XML Publisher

One of the good things that were introduced in 11.5.10 was XML publisher (XDO).Though you can install XML publisher with any version of 11i after applying the require pre requisite patches, it comes bundled with 11.5.10 version of Oracle Applications onwards.

XML publisher is a java based tool which uses data definitions and templates to generate a output of a report in a desired format such as in PDF. It is based on the W3C Extensible Style sheet Language (XSL) and uses XSLFO to convert data into a formatting object. A strong feature of the XML publisher is that it allows extensive customization of Oracle Applications reports by making use of templates without requiring high level of technical skills.

You can install XML publisher during the Oracle Applications (11.5.10) installation or register the product later on using license manager through Oracle Applications Manager (OAM).

In case your oracle Applications release is 11.5.9 or earlier you must follow the steps stated in metalink note id 278727.1 to install XML Publisher.

The XML publisher also comes with a desktop component. Two main components of the XML publisher desktop component are template builder and template viewer.

The template builder can be integrated with desktop tools like word. Once installed, you get additional features to automate the process of template creation like generation of SQL etc.

The XML publisher essentially comprises of the following modules

Data Definition-The XML engine acts as a single point to fulfill all reporting needs for an organization.

Data Layout/Templates-Templates and the final layout are managed within the XML publisher using a Template Manager, these can be customized using desktop tools like MS Word, excel or Adobe Acrobat. The template manager is also responsible for registering your new templates before they can be used with XML publisher.

Translation - The XML publisher uses the translation handler to do the required translation at runtime. It can also convert the output into a XLIFF format which can be used by 3rd party translation companies.

Delivery - The delivery manager is responsible to deliver the output to different destinations like printers,EDI,email etc. The delivery manager also provides flexibility by delivering the same output to different destinations like HTML format can be sent to email while a PDF format sent to the printer.

XML publisher allows conditional formatting of the output by using XSL or XSL:FO code. Additionally XML publisher can also be used to perform b2b communication by using the XML Data Engine.

As i stated before the XML publisher can also be used to generate output that can be used for EDI or EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer).To use this feature you must use a eText template. These templates are comprised of a series of tables which contain commands and data field definitions.

If you have applied the consolidated update 1 or above you can generate the output using XML publisher through the concurrent request directly by selecting the appropriate template in the concurrent program definition. Incase you have not applied the CU 1 you must first run the concurrent request to generate the XML report and then run a concurrent request to publish the request.

The behavior of XML publisher can be controlled through a set f properties, these properties can be set through the XML publisher administrator interface or you can use the XML publisher properties file xdo.cfg. This file can be located at /resource or alternately at JRE_TOP>/jre/lib.

To check weather XML publisher is installed or not you can query the FND_PRODUCT_INSTALLATIONS table or you can lookup the reports in Oracle Applications Manager. You can find out the version for your XML publisher from the output of your report or from MetaInfo.class file.

$OA_JAVA/oracle/apps/xdo/common/MetaInfo.class.