JDeveloper Patch with OA Framework Extension

We know JDeveloper is used for OA Framework (OAF) extensions and customizations for self service forms. This note gives the instruction on how to find right JDeveloper patch for creating OA Extensions with EBS Release 11i and 12.

EBS has lots of versions like 11.5.9, 11.5.10, 12 etc. Developer should use the correct version of JDeveloper with OAF extension. When you create extensions or customize EBS OA Framework pages, you must use the version of JDeveloper shipped by the EBS product team. The version of JDeveloper is specific to the ATG patch level, so there is a new version of JDeveloper for each release of ATG patch-set.

To determine which patch to use, you can check the framework version in your instance by using http://(host):(port)/OA_HTML/OAInfo.jsp, then choose the matched JDeveloper patch.

For Example if the instance base URL is http://vis.oracle.com:8080/ then type http://vis.oracle.com:8080/OA_HTML/OAInfo.jsp. Note down OA Framework Version. Go to Metalink Note 416708.1, find out the JDeveloper patch matching with OAF version and download. Unzip the downloaded file.

We can also find useful informations in metalink.oracle.com.

Workflow Notification using OA Framework

If the notification contents are simple and static then Message body is used to build. Otherwise mostly PLSQL Document Type Attributes are used to build complex and dynamic contents. It is easy to develop. But it has few limitations like

• Look and Feel won’t be like Self Service Pages
• Very difficult to format
• Maintenance is costly
• APIs (PL/SQL Web Toolkit) used won’t be available from R12

To avoid these, the notification body can be built using OA Framework. Same document type attribute can be used with small changes in the syntax like

JSP:/OA_HTML/OA.jsp?region=<OAFRegion>&<parameters>

Advantages of using this are

• Uniform Look and Feel across all self service pages
• Framework will format the contents
• OA Framework Personalization and Extension can be used for any modifications
• Much better performance than PLSQL
• Upgrade Safe

In fact Oracle is advising to use OAF to build notification contents. Developer should follow few important steps to use OA Regions in Workflow Notification. Refer Oracle Application Workflow Guide for more details.