Dec 26, 2008 Business Intelligence
Recently while installing OBIEE on one of our training PCs, we ran into the following error.
Unable to connect
SQLState=IM003
Specified driver could not be loaded due to system error 998 (Oracle in OraDb10g_home1)
This error occured at the time of setting up the ODBC connection. After some research the fix was to just change your enviornment PATH setting.
It seems that the OBIEE installation changed the PATH string by placing the new oralcebi home as the first path in the string. This annoyed its elder brother which already resided at the old oracle home and contained the 10g database. The ODBC dll (sqora32.dll) resides in the database home so it couldn’t find it when the path was changed by OBIEE installation. So the fix is to update the PATH string and place the Oracle database home as the first entry in the string.
As you see, the c:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\bin is now moved to the front, ahead of the f:\oraclebi (this is where OBIEE is installed)
Dec 4, 2008 Business Intelligence
Using the business intelligence programs that you are already familiar with to extract useful information from customer interactions can turn out to be difficult. Most business intelligence analytics like OLAP (On Line Analytical Processing) and data warehousing function very well when dealing with structured data, but when faced with unstructured data like customer comments these tools are not helpful in and of themselves. The question is how to make customer comments, whether collected through surveys, customer service calls, comment cards, or other means, assessable to these tools. These comments can include information on everything from performance to service quality to cost to reliability. The key is to organize the unstructured data.
In order to structure this data, a few questions have to be addressed:
- What kind of information is your company looking for in the comments?
- What categories should the comments be broken down into?
- What kinds of terms are important to categorize these comments?
The types of categories for a comment can usually be broken down into complaints, either about the product, delivery, shipment, and/or cost; questions about the product, delivery, or billing; compliments about the product or service; and suggestions for how to improve service. Using techniques for text mining, you can find the most important terms and phrases in the comments to add a new level of analysis to your current business intelligence findings. This process will find the names of products or people, dates, times, and monetary amounts. There is a variety of entity extraction tools on the market, including a number of open source versions that can be starting points for your company to build a custom version.
Nouns, verbs, and adjectives will all be identified and can be used to identify the type of comment and its tone. The comment can then be categorized and the unstructured data begins to take on a structure that can be analyzed by your business intelligence program. Using fixed categorization, the comments can be used in existing structured data elements in mining and statistic analysis.
Since the words and terms will vary from customer to customer and region to region, the different versions of the same concept will have to be recognized as one and the same and processed as such by the tools that you use. The same applies to semantic rules. Once you find a text mining technique that can deliver the structured information that your company can use to make strong decisions based on business intelligence you can rest assured that the information you have from your customers could be used to enhance your business.
Nov 24, 2008 Business Intelligence, Small Business
Finding the focus of your business and monitoring your success in that particular area is the key to success in today’s diverse market. You can monitor how well your company is maintaining strategic focus by defining your Key Performance Indicators and investing in a business intelligence software program that will help you keep track of your progress. Your Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, can show you which areas you’re executing well and which need improvement.
Choosing Your KPIs
Depending on your business’ focus, your KPIs will be different. Once you narrow down which KPIs are important to your business you can set up your business intelligence software to start collecting the necessary data you need to keep track of your strategy.
· Cost-focused Businesses – The KPIs for cost-focused businesses include cost measurement, cycle time, ability to conform to market standards, quantity, and quality.
· Product-focused Businesses – You’ll be looking at new products in the pipeline, research and development, time to market, and product customization when you select your KPIs for a product-focused business.
· Customer-focused Businesses – Your KPIs will be knowledge of customers, environmental appearance, complaint management, employee empathy, product expertise, and responsiveness in a customer-focused business.
A cost-focused business might benefit from having some knowledge of its customers, but it is not an important KPI for the company overall, while the opposite is true for a customer-focused business. You can mix and match these KPIs if you find it necessary, but most of the time this categorization will hold true.
Setting Up Your Business Intelligence Software
Armed with KPIs specific to your business, you can set up your business intelligence software to collect the data that will show whether or not you are on track with your company strategy. For cost-focused businesses, you will need to collect data that shows cost for the entire process, from materials to labor. Product-focused businesses will need to collect data that shows how the company is moving forward with new products and customer-focused businesses will have to collect more information on customer satisfaction. This will require the business intelligence program to mine different data sources, depending on the information required.
It may even be useful for you to determine your KPIs before you purchase your business intelligence software. That way, you’ll be able to purchase the best package for your data tracking requirements knowing what you need to collect.
Nov 20, 2008 Business Intelligence
Data problems can severely affect the quality of your business intelligence analysis, but they are often hard to detect. Because they don’t stop your analysis process right away, they can slowly become more and more of a detriment until they finally destroy your BI project. Because of how destructive unreliable data can be, one of the most important things you can do to ensure that your business intelligence software runs correctly is to make sure that your data is easily accessible and accurate. If you have duplicate or incomplete information, you will end up with results and eventually initiatives that are baseless. If you use the information to reach out to your customers for marketing campaigns or up-selling opportunities, you run the risk of looking disorganized and incompetent.
You can fix your data problems by following these basic steps:
- Detect and correct potential issues before they do any damage. Before adding any raw data to your business intelligence software applications, use reconnaissance software tools to determine the quality and reliability of your new data. This software is usually more accurate than checking the data manually and can detect and correct mistakes before they get lost in your existing data.
- Eliminate duplicates and standardize all your data as it comes in. This will give you a more comprehensive view of what kind of data you are actually collecting from the get go. By establishing procedures for data processing as it comes in, you can standardize the data as it enters the system.
- Make sure that any new data that applies to and affects old data can be categorized with the older data to create a more complete information history on a specific topic, be it customer buying habits or updating ROI.
- Set up a data “dictionary” so that data from separate sources with different phrases that share the same meaning are identified as belonging to the same category. For example, “manager” and “mgr” are spelled differently, but share the same meaning and should be treated as such.
- Use the tools available to you to automatically extract data from different sources, interpret it, and transform it into a form that can be used by your business intelligence software. This will save you the time and money required to translate your data manually.
Once you know your data is in the right format and contains information that can be used successfully by your software, you can concentrate on the results of your business intelligence analysis and how they affect your company. Take a second look at how reliable your data is now, before the wrong information affects your investment in your BI program.
Nov 14, 2008 Business Intelligence
Companies large and small can benefit from a well thought out business intelligence strategy, but developing that strategy can sometimes be more challenging than implementing a business intelligence program. To make sure that your company is getting the most out of your BI program, make sure that you define your goals and have a plan for the information you generate before you start collecting and analyzing data.
First Steps
Assess your current system of data collection. How you collect your data will make a difference in how complete your information is, which will in turn affect the results of your business intelligence program. Make sure that if you need historical data on your company or customers that you know where it is and how to access it. You’ll also need to take some time to understand your business needs and make a rough road map for how you would like your business to transform. Focus your attention on a few operational objective that can be achieved both short and long term.
Planning Your Strategy
Start with your vision of where you would like your company to be in 3 to 5 years. Pick specific goals that can be achieved with the assistance of a good business intelligence program. These goals should have measurable success rates or key performance indicators. You will use your key performance indicators (KPIs) as milestones for how close you are to accomplishing your goals. You can then set up your information infrastructure to collect the necessary data that can be analyzed and turned into information, which can be used to make effective decisions for your company.
In order to pick the most worthwhile goals, you must understand what the desired end result is. You will have to ask yourself what you will do with the business intelligence information your program generates once you have it. Otherwise, you will have a vast amount of information and no way to strategize around it. In companies without a comprehensive long-term plan, decision makers react to the information they get from their data without understanding the far-reaching consequences of their actions.
Another important thing to think about before you implement your program is what your options are once you have the information. Often companies have an idea of how they want to move forward and are looking to the business intelligence information generated by their BI program to support their current strategy. They soon learn that the information is not always in line with their current plan. Brainstorm all possible outcomes of your business intelligence program and think of ways that your company can improve based on the different results. You probably won’t be able to come up with every single possibility, but you will be prepared to think creatively when your BI program starts to generate useful information.
Lastly, remember why you are implementing this program. Business intelligence can be a huge asset to your business, but if you focus on the data and not on what the data can do for your company, your energy is misplaced. Before you become overwhelmed with data warehousing and data integration initiatives, take a step back and refocus on your company’s goals.
Nov 12, 2008 AP, AR, Discoverer
If your Discoverer reports are not returning data in R12 then here are the steps
R12 uses new Security Policies and for Receivables, it uses Views starting with ARFG
Please follow the following steps :
1. Create a new responsibility with Accounts Payables/ Accounts Receivables as Application. (skip this if you already have custom responsibilities)
2. Set the profile options necessary for AP / AR like MO: Operating Unit ,MO: Security Profile
3. Do the necessary setup required for GL like segment rules and profile options
4. Set the system profile option: ‘Initialization SQL Statement - Custom’ for the responsibility to value
‘Begin GL_SECURITY_PKG.init(); end;’ .
5. Login to Receivables responsibility and you will get discoverer data for AP, AR and GL.
Oct 29, 2008 Other
This topic is shared to provide an overview of Data Conversion for Oracle ERP.
Approach used for Data Conversion
1. Conversion Data Mapping ( map to specify the data of legacy system –> data of oracle ERP system )
2. Download Programs ( programs to extract data from database and insert into the Flat file )
3. ASCII Flat File (Flat file / Text file)
4. Upload Program
5.Interface Tables
. Description of Interface Table
. Creation of Interface Table
6. Translation Programs
7. Interface Programs
8. Application Production Table
9. Testing
10. Write and Perform Conversion Execution Plan
READ MORE DETAILS
http://www.infopurple.com/data-conversion-for-oracle-applications
Oct 24, 2008 AR
Q1. What are the billing cycle requirements for invoice generation?
A: A project must meet the following billing cycle criteria before it can generate an invoice:
a. No pending (unreleased) invoices exist
b. At least one bill cycle past the bill through date (or creation date if no bill through date exists) of the last non crediting invoice
c. At least first bill offset days past the project start date (or project creation date if no start date exists) if you have not yet invoiced a particular project
d. If the billing date is calculated by a client extension, and the client extension returns a null value for the billing date, then the process will not pick up the project
Note:
If unreleased invoices exist for a particular project, that project will not be picked up when the Generate Draft Invoices for a Range of Projects process is run. However, if the process is run for a single project, it will ignore the checks listed above.
Q2. What is the difference between running the Generate Draft Invoices process for a single project and running it for a range of projects?
A: When running the Generate Draft Invoices process for a single project, the billing cycle is ignored. Any unreleased draft invoices are deleted and a new draft invoice is created. When running the Generate Draft Invoices for a Range of Projects, the process takes the billing setup into account (i.e., bill offset and cycle days). Therefore, the system looks at the current date, adds cycle days and then determines whether or not the project is ready to bill.
Q3. If adjustments are made to an invoice (i.e., add Bill events, place items on hold), is it necessary to re-generate revenue?
A: Whenever adjustments are made to the expenditure items and/or events included on an invoice, you must submit the appropriate processes to reflect those changes (i.e., recalculate cost, regenerate revenue, regenerate invoices).
Q4. How can I generate a single invoice for a project with multiple agreements?
A: AutoInvoice will break when it meets a grouping rule. AGREEMENT_ID is a mandatory grouping rule. Once AutoInvoice encounters a project/order with a different AGREEMENT_ID, it will create a new invoice. As long as there is more than one AGREEMENT_ID, multiple invoices will be generated. One remedy is to create a single invoice in Receivables for multiple invoices coming from Projects.
Q5. How is the Output Tax Code determined in Oracle Projects?
A. Oracle Projects uses the hierarchy set up in Implementation Options to determine where to look for the Output Tax Code. Sources that can be used include:
Customer Site
Customer
Project
Expenditure Type/Event Type / Retention
Client Extension
Oracle Receivables System Options
Q6. Is it possible to sort on the invoice amount column on the Invoice Review form (PAXINRVW) in Release 11.5?
A: A design change was made in Oracle Projects Release 11.5 to have brackets around the negative amounts in the invoice amount column. In order to accommodate the brackets, it was necessary to make the invoice amount column an alphanumeric column. It is not possible to sort numerically on alphanumeric columns; hence, the invoice amount is not available for sorting.
Q7. Why do I receive ORACLE error during DRAFT INVOICE GENERATION, cursor=29 code=-20001:, ORA-20001: Your system parameters are not defined for Oracle errors when running PRC: Generate Draft Invoices (PAIGEN)?
A: This error is received when Order Entry (OE) system parameters have not been setup for the current operating unit. The Receivables tax calculation requires an Inventory Master Organization for the following purposes:
a. Defaulting the tax code from a Product (Inventory Item)
b. Applying tax based on the characteristic/classification of an inventory organization location.
c. Applying exemptions/exceptions (discounted tax rates/special tax rates) based on item & master inventory organization combination.
d. Evaluating Tax Group Conditions based on characteristics of the item being transacted.
Currently, Inventory Master Organization is derived for tax calculation from OE_SYSTEM_PARAMETERS. Therefore, OE_SYSTEM_PARAMETERS must be setup in order to calculate tax based on the functionality mentioned above. These system parameters must be setup even if OE is a shared install. To correct the error, switch to your Order Management Responsibility, navigate to Setup -> Parameters and specify the Item Validation Organization.
Q8. Why do I receive the error message, Some transactions are disabled. Please check AutoAccounting setup, when running PRC: Interface Invoices to Receivables (PATTAR)?
A: In Projects Release 11.5, a rounding account must be created via AutoAccounting to handle rounding issues resulting from Multi-Currency billing. To correct this error, create a rounding account by navigating to Setup -> AutoAccounting:
a. In the Assign AutoAccounting Rules Form, query the Revenue and Invoice Accounts Rule.
b. Enable the rounding account.
c. Define Segment Rule Parings.
d. Save the changes.
Q9. Why is the message, Invalid AR Transaction Type Passed, displayed after running PRC: Interface Invoices to Receivables (PATTAR)?
A: Projects requires the Creation Sign field on the transaction types to be A (for Any Sign). Set the value to A on the Creation Sign field for both PA Invoice and PA Credit Memo transaction types. Additionally, the “Post to GL” box must be enabled.
Q10. When attempting to transfer sales credits to from Projects to Receivables, I receive the following error, APP-11863: Invalid sales_credit_type_id (nil). Why?
A: In order to import Projects invoices with sales credits, the sales credit type must be set to value and not ID in Receivables.
Q11. What is the order for running Projects processes for each transaction classification?
A:
LABOR
—–
Transaction Import (if applicable)
Distribute Labor Costs
Interface Labor Costs to General ledger
Journal Import (G/L Process)
Tieback Labor Costs from General Ledger
EXPENSE REPORTS
—————
Transaction Import (if applicable)
Distribute Expense Report Costs
Interface Expense Reports to Payables
Invoice Import (A/P Process)
Tieback Expense Reports from Payables
USAGES
——
Transaction Import (if applicable)
Distribute Usage Costs
Interface Usage Cost to General Ledger
Journal Import (G/L Process)
Tieback Usage Cost from General Ledger
SUPPLIER INVOICES
—————–
Interface Supplier Invoices from Payables
Distribute Supplier Invoice Adjustment Costs
Interface Supplier Invoice Adjustment Costs to Payables
BURDENED COST
————-
Distribute Total Burdened Costs
Interface Total Burdened Costs to General Ledger
Journal Import (G/L Process)
Tieback Total Burdened Cost from General Ledger
REVENUE
——-
Generate Draft Revenue
Interface Revenue to General Ledger
Journal Import (G/L Process)
Tieback Revenue from General Ledger
INVOICES
——–
Generate Draft Invoices
Interface Invoices to Receivables
AutoInvoice (A/R Process)
Tieback Invoices from Receivables
Q12. Why doesn’t the Invoice Review (PAXINRVW) screen display totals?
A: A shift in functionality in 11i.PA.D allowed invoices to be generated in currencies other than the project currency. This shift allows invoices in multiple currencies to be displayed on one screen. To present a total would be incorrect because no conversion to a single currency takes place. This change was introduced with PAXINRVW version 115.104.
From 11i.PJ_PF.J the total functionality is only available for the ‘Project Functional Amount’ column. Please use Folder Tools to show this column.
1. Add the field ‘project functional amount’ from menu Folder
a. Navigate to Menu option FOLDER
b. Choose show field
c. Choose field ‘Project Functional Amount’
2. Click the totals button.
3. Totals will appear in ‘Project Functional Amount’ field.
Q13. When canceling an invoice in the Invoice Review Screen and clicking on the ‘Release Button,’ the pop-up window displays the original invoice date in the ‘Invoice Date Field’ as opposed to the system date. The date can be changed to the system date, but why doesn’t it default to this automatically?
A: The default of the original invoice date in the invoice date field in the Release pop-up window is intended functionality starting with PA family pack 11i.PJ_PF.J. The intended functionality is to display the actual invoice date, and if there is no invoice date entered, the Default is to the system date.
Q14. Is there a way to generate an invoice for each individual task for a percent-complete project?
A: To create separate invoices by task, first create multiple agreements by task and then fund by task level. (Note that this is for a one-customer project only–funding at the task level cannot be done for a multiple-customer project.)
Q15. Why does the PRC: Generate Intercompany Invoice (PAICGEN) process set the PA_DATE to the day the invoice was generated?
A: The PAICGEN process uses the system date for the PA Date from patchset 11i.PJ_PF.I forward, where users have the option of implementing enhanced period processing
Q16. Is there a way to keep the invoice generation process from marking new transactions as unapproved?
A: Beginning with family pack 11i.PJ_PF.L, the functionality has been enhanced to permit invoice regeneration without including new transactions. For family packs prior to 11i.PJ_PF.L, you can use the Automatic Invoice Approve/Release client extension.
Q17. Why are previously-approved invoices set back to unapproved after the invoice generation process is run?
A: Beginning with family pack 11i.PJ_PF.L, there are 2 new concurrent process options: (1) delete unapproved invoices only, and (2) exclude new transactions. For family packs prior to 11i.PJ_PF.L, the intended functionality includes previously-approved invoices getting set to unapproved during the PAIGEN run.
Q18. Why does the PATTAR (PRC: Interface Invoices to Receivables) process reject draft invoices with the rejection reason of ‘No PA Period in Range’ when the invoice date is in a closed PA Period?
A: Based on the enhanced period processing functionality that was introduced in family pack 11i.PJ_PF.I , the PA date and GL date are based on the invoice date. The PA date is set to the invoice date if that date falls in a PA period with a status of Open or Future. If the invoice date falls in a closed PA period, the PA date is set to the start date of the earliest open or future-enterable PA period that follows the invoice date. If there are no Open or Future periods, you will get the error.
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