XML Publisher

How Does It Work

And

What Can You Do With It

Paul Whitehouse

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XML Publisher

Oracle Applications

eBusiness Suite

Peoplesoft

JDE EnterpriseOne

Enterprise Edition

XMLP Embedded

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Agenda

• What is XML?

• Where can you get it from?

• What can you do with it once you’ve got it?

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On <date>12th December 2006</date> there is a <activity>User Group Meeting</activity> in <place>Wellington</place>

On 12th December 2006 there is a User Group

Meeting in Wellington

The User Group Conference is in Auckland on

22nd/23rd March 2007

What is XML?

eXtensible Markup Language

The <activity>User Group Conference</activity> is in <place>Auckland</place> on <date>22nd/23rd March 2007</date>

Self Describing Data

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What does XML do?

Not a great deal

Why?

• Not technically a language

• Only has syntax constraints (eg markups are

made with < >)

• No formatting

• Not a programming language

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What can you use XML for?

Store and Retrieve Data

Produce Formatted Documents

Ensuring Data Integrity

Multiple Language Support

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Data Storage and Retrieval

On <date>12th December 2006</date> there is a <activity>User Group Meeting</activity> in <place>Wellington</place>

The <activity>User Group Conference</activity> is in <place>Auckland</place> on <date>22nd/23rd March 2007</date>

<date> <activity> <place>

12th December 2006 User Group Meeting Wellington

22nd/23rd March 2007 User Group Conference Auckland

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On 12th December 2006 there is a User Group

Meeting in Wellington

The User Group Conference is in Auckland on

22nd/23rd March 2007

On 12th December 2006 there is a “User Group Meeting” in Wellington

The “User Group Conference” is in Auckland

on 22nd/23rd March 2007

Formatting with a Stylesheet

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Formatting with XSL-FO

eXtensible Stylesheet Language – Formatting Objects

Which means…

A language for describing Document Formats

For Example:

Margins

Page Layout

Page Breaks

Font, Line Spacing etc

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So where does XML Publisher Fit in?

• XML Publisher implements the concept of

splitting the data and the formatting

XML Publisher

Build OutputTemplate

XSL-FORTF, PDF

Data Report Output

Where do I get my XML from?

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How do I get my XML data?

• eBusiness Suite

• Oracle Reports

• A concurrent program designed to generate XML

• DataTemplate

• Peoplesoft (PeopleTools 8.48)

• PS Query

• PeopleCode XML Doc

• Web Services

• JDE (EnterpriseOne 8.96)

• EnterpriseOne Reports

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How do I get my XML data?

• Enterprise Edition

• HTTP XML Feed (RSS)

• Web Service

Any data source accessible via a JDBC connection

• SQL Query

• Data Template

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What are Data Templates?

Data Query Tool that Supports:

• Multiple Queries

• Formula / Summary Columns

• Before and After Report Triggers

• Specifying the XML Elements and Grouping

Data Template itself is actually an XML file

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Why Data Templates?

• No other XML generation tool (eg Oracle

Reports / PL/SQL) met the required

specifications

• Oracle Reports will be phased out

• Data Templates performance is better than

Oracle Reports

What can I do with it once I’ve got it?

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XML Publisher 5.6.2 Supports…

•Headers and Footers

•Tables

•Sections

•Last Page Content

•Running Totals

•Variables

•Fonts (incl MICR and

Barcodes)

•Word Art, jpg, gif, png

•Graphs (up to 70 types)

•Conditional Formatting

•Watermarks

•Sub-Templates

•PDF Bookmarks

•PDF Security

And more advanced features:

•XML Regrouping

•Dynamic Data Columns

•Most XSL and XSL-FO, XPath

Commands

•Some SQL Commands

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XML Publisher

XML Publisher

Build OutputTemplate

XSL-FORTF, PDF

Data Report Output

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Output Formats

XML Data

Controller

CEO

Banking

XML

EFT

B2B

XML

Government

EFT

Excel

HTML

PDF

XML Publisher

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Document Delivery

Document Splitting via Bursting Engine

• Email

• Fax

• Print

• FTP

• HTTP

Examples

Currently in Use in New Zealand

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New Zealand Examples

Receivables

• Invoices

• Statements

• Direct Debit Remittances

• Deposit Slip Report (DataTemplate)

Payables

• EFT Remittances

General Ledger

• Financial Statement Generator (FSG)

• Transaction Listing

Purchasing

• Purchase Order Format

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The Future?

XML Publisher is a core part of Fusion

Middleware

• XMLP 5.6.3 due for release shortly

• Excel Templates

• Oracle Reports to Data Template Conversion

• 90% of eBusiness Suite Reports will be Data

Templates in Release 12

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Useful Links

Oracle Technology Network XML Publisher Page:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/xml-publisher/index.html

XML Publisher Forum

http://forums.oracle.com/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=245

XML Publisher Blog

http://blogs.oracle.com/xmlpublisher