Sunday, November 30, 2014

Weekend Learning: Payables Newsletter Archive

Have you ever wanted to know more about the Oracle EBS Payables module?  Then sign up for the Payables Newsletter after you browse the backlog of THREE years of articles by navigating to the MOS document "Payables Newsletter Archive" found via note ID 214.1!

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Weekend Learning: Root shell and safety

Did you know that changing the default shell for the root user can be extremely dangerous and if you do it wrong you need to boot off of CD-ROM?  Check out the MOS article "The safe way to change root's default shell" from document ID 1018012.1 so you do not totally toast your system by trying to set your preferences!

Friday, November 28, 2014

Weekend Learning: JMS queues and SOA suite

Have you ever wanted to learn about using a JMS queue for several different message types?  How about learning how this gets developed so that you can eventually support something like this?  Then Antony Reynolds' post is for you and has some great visuals too!

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Weekend Learning: OEM Patching 101

As some of us recover from turkey induced comas, let me share with you a post from Courtney Llamas from the Oracle OEM blog about patching.  Maybe being in a support type role, you may not have to support OEM, but there is a chance you have some level of access in the tool so you may want to know more about patching for it.  Not using OEM?  You might find this post useful with the breakdown she gives, and think about how it can apply to the other systems you support and if you could write such a concise and accurate patch strategy at your shop.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

R12.1.3 Assets: Encountering APP-OF-48395 when backdating retirement

Find out how to resolve the problem MOS article "Unable to Issue a Backdated Retirement due to: APP-OF-48395" in note ID 1940140.1 details when the business is trying to retire an asset and they encounter these error messages asking them to change the retirement date.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

R12 Payables: Open Interface output not displaying rejected invoices

Add one more to your suite of test cases!  MOS document "R12 Payables Open Interface Output Does Not Display Invoices That Are Rejected Due To Being Future-Dated And Whose GL Date Is Null" article ID 1945445.1 has the details including the patches on both R12.1 and R12.2 codelines, why ORA-01400 errors are showing up when debug mode is on, and what state items in AP_INVOICES_INTERFACE have to be in for this issue to show up.

Monday, November 24, 2014

R12.2.3: AME works for a single OU

Tonight is a new bug on EBS R12.2.3 in Internet Expenses where AME rules work for just a single OU (Operating Unit).  The My Oracle Support article "AME Rule Is Working For Only One Operating Unit" in document ID 1947632.1 has the resolution and surprisingly it is NOT a patch this time!  Find out the easy fix for this and how to keep it on your checklist for future upgrades!

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Weekend Learning: Internet Expenses - Information Center

Are you staying on top of patches and information related to the Oracle EBS Internet Expenses module?  If not, make sure you bookmark the MOS page "Information Center: Oracle Internet Expenses" from note ID 1381228.2 this weekend!!

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Weekend Learning: Learning or Obsolescence?

This is an interesting post tonight, because I think most people actively following my blog would fall into the learning category of individuals, but the post from Matthew Morris on actively learning really does hit home for me as I have been using the blog to push myself to keep learning or discussing something every night so that I stretch myself beyond my comfort zone.  Last month I said how I would have had my younger self blog immediately after getting into this field, but another thing I would have told that younger self would have been: shoot for getting certified, but do not fall into the trap of thinking that is the only way you can learn about or become knowledgeable about Oracle technologies.  I feel like I have made plans over the past 3-5 years about getting certified because that was the only path available to me that I could actually map out where the random piecing together (or blogging) of information has actually given me a lot of knowledge that likely would not have been sussed out from certification.

Do I want to get certified some day?  Sure I do!  Am I okay not completing a certification in exchange for completing other tasks like new presentations, new conferences, or my random learning through the blog?  You bet I am!  I think I have finally come to terms with making my own path here through the Oracle technology jungle, with ANY progress being good because it means that I am not being paralyzed into inaction by "failing" to meet a path I set for myself.  That is why I think Matthew's article hit home so much, and why I think you might enjoy it.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Weekend Learning: Maximum open cursors with JDBC 12.1.0.2

Were you aware that "overuse" of the OracleDatabaseMetaData.getTables method in JDBC 12.1.0.2 causes an ORA-01000 error to happen?  "ORA-01000: Maximum Open Cursors Exceeded With OracleDatabaseMetaData.getTables In JDBC 12.1.0.2" in My Oracle Support via document ID 1939417.1 tells the whole (but short) story and which version of the driver has this issue fixed.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

COLLABORATE 15: Accepted!!!

A few months ago I wrote about submitting abstracts for OAUG's COLLABORATE 15 conference and today I received notification for one of my abstracts being accepted!!  Now the clock is ticking for me to flesh out my presentation and start work on the whitepaper, but I have a whole three months to get it done so I will be seeing you in April at the Mandalay Bay!  Get in on the early bird pricing for the conference and the hotels as well!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Assets: Journal entry creation generates ERROR in posting

I know a lot of my posts recently are focused on R12.1.3, but not tonight!  Were you aware of this MOS article "FAPOST Create Journal Entries Ends with ERROR occurred in posting routine" found by note ID 1672917.1?  It appears to be a problem with consolidated retirement issues and a one-off fix was generated so you may need to be applying this some day when you encounter the issue on 11.5.10.2 and after!

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

R12.1.3: Workflow error after RPC2

In My Oracle Support document "You Have Encountered An Error In The Worklist Notifications" from note ID 1946243.1 we learn that after applying Recommended Patch Collection 2 (and the prerequisites) an error message including "OANullDBTransactionImpl cannot be cast" is encountered.  What is the problem here?  It seems that this is related to a browser issue, so plan ahead now for when you have to apply RPC2.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Customizing different heap sizes for multiple WebLogic servers

Were you aware that it is possible to give different servers in your WebLogic domain different heap size values?  I did not know that either until I read MOS document "How to Customize Different Heap Sizes for Different Servers in a WebLogic Domain" found via note ID 1924617.1 for how to change the JVM heap to be the same for all servers in the domain and also how to specify different JVM memory values between Admin and the managed servers in the domain.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Weekend Learning: Complex ATG application design

Being in a Support type role, it probably is not necessary to understand ATG application design but I can tell you that after reading this article from the Oracle Customer Experience blog there are some things which make a lot more sense.  If you had ever wondered about how different pieces are designed to fit together or want to get a few pointers to help shape the integration between your own parts of the application then give the article a once over.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Weekend Learning: Inside Cary Millsap's learning

Earlier this year, Cary posted a really great article about how he learned so much about "Oracle" and I recommend that you read it (and take it to heart) if you are just getting started with Oracle technology.  While I am of course nowhere near where Cary is, I think it is very interesting how his path mirrors how my path went because of how much he was in the field and in Support that is my entire life every day.  What is pretty different is how he saw the application causing the majority of the problems while a lot of what I see is the database having problems or not understanding the interaction between the two.  Also do yourself a favor and follow each and every blogger Cary listed, all of them you can find on my blog roll, because it is important to practice continuous learning!

I learned a new book to read from reading his article, with a few other takeaways too.  What did you take away from this?

Friday, November 14, 2014

Weekend Learning: JDBC driver cursor leak on 11.2.0.4

Do you know how sometimes you can stumble across a solution for a problem, when you are not even looking for it?  Well let me introduce you to My Oracle Support document "Cursor Leak After Upgrading to JDBC Driver 11.2.0.4" via note ID 1939530.1 and ask if you have been having problem with "middleware" or "web services" after upgrading to 11.2.0.4?  We are not on 11.2.0.4 YET, but on 11.2.0.3 we have had some issues with memory leaks so this type of issue could be the next condition we encounter so now I am aware of it and can potentially start looking for it when we start upgrading (and testing).  Luckily we have not had the ORA-01000 errors indicated in this article, but forewarned is forearmed.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Hinting the RESULT_CACHE in 12c

Tonight, we learn from a recent article by Christian Antognini about having a new undocumented parameter for the RESULT_CACHE hint!  While the obvious lessons (the RESULT_CACHE hint, the undocumented parameter) are in front of us, what is less obvious is examining in our own environments the table he investigates: v$result_cache_objects.  Will it solve a problem for you tomorrow?  Not very likely, but we need to keep adding to our toolboxes no?  A few years ago I would not be using v$sqlarea, v$session_longops, or any number of specific v$ objects if it was not for encountering them in one off instances but then revisiting them and learning from what they did or did not tell me.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Hyperion: Level 0 Members of alternate hierarchy cannot be selected

Were you aware that on Hyperion Planning 11.1.2.1 the Level 0 Members of the alternate hierarchy cannot be accessed with SmartView via Member Selection?  Visit MOS note "Unable To Access Level 0 Members Of Alternate Hierarchy Through Member Selection Using Smart View" via document ID 1625343.1 to find out why this is expected, and what the resolution will be for it.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Magical Mystery Event Tour: Part 3

Continuing the series of posts on mysterious wait events comes another today from 12c which appeared and then disappeared all by itself.  Our friend tonight is "acknowledge over PGA limit" and the wait event does not show up in the new version of the Description of Wait Events for 12c.  Sure, the wait event SOUNDS straightforward but if it was AND common OR easily replication why does it not get an entry in the wait event listing?

When I find out more about this wait event, I will post a new article!

Monday, November 10, 2014

Learn more about JVMs by tuning with JVM Diagnostics

I think we have all been there.  Garbage Collection (GC) for Java Virtual Machines are chewing up your server processing power and once they are done with the server they need to be rebooted.  Instead of a perpetual "throw memory at it" type of solution, take a gander at this post from Oracle.  Were you aware that the JVMD (Java Virtual Machine Diagnostics) tool was part of Oracle Enterprise Manager which is licensed with several other Management Packs?  Is this already in your environment, licensed, and just sitting there gathering dust?  What if you cannot use the tool?  Read the post anyways, and learn about things like "Eden space" or different algorithms to use for your GC!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Weekend Learning: 32/64-bit OS, Internet Explorer and Excel checks

Capping our weekend learning comes some very simple version check information for the OS, Internet Explorer and Excel.  Visit My Oracle Support document "How To Check To See If IE Or Excel Is Running In 32-bit Or 64-bit Mode?" via article ID 1321637.1 to see how to check this information.  Will it be something you use tomorrow?  Probably not, but would you rather know how to check this when the time comes?  I think so!

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Weekend Learning: Fixed Assets News Index

Did you know that the monthly FA newsletter stopped in November 2013?  Did you know that those newsletters have been archived via MOS article "Oracle Fixed Assets Product News Index" in note ID 155511.1?  Did you ALSO know that going forward the FA newsletter has been rolled into the Oracle EBS blog as one of the categories of posts?  Visit the referenced MOS article and get up to speed on everything!

Friday, November 7, 2014

Weekend Learning: R12 Release Content Documents

Did you know there is an article on My Oracle Support that collates the release documentation for the different modules of the R12 EBS application?  I did not know that either!  Go to note ID 1302189.1 and bookmark the article "R12.1 / R12.2 : Oracle E-Business Suite Releases 12.1 and 12.2 Release Content Documents" which was just updated a few days ago.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Challenges and thoughts on Big Data/Data Quality

Take in the article here to catch up on FIVE major factors that you need to consider for Big Data or Data Quality.  These are challenges, thoughts, and ideas that you really should have percolating in the back of your mind when you have to deal with either Big Data or Data Quality issues.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Big Data and Data Management

Are you using Big Data?  Do you know how to combine Data Management principles with Big Data to take a bigger step forward?  Visit this article on the subject and then follow the link within to read the C-CENTRAL article to get on the same page as CIO's about this issue!  Getting on the same page as your CIO will certainly help you navigate future Support issues on this topic!

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Do you have data quality issues?

Yesterday I shared an article that talked about if data quality issues are worth fixing, but today I share an article that asks how you know if you have issues with data quality in the first place!  Does that sound pretty straightforward?  Well, check out all the questions you can be asking the different departments in your company (or maybe user groups your team interfaces with) to see just how much data quality drift there is between reality and what you think reality is.  After you have digested this, make up questions that you can ask your own integrated teams to see how Development, Project or DBA teams are thinking about the issue of data quality and find out what they think about data quality (integrity) from their vantage points!

Monday, November 3, 2014

Data Quality: What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Right?

Recently I have read several great articles about data, and the quality of it, so I am going to have a Data Quality week to highlight the different dimensions surrounding data and data quality.  I will start with this article asking if data quality is worth the effort, and how we can quantify it.  I thought it was a stroke of genius to put forward the idea that not every data quality issue needs to be fixed because in today's hypersensitive environment of "Big Data" or "Business Intelligence" having the right data, in the right format, with the correct delivery seems like the only recipe for success.  Well, that is the only story I really see being put out there because nobody is suggesting we have bad, or incorrect, data in our systems and that is exactly what data quality means in this context.  So I will ask again, what is data quality good for?

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Weekend Learning: Chief Customer Officer

Ending our weekend, I ask you to put on your thinking caps while you take in this article which introduced me to the idea of a Chief Customer Officer!  While you may be thinking the idea of another Chief level executive is silly, I disagree as this position has some long reaching potential to benefit your external customers as well as the internal customers of your products because many times the experiences of one group directly affects the performance and satisfaction of the other group!!  Is there a natural extension of this for a Chief Support Officer, or other similar Chief titles, in an organization?  Interesting concept and something I will be thinking about for some time to come!

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Weekend Learning: Resizing an OCFS2 filesystem

On the heels of yesterday's link to the Oracle Linux Information Center comes another Linux related article, this time about the OCFS2 filesystem!  Check out the MOS article "How to resize an OCFS2 filesystem" via document ID 445082.1 to add a new skill to your toolbox!