

Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.3 or above*

Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 12316083*

Fully Licensed Oracle Database, Release 10.2.0.3 or above

Oracle Application Express 4.2 +

Oracle REST Data Services 2.0 + (formerly known as Oracle APEX

Listener)

Oracle Weblogic application server 12C +

*Note: The requirement of having EBS R12.1.3 comes from the prerequisite

patches R12.AD.B.delta.3 and R12.ATG.B.delta.3 of the APEX support patch

12316083.
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EBS Integration with APEX White Paper

Oracle EBS blog :

hKps://blogs.oracle.com/stevenChan/entry/updated_whitepaper_extending_e_business

Oracle White Paper Extending EBS 12.1 and 12.2 with APEX :

hKp://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/learnmore/apex-ebs-extension-
white-paper-345780.pdf

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EBS Integration with APEX White Paper

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Examples of APEX
Extensions for EBS

Supplier Trends

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Standard EBS Invoice Entry

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Simplified Invoice Entry

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Concurrent Programs in Error (Mobile)

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Concurrent Programs in Error (Mobile)

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Concurrent Programs in Error (Mobile)

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Oracle Store

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Conclusion

Conclusion
There are many advantages for using APEX to build EBS extensions.
From a technical point of view, APEX is easy to install and configure, its
supported and it simplifies the upgrades.
From a business point of view, changing or adding new functionalities can be
done rapidly allowing more flexibility to users at a lower cost.

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QUESTIONS ?