Context ID’s implementation Question for Oracle Support

I had an issue where our organization was developing UPK content creation in a lower DEV instance with Context ID’s implemented and wanted to know whether the content would be effective in the PROD environment.  The main issue is that when a user clicks on Help in a specific area the Context ID is passed to UPK and it shows the applicable help content.  So, I sent an SR to Oracle:

QUESTION
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If I capture content on the Development Instance where Context ID’s are implemented, is this translated to the Production Instance(context Id’s implemented) once we go live? OR do I have to recreate/recapture UPK content again?

ANSWER
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The context ids that are captured are the context information used by Oracle help to load the correct help page. For example on the profiles query form the context id might be FNDPOMPV_PROFILE_QF. As long as both instances are at the same apps version then the same form should have the same context id as this is independent of the instance. Therefore, you should be able to use your content recorded on the Development instance to provide help content on the production instance.

UPK Help Menu Integration for E-Business Suite

To implement Help Menu Integration, you must modify the HELP_WEB_AGENT profile on theOracle server to point to the Player content. This causes the browser-based Player interface tolaunch directly from the Oracle Help menu. If you want the users to have access to Oracle help as well, you can modify a supplied Java script file so that a decision or “gateway page” launches instead of the Oracle Help gateway page. This gateway page contains an OnDemand link in a separate frame at the top of the Oracle Help page. Clicking this link opens the Player.

Modifying the HELP_WEB_AGENT Profile

You must modify the HELP_WEB_AGENT profile in Oracle to point to the odhelp.html in the
Player content deployed on the server.
For Oracle E-Business Suite 11i , the URL consists of two parts: the path for the odhelp.html file
located in the \oracle\hemi folder in the Player content, plus the path of the default dbc file for the
Oracle server.

Following is an example for 11i:

URL=http://<serverame>:<port>/ORACLE/hemi/odhelp.html?dbc=d:\oracle\
o11iappl\fnd\11.5.0\secure\<server name>.dbc

Following is an example for R12:

URL=http://<server name>:<port>/ORACLE/hemi/odhelp.html

To modify the HELP_WEB_AGENT profile in Oracle E-Business Suite 11i:

1. Sign on to the Oracle EBS Application via the web browser as an administrator.
2. Click the System Administrator link and locate the System Profile.
3. When the java form launches, enter APPLICATIONS_HELP% in the Profile field andclick Find.
4. Enter or edit the URL with the path to the odhelp.html and the dbc file in the Site fieldof the Applications Help Web Agent.
5. For the profile change to take effect in the current session, exit from Oracle applications and log in again.
6. Click Help in Oracle, and the Player launches.

To modify the HELP_WEB_AGENT profile in Oracle E-Business Suite R12:

1. Sign on to the Oracle EBS Application via the web browser as an administrator.
2. Click the System Administrator link, find the System Profile.
3. When the java form launches, enter APPLICATIONS_HELP% in the Profile field and click Find.
4. Enter the location of the odhelp.html file in the Site field of the Applications Help Web Agent
5. Save the changes and reboot the forms server to take effect.

* Reference taken from UPK Content Administration Guide: CH 6 Help Menu Integration for the Oracle E-Business Suite

Implement Context – Sensitive EBS Help Menu Integration and UPK Deployment

UPK can capture a Context-ID’s for the Oracle objects from the E-Business Suite during the recording phase. Think of a Context-ID as a unique identifier for a particular page or function in the Oracle E-Business Suite. You can integrate UPK with the EBS Help Menu and when the user clicks on the help menu, the user will be directed to the respective action for that particular function or page by looking up the Context-ID.

If you want to implement context-sensitive Help for Oracle E-Business Suite applications, the correct Context IDs of the objects in Oracle must be captured while the content is recorded. To enable this, you must deploy or modify the custom library (CUSTOM.pll) on the Oracle serverbefore content creation begins.

Deploy a Custom Library

Use the following steps if you have not deployed a custom library on your Oracle Applications
server.

1. Back up your existing CUSTOM.pll to CUSTOM.pll.orig.
2. Locate the ODPNCustomPLL.zip file in the ORACLE folder where the Developer is installed and retrieve the CUSTOM.pll file. Then copy it to the $AU_TOP/resource folderon the Oracle Applications server.
3. Locate the ODPNCustomPLL.zip file in the ORACLE folder where the Developer isinstalled and retrieve the ODPN.pll file. Then copy it to the $AU_TOP/resource folder on the Oracle Applications server.
4. Ensure that no one is currently using Oracle Applications (web Forms).
5. While in the $AU_TOP/resource, compile the ODPN.pll and CUSTOM.pll library filesusing the command for your specific EBS version:

For Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.9

 

f60gen module=ODPN.pll module_type=LIBRARY userid=apps/apps@<instance>
compile_all=yes

 

f60gen module=CUSTOM.pll module_type=LIBRARY userid=apps/apps@<instance>
compile_all=yes

 

For Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.10

 

ifcmp60 module=ODPN.pll module_type=LIBRARY userid=apps/apps@<instance> compile_all=yes

 

ifcmp60 module=CUSTOM.pll module_type=LIBRARY userid=apps/apps@<instance> compile_all=yes

 

For Oracle E-Business Suite R12

 

frmcmp module=ODPN.pll userid=apps/apps@<instance> module_type=library compile_all=yes

 

frmcmp module=CUSTOM.pll userid=apps/apps@<instance> module_type=librarycompile_all=yes

 

*Replace the database connect string to reflect your instance.

Modify an Existing Custom Library

Use the following steps if you have custom logic in your custom library (CUSTOM.pll) that you do not want to overwrite. You must place a line of code in the custom library that will call out to new library (ODPN.pll). After doing this, you will only need to recompile your existing CUSTOM.pll if you receive new versions of ODPN.pll with software upgrades.

1. 1. Backup your existing CUSTOM.pll to CUSTOM.pll.orig.
2. Copy the CUSTOM.pll from the $AU_TOP/resource folder on the Oracle Applications server to a client machine that has Oracle Forms Builder installed.
3. Copy the APPCORE2.pll from $AU_TOP/resource folder on the Oracle Applicationsserver to a client machine that has Oracle Forms Builder installed. This should be the same folder you used for step 2.
4. Locate the ODPNCustomPLL.zip file in the ORACLE folder where the Developer isinstalled and retrieve the ODPN.pll file. Then copy it to the client machine into same folder as previous file copies. Note that this library is not version-specific to 11i or R12.
5. Open CUSTOM.pll using Oracle Forms Builder and attach ODPN.pll. Place this file in the same folder on the client side as your CUSTOM.pll prior to the attachment.
6. Answer Yes, when asked to remove directory path.
7. Add the following code to the Event procedure:gkod_event (event_name, ‘SPECIAL15’);
8. Ensure that no one is currently using Oracle Applications (web Forms). Shut down Oracle Forms Server service.
9. Copy the CUSTOM.pll and ODPN.pll files from the client to the $AU_TOP/resourcefolder on the Oracle Applications server.
10. Compile both the ODPN.pll and the CUSTOM.pll files using steps 5 and 6 in the previous section.

* Reference taken from UPK Content Administration Guide: CH 6 Help Menu Integration for the Oracle E-Business Suite

Introduction to UPK part 2 and UPK Delivery

The User Productivity Kit (UPK) is a comprehensive, cost-effective, customizable solution that helps your organization quickly create the critical documentation, training, and support materials needed to drive project team and user productivity throughout the lifecycle of your software. The User Productivity Kit provides system process documentation, user acceptance test scripts, comprehensive instructor led training materials, web-based training materials, role-based performance support and complete documentation. Also provided is the UPK Developer, which serves as a single source development and customization tool to enable rapid content creation and customization.

The User Productivity Kit delivers:

• Business process documentation for fit-gap analysis – providing time and cost savings that jump-start your implementation or upgrade
• User Acceptance test scripts to help test applications prior to go-live
• State-of-the-art instructional design tools to rapidly build and tailor documentation, instructor-led training materials, web-based training to fit organizational needs
• Live-application performance support with transactional and procedural information to maximize user efficiency.

UPK Life Cycle

During my search for UPK resources I found a great flash presentation about the User Productivity Kit integration with the project life cycle. It integrates UPK into the project life cycle at all aspects.

The following is the Project Life Cycle with User Productivity Kit integration:

Click here for the Flash Presentation:

UPK Life Cycle

(Flash required)

UPK Licensing

The licensing model for UPK is as follows:

1. UPK Developer: Tool used for creation of content. License cost of $15,000 USD.
2. Viewers of UPK developed content:
   

   - Employees: $12.50 per user
   - Named Users: $50 per named user

* Please contact your Oracle Sales Representative for pricing.

What is the impact of having named user licenses and concurrent licenses?

Named User License is assigned to a particular user and Concurrent User License is assigned and available to a group of users.

User Productivity Kit F.A.Q.

 

For the past few days I have spending a lot of time reading up on Oracle UPK. As I mentioned before the resources for UPK are scarce and hard to find. However, I have come across a lot of good resources to get anyone started.

The User Productivity Kit comes with a few manuals that give you good enough background knowledge of different aspects of UPK. This includes: Installation, Authoring, Usage Tracking, Publishing etc..

There is a FAQ white paper that Oracle provides for download for free on there website. This is a great document to get anyone started, because it gives you answers to common questions.

Here is the link:

User Productivity Kit F.A.Q.

 

* Please note that this is for version 2.7.4 however it is applicable to newer versions as well.

The version I will working with is 2.7.5(latest version).

In my opinion, I believe the User Productivity Kit can replace complete Help menu systems. Here is an example of what UPK looks like once deployed via the Browser based player.

(Click for Larger Image)

This is a blank UPK Browser based player with no content. You are able to brand the browser based player with a logo, however as far as the color I will get back to you on that one.

UPK Resources?

I have noticed that resources on the User Productivity Kit are very scarce!

If you do a search of all posts in the the Forum in Oracle Metalink it returns only 2 posts!

I am shocked on the limited resources. Anyhow, I am currently installing and configuring UPK and will be deploying it with Oracle Tutor for our implementation.

I will post a step by step guide on how to setup UPK for deployment via an html website.

coming soon…

Introduction to UPK

The User Productivity Kit or UPK is an advanced screen capture tool that aids your roll out of an ERP system. From what I understand this application was geared towards PeopleSoft. However, after Oracle’s acqusition of PeopleSoft they decided to developed extensions for UPK to work with the E-Business Suite(a few other apps as well).

UPK can assist with creation of critical documentation, training, and support materials. The User Productivity Kit provides business process documentation, UAT scripts, training materials, and an interactive content media player.

UPK has 9 forms of output that include:

• Business Process Document
• Testing Document
• Job Aid
• Training Guide
• Instructor Manual

4 Interactive Modes

• See It Mode
• Try It Mode
• Know It Mode
• Do It Mode

For more information on UPK:

User Productivity Kit