noetix views - magnitudesupport.noetix.com/docs/1593/55/noetixviewsadministratorguide.pdf · noetix...

Administrator Guide

Noetix Views®

®

NoetixViews Administrator GuideNoetixViews 5.5 for Oracle ApplicationsRevised July 2005Copyright © 2001-2005 Noetix Corporation. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from Noetix Corporation.

The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Noetix Corporation strives to keep this information accurate but does not warrant that this document is error-free.

Noetix, NoetixViews, Noetix QueryServer, Noetix WebQuery, NoetixDW, and the Noetix logo are registered trademarks of Noetix Corporation. Other “Noetix” marks are trademarks of Noetix Corporation.

Noetix Corporation’s core and unique technology in its high-value products is protected by pending patents.

ORACLE, Oracle, Oracle Applications, Oracle Discoverer, Oracle Financials, SQL*Plus, SQL*Net, and other Oracle product names referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. Siebel, Siebel Call Center, Siebel Business Applications, Siebel eBusiness Applications, Siebel Marketing, Siebel Sales, Siebel Service, and other Siebel product names referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siebel Systems, Inc. Microsoft, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Windows, Windows NT, and other Microsoft product names referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Adobe, Adobe Acrobat, and Acrobat Reader are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Other product or company names mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and are property of their respective owners.

The applications diff.exe, grep.exe, and sed.exe are distributed with the NoetixViews for Oracle Applications and NoetixDW software under the GNU General Public License. Noetix hereby offers to give any third party, for a charge no more than our cost of physically performing the distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the diff.exe, grep.exe, and/or sed.exe source code, which shall be distributed under the GNU General Public License and supplied on a medium customarily used for software interchange. Requests for source code must be submitted within three years of this offer, and should be directed to Noetix Corporation, 2229 112th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA, 98004-2936.

Contents i

ContentsPreface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vAbout This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viNoetix Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Chapter 1 About NoetixViews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2NoetixViews Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

NoetixViews Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3NoetixViews Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Noetix Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4NoetixViews Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5General Ledger Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Multi-Currency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Noetix AnswerPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6NoetixViews Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Noetix EUL Generator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Chapter 2 Pre-Installation Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Review System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Back Up Oracle Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Obtain Account Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Create Tablespace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Decide on Noetix System Administration User Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Name Role Prefixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Role Prefix Naming Conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Choose Help Formats to Generate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Choose User Management Options (When Using Noetix Platform) . . . . . . . . 16Determine SQL*Loader Version. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Install Data Mart (When Using Noetix Payroll) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

ii NoetixViews Administrator Guide

Chapter 3 Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Choose an Installation Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Load Installation Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Option 1: Install Using the NoetixViews Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Start the Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Stage 1: Create Noetix System Administration User Account . . . . . . .33Stage 2: Grant Limited Privileges to AOL Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Stage 3: Set Up Noetix System Administration User Account. . . . . . .40Stage 4: Generate Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Verify Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Generate Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Option 2: Install Using Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Transfer Script Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61Prepare Files and Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65Stage 1: Create Noetix System Administration User Account . . . . . . .65Stage 2: Grant Limited Privileges to AOL Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67Stage 3: Set Up Noetix System Administration User Account. . . . . . .67Stage 4: Generate Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68Verify Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76Generate Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Install Noetix AnswerPoint (When Using Noetix Platform) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82

Chapter 4 Query User Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94

About Assigning GL Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96Gather User Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98Create Noetix Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99Modify Noetix Users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113Delete Noetix Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121Update Reporting Tool or EUL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123Export Noetix Users to NQS (When Using Noetix Platform). . . . . . . . . . . . .124

Chapter 5 Administrative Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132NoetixViews Administrator Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Change Base Installation Directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133Explore from Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134Grant Select Any Table/Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135Override Oracle Tool Detection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136Enable/Disable Administrator Functionality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

Contents iii

Administrative Scripts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Run a Unix Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Run a SQL Script. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Available Unix Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Available SQL Scripts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Chapter 6 Regenerating NoetixViews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142Choosing a Regeneration Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Option 1: Regenerate Using the NoetixViews Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145Option 2: Regenerate Using Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Option 3: Regenerate Using a Scheduled Concurrent Manager Job . . . . . . . . 148

Initial Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Schedule the Regeneration in Concurrent Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157View Regeneration Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Edit or Delete a Regeneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Option 4: Regenerate Using a Scheduled Cron Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Initial Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Schedule the Regeneration in Cron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168View Regeneration Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172Edit or Delete a Regeneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Post-Regeneration Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Regenerate Noetix AnswerPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Regenerate Noetix EUL Generator / Refresh Query Tool . . . . . . . . 186

Regenerate Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186Option 1: Regenerate Help Using the NoetixViews Administrator . 187Option 2: Regenerate Help Using Scripts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Option 3: Regenerate Help Using a Scheduled Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Chapter 7 Upgrading NoetixViews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200Choosing an Upgrade Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201Option 1: Upgrade Using the NoetixViews Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201Option 2: Upgrade Using Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

iv NoetixViews Administrator Guide

Appendix A Module-Specific Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208

About Cross Operations Extension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208Installing XOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209Issues for Using XOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209Number of XOP Roles and Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213Using NoetixViews GL Security Setup with XOP GL Roles. . . . . . .214

NoetixViews for General Ledger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215General Ledger Data Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215Archived Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217General Ledger Summarized Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218

NoetixViews for Human Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219Human Resources Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219Oracle Security Profiles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223Special Information Type Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228Extra Information Type Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230DateTracked History Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231Benefit Classification Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231Flexfield Assumptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232Default Hours for Salary Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232Setup Business Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233Optional Views and Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233Performance-Related Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233

NoetixViews for Payroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235About the Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235About the Data Mart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236Pre-Installation Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237Maintenance Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242

Appendix B Legal Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245Third-Party License Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253

Preface

This preface is an introduction to the NoetixViews Administrator Guide. It discusses the guide’s content and assumptions, as well as how to contact Noetix Corporation.

vi NoetixViews Administrator Guide

About This GuideThe NoetixViews Administrator Guide provides administrators of NoetixViews with complete installation instructions, as well as a general reference for managing and optimizing the product within an enterprise.

This guide assumes that NoetixViews has been purchased from Noetix Corporation and that the reader is primarily responsible for the NoetixViews installation and maintenance tasks. This guide also requires a general knowledge of the system environment, client/server architecture, Oracle database, Oracle Applications configuration, and using common graphical user interfaces.

This guide also assumes that readers have a basic knowledge of any query tools they may use to access NoetixViews.

An electronic copy of this guide can be found on the product CD. Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader 4.0 or higher is required to use the electronic guide. You can install Acrobat Reader free from the product CD.

We welcome your input on the quality, accuracy, and usefulness of this document. Please send your comments and suggestions to Noetix Technical Support.

Noetix SupportThe Noetix Support Web site is available if you have any questions or encounter a problem during installation or operation of your Noetix software. Navigate to support.noetix.com. This site is updated regularly with the latest information on Noetix products.

Chapter 1

AboutNoetixViews

This chapter provides an overview of the concepts and components of NoetixViews and the optional NoetixViews extension products.

2 NoetixViews Administrator Guide

OverviewNoetixViews unlocks the data hidden in corporate databases by providing user-friendly, plug-and-play business views of Oracle Applications data, helping speed the flow of information throughout the enterprise. Customized to each unique database configuration, the automated install process is a snap – cutting weeks off typical custom installations. NoetixViews provides the fast track to delivering familiar business terminology right to employees, partners, and customers.

By hiding complexity within metadata, NoetixViews simplifies and greatly accelerates report generation and ad hoc query creation, empowering decision makers and front-line employees with timely and accurate access to critical information. Designed with integration in mind, NoetixViews is built on an open architecture platform, extending the power of NoetixViews information to a myriad of third-party reporting and analytical tools.

Benefits of NoetixViews include:• Quick implementation – In as few as two days, NoetixViews can be up and

running, delivering timely and accurate access to critical information.

• Automatic upgrade protection – NoetixViews shields established queries from data structure changes common to upgrade releases.

• Comprehensive documentation – NoetixViews comes complete with a comprehensive Help System and documentation, providing valuable references to speed report development and generation.

• Automatic customized install – Custom business views simplify data access, yielding immediate return on investment.

Chapter 1: About NoetixViews 3

NoetixViews BasicsThis section explains general features and components of NoetixViews, as well as concepts like Roles and security. Being familiar with these terms will assist you in installing and maintaining NoetixViews. An expanded introduction to views, Roles, and using NoetixViews can be found in your NoetixViews User Guide.

NoetixViews AdministratorThe NoetixViews Administrator is a Windows-based application that allows you to complete a full installation of NoetixViews from a client-side PC. A series of installation wizards guides you through the installation process, from creating a NoetixViews administrator account to generating the customized views for your site.

The NoetixViews Administrator is also used for maintenance tasks, such as setting up query users, regenerating views, and generating the Help System.

Chapter 5: “Administrative Tools” provides more information about the NoetixViews Administrator.

NoetixViews Help SystemThe NoetixViews Help System provides the user a way to look up information pertaining to a specific view or column. The Help System enables a user to locate a NoetixViews topic (e.g., Role, view, column, or query construction) in the most efficient and convenient way possible.

The NoetixViews Help System is available in several formats, including Microsoft Windows and HTML formats.

Chapter 2: “Pre-Installation Considerations” and Chapter 3: “Installation” provide more information about the NoetixViews Help System.


Noetix UsersNoetix Users are database or Oracle Applications user accounts granted access to a set of NoetixViews. Noetix Users can be set up after completing the installation process.

The Noetix System Administration User creates a Noetix User by selecting a database user (or, with DBA privileges, creating a new one) and granting this user a set of NoetixViews Roles appropriate for the user’s security level and information access needs. After this setup, this database user is considered a Noetix Query User.

Users can also be set up to take advantage of Oracle Applications Gateway (Apps-mode) security. In this case, Oracle Applications users and/or responsibilities are set up in NoetixViews with access to the appropriate Roles.

User ProfilesTo optimize system resources and reduce the possibility of “runaway queries,” Oracle provides resource limits. Resource limits control the following four variables:

• A user’s CPU usage and disk I/O• The number of sessions per user• The maximum connect time• The amount of memory used by a multi-threaded server session

You can use the Create Profile dialog of SQL*DBA to create or modify a user profile. For more information on user profiles, refer to Oracle’s Server Administrator’s Guide and SQL Language Reference Manual.

Chapter 4: “Query User Management” provides more information about query users.


NoetixViews RolesNoetixViews Roles are assigned to Noetix Users to both provide and restrict access to data held in Oracle Applications. Each Role grants access to a set of views. Roles are usually created according to the level of granularity inherent in a specific Oracle Application.

The concept of a Role is an Oracle database feature. Noetix Users granted a Role automatically have access to all the views assigned to that Role. Roles are assigned to Noetix Users after installation. Chapter 4: “Query User Management” provides more information about Roles.

General Ledger SecurityWhen a Noetix User requires access to secure Oracle General Ledger data, you can use the NoetixViews Administrator to assign the proper GL security.

Oracle GL security rules control access to transactions or balances in General Ledger. These security rules should be predetermined by the Oracle Applications Administrator before assigning them to Noetix users in the NoetixViews Administrator.

NoetixViews users can be quickly set up to have no access or full access to secure GL data in views they have permission to use, or to allow the responsibility a user logs in with to determine what secure data is returned. Users can also be given custom access and assigned security rules for each Chart of Accounts/Set of Books. A user can be assigned any valid security rule, regardless of what Roles (if any) they have been assigned.

If you add a security rule in Oracle Applications to a new segment of the Accounting flexfield or create a new Set of Books, the views must be regenerated before they will incorporate the changes. With any change or addition to security rules in Oracle Applications, you should review and update users’ access to GL data in NoetixViews.

Chapter 4: “Query User Management” and “NoetixViews for General Ledger” on page 215 provide more information about GL security.


Multi-CurrencyOracle Applications allows users to work with currency amounts in either base or foreign currency units. Additional functionality has been built into both the views and the NoetixViews Help System to enable you to easily select your Oracle Applications data using foreign and base currency units.

NoetixViews is installed with the ability to reflect the use of more than one currency in your applications configuration. In Oracle General Ledger, each Set of Books is defined with a single base currency unit. Individual transactions can be entered in any currency unit (that is, a currency different from the base currency for each Set of Books).

When querying data from NoetixViews, use the Currency_Code column to select the base or foreign currency in which you would prefer to view your data.

Noetix AnswerPointNoetix AnswerPoint immediately enhances NoetixViews by providing instant answers to common business questions without complicated query development. Noetix AnswerPoint uses the access and translation capability of installed Noetix products to deliver custom answers without the need to define data locations or write query code.

Available for each NoetixViews module, Noetix AnswerPoint enables the power within the Noetix metadata to automatically map and create application-specific queries customized to each unique application configuration. With Noetix AnswerPoint, Noetix delivers more than business views – it provides instant access to business information without taxing IT resources.

Noetix AnswerPoint requires the purchase of Noetix Query Server and Noetix Web Query. More information about Noetix AnswerPoint can be found in the Noetix Enterprise Technology Suite documentation.


NoetixViews ExtensionsNoetix also offers add-on products to extend the capabilities of NoetixViews for certain enterprises.

NoetixViews Cross Operations ExtensionNoetixViews Cross Operations Extension (XOP) provides views allowing the user to span data across your company’s business organization. During a standard installation, the NoetixViews installer creates a complete set of views for each Set of Books, Operating Unit, and Organization detected in your Oracle configuration. With Cross Operations Extension, additional views are generated to return data spanning Sets of Books, Operating Units, and Inventory/Manufacturing Organizations within one Chart of Accounts.

NoetixViews XOP is a product enhancement and must be purchased in order to be installed at your site.

For more information about Cross Operations Extension, see “NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension” on page 208.

Noetix EUL GeneratorThe Noetix EUL Generator gives Oracle Discoverer users the ability to view NoetixViews generated from your Oracle Database. The Noetix EUL Generator extracts business information from NoetixViews and generates Business Areas in the End User Layer.

The Noetix EUL Generator Administrator Guide provides more information about the Noetix EUL Generator.

Chapter 2

Pre-InstallationConsiderations

The Pre-Installation Considerations chapter explains important installation concepts and requirements, as well as information you will need to have on hand during installation.


OverviewThe scalability and open architecture of NoetixViews provide flexibility in how you install and use NoetixViews within your Oracle Applications environment. Because components of the product are customized for your business environment, an understanding of basic installation concepts will help you to maximize the effectiveness of NoetixViews within your organization.

We recommend you familiarize yourself with the system requirements and additional pre-installation considerations in this chapter before beginning the installation process. Each task involves gathering and preparing information or making decisions for a system installation.

This chapter will help you accomplish the following pre-installation tasks:

Confirm system requirements are met. Back up Oracle Applications. Obtain account information. Create tablespace for the installation. Decide on a user name and password for the Noetix System Administration User. Name Role prefixes. Determine which NoetixViews Help formats should be generated. Choose user management options (when using the Noetix Platform). Determine which SQL*Loader version is required. Install the Noetix Payroll Data Mart (when using NoetixViews for Payroll)

Chapter 2: Pre-Installation Considerations 11

Review System RequirementsThe NoetixViews system requirements can be found in the release documentation included on the product CD. These requirements will vary depending on the version of NoetixViews you are installing. Before beginning an installation, ensure your systems meet the minimum requirements for hard-drive space, memory, operating systems, and application versions.

Back Up Oracle ApplicationsAs a standard precaution, you may wish to back up your Oracle Applications before installing any NoetixViews components. It is also recommended to install NoetixViews into a non-production environment before rolling out to production.

Obtain Account InformationPrior to installation, you must obtain the following account information:

• The user name and password of an Oracle database user with DBA privileges (i.e., “system”). This account information is necessary to create the Noetix System Administration User during the installation process.

• The user name and password of all Oracle Applications “APPS” user accounts. This information is necessary to grant limited AOL access privileges to the Noetix System Administration User for the installation process.

• The Noetix Query Server Hub name, as well as the system administrator user name and password, if you have purchased and plan to install Noetix AnswerPoint. This information is necessary to install Noetix AnswerPoint and export query user information from NoetixViews to Noetix Query Server.


Create TablespaceThe database tablespace size you will need depends on your Oracle Applications environment and the number of NoetixViews modules to be installed. This tablespace amount is usually between 50 MB and 150 MB, but some installations may require up to 1 GB or more. The amount of tablespace required depends on the particular environment and configuration, including how many Sets of Books, Operating Units, Inventory Organizations, and modules you have. Estimate your tablespace generously for planning purposes and monitor it during the installation. The tablespace can be increased during installation with no adverse effects.

When creating your tablespace, we recommend you use the locally managed tablespace option, available in Oracle database versions 8i and above.

Decide on Noetix System Administration User Name

A user name and password must be decided for the Noetix System Administration User. This database user (“Noetix_Sys” by default) will have administrative privileges and “own” the NoetixViews views. In order to maintain appropriate levels of security, the password should not be similar to the user name.

If you are installing on more than one database instance, you can use the same Oracle user name for the Noetix System Administration User in each instance. If you have several installations of Oracle Applications within one instance, you must use different names for each Noetix System Administration User.


Name Role PrefixesAll NoetixViews view names include both a prefix and a business name. The prefix identifies the Role a view is created under, and all views within a Role have the same prefix. The prefix created for each Role must be unique, even if the business name is not. This guarantees the uniqueness of every view name.

A Role prefix provides a meaningful label for a view, helping to identify the Set of Books, Operating Unit, or Inventory Organization related to the Role and the view. The prefix name can also identify the Role and view as one belonging to NoetixViews in the database.

During an installation, NoetixViews generates default Role prefix names that are the application label and a number (e.g., AP1). While you can use these default names, these are not user-friendly and should be changed. You will be prompted to edit these prefixes.

WARNING: Role prefixes should not be changed after your initial installation. It is highly recommended you determine a naming convention for Role prefixes and change them during the initial installation.

Role Prefix Naming ConventionsTo customize Role prefixes during installation, you will need to determine a five-character naming convention for each Applications module, Set of Books, Operating Unit, and Manufacturing/Inventory Organization within your environment. If you have purchased the NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension, determine how you will distinguish Roles for XOP views using Role prefixes.

Prefixes are usually created using an abbreviation for the Oracle Applications module for which the Role was created and a meaningful label for each operational area depending on the module. For example, if a Role is granted access to a set of books’ General Ledger module for U.S. operations, the prefix for this Role becomes “USGL”. Subsequently, all views accessible from this Role will be labeled with a prefix of USGL.


NOTE: The Role prefix should be created with the abbreviation for the Set of Books before the abbreviation for the application (e.g., USGL instead of GLUS). This way, a wildcard search performed on all objects beginning with the NoetixViews prefix segment US (US%) will pull up objects related to your NoetixViews configuration, whereas a search performed on all objects beginning with the NoetixViews prefix segment GL (GL%) will pull up all objects related to the GL Application and prefixed with GL.

The prefix name can also identify the Role and view as one belonging to NoetixViews in the database. If you are aware of other similarly named objects existing in the database, you may want to include the letter “N” in the prefix to distinguish NoetixViews views and Roles from Oracle’s views and Roles residing in the database.

Guidelines for creating Role prefixes:• The first character must be an uppercase letter (A to Z).• English letters (A to Z), numbers (0 to 9), and the underscore (_) can be used in

prefixes. However, the last character cannot be an underscore.• Up to five characters may be used in a prefix for identification of modules, Sets of

Books, operating units, and inventory organizations.• Special or multi-byte characters cannot be used in prefixes.• The prefix for each database role listed in the role prefix screen must be unique.

Duplicate prefixes are not permitted.• Prefixes cannot be left blank.

If these guidelines are not adhered to when prefixes are created, the installer will generate an error.

If you have only one Set of Books, Inventory Organization, or business group, the default prefix becomes the application label (e.g., GL_Chart_Of_Accounts). In this case, you may want to associate the view with NoetixViews by adding the letter “N” (e.g., N_GL).

If you have any questions regarding Role prefixes after the installation is complete, the NoetixViews Help System displays the Roles for your environment.


Choose Help Formats to Generate

The NoetixViews Help System provides the user a way to look up information pertaining to a specific view or column. The Help System enables a user to locate a NoetixViews topic (e.g., Role, view, column, or query construction) in the most efficient and convenient way possible.

The NoetixViews Help System is available in four formats that can be generated during or after installation. You can choose to generate any combination of the following formats:

• Microsoft Windows Help Format – The NoetixViews Help System for Microsoft Windows generates a file containing all information available concerning your installation and includes search capabilities. Users will find this Help format similar to that found in many desktop applications. This Help format is appropriate for environments running Microsoft Windows or Windows NT.

• HTML Help Format – The HTML (Web) Help format generates a set of HTML files that can be moved to a Web server and accessed through a Web browser. This help format is appropriate for environments that use an intranet for access to Oracle Applications data and internal networking.

• Oracle Applications Screens Help Format – The Oracle Applications Screens Help format inserts AOL Help text into the Application Object Library tables for each application screen that contains information accessible through a view in NoetixViews. This type of Help is only available for character-mode applications and is appropriate for users that use the Oracle Applications screens. This Help format is not available for Oracle 11 or later.

NOTE: The option to install help for the Oracle Applications screens inserts data into the Oracle table FND_HELP. This type of database change is not supported by Oracle Corporation under your Oracle Applications support contract. If you have further questions regarding using Oracle Applications Screens Help, contact Noetix Technical Support.

• Query Tool Help Format – The Query Tool Help format generates comments for each NoetixViews view and column. Many query tools allow you to access these


comments when you are building a query. Views are also created that allow a user to query the Help information, which is helpful when using a query tool that does not directly support comments.

Choose User Management Options (When Using Noetix Platform)

If you have purchased Noetix AnswerPoint, a component of the Noetix Platform, you will be prompted during installation to select a “User Management Option.” This allows you to determine how users should be created or updated in Noetix Query Server (NQS) and Noetix Web Query (NWQ) when duplicate users are found. “Duplicate users” are determined by the same user name — for instance, more than one “jjones” user name. (The full names are not taken into account, which means if “Jack Jones” has an account as “jjones” and also as “jackj,” the AnswerPoint Generator process will not recognize these as belonging to the same person. The passwords also are not compared.)

Users are commonly duplicated if you:• Generate different instances of NoetixViews into the same NQS Hub (for

example, test and production instances).

• Install NoetixViews for both Oracle Applications and Siebel eBusiness Applications.

• Import user accounts from more than one enterprise source (for example, you import users from a network directory and also run the AnswerPoint Generator process).

When installing Noetix AnswerPoint initially, you will select a strategy for managing these duplicate users. Each strategy attempts to resolve the issue by merging information from the new account (the account that the system is trying to create) into the existing account in NQS. In no case will a new account be created if an existing account has that exact user name. The three user management strategies vary in what properties are compared between the duplicate users and whether the authentication path of the existing user is updated when merging.


The strategy you choose for managing these duplicate users will be applied to all subsequent regenerations of Noetix AnswerPoint, so you will not be prompted for this choice in the future. To change your strategy in the future, you will need to perform a new generation with a new top-level name.

There are three main strategies that can be used when duplicate users are found:

Merge equivalent users only – When duplicate users are found, this strategy will compare the following properties of the two duplicate users:

• User name• Authentication path• Authentication connection

If these properties all match exactly, the AnswerPoint Generator will update the existing user account with any new information (for example, additional Roles or permissions) from the user account it is attempting to create.

If these properties do not match exactly, the AnswerPoint Generator will log a warning and NOT create the new user. The existing user account will remain unchanged.

This option is most useful when multiple systems or instances contain user accounts with the same user name, but that actually belong to different individuals. For example, Jack Jones is “jjones” in Oracle Applications, but Jane Jones is “jjones” in Siebel eBusiness Applications. Using this option, these two user accounts would NOT be merged; the new user would not be created and a warning would be logged.

Merge the new user’s security into the existing user (recommended) – When duplicate users are found, this strategy will compare the user name ONLY of any duplicate users. When the user name matches, the AnswerPoint Generator will update the existing user account with any new information (for example, additional Roles or permissions, or a different first and last name) from the account it is trying to create.

If this new user account uses Apps-mode security but the existing account does not, the existing account will be updated to become an Apps-mode user. However, if the new user account simply has a different authentication path, the authentication path of the existing user will NOT be changed; the existing authentication path will remain unchanged.

When using this option, it is very important to ensure that user accounts with the same user name in different systems also have exactly the same password.


NOTE: Take care when using this option when users set up with Apps-mode security in different instances may be picked up by the AnswerPoint Generator. There is no guarantee that the responsibility lists will be the same in the system the user is querying and the system the user is authenticated against, unless you manually keep these responsibility lists in synch.

Merge security and redirect authentication – This strategy behaves almost exactly like the “Merge the new user’s security into the existing user” strategy. However, if the new user account has a different authentication path, the existing user’s authentication WILL be changed; the new user’s authentication path will be used.

This strategy is recommended when you install NoetixViews for multiple applications (Oracle Applications and Siebel eBusiness Applications) IF in your enterprise, Oracle Applications tends to be the dominant application for any users who may use both.

When using this option, it is very important to ensure that user accounts with the same user name in different systems also have exactly the same password.

NOTE: Take care when using this option when users set up with Apps-mode security in different instances may be picked up by the AnswerPoint Generator. There is no guarantee that the responsibility lists will be the same in the system the user is querying and the system the user is authenticated against, unless you manually keep these responsibility lists in synch.

Prefix User NamesThe prefix user name option allows you to manually separate the accounts created by the AnswerPoint Generator from other existing users by prefixing each user name with a prefix you choose. When you choose to add a prefix, the AnswerPoint Generator will first add the prefix to each user name, then compare it with existing accounts. If any user names are still duplicates, it will then use the merge option you chose above. Prefixes will be added to ALL users, not just duplicate users.

NOTE: If you choose a prefix carefully and ensure that within NQS/NWQ, no existing user accounts are found with that prefix, this will allow you to ensure your newly created users are unique. There will then be nothing to “merge,” as duplicate users should not be found. This is a manual step — you will need to take care in creating future users in NQS, as well, to maintain unique accounts.

Guidelines for creating user name prefixes:• Must be 8 characters or less.• Can include letters, numbers, and/or underscores (_).• Must start with a letter.


If you choose to add a prefix, you must inform users to log in with that prefix plus their existing user name. For example, if the prefix you choose is “dev_”, and “jjones” logs in, he will log in as “dev_jjones”.

Noetix Consulting or Technical Support can help you determine the best strategy for managing different NoetixViews instances or applications in your enterprise.

Determine SQL*Loader VersionNOTE: This step applies to client-based installations only.

SQL*Loader has been released in several versions; however, not each version will be compatible with the version of Oracle that you are running. Running the incorrect version of SQL*Loader or working in the incorrect Oracle Home has been known to generate installation errors in NoetixViews.

After the NoetixViews Administrator software has been loaded but before the installation process begins, confirm that the version of SQL*Loader installed in the current Oracle Home is correct for your installation. Noetix recommends using the same SQL*Loader version as the Oracle database release you are running. For example, if you are running Oracle database release 7.3.x, you would use version 7.3.x of SQL*Loader.


The following chart gives more details on which versions of these products are compatible:

NOTE: The symbol denotes the version of SQL*Loader indicated is compatible with the Oracle Database version it intersects.

WARNING: SQL*Loader 8.0.x does not operate correctly under Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4. The SQL*Loader process appears to hang after loading each *.dat file. If this situation occurs, you can terminate the sqlldr80.exe process in the task manager. You must do this for each *.dat file. To ensure compatibility with the database, we recommend you install SQL*Loader 7.3.4 or 8.1.x and higher. Then force the NoetixViews Administrator to override the Oracle tools detection by selecting the “Tools” -> “Override Oracle Tool Detection ...” utility and choosing the appropriate version of SQL*Loader.

To confirm that your version of SQL*Loader is correct:1. Follow the instructions to “Load the NoetixViews Installation Software” in

Chapter 3.

2. Open the NoetixViews Administrator. To do this, from the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –> NoetixViews Administrator. The welcome screen will display.

3. The welcome screen prompts you to create a new account or connect to an existing account. Click “Cancel” instead; you will be able to use the NoetixViews Administrator features that do not require you to be logged in.

Oracle Database Version

SQL*Loader 7.3 8.0.x 8.1.x 9.0.x 9.2.x 10.x

7.3.4

8.0.x

8.1.x

9.0.x

9.2.0

10.x


4. From the NoetixViews Administrator toolbar, select the Help –> About… menu option. This displays the Oracle Database version, the SQL*Loader version number, and the Oracle Bin Directory.

5. Compare your Oracle tool versions against the matrix above. You can use the Override Oracle Tool Detection tool in the NoetixViews Administrator to change which SQL*Loader version is detected. See “Override Oracle Tool Detection” on page 136 for more details.

Install Data Mart (When Using Noetix Payroll)

The NoetixViews for Oracle Payroll module includes the Noetix Payroll Data Mart, which computes and saves balances for every assignment per payroll run. When the Payroll module is purchased, a Datamart/Payroll directory is included on your installation CD, containing all the scripts you will need in order to install the data mart. The data mart must be installed before installing or upgrading your NoetixViews software.

For instructions, please see “NoetixViews for Payroll” on page 235.

Chapter 3

Installation

The Installation chapter describes each step of the NoetixViews installation process. Instructions for the NoetixViews installation are provided along with explanations of installation concepts.


OverviewTo install NoetixViews for Oracle Applications, we recommend following the steps listed in this chapter. Please ensure you have read and performed the pre-installation steps in Chapter 2: “Pre-Installation Considerations” before beginning the installation process. You will also need to read the release notes on your product CD for known issues and system requirements before you begin.

If you are upgrading from one version of NoetixViews to another, please refer to Chapter 7: “Upgrading NoetixViews” for instructions.

Two installation methods are available for installing NoetixViews. The following section lists considerations in choosing a method.

Choose an Installation MethodDepending on your preferences and the platform in which you are operating, you may install NoetixViews using either the installation wizard in the NoetixViews Administrator or SQL scripts.

Consider requirements such as the following when making your choice:

• How familiar are you with NoetixViews installations? If you are installing NoetixViews for the first time, the NoetixViews Administrator-based installation provides more information about the prompts asked during the process and the effects of your choices.

• What environment or machine do you currently use for administrative tasks? If you use Windows or Unix for other administrative tasks, you may wish to use a similar process for installing NoetixViews.

Chapter 3: Installation 25

The following table lists additional considerations for each installation method.

Step-by-step instructions to install using the NoetixViews Administrator start on page 30.

Step-by-step instructions to install using scripts start on page 60.

Comparing Installation Methods

FeaturesNoetixViews

AdministratorScripts

Runs on Windows?

Runs on Unix/Linux?

Supports changing Role prefixes during installation?

Can automatically compile Windows Help System

format?

Includes online help for each screen/prompt?


Load Installation SoftwareThis step installs the NoetixViews Administrator application, installation scripts, and other necessary files. These components should be installed on an administrator’s machine running Microsoft Windows.

To load the installation software:1. Insert the NoetixViews CD into the CD-ROM drive. The NoetixViews

installation process will auto-start and the installation screen will display.

NOTE: If the NoetixViews splash screen does not appear:

1. From the “Start” button, select “Run.”

2. Type d:\setup.exe into the “Open” field (where “d” is the letter of your CD-ROM drive). Click “OK.”

2. From the installation screen, click the button next to “NoetixViews Administrator.”

3. The “Welcome” dialog box will appear. Review the information, then click “Next” to continue.


4. The “License Agreement” box displays next. Click “Yes” to accept the licensing agreement.

5. The “Choose Destination Location” dialog box will appear. To change the destination directory, click “Browse,” then navigate to the desired directory. Confirm the destination path and click “Next.”


6. The “Select Components” dialog box will appear. To change which components will be installed, click the checkboxes to select the components you wish to install. Click “Next” to continue.

7. The “Select Program Folder” dialog box will appear. Confirm that the Program Folder is “NoetixViews Administrator” and click “Next.”


8. The “Start Copying Files” dialog box will appear. Confirm the settings and click “Next” to continue.

9. The “Setup Complete” dialog box will appear. During installation, the NoetixViews Administrator installer may need to replace certain operating system libraries. This process may require you to reboot your computer. If prompted, select “Yes, I want to restart my computer now,” then click “Finish.”


Option 1: Install Using the NoetixViews Administrator

NoetixViews can be installed from a client PC using the NoetixViews Administrator. This installation method involves installing the NoetixViews Administrator application on a Windows-based client machine and performing the installation using a series of wizards.

Before installing NoetixViews you must complete the pre-installation tasks listed in Chapter 2: “Pre-Installation Considerations”.

The NoetixViews installation comprises the following:

Installation Preparations• Complete pre-installation tasks• Load NoetixViews installation software

Installation Phases• Stage 1: Create Noetix System Administration User account• Stage 2: Grant limited privileges to the Application Object Library (AOL) tables

to the Noetix System Administration User• Stage 3: Set up the Noetix System Administration User• Stage 4: Generate NoetixViews• Install Noetix AnswerPoint Builder (when using the Noetix Platform)• Generate Help System• Verify installation

Installation Administration• Publish NoetixViews Help (optional)• Grant access to NoetixViews to Noetix Query Users• Configure reporting tool or install Noetix EUL Generator


Start the Application1. From the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –>

NoetixViews Administrator. The NoetixViews Administrator welcome screen will display.

This dialog displays two options: “Create a new Noetix System Administration User Account” or “Connect to an Existing Noetix System Administration User Account.” To install NoetixViews for the first time, choose “Create a new Noetix System Administration User Account.”

NOTE: When you use the NoetixViews Administrator after installation for maintenance tasks, or to perform a regeneration or upgrade, you will choose “Connect to an Existing Noetix System Administration User Account.”

Click “OK” to continue.

2. This connects you to the NoetixViews Administrator. The application’s main window will display behind the installation wizard dialogs and allow you to view any messages the wizard outputs. It provides the tools necessary to administer NoetixViews installations and perform maintenance duties. These tools include shortcuts to each installation stage, connections to related applications, and utilities that perform related installation tasks. See Chapter 5: “Administrative Tools” for more information on the NoetixViews Administrator.


Stopping and Resuming an InstallationDuring installation, you may encounter an error or discover you need to gather additional information before continuing. If this happens, you can safely break out of the installation wizards prior to completing the installation.

To resume an installation:• If you are logged in to the NoetixViews Administrator – From the NoetixViews

Administrator menu, select Tools –> Installation Stages, then the desired installation stage, or click the toolbar button numbered with the installation stage you must complete.

• If you are not logged in to the NoetixViews Administrator – Log into the NoetixViews Administrator as the Noetix System Administration User who began the installation. The software will detect which installation stages are incomplete and will prompt you to connect to the next stage. For example, if you halt installation and exit the program after Stage 3 finishes, upon re-entering, you will be presented with the following dialog box, allowing you to automatically connect to the next wizard for your installation:

When an installation process is running, script output is displayed in the NoetixViews Administrator main screen. To print a copy of this output, simply cancel out of the current wizard window and right-click on this text area. Select either “View in Notepad” to view the output as a text file, or “Save As” to save the output as a text file to view at a later time. Use the instructions above to resume the installation.


Stage 1: Create Noetix System Administration User AccountTo begin Stage 1 of the installation process:1. If you chose to “Create a new Noetix System Administration User Account,” the

“Welcome” screen of the Stage 1 wizard displays. The Stage 1 wizard performs all of the tasks necessary to create a new Noetix System Administration User account. This account owns all the tables and procedures used during the installation process, and also the resulting views.

To connect to this wizard from the main window of the NoetixViews Administrator, click the button labeled “1” on the toolbar.

Click “Next” to continue.


2. The “Database User” screen prompts you to provide information about a database user with DBA privileges. This information was collected in the pre-installation stage. In the appropriate text areas, type the user name and password of a database user with DBA privileges. Then type or use the pull-down menu to identify the database where the database user resides. Click “Next” to continue.

3. The “Define User Account” screen prompts you to enter a user name and password for the Noetix System Administration User account. Choose a meaningful name that identifies the user account specifically for NoetixViews. The default user name is “NOETIX_SYS.” Click “Next” to continue.


4. The “Select Any Table/Dictionary” screen allows you to permanently grant the “select any table” privilege and/or the “select any dictionary” privilege to the Noetix System Administration User account. These privileges are usually granted and allow the database user access to a number of database tables.

To grant these privileges (recommended), select “Yes.” To deny these privileges, select “No.” Click “Next” to continue.

NOTE: The “select any dictionary” privilege is applicable to Oracle Server 9i and above only.


5. The “Tablespace Storage” window identifies the tablespace storage locations for the objects owned by the Noetix System Administration User. For the default tablespace, click the pull-down arrow of the associated menu and select the tablespace name chosen during the pre-installation steps. Repeat for the temporary tablespace.

NOTE: The size next to the tablespace name indicates the amount of space available in each tablespace but is not guaranteeing that enough space is available to complete the install. This is manually confirmed during the pre-installation steps.

Temporary tablespace is handled differently in Oracle 8i and higher. Your temporary tablespace will display as having “0 MB” free, regardless of how much tablespace you actually have available.



6. The “Base Installation Directory” screen allows you to choose a default path for the Noetix System Administrator base installation directory. To change the location of the default path for the Noetix System Administrator base installation directory, click the open folder icon located to the right of “Base Directory.” The “Browse for Folder” window appears, allowing you to change the directory location.


7. The “Finish” screen displays. If you wish to go to the next step of the installation after Stage 1 completes, select “Yes.” Click “Finish.”


8. The Stage 1 wizard will run. You will be notified when the stage successfully completes.

Stage 2: Grant Limited Privileges to AOL DataTo begin Stage 2 of the installation process:1. If you chose to continue after Stage 1, the Stage 2 wizard will launch

automatically. This wizard performs the steps to grant the Noetix System Administration User select access to the Application Object Library tables.

To connect to this wizard from the main window of the NoetixViews Administrator, click the button labeled “2” on the toolbar.



2. The “AOL Owner” window prompts you for login information for the Oracle Applications “APPS” user in order to grant access to the necessary AOL objects. This password should have been gathered during the pre-installation tasks. Type the user name and password of the APPS user. The database where this user is defined will be defaulted in the TNS Name field. Click “Next” to continue.

NOTE: An Oracle Applications AOL (APPLSYS) user account can be entered instead if you have run Stage 2 using APPLSYS in the past.

3. The “Finish” screen displays. If you wish to go to the next step of the installation after Stage 2 completes, select “Yes.” Click “Finish.”



Stage 3: Set Up Noetix System Administration User AccountTo begin Stage 3 of the installation process:1. If you chose to continue after Stage 2, the Stage 3 wizard will launch

automatically. Stage 3 of the installation process creates synonyms for the Noetix System Administration User to set up the account with the necessary tables and views.

To connect to this wizard from the main window of the NoetixViews Administrator, click the button labeled “3” on the toolbar. Click “Next” to continue.


2. The “APPS User” window prompts for a confirmation of the user name of the Oracle Applications “APPS” or “APPLSYS” user entered in the previous wizard. A default name will be presented and should be accurate. Click “Next” to continue.

If the default name is incorrect, cancel out of the wizard and confirm that you are running Stage 3 for the correct Noetix System Administration User account.

3. The “Finish” screen displays. Select “No” (which will allow you to verify status after Stage 3 completes, as recommended), then click “Finish.”



5. Verify the success of the installation thus far. Step-by-step instructions are listed in “Verify Installation” on page 56.

Stage 4: Generate ViewsTo begin Stage 4 of the installation process:1. If you chose to continue after Stage 3, the Stage 4 wizard will launch

automatically. Stage 4 of the installation process generates NoetixViews views, Noetix AnswerPoint, Help formats, and other optional NoetixViews features.

To connect to this wizard from the main window of the NoetixViews Administrator, click the button labeled “4” on the toolbar. Click “Next” to continue.


2. If you are installing NoetixViews into a Release 11 or newer Oracle Applications environment, the “Translation Language” screen displays, prompting for the translation language. If the default language is incorrect, from the drop-down menu, select the translation language you will be using in your implementation of NoetixViews. Click “Next” to continue.

NOTE: If some query users require a different translation language than chosen here, you can set this on a per-user basis after installation. See Chapter 4: “Query User Management” for more information.


3. (Optional) If you have purchased Noetix Platform, the “AnswerPoint Options” screen will display for installation of Noetix Answers. Select the check box to run AnswerPoint Builder. AnswerPoint Generator must be installed later, after the NoetixViews Integration component is selected during setup of the Noetix Platform. Refer to Chapter 3 in the Noetix Installation Guide for more details.

In the Install Options section of this screen, choose whether to review any warnings that may be generated during the installation process. Checking this box allows you to continue through installation regardless of warnings or errors. Leaving this box unchecked allows you to review any warnings and errors as they are generated before deciding to continue.

Please refer to the “Install Noetix AnswerPoint (When Using Noetix Platform)” on page 82 for more information.



4. The “Help Format” window prompts you to select the NoetixViews Help System format(s) to generate during the installation. Select the checkbox next to each help format you would like to generate. Click “Next” to continue.

NOTE: Help formats can also be generated after installation. See “Generate Help System” on page 57 for instructions.

The AOL Help option is only available for Oracle Applications 10.7.


5. If this is a regeneration of NoetixViews, the NoetixViews Administrator will detect the previous settings and give you the option to reuse them in the current generation. Settings include Role prefixes and Noetix Query Users. To use the existing settings from the database (recommended), select “Yes.”

Do not select “No” unless directed by Noetix Technical Support, or if you want to replace the Role prefixes and query users in the database with the ones saved in the tupdprfx.sql, tupdqu1.sql, and tupdqu2.sql files in the installation directory on your local machine.



6. The “Finish” screen displays. Click “Finish” to start generating NoetixViews.

After this screen, Stage 4 will begin. At certain points while processing (which may take awhile), the screens in the following sections will display. Stage 4 is NOT finished until you get a dialog box saying the stage is complete.

As the Stage 4 process runs, output messages will display in the NoetixViews Administrator window, behind the dialog boxes prompting you for additional information. You may create a copy of the messages appearing in the text area at any time. Right-click on the text area and select either “Save As” or “Copy” to convert or copy this text to a text file.

Get PasswordsDuring the Stage 4 installation process, the NoetixViews Administrator will need access to the database tables belonging to each of the Oracle Applications detected. You will be prompted for the Oracle Applications “APPS” user password, as well as others, to ensure the installation can access all necessary tables. This list depends on your Oracle environment and modules installed, and may vary between generations.

The “Get Passwords” Wizard will display requesting the necessary passwords. You should have gathered these passwords during the pre-installation steps outlined earlier in this guide.

NOTE: If you are regenerating views using the same *.dat files as in previous generations, the installation wizard may not need to prompt you for this information.


To grant the NoetixViews Administrator access to the Applications tables:1. When the Get Passwords wizard starts, a set of windows displays, prompting you

for the necessary passwords. For each window, enter the password for the indicated user, then click “Next” to continue.

After the password for each user is entered and validated, the wizard will close and the installation will continue.


Install Cross Operations Extension (Optional)If you purchased the NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension (XOP) views, you will be presented with the Cross Operations Configuration Wizard, prompting you to install Cross Operations Extension views. To install Cross Operations Extension views, check the box beside “Create cross operations extension views?” Click “Finish” to continue.

For additional information concerning Cross Operations Extension views, refer to “NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension” on page 208.

NOTE: If you select “Cancel” from this wizard, the installation process will stop. You must restart Stage 4 to complete the installation.


Generate Inventory Roles (Optional)If you are installing Inventory views and have more than one Inventory Organization, the Inventory Role Configuration Wizard will display, prompting you to choose your configuration options. These screens will give you the ability to create a set of views specific to each Inventory Organization (Organization-specific inventory) and/or a set of views that will access information from all Inventory Organizations (global inventory).

If you choose to install Inventory Organization-Specific Roles, the generation process will create a Role and a set of views for each Inventory Organization. When querying from these views, the Organization will be hard-coded into the view.

The Global Inventory Organization Role will allow you to report across all Inventory Organizations using one set of views. Creating a Global Inventory Role will save space, since only a single set of views is created no matter how many Inventory Organizations you have. A disadvantage of using Global Inventory Organization views is that your queries and reports will always span Organizations unless you specify an Organization name in your query. This may affect performance.

You can install both Inventory Organization-Specific Roles (1 per Inventory Organization) and the Global Inventory Organization Role (1 spanning all Inventory Organizations). At least one of these options must be selected during installation, if you are installing NoetixViews for Inventory.

If you have multiple item structures in your Oracle Inventory setup (due to multiple Master Inventory Organizations) and do not want to mix these structures together in a single view, then install NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension instead of the Global Inventory Organization Role. See “NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension” on page 208 for additional information.


To generate Inventory Roles:1. If you are installing Inventory views, the “Inventory Organization-Specific Roles”

window gives you the option of installing separate Inventory Organization Roles. To install separate Inventory Organization Roles, select the checkbox next to the option “Create separate roles for each inventory organization.” To choose not to create these Roles, leave this checkbox blank. Click “Next” to continue.


2. The “Global Inventory Organization Role” window gives you the option of creating a Global Inventory Organization Role that queries information across all Inventory Organizations. To create a Role that can view information across Inventory Organizations, select the checkbox next to the option “Create global inventory organization role?” To choose not to create this Role, leave this checkbox blank. Click “Next” to continue.

3. The “Finish” screen displays. To proceed with the installation of NoetixViews, click “Finish.”


Activate Multi-Currency Columns for Projects Views (Optional)During Stage 4 of the installation process, the NoetixViews Projects Multi-Currency Columns Configuration wizard will be displayed if the following conditions are met:

• Oracle Applications 11.5.8 or later has been detected.

• Oracle Projects has been installed.

• NoetixViews for Oracle Projects have been purchased.

If you use this wizard to activate multi-currency columns in your views, then:

• All summary views will have project functional currency values. (Summary views will have project functional currency values even if multi-currency columns are not activated.)

• All transactional views will have transaction-specific currency values, apart from project and project functional currency values.

• Information related to currency codes and exchange rates will be generated.

NOTE: If you use the multi-currency functionality of Oracle Projects at your site, you should activate multi-currency columns in your views. Otherwise, amount columns in your views will contain values in project functional currencies, and information related to currency codes and exchange rates will not be displayed.


To activate multi-currency columns:1. Select the “Add Projects Multi-currency Columns to Views” check box on the

wizard page, and click “Finish.”

NOTE: If you changed your choice to activate multi-currency columns since your last installation, the installer will display a warning. If you activated multi-currency columns earlier and choose not to now, then multi-currency columns will not be generated in your Projects views, and values in amount columns will be in project functional currencies. If you did not activate multi-currency columns earlier and choose to do so now, then additional columns will be present in your Projects views, and values in amount columns will be in transactional currencies. Reports based on these views will change in either situation. Therefore, preferably, once you decide to activate or not activate multi-currency columns, do not change your decision during a subsequent installation.

Edit Role PrefixesThe installation process will continue until it requires Role prefixes to be defined. The “Edit Role Prefix” window will then display, requiring you to create customized Role prefixes to identify each of your NoetixViews Roles. Please see“Guidelines for creating Role prefixes:” on page 14.

The “Edit Role Prefix” window displays the default prefix for each Role, the level in the organization hierarchy that the data accessible to the Role “rolls up” to (described as “Context”), and additional information such as Application and Set of Books. If Cross


Operations Extension views have been installed, these Roles can be identified by the preface “Cross Set of Books” in the Set of Books column.

NOTE: While you may accept the default Role prefixes, it is recommended that you choose prefixes that are more intuitive for users. It is recommended that separate names be given to the Role prefix and the Oracle table.

To change a Role prefix:1. Highlight the NoetixViews Role by clicking once. Then, either press the function

key “F2” or click again directly within the Role prefix. Modify the Role prefix as desired. Repeat this action for each prefix listed. After all prefixes have been altered, click “OK” to continue.

2. Verify you have finished editing your Role prefixes by clicking “Yes.” You may return to the previous screen by clicking “No.”


3. Stage 4 of the installation process is complete when the following dialog displays. Continue to the next section to check for errors.

Verify InstallationThe following instructions can be used after any installation stage or after all stages have been completed to verify the status of a NoetixViews installation. Verification involves checking installation progress, then running a process to check for any errors that may have occurred during the installation.

To verify the NoetixViews installation:1. From the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –>

NoetixViews Administrator.

2. In the NoetixViews Administrator main window, click the “Installation Status” button on the toolbar. The “Installation Status” window will display the status of each installation stage.


3. From the NoetixViews Administrator menu bar, select Tools –> Support –> Find Script Errors. An output of all files containing errors will be displayed in the text area of the NoetixViews Administrator window. This command will also create an error log called finderr.lst in your main installation directory. Each time you run this command, this log will be overwritten.

4. Contact Noetix Technical Support if any errors are found.

NOTE: The Installation Status window may display Stage 2 as “Completed” but may not list the completion time and date, as listed for the other completed installation stages. This occurs after performing a scripts-based installation. Be assured that the installation stage was successful if listed as “Completed,” regardless of whether the date is listed.

Generate Help SystemThe NoetixViews Help System can be generated when prompted during Stage 4 of installation or at any time after installing NoetixViews using the following instructions.

The NoetixViews Help System is available in four formats. Please refer to the pre-installation steps to determine which Help format(s) will be most beneficial for your enterprise.


To generate NoetixViews Help:1. From the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –>


2. From the NoetixViews Administrator menu bar, select Tools –> Generate Online Help and highlight the help format you wish to generate. To generate all available formats at once, select “Help Generation Wizard.”

3. The NoetixViews Administrator will perform the processes necessary to generate a Help System in the specified format.

The Oracle Applications Screens Help and Query Tool Help, if generated, will automatically be available to those with the applicable tools.

Additional steps are needed to allow users to access the Microsoft Windows and HTML Help formats, if generated. The following instructions explain how to locate these Help files and publish them to users.


Microsoft Windows Help FormatAfter the NoetixViews Help for Microsoft Windows has been generated, the “noetix.hlp” file will exist in the <BASE_INSTALL_DIR>\<ACCOUNT_TNS>\MsHelp directory, where <BASE_INSTALL_DIR> is the location where you installed the NoetixViews Administrator client software and <ACCOUNT_TNS> is the name of the Noetix System Administration User (usually Noetix_Sys) + _ + the TNS Name of the database instance on which the user resides.

EXAMPLE: C:\Program Files\Noetix Corporation\NoetixViews Administrator\Installs\ noetix_sys_dev.seattle\MsHelp

The noetix.hlp file will need to be moved to a shared server drive and a shortcut to the file placed on the desktop of each Noetix Query User’s machine.

HTML Help FormatAfter the NoetixViews HTML Help has been generated, the HTML files will exist in the <BASE_INSTALL_DIR>\<ACCOUNT_TNS>\htmlhelp\help directory, where <BASE_INSTALL_DIR> is the location where you installed the NoetixViews Administrator client software and <ACCOUNT_TNS> is the name of the Noetix System Administration User (usually Noetix_Sys) + _ + the TNS Name of the database instance on which the user resides.

EXAMPLE: C:\Program Files\Noetix Corporation\NoetixViews Administrator\Installs\ noetix_sys_dev.seattle\htmlhelp

Point your browser to “noetix.htm” within this directory to view the HTML Help. These HTML files will need to be published on a Web server and users notified of this location.


Option 2: Install Using ScriptsThe scripts-based installation involves installing NoetixViews by running scripts from SQL*Plus and provides a straightforward means of inputting information and making install decisions. A scripts-based installation may be preferable for large installations or certain Windows environments. Please see “Choose an Installation Method” on page 24 to determine the best installation method for your specific needs.

Some installation options are not available within the scripts-based installation. You will need to switch to a client machine and use the NoetixViews Administrator to perform certain steps. For your convenience, Windows-based wizards are available for some tasks involved with a scripts-based installation.

NOTE: Prior to performing a scripts-based installation, you must complete the pre-installation tasks listed in Chapter 2: “Pre-Installation Considerations”. To use the wizards, you must also complete the steps in “Load Installation Software” on page 26.

The NoetixViews installation comprises the following:

Installation Preparations• Complete pre-installation tasks• Load installation software (optional)

Installation Phases• Transfer script files• Prepare files and directory• Stage 1: Create Noetix System Administration User account• Stage 2: Grant limited privileges to the Application Object Library (AOL) tables

to the Noetix System Administration User• Stage 3: Set up the Noetix System Administration User• Stage 4: Generate NoetixViews• Install Noetix AnswerPoint Builder (when using the Noetix Platform)• Generate Help System• Verify installation

Installation Administration• Publish NoetixViews Help (optional)• Grant access to NoetixViews to Noetix Query Users• Configure reporting tool or install Noetix EUL Generator


Transfer Script FilesWhen you have installed the NoetixViews Administrator software on a Windows client machine, you can use the Noetix Script Copy Wizard to transfer via FTP (file transfer protocol) the necessary script files to the server on which you will perform the scripts-based installation. Step-by-step instructions are listed below for transferring the files using either the Script Copy Wizard or an FTP client of your choice.

To transfer scripts using the Script Copy Wizard:1. On the Unix server from which you wish to install NoetixViews, create a Noetix

installation directory. Under this directory, create a scripts sub-directory.

2. From the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –> Script Copy Wizard. The Script Copy Wizard start screen below will display. Click “Next” to begin the wizard.

NOTE: If you have not installed the NoetixViews software on a client machine, you can access and run the Script Copy Wizard from your NoetixViews CD.


3. The connection information window will prompt you to enter a user name, password, and URL for the network location of the server to which you would like to transfer the scripts. This will allow you to FTP the files to a location where they can be accessed for a scripts-based installation. Click “Next.”

4. In the installation directory window, enter the location of the scripts folder you created in Step 1. Click “Next” when you are finished.

NOTE: If you are installing NoetixViews on multiple databases, you must set up a separate directory for each database. Note these directory locations for reference.


5. The “Setup Completed” window allows you to confirm the information you have entered. Click “Finish” to transfer the files.

6. After the files have been transferred, the Script Copy Wizard Notes will display further installation instructions. Skip to “Prepare Files and Directory” on page 65 for the next step of installation.

Transfer Files Using FTP ClientAs an alternative to using the Script Copy Wizard, the scripts required for installation can be transferred to the appropriate server directory using whatever means you have available. If you have not installed the NoetixViews Administrator, you can get the scripts you need from the Master/Unix directory of your NoetixViews CD.

NOTE: The script files are in text format, meaning that lines are ended with both a carriage return and line feed pair, rather than just a line feed (as found in Unix). Whatever process you use to transfer the files must convert them to the correct format for the environment you are running the scripts from. Most FTP servers and clients will do this conversion when you transfer in ASCII mode.


To transfer scripts using an FTP client:NOTE: The instructions below are based on the Windows FTP client, but should be applicable to any FTP client.

1. On the Unix server from which you wish to install NoetixViews, create a Noetix installation directory. Under this directory, create a scripts sub-directory.

2. At a command prompt, change directories to locate the scripts directory at NvAdm\Master\Unix.

3. Type FTP server_name <ENTER> (where server_name is the IP address or name of your server).

4. Enter the user name and password when prompted.

5. Change directories to the directory you created in Step 1.

6. Type ascii <ENTER>. This will put you in ASCII transfer mode.

7. Type put setup.sh <ENTER>. This will transfer the setup files from your current local directory (the CD scripts directory) to the directory you changed to on the server.

8. Type binary <ENTER>. This will put you in binary transfer mode.

9. Type prompt <ENTER>. This turns off interactive mode so you are not prompted to transfer every file.

10. Type mput *.Z <ENTER>. This will transfer the compressed .Z files from your current local directory (the CD scripts directory) to the directory you changed to on the server.

11. When the transfer is finished, type bye <ENTER>. This will close the FTP client. See “Prepare Files and Directory” on page 65. for the next step of installation.


Prepare Files and DirectoryAfter transferring the script files to a Unix system, you must log on to target the Unix system and directory.

1. Type . ./setup.sh in the proper directory. This command will decompress and untar the scripts.Z, datfile*.Z, and custom.Z files. (The custom.Z file is used for customer-specific configuration and may not be included for all installations.) It also sets the execute permission on all *.sh, *.bat, @echo, and @goto files.

2. Verify the following file information:

• Files are written during the installation process. • You can write to the directory and all filenames. • The owner is the user you are logged on as during the installation. • The *.sh, *.bat, @goto, and @echo files have execute permission.

3. If you have received custom scripts from Noetix that are NOT contained in the custom.Z file, manually FTP these files to the appropriate server directory at this point.

Stage 1: Create Noetix System Administration User AccountTo begin Stage 1 of the installation process:1. Change to the server directory containing the NoetixViews installation scripts.

2. Using SQL*Plus, connect to the database as a database user with DBA privileges:

$ sqlplus username/password@dbconnectstring

NOTE: Only enter @dbconnectstring if you are connecting to a database other than $ORACLE_SID.

3. Run the installation script, install1:

SQL> start install1.sql


4. Answer the following prompts:

• Please Enter the Oracle User Name for the NoetixViews SysAdmin User.

• Please Enter the Oracle User Password for the NoetixViews SysAdmin User.

NOTE: You will be prompted to enter the password twice for verification.

• Please Enter the Database Connect String for the Database

• Please Enter the Default Tablespace to create NoetixViews Objects in.

• Please Enter the Temporary Tablespace to assign the NoetixViews SysAdmin Acct.

• For full functionality of the Query User Maintenance facility, you must permanently grant the SELECT ANY TABLE and SELECT ANY DICTIONARY (Oracle 9i+ only) privileges to the Noetix Administrator Account.

These privileges allow the Noetix Administrator to more efficiently maintain synonyms created for query users. Removing Noetix Role access from certain query user types will not be allowed if these privileges are not granted.

You can grant these privileges each time you run the Query User Maintenance facility (for role deletions) and then automatically revoked the privileges when the process completes. This option requires a DBA Account username/password each time role/query user deletion is necessary.

Certain install stage 4 processes are faster if these privileges are granted.

Grant these privileges to the Noetix Administrator User?

5. Verify the information that you have entered. If the information is incorrect, break out of SQL*Plus (usually by pressing Ctrl-C) and start this stage again. If the information is correct, press any key to continue.

6. Exit SQL*Plus.

SQL> exit


Stage 2: Grant Limited Privileges to AOL DataTo begin Stage 2 of the installation process:1. Using SQL*Plus, reconnect to the database as the Oracle Applications “APPS”

user:

SQL> connect username/password@dbconnectstring



3. Answer the following prompt:

• Please Enter the Oracle User Name for the NoetixViews SysAdmin User


5. Exit SQL*Plus.

SQL> exit

Stage 3: Set Up Noetix System Administration User AccountTo begin Stage 3 of the installation process:1. Using SQL*Plus, reconnect to the database as the Noetix System Administration

User:





3. Answer the following prompt:

• Please enter the Oracle Username for the APPS or AOL User

NOTE: Enter login information for the Oracle Applications “APPS” user. An Oracle Applications AOL (APPLSYS) user account can be entered instead if you have run stage 2 using APPLSYS in the past.


Stage 4: Generate ViewsTo begin Stage 4 of the installation process:1. Ensure you are connected to the database as the Noetix System Administration

User.




NOTE: To accept the default value, press Enter; otherwise, type a value for each item when prompted, then press Enter.

• Please Enter the Oracle User Name for the Noetix System Administration User.

NOTE: Use the same user name you used when starting SQL*Plus.

• Please Enter the Oracle User Password for the Noetix System Administration User.

• Please Enter the Database Connect String for the Database

• Please Enter the Default Tablespace to create Noetix objects in.


• Please Enter the Oracle Apps Translation Language

NOTE: This will only be prompted for Release 11 and later installations.

• Pause to edit the Noetix prefix file (tupdprfx.sql)?

NOTE: Do you wish the installation process to pause so that you can edit the Role prefixes your NoetixViews will be created with? Answer “Yes” to this prompt; otherwise your NoetixViews will be created with default Role prefixes like “AP12”, which will not be meaningful to end users.

If you answer “Yes,” the installation will pause after you have entered all prompts and the installation has created the default file for you to edit. Instructions to edit these prefixes are listed at that step in the installation.

• Run AnswerPoint Builder? (Answer Y for Yes or N for No)

NOTE: This prompt displays if you have purchased Noetix Platform. You must answer “Yes” to create answers specific to your Oracle configuration.

• Run AnswerPoint Generator? (Answer N for No)

NOTE: This prompt displays if you have purchased Noetix AnswerPoint. The default “No” must be accepted even if you have purchased Noetix AnswerPoint. After completing the NoetixViews installation, you can install and configure Noetix AnswerPoint Generator using the NoetixViews Integration component of the Noetix Platform. Then, Noetix AnswerPoint Generator can only be run from the NoetixViews Administrator. Please refer to for “Install Noetix AnswerPoint (When Using Noetix Platform)” on page 82 more information.

• Continue to next stage on warnings? (Answer Y for Yes or N for No)

NOTE: Answering “Yes” allows you to continue through installation regardless of warnings. Answering “No” allows you to review any warnings as they are generated before deciding to continue.


• Generate AOL Help? (Answer Y for Yes or N for No)

NOTE: This step can also be performed after installation or through the NoetixViews Administrator. This prompt will not display for Release 11 installations.

• Generate Query Tool Help (Database comments)? (Answer Y for Yes or N for No)

NOTE: This step can also be performed after installation or through the NoetixViews Administrator.

• Generate Microsoft Help? (Answer Y for Yes or N for No)


• Generate Web (HTML) Help? (Answer Y for Yes or N for No)


• Overwrite configuration files using previous settings from the database? (Answer Y for Yes or N for No)

NOTE: This prompt displays if you have previously installed NoetixViews. In most cases, answer “Yes” to save the Role prefixes and query user settings in the database. Do not select “No” unless directed by Noetix Technical Support, or if you want to replace the Role prefixes and query users in the database with the ones saved in the tupdprfx.sql, tupdqu1.sql, and tupdqu2.sql files in the installation directory on your local machine.


After all the values have been entered correctly, the NoetixViews installation will continue through the next steps.

After this step, Stage 4 will begin. At certain points while processing (which may take awhile), the prompts in the following sections will display. Stage 4 is NOT finished until you get a message saying the stage is complete.


Get PasswordsDuring the Stage 4 installation process, the installation will need access to the database tables belonging to each of the Oracle Applications detected. You will be prompted for the Oracle Applications “APPS” user password, as well as others, to ensure the installation can access all necessary tables. This list depends on your Oracle environment and modules installed, and may vary between generations.

To grant NoetixViews access to the Applications tables:The installation will prompt you with the user names it needs passwords for. You should have gathered these passwords during the pre-installation steps outlined earlier in this guide. Enter the correct password for each user.

Install Cross Operations Extension (Optional)If you have purchased NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension (XOP) views, you will be presented with the following instructions to install Cross Operations Extension views. If you select “Yes,” the installer will create a set of views for each Application/Chart of Accounts/Master Organization combination that can query data across Organizations, Operating Units, and Sets of Books.

Each XOP view can be used in place of the multiple single Organization views, and can be used to allow a single query to search for data in multiple Organizations. The disadvantage of XOP views, however, is that failing to specify the Organization may return misleading data in queries and when views are joined, and in some cases may result in poor performance (slow queries).

For additional information concerning Cross Operations Extension views, refer to “NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension” on page 208.

To install Cross Operations Extension views:1. Answer “Y” for the following prompt:

• Cross Operations Extension Views? (Answer Y for Yes or N for No)

2. Verify the information that you have entered. If the information is incorrect, break out of SQL*Plus (usually by pressing Ctrl-C) and start this stage again. If the information is correct, press Enter to continue the installation.


Generate Inventory Roles (Optional)You will be asked a series of questions if you are installing Inventory views and have more than one Inventory Organization. This installation feature will give you the ability to create a set of views specific to each Inventory Organization (Organization-specific inventory) and/or a set of views that will access information from all Inventory Organizations (global inventory).

If you choose to install Inventory Organization-Specific Roles, the generation process will create a Role and a set of views for each Inventory Organization. When querying from these views, the Organization will be hard-coded into the view.

The Global Inventory Organization Role will allow you to report across all Inventory Organizations using one set of views. Creating a Global Inventory Role will save space, since only a single set of views is created no matter how many Inventory Organizations you have. A disadvantage of using Global Inventory Organization views is that your queries and reports will always span Organizations unless you specify an Organization name in your query. This may affect performance.

You can install both Inventory Organization-Specific Roles (1 per Inventory Organization) and the Global Inventory Organization Role (1 spanning all Inventory Organizations). At least one of these options must be selected during installation if you are installing NoetixViews for Inventory.

If you have multiple item structures in your Oracle Inventory setup (due to multiple Master Inventory Organizations) and do not want to mix these structures together in a single view, then install NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension instead of the Global Inventory Organization Role. See “NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension” on page 208 for additional information.


To generate Inventory Roles:1. Answer the following prompts:

• Do you want to create a:Separate Role for each inventory organization (Answer Y for Yes or N for No)Single global inventory Role? (Answer Y for Yes or N for No)

2. Verify the information that you have entered. If the information is incorrect, break out of SQL*Plus (usually by pressing Ctrl-C) and start this stage again. If the information is correct, press Enter to finish the installation.

Activate Multi-Currency Columns for Projects Views (Optional)During Stage 4 of the installation process, you will be provided with the option to activate multi-currency columns in NoetixViews for Oracle Projects if the following conditions are met:

• Oracle Applications 11.5.8 or later has been detected.

• Oracle Projects has been installed.

• NoetixViews for Oracle Projects have been purchased.

If you choose to activate multi-currency columns in your views, then:

• All summary views will have project functional currency values. (Summary views will have project functional currency values even if multi-currency columns are not activated.)

• All transactional views will have transaction-specific currency values, apart from project and project functional currency values.

• Information related to currency codes and exchange rates will be generated.

NOTE: If you use the multi-currency functionality of Oracle Projects at your site, you should activate multi-currency columns in your views. Otherwise, amount columns in your views will contain values in project functional currencies, and information related to currency codes and exchange rates will not be displayed.


To activate multi-currency columns:1. Answer the following prompt:

• Do you want to add:Projects Multi-currency columns to the views? (Y/N)

NOTE: If you changed your choice to activate multi-currency columns since your last installation, the installer will display a warning. If you activated multi-currency columns earlier and choose not to now, then multi-currency columns will not be generated in your Projects views, and values in amount columns will be in project functional currencies. If you did not activate multi-currency columns earlier and choose to do so now, then additional columns will be present in your Projects views, and values in amount columns will be in transactional currencies. Reports based on these views will change in either situation. Therefore, preferably, once you decide to activate or not activate multi-currency columns, do not change your decision during a subsequent installation.

2. Verify the information that you have typed.

If your information is incorrect, break out of SQL*Plus (usually by pressing CTRL + C), and restart this stage. If your information is correct, press Enter to continue with the installation.

Edit Role PrefixesThe installation process will continue until it requires Role prefixes to be defined. If earlier you answered “Yes” to pause to edit the Noetix prefix file, the “Edit Role Prefix” pause will then display, prompting you to open the prefix file and enter your customized Role prefixes to identify each of your NoetixViews Roles. See “Name Role Prefixes” on page 13. for guidelines on customizing Role prefixes.

While you may accept the default Role prefixes, it is recommended that you choose prefixes that are more intuitive for users. It is recommended that separate names be given to the Role prefix and the Oracle table.

To edit the Role prefix file:1. If earlier you answered “Yes” to pause to edit the Noetix prefix file, the installation

will pause with the message “The installation will now pause to allow you to customize your tupdprfx.sql file with your installation specific Role prefix values.”

2. Open an additional SQL*Plus session, then navigate to your base installation directory.


3. Edit the tupdprfx.sql file with the Unix editor of your choice.

The file contains a section like the following for every Role that the installation will create:

BEGIN noetix_prefix_pkg.update_prefix_record( i_role_prefix => 'AP12', /* +++ EDIT THIS LINE ONLY +++ */ i_application_label => 'AP', i_owner_name => 'AP', i_sob_id => 1, i_organization_id => 204, i_org_id => 204, i_master_org_id => 204, i_coa_id => 101, i_instance_type => 'S' );END;/

For each Role, edit the prefix listed within single quotes in the line marked EDIT THIS LINE ONLY. For example, if you wanted to change this Role, called AP12 by default, to USAP, you would replace 'AP12' with 'USAP'.

Repeat this for each prefix listed. Make sure each prefix you enter is unique and conforms to the character limitations listed in “Role Prefix Naming Conventions” on page 13.

4. After all prefixes have been edited as desired, save and close the file.

5. Return to your SQL*Plus session and press “Enter” to resume the installation process.


Verify InstallationIn order to verify that each phase of the NoetixViews installation completed with no errors, it is possible to run a script that produces an output listing of all installation errors detected. This script can be run after each individual numbered script is completed, or it can be run after all four stages of the installation process are complete.

To verify that a NoetixViews installation completed successfully:1. Remain in the server directory containing the NoetixViews files.

2. Run the following script at the Unix prompt:

finderr.bat

An output of all files containing errors will be displayed. This command will also create an error log called finderr.lst in your main installation directory. Each time you run this command, this log will be overwritten.

3. Contact Noetix Technical Support if any errors are found.

Generate Help SystemNoetixViews Help formats can be generated when prompted during Stage 4 of installation, or at any time after installing NoetixViews by using scripts.

NoetixViews Help is available in four formats that can be generated with the following procedure.

To generate Help:1. Using SQL*Plus, connect to the database as the Noetix System Administration

User:



2. At the prompt, type start, then one of the following scripts:

NOTE: For more information about these Help formats, see “Choose Help Formats to Generate” on page 15.

3. Answer any prompts asked by the script.

4. Repeat this step to generate additional help formats, if desired.


You will need to compile and publish the Microsoft Windows Help System and publish the HTML Help system, if generated, using the instructions in the following sections.

Compile and Publish Microsoft Windows Help FormatYou will need to compile the Microsoft Windows Help file using the Noetix Easy Help Wizard, then publish the Help to users.

The Easy Help Wizard, which is installed along with the NoetixViews Administrator software, will FTP the NoetixViews Help for Windows source file (.rtf ) from the server to the Windows client. The wizard will then compile the file, generating the NoetixViews Help file locally and creating an icon on your desktop.

The Easy Help Wizard can be used if your Windows client and the server where you installed NoetixViews both use TCP/IP protocol and the directory where you installed NoetixViews is accessible to your FTP server.

Help Format SQL Script

All Help Formats iallhlp.sql

Microsoft Windows Help imshlp.sql

HTML Help ihtmlhlp.sql

Oracle Applications Screens Help iaolhlp.sql

Query Tool Help icomhlp.sql


To transfer and compile the NoetixViews Help:1. Log in to the Windows machine where the NoetixViews Administrator is

installed. (Refer to “Load Installation Software” on page 26 if you need to install this program.)

2. From the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –> Easy Help Wizard. The Easy Help Wizard will display.

3. Click “Next” to continue.


4. The connection information window will prompt you for a Unix user name, password, and URL of the server on the network in order to transfer the source file generated during the installation to a client where it will be compiled. The user name entered must have access to the server directory where the noetix.rtf file exists. Click “Next” to continue.


5. The installation directory window will display the path to the installation directory where the scripts and noetix.rtf file are currently located. Confirm that the installation directory in the text field is correct. Click “Next” to continue.

6. The text area in the final window will display your choices for the user name, server, and directory where the scripts and the noetix.rtf file are located. Check the checkbox next to the question “Do you want the Online Help file displayed automatically after it has been built?” to view the Help file as soon as it is available for use. Click “Finish” to compile and transfer the Help file.


7. After the Help file is compiled, you will have the option of creating a desktop shortcut to the Help System on your client. Select “Yes,” if desired.

Next, publish the compiled Help file to users.

To publish the Microsoft Windows Help System:1. Navigate to the “noetix.hlp” file in the

<BASE_INSTALL_DIR>\<ACCOUNT_TNS>\MsHelp directory, where <BASE_INSTALL_DIR> is the location where you installed the NoetixViews Administrator client software and <ACCOUNT_TNS> is the name of the Noetix System Administration User (usually NOETIX_SYS) + _ + the TNS Name of the database instance on which the user resides.


2. Move the noetix.hlp file to a shared server drive. (Each time you regenerate NoetixViews, simply replace the single version of this file on the server.)

3. Distribute a shortcut to the shared file to all NoetixViews users.

Publish the HTML Help FormatThe HTML Help format does not need to be compiled, but will need to be published to users.

To publish the HTML Help System:1. Navigate to the htmlhelp directory within the installation directory. (You can

point your browser to “htmlhelp\help\noetix.htm” to view the HTML Help.)


2. Publish the files to a Web server or shared server drive. To do this, move the entire htmlhelp directory tree to a directory on your network that is accessible to your Web browser.

3. Instruct users to open the /htmlhelp/help/noetix.htm page using a Web browser.


Install Noetix AnswerPoint (When Using Noetix Platform)

Noetix AnswerPoint, a component of the Noetix Platform, is installed and maintained using two processes — the AnswerPoint Builder, then the AnswerPoint Generator. The AnswerPoint Builder creates custom pre-built reports (Noetix Answers) based upon NoetixViews. Once the custom answers are created, the AnswerPoint Generator exports those Answers to NWQ. In addition, the AnswerPoint Generator exports your base views and your security structure, letting you not only access your NoetixViews data in NQS and NWQ, but also ensure the proper security is applied. Users logging into NWQ will see only the data you allowed them to access in NoetixViews.

You can install Noetix AnswerPoint Builder when prompted during Stage 4 of installation through the NoetixViews Administrator or with scripts. If this is a first-time installation, the AnswerPoint Generator option will not be available until you have completed installation of Noetix Platform and selected the NoetixViews Integration component on every PC on which NoetixViews Administrator is installed. By doing so, you will ensure that the version of Noetix AnswerPoint Generator is compatible with your present version of Noetix Platform.

WARNING: If you have upgraded Noetix Platform, ensure that you have selected the NoetixViews Integration component anew on every PC on which the NoetixViews Administrator is installed. Otherwise, the version of Noetix AnswerPoint Generator will not be compatible with your present version of Noetix Platform.

Using the following instructions, you can also install Noetix AnswerPoint Builder after installing NoetixViews.

To install Noetix AnswerPoint:1. From the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –>


2. Click the “Install AnswerPoint” button on the toolbar to launch the Noetix AnswerPoint Wizard.


3. Click “Next” to start the Noetix AnswerPoint Wizard.


4. In the AnswerPoint install options screen, check the check boxes to run the AnswerPoint Builder, the AnswerPoint Generator, or both. If run separately, the AnswerPoint Builder should always be installed before the AnswerPoint Generator.

In the Install Options section of this screen, choose whether to review any warnings that may be generated during the installation process. Checking this box allows you to continue through installation regardless of warnings. Leaving this box unchecked allows you to review any warnings as they are generated before deciding to continue. Click “Next” to continue.


5. The “Metadata Backup” screen will display. Select whether your AnswerPoint Generator metadata should be stored only in your Noetix_Sys schema or also backed up in SQL Server/MSDE alongside the NQS Repository. Backing up your metadata is necessary when you maintain multiple instances of NoetixViews and may overwrite one instance with another (for example, you occasionally refresh a development instance from a production instance).

Select the radio button next to “On” to back up your metadata (recommended), or “Off” if you do not wish to create a backup. In the “NQS Hub” field, enter the name of the NQS Hub machine. If you have more than one NQS Hub, it is recommended you choose a single Hub to store all metadata backups.



6. The “NQS Installation” screen will display next. Fill out the login, password, and name of the machine on which you installed the NQS Hub. The NWQ server name and port will populate with default values; you may change these as necessary. Click “Next” to continue.


7. The “AnswerPoint Generator Options” screen will display. Choose a Top-Level name to uniquely identify this NoetixViews generation within NQS and NWQ. This name should help your end users distinguish this generation of NoetixViews data from other data they may access through NQS.

In the “Performance Options” section, you can choose the following:

• “Only log information messages which provide context for errors” — Select this option to reduce the number of information messages written to the log. Information messages will only be written if an error occurs. All warnings and to-do type messages will still be written.

Noetix recommends not selecting this option for the initial installation.

• “Bypass primary and foreign key generation” — Select this option to bypass creating primary and foreign keys in NQS for the Z$ columns defined in NoetixViews.

If you do not select this option, the installation process will take longer.

Noetix recommends not selecting this option if you will be creating joins in NQS.


8. The “Oracle Applications Security” screen will prompt you for your Oracle Applications “APPS” user name and password. Enter the name of your “APPS” user (the Type “O” user in the NoetixViews Administrator Query User Maintenance utility), then the password for this user.

This information will allow the AnswerPoint Generator to export user accounts using Oracle Applications (“Apps-mode”) security into NQS/NWQ along with the database users. These Apps-mode users will be exported if they have already been defined as Type “A” users in the Query User Maintenance utility, or if they have been assigned responsibilities that have been defined as Type “R” responsibilities in the utility. Apps-mode users will be created before database query users (Type “U”); this means that if an Apps-mode user and a database query user have the same user name, the Apps-mode user will be created, but the database user will not. The AnswerPoint Generator will log a warning if this occurs.

Oracle Applications Apps-mode security is exported only for Oracle Applications version 11i and higher.

NOTE: When first installing NoetixViews and Noetix AnswerPoint, you will not yet have set up users in the NoetixViews Administrator. You can set up your user accounts after installation, then run the AnswerPoint Generator again, using the “Only Regenerate Query Users” option. See Chapter 4: “Query User Management” for more information on setting up users.


9. The “User Management Options” screen allows you to determine how users should be created or updated in NQS/NWQ when duplicate users are found. It also allows you to prefix ALL user names when they are generated into NQS/NWQ. “Choose User Management Options (When Using Noetix Platform)” on page 16 includes more information on choosing a user management strategy. Since this strategy cannot be changed after installation, please review this information closely. Select a user management strategy and, if desired, a prefix. Click “Next” to continue.

10. To start the AnswerPoint Generator process, click the “Finish” button.


11. While the AnswerPoint Generator is running, the “Progress” screen will display the current task and progress. Depending on your environment, this process may take awhile.

12. If the AnswerPoint Generator process completes with warnings or errors, a message will display. Click “OK” to view the log.


13. The log will display any errors or warnings, plus any “to do” tasks. Using the checkboxes at the bottom of the screen, you can filter which types of log entries are displayed. To view an entry of the log in its entirety, double-click the entry.

If you may need to refer to the log in the future, click the “View in Notepad” button, then save the file to your hard drive or network.

Chapter 4

Query UserManagement

This chapter gives detailed instructions on how to create Noetix Query Users and grant them access to NoetixViews, via the NoetixViews Administrator or by using scripts.


OverviewIn NoetixViews, a user’s access to data is determined by the Roles they have been granted and by the GL security access they have been assigned. When a user is set up to utilize Oracle Applications Gateway (Apps-mode) security, the Apps-mode Responsibilities he or she has been assigned can also provide limits on what data and views can be accessed.

Below is a description of user types and definitions, as well as an explanation of when each user type is best applied.

Noetix Query Users (U) are standard database user accounts that can be accessed via any query tool or from SQL*Plus. The system allows users of this type to have synonyms and/or optimizing views created for them. Typically, the query users you create will be of this type. These user accounts should correspond to the existing query user accounts in the database, and there should be no differences in capability.

When using the Noetix Platform, a user account in NQS is created for each Type U user.

Discoverer Apps-Mode Users (A) and Apps-Mode Responsibilities (R) are users defined in Oracle Applications. These are not Oracle database accounts and are used to support Apps-mode capability within Oracle Discoverer. These users are automatically added to an Apps-mode Discoverer End User Layer when used in conjunction with the Noetix EUL Generator product. If you do not plan on using Oracle Discoverer’s Apps Gateway, then you should not establish users of these types. These user types are only valid for Oracle Applications version 10.7 and above.

Type Code User Type Description

U Noetix Query User

A Discoverer Apps-Mode User

R Discoverer Apps-Mode Responsibility

N Noetix System Administration User

O Oracle Applications “Apps” User

Chapter 4: Query User Management 95

Since these accounts are tied to an Oracle “Apps” User (O), updating the security of this user affects the Roles and GL security granted to the Oracle “Apps” database user account.

When you create a responsibility as a query user of type (R), any Oracle Applications user who has this responsibility can log on via Discoverer Apps-mode (once the Apps-mode EUL has been generated) and access the Business Areas associated with the type (R) user.

Type (A) and (R) users are only active when you use the Noetix EUL Generator with an Apps-mode EUL in Oracle Discoverer, or if you use Noetix Web Query as a reporting tool. These user types have no impact as database users and rely on their associated “Apps” database user account to maintain a link to the database. If you create a standard (non-Apps-mode) Discoverer EUL, then only users of type (N), (O), and (U) will be able to log into Discoverer with the appropriate Business Areas.

To handle security for these users, a few Apps-mode responsibilities with the appropriate Roles/GL security rules can be established. Users must first have access to the Oracle responsibilities in Oracle Applications. Then, when the user logs into Discoverer or Noetix Web Query, they simply use their user name and one of the responsibilities defined in the Query User Maintenance screen.

When using the Noetix Platform, a user account in NQS is created for each type (A) user. In addition, for every responsibility defined as a NoetixViews type (R), an NQS user account is created for every user assigned that responsibility in Oracle Applications. User accounts are created regardless of whether the Apps-mode user in Oracle Applications has been defined in NoetixViews. When individuals log in to Noetix Web Query using those user accounts, they are prompted with a list of responsibilities and must pick which one they wish to log in with. The Noetix Platform can only import these responsibilities from Oracle Applications version 11i and higher.

The Oracle Applications “Apps” User (O) and Noetix System Administration User (N) are database login accounts that are automatically created as needed.

The Noetix System Administration User (N) is a special query user account associated with the current Noetix_Sys schema. This account is created during installation. Optimizing views and synonyms cannot be created for the Noetix_Sys user.


The type (O) Oracle Applications “Apps” User(s) is/are defined automatically depending on what Oracle Apps users/responsibilities are selected. Each user/responsibility in Oracle Applications may be associated with multiple Oracle “Apps” user accounts. The Oracle “Apps” Users must have all the Roles that are defined for each Apps-Mode Application User and Responsibility in the same data group. It is possible to have multiple Oracle “Apps” Users if Oracle Applications has several “Apps” accounts defined.

About Assigning GL SecurityWhen a NoetixViews User requires access to secure Oracle General Ledger data, you must use the NoetixViews Administrator to assign the proper GL security.

Oracle GL security rules control access to transactions or balances in General Ledger. These security rules should be predetermined by the Oracle Applications Administrator before assigning them to Noetix users in the NoetixViews Administrator. Assigning security rules to NoetixViews Users will extend the same secured access to the GL data for these users.

WARNING: When the NoetixViews are generated, the installation procedure copies references to the Security Rules into the views. If you add a security rule in Oracle Applications to a new segment of the Accounting flexfield or create a new Set of Books, the views must be regenerated before they will incorporate the changes. With any change or addition to security rules in Oracle Applications, you should review and update users’ access to GL data in NoetixViews.

Users can be assigned any valid security rule, regardless of what Roles (if any) they have been assigned. We recommend you use the steps below to ensure the proper GL security is assigned, regardless of whether a user has been granted GL Roles.

Each NoetixViews user will have one of the following types of access:

• No Access — Prevents the user from accessing ANY data in a secure GL view.

• Full Access — Allows the user to access ALL data in any secure GL view accessible to the user by virtue of a Role.

• Custom Access — Allows the administrator to customize a user’s access to data in secure GL views for each Chart of Accounts and Set of Books by assigning security rules that have been set up in Oracle Applications.


• Apps-Mode Access — For Apps-mode users and responsibilities, determines access to data in secure GL views by the rules assigned to the responsibility the user logs in with. Records are also filtered by the Set of Books associated to the responsibility. Thus, Apps-mode access should not be used for users who need to access Cross-Operational (XOP) views.

For Apps-mode users and responsibilities, it is recommended that instead of creating every Apps-mode user as a type “A” user, you simply create a NoetixViews type “R” record for each Oracle Applications Responsibility and set the GL access to “Apps-Mode Access.” Ensure the Responsibility has been assigned the proper security rules in Oracle Applications. When a user logs in with a Responsibility associated with the GL application, if no GL security rules have been assigned to the Responsibility in Oracle Applications, NoetixViews by default will allow the user to access ALL data in secure GL views limited only by the SOB associated with the Responsibility and embedded in the view itself. This is set up differently for non-GL Responsibilities; when a user logs in with a Responsibility NOT associated with the GL application, if no security rules have been assigned to the Responsibility in Oracle Applications, NoetixViews by default will not allow the user to access data in any secure GL view accessible to the user. For both GL and non-GL Responsibilities, if the Responsibility has GL security rules assigned, the view will be filtered based on the rules and SOB assigned to the Responsibility.

Be careful when setting up both Apps-mode users and responsibilities in NoetixViews; when an Apps-mode user (Type A) and responsibility (Type R) have both been set up in the NoetixViews Administrator, the access mode assigned to the Type R user will take precedence.

Refer to the sections “Create Noetix Users” on page 99 or “Modify Noetix Users” on page 113 to ensure the proper GL security is assigned regardless of whether a user has been granted GL Roles.


Gather User InformationYou will need to determine who will have access to NoetixViews, then create the appropriate user accounts to allow users in your organization to access NoetixViews.

Before you begin, you should make a list of database users who need access to the views. This list should include:

• the user name for each user• the appropriate NoetixViews Roles to be assigned to each query user• GL flexfield security rules to be assigned to each query user

The following information should be taken into consideration when determining Roles and security rules.

NOTE: We recommend that new database users be created for each new Noetix Query User rather than using existing database users.

• Decide which NoetixViews Roles to grant to each query user — Before installing NoetixViews and setting up database users, determine which Oracle Applications each query user should have access to (via a NoetixViews Role). The NoetixViews Roles available at your site will vary depending on the types of modules you have installed, your Oracle configuration, and the NoetixViews product enhancements in your product package (e.g., NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension). When assigning Roles, consider the level of Oracle Applications data to which each query user should be given access (for example, data rolling up to either an Inventory Organization, Operating Unit, or Set of Books).

WARNING: Oracle places a restriction on the maximum number of Roles that can be granted to a user. The number varies based on the Oracle database version. Assigning a user (or administrator) more than the maximum number of Roles will prevent the user from logging in. Neither Oracle nor Noetix check this limit automatically, so you will need to keep track of how many Roles you grant to each user.


• Decide which security rules to assign to each Noetix Query User requiring access to GL — NoetixViews users can be quickly set up to have no access or full access to secure GL data in views they have permissions to use, or to allow the Responsibility a user logs in with to determine what secure data is returned. Users can also be given custom access and be assigned security rules for each Chart of Accounts/Set of Books. If a user will have custom access, decide which security rules you will assign to each user for each Chart of Accounts/Set of Books. To obtain a list of flexfield security rules for each existing GL database user, retrieve the information from the GL module of Oracle Applications. These security rules can be assigned to query users to limit access to GL data. For users who should not have access to data in secure GL views, review their security rules settings as well, to ensure their access is set to “No Access.”

• Decide whether Query Tool Optimizing Views will be created for the Noetix Query Users — This feature makes it quicker to retrieve a list of database objects for reporting tools. Use this option when the reporting tool directly accesses the database. Any tool that communicates via an ODBC connection (Noetix Platform, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Crystal Reports, etc.) will benefit from this feature.

WARNING: Do not create Query Tool Optimizing Views if you plan to use the Noetix Query User in conjunction with the Noetix EUL Generator/Oracle Discoverer query tool or any other query tool that accesses its own meta-layer.

Create Noetix UsersIn order for a user to be given access to NoetixViews, the user must be given a user record in NoetixViews. Database users, Oracle Applications users, and Oracle Applications Responsibilities must all be created in this way. Noetix Query Users can be created using the Query User Maintenance utility of the NoetixViews Administrator, or by using scripts. When creating a new user, you will:

• Step 1. Create database user (if not already created)• Step 2. Add user as Noetix Query User• Step 3. Assign Roles• Step 4. Assign GL Security• Step 5. Update reporting tool or EUL• Step 6. Export to Noetix Query Server (when using the Noetix Platform)


The Query User Maintenance utility of the NoetixViews Administrator provides an easy wizard for creating Noetix Query Users. These instructions are listed below. On page 111, instructions are listed for creating a user via scripts.

To create a Noetix Query User:1. From the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –>


2. Log in as the Noetix System Administration User.

3. Click the “Maintain Noetix Query Users” button on the NoetixViews Administrator toolbar or choose Tools –> Noetix Query User Maintenance from the menu. The Noetix Query User Maintenance dialog box will display.

4. From the Noetix Query User Maintenance screen, click the “Add Wizard” button in the lower right-hand corner.


5. This displays the “Welcome” window of the “Define New Noetix Query User Wizard.” Click “Next” to start the wizard.


6. The “User Options” window gives you the option of either creating a new database user or selecting an existing database user specifically to access NoetixViews.

• Choose “Create New User Account” to create a database user account for the Noetix Query User you wish to create. You will need DBA privileges in order to create this account. This option is only used for database users, not Oracle Applications users, and the Noetix user account will be created as type (U). Click “Next” to continue.

• Choose “Select Existing User Account” if the database user, Oracle Applications User, or Oracle Applications Responsibility has already been created. You will be able to create a Noetix user of type (U), (A), or (R). Click “Next,” then proceed to step 9 to select the existing database user.

WARNING: You should not grant view access to, or create synonyms on, database user accounts that own the Oracle Applications tables (for example, “AP user”).


7. If you chose to create a new user, the “DBA Password” window prompts you to enter a login for a user with DBA privileges. Provide a user name and password for this account. (The user must exist on the same instance as your Noetix_Sys account, so the TNS is already filled in for you.) Click “Next” to continue.


8. If you chose to create a new user, the “New User Account Information” window prompts you to define a login for the new database user. Provide a user name and password. A pop-up window will prompt you to confirm the new password. Then choose a default and temporary tablespace for this Noetix Query User schema. Click “Next” to continue, then proceed to step 10.

NOTE: This user is created in the database when you click “Next.” If you cancel out of the wizard later in the process, you will need to manually remove this database user.


9. If you are selecting an existing database user, the “Existing User” window allows you to select a database user, Oracle Applications user, or responsibility from a drop-down menu of user names. In the “User Name” text area, click the drop-down arrow and select the specified database user from the user list.

When you select an existing user, you can assign any valid user type from the drop-down menu. Normally, the type (N) and type (O) user lists will be empty, because those user types are reserved for the Noetix_Sys user and the Oracle “Apps” user. By choosing a particular user type, the User Name drop-down list will change to reflect only the names corresponding to the user type. Click “Next” to continue.

NOTE: If you don't find the database user you are looking for, you may need to create the account. Click the “Back” button and select “Create New User Account.”


10. In the “User Options” screen, you may enable features for this Noetix Query User account. To enhance the performance of some query tools for this user, check the box labeled “Create Query Tool Optimizing Views?” Do NOT check the box if you are using Oracle Discoverer as a query tool. For other considerations regarding this option, see “Gather User Information” on page 98.

To create synonyms for views that are granted to this user, check the box labeled “Create Synonyms?”

These checkboxes will be disabled and the options will not be used if the user type selected on the previous dialog is not a Noetix Query User (U) type. Only type (U) users can have synonyms or optimizing views created for them automatically.

(Optional) Select a language code for this query user. Selecting <Default Noetix Language Processing> will default this user to the language associated with the current environment (userenv('LANG')) or, if that language is not defined in Oracle Applications, whichever language was chosen during Stage 4 of installation.

After selecting your desired option(s), click “Next” to continue.


11. In the “Noetix Roles” window, click the “Add” button to assign Roles to this user.


12. Select the NoetixViews Role(s) you wish to grant to the Noetix Query User. Select multiple Roles by holding down the “Ctrl” key and clicking each desired Role. Click “OK” when you are finished, then click “Next” to continue.


13. In the “Noetix Security Rules” window, from the “GL Security Mode” drop-down list at the top, select one of the following modes of access:

• To access NO secure GL data, select “No Access.”

• To access ALL secure GL data (in NoetixViews accessible to the user by virtue of a Role), select “Full Access.”

• To assign security rules or levels of access for each Chart of Accounts/Set of Books, select “Custom Access.”

• To allow access based on the responsibility the user logs in with, select “Apps-Mode Access.” This option is available for Apps-mode users (Type A) and responsibilities (Type R) who use Oracle Discoverer or Noetix Web Query as a query tool.

If you chose “Custom Access,” see the instructions on page 119 to set up custom access. Click “Next” to continue.


14. The “Finished” window completes the process. Click “Finish.”

After adding a user, you will be returned to the Noetix Query User Maintenance utility dialog. The Noetix Query User that you defined will be displayed in the Noetix Query Users text area. Repeat these steps as necessary to create additional Query User accounts. Click “OK” when you are finished.

WARNING: Once all Noetix Query Users have been created and are displayed in the Noetix Query Users text area, be sure to click “OK” to commit them to the database.


Create Noetix Users Via ScriptsNOTE: The scripts-based method of creating Noetix users does not allow you to assign security rules or a translation language. You must use the Query User Maintenance utility for these features. Only users of type “U” can be created via scripts.

To create new database user accounts:1. Change to the server directory containing the NoetixViews installation scripts.

2. Using SQL*Plus, connect to the database as a database user with DBA privileges:


3. Run the script to create a new database user:

SQL> start instuser.sql


• Please enter the Oracle User Name for the Noetix Query User

• Please enter the Oracle User Password for the Noetix Query User

• Please enter the Default Tablespace to create Noetix objects in

• Please enter the Temporary Tablespace to assign the Noetix user

• Please enter the Database Connect string

To accept the default value, press “Enter;” otherwise, type a value for each item when prompted and press “Enter.”

5. Verify the information that you have entered. If the information is incorrect, break out of SQL*Plus (usually by pressing Ctrl-C) and start over. If the information is correct, press any key to continue.

6. Repeat these steps for each new user that must be created in the database. When finished, proceed with the setup instructions below.


To set up an existing database user as a Noetix Query User:1. Change to the server directory containing the NoetixViews installation scripts.

2. Using SQL*Plus, connect to the database as the Noetix System Administration User:


3. Run the setup script, instqusr:

SQL> start instqusr.sql


NOTE: To accept the default value, press “Enter;” otherwise, type a value for each item when prompted and press “Enter.”

• Please enter the Oracle User Name for the Query User

NOTE: This Oracle database user must already exist; NOETIX is the default. You should not grant view access to, or create synonyms on, database user accounts that own the Oracle Applications tables (for example, “AP user”).

• Create Query Tool Optimizing Views?

NOTE: Some query tools operate more efficiently when the views generated by NoetixViews are optimized for the particular tool. Do NOT check the box if using Oracle Discoverer as a query tool. For considerations regarding this option, see “Gather User Information” on page 98.

• Please enter the Role to be granted to the user

NOTE: This question follows a list of available Roles. A “%” is accepted here to indicate all Roles should be granted to this Query User. Be sure to wait for the prompt. There may be more than one window of available Roles. Example: GL% (for all Roles beginning with GL).

5. Verify the information that you have entered. If the information is incorrect, break out of SQL*Plus (usually by pressing Ctrl-C) and start over at step 1. If the information is correct, press any key to continue.

6. Repeat these steps for each new user that must be created in the database. After all the values have been entered correctly, the query user specified will be granted access to the specified Roles, and synonyms will be created for each view in the Role.


Modify Noetix UsersModifying Noetix Query Users involves modifying NoetixViews Roles, modifying flexfield security rules, or adding features to Noetix Query User accounts. The Query User Maintenance utility allows you to update Noetix Query User accounts.

To modify the properties of an existing Query User:1. Select the Noetix Query User to modify in the “Noetix Query User Maintenance”

main window, then click the “Edit” button.


2. The “Properties” utility will display. The “General” tab allows you to modify the properties of the Noetix Query User. The query user name will appear disabled in the “User Name” text box.

3. (Optional) Select a language code for this query user. Selecting <Default Noetix Language Processing> will default this user to the language associated with the current environment (userenv(‘LANG’)) or, if that language is not defined in Oracle Applications, the language that was chosen during Stage 4 of installation.

4. (Optional) To enhance the performance of some query tools for this Query User, check the box named “Create Query Tool Optimizing Views?” This option speeds up the response time of reporting tools when the tool queries directly from the database rather than its own end user layer (for example, Microsoft Access or Crystal Reports).

Do not use this option when using query tools that access their own meta-layer (i.e. Oracle Discoverer’s End User Layer, Business Objects Universe or Cognos Impromptu’s Catalog).

NOTE: This option is only valid for Noetix Query Users (U).


5. (Optional) To create synonyms for views that are granted to this Query User, check the box named “Create Synonyms?” This automatically creates synonyms for each Role granted to this Query User and its subsequent views. Deselect this option if you do not wish to create synonyms.

NOTE: This option is only valid for Noetix Query Users (U).

6. When finished, click “OK.”

WARNING: Be sure to click “OK” to commit changes to the database.

To modify Roles for an existing Query User:1. Click the “Roles” tab. This opens the Roles property sheet, displaying the

NoetixViews Roles currently assigned to this Query User.


2. Click “Add.” This displays the “Add Noetix Roles” dialog, where you can grant the Noetix Query User additional Roles.

To grant a new Role, click the Role name in the “Role Name” list. If the desired Role is not listed as available for this Query User, see your DBA. When all the desired Roles are selected, click “OK.”

3. The new Roles will be displayed in the Roles property sheet. Click “OK” to exit the utility.

4. This will return you to the “Noetix Query User Maintenance” main window. Repeat these steps to modify Roles for additional users. When you have finished modifying each Noetix Query User, click “OK” to commit all changes.



To modify GL security access for an existing Query User:1. Click the “Security Rules” tab. This opens the “Security Rules” property sheet,

which lists the GL security access options for this user.

2. In the “GL Security Mode” drop-down list at the top, select one of the following modes of access:

• To access NO secure GL data, select “No Access.”

• To access ALL secure GL data (in views accessible to the user by virtue of a Role), select “Full Access.”

• To assign different security rules or levels of access per Chart of Accounts/Set of Books, select “Custom Access.”


• To allow access based on the responsibility the user logs in with, select “Apps-Mode Access.” This option is available for Apps-mode users (Type A) and responsibilities (Type R) who use Oracle Discoverer or Noetix Web Query as a query tool.

If you chose “Custom Access,” see the instructions below to set up custom access. When finished, click the “OK” button.

3. Click “OK” on the Query User Maintenance screen to save all changes and commit them to the database.



To set up custom access: 1. In the “Chart of Accounts/Set of Books” list box, all Chart of Accounts and Set of

Books combinations are listed, along with the number of security rules and a list of affected Noetix Roles for each. Select the first Chart of Accounts and Set of Books combination.

NOTE: You will need to scroll to the right to see all information in each row. The columns in the list can be adjusted to see more at one time if desired. Select the | divider in the column header and drag it to the desired location.

In the lower half of the screen, select one of the following options:

• To access NO secure GL data in this Set of Books, select the “No Access” option.

• To access ALL secure GL data in this Set of Books (in views accessible to the user by virtue of a Role), select the “Full Access” option.

• To assign security rules for this Set of Books, click the “Add” button.


2. If you clicked “Add,” a list of security rules available for this Set of Books will display. Check each desired rule by clicking it, then click the “OK” button.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each Chart of Accounts and Set of Books combination.

4. After assigning security rules or a No Access/Full Access rule for each Chart of Accounts and Set of Books combination, click “OK” to confirm these selections and exit the utility.

5. Click “OK” on the Query User Maintenance screen to save all changes and commit them to the database.



Delete Noetix UsersA Noetix Query User account can be deleted using the Query User Maintenance utility in the NoetixViews Administrator or via scripts. Deleting a Noetix Query User will remove all Noetix Roles and Security Rules from the user, then delete the query user record in NoetixViews.

You must have been granted the “Select Any Table” privilege in order to delete a query user.

To delete a Noetix Query User using the NoetixViews Administrator:1. In the Noetix Query User Maintenance dialog box, select the Noetix Query User.

2. Click the “Remove” button.

3. Click the “OK” button to commit the changes and exit.

WARNING: User accounts will only be removed if you click “OK” to commit changes to the database.

The Noetix Query User record will be removed and the user will no longer have access to NoetixViews. If you wish to delete this database user account as well, you will need to do this manually, logging in to the database as a user with DBA privileges.


If you are using NoetixViews in conjunction with Oracle Discoverer, you will need to use the Noetix EUL Generator to update security in your End User Layer. To do this, follow the steps to “Update Security” in the Noetix EUL Generator Administrator Guide. You must check the box labeled “Remove Business Area Security on Non-NoetixViews Query Users” or the user(s) you deleted will still have access to the EUL

To delete a Noetix Query User using scripts:1. Change to the server directory containing the NoetixViews installation scripts.



3. Run the delete user script, idelqusr:

SQL> start idelqusr.sql


NOTE: To accept the default value, press “Enter;” otherwise, type a value for each item when prompted and press “Enter.”

• Please enter the Query User name.

• Remove this Query User from NoetixViews? (Selecting this option will remove all roles and created synonyms.)

NOTE: Answer Y (Yes) to delete the user; answer N (No) if you simply want to remove Roles from the user. Answering N will prompt you to select the Roles to delete. A % can be used to delete all Roles from this user.

5. Verify the information that you have entered. If the information is incorrect, break out of SQL*Plus (usually by pressing Ctrl-C) and start over. If the information is correct, press any key to continue.



• Do you want to remove additional query users? (Answer Y for Yes or N for No).

7. Repeat these steps for each user to be deleted, then exit SQL Plus.

The Noetix Query User record(s) will be removed and the user will no longer have access to NoetixViews. If you wish to delete this database user account as well, you will need to do this manually, logging in to the database as a user with DBA privileges.

If you are using NoetixViews in conjunction with Oracle Discoverer, you will need to use the Noetix EUL Generator to update security in your End User Layer. To do this, follow the steps to “Update Security” in the Noetix EUL Generator Administrator Guide. You must check the box labeled “Remove Business Area Security on Non-NoetixViews Query Users” or the user(s) you deleted will still have access to the EUL.

Update Reporting Tool or EULYou may need to refresh your reporting tool when users are created, modified, or deleted, or permissions have been changed. Please refer to your query tool’s documentation for instructions.

If you are using NoetixViews in conjunction with Oracle Discoverer, you will need to use the Noetix EUL Generator to update security in your End User Layer every time you add, modify, or delete users, or when permissions have been changed. To do this, follow the steps to “Update Security” in the Noetix EUL Generator Administrator Guide. Note that when Noetix users have been deleted, you must check the box labeled “Remove Business Area Security on Non-NoetixViews Query Users” or the user(s) you deleted will still have access to the EUL.


Export Noetix Users to NQS (When Using Noetix Platform)

If you are using NoetixViews in conjunction with the Noetix Enterprise Technology Suite, you will need to export query users to NQS every time you add, modify, or delete users, or when permissions have been changed. You can easily export Noetix Query Users and their permissions to NQS by using the AnswerPoint Generator.

Query users are automatically exported when you run the AnswerPoint Generator process during or after installation. If you make subsequent changes to NoetixViews users or security only, you can use the AnswerPoint Generator’s “Regenerate Query Users” option in order to export only these changes to NQS.

To export Query Users using the AnswerPoint Generator:1. From the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –>


2. Click the “Install AnswerPoint” button on the toolbar or select Tools –> Install AnswerPoint. The Noetix AnswerPoint Wizard will display.

3. Click “Next” to start the AnswerPoint Generator Wizard.


4. In the AnswerPoint install options screen, check the checkbox next to “AnswerPoint Generator.”

In the Install Options section of this screen, choose whether to review any warnings that may be generated during the AnswerPoint Generator process. Checking this box allows you to continue through the process regardless of warnings or errors. Leaving this box unchecked allows you to review any warnings and errors as they are generated before deciding to continue. Click “Next” to continue.


5. The “Metadata Backup” screen will display. Select the radio button next to the metadata backup option you wish to use. (The default will be what you selected last time.)

• Select “Off” if you do not maintain multiple instances of NoetixViews.

• Select “On” if you maintain multiple instances of NoetixViews, you have previously backed up your metadata, and now need to regenerate (particularly if the Noetix_Sys schema may contain invalid or out of sync AnswerPoint Generator metadata), or you want to back up your generation for disaster recovery.

• Select “Maintain” if you are not sure. If a backup of the metadata exists for this specific instance of NoetixViews, the backup will be used and then refreshed after AnswerPoint Generator runs. If a backup does not exist, the metadata backup utility will skip the import/export process.

In the “NQS Hub” field, enter the name of the NQS Hub machine. If you have more than one NQS Hub, it is recommended you choose a single Hub to store all metadata backups.



6. Select the radio button next to “Regenerate.” Click “Next” to continue.

7. The “NQS Installation” screen will display. Enter a login and password with administrative access to your NQS Hub. The NQS Hub and NWQ Server information will already be populated. Click “Next” to continue.


8. The “AnswerPoint Generator Options” screen will display. Check the box next to “Only regenerate query users.” Select other performance options if desired. See page 87 for more information on these options.



10. To start the AnswerPoint Generator process, click the “Finish” button.





Chapter 5

AdministrativeTools

The Administrative Tools chapter lists the tools and scripts available to aid in NoetixViews maintenance tasks.


OverviewThe NoetixViews Administrator equips you with the tools to perform a number of maintenance tasks from the administrator’s machine.

Many of the NoetixViews maintenance tasks can also be performed using SQL scripts.

NoetixViews Administrator Tools

The following tools and features are available within the NoetixViews Administrator. For information about other features, select the Help –> Help Topics option from the menu bar.

To access these tools: 1. From the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –>

NoetixViews Administrator. The NoetixViews Administrator main screen will display.

2. Locate the tool on the toolbar or from the menu options.

Chapter 5: Administrative Tools 133

Change Base Installation Directory The “Change Base Installation Directory” tool allows the user to specify the base installation directory. For example, if the base installation is e:\installs, then new Noetix_Sys accounts will be created in e:\installs.

You can only change this option when you are not connected as a user. Click the “Disconnect” button on the NoetixViews Administrator toolbar before changing your base installation directory.

The format for the actual schema directory is “schemaname_connectstring”.


Explore from HereThe “Explore from Here” feature opens a Windows Explorer window with the current directory as the connected user’s installation directory.


Grant Select Any Table/DictionaryThe “Grant Select Any Table” tool allows the user to grant themselves the following:

• “Select Any Table” privilege.

• “Select Any Dictionary” privilege (Oracle Server 9i and above only).

This permission is normally granted during Stage 1 of installation and requires a login with DBA privileges.


Override Oracle Tool DetectionNoetixViews will automatically detect tools such as SQL*Plus and SQL*Loader when loading the NoetixViews Administrator and installation software. You can override the detected tools by selecting the Tools –> Override Oracle Tool Detection option from the NoetixViews Administrator menu bar. In the Override Oracle Tool Detection dialog box, choose the version of SQL*Loader and/or SQL*Plus that you would prefer to use from the Override Path drop-down boxes.


Enable/Disable Administrator FunctionalityBy default, the ability to install NoetixViews and Noetix AnswerPoint (Installation Stages) and generate the Help system (Help Generation) are enabled for the Noetix System Administration User. You can choose to disable these features if desired by selecting the Tools –> Support –> Enable Noetix Administrator Functionality option from the NoetixViews Administrator menu bar.

When these features are disabled, the menu options and buttons will not be available in the NoetixViews Administrator, preventing users from inadvertently starting an installation or Help generation. However, this does not prevent users from running the same processes using scripts.

To change these settings, you must provide valid login information for a user with DBA privileges.

You can choose to enable or disable features for all sessions or only the current session.

• Enabling/disabling features for All Sessions will affect anyone who logs in with the user name currently logged in, for all future logins but not the current session.

• Enabling/disabling features for the Current Session will temporarily enable or disable the feature(s) for the user currently logged in, but will not apply to subsequent logins.


Administrative Scripts

Run a Unix ScriptA NoetixViews installation-related script can be run at any time from the command prompt while remaining in the NoetixViews Administrator program. The NoetixViews Administrator provides you with the ability to go to the command line and execute commands from within the directory where the script files are located for the Noetix System Administration User account (where you are currently connected). At this Unix prompt, you may run a number of administrative scripts. Exiting automatically returns you to the NoetixViews Administrator. These scripts are usually run with the assistance of Noetix Technical Support.

To run a script at the command line:1. From the NoetixViews Administrator main screen, select Tools –> Support –>

Support Prompt. This will take you to the command prompt that will allow you to run support scripts with the assistance of Technical Support.

The prompt will point to the directory which holds the script files specific to the Noetix System Administration User Account that you are connected to.

2. The prompt is displayed as “Noetix Home,” to describe the location where all files related to the NoetixViews installation are located. Work with your support representative to run the appropriate script to complete the specified task.


Run a SQL ScriptThe “SQL*Plus Prompt” tool opens a SQL*Plus session with the current directory as the connected user's installation directory. This prompt is available only when connected as a user.

To open a SQL*Plus session from the NoetixViews Administrator main screen, select Tools –> Support –> SQL*Plus Prompt.

Available Unix ScriptsThe following scripts are available to complete a variety of installation and maintenance tasks.

• checkenv.sh – checks the login’s environment for errors• clear.bat – removes old files• finderr.bat – checks a NoetixViews installation for errors• icronenv.sh – when regenerating using Cron, sets up the Cron environment• icrontab.sh – when regenerating using Cron, populates the crontab file• setup.sh – changes permissions on *.sh, *.bat, and goto* files to read and

execute. This Unix script should be run after the scripts are transferred to a Unix machine and prior to a NoetixViews installation.


Available SQL ScriptsThe following scripts are available to complete a variety of installation and maintenance tasks. These scripts can be run from the SQL*Plus Prompt in the NoetixViews Administrator or by using SQL*Plus.

• iallhlp.sql – recreates all forms of Help generated in the last install if you answered “Yes” to all the install options

• ianswers.sql – runs the AnswerPoint Builder• iaolhlp.sql – generates or regenerates NoetixViews Help in Oracle

Applications Screens (AOL text mode forms) formatNOTE: Not available for Oracle release 11 and later

• icomhlp.sql – generates or regenerates NoetixViews Help in Query Tool (column comments) Help format

• iconcmgr.sql – when regenerating using the Concurrent Manager, loads the concurrent program

• idelqusr.sql – allows Roles to be removed from Noetix Query Users or Noetix Query Users to be removed

• igetprm.sql – when regenerating using the Concurrent Manager or Cron, gathers generation parameters

• igetpw.sql – when regenerating using the Concurrent Manager or Cron, gathers passwords for the generation

• iguifs.sql – enables or disables the installation stages and/or Help generation in the NoetixViews Administrator

• ihtmlhlp.sql – generates or regenerates NoetixViews Help in HTML format• imshlp.sql – generates or regenerates NoetixViews Help in Microsoft

Windows Help format• install1.sql – generates Stage 1 of the installation process• install2.sql – generates Stage 2 of the installation process• install3.sql – generates Stage 3 of the installation process• install4.sql – generates Stage 4 of the installation process• instqusr.sql – creates and sets up Noetix Query Users• instuser.sql – creates an Oracle database user (if run from a database account

with DBA privileges)• listchng.sql – provides information about what has changed related to a

NoetixViews update• listcnfg.sql – provides information about your NoetixViews installation• listinfo.sql – provides information about the fnd configuration (Application

Object Library)• listjoin.sql – provides a list of Z$ columns used for joins• preupd.sql – perform tasks needed prior to upgrading NoetixViews.

Chapter 6

RegeneratingNoetixViews

The Regenerating NoetixViews chapter details the instructions and information necessary to perform NoetixViews regenerations, including regenerating NoetixViews, Noetix AnswerPoint, and the Help System.


OverviewPeriodic maintenance is required to keep your NoetixViews installation current with your Oracle configuration. Noetix recommends frequent regenerations in order to keep NoetixViews metadata and user accounts synchronized with changes made to your Oracle database or applications (for example, to pick up security changes or new flexfields). The frequency with which you regenerate will depend on the frequency of changes you make in your Oracle environment.

NoetixViews must be regenerated (that is, rebuilt on the server) when any of the following changes are made to your Oracle configuration:

• You have created additional GL flexfield security rules in Oracle Applications on a new segment of the Accounting flexfield.

• You have added Sets of Books, Operating Units, or Inventory Organizations to your Oracle environment.

• The key or descriptive flexfield configuration in Oracle Applications has changed.• The configuration of “Codes,” “Lookups,” or “Types” values has changed.• A significant patch to Oracle Applications has been applied.• You have upgraded to another release of Oracle Applications (if your current

version of NoetixViews supports that version).• You have upgraded the Oracle database.• You have received patches or customizations from Noetix Technical Support, but

not a new NoetixViews CD.

In all of these circumstances, NoetixViews must be regenerated in order to incorporate any changes made to either NoetixViews or the Oracle configuration.

?Should I regenerate, or should I upgrade?

• Have you received a new version of NoetixViews, on a CD? An upgrade installs a new version of NoetixViews from a CD. Chapter 7: “Upgrading NoetixViews” explains how to upgrade.

• Has your Oracle environment changed, or have you received a patch by email or FTP? A regeneration recreates your NoetixViews metadata after changes have been made to your database or applications, and is often needed to apply patches from Noetix as well. Chapter 6: “Regenerating NoetixViews” explains how to regenerate.

Chapter 6: Regenerating NoetixViews 143

When regenerating, you must start with a successful NoetixViews installation (that is, the last time you ran stages 1-4, they must have all completed successfully). If your installation was not successful, use the steps in Chapter 3: “Installation” to complete your installation, or call Noetix Technical Support. Attempting a regeneration when the initial installation was not successful may fail and cause you to lose important installation settings.

The NoetixViews Help System and Noetix AnswerPoint also require regeneration after you have regenerated NoetixViews.

Choosing a Regeneration Method

NoetixViews can be regenerated using the NoetixViews Administrator or using scripts. In addition, regenerations can be scheduled using a Concurrent Manager job or using a Unix-based Cron job.

You will need to choose the method that will work best for your environment. Consider requirements such as the following when making your choice:

• How familiar are you with NoetixViews installations and regenerations? If you do not have much experience administering your NoetixViews environment, you may do best with a NoetixViews Administrator-based regeneration, which provides more information about the prompts asked during the process.

• What environment or machine do you currently use for administrative tasks? If you use Windows, SQL*Plus, Cron (the Unix scheduling service), or the Concurrent Manager (the Oracle scheduling service) for other administrative tasks, you may wish to use a similar process for regenerating NoetixViews.

• Do you need to regenerate outside of business hours? If so, the Cron or Concurrent Manager methods, which can be scheduled, may work best for you.

• Have you added Sets of Books, Operating Units, or Inventory Organizations to your Oracle environment? If so, regenerating will create new Roles and views for these new structures. You will need to determine the Role prefixes for these new Roles, which can’t be done in a scheduled regeneration method.


The following table lists additional considerations for each regeneration method.

WARNING: If an attempted regeneration fails or is aborted, your next attempt should be done using the same regeneration method, machine, and installation directory. If you switch regeneration methods after an unsuccessful regeneration, it may be more difficult to retain your query user accounts and Role prefixes.

Comparing Regeneration Methods

FeaturesNoetixViews

AdministratorScripts

Concurrent Manager Job

Cron Job

Runs on Windows?

Runs on Unix/Linux?

Can be scheduled?

Supports editing Role prefixes

during regeneration?

Can be used without additional

setup steps?

Can include AnswerPoint regeneration?

Can automatically compile Windows

Help format?

Includes online help for each

screen/prompt?


Option 1: Regenerate Using the NoetixViews Administrator

Regenerating NoetixViews using the NoetixViews Administrator involves walking through a short series of wizards in the application used to administer NoetixViews. The steps you follow are very similar to the steps used when initially installing NoetixViews.

This regeneration method is performed using a Windows client machine, usually the administrator’s, where the NoetixViews Administrator software has been installed. If this machine does not already have the NoetixViews Administrator installed, refer to “Load Installation Software” on page 26.

To regenerate NoetixViews using the NoetixViews Administrator:1. Log into the NoetixViews Administrator as your existing Noetix System

Administration User account. Refer to “Start the Application” on page 31 for instructions if needed.

2. Refresh installation scripts. When regenerating after the NoetixViews configuration has changed, the installer can confirm that the collection of scripts in the home directory is appropriate for the NoetixViews version being implemented. This can be accomplished by selecting Tools -> Support -> Refresh Scripts from the menu bar. This displays information regarding the version number of the scripts located within your home directory.

3. Complete stages 2, 3, and 4 of installation. When prompted whether to save previous settings, make sure to select “Yes.” Refer to “Option 1: Install Using the NoetixViews Administrator” on page 30 for further instructions.

WARNING: During Stage 4, you will prompted for whether you wish to edit Role prefixes. Be aware that if you change a Role prefix, any reports written against NoetixViews within that Role will break!

4. Run the listchng script (optional). This will create a file showing differences between your previous and new installations.

SQL> start listchng.sql

These changes will be contained in the listchng.lst file.


5. Regenerate Answers (when using the Noetix Platform). You will need to re-run the Noetix AnswerPoint Builder and Noetix AnswerPoint Generator to update your answers, as well as to export your query user data to Noetix Query Server. Instructions can be found in “Regenerate Noetix AnswerPoint” on page 173.

6. Regenerate the Help System. You will need to regenerate your Help System so it will reflect your updated installation. Refer to “Option 1: Regenerate Help Using the NoetixViews Administrator” on page 187 later in this chapter for instructions on generating and distributing the Help System.

7. Update query tools (if needed). Refer to your query tool documentation to see if your tools or their meta-layers need to be updated. If you are using the Noetix EUL Generator in conjunction with Oracle Discoverer, you will need to run the Extract Views process outlined in the Noetix EUL Generator Administrator Guide to update your End User Layer.

Option 2: Regenerate Using Scripts

Regenerating NoetixViews using scripts involves running a series of scripts from SQL*Plus. The steps you follow are very similar to the steps used when initially installing NoetixViews.

This regeneration method is performed using a Unix or Windows machine, usually the administrator’s. If this machine does not already contain the NoetixViews files and scripts from the initial installation, refer to “Transfer Script Files” on page 61.


To regenerate NoetixViews using scripts:1. Using SQL*Plus, connect to the database as the existing Noetix System

Administration User:


2. Complete stages 2, 3, and 4 of installation. When prompted whether to save previous settings, make sure to select “Yes.” Refer to “Option 2: Install Using Scripts” on page 60 for further instructions.





4. Regenerate Answers (when using the Noetix Platform). You will need to re-run the Noetix AnswerPoint Builder and Noetix AnswerPoint Generator to update your answers, as well as to export your query user data to Noetix Query Server. Instructions can be found in “Regenerate Noetix AnswerPoint” on page 173.

5. Regenerate the Help System. You will need to regenerate your Help System to reflect your updated installation. Refer to “Option 2: Regenerate Help Using Scripts” on page 189 for instructions on generating and distributing the Help System.

6. Update query tools (if needed). Refer to your query tool documentation to see if your tools or their meta-layers need to be updated. If you are using the Noetix EUL Generator in conjunction with Oracle Discoverer, you will need to run the Extract Views process outlined in the Noetix EUL Generator Administrator Guide to update your End User Layer.


Option 3: Regenerate Using a Scheduled Concurrent Manager Job

Regenerating NoetixViews using a scheduled Concurrent Manager job requires a number of initial tasks to set up the environment and parameters to be used. Once this initial setup is completed, regenerations can be run on a scheduled basis with no user input required.

NOTE: If you have upgraded NoetixViews and have used the Concurrent Manager earlier to regenerate your views, you need to redo the fifth and sixth steps in “Step 1: Set up Custom Application” on page 149. Subsequently, you need to perform the procedures listed in “Step 2: Populate Parameter File” on page 151, “Step 3: Populate Password File” on page 154, “Step 4: Define the Concurrent Program” on page 155, and “Schedule the Regeneration in Concurrent Manager” on page 157. You should perform these procedures only after you have upgraded NoetixViews using the NoetixViews Administrator (page 201) or scripts (page 203).

This method will involve setting up a Concurrent Manager job from a Unix environment.

Initial SetupInitial setup steps need to be done once for each Noetix_Sys instance. After this setup has been done, for subsequent regenerations, simply skip to “Schedule the Regeneration in Concurrent Manager” on page 157 to launch the regeneration.

Initial setup involves the following steps:

Step 1: Set up Custom Application Step 2: Populate Parameter File Step 3: Populate Password File Step 4: Define the Concurrent Program


Step 1: Set up Custom ApplicationYou will need to create the custom application record and directories that will allow you to use the Concurrent Manager to regenerate NoetixViews. This step may need to be done by a DBA with experience setting up custom applications.

To set up the custom application:1. Log in to Unix as the user associated with the Concurrent Manager. Usually this is

the same user who owns the Concurrent Manager log and output files. You will be using this account to execute the concurrent process.

For the purposes of this document, this user will be referred to as “noetix_unix”.

NOTE: This user can be found by changing to the Oracle Applications log or output files directories, using the Unix commands cd $APPLCSF/$APPLLOG or cd $APPLCSF/$APPLOUT, and viewing the owners. The owner of the log and output files is the Unix user account to log in with.

2. Create a custom application’s TOP directory for XXNOETIX in the $APPL_TOP directory, to be used by the Concurrent Manager. (This custom application’s TOP directory should be at the same level as the $FND_TOP directory.) This directory structure depends on the operating system and the Oracle Applications version that is being used, and should include subdirectories such as bin, sql, ctl, etc. Ensure the noetix_unix user has full permissions to this directory.

As part of the custom application directory setup, the environment variables need to be set in the <dbname>.env file for the custom application’s TOP directory structure.

NOTE: Refer to the Oracle Applications Concepts manual for your operating system for more information about creating the custom application’s TOP directory structure and setting environment variables.

3. Navigate to the bin directory of the XXNOETIX directory you just created and create a program link called inst4cm under Host Language Concurrent Programs, as described in the Oracle Applications System Administrator’s Guide:

ln -ns $FND_TOP/bin/fndcpesr inst4cm

If you do not have an environment variable set for the application_top directory, you may need to use the absolute path to the bin directory of the $FND_TOP directory rather than $FND_TOP/bin.


4. Under the XXNOETIX directory, create a /noetix_install_dir directory to be used exclusively for NoetixViews. This new directory should be at the same level as the bin directory.

5. Load the NoetixViews scripts into the noetix_install_dir using the Script Copy Wizard, following ALL steps in “Transfer Script Files” on page 61. The wizard will transfer the files and scripts needed for regenerations. In this process, the step to run setup.sh will set permissions on the directories you created above.

6. Copy the file inst4cm.prog from the noetix_install_dir to the bin directory within the XXNOETIX directory structure.

7. Log into the Oracle Applications forms as a user with the System Administrator responsibility.

8. Select the System Administrator responsibility.

9. Navigate to Application –> Register.

10. Add a new application with the following values:

• Application — Noetix Custom Application• Short Name — XXNOETIX • Base Path — XXNOETIX_TOP• Description — Noetix Custom Application

11. Navigate to Security –> ORACLE –> Data Group.

12. Set up the standard data group for the application with the following values:

• Application — Noetix Custom Application• Oracle ID — APPS • Description — Noetix Custom Application


Step 2: Populate Parameter FileThis step will populate a parameter file with default values for all of the information the NoetixViews regeneration will need, such as regeneration options and user names. These default values will display when setting up your scheduled regeneration jobs (if they haven’t been set by prior installations already), but you can change them in a later step for each scheduled job you create if desired.

The script you run in this step will gather and validate the parameters and save them to the noetix_install_dir/autorun/cparam.sql file. The script will ask the user for all of the required parameters (except passwords) needed for a scheduled regeneration.

To populate the parameter file:1. Change to the noetix_install_dir directory on the server containing the

NoetixViews installation scripts.




3. Run the parameter gathering script, igetprm:

SQL> start igetprm.sql



• Please enter the Noetix_Sys password.

• Please enter the name of the database where the Noetix_Sys user resides.

NOTE: Enter the TNS name of this database.


• What type of unattended install environment do you operate in (STANDARD or EBSO)?

NOTE: Enter STANDARD.

• Please enter the default tablespace for the Noetix_Sys user.

NOTE: Name of the default tablespace assigned to the Noetix_Sys user.

• Please enter the Noetix Administrator Installation Path.

NOTE: Full path to the UNIX directory where the NoetixViews installation files reside (the noetix_install_dir directory).

• Please enter the APPS user name.

• Please enter the language used in the install stage 4 processing.

• Should XOP views be installed (if available)? Please answer Y or N.

NOTE: If purchased and available, should XOP views be installed? Valid responses are Y or N.

• Should individual INV views be installed (if available)? Please answer Y or N.

NOTE: If NoetixViews for Inventory has been purchased, should individual Inventory views be installed? Valid responses are Y or N.

• Should global INV views be installed (if available)? Please answer Y or N.

NOTE: If NoetixViews for Inventory has been purchased and multiple organizations have been detected, should global Inventory views be installed? Valid responses are Y or N.

• Should Projects Multi-currency columns be installed (if available)? Please answer Y or N.

NOTE: If NoetixViews for Oracle Projects have been purchased, Oracle Applications 11.5.8 or later detected, and Oracle Projects installed, should multi-currency columns be activated? Valid responses are Y or N.


• Should the installation pause for prefix editing? Please answer Y or N.

NOTE: This parameter value is ignored in scheduled regenerations, as prefix editing is not supported in these methods. Simply accept the default value; the parameter will be ignored.

• Should AOL Help be generated? (10.7 only) Please answer Y or N.

NOTE: This parameter will only be used in Oracle Applications 10.7 or earlier installations.

• Should Database comments be generated? Please answer Y or N.

• Should Microsoft Help be generated? Please answer Y or N.

• Should HTML Help be generated? Please answer Y or N.

• Should we run AnswerPoint Builder? Please answer Y or N.

• Should we run AnswerPoint Builder if warnings occur in stage 4? Please answer Y or N.


NOTE: This prompt displays if you have previously installed NoetixViews. Regardless of the value you enter, the regeneration will save the Role prefixes and query user settings from the database, as if you answered “Yes.”

• Which stages do you want the installer to run?

NOTE: Choose which type of regeneration you wish to schedule:

A – Full Regeneration – This option runs a complete regeneration, from Stage 2-4, and will include AnswerPoint Builder and the Help system, if selected above.

B – AnswerPoint Builder Only – This option runs only the AnswerPoint Builder, which can be used if regenerating AnswerPoint only.

H – Generate Selected Help Content Only – This option regenerates the Help system formats selected above.


After all the values have been entered, the parameters you entered will be used to populate cparam.sql and you can continue to the next step.

Step 3: Populate Password FileThis step populates a password file with the user accounts and passwords that the regeneration may need.

The script you run in this step will gather and validate the passwords and save them to the noetix_install_dir/autorun/cpw.sql file. Permissions are automatically set on this file so that the passwords are secure and only accessible by the noetix_unix user.

To populate the password file: 1. If you are no longer connected to the database, then reconnect:

1. Change to the noetix_install_dir directory on the server containing the NoetixViews installation scripts.

2. Using SQL*Plus, reconnect to the database as the Noetix System Administration User:



3. Run the password gathering script, igetpw:

SQL> start igetpw.sql

4. Enter the passwords for the user accounts you are prompted for, then press Enter. The list of users you are presented with will be different depending on your unique configuration. However, generally this list will include your APPS account(s).

5. Exit SQL*Plus.

After all the values have been entered, the passwords you entered will be used to populate cpw.sql.


Step 4: Define the Concurrent ProgramThis step defines a concurrent program that will be used to execute your scheduled NoetixViews regeneration. You will be prompted to enter the APPS user name and password, as well as other necessary information to set up the concurrent program.

To define the concurrent program:1. Change to the noetix_install_dir directory.




3. Run the script to load the concurrent program, iconcmgr.sql:

SQL> start iconcmgr.sql



• Please enter a valid Oracle Apps user account

NOTE: This account is typically APPS.

• Please enter the Oracle User Password for the Apps User

• Please enter the name of the Oracle Application you wish to associate with this Concurrent Program definition. Use the application_short_name to define this item.

NOTE: Enter the short name of the Application that you created in “Step 1: Set up Custom Application” on page 149, generally XXNOETIX.


• Which Request Group do you want to attach this Concurrent Program to?

NOTE: Enter the name of the request group that you want to add the concurrent program definition to. To view the list of request groups, log into the Oracle Applications forms with the System Administrator responsibility and navigate to Security –> Responsibility –> Request.

• Please enter the name of the Oracle Application you wish to associate with the Request Group specified above. Use the application_short_name to define this item.

NOTE: Enter the short name of the Application associated with the Request Group you selected.

The remaining prompts are defaulted from “Step 2: Populate Parameter File” on page 151. Simply accept the defaults; you will have a chance to change these options in each Concurrent Manager job you schedule. If you notice parameters that are wrong, you can change them here, but it is recommended that you also run “Step 2: Populate Parameter File” on page 151 again to change the values there.



• Please enter the NOETIX_SYS user name.

NOTE: Enter the name of the Noetix System Administration User.

• Please enter the name of the database where the NOETIX_SYS user resides.


• Please enter the default tablespace for the NOETIX_SYS.


• Please enter the Noetix Administrator Install Path.



5. Verify the information that you have entered. If the information is incorrect, break out of SQL*Plus (usually by pressing Ctrl-C) and start this step again. If the information is correct, press any key to continue.

After all the values have been entered, the script will use the parameters you entered to define the concurrent program and you can continue to the next step.

Schedule the Regeneration in Concurrent ManagerNow that you are set up to regenerate NoetixViews using Concurrent Manager, you can define and schedule the job that will run the regeneration.

To schedule your NoetixViews regeneration, you will submit a Concurrent Manager request. The Submit Request form will prompt you for your regeneration options and schedule. Concurrent Manager will then kick off the regeneration according to the schedule you set.

WARNING: If you are scheduling a regeneration and think that variables that do not display in the Concurrent Manager (such as passwords) may have changed since your initial setup, verify that the parameters and passwords saved in the cparam.sql and cpw.sql files are still correct. If you need to change the Noetix_Sys password or other parameters, run “Step 2: Populate Parameter File” on page 151 again. To change the APPS or other administrative passwords, run “Step 3: Populate Password File” on page 154 again.

To schedule the Concurrent Manager Job:1. Log in to Oracle Applications as an Oracle Applications user with access to the

request group.

2. Navigate to the location where concurrent requests are submitted, usually Concurrent –> Requests.

3. On the “Submit A New Request” screen, select “Single Request.”

4. On the “Submit Request” form, query for the Request Name of “NoetixViews/DW Installation - Oracle STANDARD Environment”. (If this does not appear in the program list, contact your Oracle Applications administrator.)


5. Enter or verify the following values:

NOTE: The NoetixViews System Administrator password will be taken from the secured noetix_install_dir/autorun/cparam.sql file.

• Noetix_Sys Name

• Noetix_Sys Database

• Default Tablespace

• Noetix_Sys Language

• Install XOP Roles?


• Install Individual Inventory Roles?


• Install the Global Inventory Role?

NOTE: If NoetixViews for Inventory has been purchased and multiple organizations detected, should global Inventory views be installed? Valid responses are Y or N.

• Add the Projects Multi-Currency Columns (11.5.8+ only)?


• Generate AOL Help?

NOTE: This parameter only displays in Oracle Applications 10.7 environments.

• Generate Database Comment Help?

• Generate Microsoft Help?


• Generate HTML Help?

• Run AnswerPoint Builder?

• Continue to next stage on warnings?

• Installation Option

NOTE: Choose which type of regeneration you wish to schedule, and enter either A, B, or H:




6. Submit the request by clicking “OK.”

7. Under the “Schedule Options” section, click “Schedule.”

8. Select your options for when the regeneration should run, then click “OK.”

After all the values have been entered, your regeneration is scheduled and will be kicked off at the next scheduled time.

You may repeat these steps to set up additional scheduled jobs, for example, to set up additional schedules or regenerations for help only.


View Regeneration StatusYou can view the status of a regeneration while it is running in the Concurrent Manager. A log file is also created for each job that runs.

To view the regeneration status:1. Log in to Oracle Applications as an Oracle Applications user with access to the

request group.


3. Click “Find Requests,” then search for the “NoetixViews/DW Installation - Oracle STANDARD Environment” job.

4. On the Requests screen, the status of the job will display next to the name and other basic information. To view more details of the progress of the regeneration, click the job, then click “View Log.”

After the job completes, check this log to verify that the job has completed successfully and no ORA or PL/SQL errors have been reported.

Edit or Delete a RegenerationYou can edit the parameters or schedule you set in a regeneration in the Concurrent Manager by modifying the request.

WARNING: Do not edit or delete a regeneration that is currently running.

To edit or delete a request:1. Log in to Oracle Applications as an Oracle Applications user with access to the

request group.


3. Click “Find Requests,” then search for the “NoetixViews/DW Installation - Oracle STANDARD Environment” job.


• To edit the job, double-click the “Parameters” text box, then edit the job as desired.

• To delete the job, on the Requests screen, click the job, then click “Cancel Request.”

Option 4: Regenerate Using a Scheduled Cron Job

Regenerating NoetixViews using Cron, the Unix scheduling service, requires a number of initial tasks to set up the environment and parameters to be used. Once this initial setup is completed, regenerations can be run on a scheduled basis with no user input required.

NOTE: If you have upgraded NoetixViews and have used Cron earlier to regenerate your views, you need to redo the last step in “Step 1: Create Unix User and Directory” on page 162. Subsequently, you need to perform the procedures listed in “Step 2: Populate Parameter File” on page 162, “Step 3: Populate Password File” on page 166, “Step 4: Set Up Cron Environment” on page 167, and “Schedule the Regeneration in Cron” on page 168. You should perform these procedures only after you have upgraded NoetixViews using the NoetixViews Administrator (page 201) or scripts (page 203).

This method will involve setting up a Cron job from a Unix environment.

Initial SetupInitial setup steps need to be done once for each Noetix_Sys instance. After this setup has been done, for subsequent regenerations, simply skip to “Schedule the Regeneration in Cron” on page 168 to launch the regeneration.

Initial setup involves the following steps:

Step 1: Create Unix User and Directory Step 2: Populate Parameter File Step 3: Populate Password File Step 4: Set Up Cron Environment


Step 1: Create Unix User and DirectoryYou will need to create a user account and directory in Unix to use for your regeneration tasks.

To create the Unix user and directory:1. Create a new Unix user account exclusively for Noetix administrative tasks.

For the purposes of this document, this account will be referred to as “noetix_unix”, but you can name the account anything you wish.

2. Grant this user account permissions to the crontab file. This is necessary because you will be using this account to execute the Cron job.

3. Log in as the noetix_unix account you just created.

4. Create a directory to be used exclusively for NoetixViews.

For the purposes of this document, this directory will be called “noetix_install_dir”.

5. Load the NoetixViews scripts into the noetix_install_dir using the Script Copy Wizard, following ALL steps in “Transfer Script Files” on page 61. The wizard will transfer the files and scripts needed for regenerations. In this process, the step to run setup.sh will set permissions on the directories you created above.

Step 2: Populate Parameter FileThis step will populate a parameter file with default values for all of the information the NoetixViews regeneration will need, such as regeneration options and user names. These default values will display when setting up your scheduled regeneration jobs (if they haven’t been set by prior installations already), but you can change them in a later step for each scheduled job you create if desired.

The script you run in this step will gather and validate the parameters and save them to the noetix_install_dir/autorun/cparam.sql file. The script will ask the user for all of the required parameters (except passwords) needed for a scheduled regeneration.


To populate the parameter file:1. Change to the noetix_install_dir directory on the server containing the

NoetixViews installation scripts.




3. Run the parameter gathering script, igetprm:

SQL> start igetprm.sql



• Please enter the Noetix_Sys password.

• Please enter the name of the database where the Noetix_Sys user resides.




• Please enter the default tablespace for the Noetix_Sys user.


• Please enter the Noetix Administrator Installation Path.


• Please enter the APPS user name.


• Please enter the language used in the install stage 4 processing.

• Should XOP views be installed (if available)? Please answer Y or N.


• Should individual INV views be installed (if available)? Please answer Y or N.


• Should global INV views be installed (if available)? Please answer Y or N.


• Should Projects Multi-currency columns be installed (if available)? Please answer Y or N.


• Should the installation pause for prefix editing? Please answer Y or N.

NOTE: This parameter value is ignored in scheduled regenerations, as prefix editing is not supported in these methods. Simply accept the default value; the parameter will be ignored.

• Should AOL Help be generated? (10.7 only) Please answer Y or N.

NOTE: This parameter will only be used in Oracle Applications 10.7 or earlier installations.

• Should Database comments be generated? Please answer Y or N.

• Should Microsoft Help be generated? Please answer Y or N.

• Should HTML Help be generated? Please answer Y or N.


• Should we run AnswerPoint Builder? Please answer Y or N.

• Should we run AnswerPoint Builder if warnings occur in stage 4? Please answer Y or N.


NOTE: This prompt displays if you have previously installed NoetixViews. Regardless of the value you enter, the regeneration will save the Role prefixes and query user settings from the database, as if you answered “Yes.”

• Which stages do you want the installer to run?





After all the values have been entered, the parameters you entered will be used to populate cparam.sql and you can continue to the next step.


Step 3: Populate Password FileThis step populates a password file with the user accounts and passwords that the regeneration may need.

The script you run in this step will gather and validate the passwords and save them to the noetix_install_dir/autorun/cpw.sql file. Permissions are automatically set on this file so that the passwords are secure and only accessible by the noetix_unix user.

To populate the password file: 1. If you are no longer connected to the database, then reconnect:

1. Change to the noetix_install_dir directory on the server containing the NoetixViews installation scripts.

2. Using SQL*Plus, reconnect to the database as the Noetix System Administration User:



3. Run the password gathering script, igetpw:

SQL> start igetpw.sql

4. Enter the passwords for the user accounts you are prompted for, then press Enter. The list of users you are presented with will be different depending on your unique configuration. However, generally this list will include your APPS account(s).

5. Exit SQL*Plus.

After all the values have been entered, the passwords you entered will be used to populate cpw.sql.


Step 4: Set Up Cron EnvironmentThe next step is to create an environment script required for the regeneration. The script you run will create the cronenv.sh file, which will be stored in the server directory containing the NoetixViews installation scripts. You will then edit and test this file to ensure it functions correctly in your environment.

To set up the Cron environment: 1. Change directories to noetix_install_dir.

2. Run the environment setup script, icronenv.sh:

icronenv.sh

The script will not prompt you for any information.

3. With the Unix editor of your choice, manually edit the cronenv.sh file to be appropriate to your environment. You will need to verify that the values listed for your Oracle_SID, Oracle_BASE, path to SQL*Plus, and other environment variables are correct. Modify them if they are incorrect, then save the file when you are finished.

4. Test that the file is functioning correctly in your environment. To do this, run the following at the command line:

. cronenv.sh

5. Next, test that the file can invoke SQL*Plus correctly. To do this, run the following at the command line:

sqlplus

If this successfully invokes SQL*Plus, then the file is set up correctly.

6. Exit SQL*Plus.


Schedule the Regeneration in Cron Now that you are set up to regenerate NoetixViews using Cron, you can define and schedule the job that will run the regeneration.

To schedule your NoetixViews regeneration, you will run a script to add a regeneration job into the crontab file for your user account. The script will prompt you for your regeneration options and schedule. Cron will then kick off the regeneration according to the schedule you set.

WARNING: If you are scheduling a regeneration and think that variables that do not display below (such as passwords) may have changed since your initial setup, verify that the parameters and passwords saved in the cparam.sql and cpw.sql files are still correct. If you need to change the Noetix_Sys password or other parameters, run “Step 2: Populate Parameter File” on page 162 again. To change the APPS or other administrative passwords, run “Step 3: Populate Password File” on page 166 again.

To set up the scheduled Cron job:1. Change directories to noetix_install_dir.

2. Run the script to create the Cron job, icrontab.sh:

icrontab.sh



• Install XOP Roles? Valid values (Y or N)


• Install Individual Inventory Roles? Valid values (Y or N)



• Install Global Inventory Role? Valid values (Y or N)


• Create Projects Multi-Currency Columns(11.5.8+)? Valid values ( Y or N )


• Generate AOL Help (10.7 only)? Valid values (Y or N)

NOTE: This parameter will only be used in 10.7 or earlier installations.

• Generate Database Comments? Valid values (Y or N)

• Generate Microsoft Help? Valid values (Y or N)

• Generate HTML Help? Valid values (Y or N)

• Run AnswerPoint Builder (If Answers Purchased)? Valid values (Y or N)

• Continue to next stage on warnings? Valid values (Y or N)

• Installation Option? Valid values (A, B, H)






• What are your scheduling options for your Cron Job?

NOTE: Set the schedule for your regeneration by entering values for the following prompts. To indicate no preference for a prompt, enter an asterisk (*). For example, if you wanted the regeneration to run every day at 11:00 p.m., you would enter 23 for the hour and an * for every other value.

You must specify an appropriate numeric value for at least one of the following entries (that is, you cannot enter an * for every prompt). If you have any questions about schedule options, consult the man pages for the crontab file.

What minute of the hour do you want to schedule the cron job? Valid Values (0-59, or *)

What hour of the day do you want to schedule the cron job? Valid Values (0-23, or *)

What day of the month do you want to schedule the cron job? Valid Values (1-31, or *)

What month of the year do you want to schedule the cron job? Valid Values (1-12, or *)

What day of the week do you want to schedule the cron job? Valid Values (0-6 with 0=Sunday, or *)



After all the values have been entered, your regeneration is scheduled and will be kicked off at the next scheduled time. An entry will be created in your crontab file:

#n#n Note: all comments will be included in your cron entry harmlessly#n use * for any value to indicate no preference#n#n min : minute (0-59),#n hr : hour (0-23),#n day : day of the month (1-31),#n mon : month of the year (1-12),#n dotw : day of the week (0-6 with 0=Sunday).#n#n Use: #n#n min hr day mon dotw $noetixdir/inst4cron.sh Y Y Y N N N N Y Y Y A#n#n Sample: 30 23 * * 0 $noetixdir/inst4cron.sh Y Y Y N N N N Y Y Y A#n#n Means 11:30 PM every Sunday#n#n Noetix cron entry:#n# The following parameters have been entered for the Noetix Automated Installer# cron job on DDD MMM DD HH:MM:SS PDT YYYY# Parameters# 1 Install XOP Roles - Y# 2 Install Ind. INV Roles - Y# 3 Install Global INV Role - Y# 4 Create Multi-Currency Columns (11.5.8+) - Y# 5 Generate AOL Help - N# 6 Gen Database Comments - Y# 7 Generate Microsoft Help - Y# 8 Generate HTML Help - Y# 9 Run AnswerPoint Builder - Y# 10 Continue to next stage on warnings - Y# 11 Overwrite Configuration Files in Install Dir - Y# 12 Installation Option - B#0 9 24 10 5 /export/home/users/username/install_dir/inst4cron.sh Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y B


You may repeat these steps to set up additional scheduled jobs, for example, to set up additional schedules or regenerations for help only. Each time you run this script, it will add another regeneration entry to your crontab file.

View Regeneration StatusYou can view the status of a regeneration while it is running or afterward by looking at the log files. A log file is created for each job that runs, regardless of whether it successfully completes. The log files are named with the time the job began.

To view the regeneration log(s):1. Navigate to the log directory under the noetix_install_dir directory. You will see

a separate file for each job that has started. The log files are named cronYYYYMMDDhhmmss.log, where the day and time correspond to when the job began.

2. Open the log file corresponding to the time the job began.

3. The log will display the tasks that completed in the run. To view the exit status and any errors, scroll to the bottom of the file.

Edit or Delete a RegenerationIf you need to edit a regeneration you have already scheduled (for example, to reschedule a regeneration or change the parameters used) or delete it, you can manually edit the job entry in the crontab file.

To edit or delete an existing job:1. Log into Unix as the user who created the job you wish to edit or delete.

2. Change directories to noetix_install_dir/autorun.

3. Run the following command to edit the crontab file:

crontab -e

An output of all Cron jobs that the logged-in user has set up will be displayed.


4. Navigate to the appropriate Noetix regeneration job. To quickly find the beginning of the first Noetix job, search for #n Noetix cron entry. The cron job parameters will start directly below these comments.

5. Edit the job as desired. If you wish to delete the job, delete the whole entry (all lines beginning with #n, as well as the Noetix Automated Installer parameters directly below the comments).

6. Save the crontab file and exit.

Post-Regeneration Steps

Regenerate Noetix AnswerPointAnswers should be regenerated after NoetixViews have been regenerated, so that Noetix QueryServer objects, such as query users, are synchronized with updated NoetixViews metadata.

WARNING: If the Noetix Platform has been installed or upgraded, the NoetixViews Integration component should have been selected. Selecting this option ensures that the version of Noetix AnswerPoint Generator that is compatible with your present version of Noetix Platform is integrated into the NoetixViews Administrator. Using the Noetix Platform CD, select this component (and install or upgrade the Noetix AnswerPoint Generator) on every computer on which the NoetixViews Administrator is installed. If you do not have the correct version of the Noetix AnswerPoint Generator, it will not function correctly. For more information, please refer to Chapter 3 of the Noetix Installation Guide.

Answers can be regenerated with in two ways:

• The Noetix AnswerPoint Wizard can be started from the NoetixViews Administrator.

• AnswerPoint regeneration can be scheduled with the use of the Windows Task Scheduler.


Option 1: Start Noetix AnswerPoint Wizard from NoetixViews AdministratorAnswers can be regenerated with the use of the NoetixViews Administrator. This procedure also exports your updated views and Query Users to Noetix Query Server and Noetix Web Query.

To regenerate Answers using the NoetixViews Administrator:1. From the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –>


2. Click the “Install AnswerPoint” button on the toolbar or select Tools –> Install AnswerPoint. The Noetix AnswerPoint Wizard will display.

3. Click “Next” to start the Noetix AnswerPoint Wizard.


4. In the AnswerPoint install options screen, check the check boxes to run both the AnswerPoint Builder and the AnswerPoint Generator. (If run separately, the AnswerPoint Builder should always be run before the AnswerPoint Generator.)

In the Install Options section of this screen, choose whether to review any warnings that may be generated during the regeneration process. Checking this box allows you to continue through regeneration regardless of warnings or errors. Leaving this box unchecked allows you to review any warnings and errors as they are generated before deciding to continue. Click “Next” to continue.


5. The “Metadata Backup” screen will display. Select the radio button next to the metadata backup option you wish to use. (The default will be what you selected last time.)

• Select “Off” if you do not maintain multiple instances of NoetixViews.

• Select “On” if you maintain multiple instances of NoetixViews, you have previously backed up your metadata, and now need to regenerate (particularly if the Noetix_Sys schema may contain invalid or out of sync AnswerPoint Generator metadata), or you want to back up your generation for disaster recovery.

• Select “Maintain” if you are not sure. If a backup of the metadata exists for this specific instance of NoetixViews, the backup will be used and then refreshed after AnswerPoint Generator runs. If a backup does not exist, the metadata backup utility will skip the import/export process.

In the “NQS Hub” field, enter the name of the NQS Hub machine. If you have more than one NQS Hub, it is recommended you choose a single Hub to store all metadata backups.



6. Select the radio button next to “Regenerate - update a previous generation.” Click “Next” to continue.

7. The “NQS Installation” screen will display. Enter a login and password with administrative access to your Noetix Query Server Hub. The NQS Hub and NWQ Server information will already be populated. Click “Next” to continue.


8. The “AnswerPoint Generator Options” screen will display. If you have made changes only to Noetix Query Users and have not regenerated views, you can check the box next to “Only Regenerate Query Users” to speed up the regeneration process. Select other performance options if desired. See page 87 for more information on these options.



10. To execute the AnswerPoint Generator process, click the “Finish” button.



Option 2: Schedule Noetix AnswerPoint Regeneration Using Windows Task SchedulerRegenerating Noetix AnswerPoint using a scheduled task requires initial steps to set up the environment and parameters to be used. Once this initial setup is completed, regenerations can be run on a scheduled basis with no user input required.

Before you can schedule an unattended regeneration of Noetix AnswerPoint, you must complete one initial generation manually. Noetix recommends one or two successful manual regenerations as well, and an unattended regeneration on the Unix side, to troubleshoot and accurately estimate time.

Steps for Unattended Regeneration• Create and populate XML file

• Create the task in Windows Task Scheduler

• View regeneration status

Step 1 – Create and Populate XML FileThis step will create and populate a parameter file with default values for all of the information AnswerPoint Generator will need, such as regeneration options and user names. You can change them in a later step for each scheduled job you create if required.

You will use the Create Unattended Script Wizard to create and populate the XML file. The wizard will guide you through many of the same screens you see in the Noetix AnswerPoint Wizard. Detailed information on most of the screens can be found in the this guide.

You can edit the default values by running the Create Unattended Script Wizard again.

To create and populate the XML file: 1. Go to Start –>Programs –>Noetix Platform –> Noetix AnswerGenerator –>

Create Unattended Script.


2. A “browse” window opens.

WARNING: Do not select the “agdata.xml” file to use for this procedure.

Browse to the folder where you want to create and save the XML file. For example, you may want to create the file under Noetix Corporation –> NoetixViews Administrator –> Master –> Custom directory.

Enter a name for the XML file (for example, “myscript.config”). After you have entered a name, click Open.

3. The Create Unattended Script Wizard begins and the Welcome screen appears. Click Next.

4. The “Schema Information” screen appears. Enter the user name, password, and TNS name for the required Noetix_Sys user. Click Next to continue.

5. The “Metadata Backup” screen appears. Select the metadata backup option you wish to use, and then enter the NQS Hub machine information. Click Next to continue.

6. The “Generation Operation” screen appears with the buttons at the top grayed-out. Select the required generation from the list, and then click Next.

7. The “NQS Installation” screen appears. Enter a login and password with administrative access to your Noetix QueryServer Hub. The NQS Hub and NWQ Server information will already be populated. Click Next to continue.

8. The “Oracle Applications Security” screen will prompt you for your Oracle Applications “APPS” user name and password. Enter the name of your “APPS” user (the Type “O” user in the NoetixViews Administrator Query User Maintenance utility), and then the password for this user. Click Next to continue.

9. The “Time Limit” screen appears. Enter the maximum number of minutes you want AnswerPoint Generator to wait if other installation processes are running when this scheduled regeneration is suppose to begin. If other installation processes are still running at the end of the time limit, the scheduled regeneration will be skipped.

For example, say you set this time limit to 30 minutes and schedule AnswerPoint Generator to begin at 1:00 a.m. on Fridays. At 1:00 a.m. on Friday, AnswerPoint Generator would check to see if any other installation processes are running. If no


installation processes are running, then AnswerPoint Generator will begin running. However, if there is an installation process running, AnswerPoint Generator will check the status periodically for the next 30 minutes until 1:30 a.m. If the installation process has stopped before 1:30, then AnswerPoint Generator will begin. At 1:30, if there is still an installation process running, then this task will be skipped.

10. The final screen appears. Click Finish.

After you finish the wizard, you can continue to the next step.

Step 2 – Create the Task in Windows Task SchedulerNow that you are set up to run Noetix AnswerPoint Generator, you can define and schedule the task that will run the regeneration.

To schedule your Noetix AnswerPoint Generator regeneration, you will create a task and schedule in the Windows Task Scheduler. Task Scheduler will then kick off the regeneration according to the schedule you set.

NOTE: The following procedure is not intended to document the Windows Task Scheduler. For more detailed information on the tool, see your Windows documentation. You may run both the Windows Task Scheduler and the Windows Event Viewer from a remote machine on the same network, provided you have sufficient privileges. Consult Windows documentation for more details.

To create the task in Windows Task Scheduler:1. Start the Task Scheduler Wizard (Start –> Settings –> Control Panel –>

Scheduled Tasks –> Add Scheduled Tasks). On the welcome screen, click Next.

2. From the wizard’s program list, select “Run AnswerPoint Generation.” Click Next to continue.

3. Enter a name for the task, and select how often you want the task performed. Click Next to continue.

4. Enter the time and day you want the task to start. Click Next to continue.

5. Enter a user name and password for a user who has permissions to start Noetix AnswerPoint. Click Next to continue.


6. On the final screen, check the box to open the advanced properties. Click Finish.

7. The advanced properties will open. On the Task tab, enter the following information, and then click OK.

• Run: AnswerGeneratorUI.exe -UnattendFile "Master\Custom\<name of XML file created in Step 1>"

• Start in: “C:\Program Files\Noetix Corporation\NoetixViews Administrator”

After all the values have been entered, your regeneration is scheduled and will be kicked off at the next scheduled time.

You may repeat these steps to set up additional scheduled tasks.

Step 3 – View Regeneration StatusYou can view basic status information for a scheduled regeneration while it is running by looking in the Windows Task Scheduler. More detailed information is also available in the Windows Event Log.

To view the basic status information for a scheduled regeneration:1. Open the Windows Task Scheduler (Start –> Settings –> Control Panel –>

Scheduled Tasks).

2. The Task Scheduler opens. The status of the task displays next to the task name along with other basic information.

From this screen, you can also do the following:

• Edit the schedule by double-clicking on the required task. The advanced properties window appears. Edit the settings you wish.

• Delete the schedule by right-clicking on the required task, and then selecting Delete.


To view more detailed status information for a scheduled regeneration:1. Open the Windows Event Viewer (Start –> Settings –> Control Panel –>

Administrative Tools –> Event Viewer).

2. Review the Application event log for entries by the Noetix AnswerPoint Generator and Noetix AnswerPoint Generator Client.

NOTE: You may run both the Windows Task Scheduler and the Windows Event Viewer from a remote machine on the same network, provided you have sufficient privileges. Consult Windows documentation for details.

Regenerate Noetix EUL Generator / Refresh Query ToolRefer to your query tool documentation to see if the tools or their meta-layers need to be updated or regenerated in order to access the latest NoetixViews metadata and security.

If you are using the Noetix EUL Generator in conjunction with Oracle Discoverer, you will need to run the Extract Views process outlined in the Noetix EUL Generator Administrator Guide to update your End User Layer.

Regenerate Help SystemThe NoetixViews Help System should be regenerated when:

• NoetixViews has been regenerated or upgraded.• You recognize a need for an additional Help System format.

During a NoetixViews regeneration, you are given the option to regenerate the Help System. The Help System can also be regenerated independently of a NoetixViews regeneration using the instructions in this section. Help can be regenerated using any of the regeneration methods (using the NoetixViews Administrator, scripts, or a scheduled regeneration method).

If you are generating the Microsoft Windows Help format, the NoetixViews Administrator can regenerate help with one step, while all other methods will require


transferring files to a Windows machine to be compiled using a separate wizard. Instructions for generating Help using each regeneration method can be found in the following sections.

Option 1: Regenerate Help Using the NoetixViews AdministratorTo regenerate Help from the NoetixViews Administrator:1. From the “Start” button, go to Programs –> NoetixViews Administrator –>


2. If prompted, select “Use Existing Account,” and log in with the user name and password for the Noetix System Administration User (usually Noetix_Sys). Also indicate the TNS name where the Noetix System Administration User schema resides. The NoetixViews Administrator will display.

3. From the Tools menu, choose the “Generate Online Help” option. Highlight the Help format that you wish to generate. The NoetixViews Administrator will perform the processes necessary to regenerate a Help file in the specified format.


4. Publish the Help System to users as follows, depending on the Help formats generated:

• Publish the Microsoft Windows Help System, if generated. After the NoetixViews Help for Microsoft Windows has been generated, the “noetix.hlp” file will exist in the <BASE_INSTALL_DIR>\<ACCOUNT_TNS>\MsHelp directory, where <BASE_INSTALL_DIR> is the location where you installed the NoetixViews Administrator client software and <ACCOUNT_TNS> is the name of the Noetix System Administration User (usually Noetix_Sys) + _ + the TNS Name of the database instance on which the user resides.

The noetix.hlp file will need to be moved to a shared server drive and a shortcut to the shared file placed on the desktop of each Noetix Query User’s machine.


• Publish the HTML Help System, if generated. After the NoetixViews HTML Help has been generated, the HTML files will exist in the <BASE_INSTALL_DIR>\<ACCOUNT_TNS>\htmlhelp directory, where <BASE_INSTALL_DIR> is the location where you installed the NoetixViews Administrator client software and <ACCOUNT_TNS> is the name of the Noetix System Administration User (usually Noetix_Sys) + _ + the TNS Name of the database instance on which the user resides. Point your browser to “<BASE_INSTALL_DIR>\<ACCOUNT_TNS>\htmlhelp\help\noetix.htm” to view the HTML Help.


These HTML files will need to be published on a Web server and users notified of this location. To publish the files, move the entire htmlhelp directory tree to a directory on your network that is accessible to your Web browser. Instruct users to open the /htmlhelp/help/noetix.htm page using a Web browser.

• The Oracle Applications Screens Help and Query Tool Help, if generated, will automatically be available to those with the applicable tools. No additional steps are necessary.


Option 2: Regenerate Help Using ScriptsTo regenerate Help using scripts:1. Using SQL*Plus, connect to the database as the Noetix System Administration

User:



2. At the prompt, type start, then one of the following scripts:

3. Answer any prompts asked by the script.

4. Repeat this step to generate additional help formats, if desired.



Help Format SQL Script

All Help Formats iallhlp.sql

Microsoft Windows Help imshlp.sql

HTML Help ihtmlhlp.sql

Oracle Applications Screens Help iaolhlp.sql

Query Tool Help icomhlp.sql


5. The installation directory window will display the path to the installation directory where the scripts and noetix.rtf file are currently located. Confirm that the installa-tion directory in the text field is correct. Click “Next” to continue.



Option 3: Regenerate Help Using a Scheduled JobTo regenerate Help using a scheduled Cron or Concurrent Manager job:1. Ensure you have completed all the initial setup steps for scheduling a NoetixViews

regeneration using Cron or the Concurrent Manager:

• For the Concurrent Manager, these instructions start on page 148.

• For Cron, these instructions start on page 161.

2. Schedule a new regeneration job that will become your Help-only regeneration. Make sure to select the following options:

• When prompted whether to generate each format of the Help system, select “Y” for the Help format(s) you wish to generate.

• When prompted for your “Installation option,” select “H” for “Generate Selected Help Content Only.” When choosing this type of regeneration, the answers you provide for prompts that do not apply, such as whether to install Noetix Cross Operations (XOP) Extension Roles, will be ignored. Only the Help System will be regenerated.

• If scheduling a Help-only regeneration to run regularly, ensure any NoetixViews regeneration will be completed before this regeneration job starts. In the Concurrent Manager, you can make the Help-only regeneration dependent on the NoetixViews regeneration completing successfully.

For complete instructions on defining this job, for the Concurrent Manager, refer to “Schedule the Regeneration in Concurrent Manager” on page 157. For Cron, refer to “Schedule the Regeneration in Cron” on page 168.




5. The installation directory window will display the path to the installation directory where the scripts and noetix.rtf file are currently located. Confirm that the installa-tion directory in the text field is correct. Click “Next” to continue.


Chapter 7

UpgradingNoetixViews

The Upgrading NoetixViews chapter explains how to update your NoetixViews environment after receiving a new version of the product, including upgrading NoetixViews, Noetix AnswerPoint, and the Help System.


OverviewAn upgrade updates your NoetixViews environment after you receive a new version of the product. NoetixViews should be upgraded if:

• You wish to take advantage of new product features and improvements, including new NoetixViews and Answers.

• You have purchased an additional NoetixViews module.• An issue you have encountered in your environment is resolved in a more recent

version of NoetixViews.• You are upgrading to a version of Oracle Applications that your current

NoetixViews version does not support.• You are upgrading to a version of the Oracle database that your current

NoetixViews version does not support.• You would like to use NoetixViews in conjunction with other hardware or

software that your current NoetixViews version does not support.

Refer to your NoetixViews release notes for details on the system requirements for your version of NoetixViews.

Customers with a current Noetix support agreement are eligible to receive NoetixViews upgrades. To request an upgrade, submit your request online at support.noetix.com.

The NoetixViews Help System and Noetix AnswerPoint also require regeneration after you have upgraded NoetixViews.

?Should I regenerate, or should I upgrade?

• Have you received a new version of NoetixViews, on a CD? An upgrade installs a new version of NoetixViews from a CD. Chapter 7: “Upgrading NoetixViews” explains how to upgrade.

• Has your Oracle environment changed, or have you received a patch by email or FTP? A regeneration recreates your NoetixViews metadata after changes have been made to your database or applications, and is often needed to apply patches from Noetix as well. Chapter 6: “Regenerating NoetixViews” explains how to regenerate.

Chapter 7: Upgrading NoetixViews 201

Choosing an Upgrade MethodNoetix recommends you upgrade using the same method you used to initially install NoetixViews. Upgrades can be performed using either the NoetixViews Administrator or using scripts. Upgrades cannot be scheduled using Cron or the Concurrent Manager.

Option 1: Upgrade Using the NoetixViews Administrator

To upgrade, you will perform a subset of the installation steps you originally performed. There is no need to uninstall NoetixViews before performing the following upgrade steps.

If you have NoetixViews for Payroll installed, you will need to upgrade the Noetix Payroll Data Mart before upgrading NoetixViews. See “Upgrade Payroll Data Mart” on page 239 for more information.

If you are installing NoetixViews as part of the Noetix Enterprise Technology Suite, ensure you have fully installed or upgraded Noetix Query Server and Noetix Web Query before upgrading NoetixViews.

To upgrade NoetixViews using the NoetixViews Administrator:1. Review the release documentation on the product CD. Ensure your environment

meets the system requirements of the new version of NoetixViews, as these may have changed since your last installation. The release notes will also include any known issues you should be aware of and an overview of changes made since the previous product version. This may include metadata changes that will affect users’ reports.

2. Install the updated installation software from the product CD. This will install an updated version of the NoetixViews Administrator and installation wizard, as well as updated .dat files. Refer to “Load Installation Software” on page 26 for instructions.


3. Log into the NoetixViews Administrator as your existing Noetix System Administration User account. Refer to “Start the Application” on page 31 for instructions if needed.

4. Run the pre-update process. From the NoetixViews Administrator menu, select Tools -> Pre-Update Script. This script prepares your installation for an update of NoetixViews and will save your existing Role settings and users. This will also allow you to run a script after the regeneration to determine changes to your views.

NOTE: The pre-update script needs to be run only at the beginning of the upgrade process. If for some reason you need to run the installation stages multiple times in order to successfully complete the update, you do not need to run the script again.

5. Complete stages 2, 3, and 4 of installation. When prompted whether to save previous settings, make sure to select “Yes.” Refer to “Option 1: Install Using the NoetixViews Administrator” on page 30 for further instructions.

WARNING: During Stage 4, if you have purchased Noetix AnswerPoint, you will be prompted to run Noetix AnswerPoint Builder. You must answer “Yes” to this prompt. You will also be prompted for whether you wish to edit Role prefixes. Be aware that if you change a Role prefix, any reports written against NoetixViews within that Role will break!




7. Regenerate Answers (when using the Noetix Platform). You will need to run the AnswerPoint Generator to update your answers, as well as to export your query user data to Noetix Query Server. Refer to “Regenerate Noetix AnswerPoint” on page 173 for instructions.

WARNING: Do not run the Noetix AnswerPoint Builder again. If the Noetix Platform has been installed or upgraded, the NoetixViews Integration component should have been selected. Selecting this option ensures that the version of Noetix AnswerPoint Generator that is compatible with your present version of Noetix Platform is integrated into the NoetixViews Administrator. Using the Noetix Platform CD, select this component (and install or upgrade the Noetix AnswerPoint Generator)


on every computer on which the NoetixViews Administrator is installed. If you do not have the correct version of the Noetix AnswerPoint Generator, it will not function correctly. For more information, please refer to Chapter 3 of the Noetix Installation Guide.

8. Regenerate the Help System. You will need to regenerate your Help System so that it reflects your upgraded installation. Refer to “Option 1: Regenerate Help Using the NoetixViews Administrator” on page 187 for instructions on generating and distributing the Help System.

9. Update query tools (if needed). Refer to your query tool documentation to see if the tools or their meta-layers need to be updated or regenerated in order to access the latest NoetixViews metadata and security.

If you are using the Noetix EUL Generator in conjunction with Oracle Discoverer, you will need to run the Extract Views process outlined in the Noetix EUL Generator Administrator Guide to update your End User Layer. Noetix recommends you upgrade the Noetix EUL Generator when upgrading NoetixViews, if a new version is available.

Option 2: Upgrade Using Scripts

To upgrade, you will perform a subset of the installation steps you originally performed. There is no need to uninstall NoetixViews before performing the following upgrade steps.

If you have NoetixViews for Payroll installed, you will need to upgrade the Noetix Payroll Data Mart before upgrading NoetixViews. See “Upgrade Payroll Data Mart” on page 239 for more information.

If you are installing NoetixViews as part of the Noetix Enterprise Technology Suite, ensure you have fully installed or upgraded Noetix Query Server and Noetix Web Query before upgrading NoetixViews.


To upgrade NoetixViews using scripts:1. Review the release documentation on the product CD. Ensure your environment

meets the system requirements of the new version of NoetixViews, as these may have changed since your last installation. The release notes will also include any known issues you should be aware of and an overview of changes made since the previous product version. This may include metadata changes that will affect users’ reports.

2. Transfer installation files. Use the Script Copy Wizard or an FTP client to transfer the necessary files to your server. Refer to “Transfer Script Files” on page 61 for instructions.

3. Using SQL*Plus, connect to the database as the existing Noetix System Administration User:


4. Run the pre-update process. This script prepares your installation for an update of NoetixViews and will save your existing Role settings and users. This will also allow you to run a script after the regeneration to determine changes to your views.

SQL> start preupd.sql

NOTE: The pre-update script needs to be run only at the beginning of the upgrade process. If for some reason you need to run the installation stages multiple times in order to successfully complete the update, you do not need to run the script again.

5. Complete stages 2, 3, and 4 of installation. Refer to “Option 2: Install Using Scripts” on page 60 for further instructions.






7. Regenerate Answers (when using the Noetix Platform). You will need to re-run the AnswerPoint Builder and AnswerPoint Generator to update your answers, as well as to export your query user data to Noetix Query Server. Refer to “Regenerate Noetix AnswerPoint” on page 173 for instructions.

WARNING: If the Noetix Platform has been installed or upgraded, the NoetixViews Integration component should have been selected. Selecting this option ensures that the version of Noetix AnswerPoint Generator that is compatible with your present version of Noetix Platform is integrated into the NoetixViews Administrator. Using the Noetix Platform CD, select this component (and install or upgrade the Noetix AnswerPoint Generator) on every computer on which the NoetixViews Administrator is installed. If you do not have the correct version of the Noetix AnswerPoint Generator, it will not function correctly. For more information, please refer to Chapter 3 of the Noetix Installation Guide.

8. Regenerate the Help System. You will need to regenerate your Help System so that it reflects your upgraded installation. Refer to “Option 2: Regenerate Help Using Scripts” on page 189 for instructions on generating and distributing the Help System.

9. Update query tools (if needed). Refer to your query tool documentation to see if the tools or their meta-layers need to be updated or regenerated in order to access the latest NoetixViews metadata and security.

If you are using the Noetix EUL Generator in conjunction with Oracle Discoverer, you will need to run the Extract Views process outlined in the Noetix EUL Generator Administrator Guide to update your End User Layer. Noetix recommends you upgrade the Noetix EUL Generator when upgrading NoetixViews, if a new version is available.

Appendix A

Module-SpecificInformation

This appendix details additional considerations regarding specific NoetixViews modules and extensions.


NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension

NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension (XOP) is an extension to the NoetixViews product line. This feature allows users to view data across multiple organizational areas and build queries using this aggregate data. With NoetixViews XOP, data across your Oracle Applications functional areas can be combined into business views. Depending on your Oracle Applications setup environment, this data can span multiple Sets of Books, Operating Units, and Organizations.

About Cross Operations ExtensionThe NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension creates Roles that can span your Oracle Applications environment. The number of XOP Roles is based on the specific configuration at your site. The number of views in each XOP Role roughly corresponds to the number of views in each NoetixViews standard Role.

Each view corresponding to the Oracle Applications Set of Books level (GL, FA) enables you to span multiple Sets of Books within a Chart of Accounts.

Additionally, each view corresponding to the Oracle Applications subledger level (AR, AP, OE, PO, PB, PC) enables you to span all Operating Units within a Set of Books (within a Chart of Accounts/Master Inventory Organization combination). Also, XOP subledger views allow you to span all Operating Units across multiple Sets of Books (within a Chart of Accounts/Master Inventory Organization combination).

Finally each view corresponding to the Oracle Applications Organization level (INV, BOM, CST, WIP, MRP) enables you to span all Organizations (within a Chart of Accounts/Master Inventory Organization combination).

Appendix A: Module-Specific Information 209

Installing XOPInstalling NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension involves answering an additional prompt during Stage 4 of installation. The installation wizard will then generate Cross Operations Extension views along with the other customized NoetixViews for your site.

During Stage 4 of installation, you will also be asked to edit the Role prefixes of XOP views. For guidelines on creating Role prefixes, see “Name Role Prefixes” on page 13.

Step-by-step instructions to install NoetixViews and Cross Operations Extension can be found in Chapter 3: “Installation”.

Issues for Using XOPFor each Chart of Accounts, a set of XOP views will be created to cross over all Sets of Books, Operating Units, and Organizations, depending on your Oracle Applications setup. This section outlines important issues involved in ensuring these views produce reliable results for your users.

If the base currency and calendar, in particular, are NOT the same for all Sets of Books in a particular Chart of Accounts, a set of XOP views will still be created to cross over all Sets of Books, Operating Units, and Organizations, but the information returned may not be reliable.

WARNING: There is no default enforcement that the base currency or number of calendar periods for different Sets of Books be the same. It will still be possible for users’ reports and queries to span Sets of Books having different base currencies or different calendar periods. We do not inhibit this functionality, as there may be XOP views spanning many Sets of Books that your organization would like to retrieve.

An example of a reliable query spanning Sets of Books with multiple base currencies would be: “How many products did we sell last year throughout all Sets of Books?” However, a similar query involving currency (“What were our gross sales on those products across all Sets of Books?” would not be reliable, as the amounts would not be converted to a single currency.

Although a warning is generated in the NoetixViews Help System stating that more than one base currency or calendar period is in effect, the query is still issued. It is strongly recommended that your organization inform users of this situation.


Note that your organization’s reports and queries are able to cross over all Sets of Books, Operating Units, or Organizations WITHIN each Chart of Accounts/Master Inventory Organization combinations BUT NOT over Sets of Books, Operating Units, or Organizations SPANNING ACROSS multiple Charts of Accounts/Master Inventory Organization combinations.

Multiple Base CurrenciesTo ensure reliable information is returned from XOP views, we strongly recommend using a single base currency across all Sets of Books.

Multiple Currency (Multi-Currency)The issue of multi-currency versus single currency is not a consideration with NoetixViews XOP. Whether you have enabled multi-currency or not for your environment’s Sets of Books makes no difference to the XOP views as the “multi-currency” feature is not supported. The important consideration is whether all Sets of Books' base (multi-currency) or functional (single-currency) currency is the same.

For example, if your environment had two Sets of Books with multi-currency enabled, and both had the same base currency (and identical calendar periods), NoetixViews XOP views would span those two Sets of Books reliably. Similarly, if your environment had two Sets of Books without multi-currency enabled but both had the same functional currency (and identical calendar periods), NoetixViews XOP views would allow you to reliably span across those two Sets of Books.

Multiple Reporting Currency (MRC)Oracle’s Multiple Reporting Currency allows updating transactions to more than one Set of Books at the time of entry. When a transaction is entered in the currency of the first Set of Books, MRC can be set up so that a different Set of Books in a different currency is updated with the equivalent amount in its own currency. NoetixViews XOP views would not reliably span Sets of Books using MRC, as this would require mixing currencies. However, non-currency-related information crossing these Sets of Books, as well as currency information specific to a single Set of Books, would still be reliable.

For example, say a company has two Sets of Books. The first Set of Books, representing the manufacturing organizations the company has throughout Mexico, uses pesos as its currency. The company also has a Set of Books representing the financial information for the entire company – both United States and Mexican operations – which uses


U.S. dollars as its currency. By installing NoetixViews XOP and limiting the information retrieved with its query tool, the company can retrieve manufacturing information, in pesos, for submission to the Mexican government concerning product creation, sales, etc. The company can also analyze how its Mexican manufacturing operations are performing. By limiting the information retrieved with its query tool to just the United States Set of Books, financial information can be extracted, in U.S. dollars, to see how the entire corporation is performing on a global basis.

Multiple Base CalendarsThe number of calendar periods you have created for each Set of Books will also determine whether NoetixViews XOP returns reliable information. It is recommended that you use a single base calendar across all Sets of Books.

XOP views will return reliable information when spanning Sets of Books that use the same number of calendar periods, with identical beginning and end dates. However, if there are a different number of calendar periods, or the beginning and end dates for each period are not the same for each Set of Books, the results returned from XOP views may not be reliable.

For example, if one Set of Books has six calendar periods in a year and a second Set of Books has four calendar periods in a year, then NoetixViews XOP cannot determine how the data from one Set of Books should be mapped reliably to the other.


Multiple Charts of AccountsIf the base currency and calendar are the same for each Set of Books in a single Chart of Accounts, as explained above, a set of XOP Roles and accompanying views will be created for the single COA/Master Inventory Organization combination. An organization's reports/queries will then reliably cross over all Sets of Books, all Operating Units, all Manufacturing Organizations, and all Inventory Organizations (assuming one Master Inventory Organization), depending on the Oracle Applications setup.

However, if an organization has multiple Charts of Accounts, where the base currency and calendar for all Sets of Books in each Chart of Accounts is the same, then a set of XOP Roles and accompanying views will be created for each COA/Master Inventory Organization combination. The organization's reports/queries will then be able to cross over all Sets of Books, all Operating Units, and all Organizations within each COA/Master Inventory Organization combination but not over Sets of Books, Operating Units, or Organizations spanning across multiple Charts of Accounts/Master Inventory Organization combinations.

XOP Inventory ViewsTwo types of Inventory Roles can be installed with NoetixViews when you have more than one Inventory Organization – Inventory Organization-specific Roles and global Inventory Organization Roles. You can choose to install one, both, or neither of these Roles. For more information on these inventory Roles, please see Stage 4 of installation.

In addition to these Inventory Roles, NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension also offers Inventory views. The XOP Inventory views also allow the user to create reports and queries that span multiple Inventory Organizations, but a set of XOP Inventory views will be created for each Chart of Accounts and Master Inventory Organization defined in your Oracle Applications setup.

Whereas NoetixViews global Inventory Roles allow the user to cross all Inventory Organizations without regard to multiple Charts of Accounts or multiple Master Inventory Organizations, NoetixViews XOP Inventory views will take both these structures into account.


You can choose to create multiple sets of Inventory Organization-specific views (views for WA, OR, CA, NY, MA, PA) as well as ONE set of global Inventory views that span all Inventory Organizations (WA, OR, CA, NY, MA, PA).

During installation, you can choose (if purchased) to create NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension Inventory views. This means a set of multiple Inventory Organization views (WA, OR, CA) is created for one Master Inventory Organization, plus a second set of multiple Inventory Organization views (NY, MA, PA) is created for a second Master Inventory Organization.

NOTE: A single Chart of Accounts is assumed in this example.

Number of XOP Roles and ViewsThe number of NoetixViews Cross Operations Extension views created at your site is directly proportional to the number of Charts of Accounts, Master Inventory Organizations, and Oracle Applications modules you have set up in your Oracle Applications environment.

You can calculate a rough idea of how many XOP Roles and views your installation will have by using the following formulas:

Rough number of NoetixViews XOP Roles =

(# of COAs) x (# Master Inventory Orgs) x (# NoetixViews modules purchased)

Rough number of NoetixViews XOP views =

(Rough number of NoetixViews XOP Roles) x (Avg. XOP views per module)


Using NoetixViews GL Security Setup with XOP GL RolesNoetixViews have advanced capability for enhancing General Ledger (GL) security. Using this advanced capability, you can provide access to only specific sets of books to a user who has the Cross Operations GL role.

For example, assume that NoetixViews generates a Cross Operations GL role that references three sets of books: Vision Project Mfg (USA Rpt.), Vision Project Mfg (MRC), and Vision Project Mfg (EURO Rpt). If a query user is granted access to the Cross Operations GL role, he or she can view all sets of books in the GL Secure views. With the use of NoetixViews’ advanced capability, the user’s access can be limited to any one of these sets of books. Additionally, within a set of books, access can be further limited with the use of GL key flexfield security.

You can set up custom GL security while creating a Noetix query user (Step 13 on page 109 in the "Query User Management" chapter) or modifying a Noetix query user (page 117 in the "Query User Management" chapter).

GL security is applicable even for Applications-mode authentication or a database user. You must use the Noetix Query User Maintenance utility only to set up custom GL security because there is no stand-alone scripts method for this purpose.


NoetixViews for General Ledger

NoetixViews for General Ledger provides some special features not available in other views. This section describes the additional considerations involved with the General Ledger views. These considerations involve the extra data security on the GL views and the views of archived data.

General Ledger Data SecurityData security, the ability to restrict access to data, is handled for General Ledger in three ways. The first two ways involve assigning Roles and security rules to a query user. The third way involves the accounts assigned to a Budget Organization.

RolesEach Set of Books in the Oracle General Ledger gets its own set of views, each of which is labeled with a Role prefix. These Role prefixes are assigned during the installation procedure. Each of these sets of views is associated with its own Role.

This is a security feature, since each user can be restricted to accessing data only within certain Sets of Books. This is done by assigning Roles to users. When you assign Roles, even the Noetix System Administration User must have the GL Role assigned to it in order to access GL data.

The concept of a Role is an Oracle database feature. Noetix Query Users granted a Role automatically have access to all the views assigned to that Role. Roles are assigned to Noetix Query Users after installation. Chapter 4: “Query User Management” provides more information about Roles.


Security RulesThe second level of security in NoetixViews builds on Oracle’s security rules. In particular, Noetix uses Oracle’s flexfield security rules, not the report security groups or terminal security rules. These security rules are described in Oracle’s documentation.

To use this security to prevent access to particular accounts by particular query users, first define the security rules in the Oracle Applications Object Library. These rules allow you to specify ranges of values to be included or excluded for individual account flexfield segments. You can set up any number of these rules. Although Oracle allows defining security rules on any flexfield, NoetixViews uses only rules defined for the Accounting flexfield.

After you have defined the security rules and generated the views, the next step is to assign security to query users. When you set up query users, first assign them the appropriate Roles, then assign the appropriate GL security access. This can be done using the NoetixViews Administrator’s Query User Maintenance utility. See Chapter 4: “Query User Management” for more information.

When the NoetixViews are generated, the installation procedure copies references to the Security Rules into the views. If you add a security rule in Oracle Applications to a new segment of the Accounting flexfield or create a new Set of Books, the views must be regenerated before they will incorporate the changes. With any change or addition to security rules in Oracle Applications, you should review and update users’ access to GL data in NoetixViews.

When views are executed, they dynamically access the security rules that have been assigned to the user performing the query. This dynamic application of the security rules means that any changes in the assignments of security rules to users take effect immediately. There is no need to regenerate views when these assignments are changed.


Budget OrganizationsThe third type of data security is associated with GL Budget Organizations. This security is intended to be used to limit managers to a view of only the ledger data for which they have budget authority. This can be accomplished by letting managers have access only to pre-canned queries that are limited to their Budget Organization.

The creation of Budget Organizations and the assignment of ranges of accounts to them is a standard Oracle GL feature. Please refer to Oracle documentation for more information.

The views GL_Org_Balances, GL_Org_Budgets and GL_Org_Budgets_To_Actuals determine at run-time which accounts are authorized for a given Budget Organization. No special installation steps are necessary to make these views work.

Archived DataOracle General Ledger has a feature that archives balances and journal entries. This procedure copies a previous year's data to special “archive” tables. A separate procedure can purge the data from these archive tables. The “archived” views look at this archived data.

These views will not be created if the underlying tables are not available. And, unlike most GL tables, these tables do not necessarily exist in Oracle. Thus, the following steps are necessary to create a dummy version of the appropriate archive tables in Oracle.

To archive balances and journal entries:1. Log on to the Oracle GL user.

2. Verify that the archive tables exist by running the archglck.sql script.

3. If these tables do not exist, create them with the archgl.sql script.

If the data in the archive tables has been copied to tape and then purged, it needs to be restored to these tables before it can be queried. With the archived views, the data does not have to be re-integrated with the standard balances and journal entry tables before it can be queried.


General Ledger Summarized DataNoetixViews summarizes data by selecting a range from, for example, the “Balances” view and using the “sum” function of your query tool. Oracle supports wildcards to make this easy. Oracle utilizes “%” as a wild card, while many of the query tools utilize “*”. Depending on how your Chart of Accounts is structured, this may be your best option.

For example, suppose that all of your accounts in the range 5101 to 5199 roll up into account 5100. You can then sum the balance from the “Balances” view with the criteria of account = “51%”.

This scheme becomes somewhat difficult if the account structure has exceptions or is otherwise ungainly. Oracle GL provides a more flexible way: “parent” account segments, to sum any range of account numbers. This is the scheme used in Financial Statement Generators (FSGs). If you have set up these “Parent-Child” relations for your account number segments, you can summarize data using the “Rollup_Parent” views.

With “Rollup_Parent” views, you select data with criteria placed on the “parent” account segments. The view summarizes the data for all the “child” accounts. To see what child accounts are associated to a parent, use the “Parent Child Values” view. As with FSGs, a “T” in any segment means to total all the values of that segment.

NOTE: NoetixViews effectively redefines the rollup code “T” to mean all values for a given segment. If you have defined “T” to mean something else, it will be superseded while in NoetixViews. Your Oracle Applications definitions are NOT modified.

To view all the detail accounts and amounts that get rolled up into a parent balance, use the “Parent_Child” views. These views show you the parent account, each of its child accounts, and their amounts. If you sum all these amounts, you will get exactly what is in the “Rollup_Parent” view.

To find out more about exactly what each view displays, review the NoetixViews Help System.


NoetixViews for Human Resources

NoetixViews for HR involves some special considerations that are not applicable to other NoetixViews products.

NoetixViews for HR product provides more than 65 views of Oracle Applications HRMS data based on the specific configuration at your site. The exact number of views at your site depends on how many Special Information Types you have defined and/or how many Extra Information Types are installed. For example, many NoetixViews for HR customers have more than 100 views.

Each view accesses a predefined set of fields in the Applications database, assigns the data to column names, and provides the user with a variety of ways to view data. The product is a tool for the end user to assist in day-to-day HR functions, such as employee management, recruiting, and payroll processes.

In order to optimize the product’s performance and maintain HR security confidence, those involved in the installation should be familiar with the concepts in this section.

Human Resources SecurityThere are three types of NoetixViews security levels:

• Organization – A user accesses views only in the user’s Organization or Business Group (identified in view name prefix).

• Role Security – A user can only access the views in the appropriate granted Role (identified in view name prefix).

• Row-Level Security – A user’s security profile can access specified data.

NOTE: Currently, NoetixViews security profiles are structured similarly to Oracle security profiles. In the Oracle Organization hierarchy, users can view any data in their Business Group; it is not limited to lower levels. Therefore, Noetix Query Users can view all data in their Business Group regardless of their specific Organization hierarchy. This should emphasize the use of Roles to define access levels rather than simply Business Groups.


HR Role SecurityNoetixViews for HR defines special Roles that grant users security access levels for the data displayed in the Human Resources views. The following table shows the six HR Roles and what types of views each Role grants access to.

NOTE: The symbol indicates the Role contains the type of view it intersects.

Views Accessible by Each HR Role

HR Roles Non

-Con

fide

ntia

l Vie

ws

Con

fide

ntia

l Vie

ws

(No

Sala

ry)

Con

fide

ntia

l Sal

ary

Dat

a

Ext

ra I

nfor

mat

ion

Typ

es

Spec

ial I

nfor

mat

ion

Typ

es

Human_ResourcesFor high-level decision makers.

HR_ManagerFor mid-level decision makers.

HR_UserFor business users.

HR_Salary_ManagerSpecial Role to grant access to

salary data.

HR_Extra_Info_TypesSpecial Role to grant access to

EITs.

HR_Special_Info_TypesSpecial Role to grant access to

SITs.


Row-Level SecuritySecurity-related functionality in NoetixViews for HR is inherent in each HR view. Security profiles for each view may be set up based on Organization hierarchy, position hierarchy, and payroll list. The level of security may differ for each view based on the Oracle HRMS entities included in that view. The view description in the NoetixViews Help System outlines the security level for each view. Views may return different amounts of information for different users depending on both the security definition of the view and the Role of the user.

Again, row-level security is only applicable to views when a security profile has been assigned to the user. After a security profile is set up for each database user, the security level for each view combined with the user’s Role will dictate the information returned. However, if a user has no security profile set up, a view will not use its row-level security and will return a full set of data.

A quick reference for setting up user profiles in Oracle HRMS follows. Please refer to the Oracle Human Resources User’s Guide for further information.

If you would like to remove the row-level security feature for each HR view during installation, please contact Noetix Technical Support.

How to Activate Security for a UserWhen a user is granted a Role, the user is given access to a Business Group and a security level. A security profile for each Oracle HRMS user needs to be determined for Oracle HRMS functional users responsible for the functional setup and maintenance of the Oracle HRMS system.

The following is a quick guide for establishing row-level security. For details about the concepts used to establish security profiles, see “Oracle Security Profiles” on page 223.

• For a secure user, who already has access to Oracle HRMS through responsibilities and can insert/update/delete data:

1. Grant an appropriate Noetix HR Role to the user; the row-level security should be in place.

NOTE: Setting up secure users applies only to release 10.7 and below.


• For an existing reporting user, who can access the information in the database using query tools but cannot insert, update, or delete any information:

1. Check whether the reporting user has the correct security profile defined.

2. If there are changes in the security profile from the last time this process was run, run the LISTGEN process.

3. Grant an appropriate Noetix Role to the user.

• For a new reporting user, who, once created, can access the information in the database using query tools but cannot insert, update, or delete any information:

1. As a DBA, create two Oracle IDs (user name/passwords) for the secure user (dummy) and reporting user.

2. Register both user names in Oracle Applications as System Admin responsibility

NOTE: For more information about registering ORACLE IDs, refer to the Oracle Applications System Administration Reference Manual.

3. Create the security profile.

4. Run the LISTGEN process.

5. Grant an appropriate Noetix Role to the reporting user.


Oracle Security ProfilesFrom an Oracle Applications security perspective, there are two types of users that can be set up in Oracle Human Resources Management System (HRMS). These are secure users and reporting users.

Secure UsersA secure user is one that can actually run the Oracle Applications screens and programs. You control user access to Oracle HRMS through secure users and responsibilities. The responsibilities control what a user can see and do in the system. A responsibility includes a security profile and a menu structure.

• The security profile determines the Organization, Position, and Payrolls, and their respective applicant and employee records which responsibility holders can access.

• Menu structures and functions control the particular windows a responsibility holder can access and whether the user can enter, change, or delete data in those windows.

NOTE: The SECGEN process grants select, insert, update, and delete privileges on HR tables/views to the secure user.

Reporting UsersYou may need to set up access restrictions for employees who never use Oracle HRMS windows and do not change database information, but do access the database. These individuals are reporting users. The users can access the information in the database using reporting tools. They can also query this data and create reports but cannot insert, update, or delete any information. You can make any of your security profiles available for the reporting user, and the security profile restricts the user’s access to employee records in the work structure hierarchies defined in the security profile.

NOTE: The SECGEN process grants only select privileges on HR tables/views to the reporting user.


Security ProfilesThe security profile attached to a responsibility determines which applicant and employee records are available to users who hold that responsibility.

The work structures you can name in security profiles are:• Internal organizations and organization hierarchies – Organizations include

structures like departments, sections, groups, and teams. Each security profile allows access to one Business Group only.

• Positions and position hierarchies – Positions are jobs performed within specified Organizations, such as Clerk, Accounting section (Organization is Accounting and section and job is Clerk).

• Payroll names – Payroll specifics, such as weekly payroll, monthly payroll, or Sales payroll.

Organization HierarchiesUse Organization hierarchies to set up security profiles that allow users to access only employee records from specified Organizations. You can build any number of additional hierarchies to meet your site security requirements.

For example, suppose your site is composed of the Sales Organization hierarchy illustrated below:

You could create a security profile designating the U.S. Sales division as the top Organization. This creates a security level where users can access only those employee records found in the top organization, the U.S. Sales division, and the levels below it, the Eastern and Western Regional sales organizations.

Eastern Region Western Region

U.S. Sales European Sales Asia-Pacific Sales

Corporate Sales


Position HierarchiesAnother method to restrict access to data is by using position hierarchies. For example, suppose your site is composed of the Sales position hierarchy illustrated below:

Then, suppose that within the Sales Department you want to give the Associate Sales Research Director access to only her subordinates’ records. Enter the Associate Sales Research Director as the top position in the security profile. This creates a security level where users can access only those employee records found in that position and below.

PayrollsAnother way to restrict access to employee records is by payroll list. For example, you can give payroll staff members on the Sales payroll access to records of employees on this particular payroll only.

Research Manager Research Analyst

Associate SalesResearch Director

Sales Research Director

Regional Sales Staff

Regional Sales Director

Associate Vice-President of Sales

Vice-President of SalesEastern Division


Setting Up a UserEvery security profile is associated with one secure user’s or reporting user’s ORACLE ID and password. This ID grants access to the Oracle database.

NOTE: Since reporting users do not have any responsibilities attached to them, they do not have online access to the database through Oracle HRMS forms.

Defining security profilesPrerequisites:• The ORACLE database administrator must create a new secure user/reporting

user ORACLE ID.

• The system administrator must register the new ORACLE ID with the Application Object Library. For more information on registering an ORACLE ID, refer to the Applications DBA Duties chapter in the Oracle Applications System Administration Reference Manual.

To define a security profile for Organization and position hierarchies:1. Create a name for the security profile.

2. Enter the appropriate Business Group.

3. Enter the secure user and reporting user name.

4. Uncheck the View All Employees and View All Applicants checkboxes.


5. Uncheck the View All Organizations checkbox.

• In Organization Hierarchy field, enter the Organization Hierarchy Name (for example, Sales Organization).

• Check Include Top Organization checkbox.

• In Top Organization field, enter the Top Organization Name (for example, U.S. Sales).

6. Uncheck View All Positions checkbox.

• In Position Hierarchy field, enter the Position Hierarchy Name (for example, Sales Positions).

• Check Include Top Position checkbox.

• In Top Position field, enter the Top Position Name (for example, Associate Sales Research Director).

7. Save your security profile.

Running the HRMS Security ProcessesThere are three HRMS security processes:

• Grant Permissions to Roles Process (ROLEGEN) – Run this process when you install ORACLE HRMS or when you upgrade the system.

• Generate Secure User Process (SECGEN) – This process grants access permissions to new secure/reporting users. Run this process when you have created a new security profile.

• Security List Maintenance Process (LISTGEN) – This process maintains the lists of Organizations, Positions, Payrolls, employees and applicants that security profile holders can access. Run this process each time you make a change to a security profile.

For more detailed information on security, please refer to the Oracle Human Resources User’s Guide.


Special Information Type ViewsNoetixViews for HR provides the user with various views that maximize the information delivery ability of Special Information Types in Oracle HRMS. Special Information Types are a collection of personal attributes that usually provide information related to recruitment, such as specific qualifications and skills, which are predefined in the Personal Analysis key flexfield.

NoetixViews for HR provides views to augment your recruitment, career development, and applicant matching capabilities by using Special Information Types. Special Information Type views are generated during installation based on the Special Information Types defined and enabled at your site.

The format for each view name is “HR_SI_Type_STRUCTURE_NAME.” For example, the views “HR_SI_Type_Education” or “HR_SI_Type_Communication_Skills” would each return a list of people associated with each Special Information Type defined at your site. These may be grouped by Applicant, Employee, or Employee and Applicant Person Types. The number of HR_SI_Type views per site is directly related to how many Special Information Types were defined in Oracle HRMS.

Views displaying current job and position requirements based on Special Information Type definitions are also available. The names for these views will look similar to “HR_Job_Requirements” or “HR_Position_Requirements.”

In addition, the following views are designed to assist you in matching a pool of internal and external applicants to specific vacancies at your firm, (regardless of whether your organization has decided to use Job or Position functionality within Oracle HRMS): “HR_Vac_Job_Match” and “HR_Vac_Pos_Match.”

NOTE: Special Information Types defined for Job and Position Requirements or Skills used in the Oracle Training module do not result in NoetixViews HR_SI_Type views being generated.


Joining to Special Information Type ViewsThe information in each Special Information Type view can be linked to the data in the HR_Person_Hist view. Therefore, each Special Information Type view contains one “Z$” column to allow joins to the HR_Person_Hist view. You can also join an “SI Type” view to any current view that includes a join to (Z$) column for HR_Person_Hist.

The Noetix EUL Generator for Oracle Discoverer automatically sets up joins between the HR_SI_Type views and other current views containing a join to (Z$) column to HR_All_Person_Hist, and you can do the same when configuring other query tools.

When joining an SI Type view with HR_Person_Hist, only current results will be returned. This is because SI Type views return only current information.

Please note that Special Information is optional. When an SI Type view is joined to another view, the data returned will be limited by the attributes in the particular SI Type view. This reduces the information returned from a query involving an SI Type and a join to column. For example, HR_Emp_Asg_Details joined to HR_SI_Type_Education would result in assignment details for all employees meeting the criteria of the special educational information designated in the SI Type view. If an employee did not meet the educational criteria, that particular employee record would not be returned.

Joining views using “outerjoins” is not a good option because of the way Oracle executes queries against views that are “outerjoined” together. This option only works when query criteria is limited by “search by” (A$) columns in both views involved in an “outerjoin.” An “equijoin” does not have this requirement, and only one “search by” (A$) column needs to be used as query criteria. (Using two could be faster, however, if query performance is desired.)

NOTE: This special “join to” consideration is not true for NoetixViews for HR DateTracked views (views with names ending in Hist). The HR_SI_Type views are not historical and may cause historical information to be missing from the resulting query.


Extra Information Type ViewsExtra Information Type (EIT) views, available with NoetixViews for HR, maximize the information delivery ability of EITs in Oracle HRMS. Introduced in Oracle Release 11 and further enhanced in 11i, EITs are developer descriptive flexfields available for six key areas (person, assignment, position, job, location, and organization). In addition, Oracle HRMS allows the addition of unlimited descriptive flexfields for further customization of each EIT. For example, a user may want to utilize the person EIT to display additional personal information such as passport details, visa details, visit details, etc.

NoetixViews generates views for the person and assignment EIT types and also detects any customized descriptive flexfields. Each EIT view contains only information related to the specific EIT. These simple EIT views are designed to be joined to related HR views (through the use of Noetix “Z$” columns) to provide more detailed data. For example, the information in the person EIT views can be linked to the data in the NoetixViews HR_Person_Hist view or, in addition, to any HR view that includes the Z$HR_Person_Hist column. Similarly, the assignment EITs can be linked to the data in the NoetixViews HR_Emp_Asg_Details view or to any HR view that includes the Z$HR_Emp_Asg_Details column. The NoetixViews User Guide provides more information on how to join views using Z$ columns.

The format for each view name is “HR_EI_ASSIGNMENT_TYPE.” For example, the person EIT view HR_EI_US_Passport_Dtls will display United States Passport Details. EIT views will be generated only for the Person and Assignment types of EITs supplied by Oracle. Person EITs are available for U.S., Global, and Government categories. Assignment EITs are available for U.S., Federal, and Great Britain categories.


DateTracked History ViewsWith respect to current and historic information, there are three types of views:

• Current Only – These views have no suffix at the end of their name, nor any time period information in their view description. “Current” views return information that is current as of the time the query is run in NoetixViews.

• DateTracked Historic – These views have a “Hist” suffix at the end of their name and the words “Current and Historic” in their view description. These views contain Oracle HRMS “DateTracked” information — multiple records for the same entity as of current, historic, and future effective dates.

• End Dated Historic – These hybrid views have no suffix at the end of their name and the words “Current and Historic” in their view description. These views contain information that is not “DateTracked” but may include historic information, based on the end dates of work structure entities included in the view.

DateTracked views will potentially return duplicate rows of data unless queried for specific “date between effective_start_date and effective_end_date_stored” columns present in the views. For example, a query against NoetixViews with the resulting where clause of “‘01-JAN-98’ between effective_start_date and effective_end_date” will result in a single record for each entity involved in the view. For further information about whether information contained in a view may be relevant in the present, historic, or future time periods, please read the specific view essay in the NoetixViews Help System for more details.

Benefit Classification AssumptionsViews containing benefit element information (such as HR_Ben_Elig_Info, HR_Emp_Ben_Others, and HR_Emp_Total_Comp) will not return all data unless benefit classification information has been entered into Oracle HRMS and benefit elements have been assigned to a benefit classification. For information about how a view may be restricted by this assumption, please read the specific view essay in the NoetixViews Help System.


Flexfield AssumptionsUnlike other NoetixViews modules, descriptive flexfields in NoetixViews for HR may be configured automatically to show segment columns for specific contexts. For example, the HR_Emp views only show Additional Personal Details flexfield information for the EMP (employee) context of the flexfield, and HR_Applicant views have flexfield columns only for the APL (applicant) context.

The flexfields affected are automatically documented in the column descriptions. Which views show which contexts are predetermined to remove unrelated information from the views, and this information cannot be altered during installation.

Default Hours for Salary CalculationsInformation required to complete the calculations for calculated salary-related columns is, in some cases, optional setup information in Oracle HRMS. If information is not available in Oracle HRMS to perform the calculations, make the following assumptions for standard full-time employees (hourly or salaried positions):

• 8 paid working hours per day• 5 working days per week• 12 working months per year• 52 working weeks per year• 2,080 paid working hours per year

Please note that paid vacation and holidays are considered working days for these calculations, and the above values should not be reduced to account for them.

If one of these assumptions is incorrect for a Business Group or Organization in your configuration, you can define standard working conditions in Oracle HRMS at the Business Group or Organization levels to override our assumption. If this cannot be accomplished or if multiple assumptions of ours are false, then a customization must be made to NoetixViews for HR to provide correct calculations. Please contact Noetix Technical Support for this customization.


Setup Business GroupNoetixViews for HR creates a set of views and multiple Roles for each Business Group defined in your Oracle HRMS configuration. Oracle HRMS ships with a predefined Business Group called the Setup Business Group. If the Setup Business Group has been modified to become an active defined Business Group, NoetixViews for HR will work as expected and create views for the information associated with this Business Group.

Optional Views and ColumnsSome views and columns in NoetixViews for HR are included only in specific configurations for Oracle HRMS or a Business Group within Oracle HRMS. The most common examples are legislative-specific views and columns. For example, Business Groups operating under U.S. legislation will have additional views and columns that relate to U.S.-specific government-mandated reporting information. No specific actions during the installation process are required to generate these views and columns. As long as your configuration of Oracle HRMS is complete, NoetixViews for HR will automatically detect the configuration and include or exclude the appropriate columns. If you are still in the process of setting up Oracle HRMS or even a new Business Group and all the configuration information is not available, some columns relating to the configuration-specific information (such as flexfields) may not be included in NoetixViews for HR.

Performance-Related IssuesSeveral concepts affect system performance when retrieving information from Oracle HRMS using NoetixViews for HR.

In general, Oracle HRMS has a smaller number of rows than other Oracle Applications; performance is generally better since there is less information to sort through. Two factors that can negatively affect performance, however, are the use of functions within NoetixViews for HR and the use of information that is optional within Oracle HRMS.


FunctionsNoetixViews for HR uses functions in almost all views to accomplish several tasks:

• to take advantage of complex DateTracked information,• to perform complex compensation calculations,• to create various formats for addresses, and• to implement row-level security.

Oracle only supports user-defined functions that are usable from standard SQL with RDBMS 7.1 and above. NoetixViews for HR is also only compatible with RDBMS 7.1 or above. Function performance is somewhat dependent upon the RDBMS version, and later versions of the RDBMS (version 7.3 and Oracle8) exhibit higher function performance.

Optional InformationInformation that is optional in Oracle HRMS, such as Jobs and Positions information, should only be included if you intend to use it. Because of the flexibility in defining and assigning jobs and positions inherent in Oracle HRMS, this information may be defined within an Oracle HRMS instance yet never used. When you search for information with an optional field or column, Oracle does not perform the most efficient search. NoetixViews helps to alleviate this problem by associating columns with indexed fields. Again, these columns are “search by” columns and are identified with the prefix “A$”.


NoetixViews for PayrollNoetixViews for Payroll simplifies a complex data structure by providing pre-designed views of key payroll areas, such as employee earnings, employee deductions, employee taxes, employer liabilities, registers, costing, and various employee exceptions.

Because Oracle Payroll stores all payroll information at the most granular level, most useful reports require time-consuming summarizations before actual report creation begins. NoetixViews for Payroll creates intermediate summary tables to speed this process, computing balances for every assignment per payroll run.

Frequent changes in employment law also require Oracle to make frequent changes to the data structure of Oracle Payroll. With the upgrade protection feature of NoetixViews, reports developed with NoetixViews for Payroll are protected from these changes.

About the ViewsNoetixViews for Payroll contains approximately 30 views, providing both a broad and deep view of the payroll data. Many of these views can be joined to Human Resources views for more information about employees, pay rates, etc.

NoetixViews for Payroll uses the same Oracle HR security model as NoetixViews for HR. For more information on HR security in NoetixViews, see “Human Resources Security” on page 219.

The Payroll views are available for United States and Canadian legislations. Cross Operations Extension (XOP) views (if purchased) cannot be created for Payroll views, as they would not return valid results.

For more information about the Payroll views, please refer to your NoetixViews Help System.


About the Data MartThe Noetix Payroll views are built on the Noetix Payroll Data Mart, which provides a solution to compute and save balances for every assignment per payroll run. These balances can be used for reporting instead of making a balance call.

The Noetix Payroll Data Mart computes all the balances for each payroll run for the most commonly used dimensions. These balances will be used for reporting when the query performance is faster compared to Oracle delivered balance calls.

The Noetix Payroll Data Mart must be installed before installing or upgrading NoetixViews. The NoetixViews for Payroll module will not be able to install without the Data Mart first being successfully installed.

Pre-Installation Considerations

Install Oracle PayrollThe Oracle Payroll application must be successfully installed before installing the Noetix Payroll Data Mart.

Calculate TablespaceYou will need to calculate the tablespace necessary for the Data Mart indexes and tables before beginning the installation. An existing tablespace may be used as long as it contains sufficient space, or you may create a new tablespace. In Step 5 of “Install Payroll Data Mart” on page 237, you will run a script to select or create this tablespace. It is recommended you use separate tablespaces for indexes and tables.

The storage required for 1,000 employees per pay period is approximately 7 Mb. The EIS Datamart DB Stats.xls workbook, found in the Payroll_Datamart.zip file, can be used to aid in tablespace calculation. The workbook will allow you to estimate the data storage space needed for the number of employees and payroll frequency in your company.


InstallationInstallation of NoetixViews Payroll involves the following steps:

Install (or Upgrade) the Payroll Data Mart Install NoetixViews Administrator Generate Balances

Install Payroll Data MartNOTE: If you are upgrading from one version of the Data Mart to another, see “Upgrade Payroll Data Mart” on page 239.

1. On the NoetixViews CD, navigate to the Datamart/Payroll directory.

2. Unzip the Payroll_Datamart.zip file and extract all the files to a local directory. The directory path cannot contain spaces and should be no more than 79 characters, a limitation of SQL*Plus.

3. Log in to SQL*Plus as the APPS user.

4. Modify the script EIS_Datamart_DBA_Install.sql to change the path and size of the data file (tablespace). The default is a locally managed tablespace; you may change this to a dictionary managed tablespace to suit your environment. If an existing tablespace is used, comment out the section that creates the tablespace in the script.

5. Run the script EIS_Datamart_DBA_Install.sql. This script prompts for the following parameters:

• SID — Database connect string where the Data Mart should be installed.

• SYSTEM Password — SYSTEM Password to create the database user XXEIS and the tablespaces required for tables and indexes.


6. Run the script EIS_Datamart_Install.sql. This script prompts for the following parameters:

• Directory — Directory in which zip file has been extracted. Do not put a “\” at the end.

• SID — Database connect string where the Data Mart should be installed.

• APPS Username — User name of the APPS user (usually APPS unless changed during the Applications installation).

• APPS Password — APPS Password to give grants to XXEIS on the objects and create the custom application, responsibility, and user.

• XXEIS Password — XXEIS Password to create the tables, sequences, packages, synonyms, and triggers in the XXEIS schema. This password was set in EIS_Datamart_DBA_Install.sql while creating the XXEIS user. If the password has not been changed, this value would be XXEIS.

• Tablespace for XXEIS Tables — Tablespace in which the data mart tables will be created. Proper sizing of the tablespace has to be done. Give the same tablespace that was created using the EIS_Datamart_DBA_Install.sql script.

• Tablespace for XXEIS Indexes — Tablespace in which the Data Mart indexes will be created. Give the same tablespace that was created using the EIS_Datamart_DBA_Install.sql script.

• Datagroup Name — Data group to which the XXEIS user needs be attached; Standard is the default.


Upgrade Payroll Data MartIf you have previously installed the Noetix Payroll Data Mart, you will need to upgrade your installation for this version of the Data Mart. Upgrading the Data Mart will not change the current data that is stored in the Data Mart. During the upgrade, all the Data Mart objects will be moved to the XXEIS schema.

To upgrade to a new version of the Payroll Data Mart:1. On the NoetixViews CD, navigate to the Datamart/Payroll directory.

2. Unzip the Payroll_Datamart_Upgrade.zip file and extract all the files to a local directory.

3. Log in to SQL*Plus as the APPS user.

4. Run the EIS_Datamart_Upgrade.sql script. This script prompts for the following parameters:

• Directory — Directory in which zip file has been extracted. Do not put a “\” at the end. The directory path cannot contain spaces and should be no more than 79 characters, a limitation of SQL*Plus.

• SID — Database connect string where the Data Mart should be upgraded.

• APPS Username — User name of the APPS user (usually APPS unless changed during the Applications Installation).

• APPS Password — APPS Password to give grants to XXEIS on the objects and create the custom application, responsibility, and user.

• SYSTEM Password — SYSTEM Password to grant create access to database user XXEIS

• XXEIS Password — XXEIS Password to create the tables, sequences, packages, synonyms, and triggers in the XXEIS schema. This password was set in EIS_Datamart_DBA_Install.sql while creating the XXEIS user. If the password has not been changed, this value would be XXEIS.

• Datagroup Name — Datagroup to which the XXEIS user needs be attached; Standard is the default.


Install or Upgrade NoetixViews AdministratorUsing the instructions in Chapter 3: “Installation” or Chapter 7: “Upgrading NoetixViews”, install or upgrade NoetixViews. Verify the installation before continuing.

Generate BalancesAfter the Payroll Data Mart is installed, balances need to be extracted for the past payroll runs to populate the Payroll Data Mart tables. This task must be executed by an administrator who is aware of the reporting needs for this data. He or she must know how many years of data need to be extracted. (A basic recommendation is the current year and previous year.)

The EIS Datamart DB Stats.xls workbook, found in the Payroll_Datamart.zip file, can be used to estimate the time this process will require. The workbook will allow you to estimate the time needed based on the number of employees and payroll frequency in your company.

WARNING: Do not begin the Generate Balances process prior to running Install Stage 4 of NoetixViews, or the installation will fail because the system can’t grant execute permission to the EIS_Utility package. If you want to run these processes at the same time, you may begin the Generate Balances process after the Role prefix editing step begins in the NoetixViews installation.

To generate balances:1. Ensure the Oracle Balance Initialization process has been completed and verified

in the Oracle Payroll system.

2. Log on to the Oracle Applications with the XXEIS_DM user and password welcome1, with responsibility XXEIS Payroll Datamart. The application will prompt you to change this password when logged on the first time.


3. In the Concurrent Manager, run the process “EIS Generate Balances” (US HRMS Manager -> Processes and Reports -> Submit Processes and Reports) to gather the balances and store them in the Data Mart. This process requires the following parameters:

• Start Year — Start year for which balances need to be extracted.

• End Year — End year for which balances need to be extracted.

• Enable Triggers (Yes or No) — Enables the Data Mart triggers, which (for future payroll runs) will populate the Data Mart summary tables as soon as a payroll is run successfully. Data will be immediately available for reporting. The default value is Yes; set this value to No only if you do not wish to populate data automatically.

• Remove All Current Data (Yes or No) — Removes all existing data and repopulates the data for given parameters. The default value is No; set this value to Yes only if needed.

NOTE: In place of the “EIS Generate Balances” process, you can also run the “EIS Generate Balances Date Range” process. This process enables you to set a start date and an end date for which balances are to be populated in the data mart. The remaining parameters are the same for both processes.

4. (For the initial generate balances process only.) While the Generate Balances process is running, gather statistics for the “XXEIS” schema every 30 to 40 minutes. This will greatly improve the performance of the process. This step is only needed when initially populating the Data Mart with payroll history, not for subsequent processing.

Once the Generate Balances process has been run successfully, triggers are enabled and the engine is turned ON if Enable Triggers is set to Yes. The Data Mart will then gather data for reporting as soon as the payroll is run. If you do not wish to gather data while the payroll is run, then the Generate Balances process can be scheduled as a Concurrent Manager task (during non-business hours) to collect the data.

NOTE: The amount of time it takes to gather the data through triggers is minimal compared to the time required to run a payroll process. For a 3,000-employee payroll, these triggers may take 10-15 minutes, compared to an expected overall payroll run-time of 3-4 hours. Additional processors or processor speed can reduce the time it takes to gather the data. Typically, it would add 1-8% of overall Payroll processing time.


Maintenance TasksMaintenance tasks are listed in this section.

Gather StatisticsMany of the Noetix Payroll views utilize cost-based optimization. In order to take full advantage of this, it is necessary to run statistics on a regular basis, making sure to include the “XXEIS” schema. For more information, refer to the “Managing Cost-Based Optimization for Payroll” document from Oracle.

Grant Access to Accrual PlansIn Oracle HRMS/Payroll, whenever a new accrual plan is created or any changes are made to an existing accrual plan, Oracle Payroll dynamically creates fast formula packages. In order for the NoetixViews to function properly, the XXEIS user needs to have grants for these newly created packages.

The “EIS Grant Access to Accrual Plans” concurrent program will create these grants. This process needs to be run each time an accrual plan is created or changed.

To grant access to accrual plans:1. Log on to the Oracle Applications with the XXEIS_DM user and the password

you defined, with responsibility XXEIS Payroll Datamart.

2. In the Concurrent Manager, run the process “EIS Grant Access to Accrual Plans” (US HRMS Manager -> Processes and Reports -> Submit Processes and Reports) to create grants to any new or modified accrual plans. This process does not require any parameters.

After running the concurrent program, the grants for these dynamically created packages are given to XXEIS, and the NoetixViews accrual view(s) will reflect the changes made.


Turning off the Payroll Data MartThe Noetix Payroll Data Mart can be turned off by disabling the triggers. Run the Generate Balances process as instructed in “Generate Balances” on page 240, with the parameters set as follows:

• Start Year — Leave Blank• End Year -— Leave Blank• Enable Triggers (Yes or No) — No• Remove All Current Data (Yes or No) — No

The triggers will be disabled and the Data Mart will not be automatically populated when a payroll is run.

If the Data Mart needs to be turned on after it has been turned off, follow the instructions in“Generate Balances” on page 240.

Uninstalling the Payroll Data MartThe following steps can be used to uninstall the Payroll Data Mart, if this ever becomes necessary.

1. Run the EIS_Datamart_Uninstall.sql script to delete all XXEIS objects. This script asks for the following parameters:

• SID — Database connect string where the Data Mart is located.

• APPS Username — User name of the APPS user (usually APPS unless changed during the Applications Installation).

• APPS Password — APPS Password to delete the user, responsibility, and custom application.

• XXEIS Password — XXEIS Password to drop the packages, triggers, synonyms, tables and sequences in the XXEIS Schema. This password was set in the EIS_Datamart_DBA_Install.sql file while creating the XXEIS user. If the password has not been changed, then it would be XXEIS.

2. Manually remove the XXEIS user and tablespaces (originally created in the EIS_Datamart_DBA_Install.sql file).

Appendix B

Legal Notices


Third-Party License TermsThe applications diff.exe, grep.exe, and sed.exe are distributed with the NoetixViews for Oracle Applications and NoetixDW software under the GNU General Public License. Noetix hereby offers to give any third party, for a charge no more than our cost of physically performing the distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the diff.exe, grep.exe, and/or sed.exe source code, which shall be distributed under the GNU General Public License and supplied on a medium customarily used for software interchange. Requests for source code must be submitted within three years of this offer, and should be directed to Noetix Corporation, 2229 112th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA, 98004-2936.

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

Version 2, June 1991

Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

Preamble

The licenses for most software are designed to take away your freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users. This General Public License applies to most of the Free Software Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by the GNU Library General Public License instead.) You can apply it to your programs, too.

When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.

To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.

Appendix B: Legal Notices 247

For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.

We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software.

Also, for each author’s protection and ours, we want to make certain that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free software. If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original authors' reputations.

Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software patents. We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the program proprietary. To prevent this, we have made it clear that any patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.

The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and modification follow.

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION

0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed under the terms of this General Public License. The “Program”, below, refers to any such program or work, and a “work based on the Program” means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in the term “modification”.) Each licensee is addressed as “you”.

Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Program (independent of having been made by running the Program). Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.

1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License along with the Program.

You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.


2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1 above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:

1. You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.

2. You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.

3. If the modified program normally reads commands interactively when run, you must cause it, when started running for such interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display an announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide a warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under these conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this License. (Exception: if the Program itself is interactive but does not normally print such an announcement, your work based on the Program is not required to print an announcement.)

These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.

Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or collective works based on the Program.

In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under the scope of this License.

3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:

1. Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

2. Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically


performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

3. Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you received the program in object code or executable form with such an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)

The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable. However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need not include anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies the executable.

If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent access to copy the source code from the same place counts as distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not compelled to copy the source along with the object code.

4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.

5. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying the Program or works based on it.

6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein. You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to this License.

7. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues), conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or otherwise) that contradict the conditions of


this License, they do not excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.

If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other circumstances.

It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the integrity of the free software distribution system, which is implemented by public license practices. Many people have made generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed through that system in reliance on consistent application of that system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot impose that choice.

This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to be a consequence of the rest of this License.

8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the original copyright holder who places the Program under this License may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among countries not thus excluded. In such case, this License incorporates the limitation as if written in the body of this License.

9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions of the General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.

Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Program specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and “any later version”, you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that version or of any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software Foundation.

10. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the author to ask for permission. For software which is copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation, write to the Free Software Foundation; we sometimes make exceptions for this. Our decision will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally.


NO WARRANTY

11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Index

The index provides a quick way to look up topics and keywords used in this guide.


AAnswerPoint Builder, 44, 82

AnswerPoint Builder Only regeneration, 153, 159, 165

AnswerPoint Generator, 44, 124metadata backup, 85regenerating query users, 124running, 82schedule regeneration with Windows Task

Scheduler, 182starting Noetix AnswerPoint wizard using

NoetixViews Administrator, 174viewing log, 91

AnswerPoint. See Noetix AnswerPoint

AOL data, granting accessusing NoetixViews Administrator, 38–40using scripts, 67

AOL Help. See Oracle Applications Screens Help

Application Object Library tables. See AOL data, granting access

Applications tables, granting access to NoetixViews, 71

APPLSYS user, 39, 68

“Apps” user, 39, 88, 95

Apps-mode security, 4, 94, 97, 109See also securityand merging user accounts, warning, 18exporting to NQS, 95, 129responsibilities, 94user accounts, 88

archived data for GL, 217

Bbase installation directory, 133

benefit element information, 231

budget organizations, 217

Business Areas in EULs, 7See also Noetix EUL Generator

business groups, 219

business names for views, 13

CChange Base Installation Directory tool, 132, 133

Chart of Accounts, 109, 119, 209and XOP Roles, 212

checkenv.sh script, 139

clear.bat script, 139

Concurrent Manager, 143See also regenerating NoetixViewsand Payroll Data Mart, 241, 242creating a custom application, 149–150defining concurrent program, 155–157deleting a scheduled regeneration, 160editing regeneration parameters, 160preparing for regeneration, 148–157scheduling regeneration, 157–159updating parameters & passwords,

warning, 157viewing status, 160

concurrent program, defining in Concurrent Manager, 155–157

cparam.sql script, 151, 162

cpw.sql script, 154, 166

Cron, 143See also regenerating NoetixViewscreating a directory for regenerations, 162deleting a scheduled regeneration, 172editing regeneration parameters, 172preparing for initial regeneration, 161–167scheduling regeneration, 168–172setting permissions on directories, 162setting up environment, 139, 167updating parameters & passwords,

warning, 168valid time values, 170viewing status, 172

crontab file, 139, 162, 168, 172

Cross Operations Configuration Wizard, 49

Index 255

Cross Operations Extension (XOP), 7, 208–213and Charts of Accounts, 212and Inventory Roles, 212base calendars, 211calculating number of Roles & views, 213currency, 210installing, 209

using NoetixViews Administrator, 49using scripts, 71

security, 97, 208

currency. See multi-currency

Currency_Code column, 6

custom access for GL data, 109, 119–120

custom application for Concurrent Manager, 149–150

DData Mart. See Payroll Data Mart, Noetix

database user accounts, security warning, 102See also user accounts; Noetix Query Users

Date Tracked History views, 231

Discoverer, Oracle, 7, 114See also Noetix EUL Generatorand NoetixViews security, 94–95Apps-mode users, 94Query Tool Optimizing Views, warning, 99updating security, 123

documentation, installing, 28

Eerror logs, 44, 57, 91, 130

EUL Generator. See Noetix EUL Generator

EUL. See Noetix EUL Generator

Extra Information Type (EIT) views, 230joining, 230security, 220supported types, 230

Ffinderr.bat script, 76, 139

flexfields, 113, 232

Full Regeneration, 153, 159, 165See also regenerating NoetixViews

functions for NoetixViews for HR, 234

GGeneral Ledger (GL). See NoetixViews for GL

Generate Selected Help Content Only regeneration, 153, 165

Get Passwords Wizard, 47–48

global inventory, 50, 72

Grant Select Any Table tool, 135

HHelp System, 3

See also specific Help formats; Help System scripts

distributing to users, 59generating

using NoetixViews Administrator, 45, 57–59

using scripts, 76–77regenerating, 186

scheduling with Cron or Concurrent Manager, 194–198

using NoetixViews Administrator, 187–188

using scripts, 189regenerating selected content, 153, 159, 165scheduling regeneration, 153, 165scripts for generating Help, 77types of Help, 15

Help System scriptsiallhlp.sql, 140, 189iaolhlp.sql, 140, 189icomhlp.sql, 140, 189ihtmlhlp.sql, 140, 189imshlp.sql, 140, 189


HRMS security processes, 227

HTML Help, 15, 189, 194See also Help Systemdistributing to users, 59installation directory, 59publishing the Help, 81, 193, 198

Human Resources (HR). See NoetixViews for HR

Iiallhlp.sql script, 77, 140, 189

ianswers.sql script, 140

iaolhlp.sql script, 77, 140, 189

icomhlp.sql script, 77, 140, 189

iconcmgr.sql script, 140, 155

icronenv.sh script, 139, 167

icrontab.sh script, 139, 168

idelqusr.sql script, 122, 140

igetprm.sql script, 140, 151, 163

igetpw.sql script, 140, 154, 166

iguifs.sql script, 140

ihtmlhlp.sql script, 77, 140, 189

imshlp.sql script, 77, 140, 189

inst4cm.prog script, 150

install1.sql script, 65, 140




installation, 24–91See also installing; installation scriptschecking for errors, 139directory, 37, 62, 134in production environment, warning, 11list of steps

for NoetixViews Administrator method, 30for scripts method, 60

methods for installation, 24–25NoetixViews Integration component and

NoetixViews Administrator method, 44on multiple databases, 62pausing & resuming, 32pre-install tasks, 9–21preparing files & directories for scripts

installation, 65removing files, 139verifying installation

after NoetixViews Administrator installation, 56–57

after script installation, 76

installation scriptsSee also installation; installingianswers.sql, 140iguifs.sql, 140install1.sql, 140install2.sql, 140install3.sql, 140install4.sql, 140listcnfg.sql, 140setup.sh, 139, 150

installingSee also installation; installation scriptsCross Operations Extension (XOP)

using NoetixViews Administrator, 49using scripts, 71

documentation, 28installation scripts, 28Microsoft Shared Components, 28Noetix AnswerPoint, 82–91Noetix software, 26–29NoetixViews

using NoetixViews Administrator, 30–59using scripts, 60–82

NoetixViews Administrator, 28

Index 257

instqusr.sql script, 112, 140

instuser.sql script, 111, 140

Inventory Rolesand Cross Operations Extension (XOP), 212Configuration Wizard, 50generating


global Roles, 72Organization-specific Roles, 72

Jjoining

Extra Information Type (EIT) views, 230Special Information Type views, 229

Llanguage codes, 106, 114

language, translation, 43

listchng.lst file, 145, 204

listchng.sql script, 140, 145, 147, 202, 204

listcnfg.sql script, 140

listinfo.sql script, 140

listjoin.sql script, 140

login errors, checking, 139

MMaster Inventory Organizations, multiple, 50

Master/Unix directory, 63

metadata backup, 85

Microsoft Shared Components, installing, 28

Microsoft Windows Help, 15, 59, 188, 189, 194See also Help Systemand Noetix Easy Help Wizard, 77, 190, 195compiling the Help, 78–81, 190–193,

195–198publishing the Help, 81, 193, 198

multi-currency, 6, 210

multi-currency columnsactivating using NoetixViews

Administrator, 53–54activating using scripts, 73–74

Multiple Reporting Currency (MRC), 210

NNoetix AnswerPoint, 6

See also AnswerPoint Builder; AnswerPoint Generator

installing, 82–91installing components separately, 84schedule regeneration with Windows Task

Scheduler, 182–186starting wizard from NoetixViews

Administrator, 174–181user access, 82

Noetix AnswerPoint Generator. See AnswerPoint Generator

Noetix Easy Help Wizard, 77, 190, 195See also Microsoft Windows Help

Noetix EUL Generator, 7regenerating, 186security, 94, 95updating security, 123

Noetix Payroll Data Mart. See Payroll Data Mart, Noetix

Noetix Platformand NoetixViews, 6creating user accounts, 94, 95exporting user accounts, 124


Noetix Query Users, 4See also user accounts, administering; user

accountsand Discoverer security, 95assigning Roles, 107–108committing to database, 110configuring existing user using scripts, 112creating new accounts, 99

using Query User Maintenance utility, 100–110

using scripts, 111data access, 94enabling features, 106exporting to NQS, 94, 124–130recommendation for account creation, 98security options, 99

Noetix System Administration User, 34, 95, 133changing installation directory, 133configuring


creatingusing NoetixViews Administrator, 33–38using scripts, 65–66

default user name, 34enabling & disabling features, 137granting access to AOL data, 38naming, 12schema, 95, 126security, 137“select any table” privilege, 35user type, 95

Noetix Users. See Noetix Query Users; user accounts

noetix.hlp file, 81, 193, 198

noetix.rtf file, 79, 191, 196

Noetix_Sys. See Noetix System Administration User

noetix_unix user, 149, 154, 162, 166

NoetixViewsadd-on products, 7defined, 2multiple instances, 85, 126regenerating, 141–198upgrading, 199–205

NoetixViews Administrator, 3installing, 28Query User Maintenance utility, 100starting the application, 31tools & features, 132–137

for browsing to files, 134for changing installation directory, 133for disabling features, 137for granting “select any table” privilege, 135for overriding Oracle tool versions, 136for running SQL scripts, 139for running Unix scripts, 138

NoetixViews for GL, 215–218archived data, 217budget organizations, 217modifying security for Noetix Query

Users, 117–118regenerating, 96security, 5, 96–97, 99, 109, 215–217summarized data, 218

NoetixViews for HR, 219–234functions, 234optional views & columns, 233performance, 233Roles, 220salary calculations, 232security, 219–227

Oracle security profiles, 223–227role-level security, 220row-level security, 221–222

Setup Business Group, 233

NoetixViews for Payroll, 235–243See also Payroll Data Mart, Noetixinstalling, 237limitations, 235security, 235upgrading Payroll Data Mart, 201, 203

Index 259

NoetixViews Help. See specific Help formats; Help System

NoetixViews User. See Noetix Query Users; user accounts

Oonline help. See Help System

Oracle Applications Screens Help, 15, 58See also Help Systemdistributing to users, 189, 194installing into FND_HELP table, warning, 15

Oracle Applications security, 88See also Apps-mode security; securityand payroll lists, 225APPLSYS account, 39, 68HRMS security processes, 227limitations on max Roles, 98organizations, 224positions, 225profiles, 224, 226reporting users, 223secure users, 223

Oracle Discoverer. See Discoverer, Oracle

Oracle tools, 19

Oracle tools, versionsSee also SQL*Plus; SQL*Loader

Pparameter file, 151, 162

passwordspopulating file for regenerations, 154, 166required for installation, 11

Payroll Data Mart, Noetix, 236access to accrual plans, 242calculating tablespace, 236disabling, 243EIS Generate Balances Date Range

process, 241EIS Generate Balances process, 241gathering statistics, 242generating balances, 240installing, 237–238pre-requisites for installation, 21uninstalling, 243upgrading, 201, 203, 239

performanceand user profiles, 4of NoetixViews for HR, 233–234of query tools, 114of views, 114

permissions, changing on script files, 139

prefixesdefaults, 13, 54, 69editing

after installation, warning notice, 13during NoetixViews Administrator

installation, 54–56during regeneration, warning, 145during script installation, 69during upgrades, warning, 202

for user names, 18, 89for views, 13limits when scheduling regenerations, 143

pre-installation steps, 9–21

preupd.sql script, 140, 204

pre-update process for upgrades, 202, 204

procedure owner, 33

profiles, creating for users, 4

Qqueries, runaway, 4

Query Tool Help, 15, 58See also Help System; query toolsdistributing to users, 188, 189, 194


query tools, 106See also Query Tool Helpand modifying users, 123performance, 106refreshing after regenerating NoetixViews, 186

Query User Maintenance utility, 100, 113, 121

query users. See Noetix Query Users; user accounts; user accounts, administering

Rrefresh. See regenerating; regenerating NoetixViews

regeneratingSee also regenerating NoetixViewsHelp System, 186–198Noetix AnswerPoint, 173Noetix EUL Generator, 186NoetixViews, 145–173query tools, 186schedule regeneration of Noetix AnswerPoint

with Windows Task Scheduler, 182–186starting Noetix AnswerPoint wizard using

NoetixViews Administrator, 174–181

regenerating NoetixViews, 5, 145–173comparing old & new installations, 145failed regeneration, warning, 144for multiple instances, 126methods for regenerating, 143–144

scheduling with Concurrent Manager, 148–161

scheduling with Cron, 161–173using NoetixViews

Administrator, 145–146using scripts, 146–147

NoetixViews Integration component, 173populating parameter file, 151–154, 162–165populating passwords file, 154, 166reasons to regenerate, 96, 142scheduling services, 143using previous settings, 46verifying script versions, 145vs. upgrading, 142

regeneration scriptsSee also installation scripts; regenerating

NoetixViews; regeneratingiconcmgr.sql, 140icronenv.sh, 139icrontab.sh, 139igetprm.sql, 140igetpw.sql, 140listchng.sql, 140

reports, pre-built, 6

Roles, NoetixViews, 5See also prefixesassigning to users, 107–108defined, 5for Human Resources, 220granting to users, 116modifying, 115–120

runaway queries, 4

Ssalary data, security, 220

scheduling regenerationsSee also regenerating NoetixViews; scheduling

scriptsmethods

using Concurrent Manager, 148–161using Cron, 161–173

restrictions on Role prefixes, 143

scheduling scriptsSee also regeneration scripts; regenerating

NoetixViewscrontab file, 162iconcmgr.sql, 155icronenv.sh, 167icrontab.sh, 168

scheduling services, 143

schema directory formatting, 133

Script Copy Wizard, 61, 204

Index 261

scriptsSee also specific script nameschanging permissions on files, 139file formats, 63for generating Help, 77installing the scripts, 28preparing files & directories, 65running

from a command line, 138in SQL*Plus, 139

SQL scripts, 140transferring files

using FTP client, 63using Script Copy Wizard, 61–63

Unix scripts, 139verifying script versions, 145

securitySee also Apps-mode security; Oracle

Applications securityconfiguring custom access, 119–120for GL, 5, 96–97, 99, 109, 215–217for GL with XOP GL Roles, 214for HR, 219–227for salary data, 220granting access to data, 94options for Noetix Query Users, 99“select any table” privilege, 35, 135types of access, 96

security rules, 5, 96–97, 99, 109, 216

“select any table” privilege, 35, 66, 135

Set of Books, 109, 119

setup.sh script, 64, 65, 139, 150, 162

software, installing, 26–29

Special Information Type views, 228–229joining, 229security, 220

SQL scripts, 139, 140See also specific SQL scripts

SQL*Loader, 19–21changing version, 136

SQL*Pluschanging version, 136running scripts, 139

statusof Concurrent Manager regeneration, 160of Cron regeneration, 172of installation

using NoetixViews Administrator, 56–57using scripts, 76

summarized data for GL, 218

support scripts. See scripts

system requirements, 11, 19

Ttable owner, 33

tables for the Application Object Library, 38

tablespacecalculating for Payroll Data Mart, 236creating for installation, 12increasing, 12locally managed, 12storage location, 36temporary space, 36

to-do logs, 91

translation language, 43, 111

UUnix scheduling service. See Cron

Unix scripts, 138, 139See also specific Unix scripts

upgrade scripts & filesSee also installation scripts; upgrading

NoetixViewslistchng.lst, 204listchng.sql, 140, 202preupd.sql, 140, 202, 204


upgrading NoetixViewsSee also upgrade scripts & filesand Noetix Platform, 201, 203editing prefixes, warning, 202exporting user accounts, 202methods

using NoetixViews Administrator, 201–203

using scripts, 203–205NoetixViews Integration component and

NoetixViews Administrator method, 202NoetixViews Integration component and

scripts method, 205reasons to upgrade, 200regenerating Help, 200regenerating Noetix AnswerPoint, 200vs. regenerating, 142

user accounts, 4See also specific account names & types; Roles,

NoetixViews; user accounts, administeringcustom access for data, 109, 119database user, 34security, 4, 94, 96, 109

user accounts, administering, 94–130See also user administration scripts; user

accountsassigning Roles, 107–108, 116committing to database, 110creating database accounts, 102creating new accounts

using Query User Maintenance utility, 100–110

using scripts, 111creating profiles, 4deleting a user

from Oracle Discoverer, 122using Query User Maintenance

utility, 121–122using scripts, 122–123

exporting to NQS, 124–130importing from multiple sources, 16–19modifying, 113–120prefixing user names, 18

user administration scriptsSee also user accounts, administering; user

accountsinstqusr.sql, 140instuser.sql, 140

Vviews

See also specific module namescreating synonyms, 102, 106, 115generating


naming conventions, 13–14owner, 12, 33performance, 114regenerating using previous settings,

warning, 46searching with wildcards, 14updating security, 96

Wwarning logs, 44, 84, 91

Web Help. See HTML Help

XXOP. See Cross Operations Extension (XOP)

ZZ$ columns list, script, 140

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