Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework or DIF in short bring you the design time framework to develop desktop integration solutions for Oracle E-Business Suite applications.This is important enhancement for Oracle 12.1.2.

If we look at high level architecture of Desktop Integration Framework, we see that it’s a design time framework, that lets you define integrator, interface, content, components and business rules for EBS applications across product families. And it leverages, Oracle Web ADI’s integrator services and metadata repository for its execution.

On a very high level, you can say Desktop Integration Framework features are:

• A wizard based UI used tocreate and manage desktop integrators.
• It has ability to define integrator that can upload data through PL/SQL API or directly to database table.
• It has ability to define integrator that can download data from text file or based on a SQL query.
• It has ability to define data validation rules that ensure data integrity
• It has ability to define UI components, so that you can embed EBS UI widgets such as LOVs, pop-lists, date pickers and flex fields in Excel.
• You can leverage EBS security model – SSO integration compliant solution.
• It has ability to consume integrator definition and create document within business flow.
• It has ability to define layouts, mappings for custom integrators.

What are the key components

Important one is Integrator

Integrator is metadata that encapsulates all information required to move data to and from desktop application into Oracle E-Business Suite. An Integrator definition may include information about open interface tables, validation, business rules, and data that can be downloaded.

In order to enable Developers to create and manage integrators, there is new responsibility called Desktop Integration Manager. So, user (say an Integration Developer) can create, update and delete custom integrators from EBS UI.

From Manage Integrators screen, you can search and view list of integrators. You can select an integrator and define layout and mappings for it.

Lets look at the screenshots below:

So, here we have new responsibility – Desktop Integration Manager

It has 4 functions – Manage Integrators, Create Integrator, Manage Components and Define Parameter.

When you clicks on Manage Integrator, Integrators page is displayed.

Now you can search integrator by name, internal name or code, application to which it belongs to, on its status – whether it is enabled or not. on UI Source is a column that indicates whether its Oracle seeded or custom created integrator.

As you can see in the above screenshot, search results for integrators belonging to Application Object Library is displayed. The Update and Delete icons for Custom integrator is enabled, whereas its disabled for Source ‘Oracle’ integrators.

Now, next question you have how user can create integrator.

Its very simple. As mention earlier, Desktop Integration Framework provides wizard based UI to create integrator.

you can access this wizard either by clicking ‘Create Integrator’ function from Desktop Integration Manager responsibility or by clicking Create Integrator button in Integrators list page.

The first step in the wizard is to define integrator related properties – such as its name, internal name, to which application the integrator belongs to, whether its used for reporting only, its status – whether it is enabled or not. Then, there is a check box to indicate whether Integrator should be listed in Create Document page flow of Desktop Integration responsibility. Its very simple.

If this option is left unchecked, the integrator will not be available from Create Document function in Desktop Integration responsibility. However, the user can integrate the generate spreadsheet functionality within application functional page flow. Web ADI is used in the background to generate the spreadsheet or desktop document.

Then, you can select and expand Integrator Parameters section, which holds a list of parameters.

Then, you can define function based security rules. You have LOV to help user search and select a function. Also, please note, Integrators with Enabled status as Yes are available for end-user in their business flow.

Now lets understand , the Integrator Parameters(look at the expanded view in above figure)..typically these are set of parameters that are defined by Integration Developer depending upon business requirement. These parameters are used by Integrator and Web ADI at run-time.

At the run-time, when end-user is done with data-entry and wants to upload the data to Oracle E-Business Suite. End-user clicks on Upload sub-menu under Oracle menu in Excel, then Upload Page is displayed. It has various options like which rows to upload (All or flagged), whether to validate data while uploading, whether to initiate import program to move uploaded data from interface tables to base tables.

• Importer Parameters are used to define rules for importing data.
• Upload & Server Parameters are used to define Upload Page that is displayed to end-user, and for back-end upload service.
• Document Parameters are set of parameters required for creating document. It could be used to prompt end-user at run-time or programmatically pass them at run-time.
• Session Parameters are used to define values that are to be stored with the document for the lifecycle of document, that is, for document’s session

Next Security Rules:

As mentioned earlier , user can define function based security rules for an integrator. It ensures that end-users who have access to assigned function can only, create document of integrator.

Process Flow of Desktop Integration Framework:

In order to define custom desktop integrators the process remain same as earlier in WebADI. the steps are :

1. Define Integrator properties,
2. Create Interface
3. Create Content
4. Define Layout
5. Define Mappings
6. Create Document

Next few slides you can see the navigation steps with screen snapshots:

If required, Create Content for integrator. There may be scenarios wherein you may want to define integrator for only data entry purpose that is only for uploading data to E-Business Suite, then you may not need to create content.

Next is Interface

As fourth step, create layout for the integrator. Then create mapping for the integrator. Finally, create document using the integrator definition.

next is query