Installation and Configuration Guide - Wizards

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  • Overview - Installation and Configuration

Overview - Installation and Configuration

 
The More4apps Wizards use web-based XML to communicate with the server for all uploads and downloads (not SQL*Net).  The client-side installation consists only of the spreadsheet; no additional software apart from Microsoft Excel is required on the PC.
 
The server-side installation consists of two packages in the database that enables XML-based communications through the Self-Service Web server.  For Release 12 there is also a Servlet installed.
 
The More4apps Wizards are very secure as they utilize the existing Oracle Applications security and login mechanisms for user authentication and authorization. Users connect using their regular E—Business Suite user names and passwords, Single Sign-on (SSO) is supported.
 
Key Features:
 
       Full integration with the Oracle Applications login and security functionality
 
       Respect for session timeout rules
 
       Single Sign On integration
 
       Supports non-APPS schemas i.e. Oracle Managed Cloud Services (OMCS)
 
       Most versions of R11i and R12 are supported.  Refer to the ‘Compatibility’ section at https://more4apps.com/support/what-we-support for details.
 
Components:
 
       Excel Spreadsheet
 
For example, BudgetWizard.xls which is deployed to each client PC.
 
       Server Packages
 
The More4apps Packages are installed into the APPS schema (or BOLINF schema for OMCS).  There is always the M4APS_XML package for the core communication; and for each More4apps Wizard installed there is a product-specific package (e.g. M4APS_BUDGETWIZARD).
 
Application Interface Wizard will only contain product-specific packages if these are required for installation of Specific Loaders supplied by More4apps.
 
       Product Packages
 
The following Wizards will not require product specific packages.  Therefore these will not be provided in the zip file when downloaded from the More4apps website:
 
Agreement & Funding Wizard (from version 2.0.01)
Application Interface Wizard
Budget Wizard (from version 13.0.00)
Customer Wizard (from version 3.0.00)
Event Wizard (from version 6.0.00)
General Ledger Wizard
 
       Application Settings
 
When the Wizard logs into an instance for the first time it will automatically create several Profile Options. Many of these are for internal use by the tools (e.g. to store the licence key). Some tools have Profile Options used to enable/disable functionality. These profile options are documented in the product-specific online documentation. Other settings are sometimes required, such as ensuring the AMG framework for Oracle Projects is enabled for some of the PA tools.
 
       Mid-Tier Servlet (R12 only)
 
For Release 12 instances a mid-tier servlet is installed to facilitate communication between the spreadsheet and the database.
 
XML Communication Technical Description:
 
The communication protocol between the spreadsheet and the E-Business database server is HTTP and XML. The spreadsheet authenticates then communicates with the E-Business web tier in the background, in the same way that an end-user would in an Oracle Self-Service browser-based product such as Internet Time.
 
The spreadsheet makes HTTP calls to the m4aps_xml package via the 11i Apache plsql gateway, or the R12 servlet. Parameters are passed using the POST structure. The m4aps_xml procedures do the following:
 
1.    Verify the authentication of the calling spreadsheet by examining the E-Business cookie on the local PC.  If the calling spreadsheet has not yet logged in, then an error is returned to the spreadsheet and the E-Business login screen is presented to the user.  (If SSO is enabled then the user is automatically forwarded to the SSO login screen).  The user then logs in with their usual E-Business username/password and the local cookie is set.  The cookie will expire if the user logs out or closes the spreadsheet, or if they are idle for a long period.
 
2.    If the spreadsheet is authenticated, then the procedure will generate the requested information in XML format and return it as a web response.  If any errors occur, then the error message is generated in XML format.  The spreadsheet will listen for the XML response from the server and interpret the returned XML as appropriate.
 
Support:
 
If you have any questions regarding the installation steps contact us via our website.