In this article we will look into how to customize BI Notification Templates and resolve issues with the latest template not getting picked up by the approval process.
We will take the example of Job Offer approval notification template.
The BI template for Job Offer can be found at path:
/Shared Folders/Human Capital Management/Recruiting/Job Offer/ Job Offer Approval.xdo
We need to customize this report to attach the modified template.
In order to customize the seeded report we need to navigate to XMLPSERVER link instead of the normal ANALYTICS link:
Analytics Link – https://ucf6-zvik-fa-ext.oracledemos.com/analytics
XMLP Server Link – https://ucf6-zvik-fa-ext.oracledemos.com/xmlpserver
Once we open the XMLP Server, Navigate to the above report path and click More > Customize
Once we click customize, it will automatically create a copy of this report in Custom folder under similar folder structure.
/Shared Folders/Custom/Human Capital Management/Recruiting/Job Offer/ Job Offer Approval.xdo
Now we can edit this report, download the seeded template and apply our customizations, changing logo, changing alignment, removing fields, etc. and then upload the modified template back to the report in custom folder.
When the approval process triggers notifications, it will first check if there is a custom version available in custom folder, else it will get the template from seeded folder and send notification. Customize option will take care of this functionality. We don’t need to map the new template anywhere else.
The BIP reports are saved in the server cache for a while (usually 24 hours). So your new template changes might not get reflected for the first 24 hours and then the template changes will appear. Oracle has enabled this caching functionality for better performance. However there is an option to override this behavior at site level or module specific level.
In order to call always the most recent version of the report from the server, we have to navigate to
Setup and Maintenance > Manage Administrator Profile Values and set the following profile options as below:
- BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME ==> set it to 15
- BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_HCM ==> set it to 15
This will set the refresh time to 15 minutes and post 15 minutes you can see your new template getting reflected in the notification. It is not suggested to go below this 15 minutes frequency as it causes severe performance issues for all notifications.
If we don’t find one of these profile options in Manage Administrator Profile Values, we have to create it first in “Manage Profile Options” and make it Enabled and Updatable at Site level. Then we can find it in Manage Administrator Profile Values to set the value as indicated above.
1. Go to Setup and Maintenance
2. Go to the Task Pane
3. Click on Search
4. Search for and drill down into “Manage Profile Options“
5. Query for the Profile Option Code “BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME“
6. Click on Search and ensure that there is not already a Profile Option “BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME” Created
>> Under the “Search Results: Profile Options” section it should reflect “No Results Found”
7. If there are No Results Found, Create a Profile Option by Pressing the “+” Button to Create a Profile Option
8. Create the Profile Option as follows: Profile Option Code: BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME
Profile Display Name: BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME
Description: Leave Blank
SQL Validation: Leave Blank
Start Date: Current Date or Backdated
End Date: Leave Blank
9. Press Save and Close
10. Under the “BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME: Profile Option Levels” there will be a “Site” Level with Columns for “Enabled” and “Updatable“.
11. Press Save and Close
12. Navigate to and Drill Down into “Manage Administrator Profile Values“
13. Query for the newly created Profile Option Code “BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME“
14. Under the “BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME: Profile Values“, add a Line by pressing the “+” Button to Create a Profile Value
15. On the new “BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME: Profile Values” Line, set EXACTLY as noted below:
Profile Level: Site
Profile Value: 15
16. Press Save and Close.
17. Logout of the application and login again.
18. Now test the notification post 15 mintues.
Note: In order to improve the performance, immediately after finishing the tests, it is recommended to delete the Site-level values of all profile options mentioned above in order to allow the application to store the template in the cache for a longer time.
Create Profile Options to Control the Refresh at Site/Family/Product Levels
The profile options can apply to all workflow tasks, a product family, or a product. Based on the scope we need, the profile option must have a profile option code that follows a certain format.
| Scope | Profile Option Code | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Global | BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME | BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME |
| Product Family | BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_<FAMILY> | BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_FIN BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_HCM BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_PRC BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_PRJ BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_SCM |
| Product | BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_<FAMILY>_<PRODUCT> | BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_FIN_AP BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_HCM_PER BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_PRC_PON BIP_CLIENT_REFRESH_TIME_PRJ_PJE |
References:
PRC: Updates Done to BI Publisher RTF Templates Are Not Reflecting Immediately in the Application 20B+ (Doc ID 2636575.1)
How to Reduce Refresh Time for BIP Notifications and Print Reports (Doc ID 2697006.1)
Oracle Fusion Recruiting Cloud: Updates to Approval Notification BI Publisher Template Not Immediately Reflected (Doc ID 2652510.1)
