fbl data validator v1

8/16/2019 FBL Data Validator v1

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Data File Validation for File Based Loader

An Oracle White Paper

September 25 2013


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2 | Data File Validation for File Based Loader

ContentsContents ........................................................................................................................................ 2

Preface .......................................................................................................................................... 3

Disclaimer ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Intended Audience .......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 4 What is File Based Loader? .............................................................................................................................................. 4

What is Data File Validator? ............................................................................................................................................ 4

Installing Data File Validator ........................................................................................................ 5

Configuring Data File Validator .................................................................................................... 5

Using Data File Validator Utility ................................................................................................... 9

Extending Data File Validator for Additional Validations ........................................................... 11

Appendix A – XML Schema definition for the Configuration File ............................................... 12


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Preface

Disclaimer

The following is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for informationpurposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliverany material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions.

The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle’sproducts remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.

Intended Audience

Welcome to the white paper on Data File Validator for File Based Loader utility

This guide assumes you have knowledge of the following:

Oracle Fusion HCM File Based Loader

Getting Started with HCM File Based Loader (Doc ID 1578466.1)

Oracle Fusion Human Capital Management File-Based Loader V1.1 (Doc ID 1533860.1)


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Introduction

This document provides details on the Data File Validator for File Based Loader and the steps requiredinstalling and configuring it. It also provides information on the various configuration options, reviewing

validation errors, and steps for extending the validation routines.

What is File Based Loader?

File Based Loader (FBL) enables users to bulk-load data to Oracle Fusion HCM from any datasource. Typically, you use File Based Loader for an initial upload of data and maintain the data inOracle Fusion HCM thereafter. Additionally, you can use File-Based Loader to load data after theinitial load; for example, you may want to upload changed data to Oracle Fusion HCM if you arecontinuing to maintain the source data.

File Based Loader supports a predefined set of Business Objects to be uploaded to Oracle Fusion.

For each of the Business Objects supported in FBL, the data must be created in a DAT file andeach DAT file has a predefined format. You construct the heading row in the data file for eachBusiness Object type by concatenating the Datastore Attribute Names with pipe separators.Heading rows must be in capital letters and the columns can appear in any order.

The following example shows a sample Business Unit DAT file.

The DAT files that contain the data provided by the users are validated and loaded on to theFusion HCM system using FBL. FBL performs a two-stage process to load the data to Fusion.

Load HCM Data (Import) - In this stage, the data is read from the DAT files and populated into aset of staging tables. This process performs key resolutions such as cross reference id resolutionand foreign key resolutions and basic data validations on the file formats.

Load Batch Data(Load) - In this stage the data is read from the staging tables and validated against

the business rules validation in the web service. Users can view the validation errors in the userinterface and correct the errors and reload the data.

What is Data File Validator?

During the FBL data loading process, the validations are performed either in the Import phase orthe Load phase. Data File Validator is a utility that enables you to perform most of the dataformatting validations even prior to loading the data in Fusion. This utility can be run in thesource system after you have generated the DAT files. The utility generates an HTML output thatlists the validation errors. You can correct the errors in the DAT file based on the report output.


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Note: Oracle recommends you to run this utility on the zip file you have generated prior to theactual load to minimize data validation errors.

Objectives

Data File Validator enables users the:

• Ability to perform data validation prior to actual load of data to Fusion.• Minimize the time taken to identify and resolve data validation errors.

Installing Data File Validator

You can download the Data File Validator utility from My Oracle Support Document ID - 1587716.1.“Data File Validator for File Based Loader”. The utility is a Java based tool that is available as a zip file

and can be downloaded locally. The utility requires Oracle Java 1.6 or a later version to be installed onyour local machine.

Extract the zip file to a folder. The extract folder contains the utility executable.

Windows Users: Run the FBLValidator.exeLinux Users: java -jar fblvalidator.jar

Configuring Data File Validator

You require the following information to run the utility.

Configuration File - This contains the structure and validation definitions of the various validationsperformed by the Validator tool. Oracle provides a reference configuration file which can be downloadedfrom My Oracle Support Document ID - 1587716.1. “Data File Validation for File Based Loader”.

Configuration file is an XML file that contains metadata about the various Field and Record level validations performed as a part of the validation process.

Field Level Validations

Data Type Validations - GUID, VARCHAR, DATE, NUMERIC, DECIMAL

Mandatory Checks - Not Null checks

Range Validations - Attribute value in a given range, e.g. Rating Value < 5

List Validations - Attribute value in static list, e.g. Active Status in (Active, Inactive)

Regular Expression Validations - Attribute value matches regular expression pattern, e.g.Email address in @ format

Lookup Validations (Optional) - Attribute value in the lookup file, e.g. Phone Type is

PHONE_TYPE lookup


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Record Level Validations

Column value Comparisons - Compare two attributes in an entity, e.g Start Date < End Date

Complex Validations using Groovy - Any multi-attribute procedural code, e.g. Conditionalmandatory checks, Attribute Combination validation etc

Leverage the existing validations that exist in Business Rule validations.

A sample section of the configuration file is given below:

In the sample, each business object validation is defined within a tag. indicates the various fields in the DAT file for the Business Object.

Type of Validation Example Format

Data Type

Mandatory Check

Range Validation

List Validation

AI


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Regular Expression Validation

Lookup Validation

Groovy Validation

return true;elsereturn false;}return true;

]]>

Optionally, you can configure the following parameters:

Lookup File - This file provides the list of lookup values that you can use for validation. A samplelookup file is provided as part of the tool.

Use the Configure Lookup Validation window to select the lookup file.

Select the Do not validate lookups option, if you do not want to validate the data.

Select the Use Lookup File to validate the data option and select the lookup.txt file to validatethe data.


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You can either choose to create the lookup file based on the format given below or you can use the SQLquery given below to run it against the Fusion database to generate the lookup.txt file from the Fusionsystem.

Lookup file format:

For example:

BLOOD_TYPE A+BLOOD_TYPE A-BLOOD_TYPE AB+BLOOD_TYPE AB-BLOOD_TYPE B+BLOOD_TYPE B-BLOOD_TYPE O+BLOOD_TYPE O-

ADDRESS_TYPE 1 ADDRESS_TYPE 2 ADDRESS_TYPE 3 ADDRESS_TYPE HOME ADDRESS_TYPE IAT….

SQL to generate the Lookup file from Fusion :

SELECT lookup_type

,lookup_codeFROM fnd_lookup_values_vlWHERE lookup_type IN ('ADDRESS_TYPE','BARGAINING_UNIT_CODE','CMP_PROPOSAL_REASON'

,'BLOOD_TYPE','CMP_SALARY_BASIS','CONTACT','CONTRACT_TYPE','EMAIL_TYPE','EMPLOYEE_CATG','EMP_CAT','FREQUENCY','GRADE_PAY_RATE_TYPE','HIRING_STATUS','HONORS','HOURLY_SALARIED_CODE','HRT_CONTENT_SUPP_CODE','JOB_FUNCTION_CODE','MANAGER_LEVEL'

,'MARITAL_STATUS','MILITARY_RANK','NAME_TYPE','ORG_TYPE','PAY_CREATOR_TYPE','PAY_ENTRY_TYPE','PER_CITIZENSHIP_STATUS','PER_DUTIES_TYPE','PER_ETHNICITY','PER_HIGHEST_EDUCATION_LEVEL','PER_LINKAGE_TYPE','PER_NATIONAL_IDENTIFIER_TYPE','PER_PASSPORT_TYPE','PER_RELIGION','PER_SUPERVISOR_TYPE','PER_VISA_PERMIT_STATUS','PER_VISA_PERMIT_TYPE','PHONE_TYPE','PROBATION_PERIOD','QUALIFYING_UNITS','SECURITY_CLEARANCE','SEX','SYSTEM_PERSON_TYPE','TITLE','UNITS')

AND enabled_flag = 'Y'AND sysdate BETWEEN start_date_active

AND end_date_activeORDER BY lookup_type,lookup_code

Validation Error Threshold

If there are large volumes of data which need to be validated, then instead of the entire validation processto complete to identify the errors, you can specify a threshold value to restrict the application to exit afterthe validating the errors. The Data File Validator utility exits after reaching the threshold specified.

You can specify the maximum number of validation errors before the entire process is terminatedFor example, if you specify 1000 as the validation error threshold value, then when the application reaches1000 validation errors, the application exits after generating the validation report for the first 1000

validation errors.


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Using Data File Validator Utility

You can run the Data File Validator by specifying the following parameters:

Configuration File - Select the configuration file that contains the structure and validationdefinitions. You can download the configuration file for your Fusion Release version from MyOracle Support.

Data File / Zip File - Select the DAT file or zip file that you want to validate. You can choose toprovide the DAT file or the Zip file that contains multiple DAT files.

Optionally, select the Lookup file and specify the threshold values as described in the previoussection.

Click Validate to perform the validation. The validation HTML report file gets launched in a

browser.


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The HTML report of the utility displays the summary of each of the business objects being processed andalso provides a summary of the validation errors.

The output validation report is generated in the current folder. The report has two sections:

1. Detail section2. Summary Section

You can view the validation errors highlighted in red color in the Details section as indicated below:


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You can view the consolidated list of validation errors in the Summary section.

Extending Data File Validator for Additional Validations

Users can extend the validation logic available in the Configuration file by creating a copy and addingadditional data validations to meet their business requirements. You can refer the Configuration sectionfor the details on the various validation options supported by Data File Validator utility.

Use the format as specified in Configuring Data File Validator section to add more validation.


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Appendix A – XML Schema definition for theConfiguration File


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Data File Validation for File Based Loader

September 2013 Author: Vinod Viswanathan

Ullas BhatSwathi Mathur

Oracle CorporationWorld Headquarters500 Oracle ParkwayRedwood Shores, CA 94065U.S.A.

Worldwide Inquiries:Phone: +1.650.506.7000Fax: +1.650.506.7200

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Copyright © 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document isprovided for information purposes only and the contents hereof are subject to changewithout notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any otherwarranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law, including impliedwarranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Wespecifically disclaim any liability with respect to this document and no contractualobligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document. This document maynot be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,for any purpose, without our prior written permission.

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