forms abstracts whitepaper r12

Abstract and Forms in Oracle SourcingAn Oracle White PaperJune, 2005

Abstract and Forms in Oracle Sourcing

Executive Overview.......................................................3Introduction..................................................................3Benefits.........................................................................4Forms............................................................................5

FORMS SETUP..........................................................5Forms Setup: Determine Desired Output..................6Forms Setup: Create a Plan.......................................6Forms Setup: Create Fields, Sections and the Form 7Fields: The First Building Block.................................7Sections: The Next Building Block...........................10Form: Putting it all Together...................................12Forms Setup: Map to 3rd Party XSD/DTD File..........13Forms Setup: Deploy the Form................................16FORMS USAGE........................................................16

Abstract.......................................................................18Abstract Setup: Customize the Abstract Definition..19Abstract Setup: Customize the external Abstract page.........................................................................21Abstract Setup: Create link to external Abstract page.................................................................................23Abstract Usage........................................................23

XSD File Details..........................................................23Form Information.....................................................24Section Information.................................................24Repeating Section Information................................25Fields.......................................................................26

EU SIMAP Details.......................................................27FEDBIZOPS Details....................................................27FPDS Details...............................................................27Conclusion...................................................................27



EXECUTIVE OVERVIEWWith the increased use of electronic negotiations, organizations have new requirements to publish summary information concerning negotiations to 3rd party systems, other internal systems and their external website. This may include the publishing of upcoming sourcing events or publishing the results of sourcing events. Some examples include:

The European Union requirement that all negotiations over a certain threshold be published on the Tenders Electronic Daily (TED)

The U.S. Federal requirement that all negotiations over $25,000 be published on FedBizOpps.gov.

The advertisement of negotiations on websites by a majority of state and local governments.

Oracle Sourcing supports these publication requirements through a feature available in Oracle Sourcing Mini-Pack J (post 11i.10, released Feb, 2005) called Abstract and Forms. In general, this feature allows you to capture information from buyers in order to (1) publish to your website and/or (2) publish to another system through the use of XML (Extensible Markup Language).

This document explains in detail how to use the Abstract and Forms capability in Oracle Sourcing. It includes how to model a third party form, make it available to buyers for data entry, and publish the completed form to a 3rd party.

INTRODUCTIONOrganizations need to publish data concerning their negotiations in order to (1) advertise the purchase to increase competition and (2) comply with rules and regulations regarding proper competition. In order to accomplish these goals, Oracle Sourcing provides the capability for a buying organization to create Abstract and Forms.


XML is a markup language for documents containing structured information. To learn more about XML check out http://www.w3.org/XML/.

A Form captures information from the buyer using an HTML form. This information is then captured and converted to an XML file that can be transferred to a 3rd party system. The forms that are created with Oracle Sourcing typically are modeled after the 3rd party system so that the data collected matches their requirements. The buyer is presented with the HTML form for data entry as part of the negotiation process. The completed form is archived as part of the negotiation. The buyer can then generate the appropriately formatted XML file and send it for publishing on the 3rd party system. Typical examples of forms are:

Public Sector entity that must publish synopsis information to advertise the negotiation and the award of the negotiation to potential vendors on a central publishing website. A specific example includes the EU Publishing office or the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) both of which require summary information concerning negotiations.

Buying organization that has another internal system that requires negotiation summary information be submitted. A specific example is a contracting system that needs summary information concerning the award of the negotiation.

An Abstract is a summary or synopsis of a negotiation that are presented to suppliers on the buying organization external website. It usually contains information such as the goods or services being purchased, whom to contact for more information, and the open and close date. An Abstract can even contain a PDF version of the negotiation for the supplier to download. Suppliers can view the details about negotiations and determine if they are interested in participating without having to login to the sourcing application.

BENEFITSBenefits of Forms and Abstracts include:

1. Save time and money – You can now publish synopsis information to your external website with a click of a button. No longer is a separate system needed to list negotiations to potential suppliers. Dual data entry is eliminated by automatically filling information from the negotiation onto the abstract/forms. This slashes the time it takes to generate and submit information to other systems.


2. Manage revisions to forms efficiently – As requirements change from 3rd party systems, you can publish these changes to buyers centrally by releasing a new version of the form with the latest updates.

3. Reduce time spent in reconciliation with the 3rd party system – You can now ensure that all buyers have the most current form for publishing their synopsis information. Since data is captured in the prescribed format, it will be accepted by the 3rd party system without problems.

4. Archive published data with negotiation – Because this feature is an integrated part of Oracle Sourcing, the information that you publish to other systems will be kept as part of the negotiation for future reference.

5. Increased competition – By publishing negotiations to your external website and/or 3rd party systems, you can increase supplier visibility to your ongoing negotiations, thereby increasing competition.

FORMSWe will begin our detailed discussion with Forms and how they are modeled and used in Oracle Sourcing. As mentioned previously, the output of a Form in Oracle Sourcing is an XML file that can be electronically sent to a 3rd party system.

FORMS SETUPThe general flow for setting up Forms in Oracle Sourcing is:

1. Determine Desired Output: You should obtain the form you are trying to emulate.

2. Create a Plan: You need an overall plan to develop your form in Oracle Sourcing.

3. Create Fields, Sections and the Form: You will now begin working in the application and create all of the Fields and Sections you need. Once these building blocks are in place, you can then create your Form.

4. Map to 3rd Party XSD/DTD File: Typically, 3rd party systems accept data that complies with a specific XSD (XML Schema Definition) or DTD (Document Type Definition) file. Oracle Sourcing creates an XSD file for your form that you must map to the 3rd party XSD/DTD file. This will ensure that the XML


The purpose of a Document Type Definition (DTD) is to define the legal building blocks of an XML document. It defines the document structure with a list of legal elements.

XML Schema (XSD) are similar to DTDs. XSDs are the successors to DTDs as they are richer and more useful that DTDs.

output generated from your form will be accepted by the 3rd party system.

5. Deploy the Form: Now that you have modeled the Form and mapped it to the 3rd party XSD/DTD file, you can make it available to your buyers.

An example we will use throughout this document is the Contract Notice form of the European Union Publications Office. The European Union has a central publishing organization for the advertisement of all solicitations that are over a certain monetary threshold. This organization is called SIMAP and is available on the Internet at http://simap.eu.int/. SIMAP publishes the information it receives through TED or Tenders Electronic Daily (http://ted.publications.eu.int/official/). TED can be searched by potential suppliers with the outcome of increased competition and wider advertisement of procurements throughout the EU.

SIMAP allows users to send information to them via online form, email, fax, or XML. However when the user sends the data, it must be in a prescribed format. Below is a screen shot of a section of the Contract Notice form. All SIMAP forms can be found on the Internet at http://simap.eu.int/pdfforms/forms_in_pdf_en.html.

We will use the SIMAP process as an example throughout this document but the same principles can be applied to other 3rd party systems that you may need to publish.


http://ted.publications.eu.int/official/

http://simap.eu.int/

Figure 1 - Section of Contract Notice form of EU Publications Office

Forms Setup: Determine Desired OutputIn order to understand the structure of the output, you should obtain a form that displays the fields (including required fields) and sections. This will help you to determine the fields, sections and their relations to each other. If a form is not available, we recommend that you construct the form in some fashion to help you identify the overall structure of the form. Without this, it will be difficult to model the form in Oracle Sourcing.

Forms Setup: Create a PlanNow that you have the form or a representation of the form, the next step is to understand the structure of the form and create a plan for how you will model the form in Oracle Sourcing. To understand the structure you need to ask questions such as: Are their required fields? Does the form have sections that repeat? Do some fields allow only certain predefined values? Are there fields that could pull data from the negotiation?

Next, you need to develop a plan for how you will model the form in Oracle Sourcing, including the order you will define


data elements and the naming conventions. We suggest that you define the form in Oracle Sourcing starting from the lowest level data elements and build up. The building blocks of a form are Fields and Sections. Using Fields and Sections, you can model very simple to very complex forms. Fields represent single data elements on a Form. Examples include name, phone number, email address, commodity code, or negotiation open date. Sections are collections of Fields and/or other Sections.

As far as naming convention, we suggest that the codes you use in Oracle Sourcing match the codes that are used by the 3rd party system. This makes it much easier for you to understand and map the XSD files later.

Forms Setup: Create Fields, Sections and the FormNow that you have a plan in place and have a good understanding of the form, the next step is to execute the plan. Let’s look at the details of how to create the form.

Forms are created and maintained by the Sourcing Super User. Once you login to Oracle Sourcing, click on the Administration tab. Then click on the Abstract and Forms link (see Figure 2 - Abstract and Forms Screen below). This is the

location where you will create and maintain the Abstract and Forms.

Figure 2 - Abstract and Forms Screen

Fields: The First Building BlockTo create a Field, click the Manage Sections and Fields button on the Abstract and Forms screen. This will navigate you to a screen that allows you to search the Fields and Sections that have already been created (see Figure 3 - Manage Sections and Fields screen below).


Figure 3 - Manage Sections and Fields screen

You can search on either the Name or the Code for the Field or Section. To update a Field or Section, click the update icon in the last column. The Source column will have one of two values: User or System. This will be used only for Fields and will identify Fields that were manually created and ones that were delivered with the application. We will discuss this more later.

There are 2 table buttons, one to create a new Field and one to create a new Section (see Figure 3 - Manage Sections and Fields screen above). To create a new Field, click the Create Field button. This will navigate you to a screen that will allow you to create a new Field that can be used in a Section or

Form (see Figure 4 - Create Field Screen).

Figure 4 - Create Field Screen

The following properties make up the Field definition:

Code : This is a required, user-defined value that uniquely identifies the field. The Field code can only be up to 30 characters and can only have alphanumeric characters (“_” is the only special character allowed). The “_” cannot be the last or the first character. We recommend that this value match the code from the XSD/DTD you will be mapping this form to. This will

Abstract and Forms in Oracle Sourcing Value Sets are used through Oracle Applications and are part of the Application Object Library. They allow you to predefine sets of data that can be used in list of values.

make it much easier to do the mapping to the XSD file later.

Name : This is a required, user-defined value that will be associated with the field. This value will appear next to the entry field/poplist/List of Values on the form that will be presented to the buyer. Enter a value that is meaningful to the buyer.

Description : This is an optional field that will be presented to the buyer as a tip. You can use this to enter any additional information that you feel the buyer needs to have in order to correctly complete this field.

Value Type : This specifies the type of data the buyer will be allowed to enter in the field. The possible data types are: Text, Number, Date, Date/Time, and Amount.

List of Values : If you want the Field to limit the data input to only a predefined set of values, click the flashlight and select the Value Set. The flashlight will query all Value Sets that are defined for Oracle Sourcing. To create a new Value Set, click on the Manage Value Sets button at the top of the page. You can also create a Value Set using the link Manage Value Sets on the Administration page. Details on value sets can be found in the Oracle Applications Developer's Guide. The following Value Sets are supported.

o Table

o Independent

o Translatable Independent

Status : When you initially enter the screen, the values in this poplist will be Draft (selected) and Active. Only Active Fields can be added to a Section or Form. While the Field is Draft status you can edit the Code, Name, and other properties of the Field. You can also delete the Field. Once you change the status to Active, you will no longer be able to modify the Code or the Value Type. Also, you can no longer delete the Field. You will only be allowed to make the Field Inactive.

Oracle Sourcing is delivered with a number of System Fields that will pull data directly from a negotiation. The following is a list of the System Fields that are delivered with Oracle Sourcing.


Negotiation Number

Negotiation Type

Organization

Open Date

Preview Date

Award Date

Amendment Description

Close Date

Title

Style

Buyer

Event

Payment Terms

Carrier

FOB

Freight Terms

Negotiation Currency

You can only update the Name, Description and Status of System Fields.

Sections: The Next Building BlockMany times forms have related information grouped together. A simple example of this is address information. It can include data such as organization name, physical address, email address, phone number, contact name, country, etc. grouped together. As an example, please see the “Name and Address of Contracting Authority” (Figure 1 - Section of Contract Notice form of EU Publications Office) from the Contract Notice form.

You can define Sections in order to support this type of grouping. Sections are groupings of Fields and/or other Sections. Sections can either be simple groupings, like the address example above, or can be more complex and contain repeating information.


Figure 5 - Repeating Section example from the EU Contract Notice Form

In Oracle Sourcing, these more complex sections are called Repeating Sections. Figure 5 - Repeating Section example from the EU Contract Notice Form above shows an example of a Repeating Section for CPV codes from the Contract Notice form. A typical negotiation may contain items that are classified under different commodity codes. The buyer may need to include all of the commodity codes in the negotiation on a Form. Creating a Repeating Section with a commodity code Field will allow the buyer to enter multiple commodity codes.

There are specific rules regarding the use of Sections in Oracle Sourcing:

A simple section (non-repeating) or repeating section can contain fields.

A simple section can contain another simple section that has fields. This additional simple section cannot contain another section.

A simple section can contain repeating sections.

A repeating section cannot contain system fields.

A repeating section can contain other repeating sections.


Figure 6 - Create Section Screen

The following properties define a Section (see Figure 6 - Create Section Screen above):

Code : This is a required, user-defined value that uniquely identifies the Section. The Section code can only be up to 20 characters and can only have alphanumeric characters (“_” is the only special character allowed). The “_” cannot be the last or the first character. We recommend that this value match the code from the XSD/DTD you will be mapping this form to. This will make it easier to do the mapping.

Version : This is a display only field that will be updated when a new version of the Section is created. We will discuss this in detail shortly.

Name : This is a required, user-defined value that will be associated with the Section. This value will appear above the Section when the Form is presented to the buyer. Enter a value that is meaningful to the buyer.

Description : This is an optional field that you can use to describe the Section. It will not be displayed to the buyer.

Section Contains Repeating Data : This identifies if the Section will repeat. A Repeating Section will be presented to the buyer in the form of a table. Please note you will not be able to add System Fields if this is checked.

Tip Text : This text will be presented to the buyer as a tip below the Section header. Use this to give specific instructions to the buyer for this Section.

Status : When you initially enter the screen, the values in this poplist will be Draft (selected) and Active. Only


Active Sections can be added to a Form. While the Section is in Draft status you can edit the Code, Name, and other properties of the section. You can also delete the Section. Once you change the status to Active, you will no longer be able to modify the Code or whether the Section is repeating. Also, you can no longer delete the Section. You will only be allowed to make the Section Inactive.

Once you have activated a Section, you can create a revision or make a copy of the Section. You can also make a copy of the Section in while it is in a draft state. Revisions are used to make changes to an existing Section. If you find out that there are changes that have been made to the Form that you must send to the 3rd party system, you can use revisions to make the changes to the Sections. Once you click the Create Revision button, a draft Section will be created with the Version number incremented by 1. You may then edit and activate this draft Section. You will need to replace the existing Section on the Form with the new revision if order for it to be exposed in the form to the buyer.

Copies are similar to revisions but they do not increment the version number and are considered new Sections. You can copy an existing section by clicking the Copy Section button. This will create a draft Section for you to edit. You will be required to change the Section Code and Name and click Apply for it to be saved.

Sections and Fields : When you click Add Another Row in the Sections and Fields table, you then must click the flashlight or type in the name of the Section or Field that you want to add. Only active Sections and Fields can be added to the Section. Notice that you can sequence the Section and Field within the Section to ensure that the ordering is as you desire. You can also specify if a Field is required. You may delete Sections and Fields from the Section until you make the Section active. If the Section is either Active or Inactive, you cannot remove Fields and Sections. You will have to create a new revision to the Section and then you can remove the Fields and Sections. Sections are required to have at least one Field.


Form: Putting it all TogetherNow that you have all of the building blocks in place, you can construct your Form. We recommend that you start at the top of the form and add items in order of the Form you are modeling in order to ensure that you add all of the items correctly. If you enter them in a different order, you can change the sequence of the items at your convenience.

Figure 7 - Create Form Screen

This screen (see Figure 7 - Create Form Screen above) is identical to the Sections screen with the following exceptions.

There is no Repeating Section control.

There is no Tip Text.

There are 3 new fields: XML Publisher Template, XML Publisher Data Source and Form Type.

o XML Publisher Template : Once you have mapped the form to the 3rd party system, you will select the XML Publisher Template (mapping) file here. We will discuss this in more detail in the Map To 3rd Party XSD/DTD section.

o XML Publisher Data Source : This is the file name of the Data Source (XSD file) that is created for you automatically when you change the status of a form to Active. The format of the name given to the file is “PON#” + Form Code + “#” + version number. For example, for a form identified by the code FORM_TEST, the XML Publisher Data Source will be named PON#FORM_TEST#1. This file will be used for mapping to the 3rd party system and can be downloaded from XML Publisher. We will discuss this in more detail in the Map To 3rd Party XSD/DTD section.


o Form Type : You must specify if this Form will be used for negotiations or for Events within Oracle Sourcing. Forms that will be used for Events cannot have System Fields included with them.

As we mentioned, you should start creating your form by adding the Fields and Sections that you have already created in the order that they are on the 3rd party system form. Click on Add Another Row (see Figure 7 - Create Form Screen above) and select the first Field or Section that is present on the form you are modeling. Continue to add the Fields and Sections until you have completed the entire form. When you are done, change the status of the form to Active and the XSD (XML Publisher Data Source) file will be created for you.

Oracle Sourcing is delivered with two Forms that you can use as examples: Contract Notice and Contract Award Notice. The XML Publisher Template and XML Publisher Data Source files for these two Forms are also included in the product.

Forms Setup: Map to 3rd Party XSD/DTD FileWhen you activate your Form, Oracle Sourcing will create an XSD file for you automatically (see Figure 8 - Sample XSD file for EU Contract Notice). This will later be used as the XML Publisher Data Source file. You will use this file to map to the 3rd party XSD/DTD file so that the XML output generated from your Form is acceptable to the 3rd party system. See the “XSD File Details” section below for more details on this file.

Oracle Sourcing leverages another Oracle product, Oracle XML Publisher, to create the Data Source XSD file and to load your mapping file. Oracle XML Publisher is available for use with your license of Oracle Sourcing. In order to download the Data Source XSD file created for you and to upload your mapping file, you will need the XML Publisher Administrator responsibility. If you do not have this responsibility, you will need to request this from your Oracle Applications System Administrator.


Events are used in Oracle Sourcing to group negotiations together. In other words, an Event contains one or more negotiations.

XML Publisher is an Oracle product that is delivered with the eBusiness Suite. It allows data to be published in XML or PDF formats. For more information visit: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/applications/publishing/index.html

Figure 8 - Sample XSD file for EU Contract Notice

When you login to Oracle Applications, select the XML Publisher responsibility and then select Data Definitions (see Figure 9 - XML Publisher Data Definitions Screen).

Figure 9 - XML Publisher Data Definitions Screen

Enter “Sourcing” into the Application search criteria and press Go and you will view all of the Data Source files that are related to Oracle Sourcing. The Data Source for your Form will be listed as “Data Source for Sourcing form XXX.” The XXX will match the name of the “XML Publisher Data Source” on the Form you created less the header “PON#”. Example, if we created a Form with a code of “FORM_TEST”, the name on the Data Definition screen above will be “Data Source for Sourcing form FORM_TEST#1”. The corresponding “XML Publisher Data Source” name displayed on the Form definition in Oracle Sourcing will be “PON#FORM_TEST#1”. The #1 represents the version of the Form that you have activated.


To access the Data Source XSD file that is generated for your Form, from the Data Definitions screen, click on the name link for your Form Data Source. On the View Data Definition screen, click on the link for the XML Schema and this will download the Data Source XSD file. Save it to a place you will remember on your local machine.

Next you will need to obtain the XSD or DTD file from the 3rd party system that you are mapping to. This will usually be available from their website or a technical.

Now that you have both the XSD (Data Source) file for your form and the XSD or DTD file for the system you wish to publish to, you need to map them to create an XSL file. We recommend you use a software package such as Stylus Studio in order to perform this mapping. Stylus Studio will allow you to drag and drop from one XSD to another to map the elements in the two XSD files to each other. XML mapping can get involved depending on the complexity of the form. You may consider having an experienced XML developer prepare this mapping for you.

Once the XSL file containing the mapping has been created, you need to upload it into the XML Publisher application. To upload your mapping file you will need to create a new Template in XML Publisher. To do this, log back into to Oracle Applications and select the XML Publisher Administrator responsibility and the Templates screen.

Figure 10 - XML Publisher Create Template Screen

Press the Create Template button (see Figure 10 - XML Publisher Create Template Screen) and enter the following data:


For more information on XSL check out the W3C website at http://www.w3.org/Style/XSL/

You can find out more about Stylus Studio at http://www.stylusstudio.com/

Name : Enter any name that you want to use to identify the Template. This name will appear on the Form screen within Oracle Sourcing. This is a required field.

Code : Provide a code for the Template. This is a required field and must be unique.

Application : You must select the value “Sourcing.”

Data Definition : Search in the List of Values for the application “Sourcing” and select the Data Definition file that was created for your Form. This is the Data Source XSD that we discussed in the previous section (“Data Source for Sourcing form FORM_TEST#1” from our example in that section)

Type : You must select XSL-XML

Start Date : The date you want the Template to be effective. We recommend that you use the default.

End Date : The date you want the Template to be ineffective. We recommend that you leave this blank.

Description : Any text that you want to enter that describes this Template.

File : Select the XSL file that you have created from your mapping tool.

Language : Your default language.

Territory : Your default territory.

The next step is to associate this Template with your Form. You do this by specifying the name of the Template you created in the “XML Publisher Template” field on the Create Form screen (see Figure 7 - Create Form Screen). Return to the Create Form screen and select the template you just created in the field XML Publisher Template and click Apply. This will allow the system to generate the XML file for you that matches the format needed by the 3rd party system.

Forms Setup: Deploy the FormOnce you have filled in the correct Template name on the Form definition, you can change the status of the form to Active. This will make the Form available to buyers.


FORMS USAGEOnce the desired Forms are deployed to the buyers, the general flow for using the them is:

1. Buyer fills out the relevant forms as part of the negotiation creation process. During the create negotiation flow; the buyer can add a form to a negotiation on the Create Header screen. There is a section on the Create Header Screen called Abstract and Forms. The user can click the Add Another Row button and then select an active form in the Name column. They can then click the Enter Data icon to enter data into the form (see Figure 11 - Form Details Screen).

Figure 11 - Form Details Screen

2. Once the Form is completed, the buyer generates the XML output. To do this the buyer just has to click the


Generate XML button on the Forms screen and the XML output will be generated.

Figure 12 - XML Output Sample

3. The XML output can then be transmitted to the 3rd party. This can be accomplished in a number of ways depending on the methods that are provided by the 3rd party. Some examples include using a transport agent such as Oracle XML Gateway or using the Oracle Supplier Network. Some 3rd parties may only accept the XML file through email, which is the case for the EU Publications Office.

ABSTRACTAs we discussed previously, an Abstract is a summary or synopsis of a negotiation. It usually contains information such as the goods or services being purchased, whom to contact for more information, and the open and close date. In Oracle Sourcing, an Abstract is completed and published by the buyer on a webpage that is available to suppliers. Suppliers can view the published Abstracts without having to login to Oracle Sourcing.

Figure 13 - Sample Abstracts External Page


Figure 14 - Sample of Link to Abstract External Page

Similar to Forms, the information that is captured and displayed as part of an Abstract is controlled by the Sourcing Super User. The Sourcing Super User can customize the look of the external webpage by modifying the top, bottom, right and left areas of the screen.

The general flow for modeling and using Abstracts in Oracle Sourcing is:

1. Customize the Abstract Definition: You need to determine what data you want suppliers to view on the external page and edit the default Abstract definition.

2. Customize the external Abstract page: You may want to change the HTML page that displays the Abstracts in order to make it more consistent with your existing website.

3. Create link to external Abstract page: As in the example above, you need to add a link to the external page somewhere on your existing website.

Abstract Setup: Customize the Abstract DefinitionDifferent organizations have different requirements for data they need to display to suppliers to advertise negotiations. Oracle Sourcing allows you to customize the data that will be displayed to suppliers. The Abstract consists of a Main external


page that lists all published abstracts and a Details page to display detailed information about a single negotiation.

To customize the Abstract definition, navigate to the Administration tab and click on the Abstract and Forms link. Note that there is only one Abstract for the Oracle Sourcing application instance. You cannot create multiple Abstract definitions. This is because there is only one external page for each instance; therefore there must be a consistent application of the Abstract to all negotiations. Notice also that your Oracle Sourcing application is delivered with a default Abstract definition with a status of Draft.

Click on the Update icon (see Figure 2 - Abstract and Forms Screen) for the Abstract. This will navigate you to the Edit Abstract screen.

Figure 15 - Edit Abstract Screen

The Abstract definition leverages the same Fields, System Fields and Sections that we discussed in the Forms section above. You can click on the Manage Sections and Fields button to create or edit Fields or Sections.

Status : When you initially enter the screen, the values in this poplist will be Draft (selected) and Active. If the Abstract is in Draft or Inactive status, nothing will appear on the external webpage. Once you have made the desired changes to the Abstract definition, change the status to Active and click Apply. The Abstracts will then be available on the external page.

Name : Click Add Another Row to add fields or sections to the Abstract definition. Select the name of the Field, System Field or Section that you want included on the Abstract.


An Oracle Sourcing instance refers to an Oracle Sourcing installation. Your test system and production system are two separate instances of the Oracle Sourcing application.

Version : This will display the version of the Section you have selected (not applicable for fields).

Sequence : This is the order that you want the Fields/Sections to be displayed.

Display on Main Page : Check the box if you want the Field to be displayed on the Main external page. If not checked, the Field will be displayed on the Details page only. Sections cannot be displayed on the Main page.

Required : Check the box if you want to require that the buyer enter information for the Field. This will be disabled for system fields.

Type : This is a display only column that displays if the row is for a Field or a Section.

Source : This is a display only column that displays if the Field is a user defined (manually created) Field or a System Field.

Active : Check the box if you want the Field/Section to be included in the Abstract.

View : Allows you to view the details of the Field/Section.

Delete : Allows you to delete Fields/Sections. If not enabled, you can always uncheck the Active column to not include the Field/Section in the Abstract.

The same System Fields as were discussed in the Forms section above are available for Abstracts as well. Be sure to leverage this powerful capability to pull data directly from the negotiation into your Abstracts. This will reduce the data entry effort as well as errors.

Abstract Setup: Customize the external Abstract pageNow that you have customized and activated the Abstract, you may also want to customize the Abstract Main page to make it match the look and feel of your existing website.

The URL to access the abstract page is determined by the following Profile Option:

Display Name: POS: External URL

(Internal Name: POS_EXTERNAL_URL)


This profile option should have been set as part of Oracle Sourcing/Oracle iSupplier Portal setup and has the following format:

http: or https://<external web server machine><port>

For example,

http://external.oracle.com:10333 or

https://external.oracle.com:23423

The URL to access the Abstract page would then be:

http://external.oracle.com:10333/OA_HTML/OA.jsp?OAFunc=PON_ABSTRACT_PAGE

By default, the user preferences (for example, language settings, date format, etc.) for the abstract external page are derived from the settings for the "GUEST" user definition in Oracle Applications.

In addition, the Abstract page can accept the following parameters:

PON_LANGUAGE_CODE - the display language for the page can be changed by passing this parameter value.

PON_ORGANIZATION_ID - this can restrict the negotiations displayed to a particular organization (Operating Unit). By default negotiations from all organizations are displayed.

PON_NEGOTIATION_STATUS - this can restrict the negotiations display to a particular status. By default negotiations in all statuses are displayed. The list of acceptable values are: ALL_STATUS, PREVIEW, ACTIVE, AUCTION_CLOSED, AWARDED, and CANCELLED.

For example, the following Abstract page URL passes in values for these parameters:

http://external.oracle.com:10333/OA_HTML/OA.jsp?OAFunc=PON_ABSTRACT_PAGE&PON_LANGUAGE_CODE=EN&PON_ORGANIZATION_ID=123&PON_NEGOTIATION_STATUS=ACTIVE

None of these parameters are required as they all have default settings.

You can customize your Abstract web page in the following ways (see Figure 13 - Sample Abstracts External Page):


For more information on the “GUEST” user, refer to the “Oracle ApplicationsSystem Administrator’s Guide – Configuration”.

Adding a branding .gif image on the top of the page.

Adding custom HTML regions on the left, right, or bottom of the page.

The customizations that you make will be applied to both the Main External webpage, which lists all of the negotiations, as well as the Abstract detail page, which displays the details for each Abstract.

The branding .gif image you use should be one of the following sizes in order for it fit properly on the screen:

~460 x 60

~230 x 60

~230 x 30

Loading these files is a similar action to adding custom HTML regions on the buyer and supplier homepages. To load these files perform the following:

Create your .html and .gif files. They should be called:

o pon_SourcingExternal_Adv.gif (the .gif appears at the top of the screen)

o pon_SourcingExternal_left.htm (the left side of the screen)

o pon_SourcingExternal_right.htm (the right side of the screen)

o pon_SourcingExternal_bottom.htm (the bottom of the screen)

You should copy the .gif and the relevant .htm files to the following directories:

$<template-path>/pon/custom/marketing/SRC_EXTERNAL/<language-directory>/

where the template path is a system property that is specified in the iAS properties file. For example, the directory might look like:

/OA_HTML/pon/custom/marketing/SRC_EXTERNAL/US

Note: If a particular file is not found in the specified directory, the corresponding region is not displayed.

Now that you have customized the Abstract definition and Abstract page, buyers can use the Abstract feature to publish summaries of negotiations to suppliers.


For more information about the template path, see the Purchasing Implementation Guide.

Abstract Setup: Create link to external Abstract pageYou now need to modify your existing webpage to point to the new external Abstract page. This link usually will have text such as Current Solicitations, Solicitation Details, Current Negotiations, etc.

Abstract UsageBuyer’s can access and edit the data in the Abstract at anytime during the lifecycle of the negotiation. Prior to the negotiation being published, the buyer can access the Abstract from the Create Header step of the Negotiation creation process. Click Add Another Row in the Abstract and Forms table on the Create Header page. Select the Abstract from the List of Values in order to create an Abstract for the negotiation.

The buyer should enter all the data to complete the Abstract and decide if they want to include a link to the PDF of the negotiation in the Abstract. They can do this by checking the “Include PDF once Auction is published” checkbox. The PDF will only be made available to the suppliers once the negotiation is published.

When the buyer has entered all the data in the Abstract, they click the “Publish Abstract” button in order to make the Abstract available on the external Abstracts page. Keep in mind that if the Abstract has only System Fields, there may not be any data for the buyer to enter.

The buyer may remove the Abstract for the negotiation from the External page by editing the Abstract and clicking “Unpublish Abstract” button.

After the negotiation is published, the buyer can access the Abstract from the Negotiation Summary screen in order to make updates. The actions pulldown list on this page has an action to Manage Abstract and Forms.

Once on the Manage Abstract and Forms screen, the buyer can click the Add Another Row and select the Abstract from the List of Values in order to add an Abstract to the negotiation. The icon in the Enter Data column will allow them to enter/modify the data in the Abstract.

XSD FILE DETAILSAs was mentioned earlier, an XSD file is created for you when you activate a Form. This section explains the structure of the


XSD file that is created and how it relates to your Form definition. .

Form InformationThe code you assigned to the form when you created the form will appear in the first element tag in the XSD file. The data inside that form will be displayed in another tag that will have “_ROW” added to the form code. For example, for the Contract Notice form has a code of “CONTRACT_NOTICE” and therefore will be displayed as “CONTRACT_NOTICE” in this

field.” The inside tag will be displayed as “CONTRACT_NOTICE_ROW.” Figure 16 - XSD Sample (Form)

Some other important element tags generated are:

FORM_PK_VALUE: This is automatically generated and will have a unique value for each auction or event.

OWNING_ENTITY_CODE: This will have a value PON_AUCTION_HEADERS_ALL for negotiations and PON_AUCTION_EVENTS for Events that will be populated into the XML file once generated.

ENTITY_PK1: This will have the corresponding value from the table PON_AUCTION_ALL and the column auction_header_id for the forms associated with auctions and the database column event_id for forms associated with events.

Section InformationAll data in a non-repeating section will be enclosed in a tag with the name SECTION_CODE. This would have a tag called SECTION_CODE_ROW. The tag SECTION_CODE_ROW contains various fields as its children. As an example, below is description for Address Section that appears in the EU Contract Notice form. The section code for the address is USER_ADDRESS. Notice that the entire block is encapsulated


in a section called USER_ADDRESS. This contains a tag USER_ADDRESS_ROW.

Figure 17 - XSD Sample (Section)

Another key element tag that is generated for sections is:

num: This is an attribute of the SECTION_CODE_ROW and will increment by 1 for every row corresponding SECTION_CODE_ROW within a section.

Repeating Section InformationSimilar to a non-repeating Section, Repeating Sections are enclosed in a tag SECTION_CODE that contains the tag SECTION_CODE_ROW. This tag would repeat in the xml as many times as the number of rows in the Repeating Section. As an example from the EU Contract Notice, the Section NUTS_CODES is a Repeating Section in the Contracts Notice appears as is shown in Figure 18 - XSD Sample (Repeating Section).


Figure 18 - XSD Sample (Repeating Section)

Some other key element tags generated for Repeating Sections are:

PARENT_FK_ID: This tag will have a unique value in the xml corresponding to the parent record of the Repeating Section in the xml.

SECTION_PK_ID: This tag will have a unique value in the xml for every record.

num: This is an attribute of the SECTION_CODE_ROW and will increment by 1 for every row corresponding SECTION_CODE_ROW within a Section.

FieldsThe fields in the XSD are represented with their codes. The following are some special cases fields:

Fields with Value Sets: Fields that are associated with Value Sets will have an additional corresponding field called FIELD_CODE_NM. The FIELD_CODE column in the xml will contain the code in the value set and the FIELD_CODE_NM column will be the corresponding description.

Date Time Fields: A Field of type Date Time have date in the format “dd/mm/yyyy HH:mm:ss” in the xml. The following additional tags are generated that allow users to map a component of the date.

YYYY: Year

MM: Month

DD: Date

HH: Hour


MI: Minutes

SS: Seconds

Figure 19 - XSD Sample (Date Fields)

Date Fields: Fields with a type of Date are similar to Date Time Fields but they do not have the following tags:

HH: Hour

MI: Minutes

SS: Seconds

EU SIMAP DETAILSOracle Sourcing includes default form definitions for the EU Contract Notice and Contract Award Notice. Both of these documents include the form and the XML mapping. Oracle Sourcing has been eSender certified for publishing these 2 documents to the SIMAP organization. If you are interested in publishing to the SIMAP Publications Office, you will need to go through only 1 phase of certification in order to send these documents. Please contact your Oracle Sales Representative for more information.

To learn more about the European Union Publishing requirements, the following websites may be useful.

SIMAP - http://simap.eu.int/

Tenders Electronic Daily - http://ted.publications.eu.int/official/

FEDBIZOPS DETAILSThe US Federal Government publishes all of its purchases over $25,000 on the FedBizOps website. This website does not currently support, nor does it plan to support, standard XML


http://simap.eu.int/

transactions in the foreseeable future. In order to publish data to FedBizOps, you will have to customize the XML output to comply with their standard. For more information on this please see:

http://www.fedbizopps.gov/

http://www1.eps.gov/pilotGeneralInfo/Overview.html

FPDS DETAILSThe US Federal Government requires government purchases be recorded in the Federal Procurement Data System. This system does use standard XML therefore the Oracle Sourcing Forms feature will integrate with this system. For more information on FPDS please see:

https://www.fpds.gov/

http://www.fpds-ng.com/

CONCLUSIONWith the Forms and Abstract feature in Oracle Sourcing, you will be able to advertise your sourcing events easier than ever before. Regardless if it is to a 3rd party system or on your own external website, you can quickly and easily publish data in a standard, consistent way. There is no longer a need to maintain additional custom built systems or other 3rd party systems to communicate and publish data. Oracle Sourcing is a complete sourcing solution that includes these capabilities in a single application.


Abstract and Forms in Oracle SOurcingRevision: 1June, 2005Author: Robert FousheeContributing Authors: Manaish Srivastava, Saurabh Dewan

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