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    An Oracle White Paper

    March 2012

    Upgrading your Customizations toOracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1

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    Upgrading your Customizations to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1

    DisclaimerThe following is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for information purposes

    only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or

    functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and

    timing of any features or functionality described for Oracles products remains at the sole discretion of

    Oracle.

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    Introduction ....................................................................................... 1

    Upgrade Goals for Customizations .................................................... 2

    Customization Types ......................................................................... 2

    Step 1. Creating an Inventory of Your Customizations ....................... 3

    Tools for inventorying your customizations .................................... 3

    Step 2. Compare Customizations to Release 12 .............................. 4

    Product Family-level Changes ....................................................... 5

    Individual Product-level Changes .................................................. 5

    Data Model-level Changes ............................................................ 5

    Technology Changes ..................................................................... 7

    Step 3. Upgrading Common Types of Customizations ....................... 8

    Upgrading Personalizations ........................................................... 8

    Upgrading Oracle Forms Extensions ........................................... 10

    General Schema Housecleaning ................................................. 11

    Web ADI Customizations ............................................................. 11

    Workflow Customizations ............................................................ 11

    Step 4. Reimplement Customizations from Deprecated Technologies12

    mod_plsql .................................................................................... 12

    Oracle Reports Server Reports .................................................... 13

    Oracle Graphics Integrations with Oracle Forms.......................... 13

    AK Mode ..................................................................................... 14

    Client ADI .................................................................................... 14

    Step 5. Creating Future Customizations ......................................... 15

    Modifying the UI of Oracle E-Business Suite Screens ................. 15

    Adding New Screens to Oracle E-Business Suite Business Flows16

    Building New Applications ........................................................... 16

    Management and Testing of Customizations ............................... 16

    Conclusion ...................................................................................... 17

    Upgrade-related Services Available from Oracle ......................... 17

    Upgrade Version Recommendations ........................................... 18

    Upgrade Checklist for Customizations ......................................... 18

    References ...................................................................................... 19

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    Introduction

    With Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i now in Extended Support until November 2013,

    upgrading to Release 12 soon is more important than ever. However, like most Oracle E-

    Business Suite customers, you probably have many existing personalizations, extensions and

    customizations that have been made over the years. Upgrading these may be a daunting task.

    This document discusses the different types of customizations and how to handle them goingforward. This document primarily covers upgrading to Release 12.1.3, but this material applies

    equally to Releases 12.0, 12.1, and 12.2.

    In this document we will discuss customizations in the context of the following process:

    Step 1. Creating an Inventory of Your Existing Customizations

    Step 2. Comparing Customizations to Release 12

    Step 3. Upgrading Customizations

    Step 4. Reimplementing Customizations

    Step 5. Creating Future Customizations

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    Upgrade Goals for Customizations

    When you upgrade from Release 11i to Release 12 of Oracle E-Business Suite, you face many choices

    about how to handle your existing customizations. In general we recommend that you aim for a much

    smaller customization footprint in Release 12 than you have in Release 11i. Retiring as many

    customizations as possible is the key. The smaller footprint will benefit you with easier upgrades going

    forward.

    For the cases where you do have to reimplement, it's important to choose the right technologies for

    going forward. For changing shipped Oracle E-Business Suite pages and forms, using Oracle

    Application Framework personalization or form personalization is usually the best answer. For

    building extensions and completely new applications Oracle Application Framework is still the primary

    recommended choice.

    Customization Types

    There are several different types of customizations in Oracle E-Business Suite, sometimes referred to

    by the term "CEMLI":

    Configurations

    Extensions

    Modifications

    Localizations

    Integrations

    This document primarily focuses on the extension and modification parts of those customizations.

    Configuration provides setup and administrative choices using the native features of the product.

    Examples include profile options, user-defined fields (flexfields), function security setup, and data

    security setup.

    Personalization, which lies somewhere between configuration and extension, enables you to

    declaratively tailor the UI look and feel, layout or visibility of page content to suit a business need or

    user preference. Examples include changing prompts and text, reordering fields, and so on.

    Extension describes building functionality of an application beyond what can be done through

    personalization or configuration. Examples include adding new functional flows, extending or

    overriding existing business logic, or even building entirely new applications. Extensions are usually

    built using Oracle Forms Developer, Oracle JDeveloper, Oracle Application Framework, and so on.

    Modification, or customization by modification, also known as "customization-in-place", is the practice

    of simply modifying an existing or seeded object like a form or report. These are never recommended

    because the modifications are not preserved during an upgrade.

    Localizations are country-specific components for statutory requirements business practices.

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    Integration can include data integration or application integration with systems outside Oracle E-

    Business Suite through open interface tables, APIs, and various integration tools.

    Step 1. Creating an Inventory of Your Customizations

    While planning your upgrade, the first thing to do is to inventory what customizations you have in

    Release 11i and sort them into what you can retire, what can be upgraded, and what you must

    reimplement.

    Many of your existing customizations may not be needed at all due to the wide range of functional

    enhancements, streamlined business processes, and user interface enhancements throughout Oracle E-

    Business Suite. The goal is to get rid of every customization you possibly can. Be sure to get rid of any

    "not-currently-used" old code and database schema objects during this process. Time spent eradicating

    unneeded code and schema objects will pay off when you move to a later release.

    Over time, you may have accumulated customizations in many areas. Here are some types of

    customizations you might have:

    Forms Screens and Personalizations

    Oracle Application Framework Pages and Personalizations

    Reports

    Workflows

    Database objects

    Concurrent Programs

    BI Publisher templates

    Java code

    Web ADI

    ADF

    Tools for inventorying your customizations

    Sometimes finding out what customizations you already have is the hardest part of preparing for an

    upgrade. One place to look for customization information is in the applcust.txt file. This text file has

    been a documented part of Oracle Application Object Library for many years as a place to register

    modifications and extensions so that you would get a warning during patches and upgrades if a

    customization would be overwritten. The applcust.txt file might have been updated by consultants orothers in the past, so it is worth checking. The file is located in the $APPL_TOP/admin directory.

    Release 12 has a different customization registration mechanism, called flagged files, for the same

    purpose.

    There are various tools for inventorying your existing customizations, both from Oracle and third-

    party vendors. Oracle and other vendors offer customization discovery and reporting tools that you

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    can use yourself. Oracle offers the "CEMLI Services Tool" on a subscription basis. This tool can help

    you inventory your custom database objects, forms, and configurations such as flexfields, functions,

    and menu entries. This self-service tool provides the following features:

    Catalog (discovery and reporting of customizations)

    Packager for custom code patches

    Impact analysis for incremental patches

    Performance checker

    Figure 1 Dashboard of the Oracle CEMLI Services Tool

    The CEMLI Services Tool is available through Oracle Advanced Customer Services.

    Many consulting services, including Oracle Consulting Services, have their own tools or includediscovery and reporting of customizations as part of upgrade assessment engagements. Oracle On

    Demand also provides customization discovery as part of the process of moving to Oracle On

    Demand Services.

    All of these tools and services have different features and price points, and no single solution is

    appropriate for every customer. The primary goal is to make your upgrade as smooth and simple as

    possible using whatever tools or assistance help you.

    Step 2. Compare Customizations to Release 12

    Once you have an inventory, the next step is to compare your customizations to what is in Release 12.

    Retiring customizations is the best way to make future upgrades easier and save money on

    maintenance, so it helps to focus on areas with a lot of change between Release 11i and Release 12.

    Specifically, customizations of forms or pages that change during that time are good candidates for

    retirement. There are also some deprecated technologies whose old customizations should be retired or

    reimplemented.

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    Product Family-level Changes

    You should especially look at the major functional changes in the product families, particularly in

    Financials and Procurement. They have dramatically improved how they handle payments, bank

    accounts, and tax codes, but those improvements may impact your customizations. The Financialsproducts and some other products in Oracle E-Business Suite have new, centralized setups, so setup

    pages are likely places where old customizations are no longer useful.

    The upgrade guides mention larger features that have been changed. Since of course Oracle does not

    know what customizations you have, you need to keep your customizations in mind when you read

    those guides and think about how certain feature changes might affect you. For information specific to

    changes in the Financials and Procurement product families, see the Oracle Financials and Oracle

    Procurement Functional Upgrade Guide.These changes include changes to tax codes, payments, and bank

    accounts. Also, suppliers and sites information moved into the Oracle Customer Hub (TCA) product.

    A special report, the Accounting Setup Manager Pre-Update Diagnosis Report, helps you find setup

    inconsistencies you should resolve before upgrading. This report is described in the Oracle E-BusinessSuite Upgrade Guide.

    There is a lot of documentation to look at for understanding the new 12.1 options, not just the upgrade

    guides. For example, you'll need to look at these Financials guides and this My Oracle Support Note:

    Oracle Financials Concepts Guide

    Oracle Financials Implementation Guide

    R12 Upgrade Considerations by Product (Document 889733.1)

    Individual Product-level Changes

    At the individual product level, many modules have redesigned their flows to make them simpler andmore productive. These changes include fewer, rearranged screens and fewer steps for users to

    complete tasks. Some old Oracle Forms-based forms have been rebuilt in Oracle Application

    Framework, as well. These are great enhancements to the Oracle E-Business Suite products, but in

    some cases the effect is that some of your old personalizations and extensions may no longer be

    needed or valid.

    Data Model-level Changes

    There are many data model changes that will affect your custom code. Many of these are related to the

    centralization of setups, such as the change from having distribution lines stored in separate

    applications to having them in the new XLA tables.

    Database changes from 11i to R12 are highlighted in product-specific Technical Overviews part of the

    Release 12 Transfer of Information (TOI) online training sessions and other sources like the eTRM.

    Available Release Comparison Reports

    Oracle E-Business Suite also provides two very helpful static reports to highlight specific changes in

    the data model and in shipped seed data:

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    Database Comparison Report(Document 1290886.1)

    Seed Data Comparison Report(Document 1327399.1)

    These reports list changes between particular sets of releases, and they are available in popular release

    combinations, such as for comparison of 11.5.10.2 with 12.1.3. Oracle Support can provide other

    combinations if needed.

    Use these reports for impact analysis for custom code. The seed data report compares definitions for

    menus, profiles, and more. The database comparison report is a good source of details such as added

    and removed tables, views, and packages that might affect your custom code.

    These reports allow you to drill down into very detailed information. For example, when you see that

    a particular view object definition has changed between Release 11.5.10.2 and 12.1.3, you can then drill

    down within the report to see the view definitions and compare them.

    Figure 2 Data Model Comparison Report

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    Figure 3 Seed Data Comparison Report

    Products Removed from Data Model

    Certain old Oracle E-Business Suite products have been removed from the Release 12 data model, so

    any customizations that reference these will be affected:

    TABLE 1. PRODUCTS REMOVED FROM RELEASE 12 DATA MODEL

    ABM CUN IMT OKR VEH

    AHM EAA IPD OZP XNC

    AMF EVM ME OZS XNI

    CSS FPT OKB RHX XNM

    CUE IBA OKO RLA XNS

    The products listed in the table are no longer registered in fnd_oracle_userid and

    fnd_product_installations tables in 12.1.3.

    Technology Changes

    Some technologies can upgrade with little or no change.

    If you have been building extensions with Oracle Forms or Oracle Application Framework, you should

    be able to upgrade those with little change, assuming that the underlying business logic or data model

    hasn't changed.

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    Custom code and custom applications in these standard Release 11i development technologies is

    generally compatible with Release 12:

    Oracle Application Framework

    Oracle Forms

    Certain technologies have been deprecated, and you should retire or reimplement anything that uses

    them in Release 11i.

    Mod_plsql

    Oracle Reports Server Reports

    Oracle Graphics integrations with Oracle Forms

    AK mode of Oracle Application Framework

    We'll discuss these more later in the paper.

    Step 3. Upgrading Common Types of Customizations

    These are the most common types of customizations:

    Personalizations

    Oracle Forms

    Oracle Application Framework

    Web ADI

    Workflow

    Here are recommendations for upgrading each of these types of customizations.

    Upgrading Personalizations

    Personalizations should upgrade transparently if the same page and its personalized objects still exist in

    the target version of the product.

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    Figure 4 Upgrading Personalizations

    A personalization is not upgradable if you are not upgrading "from like to like". This can happen for a

    number of reasons:

    1.An Oracle Forms-based screen has been replaced by an Oracle Application Framework-based page.

    This is very common across the 11i to 12.1 upgrade, because many products have rebuilt a lot of

    their Oracle Forms-based functionality into Oracle Application Framework while adding or

    redesigning other features.

    2.A screen or page has been sufficiently modified in the new version of the product such that the old

    objects, such as fields, that were personalized no longer exist in the new version. For the 11i to 12

    upgrade, however, forms are more likely to have been rebuilt in Oracle Application Framework than

    to have been modified using Oracle Forms.

    3.A screen or page has been moved into a different product, so the personalization metadata no longer

    applies (because each product has its own namespace).

    In other words, if it's the same page, in the same technology, in the same product, then it's likely to be

    upgradable. The key thing to remember, though, is that if an Oracle Forms-based form is rewritten to

    be an Oracle Application Framework-based page, then it's not the same page!

    The result of all this is that many of your existing personalizations are ripe for retirement. For

    example, between 11i and 12.1, some payments forms were removed from Oracle Payables (AP) and

    their functionality was consolidated with other payments functionality into a new Oracle Payments(IBY) module. Personalizations made to those original AP payments forms would no longer apply. In

    another example, the user interface for item instance functionality in Oracle Install Base has been

    rewritten in Oracle Application Framework.

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    See "Upgrading Form Personalizations and OA Framework Personalizations from Oracle E-Business

    Suite Release 11i to 12.1" (Document 1292611.1) for more about upgrading personalizations from

    Release 11i to Release 12. It includes a simple query to list Release 11i form personalizations.

    Upgrading Oracle Forms Extensions

    Upgrading custom Oracle Forms-based forms requires a Release 12 development environment.

    Setting up this environment is described in My Oracle Support Note 444248.1, "Using the OracleAS

    10.1.2 Forms and Reports Builders with Oracle Applications Release 12".

    Upgrading your custom forms is mostly a matter of regenerating them. Both libraries and forms

    upgrade automatically when you regenerate using the Forms 10g compiler (frmcmp.sh utility, was

    f60genm generator) or using the Forms 10g Builder. Some upgrade changes are made by the Oracle

    Forms Generator, and any errors will be highlighted at generation time.

    In addition, Oracle Forms provides a tool, the Oracle Forms Migration Assistant, which you can use to

    further evaluate your custom forms for changes that may be required to upgrade the forms fromOracle Forms 6i to Oracle Forms 10g. This tool has a command line and a wizard version, and it can

    be used to perform automatic changes or just produce a report of necessary changes. The tool issues

    warnings when it cannot make the required changes automatically.

    Information to help you:

    Oracle Forms: Migrating Forms Applications from Forms 6i to 10g (10.1.2.0.2) for Windows and UNIX

    Oracle E-Business Suite Developer's Guide(formerly Oracle Applications Developer's Guide)

    Modifications you may have to make to your Oracle Forms code fall into three main categories:

    1. Obsolete Forms Built-ins and Properties

    2. Enhanced syntax checking in Forms PL/SQL

    3. Change from 4.5 to 5.0 Compatibility Mode (primarily affects mirror items, validation, and

    navigation)

    Most required changes can be identified at build time. Some changes, such as changes in validation,

    can only be identified at run time.

    CUSTOM Library

    The CUSTOM library is an Oracle Forms stub library that receives trigger events as Oracle Forms run.

    Many customers have used the CUSTOM library (CUSTOM.pll) to modify the appearance and

    behavior of Oracle Forms-based forms.

    The CUSTOM library still exists and works in Release 12. However, the same caveats apply to the

    CUSTOM library as to form personalizations. That is, if an Oracle Forms-based form no longer exists

    in Release 12, any CUSTOM library logic for that form would need to be retired.

    When you install Release 12, you get a new, empty version of CUSTOM.pll in the new Release 12 file

    system. You need to copy your 11i CUSTOM.pll, upgrade it to Oracle Forms 10g, and put it in place

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    in your new Release 12 file system. Alternatively, you can put your code into the Release 12

    CUSTOM.pll after backing up the new, empty version.

    General Schema Housecleaning

    Verify that all custom tables are in your custom schema (not the APPS schema) and that your custom

    schema is registered with Oracle E-Business Suite using the ORACLE Users window (in the System

    Administrator responsibility).

    Verify that the APPS schema has synonyms to your tables. Code should reference the synonyms in

    APPS. Make sure that code does not reference tables in application schemas (schemas other than

    APPS) directly. This is not new advice, but it will affect your upgrade to 12.2 later if these are not

    correct.

    Web ADI Customizations

    Web ADI customizations can be of two flavors:

    Custom Integrators created in 11i using Oracle shipped APIs

    Modified layouts of seeded integrators

    If you created custom integrators for Web ADI in Release 11i using shipped APIs, you should be able

    to upgrade those. You must test them after the upgrade to make sure they still work as expected. If

    you modified integrators that were shipped as part of the product, you will need to redo any layout

    modifications after the upgrade, since those will be overwritten.

    Spreadsheets you created in Release 11i do not interact with Oracle Applications products after the

    upgrade. You will need to replace those existing spreadsheets with ones created using the Release 12

    technology stack.

    Note that starting with Release 12.1.2, Web ADI offers a powerful new feature called the Desktop

    Integration Framework for creating your own custom integrators more easily. See Oracle E-Business

    Suite Desktop Integration Framework Developer's Guidefor more information.

    Workflow Customizations

    There are two options for customers to customize seeded business flows:

    Plug in a custom flow into a seeded flow where a product has provided a placeholder

    Extend a default business flow implementation with some configurations

    Workflow developers operate with a specific Access Level when creating workflows:

    Oracle Workflow Development - 0-9

    Other Applications Technology Products - 10 - 19

    Product Teams - 20 - 100

    Customers and their subsidiaries - 101 - 1000

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    Workflow developers and customers can set their flows to be protected from upgrade. Before

    upgrading, check that your protection and customization options are set correctly.

    If seeded flows are revamped during a major upgrade from 11i to R12, such as changing entire

    business process flow definition by refactoring their flows or redesigning the activities, thencustomizations to those seeded flows might need to be redone. These cases are described in the

    product-specific documentation.

    Step 4. Reimplement Customizations from DeprecatedTechnologies

    Several technologies were deprecated for Release 12. These technologies include:

    AK mode of Oracle Application Framework

    Mod_Plsql

    Oracle Reports Server Reports

    Oracle Graphics Integration

    Client ADI

    mod_plsql

    In previous releases of Oracle E-Business Suite, mod_plsql provided a way to add an HTML user

    interface to PL/SQL business logic by allowing developers to generate raw HTML output. However, a

    standard look and feel was difficult, and security had to be implemented by each developer. Oracle E-

    Business Suite Release 12 no longer installs, configures or uses mod_plsql technology.

    If you have developed custom mod_plsql extensions to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i, and areconsidering upgrading to Release 12, you will have to take some action to preserve that functionality.

    The most preferable option is to determine whether the native functionality in Release 12 is now

    sufficient for you to retire your mod_plsql extensions. Functional advances in Oracle E-Business Suite

    may directly replace your custom development. It might also be possible to use Oracle Application

    Framework Personalizations, Forms Personalizations, and Flexfields to implement your business

    requirements as configurations and personalizations of standard product rather than custom

    development.

    Where the shipped functionality is not sufficient to eliminate the customization completely, you may

    want to re-implement your mod_plsql user interfaces on a supported Release 12 extension technology

    such as Oracle Application Framework, Oracle Forms, Oracle Reports, or Oracle XML Publisher.Note that you may not have to re-implement your custom Server PL/SQL business logic, as all Oracle

    E-Business Suite extension technologies can access Server PL/SQL.

    If you are on Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.3 and higher, you can also use Oracle Application

    Express to re-implement your mod_plsql user interfaces. Oracle Application Express, also known as

    Oracle APEX, provides an easy way to create supplemental applications that are easily integrated with

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    Oracle E-Business Suite and its data. For more information, see Extending Oracle E-Business Suite

    Release 12 using Oracle Application Express (APEX)(Document 1306563.1).

    If absolutely necessary, you may choose to install and configure mod_plsql yourself on a separate

    application server. This approach is not recommended in that Oracle E-Business Suite Support andDevelopment cannot provide instructions or diagnostic assistance on any issues that arise from custom

    development using mod_plsql (or any other database tool). See "Mod_plsql and Oracle E-Business

    Suite Release 12" (Document 726711.1) for more information.

    Oracle Reports Server Reports

    In Release 12, Oracle Reports Server is deprecated and replaced with Oracle BI Publisher (Oracle

    XML Publisher within Oracle E-Business Suite), which is the standard for Reporting in Release 12.

    Oracle BI Publisher provides complete template coverage for Release 12.1 reports, plus the flexibility

    to create your own reports and templates.

    If you have custom development that uses reports run through Oracle Reports Server, the followingmigration alternatives are available:

    Convert the reports to Oracle XML Publisher.

    This method is recommended as it has several advantages. It prepares your application both for

    Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 and for Oracle Fusion Applications. It also lets you take

    advantage of the benefits of Oracle XML Publisher, including superior ease of maintenance.

    Additionally, some automated tools are available to help you migrate from Oracle Reports to Oracle

    XML Publisher. For more information, see the Oracle XML Publisher User's Guide. You can convert

    custom reports to BI Publisher before you upgrade. If you do, you may need to adjust your queries

    after the upgrade, but formatting remains valid.

    Convert the reports to Oracle Application Framework.

    Depending on your reporting needs, this method may be an appropriate alternative. However, note

    that no automated migration tools are available for this conversion. You will need to rewrite any

    charts using the Oracle Application Framework Charting tool (BI Chart Bean). For more

    information, see the Oracle Application Framework Developer's Guide.

    Run the reports through the Concurrent Manager.

    With this method, if you follow Oracle E-Business Suite coding standards, then you must modify

    your PL/SQL code to meet the Concurrent Manager standards. In particular, you will need to use

    some user exits. You will also need to rewrite any charts using the Oracle Reports Charting tool (BI

    Chart Bean). Note that this method will not be supported in Oracle Fusion Applications, because

    Oracle Reports is not part of the Oracle Fusion technology stack. For more information, see the

    Oracle Applications Developer's Guideand Oracle Reports: Building Reports.

    Oracle Graphics Integrations with Oracle Forms

    If you have custom development that uses Oracle Graphics (Charting) integrated with Oracle Forms,

    the following migration alternatives are available:

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    Convert both the form and the chart to an Oracle Application Framework-based application. This

    method prepares your application for Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12. For more information,

    see the Oracle Application Framework Developer's Guide.

    Convert the chart to an Oracle Application Framework-based page that can be launched fromOracle Forms. This method requires less time to prepare for Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.

    However, it will not be supported in Oracle Fusion Applications, because Oracle Forms is not

    part of the Oracle Fusion technology stack. For more information, see the Oracle Application

    Framework Developer's Guide.

    AK Mode

    If you still have personalizations of Oracle Application Framework-based pages in the AK repository,

    then when you upgrade from Release 11i to Release 12, your custom personalizations will automatically

    be migrated from AK to MDS, if the AK and MDS repositories are in the same database instance.

    The upgrade will not automatically migrate your custom personalizations if the AK and MDSrepositories are in separate database instances. You will need to run the Personalization Migration tool

    manually to migrate your personalizations in this case. For detailed instructions on how to use this tool,

    see Migrating AK Personalizationsin the Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide.

    If you have previously used AK/ICX Web Inquiries, you should use the Oracle Application

    Framework Search feature to recreate your personalizable search regions. For detailed information

    about the Search feature, see Implementing Specific UI Featuresin the Oracle Application Framework

    Developer's Guide.

    Client ADI

    Client ADI was deprecated to move to a 3-tier, standards-compliant desktop integration architecture.

    The functionality in Client ADI is available through a combination of Oracle Web ADI and Oracle

    Report Manager, plus over 200 seeded integrators.

    Customers can optionally move from Client ADI to Oracle Report Manager while on Release 11.5.10.

    Customers upgrading from Release 11.5.10 to Release 12 must move to Report Manager if they have

    not already.

    Upgrading from Client ADI includes running the Data Migration tool, which upgrades Client ADI

    report data to the Oracle Report Manager schema and migrates Client ADI User-to-Value mappings to

    Oracle Report Manager.

    Once you have upgraded to Oracle Report Manager, you can use the Report Manager Financial Report

    Template Editor to define custom Microsoft Excel spreadsheet template layouts. You can use OracleXML Publisher to define custom RTF layouts. You can start publishing reports in Oracle Report

    Manager.

    Note that starting with Release 12.1.2, Web ADI offers a powerful new feature called the Desktop

    Integration Framework for creating your own custom integrators more easily. See Oracle E-Business

    Suite Desktop Integration Framework Developer's Guidefor more information.

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    Step 5. Creating Future Customizations

    As you go through the process of upgrading your customizations, you'll find that there are many

    customizations that need to be re-implemented or enhanced, as well as some new customizations you

    want to create to take advantage of all of the new functionality you have in Release 12 of Oracle E-

    Business Suite. Choosing the right technology for these customizations is crucial.

    Consider the cost of development and maintenance of your customizations. Even small customizations

    can cost a lot over the life of the customization, but some types will be much more expensive than

    others. For example, personalizations are the least expensive and most cost-effective type of

    customization you can make in the Oracle E-Business Suite.

    Customizations in place, or modifications of files shipped with the Oracle E-Business Suite, will be the

    most expensive customizations to make because you will have to keep redoing the customizations

    whenever a patch or new version of the software overwrites your customization. Avoid doing

    customization in place if at all possible. Modifications that can be particularly problematic include

    changing Oracle Application Framework controller code, code used with Oracle Forms-based screens,

    and shipped Oracle PL/SQL or mod_plsql code.

    In between those two cost extremes are extensions to applications, so long as they are built according

    to customization standards. Entirely new applications can be cheaper than the equivalent amount of

    customization-in-place if they are built according to standards so that they won't be overwritten during

    patches and upgrades. Customization standards include placing custom code in separate

    CUSTOM_TOP directories and following naming conventions, among other things. See Oracle E-

    Business Suite Developer's Guideand Oracle Application Framework Developer's Guidefor more information

    about customization standards.

    Choosing the right technology depends on what you are trying to do with your customizations. Keep

    in mind that certain configuration choices, such as flexfields and folder forms, provide options for

    changing the appearance and behavior of some of the forms and pages within the Oracle E-Business

    Suite.

    Modifying the UI of Oracle E-Business Suite Screens

    If you are trying to modify the user interface of an existing Oracle Forms-based form or Oracle

    Application Framework page, personalization is almost always the right choice. Personalization has the

    advantage that it is noninvasive, and all personalizations can be turned off at once if problems occur.

    Also, personalizations are usually unaffected by upgrades as long as the page or form and its objects

    still exist in the newer version of the software. Each of those technologies has its own personalization

    framework, so you would use the framework that matches the technology of the underlying form orpage. Both frameworks are very powerful but avoid modifying code objects. Oracle Application

    Framework personalization is being actively enhanced.

    For extensions to Oracle Forms-based applications, using the CUSTOM library provides more

    capabilities than form personalization, and it is useful where you do not need to create entire new

    forms.

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    If an existing Oracle Application Framework application requires changes or extensions to business

    logic, you should use the BC4J substitution mechanism if possible. As with personalizations, BC4J

    substitution is not invasive to Oracle E-Business Suite code and is easily turned off if necessary.

    Adding New Screens to Oracle E-Business Suite Business Flows

    For relatively small extensions of applications, such as adding a new page or form, or adding a new

    business flow, generally it is appropriate to use the same technology as the business flow you are

    extending. For example, if you are adding a new form that would be used as part of a business flow

    that has been built using Oracle Forms, building the new form using Oracle Forms would make the

    user interface consistent across the flow, and would be preferable to building the new form using some

    other technology that would create confusion for users.

    Building New Applications

    For larger projects such as entirely new applications, the right technology depends upon what you are

    building. For most new applications to be integrated with the Oracle E-Business Suite, OracleApplication Framework is still the technology of choice, as it is still the primary development platform

    for new Oracle E-Business Suite modules. Use Oracle Application Framework if your application

    needs to use flexfields, Oracle E-Business Suite function security and data security, have seamless

    session management with Oracle E-Business Suite applications, or have the same look and feel as the

    Oracle E-Business Suite application.

    Oracle Application Express, also known as APEX, is a good choice where you are building PL/SQL-

    based applications and a simple, template-based HTML user interface is needed. For example, where

    you might once have used mod_plsql, you can keep your existing business logic but create a new user

    interface for it. See Extending Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 using Oracle Application Express

    (APEX)(Document 1306563.1).

    Consider Oracle ADF if your application needs to use the same standards-based Java development

    platform as Oracle Fusion Applications or have rich user interface capabilities that are specific to

    Oracle ADF, such as the hierarchy viewer or carousel widgets. You should also consider Oracle ADF

    if you are building applications for mobile devices.

    In some cases, you might consider a hybrid between Oracle Application Framework and Oracle ADF.

    Using the Oracle E-Business Suite SDK for Java, you can integrate the two technologies to create, for

    example, an Oracle Application Framework-based page that contains an embedded region with Oracle

    ADF widgets in it. See "Oracle E-Business Suite Software Development Kit for Java" (Document

    974949.1)

    Management and Testing of Customizations

    Beyond choosing which technology to use for building future customizations, you should also consider

    how you are going to manage and test those future customizations. Change management tools such as

    Oracle Application Management Suite for Oracle E-Business Suite, a subscription to the CEMLI

    Services Tool, and use of the Oracle Application Manager Patch Wizard can all help you manage how

    patching and future upgrades affect your customizations. The Oracle Application Management Suite

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    for Oracle E-Business Suite includes the Customization Manager feature that can help you create

    standard patches of your customizations and apply them to your Oracle E-Business Suite instances.

    For testing, database options such as Real Application Testing, Database Replay, and SQL

    Performance Tester can help you make sure database changes perform as expected. For the entireapplication, including the user interface, Oracle Application Testing Suite (OATS) offers load testing,

    functional testing, and test process management (and we use it for testing in development).

    Conclusion

    We recommend that you take the upgrade process as an opportunity to get rid of as many of your old

    customizations as possible. For those cases where you still need customizations going forward, you

    should choose your customization technologies carefully, following standards to keep your

    customizations separate from Oracle E-Business Suite shipped software. Use Oracle Application

    Framework personalization or Oracle Forms personalization wherever possible, and use Oracle

    Application Framework for most extensions. Consider using Oracle ADF or Oracle APEX dependingon your particular use case.

    Figure 5 Summary of Extension Technologies

    Upgrade-related Services Available from Oracle

    Upgrade services are available through Oracle through three main avenues:

    Oracle Consulting

    Advanced Customer Services

    On Demand

    Oracle Consulting has extensive experience with Oracle E-Business Suite upgrades. Advanced

    Customer Services provides tailored support services for complex IT requirements, as well as the

    CEMLI Services Tool subscription. On Demand provides upgrade services as part of a move to On

    Demand on-site or hosted services using certified configurations.

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    Many third-party and partner system integrators also have extensive experience providing upgrade

    services. You should choose whatever in-house or outside help works for youthe point is to get

    through the upgrade as quickly and smoothly as possible.

    Upgrade Version Recommendations

    If you are already planning or executing an upgrade to Release 12.1, keep going! Moving to Release

    12.1.3 now lets you make use of the powerful new features and functionality in Release 12.1 and gets

    you back on Premier Support until May 2014, and the first year of the additional cost of Extended

    Support for Release 12.1 has been waived for June 2014 to May 2015. Release 12.1.3 is a very stable,

    solid release that has been well-received by customers and users.

    Upgrades to later releases will be easier if you significantly cut down on your customization footprint.

    If you are on Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i today, we strongly recommend planning your

    upgrade to Release 12.1.3 immediately. Upgrading your database to the latest certified Database 11gR2

    patchset is also highly recommended.

    If you wish to get a head start on other technologies, we recommend learning about Oracle WebLogic

    Server, Oracle WebCenter, Oracle Access Manager, and Oracle SOA Suite. Getting familiar with these

    technologies now will make the transition to future Oracle E-Business Suite releases easier.

    Upgrade Checklist for Customizations

    Following the process discussed in this paper will help make your upgrade smoother and

    easier.

    Upgrade Checklist for Customizations

    Step 1. Create an inventory of your existing customizations

    Step 2. Compare your customizations to Release 12 and decide what you can retire

    Step 3. Upgrade common types of customizations such as personalizations, Oracle

    Application Framework pages, and forms

    Step 4. Reimplement customizations that were built using deprecated technologies

    Step 5. Create your future customizations using the right technology for your situation

    Good luck with your upgrade!

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    References

    Here is a list of the documents referenced in this article, plus a few extra upgrade resources. Manuals(in italics) are available from the Oracle E-Business Suite Documentation Library at

    http://www.oracle.com,and the other documents are available from My Oracle Support athttp://support.oracle.com.

    Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework Developer's Guide, Release 12.1, Part Number E15877-

    02

    Oracle E-Business Suite Upgrade Guide, Release 11i to 12.1.1, Part Number E16342-04

    Oracle Financials and Oracle Procurement Functional Upgrade Guide: Release 11i to Release 12, Release 12.1, Part

    Number E13482-03

    Oracle Financials Concepts Guide, Release 12.1, Part Number E13424-03

    Oracle Financials Implementation Guide, Release 12.1, Part Number E13425-05

    Oracle Forms: Migrating Forms Applications from Forms 6i to 10g (10.1.2.0.2) for Windows and UNIX, Part

    Number B15572-01

    Oracle E-Business Suite Developer's Guide(formerly Oracle Applications Developer's Guide), Release 12.1, Part

    Number E12897-04

    R12 Upgrade Considerations by Product (Document 889733.1)

    Database Comparison Report(Document 1290886.1)

    Seed Data Comparison Report(Document 1327399.1)

    "Form Personalizations" (Document 279034.1 for R11i and Document 395117.1 for R12)

    "Upgrading Form Personalizations and OA Framework Personalizations from Oracle E-Business Suite

    Release 11i to 12.1" (Document 1292611.1). This document includes simple queries to list 11i form

    personalizations.

    Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework Developer's Guide, Release 12.1, Part Number E15877-

    02

    "Using the OracleAS 10.1.2 Forms and Reports Builders with Oracle Applications Release 12"

    (Document 444248.1)

    Extending Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 using Oracle Application Express (APEX)

    (Document 1306563.1)

    Oracle XML Publisher User's Guide, Release 11i, Part Number B13817-02

    Oracle XML Publisher Administration and Developer's Guide, Release 12, Part Number B31412-01

    Oracle Reports Building Reports, 10g Release 2 (10.1.2), Part Number B13895-01

    http://www.oracle.com/http://www.oracle.com/http://support.oracle.com/http://support.oracle.com/http://support.oracle.com/http://www.oracle.com/
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    Migrating AK Personalizations, Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide, Release 12.1, Part

    Number E12646-

    Implementing Specific UI Featuresin the Oracle Application Framework Developer's Guide, available

    through the Oracle Application Framework Release 11i Documentation Road Map(Document275880.1) or "R12.1 documentation roadmap" (Document 790942.1)

    "Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Info center" (Document 806593.1)

    "Planning Your Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) Upgrade from Release 11i to Release 12 (Document

    1406960.1). This whitepaper covers planning for the entire Oracle E-Business Suite upgrade, not just

    customizations.

    "Oracle E-Business Suite Upgrade GuideHome" (Document 461705.1)

    "Database preparation guidelines for R12.1 upgrade" (Document 761570.1)

    "Mod_plsql and Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12" (Document 726711.1)

    "Oracle E-Business Suite Software Development Kit for Java" (Document 974949.1)

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    Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1

    March 2012

    Author: Sara Woodhull

    Contributor: Steven Chan

    Oracle Corporation

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