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
Templates

XML

XML Data

(FSG)

XSL

EFT

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 singlestep 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
Cant 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