Getting started with personalizations

It is important that we understand some common terminology and gain an understanding of how an OA Framework page is constructed before we get started. Let's start off by understanding that OA Framework has been developed by Oracle and is based upon a Model View Controller (MVC) architecture developed using Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE).

• Model: A model can be thought of as the data and is implemented using Oracle Business Components for Java (BC4J). This comprises three layers, which are the entity object (EO), view object (VO), and application module (AM).

  • Entity object: This is based upon a database table and all of the database transactions will go through the EO.

  • View object: This is based upon any number of entity objects or it can be an SQL statement, if the page is read only.

  • Application module: This is a container for the view object and it manages transactions that occur. Each page has a root AM to maintain the transaction context.

• View: A view defines a user interface that is rendered as an HTML page. This is implemented with user interface XML (UIX).

• Controller: A controller is java code that handles events when they occur at runtime. There are two methods that are called when the page runs.

In this recipe, we are going to set up some records that we will use throughout the chapter. We are going to demonstrate our personalizations in the manager self-service screens. We will need to perform the following tasks before we get started with personalizing OA Framework pages:

• Creating a custom responsibility

• Creating a new user

• Creating an employee record

• Assigning a manager

• Attaching an employee to a user record

Creating a custom responsibility

Now to create our new responsibility that we will use to access core HR screens, we will create a test employee record and ensure that the employee is a manager of other employees. This will be used to access some of the self-service screens where we will create some personalizations in the upcoming recipes.

How to do it...

Perform the following steps to create a new responsibility called XX Test HRMS Manager:

1. Log in to Oracle E-Business with the System Administrator responsibility.

2. Navigate to Security | Responsibility | Define and the Responsibilities window will open.

3. Enter the required data as given in the following table:

   Item name	Item value
   Responsibility Name	XX Test HRMS Manager
   Application	Human Resources
   Responsibility Key	XXTESTHRMSMGR
   Description	XX Test HRMS Manager
   Data Group
   Name	Standard
   Application	Human Resources
   Menu	GLB HRMS Navigator
   Request Group
   Name	HR Reports and Processes

4. Click on the Save button in the toolbar (or press Ctrl + S) to save the record.

5. The Responsibilities screen should now appear as shown in the following screenshot:

   

6. Now create a test manager self-service responsibility.

7. Click on the new record icon.

8. Enter the required data as given in the following table:

   Item name	Item value
   Responsibility Name	XX Test Manager Self-Service
   Application	Human Resources
   Responsibility Key	XXTESTMGRSS
   Description	XX Test Manager Self-Service
   Data Group
   Name	Standard
   Application	Human Resources
   Menu	Manager Self Service
   Request Group
   Name

   

9. Click on the Save button in the toolbar (or press Ctrl + S) to save the record.

10. Exit the form.

How it works...

We have now created a new responsibility where we can access the HRMS screens.

Creating a new user

We are going to create a user called XXUSER that we will use throughout the chapter for our personalizations. We will add the responsibilities, that we will use throughout the chapter. Also, the user will be assigned an employee record so that when we access the manager self-service screens, there is relevant data available for our personalizations that we are going to create.

How to do it...

To create the user, perform the following steps:

1. Log in to Oracle and select the System Administrator responsibility.

2. Navigate to Security | User | Define.

3. Enter XXUSER in the User Name field.

4. Enter a password in the Password field and press the Tab key.

5. Enter the password again and press the Tab key.

6. Set Password Expiration to None.

7. Navigate to the Direct Responsibilities tab.

8. Add the following responsibilities:

   • Application Developer

   • Functional Administrator

   • Manager Self-Service

   • System Administrator

   • XX Test HRMS Manager

   • XX Test Manager Self-Service

   The Users screen should now appear as shown in the following screenshot:

   

9. Save the form.

How it works...

We have now created our user called XXUSER. The user has access to the responsibilities, which we are going to need throughout the chapter.

Creating an employee record

Now we are going to create an employee called Employee Manager, which we will use throughout the chapter for our personalizations. As suggested by the name, this employee will be the manager of other employees.

How to do it...

To create the employee, perform the following steps:

1. Log in to Oracle with the XX Test HRMS Manager responsibility.

2. Navigate to People | Enter and Maintain.

3. When the Find Person screen opens, click on the New button.

4. Enter the required data as given in the following table:

   Item name	Item value
   Last	Manager
   First	Employee
   Gender	Male (or Female)
   Action	Create Employment
   Person Type	Employee
   Social Security	123123123
   Date of Birth	28-MAR-1970

5. Update the Latest Start Date field to 01-JAN-1990.

6. Save the record, and when prompted, click on the Correction button.

7. Click on OK, when prompted with the message The original hire date will be updated to be the same as the start date.

8. Make a note of the employee number that has been automatically generated.

   Note

   If the employee number has not been automatically generated, type one manually and save the record as a Correction.

   The data entered should look similar to the following screenshot:

   

How it works...

We have now created an employee record that we will configure as the manager of other employees. We need to do this so that the self-service screens we are going to personalize will have some data returned in them and we can complete some of the upcoming recipes.

Assigning a manager

We are now going to update the assignment record of an existing employee so that the employee we have just created is the manager of an existing hierarchy and when we perform some personalizations, there is some data returned in the forms we are going to personalize.

How to do it...

To assign a manger, perform the following steps:

1. In the Enter and Maintain person screen, click on the Find Person (torch) icon in the toolbar.

2. Enter 1197 for the employee number.

3. Click on the Assignment button.

4. Click on the Supervisor tab.

5. Enter our employee number in the Worker Number field. (The employee number is 2110 for the employee that was created in the preceding recipe. It may be a different number on the environment you are using.)

6. Tab out of the field and select the Correction button, if prompted.

7. The Name fields will automatically populate to Manager, Employee, and so on (our test employee), when we tab out of the Worker Number field.

8. Save the form and close it.

How it works...

We have assigned our employee as a manager of another employee. This means that we will then inherit the hierarchy of the employee we became the manager of and hence we will have data in the self-service screens that we are going to personalize.

Attaching an employee to a user record

We are going to associate the employee we have just created to our user called XXUSER. When we log in as the XXUSER responsibility, the self-service screen will display data on the screens appropriate to the employee record that we have associated with our user. As we have assigned our employee record as the manager of other employees, we will see the data of the employees in the screens we are going to access in manager self-service.

How to do it...

To create the user, perform the following steps:

1. Select the System Administrator responsibility.

2. Navigate to Security | User | Define.

3. Press the F11 key to enter a query.

4. Enter XXUSER in the User Name field and press Ctrl + F11 to execute the query.

5. In the Person field enter Manager and Employee, and press the Tab button.

6. Save the form.

How it works...

We have now associated our employee with our user. Therefore, when we log in as our user XXUSER, we will be able to access the self-service screens as a manager of other employees.