As of version 8.1, Oracle BI Publisher (formerly known as XMLP Publisher) has replaced Actuate as report generating tool for Siebel. During a Siebel Case Management implementation, I got some insights which I’d like to share.

The first step was a rather smooth installation and configuration process. We had BI Publisher up and running within no-time, and only very minimal configuration was required to integrate it with Siebel. By pointing the web services to the right URL’s and adjusting some BI settings, we could start making the first reports.

Siebel ships with a large number of out-of-the-box reports, and it’s easy to create your own. The reports combine RTF-templates from the BI Server with XML data from Siebel into various document types, such as PDF. The templates are easy to maintain using BI Publisher Desktop, a simple plugin for MS Word. XML data is composed by Siebel Integration Objects.

Did you ever had to revise custom reports? DId you ever try to move the address a few millimetres to the right because off the introduction of new corporate stationery? Did you ever get headaches because the reporting tool Oracle Reports Developer was crashing once more destroying your recent modifications?

There is a new kid in (reporting) town…

With the introduction of the reporting tool BI Publisher (formerly XML Publisher) these problems are history. Using the tool introduced by Oracle in 2004 as XML Publisher the main disadvantages of the classic reporting environment become outdated:

1. No open standard
2. Not a user-friendly interface
3. No automatic report translations
4. No support for all formats
5. Extraction of data from a non-Oracle DB is problematic
6. Extensive tool training
7. High development costs
8. ‘Eternal’ maintenance
9. High upgrade costs

BI Publisher provides a utility to facilitate the conversion of Oracle Reports (version 9i and later) to BI Publisher Reports. The conversion is a two-step process requiring a data model conversion and a layout conversion using the following new APIs:

• DataTemplateGenerator API converts the Oracle Reports data model to an XML Publisher data template.
• RTFTemplateGenerator API converts the Oracle Reports layout to an XML Publisher RTF template.

While using this utility, I ran accross a number of errors and an incomplete user guide. Migrating Apps Reports is certainly not a straightforward task. So lets look into this migration utility.

Oracle BI Publisher (XML Publisher) 5.6.3 is out. Check out Tim Dexter’s Blog.
Patch is 5472959 – XDO/ORACLE XML PUBLISHER OA ROLLUP PATCH 5.6.3

A selection of the new features:

• Template Builder Enhancements and Name Change
• Report Migration Utility
• Support for Rotated Text in RTF Templates
• Conditional Formatting Enhancement in RTF Templates
• Data Template Enhancements

I’m particularly interested in the Report Migration Utility:

XML Publisher provides a utility to facilitate the conversion of Oracle Reports (version 9i and later) to XML Publisher Reports

I will be coming out with a white paper on how to use this utility soon.