Oracle iStore - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Cart Vs Quote
A cart / quote contains products that you have configured and/or the spare models that you have added to the shopping cart in the web store. The basic difference between a cart and a quote is that a quote has been through the Sales Assistance process.

2. Where is current active cart information stored ?
IBE_ACTIVE_QUOTES_ALL table will have details of active cart for each user

3. When an Item is added to the cart, what will happen in background ?
Cart will be created in ASO_QUOTE_HEADERS_ALL table with status_code as 'iStore Draft'

4. When a Cart is converted Quote ?
Incase if a cart is requested for sales assistance, new version of cart will be created in ASO_QUOTE_HEADERS_ALL with status_code 'Draft'

5. How to remove the checkout button
Remove the permission - IBE_CHECKOUT and IBE_CREATE_ORDER

6. Incase if an item is not visible after adding to the catalog, what would be the problem ?
Verify the Item web properties orderable on web and published flag enabled in the item master

7. What is the process to customize the jsp in iStore ?
i. Copy the jsp and rename it to the custom name
ii. Do the changes and copy back to $COMMON_TOP/html
iii. Map the Jsp source file in the display manager template

8. What are basic tables affected when we create a cart / quote ?

i. ASO_QUOTE_HEADERS holds Order Capture quotation information. it has the header data of a quote. For each quote header, there can zero or many quote lines attached to it

ii. ASO_QUOTE_LINES_ALL stores information for a typical quote or an order line. This includes the item, item organization, unit of measure, quantity ordered, price list etc. The ITEM_TYPE column specifies what kind of item is quoted for this line. Each quote line can have zero or many detail lines in ASO_QUOTE_LINE_DETAILS_ALL, which stores specific line information about certain item types (e.g. service, configuration details)

iii. ASO_QUOTE_LINE_DETAILS_ALL stores information specific to certain types of quote lines. This includes service related attributes, model/option related attributes and return related attributes

iv. ASO_LINE_RELATIONSHIPS links one quote line to another and records the type of relationship. The reciprocal flag indicates if the relationship is bidirectional

v. ASO_HEADER_RELATIONSHIPS links one quote to another and records the type of relationship. The reciprocal flag indicates if the relationship is bidirectional.

vi. ASO_QUOTE_LINE_ATTRIBS_EXT to extend the more attribute fields

vii. ASO_PRICE_ATTRIBUTES stores information on qualifiers and pricing attributes, which the corresponding price adjustment line qualified for.

viii. ASO_PRICE_ADJUSTMENTS stores price adjusment details

ix. ASO_TAX_DETAILS stores quotes tax details

x. ASO_PAYMENTS holds payment related information for the quote

xi. ASO_SHIPMENTS store shipping information for a quote at header level or line level. At header level means the shipping information is the same for all the quote lines, therefore the quote_line_id is null. At line level means each line has its own shipping information. At line level, it can further break down at line quantity level if the quantity in ASO_SHIPMENTS is different than in ASO_QUOTE_LINES_ALL.

xii. ASO_QUOTE_RELATED_OBJECTS stores the relationship between a quote or a quote line to any entity in the schema and records the type of relationship. The OBJECT_TYPE_CODE defines the type of entity the quote or quote line is related to, and the OBJECT_ID is the unique identifier of the related object.

xiii. ASO_QUOTE_STATUSES_B stores the pre-defined and user-definable statuses for a quote header or a quote line

xiv. IBE_QUOTE_ACCESS stores information about who can share the Shopping cart (Quote). The information stored also include Update Privileges to be given to the sharee.

9. What are the required Inventory Flags for Oracle iStore Products ?
* Web Status Flag - Set this flag to Published in Inventory Master Form, Web Option tab - Published / Unpublished
* Orderable on the Web - Select the checkbox in Inventory Master Form, Web Option tab
* Customer Orders Enabled - Set the flag orderable by customer in Inventory Master Form, OM tab
* OE Transactable - Set this to Yes in order managment attributes group

Implementing Oracle iStore

High Level process to implement iStore

--> Setup istore Administrator and concurrent Administrator
* Create a fnd_user (IBE_ADMIN) with responsibility iStore Administrator Responsibility and set the profile options

• FND: Branding Size
• JTF_PROFILE_DEFAULT_APPLICATION
• JTF_PROFILE_DEFAULT_BLANK_ROWS
• JTF_PROFILE_DEFAULT_CSS
• JTF_PROFILE_DEFAULT_CURRENCY
• JTF_PROFILE_DEFAULT_NUM_ROWS
• JTF_PROFILE_DEFAULT_RESPONSIBILITY

--> Setup guest User
* Query for Guest user in fnd_user and set the responsibility - IBE_CUSTOMER
• JTF_PROFILE_DEFAULT_APPLICATION -- 671 (for iStore)
• JTF_PROFILE_DEFAULT_CURRENCY -- US
• JTF_PROFILE_DEFAULT_RESPONSIBILITY -- 22372 (for IBE_CUSTOMER)

--> Setup Mandatory profile option -- Only some of them are mentioned here, please refer Implementation guide for all mandatory profile options

Set the profile options at application level
• IBE: Category Set --> Inventory Category set
• IBE: Item Validation Organization --> Master Inventory organization Id
• IBE: Pricing Event for Shopping Cart --> Set to Batch Processing
• IBE: Create Order in Entered State--> Set to Yes
• IBE: Pricing Event --> set to Enter Order Line
• IBE: Default Payment Term
• IBE: iStore Non Secure URL
• IBE: iStore Secure URL
• MO: Operating Unit.
• ASO: Default Order Type -- Set to Mixed
• ASO: Validate Salesrep -- Set to No

Refer Implementation Guide for more options..

Introduction to Customer Application Display
--------------------------------------------

Its uses JTF MVC framework
Model - oracle PL/SQL
View - JSP
Controller - Java API

It consists of

* Display Templates
* Section and product Hierarchy
* Content

Introduction to Oracle iStore

What is Oracle iStore ?

Oracle iStore allows you to create a comprehensive web presence to collaborate with Customers, Channel partners, distributors and resellers, and to profitably support the entire sales process from lead generation to ordering, to post sales support.

It integrates fully with oracle applications to provide a complete e-commerce solutions. It enables business to

* Build, test, and launch sophisticated online stores in multiple language and currencies
* Deploy sites in business partner, business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) scenarios
* Provide a full range of online purchasing capabilities including
- Customer home page
- Flexible pricing including qualifiers, modifiers, and customer specific prices
- Credit Card security features
- Sales assistance
- collaborative purchasing (shared carts and shared quotes)
- Regular or express checkout
- Shopping list and direct item entry
- Address defaulting into carts
- Services
- Promotional goods
- User maintenance by administrative customer users
- Order Tracking, Cancellations, returns, and access to customer installbase

It consists of two distinct integrated user interface,

1. Site Administration Applications
- Create and maintain unlimited number of sites
- Setup site business rules, such as price lists, payments and shipping methods
- Build product catalogs
- Change site look and feel
- view and configure oracle workflow notifications

2. Customer Applications
- Online Shopping with order processed in OM
- Configure complex products
- Save carts, quotes and lists
- Share and retrieve carts and quotes
- Track orders
- Cancel orders
- View Installbase items
- Submit return orders
- Store and access user address and credit card data

How to generate debug log files for Oracle iStore

How to generate debug log files for Oracle iStore in Release 11i.
This feature creates separate user log files for both the Java Layer (middle tier) and PL/SQL (database tier) layers.

I. Initial Setup Requirements

The following steps are required to be able to log the debug information.
1. Ensure the Logging Parameters are set:

a. Go to the $APACHE_TOP/Jserv/etc directory and open the jserv.properties file
b. Ensure the following parameters are set:
wrapper.bin.parameters=-Dframework.Logging.system.filename=/&directory/fwsys.log
wrapper.bin.parameters=-Dservice.Logging.common.filename=/&directory/ibe.log
Note:
- Replace /&directory/ with a valid directory on your server and make sure it has the proper permissions.
- This will not be the name of the log file generated from iStore, see below for the exact name of the log file.

2. Ensure the Debug Properties are turned on for the application:
a. Login to jtflogin.jsp as sysadmin user
b. Navigate to Settings > System > Advanced
c. Choose JTF from the dropdown list
d. Verify the following properties are set:
framework.Logging.system.filename -> fwsys_jtf_log
framework.Logging.system.level -> debug
service.Logging.common.filename -> jtf_log
service.Logging.common.level -> debug
service.Logging.common.mode -> file
Note:
- The two *.filename properties are to be set to a name of file, do not enter a directory.
- The directory is defined from the parameters set in the jserv.properties.
- This will not be the name of the log file generated from iStore, see below for the exact name of the log file.

3. Set the "OM: Debug Log Directory" system profile:
Set the "OM: Debug Log Directory" profile at the site level to a directory that is writable by the database server. The profile value must be one of the directories listed in the utl_file_dir parameter.
Note:
- To find the utl_file_dir value set, the following query may be executed:
select value from v$parameter where name = 'utl_file_dir'

III. Steps to Generate Debug Log Files from iStore

1. Set the "OM: Debug Level" profile to 5 at the Site level.

2. Set the "IBE : Enable Debug" and "ASO : Enable ASO Debug" profiles to Yes at the user level.
Both profiles are needed to be set as iStore will call some Order Capture API's.

2. If the problem needs Pricing information: check the "QP: Debug" profile.
- If the profile has 'No' and 'Yes' as values, set the profile to 'Yes' at the user level.
- If the profile has the 3 values regarding the Request Viewer, set the profile to 'Request Viewer Off'.
At this point, the Pricing Debug information will be generated when the "OM: Debug Level" profile is set.

3. If the problem needs the Tax information, different steps are required based on Financials Family Pack applied.
For customers who are on Financials Family Pack E/11.5.9 or lower - should set both FND Logging Profiles and Tax Debug profiles for debugging. The debug log will be generated in directory specified by profile option Tax:Debug File Directory.

4. If the problem needs the ATP information, the following steps need to be followed:
- Set the "MSC: ATP Debug Mode" profile to 'Debug Only' at the site level.
- Make sure user level is set to NULL.
- A session-* log file will be generated in the 'utl_file_dir' directory.

5. Open a new browser window and replicate the issue in iStore.

6. Unset the profiles to stop the debugging.

IV. Where are the iStore Debug Log files generated?

1. The iStore pl/sql log file will be generated in the directory (located in the Database Tier) specified in the Order Management 'OM: Debug Log Directory' System Profile and has the syntax of IBE_.log

2. The iStore java layer log file will be generated in the directory specified in the 'Dframework.Logging.system.filename' JVM parameter of your Middle Tier (See section II step 1) and has the syntax of IBE__.log

Note:
Based on the action being done, there might also be a Quoting debug log file generated in the same directory which will have the following syntax: QOT_.log
Make sure to upload the iStore debug log file and the Quoting if one was generated.

V. Generating Configurator Log Files from iStore

If Configurator is involved in the replication steps, some configurator log files can (and should) be obtained for further debugging.

VI. Generating Debug Log Files as the guest user

To generate the iStore debug log files while you are the guest user, you will just need to append '?&log=t' (without the single quotes) to the end of the URL before the step you want to debug while you are the guest user.
There is no need to set all profiles from section III.
For example: http://:/OA_HTML/?&log=t

This will generate both log files for any actions done in the browser after that. It is not necessary to append the parameter again for that session.
Once you close the browser, it stops the debugging. If new browser is started and append the parameter again, it starts a new set of log files.

The logs will be generated the same way for the guest user:
1. The pl/sql file name will have a syntax of "IBE_.log" and be generated in the directory specified in the "OM: Debug Log Directory" system profile.
2. The java layer file name will have a syntax of "IBE__.log" and be generated in the directory specified in the 'Dframework.Logging.system.filename' parameter of the jserv.properties.

VII. Generating Debug Log File from the iStore Administration UI


Starting from iStore version 11.5.9 , a debug log file can be generated from the iStore Site Administration User Interface.
Login to the Application Forms and set the following System Profiles at the user level to the following values:
Profile Name Value
FND: Debug Log Enabled Yes
FND: Debug Log Module %
FND: Debug Log Level Statement
FND: Debug Log Filename /ibe_admin.log

Note: Replace with the value entered for the "OM: Debug Log Directory" profile.

-> The log file will be called ibe_admin.log and be located in the directory specified in the path entered in the 'FND: Debug Log Filename' profile.