XML Publisher

August 2011

Agenda
Pre-Requisite Overview

XML Publisher & Other Reporting Tools

XML Publisher Report Generation Configure XML Publisher Creating Data Source Registering Data Source Creating Template Creating Report Definitions Viewing the Report

XML Reports Using Application Engine

XML Publisher Security Reference
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Pre-Requisite
Adequate knowledge of PeopleCode Application Engine PS Query App Packages Basic Formatting knowledge of MS Word MS Excel RTF documents

XML Publisher Overview

XML Publisher is an Oracle tool that has been ported over to the PeopleSoft enterprise ERP suite It is a template based reporting mechanism which could be used for formatting pre-extracted data. As extraction of data and formatting the data are independent processes, XML Publisher allows us to reuse the same data for multiple report formats. Report templates can be created using Microsoft Word, Excel, Adobe Acrobat, etc.

The data source itself could be a PeopleSoft Query, or a Rowset, or an XML files or an XML Doc object

XML Publisher Overview

Separate data / layout / UI translation

Data Logic

XML Publisher Report output

Layout
Flexibility Reduced maintenance
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XML Publisher Overview

SQL Query Row Set XML Data Handler DATA
EFT

Banking
EFT

Excel

Controller

XML Publisher

HTML

PDF

CEO

Template Manager

XML

Template

Government
XML

B2B
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XML Publisher Overview

Following are some of the salient features of XML Publisher Fast and scalable data retrieval High fidelity formatting Full range of charting capabilities Multiple objects in one report Multi table / forms layout support High degree of report interactivity (filter, sort, hide column etc.) Conditional formatting Broad range of formulas and functions

XML Publisher & Other Reporting Tools

Tool
SQR

Pro

Con

1. Flexible 1. May not be supported in Fusion 2. Can handle Complex Logic 2. The development can not be broken down into modular tasks. 3. Can run SQLs against a Database

Crystal

1. What you see is what you get. 2. Easy to develop.

1. Requires Crystal and driven through QUERY 2. Not capable of handling complex logic

XML Publisher

1. What you see is what you get. 2. Can be driven via PeopleCode or Query. 1. Developer should have PeopleCode 3. Development Process can be skills. broken into logical sections extraction of data and creation of template could be handled by two different individuals.

XML Publisher Report Generation

Configure XML Publisher

Create Data Source

Register Data Source

Create and Upload Templates

Define XML Publisher Reports

Run XML Publisher Reports View Published XMLP Reports

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Configure XML Publisher

Report Category: We can configure the XML Report Category using the following path. Navigation: Main Menu Reporting Tools XML Publisher Setup Report Category Report Category is a required attribute on all report definitions. By assigning a report category, you are actually applying row level security to the data on those components

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Configure XML Publisher

Design Helper: This page enables users to download a plug-in for Microsoft Word to facilitate offline RTF template design. Select the link to download the tool Navigation: Main Menu Reporting Tools XML Publisher Setup Design Helper During template creation, a Design Helper facilitates the insertion of application data tag placeholders into your templates. A schema or sample data file is required for using a design helper

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Configure XML Publisher

Design Helper Installation : Install Java Runtime Environment (Ver 1.4 or higher) as XMLP requires Java (http://www.java.com/en/download/) Before installing BIPublisherDesktop please close all open instances of Microsoft Office applications Double click on the BIPublisherDesktop.exe from the downloaded files to install the plug-ins After the installation is completed, we can see Add-Ins tab in the MS Word

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Configure XML Publisher

Permission Lists: We can restrict the access to XML Publisher menu using PeopleSoft delivered Permission Lists and Roles PeopleTools deliver permission list security and roles as shown in this table:

Permission List PTPT2600

PTPT2500

Role XMLP Report Developer

XMLP Power User

Intended for Report developers

Power users

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Create Data Source

Data Source is the file that feeds the merge process merging the source data with the report template Each report must have a data source. XMLP provides the following data sources to choose from:
Data Sources

XML File
-SQR

XML File
-PeopleCode

Connected Query

PS Query -PS Query

-PS Query

XML Data File

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Create Data Source

Create sample data to design your RTF template and map your PDF templates. However one could register a Data source without sample data, as XML Publisher would access the Data file at runtime.

One could generate the XML data using any means including PS/Query, SQR, Application Engine, PeopleCode, File Layout, and so forth.

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Register Data Sources

Navigation: Reporting Tools XML Publisher Data Source While using PS Query, click Add a New Value. Select PS Query as the Data Source type and click the Look Up Query and select the Query name. Click the Add button

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Register Data Sources

Enter the Data Source Description. Click Generate under the Generate File column for Sample Data File(.xml). Generate the schema file(.xsd). Save the XML file on the local Drive e.g. C:/Temp

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Create Report Templates

Sample File Generation: View and download the XML file to be loaded into the report template using the following link and save into the local drive

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Create Report Templates

Template design involves the construction of a reports layout in a template file and is dependent upon what the core Oracle XML Publisher engine accept for processing From the Data menu select Load XML Data to load the *.xml document that contains the data fields to be inserted into the RTF layout template

Data Should be loaded successful and the following screen should appear
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Create Report Templates

Insert Table/form using the Wizard

Click on Next to continue and select the Table as report format. Specify the Grouping Field
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Create Report Templates

Select the fields to be shown on the Report and specify the field location using ^ and v

Click on next. Specify the group by criteria and sorting order. Click on next and specify the field names as shown below and then save the report in .rtf format
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Create Report Templates

Format the report as per the requirements using MS Word formatting tools

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Report Definition
Report definitions associate a data source with template files. Report definition access is based on user permission list security and roles A report may include multiple templates. A template is used to associate different layout formats as required by different countries/regions or as required by different channels (web posting, printer, fax, and so on)

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Report Definition
Navigation: Main Menu Reporting Tools XML Publisher Report Definition Definition. Select Report Status, Report Category ID, Object Owner ID and Template Type

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Report Definition
Upload Template: Navigation is Reporting Tools XML Publisher Report Definition Template. Set the template Status to Active. Browse for the *.rtf template and click Upload

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Report Definition
Output Format: Navigation is Reporting Tools XML Publisher Report Definition Output. On the Output tab, select PDF as the default output. Click Save

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Report Definition
Security: Navigation is Reporting Tools XML Publisher Report Definition Security The Security page captures attributes regarding who can view webposted output in the Report Manager repository and through the XML Publisher Report Repository Search page

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Report Definition
Bursting is available only when the reports are run through the Process Scheduler With bursting we can generate multiple reports based on bursting options Users with the role assigned to permission list PTPT2600 can setup the Bursting options Users with the role assigned to permission list PTPT2500 will have readonly access

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Report Definition
Translations: Navigation is Reporting Tools XML Publisher Translations Acts as an interface between report definition template and Content Library sub-templates The Template Translation feature is based upon standard Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF) .xlf file processing The template should exist before translating

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Report Definition
Content Library: Used for registering the reusable sub-template files Sub-template names are not shown to the end-user Sub-templates are .rtf or .xsl templates used by primary .rtf or .xsl templates

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Run XML Publisher Reports

Query Report Viewer: The Query Report Viewer allows selection and online viewing of those reports that have a data source type of PeopleSoft Query. Existing Query security applies so that each user has access to run only the reports to which he or she has qualified Query access to the data source Navigation: Reporting Tools XML Publisher Query Report Viewer. Select the format of report & click on View Report link

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Run XML Publisher Reports

Output

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Run XML Publisher Reports

Query Report Scheduler uses the Process Scheduler to: Select runtime parameters for query-based reports Monitor the report process request Post and secure the results to either the Report Manager, a printer, or the Process Scheduler file directory Navigation: Reporting Tools XML Publisher Query Report Scheduler

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Run XML Publisher Reports

Limitations of PS Query: If the number of rows goes beyond 3000, the report throws error Complex joins would be difficult to achieve Output of PS Query is in flat structure

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Locate and View XML Publisher Reports

XMLP Report Search: XMLP Report Search can be used to locate and view the XMPL Reports based on the criteria like Report Definition ID, Folder Name, Created On etc Navigation: Reporting Tools XML Publisher XMLP Report Search

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Locate and View XML Publisher Reports

XMLP Report Manager: On the XMLP Report Search page, click on Report Manager link to view the current status of the report Navigation: Reporting Tools XML Publisher XMLP Report Search Report Manager

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Create Data Source Application Engine

Following are the steps to be followed to create Data Source: Create a File Layout Create an Application Engine Program and fetch all the rows by implementing the business logic Generate an XML file Invoke the Report Definition using the PeopleCode &oRptDefn = create PSXP_RPTDEFNMANAGER:ReportDefn(Report Def name"); &oRptDefn.Get(); &oRptDefn.SetRuntimeDataXMLFile(&FilePath); &oRptDefn.OutDestination = %filepath &oRptDefn.ProcessReport(TemplateID", &LanguageCd, %Date, &oRptDefn.GetOutDestFormatString(5));
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Create Data Source Application Engine

File Layout: Create one Temp record and insert this record in File Layout. Select XML as file layout Format

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Create Data Source Application Engine

The App engine thats developed for XMLP would perform 2 jobs,
Create the XML file with source data Call the App Package PSXP_RPTDEFNMANAGER, and the method ReportDefn which has the inbuilt logic to merge the data with the report template and generate the report.

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Create Data Source Application Engine

Following is a XML App engine generates the xml file to be used as a data source

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Create Data Source Application Engine

Run the Application Engine Program. Enter the Run Control ID & Process Instance. Navigation: Edit Run Program

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XML Publisher Security

XML Publisher security can be separated into three categories: Defining reports Running reports Viewing reports Data security
In case of Query-based report, the requesters row-level security to the underlying data source always applies. However while using App Engines / SQR for generating XML files the program should handle row level security.

Defining reports
Security for editing and viewing report definitions is controlled by the Report Category ID attribute, which is set on the Reporting Tools, XML Publisher, Setup, Report Category page

Running reports
Application security and Process Scheduler security determine who can run reports.
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XML Publisher Security

Viewing reports
Security to Query-based reports viewed real time from the Query Report Viewer is controlled through query access groups.
For non-Query-based reports viewed online in real time, security has to be controlled by the code. When you are viewing a report that was run through either the Query Report Scheduler or the Process Scheduler, security is controlled by both the Distribution ID field on the Report Definition, Security page.

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