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The Action Link Menu Properties dialog
is displayed.
b. Select the action link that contains the condition and click the Edit button.
The Action Link Properties dialog
is displayed.
3. Click the More button to the right of the Condition field and then:
■
To edit a condition, select Edit Condition to display the Edit Condition
dialog and make the desired changes. For more information on completing
the Edit Condition dialog, see Specifying the Settings for Conditions
.
■
To test a condition, select Test Condition. The evaluation results are displayed.
■
To save an inline condition to the catalog as a named condition, select Save Condition As
to display the Save As dialog
.
■
To remove a condition, select Remove Condition. 4.
Click OK in the Action Link Properties dialog. 5.
If the action link is in an action link menu, then click OK in the Action Link Menu Properties dialog.
6.
Save the dashboard.
Editing, Testing, Saving, and Removing Conditions Used in Sections in Dashboard Pages
You can perform the following tasks on conditions that are used in sections in dashboard pages:
■
Edit conditions
■
Test conditions to see whether the conditions evaluate to true or false
■
Save inline conditions to the catalog as named conditions and save named conditions to the catalog by other names
■
Remove conditions
To edit, test, save, or remove a condition used in a section in a dashboard page: 1.
Edit the dashboard page that contains the section.
2.
Hover over the section in the Page Layout area to display the section’s toolbar, click the Properties button for the section, and select Condition. The
Section Condition dialog
is displayed.
3. Click the More button to the right of the Condition field and then:
■
To edit a condition, select Edit Condition to display the Edit Condition
dialog and make the desired changes. For more information on completing
the Edit Condition dialog, see Specifying the Settings for Conditions
.
■
To test a condition, select Test Condition. The evaluation results are displayed.
■
To save an inline condition to the catalog as a named condition, select Save Condition As
to display the Save As dialog
.
■
To remove a condition, select Remove Condition. 4.
Save the dashboard.
10
Working with Actions 10-1
10
Working with Actions
This chapter describes actions and explains how you work with them. It contains the following topics:
■
What Are Actions?
■
What Are Action Links and Action Link Menus?
■
What Action Types Are Available?
■
Who Can Create Actions?
■
Where Can I Add Actions?
■
What Are Named Actions?
■
What Are Inline Actions?
■
How Will Actions Created in Previous Releases Be Upgraded?
■
What Are Action Parameters?
■
About Conditionally Enabling Actions
■
About Customizing Information Displayed to Users on Action Execution
■
Creating Named Actions
■
Specifying the Settings for New Actions
■
Adding Actions to Analyses
■
About Adding Actions to Dashboard Pages
■
Adding Actions to Dashboard Pages Using Action Links
■
Adding Actions to Dashboard Pages Using Action Link Menus
■
Adding Actions to Agents
■
Adding Actions to KPIs
■
Adding Actions to Initiatives and Objectives in Scorecards
■
Creating a New Action Based on an Existing Named Action
■
Editing Named Actions
■
Editing Actions and Action Links Added to Analyses
■
Editing Actions, Action Links, and Action Link Menus Added to Dashboard Pages
■
Editing Actions Added to Agents
■
Editing Actions and Action Links Added to KPIs
10-2 Oracle Fusion Middleware Users Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
■
Editing Actions and Actions Links Added to Initiatives and Objectives in Scorecards
■
Saving Inline Actions in Analyses to the Catalog
■
Saving Inline Actions in Dashboards to the Catalog
■
Executing a Named Action to Test It
What Are Actions?
Actions provide functionality to:
■
Navigate to related content
■
Invoke operations, functions, or processes in external systems You can include actions in analyses, dashboard pages, agents, scorecard objectives,
scorecard initiatives, and KPIs. Actions can be executed:
■
Explicitly by end users who click action links that are embedded within:
– Analyses on column headings, column values, and hierarchy level values and
in certain views, such as graphs
– Dashboard pages
– Content delivered by agents
– Scorecards in Cause Effect Maps, Custom Views, Strategy Tree Views,
Strategy Maps, KPIs, and KPI watchlists.
– KPI analyses
■
Automatically, as the final step of an agent
■
Directly from the Home page
or from the Catalog page
For example, a sales director wants to meet with the sales manager of any region where sales drop below a certain threshold. You might embed an action object into the
sales director’s dashboard to enable the sales managers to schedule such a meeting simply by clicking a link. Or, you could use an agent to schedule the meeting
automatically as soon as the sales threshold is passed.
What Are Action Links and Action Link Menus?
An action link is a link to an action that you have embedded in an analysis, dashboard page, scorecard objective, scorecard initiative, or KPI that, when clicked, runs an
associated action.
Figure 10–1 shows an analysis to which an action link has been added to column
values. When you hover the mouse pointer over a column value for example, Touch-Screen T5 in this figure, the column value is displayed as a link. Clicking the
link executes the associated action.
Working with Actions 10-3
Figure 10–1 Example of an Action Link Added to an Analysis
In analyses, KPIs, scorecard objectives, and scorecard initiatives, multiple action links are displayed in a list.
Figure 10–2 shows an analysis to which a list of action links
Display Map View, Send E-mail to Manager, and Open Index Page has been added to column values. When you hover the mouse pointer over a column value for example,
Touch-Screen T5 in this figure, the list is displayed. Clicking a link in the list executes the associated action.
Figure 10–2 Example of Multiple Action Links Added to an Analysis
On a dashboard page, you can add action links as standalone links or you can group multiple action links together on action link menus. An action link menu lets users
select, from a list of action links, the appropriate action to be executed based on the business insight that they gained from the data.
Additionally, you can conditionally show each action link, depending on the data. This powerful functionality enables you to set up context-sensitive menus that present
users with the appropriate next steps based on the data that is displayed. For more information on conditionally showing action links, see
About Conditionally Enabling Actions
. Action links that you add to analyses are displayed to users in the following views:
■
Tables
■
Pivot tables
■
Graphs
■
Funnel graphs
■
Gauges
■
Map views For information about views, see
Chapter 3, Adding Views for Display in Dashboards.
Action links that you add to scorecard objectives and initiatives are displayed to users in the following scorecard views:
■
Cause effect maps
10-4 Oracle Fusion Middleware Users Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
■
Custom views
■
Strategy trees
■
Strategy maps
■
KPI watchlists Action links that you add to KPIs are displayed to users in KPI analyses.
What Action Types Are Available?
The types of actions that are available are categorized into two groups: those that navigate to related content and those that invoke operations, functions, or processes in
external systems.
Privileges control which types of actions you can create. You might be able to create only navigate-type actions, only invoke-type actions, or both navigate- and
invoke-type actions. Or, you might be able to only execute actions if they exist as shared objects in the catalog or in a shared object, for example in a dashboard or
analysis. For more information, see
Who Can Create Actions? In addition, where you can an add an action depends on its type. For information, see
Where Can I Add Actions?
Actions that Navigate to Related Content
The following list identifies and describes the types of actions that navigate to related content:
■
Navigate to BI Content — Navigates to an analysis, a specific dashboard page, or
dashboard.
■
Navigate to a Web Page — Navigates to a specified URL.
■
Navigate to EPM Content — Navigates to Financial Reporting content.
This action type requires some configuration before it is available. For information on the required configuration, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Integrators Guide for
Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
■
Navigate to E-Business Suite — Navigates to an Oracle E-Business Suite page or
form. You use this type of action to allow users to navigate back to an Oracle E-Business Suite page or form after they have first logged in to Oracle E-Business
Suite and then accessed Oracle BI EE.
This action type requires some configuration before it is available. For information on the required configuration, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Integrators Guide for
Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
■
Navigate to Siebel CRM — Navigates to a view such as an opportunity in a
Siebel CRM application. You use this type of action to allow users to navigate from a dashboard that is embedded in a Siebel CRM application to a record in a view in
the CRM application.
This action type requires some configuration before it is available. For information on the required configuration, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Integrators Guide for
Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
Working with Actions 10-5
Actions that Invoke Operations, Functions or Processes in External Systems
The following list identifies and describes the types of actions that invoke operations, functions, or processes in external systems:
■
Invoke a Web Service — Invokes a Web Service operation or any SOA service that
is exposed as a Web Service for example, a Business Process Execution Language BPEL process in the Oracle SOA Suite that is exposed as a Web Service.
This action type requires some configuration before you can use it. For information on the required configuration, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Integrators
Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
■
Invoke a Java Method — Invokes a Java method in an Enterprise Java Bean EJB.
This action type requires some configuration before you can use it. For information on the required configuration, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Integrators
Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
■
Invoke a Browser Script — Invokes a JavaScript function from the client Web
browser. This action type requires some configuration before you can use it. For
information on the required configuration, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Integrators Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
■
Invoke Server Script — Executes a custom script when the current agent
completes. The custom script type can be either Javascript or VBScript.
■
Invoke an HTTP Request
— Sends an HTTP request through the server to a target URL. This action type is used to invoke external systems that are exposed by URL
APIs.
■
Invoke Agent
— Invokes another agent. This action type lets you chain agents. For example, you can have Agent A invoke Agent B, which invokes Agent C and
so on.
■
Invoke Java Jobs
— Executes a custom Java program action that was created in a previous release prior to 11g and upgraded in this release. You cannot create this
type of action. See How Will Actions Created in Previous Releases Be
Upgraded? This action type is read-only.
Note: You can use this action type to invoke the
USERSCRIPT.ADFAction function, which lets you add an action to an Application Development Framework ADF page that represents an
ADF process or operation.
For more information, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Integrators Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
Note:
This action supports custom script actions when the server is running on Microsoft Windows. For other platforms including
Windows, consider using the Invoke Java Method EJB or Invoke Web Services action.
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Who Can Create Actions?
The ability to create actions is controlled by the following action privileges, which are managed by the administrator:
■
Create Navigate Actions — Grants the right to create actions that navigate to
related content.
■
Create Invoke Actions — Grants the right to create actions that invoke operations,
functions, and processes to external systems.
■
Save Actions containing embedded HTML — Used in conjunction with the
Create Invoke Actions privilege, grants the right to embed HTML code in the customization of the results of a Invoke Web Service action.
By default, these action privileges are granted to the administrator. For information about privileges, see Managing Presentation Services Privileges in
Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. For information about permissions, see
Chapter 13, Managing Objects in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog.
Where Can I Add Actions?
Where you can add an action depends on its type. You can add some types to analyses, dashboard pages, agents, scorecard objectives, scorecard initiatives, and KPIs, while
others you can add only to agents or only to analyses, dashboard pages, scorecard objectives, scorecard initiatives, and KPIs.
Table 10–1 lists the types of actions and
identifies where you can add each type.
Table 10–1 Action Types and Where You Can Add Them
Action Type Add to Analysis, Dashboard
Pages, Scorecard Objectives, Scorecard initiatives, and KPIs
Add to Agents
Navigate to EPM Content Yes
No Navigate to BI Content
Yes No
Navigate to a Web Page Yes
No Navigate to E-Business Suite
Yes No
Navigate to Siebel CRM Yes
No Invoke a Web Service
Yes Yes
Invoke a Java Method Yes
Yes Invoke a Browser Script
Yes No
Invoke an HTTP Request Yes
Yes Invoke Agent
No Yes
Invoke Server Script No
Yes
Note: For this action type,
the server must be running on Microsoft Windows.
Invoke Java Jobs No
Yes
Working with Actions 10-7
What Are Named Actions?
A named action is an action that you define and then save by name in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog so that you can reuse it. You can also reuse a named action as a
template to create another named action.
You can save all types of actions to the catalog except Invoke Agent, Invoke Server Script, and Invoke Java Jobs.
For example, suppose that you frequently want to include navigation to your organizations Web site in analyses and dashboard pages that you are designing. You
can create an action that navigates to the URL and save it to the catalog. Then as you create analyses and dashboard pages, you can add this named action to them.
You create a named action when you create a new action from the:
■
New menu on the global toolbar by clicking Action and then selecting one of the
action types for example, Navigate to a Web Page.
■
Home page by clicking Action in the Create area and then selecting one of the action types for example, Navigate to BI Content.
You can also create a new named action from a dashboard, an analysis, or a KPI. You do so by creating an inline action and then, to keep it, saving it to the catalog. For
information on inline actions, see What Are Inline Actions?
What Are Inline Actions?
An inline action is an action that you define at the point of use and do not save by name in the catalog. Instead, it is saved as part of the analysis, dashboard page, agent,
scorecard objective, scorecard initiative, or KPI.
An inline action is automatically deleted when the analysis, dashboard page, agent, scorecard objective, scorecard initiative, or KPI that contains it is deleted. This
simplifies catalog management for actions that make sense only within particular BI content.
For example, suppose that you are designing a dashboard page and want to invoke an EJB that you plan to use only once. You can create an action that invokes the EJB at
that point and then add it to the page. When you save the dashboard, the action is saved with it.
You create an inline action when you:
■
Create or edit an agent and add a new action to run when the agents finishes. For information, see
Adding Actions to Agents .
■
Edit a dashboard page and add a new action to the page using an action link or an action link menu.
For information see About Adding Actions to Dashboard Pages
.
■
Create or edit an analysis and add a new action to a column heading, column value, or hierarchy level value using an action link.
For information, see Adding Actions to Analyses
.
■
Create or edit a KPI and add a new action to the KPI using an action link. For information, see
Adding Actions to KPIs .
■
Create or edit an initiative or objective in a scorecard and add a new action to the initiative or objective using an action link.
10-8 Oracle Fusion Middleware Users Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
For information, see Adding Actions to Initiatives and Objectives in Scorecards
.
How Will Actions Created in Previous Releases Be Upgraded?
In previous releases prior to 11g of Oracle BI Enterprise Edition, you could use the Advanced tab to specify one or more actions to execute when an iBot completed or
create action links that allowed end users to navigate from their dashboards to a record in a Siebel operational application.
If you upgrade from a previous release prior to 11g, then these actions are upgraded as follows:
■
Custom script actions that were attached to Release 10g iBots on the Advanced tab of the iBot definition are upgraded to Invoke Server Script actions.
■
Custom Java program actions are upgraded to Invoke Java Jobs actions and continue to run as before. However, these actions are read-only. For any new
custom code that you want to run on the server, use the Invoke Java Method EJB action or the Invoke Web Services action.
■
Actions that linked to Siebel operational applications are upgraded to Navigate to Siebel CRM actions.
■
Siebel workflow actions are not upgraded. To achieve equivalent functionality for an action that invoked a workflow in a previous release prior to 11g, it is
recommended that you expose the workflow as a Web service, and then create an Invoke a Web Service action.
What Are Action Parameters?
Action parameters are used to pass data from Oracle BI EE to the operations or processes that are represented by actions:
■
For actions that invoke Web Service operations, the parameters correspond to the simple types defined as attributes and simple elements or complex elements
deconstructed into their simple type components within the input message of a Web service operation and are read from the Web Service Definition Language
WSDL that defines the operation and any parameters on that operation.
■
For actions that invoke a Java method, browser script, or server script, the parameters correspond to the arguments on the method.
■
For actions that navigate to a Web page or invoke an HTTP Request, the parameters correspond to the parameters passed through from the URL.
When creating a named action or when associating an action with an object such as a column on an analysis, you can specify whether a parameter is:
■
Fixed
— A fixed parameter can be seen but its value cannot be set by a user.
■
Hidden
— A hidden parameter cannot be seen and its value cannot be set by a user. Note that hidden does not mean that the parameter is secure.
■
Optional
— An optional parameter does not require a value in order for the action to be executed.
About Conditionally Enabling Actions
You can conditionally enable actions that are added to:
■
Analyses. See About Conditionally Enabling Actions Added to Analyses
.
Working with Actions 10-9
■
Dashboard pages. See About Conditionally Enabling Actions Added to
Dashboard Pages .
■
Agents. See About Conditionally Enabling Actions Added to Agents
. Actions that are added to KPIs are associated with KPI ranges so they are enabled
conditionally because of their definitions. Likewise for actions that are added to scorcecards, because they are associated with states of initiatives and objectives.
About Conditionally Enabling Actions Added to Analyses
When you add an action to an analysis, you can specify that its associated action link is to be displayed only when one or more conditions are met. You do this by selecting
one or more columns in the analysis to use and specifying the condition to meet. The steps to specify a condition are very similar to those used for conditional formatting.
For example, in an analysis that shows sales figures by regions, you can specify that an action link Send E-mail to Regional Manager is to be displayed only if sales figures
drop below a certain amount.
About Conditionally Enabling Actions Added to Dashboard Pages
When you add an action to a dashboard page, you can specify that its associated action link is to be displayed only when a certain condition is satisfied. You do this by
specifying a condition either a named or inline that is to be satisfied.
For example, in a dashboard page that displays stock levels for products, you can specify that an action link Order Stock is to be displayed only if stock levels are low for
a given product.
Using conditional action links on an action link menu lets you display different sets of actions to users, depending on the data in dashboard pages. For example, in a
dashboard page that displays stock levels for products, you can add an action link menu that contains the following action links:
■
Order Stock and Stop Advertising, if stock levels are zero for a given product
■
Order Stock, if stock levels are low for a given product
■
No actions, if the stock levels are adequate for a given product For more information on action links, see
What Are Action Links and Action Link Menus?
For more information on conditions, see Chapter 9, Working with
Conditions.
About Conditionally Enabling Actions Added to Agents
While you primarily use an agents condition to determine whether the agent delivers its content or not, you can also use it to determine if the agent executes its actions.
When you add an action to an agent, you can specify that the action is to be executed only when a certain condition is satisfied. You do this by adding a condition either
inline or named to the agent, and then specifying whether you want the action to be executed:
■
Only if the agent condition evaluates to true
■
Only if the agent condition evaluates to false For some actions, you can also specify whether to execute the action for each row that
is returned by the condition. Note that Invoke Server Script actions and Invoke Agent
10-10 Oracle Fusion Middleware Users Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
actions cannot be executed per row of the result set. In addition, if one of the action parameters is a result set mapping, then it cannot be executed per row.
For example, you could add an action to an agent that automatically kicks off a new marketing campaign and specify that it is to be executed only if a condition that
evaluates whether sales for a region drop below 2,000,000 is true.
For more information on conditions, see Chapter 9, Working with Conditions.
About Customizing Information Displayed to Users on Action Execution
You can customize information to display to users when they run actions. Specifically, you can:
■
Specify whether to display a confirmation prompt to users when they execute the action.
■
Customize a dialog that is displayed to users when they need to supply action parameter values before the action is executed.
■
Customize an invocation successful message that is displayed to users, or, for an Invoke a Web Service action, you can customize a dialog to display information
about the results of the action.
■
Customize an invocation failure message that is displayed to users. You use the
Action Options dialog to customize this information when you create or
edit an action. See Specifying the Settings for New Actions
.
Creating Named Actions
You can create named actions if you have the appropriate privileges, which content designers can add to analyses, dashboard pages, agents, scorecard objectives,
scorecard initiatives, and KPIs.
For more information about named actions, see What Are Named Actions?
To create a named action: 1.
In the global header, click New, select Action under Actionable Intelligence, and then select the type of action to create.
The Create New Action dialog
is displayed.
2.
Complete the New Action dialog. For information, see Specifying the Settings for
New Actions .
Specifying the Settings for New Actions
You specify the settings for a new action in the Create New Action dialog
displayed as the New Action dialog for agents and dashboards, and Add New Action dialog for
scorecards, when you do any of the following tasks:
■
Creating Named Actions
■
Adding Actions to Analyses
■
About Adding Actions to Dashboard Pages
■
Adding Actions to Agents
■
Adding Actions to KPIs
Working with Actions 10-11
■
Adding Actions to Initiatives and Objectives in Scorecards To specify the settings for a new action:
1. Click the Create New Action button displayed as the Add New Action button in