With JDE EnterpriseOne, it's (Really) Personal - UDOs
Last month we went through the personalization features delivered and installed when you are running or going to the JDE 9’s. We can keep going, drill down to further explore the standard Roles and Personalization found in the box on the upper right corner of the login screen but I want to get to the meat of the UX-One, JDE UDO’s features before the next cool thing that Oracle will add or enhance to the current release of EnterpriseOne.
And as mentioned, when things get personal, it signifies care and ownership. JDE understands that we all have additional requirements on forms and reports on top of what’s delivered or installed. As owners of data they now have empowered us to build and maintain these forms and reports (and views!) to minimize dependence on IT resources. The goal is to make the collaboration of IT and the business more efficient and have teams work on higher-value tasks and projects.
Personalizing, extending, customizing, and having fun with JDE Enterprise One with no coding required is in high gear as part of JDE’s evolution, the catch is you have to be on the latest and greatest release of JDE EnterpriseOne, (if you are not, GSI – celebrating our 15 years this month will help you get there).
The ABC's and XYZ’s of UDO’s
UDO’s – User Defined Objects
A JDE UX-One component, User Defined Objects or UDO’s are web-based objects that we can create using the JDE EnterpriseOne web or JAS interface. We can create/modify them for our own personal use, we can also share for others to use and vice versa, plus use or view what others have created and shared. All these are possible with the right security permissions that we or others have been granted.
Types of UDO’s
Queries – it’s been around since we started using the QBE (Query By Example) features to filter, update and change records. Very handy to select fields and QBE columns from an application to add conditions to make specific search criteria. Check out Advanced Queries, with simple clicks we can create, publish and share queries:
Grid Formats – this is a selection of the columns we choose to display, also the sequence where we want them displayed, and how information is displayed in the grid as well. All of us at some point have moved, deleted, or reposition columns.
Composite Application Framework (aka CafeOne) - Queries and Grid Formats are available prior to 9.x JDE tools release. CafeOne was from Tools Release 9.2.0.2, this is a user interface framework that enables JD Edwards EnterpriseOne applications to integrate with multiple third-party content and applications, as well as other EnterpriseOne applications. It’s like mixing two or more songs and in JDE speak, combining two or more applications to build a simple and productive interface. This feature is a big topic to cover. I plan to do a future deep dive article on CafeOne. You may also check some of our archived documents and webinars in the getgsi.com site.
Classic EnterpriseOne Pages - also referred to as E1 Landing Pages, introduced in Tools Release 9.2.0.2 classic EnterpriseOne Pages are the first screen JDE end-users see upon login to EnterpriseOne. They are HTML files and can contain any HTML-enabled functionality, such as interactive process flows, URL links and web pages, company logos, and so forth that can be further personalized by role. It may require a bit of HTML coding to configure or create EnterpriseOne Classic Pages. It can contain images, graphs, alerts, or links but for simplicity, here’s my landing page:
One View Reporting (OVR) – If you have not heard of JDE Enterprise One OVR or One View Reporting, you’re either using a different ERP solution or hiding under a rock. JDE made me upgrade the system I was previously supporting because of the power of this tool that leverages the layout capabilities within BI Publisher to define the report output formatting.
EnterpriseOne One View Reporting is the ad-hoc, intuitive, easy-to-use method to access data and produce reports with Oracle BI Publisher. With OVR, we can build a quick report from a screen full of transaction data and save it to a format that we are comfortable and familiar with like spreadsheet, pdf, etc., that we can further process to publish and share.
We can whip up sales reports, customer reports, supplier reports, employee reports, etc., directly from these JDE EnterpriseOne applications with a few clicks using One View Reporting – no coding or programming required. JDE also delivered OVR templates for most of the EnterpriseOne modules we currently use today. And on top of all that, we can have these reports include tables, graphs, and charts and view them in a variety of formats, such as PDF documents, HTML, and spreadsheets. Additionally, many reports enable us to interactively filter the report data for further analysis. This tool is huge, so stay tuned we will need to spend more quality time discussing and exploring the luxury and benefit of having OVR in your JDE back pocket.
Basic word processor and spreadsheet navigation skills are all you need to be able to create a One View Report in JDE EnterpriseOne:
Or get fancy and start creating your dashboard:
Watchlists – enable users to define information to which they would like to be alerted. It is a collection of items that match custom or specific user-defined criteria. A common example is to create a threshold alert from a list of customers with past due and uncollected receivables. Watchlists provide an easy way for this information to be conveyed to the AR collection team. Watchlists are built on the existing JD Edwards EnterpriseOne query framework and are, therefore, only supported on forms that support queries.
Notifications - JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Notifications improves our business productivity with proactive notifications that we can act on. Advanced notifications prompt the system to notify users of business events as they happen without the need for the user to log in to JDE EnterpriseOne.
Important or business-critical notifications give us or our users the tool to know when key transactions or business events occur without having to log in to JDE. Giving us better tools to monitor our system and transactions to help us respond quickly and do our jobs more efficiently.
Notifications use inputs, such as customer collection counts from Watchlists or data collected through Orchestrations, rules can be applied to decide whether a notification message should be dispatched to our users or subscribers.
In conjunction with the JDE EnterpriseOne Orchestrator Studio, we can create notification processes that allow the consumption of transaction data into actionable business processes. For example, we can create notifications that enable EnterpriseOne to alert the AR/collections team when a customer account is overdue from a Watchlist. We can enjoy Notifications with Tools Release 9.2.2.
Orchestrator – I like to refer to the Orchestrator as the “latest JDE app within JDE”. It allows us to extend and build application instructions within JDE EnterpriseOne. It was hatched several years ago as the Internet of Things or IOT Orchestrator to transfer and consume real-time IOT data to and from JDE EnterpriseOne. And as it continues to evolve to provide integration of other JDE UDO features we will see more automation of complex functions and routines in JDE and third-party tools and applications with little to no coding required. On top of the Tools Release (9.2.1.2) requirements, there are additional components needed (i.e., Application Interface Service aka AIS server, Orchestrator Studio, middleware, and Orchestrator application component) to start building and enjoying JDE’s Orchestrator. And if you really want to get your hands dirty, JSON, Groovy scripting, and REST service components are at your disposal. Orchestrator is a learning path by itself and we will define and explore these scripting tools in future articles. I’m sure the Orchestrator Studio page will change and continue to improve but as I write this article, here’s a glimpse:
Composed EnterpriseOne Page – EnterpriseOne page is the “UDO glue”. With the user-defined layout, we have it will allow us to access EnterpriseOne standard applications, One View Reports, Designer Panes, Watchlist Panes, Classic Pages, web pages, OBIEE objects, and ADF applications. The difference between Composed EnterpriseOne Pages with Classic Pages or Landing Pages is that we do not need to know HTML coding skills. Introduced in Tools Release 9.2.0.2, we can create and design our Composed EnterpriseOne Pages by using the Page Composer (a simple interface for Business Analysts to allow them to design and build Composed Pages). We also discussed this tool in last month’s article and here is the Page Composer designer page image again with a screenshot of a sample Composed Page:
Composed Page
As mentioned in last month’s article, we can launch the Page Composer from our login dropdown menu in the upper right corner of the screen under “Managed Content” where you will be able to personalize your user experience and preferences without having to do customizations. You will find more on E1 Page or Landing page topics in the Resources and Events page under JD Edwards at www.getgsi.com.
Personal Forms – I started as a JDE developer and enjoy (and still do) building application forms via FDA or Forms Design Aid to create custom EnterpriseOne screens and applications. Starting in Tools Release 9.2.1, we can build custom screens and applications by using an interface that does not require any Form Design Aid (FDA) based modifications. Just add your imagination - No coding and no CNC packages are required!
Search Groups - Introduced in Tools Release 9.2.1.2, the JDE EnterpriseOne Search feature allows us to search across one or more tables or business views for data that contains specific search criteria without the need to navigate to multiple applications. A search group is a collection of tables or business views to search over. From the search results window, we can also drill down to see additional data related to the selected search result or open an application to get more information on the selected record. Below is a sample Search Groups Manager screenshot showing searchable content for the F4104 Item Cross Reference File. Here we can design and save search groups for our search criteria and add more tables or business views. For each table or business view within a search group, we can add conditions to filter the search results, map columns to its additional information and actions, and add search features such as sorting criteria and the threshold number of records to broadcast or display in the search results.
Schedules - A schedule defines the frequency of running the notification. The system may execute it based on an orchestration, a Watchlist, or sending a notification message. A schedule can be defined in minutes, hours, days, or a Linux Cron string. Please keep in mind that this is not the standard JDE Job Scheduler from menu GH9015. It is a Notifications function that we can launch from the Orchestrator Studio and we must be in Tools Release 9.2.2 to take full advantage of this feature (below the Message section of the Notifications setup parameters):
Form Extensions – From Tools Release 9.2.2.4, we can now extend the application framework in JDE EnterpriseOne form without customizations or FDA (Forms Design Aid) coding. Therefore, no CNC package build is required. We can add available or unused) business view columns as additional form controls on the form header and grid on most JDE query forms. And as I type this article, Tools Release 9.2.3.3 will let us extend edit forms (except the Power Edit form) and also call an orchestration with form and control events. It is as simple as launching the Form Extension Manager and clicking the available field(s) to insert or add (in the sample below to the Job Master application:
Count on new or enhanced JDE EnterpriseOne UDO features from Oracle in the days ahead and we at GSI will make sure to share them through published articles like this, webinars in the Resources and Events page under JD Edwards at www.getgsi.com, and from our JDE sessions/conference presentations.
There you go. We started getting personal with JDE and have now scratched the surface to tackle and provide information on key UDO features. Stay tuned as we go and do a deep dive on each of the key UX-One/UDO’s features in future articles.
I enjoy ending my articles consistent with “The Fastpath and Furious…” article wrap up, so let’s end again with a quote and this time from a classic song:
“Did you say I’ve got a lot to learn? ... Let’s start with the ABC of it, roll right down to the XYZ of it”. - From the song Teach Me Tonight by Dinah Washington.
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