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Oracle ® Applications

Architecture

Release 11 for Windows NT

October 1998

Part No. A63472-01



Oracle App lications Architectu re, Release 11 for Wind ows N T

Part No. A63472-01

Release 11

Copyr ight © 1998, Oracle Corporat ion. All rights reserved .

Author: Michael Fiore

Contributors: Vincent Lee, Jeff Lunn, Keith M. Swar tz

The programs are not intended f or use in any nuclear, aviation, mass transit, medical, or other

inhe rently dang erous applications. It shall be licensee’s responsi bility to take all appropriate fail-safe,back up, redundancy and other measures to ensure the safe use of such applications if the Programs

are used for such purposes, and Oracle disclaims liabili ty for any damages caused by such use of the

Programs.

This Program contains proprietary information of Oracle Corporation; it is provided u nd er a license

agreement containing restrictions on use an d disclosure and is also protected by copyright, patent an d

other intellectual p roperty law. Reverse engineering of the software is prohibited.

The information contained in this docum ent is subject to change w ithout notice. If you find any p roblems

in the docum entation, please report them to us in wr iting. Oracle Corporation d oes not warran t that this

docum ent is error free. No part of this docum ent may be reprod uced or transmitted in an y form or byany m eans, electronic or mechan ical, for any pur pose, without the express written permission of Oracle

Corporation.

If this Program is delivered to a U.S. Govern men t Agency of the Depa rtm ent of Defense, then it is

delivered w ith Restricted Rights and the following legend is app licable:

Restricted Rights Legend Programs delivered subject to the DOD FAR Supplement are "commercial

compu ter software" and use, dup lication and disclosure of the Programs shall be subject to the licensing

restrictions set forth in th e app licable Oracle license agreemen t. Otherw ise, Progra ms d elivered sub ject to

the Federal Acquisition Regulations are "restricted compu ter software" and use, du plication and

disclosure of th e Progr ams shall be su bject to the restr ictions in FAR 52.227-14, Rights in Da ta -- General,includ ing Altern ate III (Jun e 1987). Oracle Corp oration , 500 Oracle Parkw ay, Redw ood City, CA 94065.

"Restricted Use Programs" are limited to u se solely in conjunction with and in sup port of the licensed

Oracle Applications Programs. Customers may n ot use the Restricted Use Program s for general data

processing pu rposes or for any p urp ose other than specified in th e previous sentence. The following

Programs are included as Restricted User p rograms w ith Oracle Applications Programs: Oracle8

Enterp rise Edition, SQL*Plus, Program mer/ 2000, and Oracle App lication Object Library.

Oracle is a registered trad emark, and Context, Developer/ 2000, EasiPath Migration Method, EMM

Ad van tage, Net8, Oracle8, Oracle Alert, Oracle App lication O bject Library, Oracle Cont ext, Oracle

Financials, Oracle InterO ffice, Oracle Office, Oracle Qu ality, Oracle Web Cu stomers, O racle WebEmploy ees, Oracle Work in Process, Oracle Workflow, PL/ SQL, SmartClient, SQL, SQL*Forms,

SQL*Loader, SQL*Menu, SQL*Net, SQL*Plus, SQL*Report, and Web Agent are trademarks or registered

tradema rks of Oracle Corporation.

All other compan y or produ ct names mentioned are used for identification pu rposes only and may be

tradem arks of their respective owners.



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Contents

Preface........................................................................................................................................................... vii

Send Us Your Comments .................................................................................................................. xiii

1 Oracle Applications Release 11Release 11 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 1-1

Network Computing Architecture................................................................................................... 1-1

Desktop Clien t Tier ...................................................................................................................... 1-2

Ap plication Tier ............................................................................................................................ 1-4

Release 11 Database Tier ............................................................................................................. 1-8

Network Traffic and Optimization................................................................................................ 1-11

Forms Server and Forms Client Applet................................................................................... 1-12

Performance Con sid erations..................................................................................................... 1-12

Ne w Functionality ............................................................................................................................ 1-14

Mu ltip le Reporting Cu rrencies ................................................................................................. 1-14

Attachments ................................................................................................................................ 1-14

Spreadsheet Export .................................................................................................................... 1-15

Context-sensitive Help............................................................................................................... 1-15Repor t Review ............................................................................................................................. 1-15

Oracle Payroll.............................................................................................................................. 1-15

2 System Components

Release 11 Products and Product Famil ies ..................................................................................... 2-1

Prod uct Fam ilies ........................................................................................................................... 2-3

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System Issues................................................................................................................................. 2-5

Oracle Applications Language Translations............................................................................. 2-8Underlying System Components ..................................................................................................... 2-8

Win dow s NT Op erating System................................................................................................. 2-9

Or acle8 Server ............................................................................................................................... 2-9

Or acle Tools ................................................................................................................................... 2-9

3 Data Model

Basic D ata Model ............................................................................................................................... . 3-1

Product Groups............................................................................................................................. 3-1

ORACLE User IDs ........................................................................................................................ 3-2

APPS Schema................................................................................................................................. 3-3

How AutoInstall Creates APPS Schemas.................................................................................. 3-5

Localizat ion s Ob jects .................................................................................................................... 3-6

Custom Schema Access................................................................................................................ 3-6Data Access .................................................................................................................................... 3-6

Multiple Organization (Multi-Org) Architecture ......................................................................... 3-7

Ov erview ........................................................................................................................................ 3-7

Partitioned Objects ....................................................................................................................... 3-8

Chan ges from Release 10.6 .......................................................................................................... 3-9

Multiple Reporting Currencies ........................................................................................................ 3-9

Functiona l Cu rrencies ................................................................................................................ 3-10Settin g Up the Pr imary Resp onsibility .................................................................................... 3-10

MRC Architecture....................................................................................................................... 3-12

Multiple Sets of Books ..................................................................................................................... 3-16

Mu ltip le Prod uct Installat ion Groups and Multip le Sets of Books ..................................... 3-18

Oracle8 Server Organization and Requirements ........................................................................ 3-19

Database Creation ....................................................................................................................... 3-20

Oracle8 Server Tablesp aces ....................................................................................................... 3-21

Oracle Ap plications Tablesp aces .............................................................................................. 3-22

Sizin g Factor ................................................................................................................................ 3-23

4 File System

Directory Structure ............................................................................................................................. 4-1

Basic Directory Stru ctu re ............................................................................................................. 4-1



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Distributed Directory Stru ctu re.................................................................................................. 4-4

Localizat ion Director ies ............................................................................................................... 4-5Langu age Directory Stru ctu re .................................................................................................... 4-6

Applications Top Directory for Upgrade.................................................................................. 4-7

Log and Output Files.......................................................................................................................... 4-8

Log and Outp ut Files for a Single Prod uct Group ................................................................... 4-9

Log and Ou tput Files for Multip le Product Groups ............................................................. 4-11

Selecting a Log and Outp ut File Storage Method .................................................................. 4-14

Tem porary Files .......................................................................................................................... 4-14

Glossary

Index



vi



vii

Preface

Oracle Applications Architecture provid es basic information on h ow th e Oracle

App lications software and d atabases are configured , and h ow you can imp lement

them in a netw ork installation.

AudienceOracle Applications Architecture explains the technology, concepts, and terminology

used in Oracle Applications Installation. You should read Architecture along with

Installation if you are responsible for installing or u pgrad ing Oracle App lications.

Installation provid es instructions for installing Oracle Applications p rodu cts and

explains the utilities you u se for installation and m aintenance. These peop le

typically u se Architecture an d Installation:

s Database Administrator

Installs and configures the Oracle database and main tains database access

controls. The database adm inistrator provides consultation on p erformance,

monitors growth and fragmentation of the database, and p erforms d atabase

backup and recovery.

s System Adm inistrator

Ensures that hard ware is correctly configu red, and installs and m aintains

system software. The system ad ministrator ensu res the system is backed u p

daily and maintains security, such as by establishing system accounts. The

system administrator prov ides first-line sup port for problems.

s Techn ical Specialist

Responsible for designing, developing, unit testing, imp lementing, and

main taining th e custom extensions for Oracle App lications. These extensions



viii

includ e mod ules such as interfaces, automated d ata conversions, reports, forms,

and enhan cements.

StructureOracle Applications A rchitecture contains these chap ters:

Related DocumentsAll the docum entation related to Release 11 is includ ed on the Oracle Applications

Documentation Library CD, which is sup plied with Release 11. You can p urchase

add itional sets of printed and online documentation for Oracle software products

Chap ter 1 Exp la ins the new fea tu res of Oracle App lica tions Release 11,

including N etwork Comp uting Architecture and MultipleReporting Currencies.

Ch ap ter 2 Discu sses th e com p on en ts of Release 11, in clu d in g th e

Release 11 produ ct family, the Windows N T operating system,

and the Oracle8 Server d atabase.

Ch ap ter 3 Covers th e Oracle Ap p lication s d ata m od el, in clu d in g th e

APPS schem a and Multiple Organization a rchitecture.

Chap ter 4 Describes the Release 11 file system, includ ing multip le

prod uct group s, the p rodu ct directory structure, localizations,

and setting up d irectories for log and outp ut files.

Glossary Defines terms used in both the Architecture an d Installation

manuals.

Ind ex An alp habetical listing of references to top ics in this m anu al.



ix

from the Oracle Documen tation Sales depar tmen t, located on the World Wide Web

at http:/ / ww w.oracle.com/ documentation/ sales.

In add ition to Architecture an d Installation, you shou ld refer to these documents:

s Oracle Applications Installation Release Notes

The Release Notes provid e up -to-date information on th is release and its

comp onents, and may su persede the information in other manu als.

s Oracle Applications Upgrade Manual

A successful up grad e requires you to prepare your existing Oracle App lications

prod ucts as described in the Upgrade Manual.

s Oracle Applications Product Update Notes

Provides a history of the changes to Oracle Applications since Release 10

Smar tClient Prod uction 1.

s Oracle Applications Technical Reference manuals

List information about d atabase structures and help d etermine what changes

you need to make to customizations after an u pgrad e.

s Oracle Applications System Administrator’s Guide

Provides add itional information you need to administer the Oracle

App lications d atabase server.

Attention: With th e new Release 11 architectu re, you may choose

to install Oracle App lications software on several ma chines running

different operat ing systems. For examp le, the forms server m ay be a

Wind ows N T machine, but th e adm inistration server or Release 11

database may be a UN IX machine. In this case, you w ould follow

the instructions for installing and imp lementing the forms server

from th e Wind ows N T edition of the Installation manu al, and theinstructions for installing and imp lementing the Release 11

database server from the UN IX edition of the Installation manual.

Chap ter 1 in this manual explains the d ifferent typ es of servers and

their roles in Release 11, and p ossible ways to deploy this release in

a m ixed-platform, m ulti-tier top ology.



x

s Oracle Applications User’s Guide

The User’s Guide provid es an overview of Oracle App lications, including basicconcepts, term inology, and navigation.

s Oracle Financials Country-Specific Installation Supplement

Contains coun try-specific information about responsibilities and report security

group s, and provides any add itional post-install steps you may require.

Registry VariablesAlthough the examples in this man ual assume a comman d promp t syntax, you

cannot type registry variables (denoted by # delimiters) directly on the comm and

line. If an example shows a registry variable, such as #<PROD>_TOP#, you have

two op tions:

s Run adregenv.exe to copy all the #<PROD>_TOP# registry variables into a .cmd

file that can be run from the comman d promp t.

s Use regedt32.exe to determine the full path of each #<PROD>_TOP# variable,

and then typ e that path in the comman d p romp t in place of #<PROD>_TOP#.

You can only run ad regenv.exe after you create a valid Oracle App lications registry

subkey. The ad regenv.exe file is in the #AD_TOP#\ bin d irectory. To generate the

.cmd file, change d irectories to #AD_TOP#\ bin and run the u tility from th e

command prompt:

C:\> adregenv <APPL_CONFIG>

wh ere <APPL_CON FIG> is the name of a valid Oracle App lications registry

subk ey. For examp le, if <APPL_CONFIG> is VD11, type:

C:\> adregenv VD11

In this example, ad regenv.exe creates VD11.cmd in the APPL_TOP d irectory

indicated in the subkey. After running the .cmd file created by ad regenv.exe, you

can type the environmen t variable %<PROD>_TOP% without th e full path .

Additional Information: For an explanation of the w ay the # and %

symbols are used in this manu al, see Conventions in th is Preface.



xi

Getting HelpOracle Consulting Services and Oracle Sup port Services are the main sources of

help for installing Oracle Applications.

Oracle Consulting Services

Oracle Consulting Services can h elp:

t determ ine machine size and database size required by Oracle Applications

t install or up grad e Oracle App lications

t implement Oracle Applications products

t customize Oracle App lications prod ucts

t develop custom app lications for use w ith Oracle App lications

t train u sers of Oracle App lications

Oracle Support ServicesHave this information ready w hen you contact Oracle Sup port Services:

t your CSI nu mber

t the operating system an d versions of all Oracle Applications servers

t the release of Oracle App lications you are installing an d the versions of the

Oracle Server and Oracle tools you a re using

t the release of Oracle App lications you a re up grad ing from

t a description of the p roblem as w ell as specific information abou t any error

messages you received

t wh ether you have dial-in capability

t the number and status of the AutoInstall parallel workers

t the ou tpu t of the AD Configuration Utility, contained in the ad utconf.lst file

Additional Information: Monitoring Au toInstall, Oracle

Applications Installation

Additional Information: The AD Configuration Utility, Oracle




xii

ConventionsWe use the following typograph ical conven tions in this manu al.

The following special notes alert you about p articular information:

Convention Meaning

Monospace text Comm and line text. Type this text exactly as shown.

< > Text enclosed in angle brackets represents a variable. Remove theangle brackets and substitute an app ropriate value for the variable.

[ ] Brackets enclose optional items. Do not type the brackets.

| A vertical bar rep resents an “or” op tion among several opt ions. Youmu st enter only one of the op tions. Do not type the vertical bar.

\ d irectory A backslash before a d irectory n am e in dicates th at it is asubdirectory.

C:\ > Represents the Windows NT command prompt (your prompt maydiffer).

\ In command examples, a backslash at the end of a line means you

mu st type the entire comm and on one line. Do not type thebackslash.

%<variable>%

#<variable>#

%<variable>% refers to variables that may be set in the System

applet in the Windows NT Control Panel, at a comman d p romp t, or

in the registry. #<variable># refers to variables that w ill be set in the

Wind ows NT registry only.

Variables set only in th e registry are n ot accessible from the

comm and p rompt, but can be viewed with the Window s NT registry

editor (reged t32.exe). You can a lso convert reg istry variables to

environm ent va riables with the adregenv.exe ut ility.

Additional Information: Refers you to portions of this manual, another manual,or the online docum entation.

Attention : Alerts you to important information that will help youuse the system.

Note: Highlights helpful hints and practical tips that can savetime and make installation or other p rocedures easier.

Warning: Warns you about actions which, if not carried outproperly, could be dam aging or d estructive to youroperations.



xiii

Send Us Your Comments

Oracle Applications Architecture, Release 11 for Windows NT

Part No. A63472-01

We welcome you r comm ents and suggestions on the q uality and usefulness of this pu blication. Your

inpu t is an imp ortant p art of the information used for revision.

s Did you find any errors?s Is the information clearly p resented?

s Do you n eed m ore information? If so, where?

s Are the examples correct? Do you need more examp les?

s What features did you like most about th is man ual?

If you find an y errors or have any other suggestions for imp rovement, please indicate the chapter,

section, and page number (if available). You can send comments to u s in the following ways:

s FAX - 650.506.7369 Attn: Oracle Ap plications Release Group

s postal service:

Oracle Corporation

Oracle App lications Release Grou p

500 Oracle Parkway, M/ S 3op4

Redw ood Shores, CA 94065 U.S.A.

If you w ould like a reply, please give your name, add ress, and telephone nu mber.



xiv



Oracle Applications Release 11 1-1

1Oracle Applications Release 11

This chap ter d escribes the new architectura l features in Oracle Applications. Refer

to the Product Update Notes for information abou t each prod uct’s new features. This

chapter includ es these sections:

s Release 11 Overview

s Netw ork Comp uting Architecture

s Netw ork Traffic and Op timization

s New Functionality

Release 11 Overview

Oracle Applications Release 11 is Oracle’s complete enterprise suite of Financial,Hu man Resources, Manufacturing, Sup ply Chain, and Sales Force Au tomation

softw are, comp rising more than 50 different app lications. Because Release 11 uses a

Java-based interface, corporations can implemen t enterp rise app lications tha t have

all of the benefits of graphical client/ server software withou t installing Oracle

App lications client software on each user’s desktop . Based on N etwork Com pu ting

Architecture (NCA) designed by Oracle, Oracle App lications can be dep loyed on

any PC, network comp uter, or other Java-enabled d esktop.

Network Computing ArchitectureNetw ork Compu ting Architecture u pd ates the Release 10 SmartClient m odel, where

app lication software was installed and mainta ined on the desktop as well as on

servers. In Release 11, the client interface is provided through a Java applet. The

client can down load the app let on deman d, or cache the app let locally and

dow nload only when the app let is up dated. All upd ates are installed on the server



Network Computing Architecture

1-2 Oracle Applications Architecture

and are dow nloaded to th e client autom atically from th e server. Shifting software

adm inistration from the d esktop to the netw ork in Release 11 provides you w ithboth a grap hical user interface and lower ad ministration costs.

Network Computing Architecture provides Oracle Applications with a framework

for multi-tier , distributed compu ting. In the multi-tier comp uting m odel, various

functions of the Oracle App lications architectu re are distributed am ong m ultiple

levels, or tiers, of machines. Although m any physical machines may be used in a

configuration, scalability d erives from processing capabilities on three separate

tiers: the desktop client tier, the app lication tier, and the Release 11 database tier.

Figure 1–1 Overview of Multi-tier Architecture

Desktop Client TierThe desktop client runs a Java applet using a Java-enabled web browser or

app letviewer. The app let sends user requests to the forms server and handles such





responses as screen up dates, pop -up lists, graphical widgets, and cursor movem ent.

The desktop client’s Java ap plet is another component of Oracle’s Developer/ 2000app lication developmen t tool called the Forms client applet . It can d isplay any O racle

App lications screen and sup ports field-level validation, mu ltiple coordinated

wind ows, and data en try aids like lists of values.

A web browser or app letviewer m anages the down loading and storage of the Forms

client app let on each user ’s desktop . They also sup ply the Java Virtua l Machine

(JVM) that ru ns th e Forms client ap plet. The following figu re illustrates th e

commu nication between the d esktop client tier and the other tiers.

Figure 1–2 How the Desktop Client Tier Communicates

JAR Files and Security

The Forms client ap plet is a general-pu rpose applet that w orks with all Oracle

App lications, includ ing those with cu stomizations and extensions. To achieve rapid

startup and keep network traffic light, the Forms client is packaged as a few Java

Archive (JAR) files that contain all the Java classes typically requ ired. The JAR files

are d own loaded once, at the beginn ing of the client’s first session. Afterwards, they





remain in the brow ser’s local disk cache, ready for futu re sessions, until up da ted

versions of the JAR files are released .

The JAR files for the Forms client ap plet use a digital signature to guarantee their

auth enticity to the desktop client. The d igital signature is an encrypted message

containing the identity of the JAR files’ author—in this case, Oracle Applications.

To validate th e digital signature, each desktop client holds a certificate file. The

certificate contains the identity of a "trusted source", and a key th at can be u sed to

decrypt m essages sent by tha t source, such as its digital signatu re. When a w eb

browser or ap pletviewer su bmits a request to dow nload th e JAR files containing theForms client applet, the JAR files present their credentials (the digital signature).

The web browser or ap pletviewer d ecrypts the d igital signature and comp ares the

result with what w as stored in the certificate. If they m atch, the signature is

considered to be auth entic, and the JAR files can be downloaded.

This form of security ensu res that the forms server only accepts connections from

"certified" Forms clients bearing the Oracle App lications signatu re. For add itional

security, all comm un ication between the Forms client ap plet and forms server is

encrypted using the RSA RC4 40-bit standard form of encryption.

Application TierThe application servers form the midd le tier between the desktop clients and

Release 11 database servers. They provid e load ba lancing, business logic, and other

functionality. In installations that u se mu ltiple ap plication servers, only one need s

to run the Oracle Application Server software.

Note: There are three term inology changes from earlier releases:

s Some earlier versions of the Oracle Application Server were

called the Oracle Web Application Server .

s Application server now refers to the machine or machines on the

middle tier that run the Oracle App lication Server and Oracle

Forms Server software.

s The Release 10 database server was often called the Applications

server . To avoid confusion w ith the Oracle App lication Server in

Release 11, the database server is now always called the

Release 11 database server .





The following figure illustrates the commun ication between the ap plication tier and

the other tiers.

Figure 1–3 How the Application Tier Communicates

Forms Server

The forms server is a specific type of app lication server tha t hosts the Oracle Forms

Server engine. The Oracle Forms Server is a Developer/ 2000 componen t that

med iates between the desktop client and the Oracle8 Server, displaying client

screens and causing changes in the database records based on user actions. Data is

cached on the forms server and p rovided to the client as needed , such as whenscrolling th rough mu ltiple order lines. The forms server exchanges messages with

the d esktop client across a standard TCP/ IP network connection.

Load Balancing Among Forms Servers Release 11 provides au tomatic load balancing

among m ultiple app lication servers. In a load-balancing configuration, a single

coordinator called th e Metrics Server is on one application server. Metrics Clients

located on the other app lication servers periodically send load information to the





Metrics Server so it can d etermine w hich has th e lightest load. When a client issues

a request to download th e Forms client ap plet, the Metrics Server provid es the

name of the least-loaded host for the applet to connect to. This process is mad e

possible through m ediation by the w eb server and Oracle Application Server.

Automatic failover capabilities are inherent in this load -balancing system. If an

app lication server becomes unavailable for any reason, the Metrics Server ceases to

route requ ests to the server un til it comes back online. While the app lication server

is offline, requests are routed to one of the other ap plication servers.

Web Server

The web server is another typ e of app lication server, which runs an HTTP listener .

The HTTP listener (also called a web listener) is a component of an HTTP server,

such as Microsoft Internet Inform ation Server, or Netscape Enterpr ise Server. This

listener accepts incoming HTTP requests (or URLs) from d esktop clients, via the

web b rowser or ap pletviewer. These requests are either imm ediately processed—for

example, by return ing an H TML docum ent—or are passed on to the Oracle

App lication Server, wh ich also resides on this m achine.

The Oracle Application Server hand les these requests by redirecting them to a

cartridge. You configure th e Oracle App lication Server to ind icate w hat types of

requests should go to various cartridges that are installed. For example, if you setup the Oracle Forms Load Balancing Cart ridge, this cartridge examines the H TML

file requested by the d esktop client and provides information like the nam e of the

least-loaded host and the username and password for connecting to the

App lications database. The results are then d elivered to the desktop client via the

HTTP listener.

To access Oracle App lications, you start u p a web browser or app letviewer and

subm it a request to the web server for the initial signon HTML page by entering th eURL for the page. The p age may be p rocessed by the Load Balancing Cartrid ge, if it

has been configured , then is returned to you, along with the Java applet used for

accessing Oracle App lications forms. The Forms client ap plet is invoked with

parameters that includ e the nam e of the forms server to which the client app let

connects. The applet connects to this forms server using a stand ard TCP/ IP

connection, and from this point on , you are connected d irectly to the forms server

un til you choose to exit Oracle Applications.

Additional Information: Setting u p Load Balancing, Oracle Developer/2000 Release 1.6.1: Deploying Applications on the W eb;

Chapter 4, Oracle Applications Installation





The app let param eters also contain information about th e App lications database to

which the forms server shou ld connect. This makes it easy to set up access tomu ltiple Oracle Applications environmen ts, and to connect to these environments

simultaneously. For examp le, you can create tw o instances of the Load Balancing

Cartridge, and configure one to connect you to a prod uction database, while

another connects you to a test d atabase. The Oracle App lication Server examines the

URL to determ ine wh ich cartridge instance should process the request. The

cartridge then p rovides the information on wh ich database instance to connect to,

and this data is relayed by the H TTP listener back to the desktop client.

Web Server and HTML-based Applications Functionality

Some asp ects of App lications are un ique in u sing HTML-generated screens for their

interface instead of Oracle Forms. The Oracle Self-Service Web Ap plications and

Workflow Monitor a re amon g th is functionality. These produ cts, or p ortions of

prod ucts, are designed in p ure H TML and JavaScript, and operate by d irect

connection to an HTTP listener running Oracle Application Server. Logic is

controlled throu gh stored p rocedures that execute throu gh the Oracle App lication

Server’s PL/ SQL Cartridge, and Java servlets—Java p rogram s executed by th e

Oracle App lication Server—that communicate with the database using JDBC.

The web server u sed for the Self-Service Web Applications or th e Workflow Mon itor

can be the same as the on e used for accessing other Oracle App lications prod ucts

throu gh O racle Forms. However, all HTML-based App lications fun ctionality

performs load balancing using features in Oracle App lication Server, and do not u se

the O racle Forms Load Balancing Cartrid ge.

Web Server and Thin Client Framework

Oracle App lications uses an infrastructure comp onent called Thin Client

Framew ork (TCF) to supp ort a variety of Java-based features which comp lement

the m ain Forms-based u ser interface. TCF is a foundation for building m ulti-tier

Java ap plications by p roviding an efficient netw ork comm un ications protocol and

gener ic services. The first features to use TCF are the Object Naviga tors used by AK,

MRP, and WIP. Object Nav igators are used to d isplay hierarchical data in a visuallayout an alogous to the Window s Explorer.

Features u sing TCF rely on the presence of a listener p rocess, called the TCF

SocketServer, on an app lication server. This p rocess can ru n on any server m achine.

However, because th e Java software it requ ires — Java Run time Environm ent an d





JDBC — are already installed on any standard Ap plications w eb server, we

recomm end th at the process run on an App lications web server.

Release 11 Database TierThe database tier holds all data and da ta-intensive programs, and processes all SQL

requests for da ta. The d atabase tier includes the Release 11 Server, the

adm inistration server, and the concurrent processing server. By d efinition, machines

in this tier do not comm un icate directly with App lications users, bu t rather w ith

machines on the app lication tier that m ediate these comm unications, or with other

servers on the Release 11 database tier.

The following figure illustrates th e commun ication betw een the Release 11 database

tier and the other tiers.

Attention: Thin Client Framework an d Object Navigator

functionality are ava ilable in th e 11.0.1 FND pa tch set. Instructions

on configur ing the TCF SocketServer p rocess are in the on-line

Docum entation Upd ates for the System Administrator’s Guide.

C





Figure 1–4 How the Database Tier Communicates

Release 11 Database Server

The Release 11 database server contains the d ata associated with OracleApp lications. This machine d oes not contain any Oracle App lications files, only the

Oracle8 Server files, and a d atabase instance that stores the tables, ind exes, and

other d atabase objects used by Oracle App lications.

The installation process for Oracle App lications begins here, by installing and

creating a da tabase and configuring N et8 to accept connections from other servers.

Once you have created your d atabase, you ad minister the App lications data from

the ad ministration server.

Administration Server

The administration server is the machine from which you m aintain the data in your

App lications d atabase. There are three typ es of operations you will carry out h ere,

each using a d ifferent program:

N t k C ti A hit t





s installing and upgrad ing the database

This process is only done w hen you are installing a n ew release, or areup grad ing to a new m inor or major release. You u se the AutoInstall program to

do th is.

s app lying App lications database upd ates

Most bug fixes will consist of new files and scripts that up date database objects.

You u se the AutoPatch program, adp atch.exe, to app ly the upda tes to the

database objects from the ad ministration server. (AutoPatch is also used on

other servers to up da te the file systems on th ose machines.)

s maintaining the Ap plications d ata

Some features, such as Mu ltiLingu al Sup port an d Mu ltiple Reporting

Currencies, require regular maintenance to ensure upd ates are prop agated to

the additional schemas used by these features. The AD Adm inistration progra m

(adad min.exe) allows you to d o this. (You can also administer files on oth er

tiers using this program.)

These administration tasks can only be performed when u sers are not accessing the

system, and n one of the operations listed above p rovides interaction w ith

App lications users. This means that the ad ministration server is the most

infrequen tly used, compared to other servers in the Applications mu lti-tier

environment, and h as the smallest comp uting requ irements. You therefore should

not need to have more than on e adm inistration server for your installation.

Concurrent Processing Server

Most interaction with App lications da ta is done through App lications forms. There

are also reporting p rograms, however, that p eriodically need to be run. These

program s may contain a very large number of comp utations, so to ensure that they

do not interfere with interactive operations, they can be configured to run on a

separate m achine called the concurrent processing server .

Concurrent Processing

Processes that run on the concurrent p rocessing server are called concurrent

programs, and operate in the background wh ile you and other users continue to

wor k on other tasks. These programs are typ ically executables written in C or

reports w ritten using Oracle Reports. You submit a requ est to run concurrent

program s through Ap plications forms, wh ich insert the request into a database

table. When the table is read by a m onitoring process, the request is assigned to on e

Additional Information: Chapter 5, Oracle Applications Installation

Network Traffic and Optimization





of several concurrent managers (also referred to as workers) running on the concurrent

processing server. The concurrent man ager p rocesses the requ est (wh ich m ay

involve calling another program , for examp le, or run ning Oracle Reports), and

generates log and outp ut files, wh ich are stored on the concurrent p rocessing server.

The Internal concurrent manager process monitors the database table for new

requests, controls the other concur rent man agers, and determines wh en a request

should be p rocessed an d wh ich concurrent m anager should carry it out.

Interaction with Forms Servers

Most of the time, the concurrent p rocessing servers only comm un icate directly with

the Release 11 database server. For examp le, all concur rent requ ests are entered and

controlled throu gh App lications forms, which upd ate informat ion in database

tables. These tables are then p olled on a regu lar basis by the Internal concur rent

manager process.

Occasionally, however, the forms servers m ay need to commun icate d irectly with

the concurrent processing servers. This may be necessary to retrieve reports for

on-line viewing, or to run a program that return s its results to the App lications user

interactively, rather than in the backgroun d. The forms server achieves this by using

Net8 to issue a Remote Procedu re Call (RPC) to the concurren t p rocessing server.

The concurrent processing server ru ns a N et8 Listener, which respond s to the

request by invoking an Oracle Applications executable, then retu rning th e results to

the forms server via Net8.

Although these connections with th e forms server are much less frequent th an

commu nications w ith the Release 11 database server, netw ork latency between the

concur rent processing server and forms server may result in App lications data

being returned more slowly to Applications users. This may, therefore, have an

impact on how you d ecide to d istribute and configure the servers on your d atabase

tier with respect to those on the ap plication tier.

Network Traffic and OptimizationOracle Applications Release 11 operates efficiently over a Wide Area Netw ork

(WAN ) or dial-up connection. Only one netw ork round -trip is needed between the

Additional Information: Overview of Concurren t Processing,

Oracle Applications Systems Administrator’s Guide

Additional Information: Set Up the Report Review Agent, Oracle







forms server and desktop client for field nav igation, and only a few round-trips are

needed to change forms.

Forms Server and Forms Client AppletThe Forms client ap plet han dles all screen and local data man agemen t d irectly,

without contacting the forms server. Such op erations as scrolling th rough records,

moving between w indows, or typing characters in a field produ ce no netw ork

traffic at all. In contrast to block-mod e clients, the Forms client ap plet also knows

wh at user interface operations can benefit from immediate contact with the forms

server—for example, entering d ata in a validated field.

When an end user tabs out of a validated field or performs some other action that

requires an imm ediate response, the Forms client app let sends a single message to

the forms server that d escribes the event in shorthand form—for examp le, "John

Proctor entered in N ame field" or "list of values bu tton clicked." The forms server

replies with a single message that conveys all of the changes that n eed to be m ade

in the u ser interface to convey a full and complete response to th is event, again in

shorthan d form. Depend ing on the situa tion, the response might consist of changing values in other fields displayed on screen, popp ing up a dialog box that

presents a choice of valid en tries for the field, m aking new UI elements app ear and

old ones d isappear, or relaying an error message (or other ad vice) that requires

immed iate attention. This approach minimizes the number of network round trips

and redu ces bandw idth consump tion.

Performance ConsiderationsThere are several ways you can improve th e performan ce of the Oracle

App lications, depend ing on you r netw orking environment and server d istribution.

s Minimize netw ork latency between the forms servers and Release 11 database

server.

The majority of network exchange occur s between the app lication tier and the

database tier. We strongly recomm end that these comp onents of your netw ork

topology have the lowest-possible latency and h ighest-possible band wid thbetween them . For examp le, all forms servers and the Release 11 database

server should be installed on the same subnet, and should commu nicate with

one another u sing a high-speed n etwork connection.






s Minimize netw ork latency between concurrent processing servers and Release

11 database server.

Concurrent p rograms are typically very data-intensive, and can generate heavy

netw ork tr affic to and from the Release 11 database server. Because th ese jobs

are intended to ru n as backgroun d ta sks, this traffic is not optimized for

operation over w ide-area networks. However, depend ing on the volume and

frequen cy of requests you hand le in your en vironmen t, you may be able to cope

with minor am oun ts of netw ork latency here, as it will not be perceived by

App lications users as an interrup tion or delay in their interactive operation.

This does not ap ply to traffic betw een the forms server and Release 11 databaseserver, as indicated previously.

s Use load balancing to evenly distribute connections amon g mu ltiple forms

servers.

Developer/ 2000 provides a load balancing feature that allows you to

dyn amically balance load among mu ltiple forms servers running Oracle Forms

Server.

s Down load Java archive files from a local file server w hen connecting over slow

or wide-area networks.

Netw ork traffic requirements between d esktop clients and the forms servers are

considerably smaller, since only changes in the grap hical user interface are

transm itted once the Forms Java applet is down loaded at startu p. This initial

startup time can be improved w hen connecting over slow or wid e-area

netw orks by having the d esktop clients dow nload the Java archive files from a

local file server rather than the ap plication server. This avoids h aving each u ser

dow nload th e app let over the WAN w hen a new version is released. See Modify

the Initial HTML Signon File in Chap ter 4 of Oracle Applications Installation for

details on how to configure th is.

s Pin stored p ackages in your Oracle8 System Global Area.

This prevent s your SGA from becoming fragmented and affecting p erformance.

Additional Information: Setting Up Load Balancing, Oracle

Developer/2000 Release 1.6.1: Deploying Applications on the Web



New Functionality



y


New Functionality

Although the und erlying architecture differs, Release 11 includ es all thefunctionality of Release 10 SmartClient. This section h ighlights some features that

are new in Release 11 or that op erate differently than in Release 10 and

Release 10SC. Refer to the Product Update Notes for specific information about each

prod uct’s new features.

Multiple Reporting Currencies

The Multiple Reporting Currencies (MRC) feature allows you to create, maintain,and report on accounting records at the transaction level in more than one

functional currency. You do this by defining one or m ore reporting sets of books, in

add ition to your prim ary set of books. In your report ing sets of books, you m aintain

records in a functional currency other th an you r p rimary functional currency. You

can set up as man y as eight reporting sets of books for each prim ary set of books.

Typ ically, you shou ld u se MRC if:

s you operate in a country with an unstable currency and you need toconcurren tly report your business in a hard currency.

s your comp any is multinational, and you need to repor t financial

information in a comm on functional cur rency other than that of the

transaction or your prim ary functional currency.

s you operate in a coun try that is part of the Europ ean Monetary Un ion

(EMU), and you w ant to concurrently report in euro in p repara tion for the

single European currency.

AttachmentsIn Release 11, you can attach files of nearly any k ind—word processing,

spread sheet, image, aud io, and video—to records for subsequent viewing orretrieval. You can attach a scanned image to illustrate a prod uct record, for examp le,

or a Microsoft Word file w ith an embed ded Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to justify a

pu rchase order. When opened , attached files are sent to the desktop clients w eb

browser, wh ich d isplays them u sing the helper ap plication for that MIME type.

Attachments can either be files accessible from the w eb, which are attached using

their URL, or files on the local file system, w hich Oracle App lications upload s and

stores on th e Release 11 database server.

Additional Information: Multiple Reporting Currencies in Chapter

3 of this manua l

New Functionality




Spreadsheet Export

You can export the contents of customizable, auto-querying folders and othermu lti-record regions directly to a spread sheet program . When op ening the

spreadsheet, the w eb browser uses the spreadsheet program set up as the helper

app lication for this mim e type.

Context-sensitive HelpRelease 11 help text is in H TML format. The help text is displayed in th e desktop

client’s web browser as context-sensitive help when you click the help bu tton

(represented as a question mark) on any Oracle App lications screen. Or, you can use

the Oracle Information N avigator (OIN) wh ere indicated to perform Full-Text

Search on the d ocumentation library.

Report ReviewOracle App lications uses a tool called the Report Review Agent to view concurrent

processing files online. This utility is on the concur rent p rocessing server an d uses

Net8 to transfer files from the concur rent p rocessing server to the forms server. It

then transm its the file contents—one page at a time or in its entirety—to the

desktop client. The forms server send s reports to the client web brow ser for online

viewing in either u nformatted text, HTML, Adobe Acrobat format, or PostScriptformat.

Oracle PayrollFull installations of Oracle Payroll w ere not supp orted in earlier Oracle

Applications releases. Oracle Payroll can be fully installed in Release 11.

Additional Information: Document Update section, Oracle

Applications User’s Guide (HTML version only)

Additional Information: Oracle A pplications User’s Guide


New Functionality



System Components 2-1

2System Components

This chapter explains the basic Oracle Ap plications software components. You can

find information on th e following top ics:

s Release 11 Products and Produ ct Families

s Underlying System Comp onents

Release 11 Products and Product FamiliesThe following table lists the nam es, abbreviations, and TOP env ironment variables

of products includ ed in Release 11.

Note: In Release 11, all Oracle App lications p roducts are at release

level 11.0.28.

Table 2–1 Release 11 Products

Oracle Applications Product Abbreviation Environment Setting

DateTrack dt DT_TOP

FastFormula ff FF_TOP

Global Accounting Engine ax AX_TOP

Oracle Alert alr ALR_TOP

Oracle Applications Implementation Wizard az AZ_TOP

Oracle Application Object Library fnd FND_TOP

Oracle Applications DBA ad AD_TOP

Release 11 Products and Product Families




Oracle Applications Utilities au AU_TOP

Oracle Assets fa FA_TOP

Oracle Automotive veh VEH_TOP

Oracle Bills of Material bom BOM_TOP

Oracle Capacity crp CRP_TOP

Oracle Cash Management ce CE_TOP

Oracle Common Modules ak AK_TOP

Oracle Cost Management cst BOM_TOP

Oracle EDI Gateway ec EC_TOP

Oracle Engineering eng ENG_TOP

Oracle Financials for Asia/ Pacific ja JA_TOP

Oracle Financials for Europe je JE_TOP

Oracle Financials for Latin America jl JL_TOP

Oracle Flow Manufacturing flm FLM_TOP

Oracle General Ledger gl GL_TOP

Oracle Human Resources per PER_TOP

Oracle Inventory inv INV_TOP

Oracle Master Scheduling/ MRP mrp MRP_TOP

Oracle Order Entry/ Shipping oe OE_TOP

Oracle Payables ap AP_TOP

Oracle Payroll pay PAY_TOP

Oracle Product Configurator cz BOM_TOP

Oracle Projects pa PA_TOP

Oracle Project Manufacturing pjm PJM_TOP

Oracle Public Sector General Ledger gl GL_TOP

Oracle Public Sector Payables ap AP_TOP

Oracle Public Sector Purchasing po PO_TOP







Product FamiliesOracle App lications are group ed into several families of produ cts. These families

work together, rely on common un derlying compon ents, or have similar ind ustry

uses.

Oracle Public Sector Receivables ar AR_TOP

Oracle Purchasing po PO_TOP

Oracle Quality qa QA_TOP

Oracle Receivables ar AR_TOP

Oracle Release Management rla RLA_TOP

Oracle Application Report Generator rg RG_TOP

Oracle Sales and Marketing as AS_TOP

Oracle Sales Compensation cn CN_TOP

Oracle Self-Service Web Applications icx ICX_TOP

Oracle Service cs CS_TOP

Oracle SSP/ SMP ssp SSP_TOP

Oracle Supplier Scheduling chv PO_TOP

Oracle Supply Chain Planning msc MSC_TOP

Oracle Time Management hxt HXT_TOP

Oracle Training ota OTA_TOP

Oracle U.S. Federal Human Resources ghr GHR_TOP

Oracle Work in Process wip WIP_TOP

Regional Localizations jg JG_TOP







Figure 2–1 Oracle Applications Product Families and Products

Oracle Business Productivity

Oracle Applications DBA

Oracle Application Object Library

Oracle Alert

Oracle Applications Implementation Wizard

Oracle Workflow

Oracle Distribution

Oracle Inventory

Oracle Order Entry/Shipping

Oracle Product Configurator

Oracle Purchasing

Oracle Service

Oracle Supply Chain Planning

Oracle Supplier Scheduling

Oracle Financials

Global Accounting Engine

Oracle Applications Report Generator

Oracle Assets

Oracle Cash Management

Oracle General Ledger

Oracle Payables

Oracle Receivables

Oracle Public Sector Financials

Oracle Public Sector Receivables

Oracle Public Sector General Ledger

Oracle Public Sector Payables

Oracle Public Sector Purchasing

Oracle Human ResourcesManagement Systems

DateTrack

FastFormula

Oracle U.S. Federal Human Resources

Oracle Human Resources

Oracle Payroll

Oracle Statutory Sick Pay/Statutory Maternity Pay

Oracle Time Management

Oracle Training

Oracle Manufacturing

Oracle Bills of MaterialOracle Capacity

Oracle Cost Management

Oracle Common Modules (AK)

Oracle EDI Gateway

Oracle Engineering

Oracle Flow Manufacturing

Oracle Master Scheduling

Oracle Material Requirements Planning

Oracle Project Manufacturing

Oracle Quality

Oracle Work in Process

Oracle Marketing Management

Oracle Financial Analyzer

Oracle Sales and Marketing

Oracle Sales Analyzer

Oracle Sales Compensation

Oracle Projects

Oracle Project Billing

Oracle Project Costing

Oracle Activity Management Gateway

Oracle Self-Service Web Applications

Oracle Web Customers

Oracle Web Employees

Oracle Web Suppliers

Oracle Vertical Applications

Oracle Automotive

Oracle Release Management





Oracle Alert

Oracle Alert is installed au tomatically und er the Oracle App lication Object LibraryORACLE database schema. Oracle Alert notification and expense p rocesses are both

sup ported . You can use Oracle Alert on N T with Microsoft Exchange or another

MAPI-compliant m ail system. Please refer to the Release Notes for a list of sup ported

MAPI-compliant m ail systems.

Oracle Human Resource Management SystemsFastFormu la and DateTrack are available as dependent p rodu cts only. These

prod ucts must be installed in the same ORACLE schema as Oracle Hum an

Resources and Oracle Payroll. The d efault u ser ID for this p rodu ct family is

HR/ HR. You can, how ever, install other HRMS prod ucts in their ow n ORACLE

database schemas.

Oracle Manufacturing

Oracle Manufacturing refers to the prod uct family listed in Figure 2–1. Oracle

Inventory provides the basic Oracle Cost Management functionality. Oracle Bills of

Material and Oracle Work in Process provide the remaining functionality. Oracle

Cost Management, therefore, does not show up on the Au toInstall screens as a

separate prod uct that you can install.

Oracle Projects

Oracle Projects consists of either Oracle Project Billing or Oracle Project Costing .When you choose to install Oracle Projects, AutoInstall promp ts you to choose the

Billing or the Costing produ ct. When you install Oracle Project Billing, you

au tomatically get Oracle Project Costing as well.

System IssuesThis section d iscusses installation issues and restrictions for Oracle Ap plications

systems in general.

Required Products

Each Oracle Applications installation requires the following prod ucts:

s Oracle Application Object Library

Provides the common functions for Oracle Applications prod ucts.

Additional Information: Oracle A lert User’s Guide





s Oracle Alert

Provides shared messaging and alert functionality. It is installed au tomaticallyas a shared prod uct. To use th e functionality of Oracle Alert, you mu st select it

to be fully installed.

s Oracle Applications DBA

Provides program s that let you install, up grad e, administer, and maintain an

Oracle App lications system. It is installed au tomat ically as a shared p rodu ct

only.

s Oracle Applications Utilities

Includ es shared PL/ SQL resources (includ ing PL/ SQL libraries, graphics, and

forms) used by all Oracle Applications p rodu cts. AutoInstall copies these

shared resou rces autom atically from other prod uct directories.

When you estimate required system resources, be sure that you have enough disk

space for these produ cts as well as for all other Oracle App lications prod ucts you

have licensed.

Full Product Installations Required

In add ition, some Oracle App lications prod ucts require full installations of other

prod ucts. AutoInstall autom atically sets the required p rodu cts to install as

necessary. For examp le, Table 2–2 show s that you mu st install Oracle Inventory

fully in ord er to install Oracle Bills of Material fully. When you choose to install

Oracle Bills of Material fu lly, AutoInstall sets Oracle Inventory to insta ll fully.

Table 2–2 Full Product Installation Requirements

A full installation of this product... Requires full installations of these products...

Oracle Bills of Material Oracle Inventory

Oracle Capacity Oracle Bills of Material, Oracle Inventory, OracleMaster Schedu ling/ MRP

Oracle Engineering Oracle Bills of Material, Oracle Inventory

Oracle Flow Manufactu ring Oracle Bills of Mater ial, Oracle Inven tory

Oracle General Ledger Oracle Report Generator

Oracle Master Scheduling/ MRP Oracle Bills of Material, Oracle Inventory

Oracle Order Entry/ Shipping Oracle Inventory, Oracle Receivables

Oracle Payroll Oracle Human Resources





Dependent ProductsAutoInstall installs all objects and seed d ata for all Oracle Applications p rodu cts

(except JA, JE, and JL) in your d atabase, regardless of wheth er you have licensed the

product.

In addition, the Oracle App lications prod ucts you license for full installation m ay

require prod uct file comp onents from dependent (also called shared ) prod ucts. For

example, Oracle Purchasing u ses prod uct file components of Oracle Payables. This

makes Oracle Payables a dep endent p rodu ct of Oracle Purchasing. If you fullyinstall Oracle Purchasing bu t n ot Oracle Payables, Oracle Payables is installed

autom atically as a d ependent p roduct.

A depend ent prod uct installation includ es only the product files needed by your

combination of fully installed prod ucts. In the example in the previous pa ragrap h,

the Oracle Payables dep endent p rodu ct installation includes only the files needed

by Oracle Purchasing.

Oracle Product Configurator Oracle Bills of Material, Oracle Inventory, OracleOrd er Entry/ Shipping, Oracle Receivables

Oracle Report Generator Oracle General Ledger

Oracle Quality Oracle Inventory

Oracle Release Management Oracle EDI Gateway, Oracle Inventory, OracleMaster Schedu ling/ MRP, Oracle Ord er

Entry/ Shipping, Oracle Receivables

Oracle Sales Com pensation Oracle General Led ger

Oracle Service Oracle Order Entry/ Shipping

Oracle SSP/ SMP Oracle Human Resources

Oracle Supplier Schedu ling Oracle Purchasing

Oracle Supply Chain Planning Oracle Bills of Material, Oracle Inventory, Oracle

Master Scheduling/ MRP

Oracle Tim e Man agem ent Oracle H um an Resou rces, Oracle Payroll

Oracle U.S. Federal Hu manResources

Oracle Human Resources

Oracle Work in Process Oracle Bills of Material, Oracle In ventory

Table 2–2 Full Product Installation Requirements

A full installation of this product... Requires full installations of these products...

Underlying System Components




Before you install an Oracle App lications system, you n eed to verify that you have

enough d atabase spa ce for all database objects for all Oracle App lications. Also

verify that you have enough produ ct file disk space for dep endent p roducts as wellas for fully installed p rodu cts. Oracle Applications Installation lists the d isk space

required for d ependent p roducts.

Localizations

Localizations are mod ules that extend O racle App lications to meet the u nique

business requiremen ts of one or m ore geograph ic regions. Localizations are

different from custom izations, which are created to m eet the uniqu e requirements of a specific site.

Release 11 has four localization m odu le sets:

s Asia/ Pacific

s Europe

s Latin Am erica

s Regional

Each localization m odu le contains forms, reports, seed d ata, and database objects

for use with Oracle App lications in that region. By default Au toInstall does not

select localizations for installat ion. You select the localization modules to ins tall.

Oracle Applications Language TranslationsOracle App lications is ava ilable in several langu ages. When you license Oracle

App lications in a language other than Am erican English, you receive an add itional

CD that contains translated forms, reports, seed d ata, help text, and messages.

Oracle Applications NLS Installation Guide includ es information on how to install

Oracle App lications in any of the supported languages.

Underlying System ComponentsThis section explains wh at you need to know about th e operating system, the

Oracle8 Server, and the Oracle tools to install or u pgrade Oracle App lications.

Additional Information: Localization Directories in Chap ter 4 of

this manu al

Additional Information: Language Directory Structure inChapter 4 of this manual





Windows NT Operating System

Running the Au toInstall program requires a minimum knowledge of the WindowsNT operating system. Preparing for and finishing an installation or upgrad e

requires a more extensive knowledge of the operating system , however. At a

minimu m, you should know h ow to do the following:

s start Wind ows N T and N T Services

s create Wind ows NT user accoun ts

s navigate and run comm ands at the comm and p rompt

s create directories

s edit a file with a text editor

s determ ine the amou nt of available real memory and file system d isk space

Oracle8 Server

Oracle App lications Release 11 uses Oracle8 Enterpr ise Edition Release 8.0.4 (orlater versions that are certified for compat ibility) to store and up date Oracle

App lications data. Your site needs a d atabase adm inistrator who has access to the

ORACLE SYS and SYSTEM accounts. The database ad ministrator must be able to

do th e following:

s create a da tabase

s create a control file

s set database initialization param eters

s shut dow n and restart a database

s create and size tablespaces and rollback segmen ts

s export and import a d atabase

The Oracle8 Server docum entation explains how to set up and adm inister a

database.

Oracle ToolsUsers of Oracle App lications d o not u se the Oracle tools directly. The tools form the

technology stack upon wh ich Oracle Applications runs, and specific versions of

Additional Information: Oracle8 Concepts an d Oracle8

Administrator’s Guide





these tools are certified for use w ith Release 11. The tools mu st be installed and

run ning before you install Oracle App lications. As the tools are interrelated, only

certain combinations of versions are sup ported .

WARNING: Review the Release Notes, check MetaLink, or

contact Oracle Support Services to find out w hich other

combinations of tool versions are certified w ith Oracle

Applications.



Data Model 3-1

3Data Model

This chap ter d escribes the Oracle App lications da ta m odel. It includes a d iscussion

of the following topics:

s Basic Data Mod el

s Multiple Organization (Multi-Org) Architecture

s Multiple Reporting Currencies

s Multiple Sets of Book s

s Oracle8 Server Organization an d Requirements

Basic Data Model

Each installation of Oracle App lications p rodu ct schemas, along with a singleOracle App lication Object Library schema, defines a prod uct group. Each p rodu ct

group can contain any nu mber of Oracle App lications produ cts in add ition to

Oracle App lication Object Library.

Product GroupsIn Release 11, you can have only on e prod uct group in each d atabase. Figure 3–1

illustrates tw o identical produ ct groups installed in sep arate databases. Because theprod ucts reside in separate da tabases, they can use the sam e ORACLE schema

nam es. The schema nam es are shown here as the d efault nam es GL, PO, AP, and

APPLSYS. The p rodu cts installed in each d atabase d o not have access to the da ta of

prod ucts installed in an other database. For example, PO installed in Database 1

cannot access the d ata from AP installed in Database 2.

Basic Data Model




Figure 3–1 Multiple Product Groups in Separate Databases

ORACLE User IDsEach Oracle App lications prod uct has a default ORACLE user ID that uses the

prod uct abbreviation as both the schema name and p assword . For example, The

default ORACLE user ID for Oracle General Ledger is GL/ GL.

A prod uct’s schema d etermines the ow nership of the p rodu ct’s data objects, such as

sequences, tables, and indexes. If two p rodu cts are installed u nd er the same

schema, that schema own s the data objects for both produ cts.

Attention: We recomm end you d o not change the d efault

username d uring installation, but you should change the p assword.

Product Group 1

Oracle General Ledger(GL)

Database 1

Oracle Purchasing(PO)

Oracle Payables(AP)

APPS Schema

Product Group 2

Oracle General Ledger(GL)

Database 2

Oracle Purchasing(PO)

Oracle Payables(AP)

APPS Schema

Oracle Application ObjectLibrary

(APLSYS)

Oracle Application ObjectLibrary

(APPLSYS)

Basic Data Model



Data Model 3-3

Since a prod uct’s data objects are created in their ow n schema (such as the GL

schema) and the u ser accesses all data objects through the APPS schem a,

AutoInstall creates the necessary grants and synonym s between the schemas.

A p rodu ct’s data objects can be installed in a ny tab lespace regardless of whether it

shares a schema with another p roduct.

APPS SchemaThe APPS schema is an ORACLE schema that has access to the comp lete Oracle

App lications d ata m odel. It is analogous to the SYSTEM schema, w hich has accessto the entire d atabase. The APPS schema d ramatically simplifies and redu ces the

time of the installation p rocess and the stability of up grad es.

Oracle Applications respon sibilities connect to an APPS schema. Au toInstall

au tomat ically sets the FNDNAM environmen t setting to the nam e of the APPS

schema.

APPS and Base Product SchemasAutoInstall creates one schema for each prod uct—a base produ ct schema—which

owns the d ata objects, and one schema—APPS—which own s the code objects and

has access to all data objects. There is one APPS schema for every prod uct

installation group . The following code objects are installed in each APPS schema:

s Views

s Packages

s Procedures

s Functions

s Triggers

The following objects are installed in the base prod uct schemas:

s Tables

s Sequences

s Indexes

s Constraints

In add ition, there are grants from the tables and sequences to the APPS schema, as

well as synonyms from the APPS schema to th ose objects.

Basic Data Model




Figure 3–2 APPS Schema and Base Product Schemas

APPS Schema Benefits

The APPS schema redu ces the time need ed for and improves the reliability of

installation, upgrade, and p atching by eliminat ing the need for cross-prod uct grants

and synonyms.

In Release 10.5 (and earlier), you used an Oracle Applications prod uct throu gh the

base p rodu ct schema. All Oracle Inventory responsibilities, for example, connected

to the Oracle Inven tory schema (like INV). In ord er to u se functionality in another

prod uct, such as pu rchase orders in Oracle Purchasing, the cur rent schema needed

access to the shared prod uct’s objects. This access w as accomp lished by gran ts and

synonyms.

For examp le, the PO schema granted access on PO_HEADERS to the INV schema

and the INV schema created a synonym called PO_HEADERS to PO.PO_

HEADERS. The synonym allowed object reference withou t th e necessity of

qualifying it by schema. So, by using the INV schema, you could execute a ll

functions necessary to use Oracle Inventory, including those that u sed comp onents

outside the INV schema. Similarly, you w ould connect to the Oracle Payables or

Oracle General Ledger p rodu ct schemas when using those products’responsibilities.

This architecture, however, required a complex and extensive set of grants from an d

synonym s to objects in other p rodu cts’ schemas. Utilizing one schema th at has

access to all objects eliminates these cross-prod uct dep end encies and creates a

hub-and-spokes mod el rather than a spider w eb.

GL

GL tablesGL indexesGL sequences

INVINV tablesINV indexesINV sequences

APAP tablesAP indexesAP sequences

FND tablesFND indexesFND sequences

APPLSYS

ALR tablesALR indexesALR sequences

AD tablesAD indexesAD sequences

GL packagesGL viewsGL proceduresGL functionsGL triggers

INV packagesINV viewsINV proceduresINV functionsINV triggers

AP packagesAP viewsAP proceduresAP functionsAP triggers

FND code objectsALR code objectsAD code objects

APPS.

..etc.

Various grants and synonyms

Basic Data Model



Data Model 3-5

How AutoInstall Creates APPS Schemas

AutoInstall performs these steps to create and m aintain the APPS schemas:1. Creates the APPS schema or schemas.

AutoInstall creates one APPS schema per product installation group u sing the

following nam ing conventions:

s If the FN D schema is nam ed A PPLSYS, the first APPS schem a w ill be

nam ed APPS. Subsequ ent APPS schemas w ill be nam ed APPS<install

group num ber>, like APPS2, APPS3, and so on .

s If the FND schema is not named APPLSYS, the first APPS schem a will be

nam ed APPS_<FND schema name>. Subsequ ent APPS schemas will be

nam ed APPS<install group nu mber>_<FND schema name>. For example,

if the FND schema is named APPLMGR, then th e first, second an d third

APPS schem as are nam ed APPS_APPLMGR, APPS2_APPLMGR and

APPS3_APPLMGR.

2. Maintains the APPS schema or schemas au tomat ically.

AutoInstall grants p rivileges to and creates synonym s in the APPS schem a(s)

for the base p roduct objects, and creates code objects in the APPS schema(s).

3. Registers the APPS schemas.

Each Oracle App lications schema is listed in the FND_ORACLE_USERID table.

This table describes the schemas that currently exist in the database for Oracle

App lications u se. AutoInstall registers each APPS schema by creating entr ies in

this table.

4. Associates each data grou p u nit with th e appropriate APPS schema.

Data group un its map app lications to ORACLE schemas for a data group

(which is used by a responsibility). AutoInstall sets the ORACLE schema for

each Oracle Application to the app ropriate APPS schema, so that Oracle

App lications run from an APPS schema instead of from a base prod uct schema.

5.During an u pgrade, AutoInstall changes the APPS schema passw ord.When u pgrading , Au toInstall automatically sets each APPS schema password

to match the FND schema password.

Basic Data Model




Localizations ObjectsA localization mod ule may include n ew database objects. If a mod ule is for one

Oracle App lications p rodu ct, the database objects may be installed in the prod uct’s

base schema or in the app ropriate region’s schema, such as in the JE schema or JA

schema. Add itional space should be mad e in the table and ind ex tablespaces for

these d atabase objects.

By d efault, Au toInsta ll creates an ORACLE schem a for JG (Regional Localizations).

It creates JE, JL, or JA schem as only if you install European, Latin Am erica, or

Asia/ Pacific localization s, respectively.

Custom Schema AccessIn some circumstances you may w ish to create a schem a that h as limited or

read-only access to Oracle App lications data. You may d o this so your u sers can

query Oracle App lications using a d ata qu ery tool like SQL*Plus.

Grant access on objects to the u ser schema from th e APPS schema, not from a base

produ ct schema.

Data AccessSome Oracle Applications views access PL/ SQL packages or functions. The valu e

returned by a package or function may depend on w hether it is accessed from the

Oracle App lications environmen t. Therefore, the values return ed by an Oracle

Warning: If you change the FND schema passw ord after theinstallation or upgrade, you must also change each APPS schema

passw ord to match it.

Warning: Since the APPS schem a has all privileges to all Oracle

Appl ications objects, you should not give users direct access to

the APPS schema.

Note: You may need to re-grant access if the und erlying object is

dropp ed and recreated.

Multiple Organization (Multi-Org) Architecture



Data Model 3-7

App lications view may be different from the values returned by connecting d irectly

to the same Oracle App lications schema.

Oracle App lications forms and concurren t program s always access database objects

from within the O racle Applications env ironment. If you u se a tool like SQL*Plus to

connect directly to an Oracle App lications schema, the values return ed by the view

throu gh SQL*Plus may be d ifferent from those returned by an Oracle Applications

form or concur rent program . For example, when accessed within the Oracle

App lications environm ent, some v iews reference profile options at different levels.

When accessed d irectly from SQL*Plus, views reference only the site-level value of

the p rofile option.

Multiple Organization (Multi-Org) ArchitectureMultiple Organization architecture d etermines how transactions flow throu gh

different organizations in Oracle App lications and how those organizations interact

with each other.

OverviewNew sites use the Multiple Organization architecture rather than th e old Multiple

Sets of Books architecture. This means that you use a single installation of any

Oracle Applications prod uct to supp ort any nu mber of organizations, even if those

organizations u se different sets of books.

You define multiple organizations and their relationships. These organizations can

be sets of books, business group s, legal entities, operating u nits, or inventoryorganizations.

When you run any Oracle App lications prod uct, you first choose an

organ ization—either im plicitly by choosing a respon sibility, or explicitly in a

Choose Organization wind ow. Each form and report d isplays information only for

your organization.

It is important that you und erstand these terms as you w ork with Multi-Org

architecture:Set of Books A financia l repor ting entity that uses a par ticu lar char t of

accoun ts, fun ctional currency, and accoun ting calend ar. Oracle

General Ledger secures transaction information (journ al

entries, balances) by set of books. When you use Oracle

General Ledger, you choose a respon sibility that specifies a set

of books. You then see information on ly for that set of books.

Multiple Organization (Multi-Org) Architecture




A single product installation grou p a rchitecture is used by Multi-Org, or if you do

not u se the old Multiple Sets of Books architecture. There is one APPS schema and asingle schema for each product.

Figure 3–3 Single Product Installation Group

Partitioned ObjectsTables that contain Mu lti-Org data have the suffix "_ALL" in the table nam e. These

tables include a colum n called O RG_ID that partitions Multi-Org d ata by

organization.

Every Multi-Org table has a correspond ing view that p artitions the table’s data by

operating u nit. Multi-Org views partition data by includ ing a DECODE statement

on the interna l variable CLIENT_INFO. CLIENT_INFO is similar in operation to thevariable LANGUAGE, which returns the langu age of the current session, and is set

by the security system to th e operating u nit designated for the responsibility.

SO_HEADERS_ALL, with its corresp ond ing v iew SO_HEADERS, is an exam ple of

a Mu lti-Org p artitioned object.

Operating Unit An organization that uses Order Entry, Oracle Payables,

Oracle Purchasing , or Oracle Receivables. It may be a sales

office, a division, or a d epartm ent. An op erating un it isassociated w ith a legal entity. Information is secured by

operating u nit for these app lications; each user sees

information only for their operating u nit. To run any of these

app lications, you choose a responsibility associated w ith an

organization classified as an operating u nit.

Additional Information: Technical O verview, Multiple

Organizations in Oracle Applications

APPLSYS

AP

AR

INVGL

APPS




Data Model 3-9

Changes from Release 10.6

For a fresh install, the data m odel is identical wh ether you implement Multi-Org ornot . Tables that contain Mu lti-Org par titioned data u se the suffix "_ALL". When you

up grad e, tables are renam ed to u se this suffix.

Multi-Org views pa rtition data using CLIENT_INFO. These views a re incorporated

into the normal install and use p redefined text. Previously, the text of the views w as

created dynam ically based upon the site’s configuration.

In Release 10.6, operating un it schemas w ere necessary to p artition data by

operating un it. Release 10.6 Multi-Org views incorporated a DECODE statementbased u pon the name of the schema. Beginning w ith Release 10.7, Multi-Org views

use a DECODE statement based upon CLIENT_INFO. Therefore the Release 10.6

operating u nit schemas are now obsolete.

In Release 11, you use the AD Administration utility, adadmin.exe, to initially

convert seed data an d tran saction data to Mu lti-Org. The adadm in.exe utility does

not change the data mod el. When you create a new op erating un it, a concurrent

program ad ds the app ropriate seed data. You n o longer need to run adad min.exe

(as you d id in Release 10.6) after app lying any database patches to a Multi-Org

imp lementation, since the Mu lti-Org architecture is bu ilt into the u nd erlying

applications.

Multiple Reporting CurrenciesThe Multiple Reporting Cu rrencies (MRC) feature allows you to report and

maintain accoun ting records at the transaction level, in more than one functional

currency. You d o this by d efining one or m ore reporting sets of books, in add ition to

your p rimary set of books.

Additional Information: AD Administration Utility (adadm in.exe)

in Chap ter 5 of Oracle Applications Installation


F ti l C i




Functional CurrenciesIn your reporting sets of books, you m aintain records in a functional currency other

than your p rimary functional currency.

You mu st define a separate set of books for each of your reporting functional

currencies. For each set of books you u se with MRC, you n eed to sp ecify wh ich isthe p rimary set of books and which are the reporting sets of books. You then assign

the reporting sets of books to the p rimary set of books. You mu st also define a

prim ary responsibility to correspond to your p rimary set of books, and a reporting

responsibility to correspond to each reporting set of books.

Setting Up the Primary ResponsibilityBefore you set up MRC, you need to prep are your d atabase, run the ad adm in.exe

program to validate and compile your APPS schema, and install the MRC schema.

Primary Functional

Currency

The cur rency you use to record transactions and m aintain

your accounting d ata w ithin Oracle App lications. The

prim ary functional currency is generally the currency in

which you perform most of your bu siness transactions and

the one you use for legal reporting.

Reporting Functional

Currency

A currency, other than you r p rimary functional currency, for

wh ich you n eed to report.

Primary Set of Books A financial reporting entity in which you conduct business.

The primary set of books uses a par ticular chart of accounts,

accoun ting calend ar, and functional cur rency (in the pr imary

set of books, the fun ctional currency is always the primary

functional cu rrency).

Reporting Set of Books A financial reporting entity that is associated w ith a primary

set of books. The reporting set of books has the sam e chart of accoun ts and accoun ting calend ar as the pr imary set of books,

but usu ally has a d ifferent functional currency. The repor ting

set of books allows you to report in a d ifferent functional

currency than tha t of your p rimary set of books.

Additional Information: Setup, Multiple Reporting Currencies in

Oracle Applications

Additional Information: Installing Mu ltiple Reporting Currencies,

Append ix A of Oracle Applications Installation


Th i ibilit i li k d t th i t f b k d h ti



Data Model 3-11

The primary responsibility is linked to the p rimary set of books, and each reporting

responsibility is linked to a correspond ing reporting set of books. To create an

association between a reporting responsibility and a reporting set of books, you setthe p rofile options GL:Set of Books N am e and MRC:Report ing Set of Books to th e

reporting set of books name at th e responsibility level.

You assign the pr imary respon sibility to the Stand ard d ata group , and the reporting

responsibilities to the MRC data g roup . The data group determ ines the tables and

pr ivileges accessible by the associated responsibility. Data groups are used for the

following purposes:

s To iden tify the ORACLE schema u sed by a responsibility

s To tell the concurrent m anager w hich ORACLE schema to u se when run ning a

report or concurrent program

In your p rimary resp onsibility, the Stand ard d ata grou p connects the app lication

associated w ith the responsibility to the APPS database schem a. In a reporting

responsibility, the MRC data g roup connects the app lication associated with the

responsibility to the MRC database schema.

The default name of the MRC schema is APPS_MRC. If you r APPS schem a is

nam ed someth ing different than th e default nam e of APPS, your MRC schema will

be named according to the following format:

<name of your APPS schema>_MRC

Figure 3–4 MRC Set of Books, Responsibility, and Database Schema Setup

APPS_MRC SchemaAPPS Schema

Primary Set of Books

Chart of Accounts:

Currency:

Calendar:

Accounting

USD

Month

Reporting Set of Books

Chart of Accounts:

Currency:

Calendar:

Accounting

BEF

Month

Primary Responsibility

GroupStandard Data

Reporting Responsibility

GroupMRC Data


MRC Architecture




MRC ArchitectureMRC is supported by the following Oracle App lications:

s General Ledger

s Assets

s Payables

s Receivables

s Purchasing

s Projects

For the subledgers that su pp ort MRC, each transaction table in the base schem a that

has currency-sensitive information, such as conversion rate and transaction amou nt,

now has an associated MRC sub-table. Each record in the base transaction table may

have on e or more MRC sub-table records, which contain currency-sensitive

information on the base transaction in each associated reporting currency. In th e

APPS schema, there are MRC views, wh ich p rovide report ing currency

representations of each base transaction table.

From th e APPS_MRC schema, the MRC synonym s that hav e nam es identical to the

corresponding APPS Multi-Org views (or synonym s for FA) point to these MRC

views in the APPS schema. When you view a tran saction in a repor ting

responsibility through these MRC synonym s and the MRC views they point to, you

see a transaction representation in the reporting currency associated w ith the

corresponding reporting set of books.

Attention: MRC can be u sed in a Release 11 installation even if

Multi-Org architecture or Mu ltiple Sets of Books architectu re is not

implemented.


Figure 3–5 MRC Architecture



Data Model 3-13

Figure 3 5 MRC Architecture

MRC Sub-Tables

For the subledgers that sup port MRC, each tran saction table in the base schema tha t

has currency-sensitive information, such as conversion rate and transaction amou nt,

now has an associated MRC sub-table.

There is an op tional one-to-man y relationship between records in a base transaction

table and records in the correspond ing MRC sub-table. For each transaction record

in the base transaction table, there may be one or m ore correspond ing records in the

MRC sub-table. Each record is associated with a repor ting currency. The p rimary

key for an MRC sub-table is the combination of the pr imary key of the base

transaction table and the repor ting set of books ID.

GL

FA/PA

APPS_MRC

MRC Views

AP_INVOICES_MRC_V

Example:

MRC Transaction Tables

FA_BOOKS

Example:

j o i n

Multi-Org Views

AP_INVOICES

Example:

APPS Synonyms

Example:

GL_BALANCES

Synonyms/Views

Example:

FA_BOOKS

MRC Views

Example:

FA_BOOKS_MRC_V

MRC Synonyms

Example:

FA_BOOKS

Example:

GL_BALANCES

MRC Synonyms

AP_INVOICES

Example:

MRC Synonyms

GL Tables

Example:

GL_BALANCES

MRC Sub-Tables

Example:AP_MC_INVOICES

MRC Sub-Tables

Example:FA_MC_BOOKS

MRC Transaction Tables

AP_INVOICES_ALL

Example:

AP/AR/POAPPS


Figure 3–6 Transaction Table and MRC Sub-Table




g

MRC Triggers

There are MRC database triggers associated with each base transaction table.

Whenever you insert, up da te, or delete records from the base transaction tables, the

MRC triggers perform the correspond ing d atabase action for the associated records

in the MRC sub-tables.

For examp le, when you enter an invoice in Oracle Payables, Payables inserts

records into AP_INVOICES_ALL and AP_INVOICE_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL. When

Payables inserts these records, the database triggers in each of the tw o base

transaction tables execute and create reporting currency records in the MRC

sub-tables AP_MC_INVOICES and AP_MC_INVOICE_DISTS. See Multiple

Reporting Currencies in Oracle Applications for information about the MRC sub-tables

and their correspond ing produ cts.

MRC ViewsMRC views p rovide representations of transactions in each reporting currency. They

are created in the APPS schema. MRC views show information for only one set of

books at a given time. That is, these views retrieve information based on the

reporting set of books associated w ith the respon sibility to w hich the user is

currently logged on. When you sign on to a responsibility, Oracle Applications sets

the userenv variable based on the profile option MRC: Reporting Set of Books. This

variable value is used by the MRC views to show only the information associated

with you r reporting set of books.

MRC Views in Oracle Assets and Oracle Projects In Oracle Assets and Oracle Projects,

the MRC views are joined table views, wh ich consist of columns from th e base

transaction tables and the correspond ing MRC sub-tables. These views retrieve

currency-sensitive information from the MRC sub-tables for your reporting set of

books.

AP_INVOICES_ALL AP_MC_INVOICES

Base AP Schema

contains

associatedwith


MRC Views in Oracle Payables, Oracle Receivables, and Oracle Purchasing For performance



Data Model 3-15

y , , g p

reasons, MRC views in Oracle Payables, Oracle Receivables, and Oracle Purchasing

are based on additional colum ns in the base transaction tables, instead of the MRCsub-tables. These columns consist of pairs of concatenated strings of the reporting

set of books ID and its correspond ing selected d ata. These colum ns are also

maintained by the MRC database triggers.

In the example, the column m rc_base_amou nt m ay contain information in the

following format:

<reporting set of books id1>accounted amount1<reporting set of books id2>

accounted amount2.....

For examp le:

<104>35.49<105>389.47....

The MRC views in Oracle Payables, Oracle Receivables, and Oracle Purchasing a re

single-table views bu ilt on top of base transaction tables. Based on the reporting

responsibility to w hich you are logged on, these views extract the currency-sensitive

information from the MRC VARCHAR2 colum ns for the reporting set of books.Using the examp le above, if you are currently in a reporting responsibility

associated w ith the rep orting set of books ID 105, the MRC view on top of AP_

INVOICES_ALL (that is, AP_INVOICES_MRC_V) will extract from the mrc_base_

amount column a base_amount of 389.47. See Multiple Reporting Currencies in Oracle

Applications for information abou t base transaction tables that use add itional

colum ns to store reporting currency information.

AP_INVOICES_ALL

invoice_id NUMBER(15)

set_of_books_id N UMBER(15)

invoice_date DATE

amount NUMBER

org_id NUMBER(15)

base_amount NUMBER

mrc_base_amount VARCHAR2(2000)

posted_flag VARCHAR2(1)

m rc_p osted _flag VARCH AR2(2000)

Multiple Sets of Books

Oracle Payables, Oracle Receivables, Oracle Purchasing, andOracle Projects have




Multi-Org views to perform d ata partitioning. These views, which reside in the

APPS schema, u se the information contained in the CLIENT_INFO internal va riableto determine the operating u nit. The MRC views give organization-specific and

currency-specific views of the transaction tables.

MRC Synonyms

From the APPS_MRC schema, the MRC synonyms, wh ich h ave nam es identical to

the correspond ing APPS Multi-Org views (or synonym s for FA), point to these MRC

views in the APPS schema. When you view a tran saction in a repor ting

responsibility through these MRC synonym s and the MRC views they point to, you

see the transaction represented in the reporting currency associated w ith the

corresponding reporting set of books.

General Ledger

Oracle General Ledger does n ot use MRC sub-tables to store, or MRC triggers to

create, reporting currency information. Primary and reporting journal entries are

created sep arately in the p rimary set of books and in each reporting set of books inthe base journ al tables. Synonyms are created identically in both the APPS and the

APPS_MRC schemas.

Oracle General Ledger and Oracle App lications modules that do not imp lement

MRC are also maintained un der the APPS_MRC schema. This is required tofacilitate the integration and dr illdow n from these mod ules to the Oracle subledgers

that su pp ort MRC in the reporting resp onsibilities.

Multiple Sets of BooksMultiple Sets of Books architectu re from earlier releases is not au tomatically

consolidated or converted to the Multiple Organ ization architecture. You can still

up grad e an existing Multiple Sets of Books imp lementation to Release 11 withou t

using Mu ltiple Organization architecture.

In earlier releases, a set of books defined a comp any or group of comp anies within

Oracle App lications that shared a comm on Accounting Flexfield structure, calendar,

and functional currency. Oracle Applications let you set up mu ltiple sets of books

that each had its own flexfield structures, calendars, and currencies.

Additional Information: Multiple Reporting Currencies in Oracle

Applications


You set u p m ultiple sets of books by installing one p rodu ct group for each set of



Data Model 3-17

books. We implemented m ultiple sets of books within a single prod uct group

differently for d ifferent prod ucts. Some prod ucts, such as Oracle General Ledger,maintained m ultiple sets of books within one installation of their produ ct tables.

Others, such as Oracle Application Object Library, did not m aintain m ultiple sets of

books at all. We called these two classes of products SOA products (Single Oracle

Account ), because only a single copy of the d atabase objects is installed .

Other p rodu cts, such as Oracle Payables, mainta ined m ultiple sets of books using

mu ltiple installations of their prod uct tables. We called these MOA products

(Multiple Oracle Accoun t), because we installed m ultiple copies of the database

objects for these products—one copy for each set of books.

The #APPL_TOP#\ admin\ app lprod .txt file is a text file listing information for each

Oracle App lications produ ct. The app lprod .txt file contains, among oth er things, a

notation on w hether a p rodu ct requires multiple copies of the database objects. If

the line imm ediately after "Multiple prod uct installations for MSOB" begins w ith

Yes, the prod uct is an MOA produ ct and requ ires mu ltiple installations of the

prod uct tables. If the line begins with N o, the product is SOA.

If you up grad e a Mu ltiple Sets of Books implementation, each installation of

prod uct tables mu st be in a u nique ORACLE schema. For examp le, the Oracle

Payables tables for the first set of books may be installed in the AP schema, wh ile

the tables for the second set are installed in th e AP2 schema.

Figure 3–7 illustrates a prod uct group consisting of Oracle Application Object

Library, Oracle General Ledger, Oracle Purchasing, and Oracle Payables. The

prod ucts in this group , except for Oracle App lication Object Library, mainta in three

sets of books.

Note: Upgrad ing a Mu ltiple Sets of Books imp lementation

requ ires a considerable amount of free SYSTEM tablesp ace.

Suggestion: Multiple Sets of Books architecture w ill not be

supported in futu re releases. Contact Oracle Consulting Servicesbefore upgrading Multiple Sets of Books architecture or convert-

ing to Multi-Org architecture.


Figure 3–7 Multiple Sets of Books Architecture




Multiple Product Installation Groups and Multiple Sets of BooksThe multiple prod uct installation group architecture w as used w ith Multiple Sets of

Books architecture in earlier releases to implement m ultiple sets of books

accounting functionality.

Previously you would install multiple copies of the same prod uct (say Oracle

Receivables), each in a d ifferent ORACLE schema (for instan ce AR and AR2), in

order to partition the prod uct’s data by set of books.

Some p rodu cts, such as GL and APPLSYS, only needed on e prod uct install no

mat ter how m any sets of books you maintained . But m ost produ cts required

mu ltiple installs. There was one APPS schem a as well for each set of books.

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Oracle Application Object Library

APPLSYS


GL

Oracle Purchasing

PO

Oracle Purchasing

PO2

Oracle Purchasing

PO3

Oracle Payables

AP

Oracle Payables

AP2

Oracle Payables

AP3

Oracle8 Server Organization and Requirements

Figure 3–8 Multiple Product Installation Groups



Data Model 3-19

Figure 3–8 illustrates a m ultiple prod uct installation group architecture for two sets

of books. There were two APPS schemas, two INV schemas, two AR schemas and

tw o AP schemas. The APPLSYS schema, like the GL schema, was installed on ly

once.

With MSOB mu ltiple produ ct installation groups, it was difficult to have

cross-product or cross-set of books functionality. With the installation shown in

Figure 3–8, it wou ld be d ifficult to view all inventory items in all sets of books.

Although a global view incorporating d ata from mu ltiple sets of books was

possible, it tend ed to be inefficient and comp lex. Beginn ing w ith Release 10.6,

Multiple Organ ization architecture resolved this problem.

Oracle8 Server Organization and RequirementsThis section d iscusses how to set up an Oracle8 Enterp rise Edition d atabase for use

with Oracle Applications. It provid es recomm endations on tablespaces to use and

explains how the Au toInstall sizing factor controls the am oun t of database space

reserved for Oracle App lications prod ucts.

You should plan to d istribute tablespaces across different d isks. This can redu ce

disk head contention and improve system response time. Refer to your Oracle8

Server docum entation for comp lete information about p lanning a database and its

tablespaces.

Additional Information: PART III: Oracle Server Configurat ion,

Oracle8 Administrator’s Guide; Chapter 1: Optimal Flexible

Architecture on Oracle8, and Chap ter 3: Tun ing Oracle8, Oracle8

Administrator’s Reference (for your platform)

APPLSYS

APPS2

APPS

INV

INV2 AP2

AP

AR2

AR

GL


Database Creation




Observe the following recommendations and requirements when you create a

Oracle8 da tabase for use with Oracle App lications. See your Oracle8 Serverdocum entation for complete information abou t database creation.

Database Character Set

You m ust sp ecify a character set wh en creating the database. It is importan t to

consider carefu lly w hich character set to u se because you cannot change it after the

database is created.

Oracle Applications requires you u se an eight-bit character set or the ap prop riate

character set for your language. Appendix A in Oracle Applications Installation

contains a table that lists the default character sets for the langu ages supported by

Oracle App lications. For example, WE8ISO8859P1 is used for American English an d

ZH T16BIG5 is used for Trad itional Ch inese.

We recommend you u se the defau lt character set. You m ay choose an alterna te

character set if there is a conversion path from the d efault character set. If you do,

AutoInstall autom atically converts text files to the alternate character set when it

un load s the files. For example, you m ay insta ll into a JA16SJIS da tabase and client

environment, even thou gh the files are in JA16EUC on the d istribution med ia.

Data Files

Keep d ata files to a size that is convenient to back up on you r system. You m ay

want the maximu m file size to be 300 to 600 MB, for exam ple. You can create the

database with one or more d ata files for tablespaces used by the Oracle8 Server,

such as SYSTEM. You can then create one or m ore new data files for each Oracle

App lications tablespace you set up .When you create the database, set the MAXDATAFILES param eter to a value larger

than the nu mber of data files you intend to create. A value such as 256 is typically

sufficient. The limit is platform-specific. Note that you can alter the

MAXDATAFILES param eter by recreating th e database control file.

Additional Information: Creating an Oracle8 Database, Oracle8


Additional Information: App endix A, Oracle Applications

Installation

Additional Information: Managing Control Files, Oracle8



The DB_BLOCK_SIZE parameter in the database initialization parameter file

indicates the size of ORACLE database blocks that are created w hen you use the



Data Model 3-21

indicates the size of ORACLE database blocks that are created w hen you use the

CREATE DATABASE comm and . For op timum performance, set th is to 8192 beforeyou create your d atabase. If you are up grad ing from an earlier release, however, do

not change the DB_BLOCK_SIZE param eter. If you change the p arameter w hen

up grad ing, you m ay not be able to generate ORACLE control files.

Initialization ParametersSet the database initialization pa ram eters to the "large" settings in the initialization

param eter file (init<SID>.ora). Set the DB_FILES param eter to a valu e less than or

equ al to the v alue sp ecified for MAXDATAFILES dur ing d atabase creation. Your

Oracle8 Server database adm inistrator will have to mod ify other pa rameters in this

file before you in stall Oracle App lications.

Oracle8 Server TablespacesThe following are recommen dations for setting up tablespaces for the Oracle8

Server and for Oracle tools. Your d atabase adm inistrator may w ant to set up the

tablesp aces differently, how ever. See the section O racle App lications Tablespaces in

this chap ter for sizing gu idelines for th e tablespaces listed in th is section.

SYSTEM Tablespace

This tablespace, which hold s data d ictionary tables owned by the SYS account, iscreated when you install the database. You m ay have to increase its initial size to

accomm odate the growth of data dictionary tables that occurs w hen you up grade

Oracle Ap plications.

Tools Tablespace

Tools tables, such as forms and report tables, are created in the default tablespace of

the O RACLE schema u sed to install the tools. This default tablespace is typically

SYSTEM. How ever, you may w ant to install these tables in a tablespace such as

TOOLS if you p lan to d evelop ap plications. This can help red uce resource

contention between d evelopers and Oracle App lications users.

Additional Information: Creating an Oracle Database, Oracle8



Users Tablespace

Create a tablespace such as USERS for ORACLE schemas that hold dem onstration




Create a tablespace, such as USERS, for ORACLE schemas that hold dem onstration

tables for Oracle tools. These are IDs such as SCOTT/ TIGER andEXAMPLE/ EXAMPLE. You can also use th is tablespace as the default for database

administrator accounts.

Rollback Tablespace

The Oracle8 Server u ses rollback segments to track database changes until they are

committed . It uses them du ring an installation or upgrade of Oracle App lications,

as w ell as du ring normal, daily use. Create a t ablespace such as RBS for rollback segments.

Oracle Applications TablespacesYou m ust create prod uct tablespaces before you install your Oracle Applications

prod ucts. The following sections give recommend ations on th e tablespaces to set

up . See the section on Sizing Factor in this chapter for sizing guid elines.

You d esignate the table, ind ex, and temp orary tablespaces used by each OracleApp lications product w hen you install the produ cts.

Product Tablespaces

For each Oracle Applications prod uct, we recommend th at you create a tablespace

for tables and another one for indexes. Creating separate table and ind ex

tablespaces for each prod uct makes it easier to license and install produ cts later and

may increase database performan ce.

Some p rodu cts maintain mu ltiple sets of books through mu ltiple installations of

prod uct tables. If you already use this architecture, you can install each set of theseprod uct tables in separa te tablespaces. For example, you could set up a new table

tablespace and a new index tablespace for a new set of Oracle Payables books. The

tables and indexes for some depend ent prod ucts will be installed m ultiple times as

well. You can install all of these in the d epend ent p rodu ct’s main table and index

tablespaces.

Suggestion: Your tablespace design affects how your system

operates and can affect system expansion and u pgrades. An Oracle

App lications consultant can help you set up tablespaces that meet

your present and projected future system requirements.


Designate tablespaces with a stand ard na ming convention, such as the prod uct’s

short name or ORACLE schema name along with D for da ta or X for ind exes. For



Data Model 3-23

g

example, create the tablespaces APD and APX for Oracle Payables tables andindexes, respectively. The tablespaces for a second prod uct installation group could

be AP2D and AP2X.

AutoInstall automatically sets the MAXEXTENTS for all product tablespaces to

UNLIMITED.

Temporary Tablespaces

The Oracle8 Server u ses temporary tablespaces to sort d ata. You can use on etablespace, such as TEMP, as the temporary tablespace for all Oracle Applications

prod ucts. You can also create up to one temp orary tablespace for each p rodu ct,

although this is not necessary. Users access App lications objects through the APPS

schema, so the temp orary tablespace for that schema (initially the same as that for

APPLSYS) is the tablespace used by each product.

Interim Tablespace

Oracle General Ledger and Oracle Government General Ledger u se large interim

tables du ring certain p rocesses. Create an interim tab lespace such as INTERIM if

you plan to install one of these products. You designate th e interim tablespace after

installing the product.

Sizing FactorA sizing factor sets the extent sizes for dyn amic objects such as tables and indexes

for an Oracle App lications prod uct. Its value is a p ercentage of the d efault

estimated growth ra te for Ap plications d atabase objects. You choose a sizing factor

for each p rodu ct when you run Au toInstall. The sizing factor affects only the size of

next extents, determ ined by th e Oracle8 Server w ith the NEXT object creation

parameter. The NEXT extent size is not ap plied to existing objects, only to newlycreated objects.

Additional Information: Storage Parameters for Interim Tables,

Oracle General Ledger User’s Guide or Oracle Public Sector General

Ledger User’s Guide

Suggestion: An Oracle App lications consultant can help you

determ ine what sizing factors to choose for your prod ucts.


Additional Information: Chap ter 3: Data Blocks, Extents, and

Segments, Oracle8 Concepts




100% Sizing Factor (default)

The defau lt sizing factor of 100% creates da tabase objects based on an estimate of

how the objects grow at a typ ical site. Most objects are defined w ith small first

extents and larger ad ditional extents. The NEXT extent sizes vary by object,

however.

Objects are created w ith an initial extent and add extents as necessary. By d efault,

the initial extent is defined as 10 KB for tables and indexes. ORACLE uses at leasttwo blocks when creating objects, so if you created your d atabase using a blocksize

of 8 KB, for examp le, the in itial storage allocated is actua lly 16 KB.

The following table shows N EXT extent sizes for tw o samp le tables and two samp le

indexes created at a 100% sizing factor. These tables and ind exes each have an initial

extent size of 10 KB.

Oracle Applications Installation lists the database space used by p rodu ct tables and

indexes installed w ith a 100% sizing factor. The tables in Installation tell you the

sizes of the tablespaces required to hold prod ucts when all da tabase objects are

allocated two extents. Your space usage w ill vary according to how you u se your

prod ucts. Some tables may never grow p ast their initial extent. Some m ay grow to

several extents.

Sizing Factor Greater or Less than 100%

A sizing factor greater or less th an 100% (except for 0%) creates d atabase objects at

that percentage of their 100% size. For example, a 200% sizing factor dou bles each

object’s 100% next extent sizes. The 200% sizing factor creates AP_AGING_

PERIODS with a n ext extent size of 64 KB.

Table 3–1 Sample Extent Sizes for a 100% Sizing Factor

Tables Next Extent

AP_AGING_PERIODS 32 KB

AR_STATEMENT_LINE_CLUSTERS 1 MB

Indexes Next Extent

AP_AGING_PERIODS_U1 32 KB

AR_STATEMENT_LINE_CLUSTERS_N1 256 KB


If you d o not use th e default sizing factor, use a sizing factor that is 100% mu ltiplied

or d ivided by a factor of 2, such as 50%, 200%, or 400%. There is no u pper limit on



Data Model 3-25

sizing factors. They d o not affect static objects, such as p rod uct looku p tab les, tha tgenerally do not increase in size beyond the initial seed d ata. AutoInstall creates

static objects at one size regard less of the p roduct’s sizing factor.

Suggestion: As the d efault initial extent size is relatively sma ll,

10 KB, we d o not recomm end a sizing factor less than 100%. If you

had sizing factors less than 100% in earlier releases, we su ggest you

change them to 100%. When installing systems for low -transaction

testing or training pu rposes, however, use 0% sizing to conservespace.




File System 4-1

4File System

This chap ter d iscusses file managemen t for Oracle App lications. It includes th e

following topics:

s Directory Structure

s Log and Outp ut Files

Directory StructureThis section explains the directory structure of Oracle App lications p rodu ct files.

These include the forms, reports, files to install or upgrad e the d atabase, and other

compon ents shipp ed w ith the software release. Tables and other d atabase objects

are stored separately in an Oracle8 Server d atabase.

Basic Directory StructureIn the basic directory structure, a top Ap plications directory holds one set of

prod uct files. You create this directory and set the environmen t setting APPL_TOP

to point to it. AutoInstall sets up a d irectory tree for each fully installed or

dep endent prod uct in this directory. AutoInstall also sets up a m inimal prod uct tree

for all other p rodu cts so it can install their d atabase compon ents.

A prod uct directory tree starts w ith a directory that uses the p rodu ct’s abbreviation,

such as gl for Oracle General Ledger. Below that is a subdirectory that u ses the

product version, such as 11.0.28. Below that are various subdirectories for product

files.

Directory Structure

Figure 4–1 Basic Directory Structure

Applications Top Directory




Product TOP Variables

AutoInstall sets <prod >_TOP environm ent settings that poin t to each produ ct’s

directory tree. In th e installation d epicted in Figure 4–1, the GL_TOP environmen t

setting point s to #APPL_TOP#\ gl\ 11.0.28. To d isplay data en try forms for Oracle

General Ledger, for examp le, the Oracle App lications system accesses files in#GL_TOP#\ forms.

Admin Directory

The adm in d irectory (wh ich rep laces the install directory from previous releases)

holds files used to install or upgrade any Oracle App lications prod ucts. This adm in

directory is used by Au toInstall. Subd irectories in this directory hold the log and

restart files that record the actions Au toInstall performs.

Additional Information: Table 2–1 in this manu al lists produ ct top

directory names.

admin gl(other product

directories)

forms sqlbin

11.0.28

Directory Structure

Figure 4–2 admin Directory Structure



File System 4-3

Java and HTML Files

Java file nam ing conventions ind icate that a machine should have a single directory

un der wh ich all Java class files are stored. This directory contains m ultiple

nam espaces, w hich provide a way of keeping Java programs w ritten by one

compan y from interfering with those written by another. A nam espace maps to asubd irectory tree u nd erneath the top-level Java d irectory. This way, for examp le,

XYZ Corp oration can have a file called "uiDisplay.class," and Oracle Corp oration

can have a file with th e same name. Oracle App lications w ill always know which

one to u se because the Oracle version of this file is always installed in the Oracle

nam espace—the \ oracle subd irectory.

Figure 4–3 Java and HTML Directory Structure

Oracle App lications requires that you define the location of Java files on you r

system using the JAVA_TOP environment setting before you begin your installation

or up grad e. The Java and HTML directories can be anywhere in your file

preupg

admin

(applprod.txt, other files)

out restartlog

db.name 2db.name 1

out restartlog

Java Top Directory

oracle

HTML Top Directory

*.htm

F US

fnd mediaak

apps

ibm xyz

per

com

sun

(HTML files for OracleSelf-Service Web Applications andthe Oracle Applications signonscreen.)

Directory Structure

system—they do not h ave to be u nd er #APPL_TOP#. Au toInstall will then install all

App lications class files in a subd irectory in the Oracle namespace und er your

#JAVA_TOP# directory— #JAVA_TOP#\ oracle\ apps. Each product will install its




Java class files into a su bdirectory beneath this d irectory, as shown in the examp le

figure.

In order to make it easier to maintain th e virtual d irectory settings for your w eb

server, Oracle Applications also consolidates all HTML files into a single d irectory

tree du ring installation. You determ ine the location of this top -level directory w ith

the environm ent setting OAH_TOP before you begin your installation or upgrad e.The HTML file used to launch the initial App lications signon screen is typ ically

installed in th is directory tree, as are all HTML files used by the Oracle Self-Service

Web App lications product. Note that th ere are subd irectories named for the

languag e code. See the Language Directory Structure section in th is chap ter for

more information.

Distributed Directory StructureA distributed directory structure places p roduct files on d ifferent file systems. You

mu st use a distributed stru cture if you d o not have enough disk space available on a

single file system for all Oracle Applications product files.

Figure 4–4 illustrates a d istributed d irectory structure. Oracle General Ledgerprod uct files are stored in #APPL_TOP#, with O racle Purchasing (po) and Oracle

Payables (ap) files stored on a d ifferent file system. Au toInsta ll lets you d efine

wh ich file system h olds each p rodu ct’s directory tree.

Produ ct files for Oracle App lication Object Library (fnd ) and Oracle App lications

DBA (ad) are un loaded autom atically in #APPL_TOP# when you run AutoInstall.

You cannot u nload these files to a different file system.

Additional Information: Set Environment and Registry Variables

in Chap ter 2, Oracle Applications Installation

Note: Oracle Applications installs all media files, such as GIF

images, under the #JAVA_TOP# directory. You must not change thissetting after the installation. If you d o, Oracle Applications w ill not

work properly.

Additional Information: Set Environment and Registry Variables

in Chapter 2, and Configure the Web Server in Chap ter 4, Oracle


Directory Structure

Figure 4–4 Distributed Directory Structure




File System 4-5

Localization DirectoriesFor product files, each localization region is treated like a separa te prod uct. Modu le

files are stored in the region d irectory trees. Figure 4–5 illustrates the d irectory tree

for European localizations (je). For this directory t ree, AutoInstall sets the

environm ent setting JE_TOP to #APPL_TOP#\ je\ 11.0.28

gl

(other product directories)

Directory on Second File System

11.0.28

forms sqlbin

11.0.28

forms sqlbin

po ap

forms sqlbin

11.0.28

Directory Structure

Figure 4–5 Localization Directory Structure





Like all other Oracle App lications p rodu cts, localizations are also translated into

various langu ages. These translated files follow the stand ard langua ge directory

structure.

Language Directory StructureWhen you install Oracle Applications in a langu age other than American English,

each product d irectory tree includ es directories that u se the NLS langu age code.

These directories hold translated form, report, m essage, SQL, and installation files.

The langu age directory in Figure 4–6 is D, wh ich designates German.

D subd irectories in the d river, import, and sql subdirectories of the adm in d irectory

contain files to convert th e database from A merican English to Germ an. The reportsdirectory holds Oracle Reports report files in American English. Its D subd irectory

contains these same files translated into Germ an.

The forms d irectory show n in Figure 4–6 contains Oracle Forms files in American

English. The D subd irectory in the forms d irectory contains the same files translated

into German. The mesg directory contains message files in both American English

and German.

Additional Information: App endix A, Oracle Applications Installation

admin je

(other productdirectories)

mesg reportsforms

11.0.28

bin sql

Directory Structure

Figure 4–6 Language Directory Structure




File System 4-7

Applications Top Directory for UpgradeYou m ust create a new APPL_TOP directory w hen you u pgrad e to Release 11. You

cannot have multiple releases and prod uct versions in one APPL_TOP directory.

Figure 4–7 illustrates the d irectory structure after an up grad e that uses a new

APPL_TOP d irectory. New compon ents are show n in boldface text.

Additional Information: App endix C, Oracle Applications

Installation

admin gl

(other productdirectories)

reports mesgadmin

11.0.28

forms

sqlimportdriver

D D D

D DUS.msbD.msb

Log and Output Files

Figure 4–7 Multiple Product Versions Installed on One File System

Old Applications Top Directory





When the concurren t man agers run O racle Applications concurren t processes, theywr ite the ou tpu t files, as well as diagnostic log files and temp orary files, to

directories that you define during the installation process. This section explains

your options for setting up these directories. Note the following :

s Concurrent m anagers inherit directory p rivileges from th e login that installs

and starts them. Since you start the managers from the main Oracle

Attention: Because u pgrading changes the Oracle App licationsdatabase structure, you cann ot use old prod uct files with an

up grad ed d atabase. You can d elete them once you are certain the

up grad e is complete and successful.

gl (other productdirectories)

forms sqlbin

9.0.9

install

New Applications Top Directory

gl(other product

directories)

forms sqlbin

admin

11.0.28


App lications login, app lmgr, they can write to any d irectory for which app lmgr

has write permission.

s Log files for the concurrent m anagers th emselves are stored in



File System 4-9

g g#APPLCSF#\ #APPLLOG# if APPLSCF is set, or in #FND_TOP#\ #APPLLOG# if

APPLCSF is not set.

You should be familiar with the basics of concurrent processing before you install

Oracle Ap plications.

Log and Output Files for a Single Product GroupWhen you install a single Oracle App lications prod uct group , you can choose one of

two method s for storing the group ’s log and outp ut files:

s Log and ou tpu t subd irectories in each p rodu ct’s directory tree (default).

s One log and one outp ut subdirectory in a comm on directory.

The following sections explain th ese method s in d etail. Oracle Applications

Installation guides you through setting up a common d irectory.

Default Storage in Product Directory Tree

Figure 4–8 illustrates the d efault storage method that u ses log and out

subd irectories in each prod uct’s directory tree. AutoInstall sets up this storage

meth od au tomatically un less you specify otherwise.

By default, AutoInstall sets the variable APPLLOG to log and the variable

APPLOUT to out in the prod uct group ’s registry subkey. Concurrent m anagers

wr ite to these su bdirectories in each p rodu ct tree. For Oracle General Ledger, for

example, the concurrent man agers w rite log files to #GL_TOP#\ #APPLLOG# and

outp ut files to #GL_TOP#\ #APPLOUT#.

Additional Information: App endix A, Oracle Applications

Installation

Additional Information: Overview of Concurren t Processing,

Oracle Applications System Administration Reference Manual


Figure 4–8 Default Storage for Log and Output Files





Common Directory

Instead of using the d efau lt storage meth od, you can set up a comm on d irectory

that has a subd irectory for all log files and a subdirectory for all outpu t files. The

common directory can reside on any file system accessible to the concurrentmanagers. Figure 4–9 illustrates a common directory in the APPL_TOP directory.

You d esignate the comm on directory and the subd irectories when you ru n

AutoInstall or by recreating the Ap plications registry subkey using the AD

Adm inistration ut ility. The APPLCSF environmen t setting is set to the comm on

directory name, and the APPLLOG and APPLOUT environmen t settings are set to

the log and outp ut subd irectories, respectively. The concurrent m anagers w rite all

log files to #APPLCSF#\ #APPLLOG# and all outp ut files to

#APPLCSF#\ #APPLOUT#.

11.0.28

admin gl (other productdirectories)

formsoutlog (other productsubdirectories)

log files forGeneral Ledger

output files forGeneral Ledger


Figure 4–9 Common Directory for Log and Output Files




File System 4-11

Log and Output Files for Multiple Product GroupsIf you install multiple p rodu ct groups in the same APPL_TOP directory, each one

needs its own log and outp ut d irectories to keep its log and outp u t files separate

from those of other p rodu ct groups. There are three method s for creating separatelog and outpu t areas:

s Multiple log and ou tpu t subd irectories in each prod uct’s directory tree.

s Multiple log and outp ut su bdirectories in one comm on d irectory.

s Multiple common d irectories.

Log and Output Directories in Each Product’s Directory TreeThe default storage method depicted in Figure 4–10 uses multiple log and outp ut

subdirectories in each produ ct’s directory tree. The \ logdemo and \ outdem o

subd irectories are for log and ou tpu t files from a d emonstration product group . The

\ logtst and \ outtst subd irectories are for a test prod uct group . You select the

subd irectory nam es when you run A utoInstall or the AD Administration u tility, but

you m ust manu ally create the subdirectories if you nam e them someth ing other

than log or out .

Each prod uct group ’s registry subkey defines the prod uct group ’s log and ou tpu t

subd irectories as the values of the APPLLOG and APPLOUT environm ent settings,

respectively. A produ ct group’s concurren t managers w rite log and outp ut files to

#APPLLOG# and #APPLOUT# in each product’s directory tree. For Oracle General

Ledger, for examp le, the concurren t m anagers w rite log files to

#GL_TOP#\ #APPLLOG# and outp ut files to #GL_TOP#\ #APPLOUT#.

commondirectory


outlog

log files forall products

output files forall products

admin


Figure 4–10 Default Log and Output File Storage for Multiple Product Groups





Single Common Directory

As Figure 4–11 shows, a single common directory should u se separate log and

outp ut su bdirectories for each produ ct group . The common d irectory can reside on

any file system accessible to the concurrent man agers. You d esignate a p rodu ct

group’s comm on d irectory and its log and outpu t subd irectories wh en you run

AutoInstall or the AD Adm inistration utility for each produ ct group , but you m ust

man ua lly create the subd irectories if you name them something other than log or

out .

All prod uct group registry subkeys use the same comm on directory name for the

value of the APPLCSF environment setting. However, each registry subk ey uses log

and outpu t subdirectory names that are unique to that produ ct group for the values

of the APPLLOG and APPLOUT environm ent settings. The concurrent managers

for each produ ct group wr ite the prod uct group ’s log and ou tpu t files to

#APPLCSF#\ #APPLLOG# and #APPLCSF#\ #APPLOUT#, respectively.

11.0.28

admin gl(other product

directories

outdemologdemo

log filesfor product

group 1

output filesfor product

group 1

outtstlogtst


group 2


group 2


Figure 4–11 Common Directory for Multiple Product Groups




File System 4-13

Multiple Common Directories

Figure 4–12 illustrates three comm on directories set up for three produ ct groups on

three separate file systems. You d esignate a prod uct group ’s common directory andthe log and ou tpu t subdirectories when you run Au toInstall or the AD

Administration ut ility.

Figure 4–12 Multiple Common Directories for Multiple Product Groups

All product group registry subkeys use the same log and outpu t subd irectory

nam es for the values of the APPLLOG and APPLOUT environm ent settings.

How ever, each uses a comm on directory name that is unique to that produ ct group

for the value of the APPLCSF environmen t setting. The concurrent man agers for

each prod uct group write the prod uct group ’s log files to #APPLCSF#\ #APPLLOG#

and outp ut files to #APPLCSF#\ #APPLOUT#.

commondirectory


outdemologdemo


group 1


group 1

outtstlogtst


group 2


group 2

admin

Common Directory on

First File System

Common Directory onSecond File System

ou tlog

Common Directory on

Third File System

ou tlog

ou tlog


Selecting a Log and Output File Storage MethodConsider the following w hen selecting a method for storing log and ou tpu t files:

s anticipated size of log and ou tpu t files




Oracle Applications Installation contains information tha t helps you estimate how

mu ch disk space you need for log and outp ut files. You m ay want to store files

across file systems if you plan to keep a large volume of log and ou tpu t data .

s security needs

With the d efault storage method wh ere each p rodu ct’s directory tree has its

own log and outp ut su bdirectories, you can restrict operating system access tolog and ou tpu t subd irectories on a prod uct-by-prod uct basis. For examp le, you

can grant access to the Oracle General Ledger log and ou tpu t subd irectories to

only the General Ledger u sers, or the Oracle Receivables log and outp ut

subd irectories to only the Oracle Receivables users. You would not be able to

imp lement such security if you u sed a common d irectory.

Temporary FilesOracle App lications u ses temp orary files for m any different functions. You may

specify up to th ree separate locations for these files, according to the type of process

that creates them. This allows you to avoid p otential disk space allocation problems

with the operating system temp orary directories (defined by the environmen t

variables TEMP and TMP) and to be able to restrict access to particular tem porary

files. You sp ecify these temp orary d irectories when you run Au toInstall or the AD

Adm inistration utility to create a new App lications registry subkey.

Most Oracle App lications temp orary files are w ritten to the location specified by th e

APPLTMP environmen t setting. Oracle Reports temp orary files can be d irected to a

separate location specified by the REPORTS25_TMP environm ent sett ing. Both of

these environm ent settings can be set to an y d irectory on your file system accessible

to the concurrent managers. The default is for both environm ent settings is

C:\ temp.

Oracle App lications also prod uces temp orary PL/ SQL outpu t files used in

concurren t p rocessing. These files are written to the location specified by theAPPLPTMP environmen t setting. APPLPTMP can also be located anywhere on your

file system accessible to th e concurrent m anagers, bu t is m ore restricted because it

uses PL/ SQL I/ O functionality. For secur ity reasons, in order to d irect outp ut to a

directory using this functionality, you must list the d irectory in you r database

initialization file, as part of the valu e for the u tl_file_dir parameter. Without this


setting, Oracle Applications will fail to install or function properly. For this reason,

the APPLPTMP environment setting has no default value.

Additional Information: Creating a Registry Subkey in Chap ter 3,Oracle Applications Installation



File System 4-15

Attention: Some App lications u tilities will use the d efault

temp orary directory for your opera ting system (typically C:\ temp ),

even if you set the env ironment settings listed in the previous

paragraphs to d ifferent values. Be sure to have disk space available

in this operating system d efault tem porary directory as well as inthose d irector ies specified by APPLTMP, REPORTS25_TMP, and

APPLPTMP.




Glossary-1

Glossary

administration server

The machine from w hich a user—typically an adm inistrator—run s program s that

maintain and u pd ate an Oracle App lications database. For examp le, AutoInstall

and AutoPatch are both ru n on this machine to install, up grade, or upd ate the

database, wh ich may reside on an other machine (the database server).

applet

A Java p rogram th at is downloaded to a desktop client from a web server, and run

within a Java-enabled web browser or app letviewer.

appletviewer

A program that run s a Java app let or ap plication.

application serversMachines that reside in a m idd le tier, betw een desktop clients and a h igh-end , or

back-end , tier. Desktop clients send their requests to ap plication servers, w hich

process the request by send ing it to another server, such as the database server. In

this manner, the desktop clients never connect d irectly to the database server. The

forms server and web server are typ es of application servers. See also tier .

applmgr

The login u sed to install and u pgr ade Oracle App lications. This accoun t owns the

Oracle App lications prod uct files.

APPS schema

An O RACLE schema that has access to the complete Oracle App lications data

model.

AutoInstall

The Oracle Applications installation and upgrade program.

background process

A non interactive process that ru ns in an operating system environmen t and



Glossary-2

A non-interactive process that ru ns in an operating system environmen t and

performs a task.

bandwidth

The amount of data that can be sent through a network connection, measu red in bits

per second (bps). The speed an d capacity of a network d epend on both bandw idth

and latency. See also latency.

base language

The language u sed for seed data of products that do not sup port m ultiple

languag es. (Multiple language p rodu cts include FND, AK, AS, AX, and AZ).

browser

See web browser .

cartridge

A software comp onent that , when linked w ith other cartridges, forms a comp lete

software solution. Cartridges are "wrapp ers" around a program. The program m ay

be written in any p rogramm ing language, such as C, C++, or Java. The wrapp er

enables the program to interface with other cartridges on the same m achine or

across a netw ork. Cartridges may be u sed in m any p laces: the Oracle ConText

Cartridge is an examp le of a da ta cartridge (residing on th e database tier), while theOracle Forms Load Balancing Cartr idge is an example of an application cartridge

(residing on the ap plication tier).

certificate file

Contains the identity of a "trusted source" that the desktop client uses to guaran tee

the au then ticity of a JAR file. Information contained within th e certificate file allows

the d esktop client to decrypt the digital signatu re of a JAR file. If the iden tity can be

confirmed , the d esktop client assumes th e JAR file is safe to dow nload and execute.See also digital signature.

character set

A set of encoded bina ry values that represents the letters, nu merals, and

pu nctuation m arks of a language, or of a group of languages that use similar

written symbols. For example, the WE8ISO8859P1 character set can be used by

English an d many other languages that u se a Latin-based alphabet an d Arabic



Glossary-3

English an d many other languages that u se a Latin based alphabet an d Arabic

nu merals. Termina ls and printers hand le text data by converting these encoded

values to characters. A character set may also be called a codeset .

client

A general term for the comp uter in a client/ server configuration that requests

services, data, or p rocessing. The comp uter sup plying the services, data, orprocessing is the server .

client/server configuration

A configuration in w hich one or several servers perform d atabase processing or

other fun ctions for app lications that are ru n on clients.

codeset

See character set .

command

An instru ction or request for the system to p erform a particular action. An entire

command can consist of the comman d name, param eters, and qualifiers.

command file

A file containing a p redefined sequence of comm and s to be executed by theoperating system.

concurrency

The simu ltaneous access of the same d ata by multiple users.

concurrent manager

A process manager that coordina tes the processes generated by users’ requests to

run various data -intensive program s. An Oracle Applications product group canhave several concurrent m anagers.

concurrent process

A task run by a concurrent m anager. A concurrent process run s simu ltaneously

with interactive functions and other concurrent p rocesses.

concurrent processing server

An Oracle Applications server that ru ns time-consum ing, non-interactive tasks in

the background .

concurrent queue



Glossary-4

A list of concurren t requests aw aiting completion. Each concur rent manager has its

own queue of pending requests.

concurrent request

A request issued to the concurren t processing server when you submit a non-

interactive task, such as running a report.

customization

Enhancements to an Oracle App lications system m ade to fit the need s of a specific

user community.

data dictionary

A set of database tables and views that contains adm inistrative information abou t

users, data storage, and p rivileges. It is created an d main tained autom atically.

database

A collection of da ta, stored in tables, and objects, such as stored procedu res and

triggers. The term can also refer to the software used to create, store, and man age

this data—for example, the Oracle8 Server.

database administrator (DBA)

Prepares the Oracle8 Server and Oracle tools for an installation or up grade of Oracle

App lications, and performs m aintenan ce on them after the installation. The DBA

has access to the ORACLE SYSTEM and SYS accounts.

database instance

A ru nning ORACLE system. There is always a one-to-one correspond ence between

an ORACLE instance and a system global area (SGA).

database object

A logical entity created and stored in a database. Tables, views, synonym s, ind exes,

sequences, stored p rocedu res, and tr iggers are all examples of database objects.

database server (Release 11)

A machine on which the da tabase holding Oracle App lications da ta resides. The

database server p rocesses SQL requests from other m achines, such as form s servers

and concur rent processing servers.

d b



Glossary-5

database space

The amou nt of disk space used by a set of database objects.

demonstration product group

A prod uct group th at includ es predefined transaction data for Oracle App lications

prod ucts. It is used primarily for system testing and user tra ining. See also product group.

dependent product

An Ap plications prod uct that is not licensed, but w hose files are shared in p art by a

fully installed Ap plications product. A dependent prod uct is also known as a shared

product .

desktop clientA compu ter that sends u ser requests to the forms server and hand les responses

such as screen upda tes, pop -up lists, graphical wid gets, and cursor movem ents.

digital signature

A m eans of guaranteeing the au thenticity of a program or collection of data, such as

a JAR file. It is typ ically an encryp ted message that contains the identity of the

code’s author. See also certificate file.

distributed concurrent processing

See parallel concurrent processing.

distributed directory structure

App lications p rodu ct files installed in more than one file system, as w hen th ere is

insufficient disk space in a single file system for all Applications product files.

environment file

A command file that sets environment va riables. Only servers runn ing UN IX or

OpenVMS use these files—Wind ows NT servers use the Window s registry instead.

environment setting

A param eter that controls the behavior of App lications and Ap plications program s

for your installation. Environment settings are stored as env ironment v ariables on

UNIX servers, as logicals on OpenVMS servers, or as registry keys or environment

variables on Windows NT servers.



Glossary-6

environment variable

A variable maintained by the UN IX shell that can be referenced by any program

run ning within the shell. Environment var iables hold values used by man y Oracle

programs and utilities.

On Window s NT, a string consisting of environment information, such as a dr ive,path , or filename, associated w ith a sym bolic nam e. You use the System option in

the Control Panel or the set comm and from the Window s NT comm and promp t to

define environment variables.

Export utility

An Oracle8 Server u tility used to wr ite database d ata to operating system files

external to the da tabase. These files can th en be used w ith the Imp ort u tility to read

the data back into the same d atabase or into a different one.

extension

The second par t, or suffix, of a filenam e, used to ind icate the typ e or pu rpose of the

file. For examp le, the extension .sql ind icates a SQL*Plus script. See also filename.

form

A logical collection of fields, regions, and grap hical comp onents th at ap pears on asingle screen. Oracle App lications forms resemble pap er forms used to run a

business. You en ter data by typ ing information into th e form.

forms client

A Java applet that ru ns on a desktop client and p rovides the user interface and

interaction w ith a forms server.

Forms Metrics Server

A machine that manages and d istributes requests from forms clients amon g

multiple forms servers. See also load balancing.

forms server

A typ e of application server that hosts the Oracle Forms Server engine. It mediates

between the desktop client and th e database, providing inpu t screens to the desktop

client and creating or changing d atabase records based on user actions.

functional currency



Glossary-7

functional currency

In Multiple Reporting Cu rrencies, a cur rency other than your p rimary currency.

Gigabyte (GB)

A unit of mem ory or d isk space equal to 1,073,741,824 bytes. One Gigabyte is equ al

to 1,024 Megabytes. Often round ed to 1,000,000,000 bytes.

GUI (Graphical User Interface)

An interface used w ith personal compu ters and w orkstations that allows th e user to

access fields and regions of the screen w ith a p ointing d evice, typically a mouse.

The acronym is pronou nced "goo-ee".

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

A simple language used to format d ocum ents, predom inantly for viewing w ith a

web browser. Portions of text or images, called hypertext, can be associated w ith

other docum ents.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

The TCP/ IP-based network protocol used to transmit requests and documents

between a w eb server and a w eb browser.

HTTP listener

A program on a web server that accepts and p rocesses incoming HTTP requests

from web browsers.

Import utility

An Oracle8 Server u tility u sed to read operating system files written by th e Export

utility. You use it to restore da ta into a d atabase.

index

A database object associated with a table and used by the Or acle8 Server to locate

rows of that table quickly.

initialization parameters

Param eters defined in an initialization file that configure an Oracle8 Server

database. The param eters affect how the d atabase performs.

Internal concurrent manager

A h i l d di ll



Glossary-8

A concurren t manager p rocess that monitors, controls, and dispenses requests to all

other concur rent man ager processes.

intranet

A netw ork of comp uters that are internal to a compan y. A comp any’s intranet is

basically a local extension to the globally-distributed Internet, wh ich is a globalinter-connected network of computers and smaller computer networks.

Java

A computing language u sed, among other things, to produ ce programs that can be

dow nloaded and run on a d esktop client using a web browser. It is also used to

prod uce platform-ind ependent p rograms that run on a server, either interactively or

wh en invoked th rough a requ est from a w eb browser. See also applet an d servlet.

JAR (Java Archive) file

A collection of Java classes comp ressed into a single file for faster dow nload to a

desktop client.

Java class

Comp onents of a Java program th at define objects and operations p erformed on

objects. In th e Architecture an d Installation manu als, Java class also iden tifies an

operating system file that contains a program or part of a program w ritten in Java.

JDBC (Java Database Connectivity)

A Java p rogram ming interface that enables Java p rograms to execute SQL

statements and access databases, such as the Oracle8 Server.

JVM (Java Virtual Machine)

An interp reter that tran slates a compiled Java program , called bytecode, to machinecode. JVM makes Java portable, because each operating system’s JVM translates

bytecode to instructions that the microprocessor can execute. An app letviewer or

Java-enabled w eb browser has an internal JVM that allows it to execute ap plets or

app lications w ritten in Java.

LAN (Local Area Network)

A limited -distance, high-speed, data comm un ications network tha t allows various

data processing resources to be connected and shared. A LAN is a netw ork

contained w ithin a single physical site (one or more bu ildings), as opposed to a

WAN. See also WAN .



Glossary-9

latency

In networking, the amou nt of time it takes a packet of da ta to travel from a sou rce to

its destination. The speed an d capacity of a network d epend on both bandw idth

and latency. See also bandwidth.

load balancing

Distributing tasks to the server that is least busy w hen several servers are hand ling

the sam e workload. For examp le, the Oracle Forms Load Balancing Cartridge has a

single coordinator (the Forms Metrics Server) that mon itors load information from

other forms servers and d etermines which server currently has the lightest load.

Upon receiving a requ est from a forms client, the Forms Metrics Server can ba lance

the p rocessing load by instructing the forms client to connect to the forms server

that has th e lightest load. This server is called th e "least loaded host".

LOCAL

Und er Windows N T, an environmen t setting that identifies the netw ork alias of an

ORACLE instance runn ing on the local machine or on another netw orked m achine.

This variable overrides any setting for ORACLE_SID and causes the N et8 softw are

to m anage the connection request. See also ORACLE_SID an d TWO_TASK .

localizations

Modu les that extend Oracle App lications to meet the uniqu e business requirements

of one or more geograp hic regions.

log in

To perform a sequence of actions that establishes comm unication w ith the op erating

system or a secured program , such as the Oracle8 Server or Oracle App lications,

and sets up default characteristics for the session.

Megabyte (MB)

A u nit of m emory or d isk space equal to 1,048,576 bytes (1024 x 1024). Often

rounded to one million bytes.

MOA

See multiple ORA CLE account product .

multiple ORACLE account product

In earlier Multiple Sets Of Books Architecture, an Oracle Applications product

wh ose data is divided among m ultiple produ ct schemas to implement m ultiple sets



Glossary-10

wh ose data is divided among m ultiple produ ct schemas to implement m ultiple sets

of books. For example, Oracle Payables requires three p rodu ct schemas to

imp lement th ree sets of books in this architecture. In th e new er Multi-Org

architecture, mu ltiple ORACLE accoun t prod ucts only require one prod uct schema,

no ma tter how m any organizations you d efine.

Multiple Organization Architecture (Multi-Org)

A single installation of any Oracle Applications prod uct to support any nu mber of

organizations or d ifferent sets of books. The d ata contained in p rodu ct schemas is

for all organizations, and is partitioned by th e ORG_ID colum n in tables.

Multiple Reporting Currency (MRC)

An Oracle App lications feature that a llows you to create, ma intain, and rep ort on

accoun ting records at the tran saction level in more than one functional currency.

Multiple Sets Of Books Architecture (MSOB)

An older Oracle App lications mechanism for implementing an organization or

group of organizations that shares a common Accoun ting Flexfield structure,

calendar, and functional currency. With MSOB architecture, you must define at least

one set of books for each business location. MSOB architecture is sup erseded by th e

new er Mu ltiple Organization Architecture. See also Multiple Organization

Architecture.

multi-tier architecture

A compu ting mod el in w hich various functions are distributed am ong m ultiple

levels, or tiers, of machines. Typically there are at least three such tiers: desktop

clients issuing user requests, back-end servers u sed for database processing and

other intensive tasks, and a middle tier that med iates connections between the two.

See also NCA.

NCA (Network Computing Architecture)

An Internet-based Oracle framework th at provides comm un ication in a multi-tier

architecture.

Net8

The Oracle prod uct that en ables netw ork connectivity between a client machine and

the Oracle8 Server. Net8 manages comm unication sessions betw een these m achines

by opening an d closing sessions and by packaging and sending SQL statements and

data resp onses. Prior to the Oracle8 Server release, Net8 was called SQL*Net.



Glossary-11

NLS (National Language Support)

Oracle App lications NLS allows the u se of various character sets, and provides

translated m essages, help files, and seed data for languages other than Am erican

English.

operating system

The comp uter software that performs basic tasks such as allocating memory and

allowing comp uter comp onents to commu nicate.

ORACLE

An Oracle8 Server d atabase. This generally refers to a d atabase an d the objects it

contains, not to the Oracle8 Server product files.

ORACLE_HOME

An environmen t setting that specifies the top directory for Oracle8 Server p rogram

files.

ORACLE schema

See schema.

Oracle8 Server

The database man agemen t system u sed by Release 11. The term refers in general to

the p rodu ct files or the ORACLE instances created using th ese files.

Oracle Server Manager

An O racle8 Server u tility tha t allows DBAs to start, stop, monitor, and maintain

databases.

ORACLE_SID

An env ironment setting that identifies an ORACLE instance running on the current

machine. See also TWO_TASK an d LOCAL.

ORACLE user ID

A usernam e and p assword used to access an ORACLE instance.

parameter

A value passed to a comm and . A param eter can be a file specification, a symbol, or

a word un derstood by the program.



Glossary-12

y p g

parallel concurrent processing

In a UNIX environm ent, distribution of concurrent p rocesses among multiple

concurrent processing servers. Also called distributed concurrent processing.

password

An identification w ord, associated with your username, that you m ust sup ply to

access an ORACLE instance or an Oracle App lications system.

PDF (Portable Document Format)

A file format d eveloped by Ad obe Systems. PDF files may contain formatted text,

graphics, color, and images that you can view, navigate w ithin, and pr int. You need

Adobe Acrobat Reader to view a PDF file.

platform

The und erlying structure of a comp uter system, includ ing hard ware an d software,

on w hich ap plication p rograms run. The hardw are comp onent includ es the

microprocessor, which is the microchip th at performs logic operations and data

man agemen t. The software comp onent includes the operating system, which is the

compu ter system’s coordinating p rogram. Sun SPARC Solaris and Alpha

Wind ows NT are examples of platforms. Some Oracle App lications functionality is

platform-specific, meaning its behavior ma y d iffer on other p latforms.

PL/SQL

A procedu ral extension of SQL that p rovides program ming constru cts such as

blocks, conditionals, and functions.

primary functional currencyThe curren cy you use to record tran sactions and m aintain your accounting d ata

with in Oracle App lications.

primary set of books

A finan cial reporting entity in which you conduct business.

Pro*C

An Oracle precompiler produ ct that allows d evelopers of C program s to embed

stand ard d atabase calls to an ORACLE da tabase in C programs.

product group

A set of Oracle App lications p rodu ct schemas linked together by a single Oracle



Glossary-13

App lication Object Library schema.

product installation group

A set of related products in a Multiple Sets Of Books Architecture installation, such

as AP2, PO2, and INV2, that p artition the d ata for a single set of books.

registry

A Window s NT database that holds configuration information. Dur ing installation,

Oracle App lications w rites data to the registry. You can also ed it the registry directly

with the Registry Editor (regedt32.exe).

registry key

A folder th at appears in the left pan e of the Registry Editor w indow. A key cancontain subkeys and value ent ries. For example: Environmen t is a key of

HKEY_CURRENT_USER. See also subkey.

registry subkey

A key w ithin a key. Subkeys are analogous to subd irectories in the registry

hierarchy. Keys and subkeys are similar to the section h eading in .ini files; how ever

subkeys can carry ou t functions. Oracle App lications stores important information

abou t a p rodu ct group in a registry subkey. See also registry key an d registry.

report

An organ ized d isplay of Oracle Applications information. A report can be viewed

online or sent to a printer. The content of a report can range from a sum mary to a

complete listing of values.

Report Review AgentA tool u sed by Oracle App lications to v iew concurrent processing files online.

reporting functional currency

A currency, other than you r pr imary fun ctional currency, for which you need to

generate reports.

reporting set of books

A finan cial reporting entity that is associated w ith a p rimary set of books. It has th e

same chart of accoun ts and accoun ting calend ar, but usu ally a different functional

currency.

reserved word



Glossary-14

A w ord that has a special meaning to any comp uter program. Custom-built

programs that integrate with Oracle Applications must not use reserved words.

responsibility

A collection of functions w ithin an Oracle App lication. Each App lications u ser isassigned one or m ore responsibilities to allow them access to App lications forms.

rollback segment

A set of entries used to u nd o changes in the database in the event of transaction

rollback, crash , or med ia recovery.

rollback tablespace

A tablespace created for rollback segments.

RPC (Remote Procedure Call)

A protocol that allows a client to execute a p rogram on a server. The client sends a

message to the server with ap propriate arguments and the server returns a message

containing the program’s results.

schema

An ORACLE account or ORACLE ID.

server

A program or machine that p rovides resources, such as files, processing, or other

information, to other program s or machines, wh ich are called clients. For example,

the Oracle Forms Server p rocess runs on a forms server (machine), and th e Oracle8

Server (database process) run s on a da tabase server. Server p rocesses may

commu nicate with other p rograms, such as desktop client processes, or otherservers.

service

A Window s NT interna l software routine that provides sup port for other

applications. The Oracle8 Server, Net8, and Oracle Applications concurrent

man agers all make u se of services.

servlet

A Java p rogram executed on a w eb server, rather than d ownloaded to a d esktop

client. See also applet.

SGA (System Global Area)

A reserved section of main m emory that p rovides comm un ication between all

d b d h ORACLE b k d



Glossary-15

database users and the ORACLE backgroun d p rocesses.

shared product

See dependent product .

short name

An abbreviation for an Oracle Applications prod uct (such as gl for Oracle General

Ledger).

shut down

The process of stopp ing an active process, such as an ORACLE instance or a

concurrent manager, to make it unava ilable.

single ORACLE account product

In the older Mu ltiple Sets Of Books Architecture, an Oracle App lications prod uct

that on ly requires one produ ct schema to imp lement m ultiple sets of books. For

example, Oracle General Ledger on ly requires one prod uct schema to imp lement

three sets of books in th is architecture. In the newer Multi-Org architecture, single

ORACLE account p rodu cts also require only one produ ct schema.

sizing factor

An integer tha t determines the grow th rate, as a percentage of their defaults, for the

da tabase objects of an Oracle App lications p rodu ct.

SmartClient

An imp lementation u sed with Release 10 to provide client/ server access to Oracle

Applications.

SOA

See single ORACLE account product .

SQL (Structured Query Language)

An internationa lly standard langu age used to access data in a relational da tabase.

The acronym is pronou nced “sequel.”

SQL*Loader

An Oracle8 Server tool used to load un structured data from operating system files

into Oracle8 Server d atabase tables.

SQL*Plus

An Oracle program you can use to enter and run SQL comm ands and PL/ SQL

bl k th t t d t i d t i d t f ORACLE d t b



Glossary-16

blocks that store data in and retrieve data from an ORACLE database.

SQL script

A file containing SQL statements th at you run with a tool such as SQL*Plus to

query or u pd ate ORACLE data.

Standard Request Submission

A standard interface in Oracle App lications that lets you run an d m onitor

concurren t requests.

subdirectory

A d irectory that is contained within another directory.

synonym

An alias for a table, view, sequence, or p rogram u nit that m asks the real name and

owner of the object, provides pu blic access to the object, and simp lifies SQL

statements for database users.

syntax

The orderly system by wh ich command s, qualifiers, and parameters are arrangedtogether to form valid command strings.

SYS username

One of two standard DBA usernam es automat ically created w ith each database (the

other is SYSTEM). SYS ow ns the base d ata d ictionary t ables and views. See also

SY STEM username.

SYS.DUAL tableA necessary table in any relational database. SYS.DUAL conta ins exactly one row,

and is used as a "du mm y" table in a SQL statement to return values that are not

stored in tables, such as constant va lues, evaluations of arithm etic expressions, or

system values like the current d ate.

system administrator

Responsible for administering the Ap plications developmen t system, includ ing

configuring and main taining hardware and software. The term also applies to the

person w ho manages administrative tasks in Applications, such as registering newusers and defining system p rinters, using the System Ad ministrator responsibility.

SYSTEM schema



Glossary-17

See SY STEM username.

SYSTEM tablespace

Holds data d ictionary tables own ed by the SYS accoun t. It is created w hen youinstall the database.

SYSTEM username

One of tw o standard usernames autom atically created with each database (the other

is SYS). The SYSTEM username is the preferred username to use when performing

da tabase maintenance. See also SYS username.

tableThe basic un it of storage in a relational database ma nagem ent system. A table

represents entities and relationships, and consists of one or more un its of

information (rows), each of w hich contains the sam e kinds of values (columns).

tablespace

A logical portion of an ORACLE database used to allocate storage for data and to

group related logical structures. For examp le, one tablespace may contain all of one

Oracle Applications prod uct’s database tables and indexes.

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol)

A w idely-used indu stry-standard networking p rotocol used for commu nication

among computers.

technical specialist

Responsible for designing, developing, unit testing, imp lementing, and maintainingcustomizations for Oracle Applications.

temporary tablespace

A tablespace used w hen a SQL statement requ ires the creation of temp orary

segments (for examp le, the creation of an index).

thin client

A desktop client designed to be small and low-maintenance, usu ally without a hard

dr ive, and intended for optimal use in a mu lti-tier architecture environment . Server

machines perform d ata p rocessing actions instead of the thin client. The term refersto either a desktop client compu ter, such as a Network Com pu ter, or the client

software that is ru nning on tha t machine. See also tier .



Glossary-18

tier

A set of machines that perform similar tasks. Client/ server is a two-tier

architecture, with machines on th e client tier connecting to m achines on the server

tier. A m ulti-tier architectu re consists of three or m ore tiers. In Release 11, machines

on the d esktop client tier commu nicate with m achines on the app lication tier, which

in turn, comm unicate with each other and with machines on the database tier.

TWO_TASK

Und er UNIX, an environmen t setting that ident ifies the network a lias of an

ORACLE instance running on th e local machine or on another networked m achine.

This variable overrides any setting for ORACLE_SID and causes the N et8 software

to m anage th e connection requ est. See also ORACLE_SID an d LOCAL.

user ID

The combination of a u sername and its password .

username

A nam e that gran ts access to a secure environm ent or program, such as an ORACLE

database or Oracle Applications. A usernam e is custom arily associated w ith a

collection of privileges and data available to a part icular user (responsibilities inOracle Applications). Every usernam e is associated w ith a passw ord.

view

A custom-tailored p resentation of the d ata in one or more tables. A view can be

thought of as a "stored qu ery."

WAN (Wide Area Network)

A commun ications netw ork tha t connects geographically separated areas. See also

LAN .

web browser

A program running on a desktop client that views d ocum ents formatted in H TML

and run s Java ap plets. A web brow ser send s requests to a web server using a special

protocol ( HTTP) to retrieve documen ts and Java applets.

web server

A typ e of application server that runs an HTTP listener. (The term is also used by



Glossary-19

yp app a v a a ( a y

some in an informal m anner to describe the software running the H TTP listener, as

in "the Ap ache web server." Oracle App lications man uals u se only the first

definition.)

World Wide Web (WWW)

A hyp ertext-based system for browsing m ultimedia docum ents that u ses the

Internet as its transport m echanism. In a hypertext system, you navigate am ong

docum ents by following hyperlinks, which take you to other docum ents. Often

simp ly referred to as "the Web." See also HTML an d HTTP.



Glossary-20



Index-1

Index

Symbols# notat ion , xii

% nota tion , xii

_ALL, 3-8

A

AD Configuration Utility, xi

adm in directory

overview, 4-2administration server

in Release 11, 1-9

APPL_TOP, 4-1

app lication server

d efin ed , 1-4

app lication tier

for Release 11, 1-4

Applications datamainta ining, 1-10

App lications database up dates

app ly ing, 1-10

APPLLOG

overview, 4-8

APPLOUT

overview, 4-8

APPS schema

and base product schemas, 3-3benefits of using, 3-4

custom schema access, 3-6

data access, 3-6

how AutoInstall creates, 3-5

overview, 3-3

attachments

u sin g, 1-14

C

ca rt ridge, 1-6

certificate file

definit ion of, 1-4

character set

for Oracle8 Server, 3-20

CLIENT_INFO, 3-8common directories

for multiple product groups, 4-13

illustration, 4-13

multip le, 4-13

common directory, 4-10

single, 4-12

concurrent parallel processing

overview, 1-10

concurrent processinghow it works, 1-10

concurrent processing server

in Release 11, 1-10

interaction with forms servers, 1-11

customizations

custom schema access, 3-6

data access, 3-6

D

data files


database

installing and upgrading, 1-10

database server

in Release 11, 1-9

database tier

for Release 11, 1-8

DateTrack, 2-5

DB_BLOCK_SIZE param eter, 3-21

default storage

in product directory tree, 4-9

dependent produ cts

b t 2 7

H

help

context-sensitive, 1-15

HRMS product familyabou t, 2-5

HTML directory

illustration of, 4-3

overview, 4-3



Index-2

abou t, 2-7

desktop client

d efin ed , 1-2

desktop client tier

for Release 11, 1-2digital signature

definit ion of, 1-4

directories

across file systems, 4-4

common log and output, 4-10

languages, 4-6

localizations, 4-5

multiple version, 4-7

temporary, 4-14

directory stru cture

basic, 4-1

illustration of basic, 4-2

distributed directory stru cture


overview, 4-4

FFastFormula , 2-5

forms client ap plet

how it works, 1-12

forms server

d efin ed , 1-5

opt imiz ing, 1-12

full product installation

requirements for, 2-6

G

grants

between user IDs, 3-2

,

HTTP listener, 1-6

I

initialization parameters


interim tablespace, 3-23

J

JAR file

definit ion of, 1-3

Java archive (JAR) filesdownloading, 1-13

Java directory


overview, 4-3

L

language d irectory stru cture

illustration of, 4-7language installation

abou t, 2-8

load balancing

among forms servers, 1-5

u sin g, 1-13

localization directory structure


localizations

abou t, 2-8database objects included, 3-6

directory s tructure, 4-5

log and ou tpu t directories

in a product directory tree, 4-11

single common directory, 4-12

log and ou tpu t files

default storage

for multiple product groups, 4-12


for single product group, 4-9

selecting storage for, 4-14

log files

m an agin g, 4-8

M


overview, 1-14, 3-9

mu ltiple sets of books

illustration of architecture, 3-18

overview, 3-16

multi-tier architecture

how it works, 1-2

N



Index-3

M

MAXDATAFILES parameter, 3-20

MAXEXTENTS, 3-23

Metrics Serverdefinit ion of, 1-5

MOA (Multiple Oracle Account), 3-16

MRC

illustration of architecture, 3-13

illustration of setup, 3-11

overview of architecture, 3-12

See Multiple Reporting Currencies, 3-9

setting up p rimary responsibility for, 3-10

synonyms, 3-16transaction table/ sub-table illustration, 3-14

triggers, 3-14

using in GL, 3-16

view s, 3-14

in Oracle Assets and Projects, 3-14

in Oracle Payables, Receivables, and

Purchasing, 3-15

Multiple Oracle Account (MOA), 3-16

Multiple Organization Architecture

_ALL, 3-8

changes from Release 10.6, 3-9

CLIENT_INFO, 3-8

ORG_ID, 3-8

overview, 3-7

partitioned objects, 3-8

patch ing, 3-9

SO_HEADERS_ALL, 3-8multiple produ ct groups

log and output file management, 4-11

mu ltiple prod uct installation grou ps


mu ltiple prod uct versions

installed on one file system, 4-8

N

Network latency

minimiz ing, 1-12

NT operating systemusing for AutoInstall, 2-9

O

operating unit

definit ion of, 3-8

Oracle Alert

description of, 2-6

mail products used with, 2-5Oracle Application Object Library

description of, 2-5

Oracle Ap plications DBA

description of, 2-6

Oracle Ap plications Utilities

description of, 2-6

Oracle Consulting Services, xi

Oracle Forms server engine, 1-5


interim tablespace, 3-23

Oracle InterOffice, 2-5

Oracle Manufacturing product family

abou t, 2-5

Oracle Projects prod uct family

abou t, 2-5

Oracle Self-Service Web Applications

and Web Server , 1-7Oracle Support Services, xi

ORACLE user ID

localizations, 3-6

overview, 3-2

Oracle8 Server

data files for, 3-20

database character set, 3-20

database creation, 3-20

initialization parameters for, 3-21

overview, 3-19

requirements for, 2-9

tablespaces, 3-21

ORG_ID, 3-8

output files

m an ag in g 4-8

S

security

how it works, 1-3

set of booksdefinit ion of, 3-7

short names

p rod u cts, 2-1

Single Oracle Account (SOA), 3-16



Index-4

m an ag in g, 4 8

P

par titioned objectsin Mult i-Org, 3-8

pinning stored packages, 1-13

primary functional currency

definit ion of, 3-10

primary responsibility

setting up for MRC, 3-10

primary set of books


product familiesgroup ings, 2-3

product groups

in databases , 3-1

multiple in separate databases, 3-2

prod uct installation grou ps

and Multiple Sets of Books, 3-18

illustration of multiple, 3-19

multip le, 3-18

prod uct version num bers

list of, 2-1

products

required for installation, 2-5

required full installations, 2-6

R

Registry variables, xiiReport Review Agent, 1-15

reporting functional currency


repor ting set of books


rollback tablespace, 3-22

single product installation group


sizing factor

100%, 3-24

greater than 100%, 3-24

less than 100%, 3-24

overview, 3-23

recommended, 3-25

sample extent sizes, 3-24

SO_HEADERS_ALL, 3-8

spreadsheets

exporting, 1-15

SYSTEM tablespace, 3-21

T

tablespaces

setting up for products, 3-22

temporary files

storage methods, 4-14

temporary tablespaces, 3-23

tools tablespace, 3-21TOP d irectories

m u ltip le, 4-7

TOP variables

product

overview, 4-2

products

list of, 2-1

U

users tablespace, 3-22

W

web server , 1-6