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Ariba Buyer Configuration Overview:)67 - 32 � �� � � �

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Copyright © 1996-2001 Ariba, Inc.Ariba and the Ariba logo are registered trademarks of Ariba, Inc. Ariba B2B Commerce Platform, Ariba Buyer, Ariba Live, Ariba Marketplace, Ariba Network, Ariba Network Connect Program , MarketMaker.Ariba, Ariba Network Connectors , Ariba Reach , Ariba Dynamic Trade, Ariba Commerce Services Network, buyer.ariba, RFQBuilder, Ariba Sourcing, SmartMatch, supplier.ariba, Ariba SupplierLive, ECTranslator, ECTransport, Walkup UI, Supplier Advisor and Making the Net Work for B2B are trademarks or servicemarks of Ariba, Inc. Ariba Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved. Patents pending.

All other brand or product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or organizations.

ALL LICENSES OF ARIBA SOFTWARE PROGRAMS AND RELATED DOCUMENTATION ("PROGRAMS") ARE SUBJECT TO ANY EXPORT LAWS, REGULATIONS ORDERS OR OTHER RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OR BY ANY OTHER GOVERNMENT ENTITY ON THE PROGRAMS OR INFORMATION RELATING THERETO. A LICENSEE OF ANY PROGRAM WILL NOT IMPORT, EXPORT, OR ALLOW THE EXPORT OR REEXPORT, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, OF THE PROGRAM (OR TECHNICAL DATA OR OTHER INFORMATION RELATED THERETO) OR ANY DIRECT PRODUCT THEREOF, TO ANY COUNTRY TO WHICH SUCH IMPORT, EXPORT, OR REEXPORT IS RESTRICTED OR PROHIBITED, OR AS TO WHICH SUCH GOVERNMENT OR ANY AGENCY THEREOF REQUIRES ANY EXPORT LICENSE OR OTHER GOVERNMENTAL APPROVAL AT THE TIME OF IMPORT, EXPORT OR REEXPORT, WITHOUT FIRST OBTAINING SUCH APPROVAL.

Table of Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixAudience and Prerequisites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixRelated Documentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Shared Documentation Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixAriba Buyer Documentation Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Typographic Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiiAriba Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

The Configuration Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 2 Desiging a Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

ERP Integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17A Single-ERP Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18A Multi-ERP Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Variants and Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Variants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Relationship Between Variants and Partitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Choosing your Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Changing your Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

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27 28 28 28 29 29. 30 30 31. 31 31. 32

. 33 . 34. 35. 36 . 36 . 37. 37. 37 38. 38

. 40. 42 . 43 44. 45

Chapter 3 Configuration Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Finding and Creating Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Structure of the config Directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27The Variant ‘Plain’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Partition ‘None’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Partition ‘SupplierDirect’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Web Components Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Configuration File Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CSV Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Table Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Metadata XML Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wizard Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .JavaScript Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Configuration File Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 4 Ariba Buyer Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Parameters.table Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Application Parameters and System Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . .Referring to Parameters by Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Customer-Specific Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Encoding System Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .How to Change Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Where to Find Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How to Edit Parameters.table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How to Load Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 5 Managing Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Using the instanceParams Script. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Maintaining Instance-Specific Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using Instance-Specific Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Implementation Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 6 Data Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Setting up an Integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Connecting to External Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Integration Event Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Specifying Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Defining the Load Order for Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

How to Change Integration Configuration Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Where to Find the Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52How to Edit the Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52How to Load Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Chapter 7 Scheduled Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Scheduled Task Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Scheduled Task Configuration File Format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Scheduled Task Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Weekends and Holidays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Permissions Associated with Scheduled Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Loading Scheduled Tasks at InitDB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

How to Change Scheduled Task Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Where to Find Scheduled Task Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . 59How to Change Scheduled Task Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . 60How to Load Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Chapter 8 Resource Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Resource Files in the Default Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Format of Resource Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Resource Files for Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Resource Files for Date Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Resource Files for Address Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Resource Files for Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Resource Files for News Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Resource Files for Help Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

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How to Customize Resource Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68How to Edit Resource Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68How to Load Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69How to Find Resource Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Chapter 9 Approvable Documents and Approval Flow . . . . . . . . . . 71

Approvable Document Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Approval Rules and Approval Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Escalation and TimeOut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Editing Documents After Submission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Notification Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Chapter 10 Catalogs and Catalog Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Adding Products to the Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Ariba CSN Subscriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Other Catalog Imports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Catalog Item Punchout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Tying Catalog Data Into Your Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79The Catalog Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Configuring Catalog Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Configuring Catalog Browsing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Multilingual Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Catalog Administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Chapter 11 Metadata XML Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Metadata XML Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Extension Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Format of Metadata XML Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

How to Change Metadata XML Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Where to Find Metadata XML Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87How to Load Changes to Metadata XML Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

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Chapter 12 Wizard Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Wizard Configuration Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Using Wizard Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Changing Wizard Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Where to Find Wizard Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91How to Edit Wizard Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92How to Load Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Chapter 13 The Sample Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Sample Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Catalog Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Requisition Import Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96eForms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Taxware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Appendix A Configuration File Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Shared Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Files that Vary by Variant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Files that Vary by Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Appendix B Reference List of Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

Application Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Application.Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

System Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105System.Base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Appendix C Command Line Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

AribaEncode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

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instanceParams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110FastCreate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110AdvancedCreate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Edit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Delete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Quit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Help [command] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

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Preface

After you have successfully installed Ariba Buyer, the next step is to customize your installation to suit your company’s existing infrastructure and policies.

This document provides an overview of the customization process, and describekinds of changes you can make.

Audience and Prerequisites

This document is appropriate for Ariba Global Services Delivery personnel or Arcertified partners who will be implementing Ariba B2B Buyer.

It is appropriate for a technical audience.

Related Documentation

The Ariba Buyer documentation set includes a set of reference documentation (swith other Ariba products), and a set of documentation specific to Ariba Buyer. Tsection describes the documents that are appropriate for customers of Ariba Bu

Shared Documentation Set

The following documents include reference information that is shared between ABuyer and other Ariba products:

Ariba Catalog Format Reference Provides information on cXML and CIF, which are the two cataloformats used in the Ariba product suite. This document is valuaboth for suppliers who create catalogs and buyers who access tcatalogs.

Ariba Buyer Configuration Overview ix

Related Documentation Preface

Ariba Buyer Documentation Set

The Ariba Buyer documentation set includes the following documents:

Ariba Buyer Release Guide Describes new features and known limitations of an Ariba Buyer release.

Ariba Buyer Installation GuideDescribes how to install Ariba Buyer. Ariba provides versions of the installation guide for each supported OS platform: AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, and Windows NT.

Ariba Buyer Database Configuration GuideDescribes how to configure a Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, or IBM DB2 UDB database installation for use with Ariba Buyer.

Ariba Buyer Web Server Configuration GuideDescribes how to configure your Web server for use with Ariba Buyer: how to set up CGI script access, directory aliases, permissions, and other required configuration.

Introduction to Ariba BuyerProvides a high-level overview of Ariba Buyer, including its major components, architecture, and enterprise integration framework.

Ariba Buyer Configuration OverviewProvides an overview of the configuration and customization process. It describes the kinds of changes you can make during the configuration process and introduces the data files that define a configuration.

Ariba Buyer Configuration GuideDescribes how to load basic data such as users, passwords, currencies, and countries, into Ariba Buyer. The data described in this document is data used both by the Procurement module and the Travel and Expenses module.

Ariba Buyer Customization GuideDescribes how to customize and extend the Ariba Buyer user interface.

Ariba Buyer eForms TutorialDescribes how to create your own custom forms in Ariba Buyer.

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Ariba Buyer Procurement GuideDescribes how to set up and configure Ariba Buyer’s Procuremefeatures, such as ordering, receiving, and purchasing cards.

Ariba Buyer Catalog Management GuideDescribes how to set up your Ariba Buyer product catalog with catalog items from suppliers.

Ariba Buyer TIBCO Configuration GuideDescribes how to install, configure, and use Tibco to exchange dwith Ariba Buyer.

Ariba Buyer PeopleSoft Integration Guide, Ariba Buyer SAP Integration Guide, and Ariba Buyer Oracle Financials Integration GuideDescribe implementation details specific to particular underlyingERP systems.

Ariba Buyer Administration GuideDescribes how to do ongoing system administration for Ariba Buyer.

Ariba Buyer API GuideDescribes how to extend Ariba Buyer with custom Java classes

Ariba Buyer Approval Rules GuideDescribes the role rules play in the approval process, the differeapprovable document types, and how to write your own approvarules.

Ariba Query API GuideDescribes how to use the Ariba Query API to access objects in Ariba database.

Ariba Buyer Travel and Expenses GuideDescribes how to use the Ariba Buyer Travel and Expenses modto manage expense reports, travel profiles, and travel authorizations.

Ariba Buyer Reference GuideProvides reference information on all scheduled tasks, integratioevents, and parameters used in Ariba Buyer. This book describesettings used during the configuration phase.

Ariba Buyer Configuration Overview xi

Typographic Conventions Preface

Ariba Platform Reference Guide Provides reference information on the file formats, XML configuration DTDs, and library components that are used in Ariba Buyer. This book describes options available during the customization phase.

Ariba Buyer Master GlossaryProvides definitions for Ariba Buyer terminology.

Ariba Buyer ASP Edition Implementation GuideDescribes how to implement Ariba Buyer Application Service Provider (ASP) Edition. Ariba Buyer ASP Edition allows Ariba Partners to offer a hosted version of Ariba Buyer.

Ariba Buyer Troubleshooting GuideDescribes common problems and their solutions, the troubleshooting process, and other information that is helpful in solving problems with Ariba Buyer.

Typographic Conventions

The following table describes the typographic conventions used in this document:

Typeface or Symbol Meaning Example

<AaBbCc123> Text you need to change is italicized, and appears between angle brackets.

http://<yourServer>:<HTTPServerPort>/inspector

AaBbCc123 The names of user interface controls, menus, and menu items.

Choose Edit from the File menu.

AaBbCc123 Files and directory names, parameters, fields in CSV files, command lines, and code examples.

There is one line in ReportMeta.csv for each report in the system.

AaBbCc123 The names of books. For more information, see Ariba Buyer Configuration Overview.

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Ariba Technical Support

For assistance with Ariba Buyer, Ariba Technical Support is available by phone, e-mail, or over the Web. For information on how to contact Ariba Buyer Technical Support, see the Ariba Technical Support Website or send e-mail to [email protected].

The Ariba Technical Support Website is:

http://connect.ariba.com

Ariba Buyer Configuration Overview xiii

Ariba Technical Support Preface

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Chapter 1Introduction

Ariba Buyer is highly flexible and extensible, and most corporations take advantage of that flexibility to set up a configuration tailored to their own needs and preferences.

This document describes how you configure Ariba Buyer with your own data and business rules and provides an overview of the kinds of customizations you can make.

The Configuration Process

To set up Ariba Buyer, you install the Ariba Buyer Core Server on one or more server machines. When you install, the installation process creates a default configuration, with basic configuration settings and parameters. The process of configuring Ariba Buyer is the process of modifying that default configuration by loading in your own data and adjusting parameter settings.

To configure Ariba Buyer, you tailor the data sources and parameters to make good use of your existing enterprise data and business rules. For example, if you already have a list of user names in place at your corporation, you probably want to tailor Ariba Buyer to use that existing list, rather than starting all over again with a new list.

The process of configuring and customizing Ariba Buyer involves the following loose phases:

• Design. Before you get started, you should understand the structure of the Ariba Buyer configuration you are trying to create. For example, if you have two divisions, one in North America and one in Europe, with two separate sets of data, you can set up an Ariba Buyer configuration that models that organizational structure.

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• Initial installation. When you install Ariba Buyer, the installation process finishes with a script called configure, which asks a series of questions about your configuration options and sets up an initial configuration for you. For example, this script asks you what ERP systems you have in place at your corporation and sets up a default Ariba Buyer configuration designed for that set of ERP systems.

• Loading Data. After you install Ariba Buyer, you have a fully functional configuration, but no data. The next step is to configure Ariba Buyer to read data from your preferred data sources. During this phase, you also generally specify any custom data you plan to include, so that the database storage is set up properly.

• Database initialization. After you have defined the data sources for your data, you run a script called initdb, which initializes your Ariba Buyer database. The initdb script loads configuration files that specify the data in your configuration, creates database tables to store that data, and then fills those database tables with data. The initial data load can potentially take several hours to complete, depending on your configuration.

(Keep in mind that initdb erases any existing data in your database tables and starts afresh. You should never run initdb if you have data you want to preserve.)

• Customization. Most companies choose to make some adjustments to the Ariba Buyer application, such as adding new data to the database, changing the user interface, and setting parameters. Although customization tends to be an on-going process, you generally make the majority of your customizations as part of the initial configuration process, before you make the application available to your users.

• Administration. After you have installed, configured, and customized Ariba Buyer, the application, you can continue with final adjustments to your business rules, catalog subscriptions, and scheduled task configuration.

This document focuses on the configuration and customization phases and describes how you use configuration files to tailor the default configuration. For information on the installation phase, see the Ariba Buyer Installation Guide. For information on the administration phase, see the Ariba Buyer Administration Guide.

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Chapter 2Desiging a Configuration

In a typical configuration, you use Ariba’s integration layer to exhange data with external systems. Ariba Buyer can pull building block data such as users, suppliaccount structures, and currencies from ERP systems and can push purchase oreceipts, and associating accounting details back to these systems.

The structure of your configuration depends on the existing ERP systems with wyou want to integrate. If you have just one ERP system, you design your Ariba Bconfiguration to integrate with that ERP system. However, if you have several ERsystems, each with different data, then you must set up Ariba Buyer to integratedata correctly with each. For example, if you have a European branch and a NorAmerican branch, each with its own data, you must configure Ariba Buyer to senappropriate data to each.

This chapter introduces Ariba’s architecture for integrating with ERP systems andescribes how to choose and define your configuration.

ERP Integration

Most Ariba Buyer configurations integrate with one or more underlying ERP systeto exchange data. That integration goes both ways: Ariba Buyer reads data suchproduct codes, accounting information, and lists of users from external systems,makes that data available to users who are creating purchase requisitions and ereports, and then pushes the finished documents back into the underlying ERP sfor record keeping purposes.

When you’re exchanging data with an ERP system, the key to the exchange is idata that you are pushing (writing) to the ERP system: it is essential that any data going from Ariba Buyer to your ERP system be acceptable to that ERP system. Wyou define an Ariba Buyer configuration, you tailor that configuration to suit the needs of the underlying ERP system. For example, if an ERP system requires a

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purchase orders to be associated with suppliers who are defined in that ERP, you must define your Ariba Buyer configuration to make sure that the purchase orders going to that ERP have suppliers valid for that ERP system.

The rest of this section describes how you set up an Ariba Buyer configuration to integrate with one or more ERP systems.

A Single-ERP Configuration

In a simple configuration, you have just one underlying ERP system and tie your Ariba Buyer configuration to that ERP system. The diagram below illustrates the architecture of a single-ERP configuration:

In this single-ERP configuration, Ariba Buyer reads data from your ERP and supplemental data sources, and pushes data to that ERP and to Ariba Commerce Services Network.

The key to this integration is the push to your ERP system. In a typical configuration, Ariba Buyer is sending purchase orders to your ERP system. As you set up your Ariba Buyer configuration, it’s essential that you set up Ariba Buyer so that it pusorders that are acceptable to the underlying ERP system.

In this configuration, since there is only one ERP system, you tailor your Ariba Buconfiguration to suit the needs of that specific ERP system.

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Chapter 2 Desiging a Configuration Variants and Partitions

A Multi-ERP Configuration

Ariba Buyer uses the term multi-ERP to describe an configuration where your company has several different internal organizations, each with different Ariba Buyer configuration requirements.

In a multi-ERP configuration, Ariba Buyer integrates with several different ERP instances, and sends purchase orders or purchase requisitions to each of those underlying ERP systems. The diagram below illustrates a multi-ERP configuration:

In this configuration, Ariba Buyer reads data from three ERP systems and also sends data (purchase orders) back to those same three ERP systems. Since different ERP systems usually have different requirements for incoming orders, you must structure your Ariba Buyer configuration so that the data going to a given ERP system is tailored for that ERP system.

The rest of this chapter describes how you set up an Ariba Buyer configuration to model the existing organizational structure and enterprise software at your corporation.

Variants and Partitions

In Ariba terminology, a configuration is built from variants and partitions. A partition is a way to describe the content of data; a variant is a way to describe its structure.

This section describes partitions and variants in detail. These concepts are at the heart of an Ariba Buyer configuration, and it is important that you be familiar with both before you start your configuration.

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Partitions

A partition is a way to keep different sets of data distinct from one another. For example, suppose that you have two ERP instances, one in North America and one in Europe. Each system has its own distinct collection of users, accounting information, and shipping addresses.

In Ariba Buyer, you describe these content differences by separating the data into two partitions. The diagram below illustrates two partitions with similar structure but different data:

This example illustrates partitioned data, which exists in exactly one partition and is visible only in that partition. An Ariba Buyer configuration can have any number of partitions, each with a distinct set of data.

Every Ariba Buyer configuration also has global data, which exists outside the partitions and is shared among all partitions. Global data is also sometimes called unpartitioned data.

Department Codes 455 - Engineering 410 - Marketing

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Department Codes 255 - International Sales 210 - Administration

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Chapter 2 Desiging a Configuration Variants and Partitions

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Variants

A variant is a way to have two similar sets of data that have different shapes or behaviors. For example, suppose that you have a configuration with two ERP systems, one in North America and one in Europe. Both of those systems have data representing the abstract idea of a “supplier,” but the “shape” of the data is differThe diagram below illustrates this notion of data shape:

Similarly, you might have different business rules (behaviors) in different parts oyour configuration. For example, a company with a manufacturing organization might well have different business rules for approvals than the rest of the corpora

In Ariba Buyer, you model differences in shape or behavior by defining two variants of the supplier object, each tailored to one destination system. A variant does noinclude data: it only defines the shape and behavior of data.

Relationship Between Variants and Partitions

The concepts of variant and partition are closely tied, and it is sometimes hard tounderstand the difference. The key idea is that behavior is separated by variant and data is separated by partition. Each partition uses one and only one variant, which defines the behavior for all the data within the partition.

Contact NameBuyerDispatch MethodMinority-owned business?Ship-type ID

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Contact NameFreight TermsMinority-owned business?

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A typical configuration has a small number of variants, each with one or more partitions, as illustrated below:

Choosing your Configuration

Although you can adjust an Ariba Buyer configuration at any time, it is best to understand your configuration requirements before you start and to create a configuration that most closely matches your current corporate structure.

Configuration design generally involves some trade-offs and judgment calls, anddifficult to provide hard-and-fast rules for how to set up a configuration. Howeveyou should consider the following guidelines:

• Variants require more overhead than partitions. If you have a choice, try to limit the number of variants in your configuration, even if that means introducing additional partitions.

• In general, you have one partition for each ERP instance at your corporation. You must have one partition for each ERP into which you are pushing data.

• Simpler is always better: choose the simplest configuration that suits your needs.

Please consult with an experienced member of Ariba Global Services Delivery before you make any final decisions about variants and partitions in your configuration.

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Chapter 2 Desiging a Configuration Summary

Changing your Configuration

You specify your initial variants and partitions when you run the configure script for the first time, but you can adjust the configuration later without losing your data.

For example, if your company merges with another, you might have to add variants or partitions to your Ariba Buyer configuration to accommodate your new organizational structure.

You add new variants or partitions by running the configure script, which is the same script you run to create your original configuration.

For more information on how to use configure to add new variants or partitions to an existing configuration, see the Ariba Buyer Installation Guide.

Note: You cannot delete variants or partitions from an existing configuration. You can add to your configuration at any time, but you cannot remove variants or partitions.

Summary

To summarize the information in this chapter:

• Ariba Buyer uses variants and partitions to specify how you can structure your Ariba Buyer configuration to maintain separations that exist in your organizational structure.

• You can often get a rough idea of what partitions and variants you need by considering how many different ERP systems are involved in your configuration.

• You describe your initial configuration using the configure script. You can later re-run that configure script to add new variants or partitions without affecting your existing configuration.

• The key to integration with ERP systems is the purchase order push: you must be sure that your Ariba Buyer configuration does not cause any errors when pushing data to the ERP systems. If you have several ERP systems, that usually means some separation of data within Ariba Buyer.

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Chapter 3Configuration Files

An Ariba Buyer configuration consists of a set of configuration files, which, taken together, define your configuration. An Ariba Buyer configuration includes the following kinds of configuration files:

• Parameters.table. Ariba Buyer has a single global configuration file that defines all the variables available for an Ariba Buyer configuration. You use the parameter table to define variables and parameters for your configuration.

• Integration event configuration files. An integration event is an exchange of data between Ariba Buyer and an underlying data source, such as an ERP system. You use integration event configuration files to define how Ariba Buyer exchanges data with external systems.

• Metadata XML files. Metadata XML files are text files that define the data in the Ariba Buyer database. You make changes to metadata XML files to make changes that affect the Ariba Buyer object model (such as adding new fields to the screen).

• Business Rules. Business rules describe who has to approve various kinds of requests, and under what circumstances. You make changes to your business rules when you want to define your company’s requirements for who has to approvewhat, and under what circumstances.

• Scheduled task configuration files. Scheduled tasks are administrative tasks that run in the background on a regular schedule. Scheduled tasks perform routine system maintenance, like sending notification messages. You make changes to scheduled task configuration files when you want to change the schedule for one of the routine tasks.

• Resource files. Resource files provide multilingual versions of the data in your configuration. You make changes to resource files when you want to change the text of an error message or tooltip for a particular language.

• Wizard files. Ariba Buyer provides step-by-step wizards that walk users through various steps of the process. You make changes to wizard files when you want to change the flow or structure of steps in a wizard.

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• Custom Java. For sophisticated customizations, you can write custom Java code, using the Ariba Buyer API, and plug that code into your configuration. For example, you typically write custom Java code to define how Ariba Buyer sends purchase orders into your ERP system, to be sure that the incoming orders are acceptable to your ERP system.

Ariba Buyer supplies a suite of administrative tools for editing configuration files. Those administrative tools, which are available from the Ariba Buyer Enterprise Manager, are the recommended tools for editing configuration files. For information on accessing and using the Enterprise Manager, see the Ariba Buyer Administration Guide.

However, the configuration files are all in text format so you can also use any text editor to make changes at any time.

This chapter describes the directory structure and file format for configuration files. Later chapters provide more detail on each of the specific configuration files used in an Ariba Buyer configuration.

Finding and Creating Configuration Files

When you install Ariba Buyer, you have a default configuration, which consists of a set of configuration files that define that configuration, together with a framework for making customizations.

To make customizations, you define additional files that act as extensions and overrides to the initial files. An Ariba Buyer configuration consists of two kinds of configuration files:

• System files—files that are part of the default Ariba Buyer configuration. You nevchange system files as part of an Ariba Buyer implementation.

• Extension files—files that you create as part of an implementation, either by modifying a sample or by starting a new file.

This distinction is clearly visible in the file system: system files reside in the ariba directory and extensions reside in the config directory. As you work with your configuration, the rule for what to change is very simple: you always make your changes to files in the config directory and never to files in the ariba directory.

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Chapter 3 Configuration Files Finding and Creating Configuration Files

Structure of the config Directory

All configuration files that you modify reside in the config directory, on the machine that is your primary Ariba Buyer Core Server machine. Within that directory, Ariba uses a hierarchical structure of subdirectories to indicate which files apply to which pieces of your configuration.

Some configuration files apply to your entire configuration, and there is exactly one copy of such files in a configuration. Other configuration files apply only to one partition, and you typically have several versions of those files, one for each partition. For example, there is one global set of parameters (one configuration file), but several different configuration files for scheduled tasks (one for each partition).

When you install Ariba Buyer, the installation process creates a hierarchical structure of configuration files, with the files for each variant or partition grouped together in a directory. This approach makes it easy to add additional variants or partitions later without disturbing your initial configuration.

In general:

• Files that are shared across your entire configuration reside at the top level, directly in config

• Files that vary by variant reside in a subdirectory of config/variants

• Files that vary by partition reside in a subdirectory of config/variants/<xxx>/partitions, where <xxx> is the variant name.

For a more complete list of the files in the config directory, and the way that they are structured in the default configuration, see Appendix A, “Configuration File Reference.”

The Variant ‘Plain’

Every configuration includes one standard variant, called Plain. Plain acts as a template for other variants. If you make changes or customizations in the Plain variant, those changes apply throughout your configuration, to all variants. If you make changes or customizations to any other variant, those changes affect only the variant where you make the changes. That is:

• To make a customization that applies across your configuration, make that customization in Plain, putting your files in:

config/variants/Plain

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• To make a customization that affects only one piece of your configuration, make that customization only in the appropriate variant, putting your files in:

config/variants/<xxx>

The Partition ‘None’

Every configuration includes a directory called None, which resides in the file system as:

config/variants/Plain/partitions/None

None is not actually a partition, however: it’s just a directory in the file system wheyou store unpartitioned data (data that is not associated with an partition).

This global unpartitioned data is always in the same location in the directory structure. That is, the directory config/variants/Plain/partitions/None must exist in every configuration.

The Partition ‘SupplierDirect’

Every configuration includes a partition called SupplierDirect. The SupplierDirect partition is a special partition used for data coming directly from suppliers, to ensure that the supplier data is separated from the rest of your configuration. The SupplierDirect partition exists in every configuration, but applies only to data associated with catalogs.

SupplierDirect always uses the variant Plain, and the files associated with this partition are always found in:

config/variants/Plain/partitions/SupplierDirect

This partition is used only for incoming data from suppliers. For more information on this partition, see the Ariba Buyer Catalog Management Guide.

The Web Components Directory

When you install Ariba Buyer, you are asked to specify two directories: one for the Ariba Buyer installation and one for the Web Components. The Web Components are the resource files (images, and HTML pages) that Ariba Buyer accesses over the Web, using http.

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Chapter 3 Configuration Files Configuration File Formats

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When you set up your configuration, you choose locations for your Web Components and for your Ariba Buyer installation. Those directories do not have to be the same, nor do they even have to be on the same machine.

When you are making changes to configuration files, it is important that you make the change in the correct location.

Configuration File Formats

Ariba Buyer uses different file extensions for different kinds of files, so that you can distinguish different files quickly. The config directory contains the following kinds of files:

• CSV files, with extension .csv

• Table files, with extension .table

• Metadata XML files, with extension .aml

• Wizard configuration files, with extensions .awz and .afr

• JavaScript files, with extension .js

This section describes these file formats and the recommended tools for editing each of them. For complete information on file formats, see the Ariba Platform Reference Guide.

CSV Files

CSV files, with extension .csv, are used for reading in data. The extension CSV stands for “comma-separated-value.” Each CSV file is a list of data fields, separated bycomma. For example:

"jbenning","Janice Benning","USD","en_US",15,1000467

Ariba Buyer uses CSV files for resource files (for internationalization of strings in user interface), and as the data source for integrations that read data from files.

The recommended tool for editing CSV files is the Ariba CSV Editor. The CSV Editor is available from the Enterprise Manager, and also from the command linethe csveditor command.

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If you choose to edit CSV files with a text editor, you can use any editor, such as vi, emacs, or Notepad. If you choose to edit the CSV files with a text editor, instead of using the supported tools, refer to the detailed syntax information for CSV files in the Ariba Platform Reference Guide.

Note: Don’t use Microsoft Excel to edit CSV files. Excel handles line returns and other special characters incorrectly and generates data that acceptable to Ariba Buyer.

Table Files

Table files, with extension .table, are used for setting parameters to specified valuesnumber of Ariba Buyer configuration files, such as the parameter configuration fithe integration event configuration file, and the scheduled task configuration file,this format. For example:

{DefaultBillToAddress = 15;DefaultCurrency = USD;DefaultLanguage = English;

}

The recommended tool for editing table files is the Ariba Table File Editor. The ArTable File Editor is available from the Enterprise Manager, and also from the command line as the tablefileeditor command.

If you choose to edit table files with a text editor, instead of using the recommentool, be sure to check the detailed syntax information in the Ariba Platform Reference Guide.

Metadata XML Files

Metadata is a technique for describing data. Ariba Buyer uses metadata XML filewith extension .aml, for two related purposes: to describe the data in the Ariba Buydatabase and to describe the user interface properties of that data.

Metadata XML files are in XML, which is a published standard for markup languages. The syntax of XML is much like that of HTML, and you can edit XMLfiles either with a structured editor or with a text editor. Ariba Buyer does provideXML editor in the tool suite, but there are a variety of tools available in the publicdomain. You can also use any text editor to edit XML files.

For more information on metadata XML and how it is used in an Ariba Buyer configuration, see “Metadata XML Files” on page 85.

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Wizard Files

Wizard files, with extensions .awzand .afr, are used to describe the flow and structure of Ariba wizards, specifying which frames appear and in what order. Wizard files are in XML format, and you can edit them either with a text editor or with an XML editor.

For more information on wizard configuration files, see “Wizard Files” on page 8

JavaScript Files

JavaScript files, with extension .js, are used for business rules. To edit business ruluse the Rule Editor, available from the Enterprise Manager.

Note: In the case of business rules, you must use the business rule editor, and not a text editor. You should never edit business rules outside of thebusiness rule editor.

For more information on approval rules, see “Approvable Documents and ApproFlow” on page 71.

Configuration File Security

Some Ariba Buyer configuration files include potentially sensitive information, suas machine names, passwords, or personnel information. To protect the securityprivacy of your data, you can:

• Encode values in your configuration files

• Set up permissions to restrict access to configuration files

For information on how to encode parameters and associate permissions with configuration files, see the Ariba Buyer Administration Guide.

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Summary

To summarize the information in this chapter:

• You make changes to your Ariba Buyer configuration by modifying files in the config subdirectory of your Ariba Buyer installation. You always make your edits to the files in config, and never to files in the default configuration itself.

• All configuration files are in text format: CSV, XML, JavaScript, or table files.

• To increase configuration file security, you can use permissions to restrict access and you can encode parameters.

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Chapter 4Ariba Buyer Parameters

This chapter describes how you set Ariba Buyer parameters, which are the basic settings and variables for Ariba Buyer. For example, you use parameters to specify:

• The names of your own database machines, accounts, and administrative accounts

• Your preferred names for configuration files

• Your preferred settings for your fax server, such as the dialing area code

• Your preferred default currency

Setting parameters is typically an ongoing process. You generally make some parameter changes as part of your initial configuration and then continue to make other changes throughout the configuration process.

This chapter introduces Ariba Buyer parameters, describes how they fit into your Ariba Buyer configuration, and explains how you make changes to them.

For a complete reference list of parameters in the default Ariba Buyer configuration, see the Ariba Buyer Reference Guide.

Parameters.table Configuration File

The file config/Parameters.table is the main configuration file for Ariba Buyer. It consists of a collection of parameters, each of which has an associated value. The parameters file is in table file format, consisting of a collection of keys (the parameters) and values (the settings). The following are examples of parameters and their associated values:

OrderContractFile = "config/data/contract.txt";DefaultCurrency = USD;DatabaseConnections = 7;PasswordExpireLimit = 0;

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Parameter values are usually strings, as shown here, but can also be vectors (lists) or nested tables. For complete information on the syntax of table files, see the Ariba Platform Reference Guide.

When you install Ariba Buyer, and run the configure script, the script creates an initial version of config/Parameters.table for your configuration. That initial version of Parameters.table contains settings for all available parameters. Parameters do not have default values—all parameters must be listed in config/Parameters.table. If a parameter does not appear in config/Parameters.table, the server issues an error and refuses to st

The config/Parameters.table file must reside on every machine where you run the AribBuyer Core Server. If you have your Core Server and Web server on different machines, you must also have a subset of the parameters available on the Webmachine. (For security reasons, you might not want to have your entire list of parameters available on the Web server machine, which could well be outside ycompany firewall.) For information on how to create a version of config/Parameters.table that is appropriate for use on a Web server machine, seAriba Buyer Web Server Configuration Guide.

Application Parameters and System Parameters

Every configuration has just one set of parameters, shared by all partitions in yoconfiguration. Within the parameters file, parameters are grouped into two sectioSystem and Application—to indicate which are system-wide and which are dependent on the partition.

• Parameters in the System section apply across your configuration. System parameters are usually values that affect the Ariba Buyer Core Server. When you set a value for a parameter in the System section, that value applies in every partition in your configuration. You cannot specify different values for different partitions.

• Parameters in the Application section are those that can be different for different partitions. The value you set for a parameter in the Application section initially applies to all partitions, but you can later provide different values for different partitions.

Within the System and Applications sections, parameters are grouped into categories of related parameters. For example, the Authentication category contains parameters related to authentication and the Logging category that contains parameters related to logging. These subcategories are organization tools only, meant to help you find and see related parameters.

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Chapter 4 Ariba Buyer Parameters Parameters.table Configuration File

To set partition-specific parameters, you use a third category, called Partitions. Parameters in the Partitions section are overrides for parameters in the Application section. The parameters in the Partitions section always have the same name as parameters in the Application section. The Application section defines a default; the Partitions section defines a value for one specific partition. You add parameters to the Partitions section when you want to define a setting for just one partition.

The Application section and the System section are required. The Partitions section is optional and contains only parameters that you want to set differently for different partitions. Usually you have only a handful of parameters in the Partitions section.

Referring to Parameters by Name

To refer to parameters, you use a dotted path that names the category and subcategory (or subcategories) where the parameter can be found. For example, Application.Authentication.OrganicGrowth means “go to the Application section, go to theAuthentication section, and find the parameter named Organic Growth.”

If you are looking at the file with a text editor, you see the OrganicGrowth parameter inside the Authentication section, inside the Application section, like this:

{ Application = { Approvable = {

ApprovableAllowedForPCardCharge = All;CheckinHook = "config.java.procure.server.TestCheckinApprovableHook";DefaultPreferredOrderingMethod = Silent;SubmitHook = "config.java.procure.server.TestSubmitApprovableHook";ClientSubmitHook = "";

}; Authentication = {

AllowNullPasswordWizardCredential = true;External = { };ModifyUserProfileOnInitialLogon = false;OrganicGrowth = false;...

};...}

If you have a partition-specific value for that same parameter, Partitions.HQ.Application.Authentication.OrganicGrowth, you would have these additional lines as well:

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Encoding System Parameters Chapter 4 Ariba Buyer Parameters

Partitions = {HQ = {

Application = {Authentication = {

OrganicGrowth = true}

....

Customer-Specific Parameters

During the customization phase, you may occasionally add custom Java to your configuration. Ariba Buyer provides API support for custom parameters in config/Parameters.table, created and referenced by custom Java code in your configuration.

If you choose to create such custom parameters, you should put them in the section Application.Customer or System.Customer, as appropriate. In the default configuration, there are no parameters in either Customer section.

For more information on how to add custom Java to your configuration, see the Ariba Buyer API Guide.

Encoding System Parameters

By default, all parameter values are in plain text. If there are parameters whose values you consider sensitive, you can encode those values. To use encoded parameters, you:

• Generate the encoded value

• Put the encoded value in config/Parameters.table

• Use the parameter SecureParameters to specify which parameters are encoded

SecureParameters is a list of parameters that are encoded, and not plain text. You have to add the parameter name to the list in SecureParameters so that Ariba Buyer knows which parameters are encoded and which are not. For example, if you have encoded your AribaDBPassword and AribaDBUsername parameters, you add them to SecureParameters. For example:

SecureParameters = ( System.Database.AribaDBPassword, System.Database.AribaDBUsername )

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Chapter 4 Ariba Buyer Parameters How to Change Parameters

the

is

er, ure

The value for this parameter is a vector (list of parameter names). In table file syntax, vectors are surrounded by parentheses and separated by commas, as shown here. For more information on the syntax of vectors, see the Ariba Platform Reference Guide.

To get the encoded values, you use a command line utility called aribaencode. You supply the original string as an argument, and the script returns the encoded form.

For example, to encode the string “secret,” you would type:

aribaencode secret

The aribaencode script returns an encoded value:

kAHIAbwB3AHMAcwBhAHAAQ

How to Change Parameters

This section describes the mechanics of working with parameters: where to findfile, how to change it, and how to load your changes.

Where to Find Parameters

Ariba Buyer parameters are stored in a single configuration file, called config/Parameters.table. This is the main configuration file for Ariba Buyer.

This file must exist and cannot have any other name or be located at any other location in your configuration. You make changes directly to this file.

How to Edit Parameters.table

You customize your parameters by editing the file config/Parameters.table. The recommended tool for editing parameters is the System Parameter Editor, whichone of the administrative tools available from the Enterprise Manager.

If your server is not running, or you do not have access to the Enterprise Managyou can make changes with any text file editor. If you edit with a text editor, be sto check the file syntax details, as described in the Ariba Platform Reference Guide.

Whenever you work with parameters, be especially careful to check:

• Case. Parameter names are case-sensitive.

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Summary Chapter 4 Ariba Buyer Parameters

ple:

• Special characters. If you include any special characters like \ or tab in your entries, be sure that you quote those characters correctly.

How to Load Changes

After making any parameter changes, you must restart the server to have your changes take effect.

Summary

To summarize the information in this chapter:

• Each instance of Ariba Buyer has a set of parameters, stored in the file config/Parameters.table.

• The parameters are separated into three sections: System, Application, and Partitions.

• You can edit parameters either with an administrative tool or with a text editor.

• After any parameter changes, you must restart the server.

• To increase parameter security, you can encode parameters.

• Ariba Buyer uses “dotted field notation” to refer to parameter names. For examSystem.Database.AribaDBUsername.

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Chapter 5Managing Instances

An Ariba Buyer instance is a running copy of Ariba Buyer, with a complete set of configuration files and data. In a typical configuration, you have several instances of Ariba Buyer available, so that you have a safe test bed in which to test changes before putting them into use in your production system.

A typical configuration includes development, test, and production instances. Developers make changes first in development instances, merge those changes into a test instance, and finally move the test instance into production. The diagram below illustrates this process:

Typically you want your development and production instances to be very similar, except for parameters that control when data is actually sent out and where it is sent. For example, you should typically set up your test and development instances so that they do not actually send out orders or e-mail notification messages.

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Using the instanceParams Script Chapter 5 Managing Instances

To help you maintain the distinction between development and production instances, Ariba Buyer provides a script called instanceParams, which helps you define and maintain your instance-specific parameters.

This chapter describes how to use the instanceParams script.

Note: The parameter System.Base.Production is a boolean parameter that indicates when an instance is in production mode. When this parameter is set to false, the login screen contains a warning indicating that the system is not in production mode.

Using the instanceParams Script

The instanceParams script is a tool to help you define and maintain instance-specific parameters. When you use this tool, it maintains the config/Parameters.table by merging generic parameters and instance-specific ones, and helps you maintain the instance-specific parameters for each instance in your configuration.

Note: The instanceParams script modifies config/Parameters.table. Before you use this script, you should back up your existing config/Parameters.table file, in case you need it for reference later.

You use the instanceParams script to create and edit the instance-specific parameters for each instance. This script is a command-line tool that runs from a loop, prompting for input. When you start the script, it offers you a set of available commands:

>./instanceParamsWelcome to the instance parameters management tool:===================================================

Enter the command to run:

FastCreateAdvancedCreateEditViewDeleteListQuitHelp

The first two commands (FastCreate and AdvancedCreate) allow you to define a new instance and specify the parameters associated with that instance. You use FastCreate to create a set of parameters associated with a new instance. The FastCreate command

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Chapter 5 Managing Instances Using the instanceParams Script

requests the minimum set of parameters that must change between instances. AdvancedCreate is similar, but runs through a more extensive list of parameters that can potentially change between instances.

When you choose FastCreate or AdvancedCreate, the instanceParams script:

1. Displays a list of all existing instances (so you can avoid name conflicts)

2. Prompts you for the name of the new instance you want to define

3. Makes a copy of your default instance and starts prompting values of specific parameters. For example:

Enter value for System.Base.BuyerLoginURL<default: http://acmeServer:3377/Ariba>:Hit return to accept default.->

4. Loops through remaining parameters and then asks you if you want to save your instance:

About to save results to instances\ACME\InstanceParameters.table.Are you sure? (y=yes, n=no)

When you finish the Create operation, the instanceParams script creates and saves a set of parameters associated with the named instance.

Note: Some parameters are required. The values for required parameters must be different across instances in your configuration. For example, you cannot create two instances with the same database username. For information on the error messages from the instanceParams script in such cases, see the reference information in “FastCreate,” on page 110.

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Maintaining Instance-Specific Parameters

Once you have defined the parameters associated with an instance, you use the instanceParams script with the View or Edit options to view and change those parameters. If you ask to Edit an instance, the instanceParams script shows you a list of the parameters defined for that instance, one “page” at a time, and provides commafor you to navigate through the list.

For example:

-> editThe following instance exists:TESTEnter the name of instance to edit:-> testEditing the instance named TEST0) Application.Authentication.ModifyUserProfileOnInitialLogon = false1) Application.Base.Data.AribaSystemUser = aribasystem2) Application.Base.Data.DefaultBillToAddress = 153) Application.Base.Data.DefaultCurrency = USD4) Application.Base.Data.DefaultLanguage = English5) Application.Base.Data.DefaultOrganicUserLocale = en_US...

Enter the command to run:

ModifyNextPreviousChangePageSizeSaveQuitHelp

From here, you can modify individual parameters, by specifying the number:

-> modifyEnter item number to Modify:> 12Enter new value for Application.Procure.ERPPushFailNotificationPermission:

For complete information on the options to the instanceParams script, see “instanceParams,” on page 110.

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Chapter 5 Managing Instances Using Instance-Specific Parameters

Using Instance-Specific Parameters

After defining the parameters associated with an instance, you must make sure that the server uses the correct parameters when doing an initdb or serverStart. To make sure that the correct parameters are used, you pass the instance name as argument to the initdb and serverStart scripts. For example:

initdb -instance DEV -initdball

serverStart -instance TEST

(Keep in mind that -initdball erases any existing data in the database; never run this command unless you are familiar with its impact.)

The parameter System.Base.EnableInstancePromotion determines whether an instance argument is required. The first time you create an instance with the instanceParams script, the instanceParams script sets the EnableInstancePromotion parameter to true.

The serverStart command and initdb commands check the EnableInstancePromotion parameter to decide what arguments are required. These scripts issue errors if:

• EnableInstancePromotion is true and you do not supply an instance argument

• EnableInstancePromotion is false and you do supply an instance argument

• EnableInstancePromotion is true and you specify an instance, but the server cannot find the associated instance parameters file.

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Implementation Details

This section describes the file system structure used by the instanceParams script. This section is provided only for your convenience; you should not generally need to modify any of these files directly.

The instanceParams script maintains the instance-specific parameters in a directory called instances, in your Ariba Buyer installation directory. For example:

instancesreferenceInstanceParameters.tableDEV

instanceParameters.tableTEST

instanceParameters.table

The referenceInstanceParameters.table file specifies which parameters are instance-specific. Any parameter listed in this file is instance-specific; any parameter not listed is considered not instance-specific. This file also specifies which parameters are part of FastCreate, and which are part of AdvancedCreate.

The other entries (DEV and TEST in this example) are directories, one for each instance. Within each instance-specific directory is a file instanceParameters.table that contains the instance-specific parameters for that instance.

When you are using the instanceParams script, the config/Parameters.table file itself has “markers” to indicate which parameters are maintained by the instanceParams script. For example, your config/Parameters.table might include lines like these:

UI = {AllowComposingInQueries = false;AlwaysShowButtonBorder = false;AutoRefreshInterval = 0;CompanyNewsFile = "@@INSTANCE-SPECIFIC@@";DisplayEuroSymbol = true;EnableReceiving = true;EnableReconciliation = true;LoginHintsFile = "@@INSTANCE-SPECIFIC@@";MaxRecentUserChoices = 5;

};

The string @@INSTANCE-SPECIFIC@@ indicates the parameters managed by the instanceParams script. If you modify any of these parameters directly in config/Parameters.table, those changes will be overridden by the instanceParams script. To modify these parameters, you must change the file instances/<instance>/instanceParameters.table instead.

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Chapter 5 Managing Instances Summary

Summary

To summarize the information in this chapter:

• In a typical configuration you create several different instances of Ariba Buyer: test, development, and production.

• Ariba Buyer provides a script called instanceParams that helps you maintain instance-specific parameters.

• When you use the instanceParams script to manage your parameters, you must specify an instance name whenever you start the server or run initdb, to tell Ariba Buyer which parameters to use.

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Chapter 6Data Integration

During the configuration phase of your implementation, you define integration events that specify how Ariba Buyer exchanges data with external systems. Every Ariba Buyer configuration pulls data from underlying data sources and many push finished purchase orders, receipts, or expense reports.

In a typical configuration you read some data in from existing systems, such as ERP systems, and supplement it with additional data from CSV files. For example, you might pull most of your user information from an HRMS system but use a CSV file to add additional fields that aren’t available in the HRMS system.

To set up the data in your configuration, you define integration event configuratiofiles that specify when and how Ariba Buyer exchanges data with external syste

This chapter introduces integration event configuration files and describes how yuse them to configure Ariba Buyer with your own data.

Setting up an Integration

You use three different configuration files to define your integration with externalsystems:

• You use an external connections file to define the mechanics of how Ariba Buyer communicates with a particular external system.

• You use an integration event configuration file to define the data sources for each data pull (and also the destinations for any data pushes).

• You use an initialization order file to define the order in which data is loaded when the database is initialized.

This section describes those configuration files and how they work together to define your configuration.

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Setting up an Integration Chapter 6 Data Integration

Connecting to External Systems

If you plan to set up a configuration where Ariba Buyer interacts with any external systems, you use an external connections file to define each external system and the way that Ariba Buyer interacts with that system.

An external connections file is in table file format and defines a set of entries, one for each external system with which you want to connect. For example:

{OracleFinancial = { DBType = Oracle; Driver = ariba.integration.jdbc.drivers.OracleDriver; Password = apps; URL = "jdbc:weblogic:oracle:fin107"; User = apps_appdemo; };PSoftHR70MSSQL = { DBType = mssql; Driver = ariba.integration.jdbc.drivers.SQLDriver; Password = sa; URL = "jdbc:weblogic:mssqlserver4:PSHR700@peoplesoft:1433"; User = sa; };}

Each entry in this file is a named connection to an external system. This example shows two such named connections: OracleFinancial and PSoftHR70MSSQL. The parameters of each named connection define the name of the external system and the authentication information required to connect to that system.

When you set up a configuration, you initialize the external connections file with appropriate connection information for each external system in your configuration. ERP connection information (like machine names) is thus localized in one file and you can make changes quickly and easily without having to edit multiple files.

For details on the parameters that can appear in these definitions, and information on how to encrypt passwords if you prefer not to have them in plain text, see the Ariba Buyer Configuration Guide.

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Chapter 6 Data Integration Setting up an Integration

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Integration Event Configuration Files

You use an integration event configuration file to define the data sources for your integration. An integration event configuration file contains a collection of definitions, one for each kind of data you are exchanging with an external system. Integration event configuration files are in table file format, as described in the Ariba Platform Reference Guide.

Here is an example of an entry for an integration event that pulls data from an Oracle ERP:

Address_Oracle = {Channels = {

Tibco = {Initialization = Automatic;Subject = voracle11.AddressEvent;RepositoryInstance = voracle;TibcoSheet = AccountAccountingEvent;Timeout = 240000;};

};EventSource = "poracle110:Address:Oracle";EventTopic = TibcoAdapter;ExternalConnection = Oracle11_0Financial;RequestParameters = { DefaultChartOfAccountsId = 50317;};RequestSchema = voracle.AddressEvent_Request;Schedules = {

Schedule1 = { DayOfMonth = 22; Hour = 20; Minute = 30;};Schedule2 = { DayOfWeek = Monday; Hour = 21;};};

}

This example defines an integration with the name Address_Oracle. The name is an identifying label. The names must be unique and should not contain spaces or periods. The default configuration uses _ for a separator, as shown in this example.

The integration definition consists of a set of parameters, which describe when the integration event runs, where it gets its data, and so forth. For complete information on available parameters and how to interpret them, see the Ariba Buyer Configuration Guide.

Typically you have one configuration file for each partition in your configuration. Each integration event configuration file defines the data integrations for one partition. For example, if you have two partitions, you must load Address data into each of those partitions—and you might choose to have different data sources fyour list of addresses in different partitions.

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Setting up an Integration Chapter 6 Data Integration

Specifying Data Sources

The definition of each integration event includes parameters that specify the data source for that particular integration event. The data source for a given integration event can be a single file, a collection of files, or an underlying ERP system. For example:

RequestParameters = {Filename =

"config/variants/voracle11/partitions/poracle110/data/AdjustmentType.csv";};

This example specifies an integration event that reads from a single CSV file. The Filename parameter specifies the full pathname of the CSV file; in this case, that file is in the config directory.

To define an integration event that reads from an ERP system, you use a different parameter, the ExternalConnection parameter, which refers to one of the named definitions in your external connections file. For example:

Address_Oracle = {...";ExternalConnection = "OracleFinancial";

};

The ExternalConnection parameter is shorthand for a definition in your external connections file. In this example, you pull Address information from an Oracle Financials system, using the connection information defined in the OracleFinancial entry of your external connections table.

For complete information on the options that are available for specifying data sources, see the Ariba Buyer Configuration Guide.

Defining the Load Order for Data

The initialization order table specifies the order in which the data is loaded into your database during initdb. It applies only at initdb time; this file is not used at any other time.

The initialization order file is always called LoadDB.txt, and there is only one global file, no matter how many partitions you have. This file applies only during database initialization and is never used once you have your configuration up and running.

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Chapter 6 Data Integration Setting up an Integration

cause

The LoadDB.txt file contains a list of data to be loaded, in order. The order is important when there are dependencies among data. For example, you must load currencies before you load currency conversion rates and load users before you load passwords.

LoadDB.txt is a text file, formatted as a list of names, one per line. For example:

None.IntegrationEvent.RuleType_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.CommonSupplierIDMap_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.LocaleID_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.CurrencyGroup_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.Currency_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.CurrencyGroup_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.UnitOfMeasure_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.Country_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.Permission_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.SimpleMapType_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.CommonCommodityCode_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.CommodityImportMap_CSVeurope.IntegrationEvent.CommodityCode_Oracleeurope.IntegrationEvent.AccountType_CSVeurope.IntegrationEvent.Supplier_Oracleeurope.IntegrationEvent.Supplier_SupplierLocationSupplementCSVeurope.IntegrationEvent.Accounting_Oracleeurope.IntegrationEvent.AccountingCombination_Oracle...europe.IntegrationEvent.SPSC_CSVeurope.IntegrationEvent.User_CSVeurope.IntegrationEvent.UserSupervisor_CSVeurope.IntegrationEvent.PermissionMap_CSV

Each entry has three parts, separated by periods. The first is the partition name (or the special value None); the second is either IntegrationEvent or Task; and the last is the name of an integration event. (This file usually lists only integration events, but occasionally includes scheduled tasks as well. For information on scheduled tasks, see “Scheduled Tasks” on page 55.)

The entries in this file must always include the partition name, as shown here, bethere is just one version of this file, shared among all partitions.

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How to Change Integration Configuration Files Chapter 6 Data Integration

How to Change Integration Configuration Files

This section describes the mechanics of working with integration event configuration files: where to find the files, how to change them, and how to load your changes.

Where to Find the Configuration Files

This section describes where to find the configuration files used to define integration events.

• External connections file. A configuration has only one external connection table, shared across all partitions. In the default configuration, this file is called ExternalConnections.table.

You can move the file or rename it if you like—the name of the file is defined inParameters.table as the parameter System.Base.ExternalConnectionsFile.

• Integration event configuration files. Each partition has its own integration event configuration file, which is always called IntegrationEvent.table. This file is stored in the directory for that partition. For example:

config/variants/<xxx>/partition/<yyy>/<zzz>IntegrationEvent.table

and the one for the shared data is:

config/variants/Plain/partition/None/CommonIntegrationEvent.table

For example, if you have a variant called HQ and a partition called Europe, and that partition has an Oracle ERP, the default integration event configuration file might be:

config/variants/HQ/partition/Europe/OracleIntegrationEvent.table

• Initialization order file. Every configuration has exactly one initialization order file, stored as config/LoadDB.txt. You cannot configure the name of this file or relocate it.

How to Edit the Configuration Files

Integration event configuration files and the external connections configuration file are in table file format and the recommend tool for editing these configuration files is the Table File Editor, available from the Enterprise Manager. You can also edit these files with any text editor.

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Chapter 6 Data Integration Summary

The LoadDB.txt file is a text file and the recommended editing tool is your preferred text editor. Since you typically make changes to this file before you start the server, you cannot use the Ariba administrative tools to make changes.

How to Load Changes

After you change a configuration file, you load your changes into the server:

• To reload an integration event configuration file, use the Refresh command in the Enterprise Manager. When you refresh a list of integration events, Ariba Buyer re-reads the configuration file and updates any parameters or changes to integration events.

• To reload the external connections file, restart the Ariba Buyer server.

The initialization order file is read only at initdb time; you should never need to reload it.

Summary

To summarize the information in this chapter:

• Each integration event configuration file defines a set of integration events, naming the data source, parameters, and schedule for pulling data into Ariba Buyer.

• Each partition has its own integration event configuration file, which is called IntegrationEvent.table.

• In most configurations, you set up an external connections configuration file that specifies database connectivity for all data pulls. There is just one external connections configuration file, shared among all partitions. You specify the name of that file with the parameter System.Base.ExternalConnectionsFile.

• You use the configuration file LoadDB.txt to describe which integration events and tasks run as part of database initialization.

For more information on individual integration events, see the Ariba Buyer Configuration Guide.

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Chapter 7Scheduled Tasks

Scheduled tasks are processes that run on a regular basis, in the background. Ariba Buyer uses scheduled tasks for regular system maintenance and administration. For example, Ariba Buyer uses a scheduled task to archive log files each night and another to load charge statements as they arrive from the bank.

In general, you configure your scheduled tasks once, setting up your preferred schedule for each task. This chapter introduces scheduled task configuration files and describes how you use them to set the schedule and parameters for each task.

You can also run scheduled tasks from the Enterprise Manager on demand, instead of waiting for the next scheduled time for that task to run. For information on how to run tasks from the Enterprise Manager, see the Ariba Buyer Administration Guide.

Scheduled Task Configuration Files

The default Ariba Buyer configuration defines a standard set of scheduled tasks. Most configurations run that set of tasks, without modification. Occasionally, you might remove a task from your configuration, but you cannot add new scheduled tasks: Ariba Buyer does not support extensions or customizations to scheduled tasks.

The default Ariba Buyer configuration includes sample scheduled task configuration files. Every configuration typically has several such files, depending on how many partitions you have in your configuration.

Some scheduled tasks operate on data that is partitioned; others operate on data that is global. For example, scheduled tasks that send notification messages about approvables operate only on the approvables in a partition, but tasks that operate on log files, database logs, or reports operate on global data.

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An Ariba Buyer configuration typically has one scheduled task configuration file for each partition, plus an additional one for global tasks. Each scheduled task configuration file is a list of scheduled tasks, together with a schedule for each and the parameters that apply to that task.

Most scheduled tasks take parameters that define the behavior of the task more precisely. For example, the scheduled task that sends notification messages takes parameters that define how often the notification messages go out.

Scheduled Task Configuration File Format

A scheduled task configuration file is in table file format, as defined in the Ariba Platform Reference Guide. A scheduled task configuration file consists of a list of task definitions, one for each task. For example:

TaskName_PartitionName = {ScheduledTaskClassName = "ariba.server.ormsserver.TaskName";Schedules = {... };

}

Each entry has a name (TaskName_PartitionName, in this example) and a collection of parameters. The name is the name that users see in the Enterprise Manager. This example shows two parameters, ScheduledTaskClassName and Schedules.

Scheduled task names must be unique across all partitions. In the default configuration, scheduled task names consist of the partition name appended to the task name. For example:

EscalateApprovables_Europe

EscalateApprovables_NorthAmerica

You can choose another naming convention as long as the task names remain unique across partitions.

Scheduled Task Properties

Each entry has at least one property, ScheduledTaskClassName, which is the name of a Java class file that runs the scheduled task.

This property is required. For example:

ScheduledTaskClassName = "ariba.server.ormsserver.EscalateApprovables";

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Chapter 7 Scheduled Tasks Scheduled Task Configuration Files

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Most scheduled tasks also have a Schedules property, which defines when and how often the task will run. If there is no Schedules property, the task doesn’t run on a regular basis. (However, you can still run it on demand, from the Enterprise Manager.)

As an example, here is an entry for a scheduled task that runs every Monday anThursday at 9 PM:

Task = {ScheduledTaskClassName = ariba.procure.server.TaskName;Schedules = {

Schedule1 = {DayOfWeek = Monday;Hour = 21;

};Schedule2 = {

DayOfWeek = Thursday;Hour = 21;

};};

}

For detailed information on the syntax of defining schedules, see the Ariba Platform Reference Guide.

If the task does not run at its scheduled time for any reason (for example, if therepower failure), it won’t run again until the next scheduled time. Ariba Buyer does attempt to re-run tasks that did not run on schedule.

Most scheduled tasks take additional parameters as well, which are specific to ttask. For complete information on the scheduled tasks in Ariba Buyer, together wlist of the parameters recognized by each, see the Ariba Buyer Reference Guide.

Weekends and Holidays

Several of the scheduled tasks send e-mail notification messages to users, to leknow of situations that require attention. To avoid sending too many such messagsending them too soon, you can configure Ariba Buyer to recognize (and ignoreweekends and holidays when deciding whether to send the message.

You define your company’s holidays in config/Parameters.table, with the parameters Application.Base.SkipWeekendsAndHolidays and Application.Base.CompanyHolidays.

• Application.Base.SkipWeekendsAndHolidays is a boolean that specifies whether scheduled tasks should skip weekends and holidays when counting days.

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• Application.Base.CompanyHolidays specifies the actual dates to skip. This parameter is used only when SkipWeekendsAndHolidays is true.

You specify the holidays as a string of dates, separated by colons. For example:

CompanyHolidays = "Jul-4-2000:Dec-25-2000:Jan-1-2000";

(For information on the valid date formats for specifying dates, see “Resource Ffor Date Formats” on page 65.)

Permissions Associated with Scheduled Tasks

Many of the scheduled tasks are administrative daemons that send e-mail to administrative users, as appropriate. For example, there is a scheduled task thachecks for pending new catalog data and loads it into your Ariba Buyer configuraIn the event that the catalog load fails for some reason, Ariba Buyer sends a notification message alerting an administrator to the problem.

Ariba Buyer uses permissions to determine which users receive the e-mail notification messages from scheduled tasks. For example, the catalog load schetask sends its notification message to users who have the permission CatalogImportFailedEmail.

As you set up your configuration, you can choose the set of administrative persowho should receive such notification messages, and set up the permissions accordingly.

For a complete list of scheduled tasks available, and the permissions associatedeach, see the Ariba Buyer Reference Guide.

Loading Scheduled Tasks at InitDB

For a few of the scheduled tasks, it is appropriate to run the task at initdb time, as part of your initial configuration, rather than running it on a regular basis. An examplesuch a task is the InitIndexLoad scheduled task, which allows you to import catalog filefrom an earlier configuration and do some adjustment to the data as you do so. more information on this scheduled task, and how to use it, see the Ariba Buyer Catalog Management Guide.)

To include scheduled tasks as part of the initdb process, you add them to the configuration file LoadDB.txt.

The LoadDB.txt file lists each integration event or scheduled task in the order in whyou want them to run.

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For example, if your configuration has one partition, called partition1, the LoadDB.txt file would include entries like these—some for unpartitioned data and some for partition1:

None.IntegrationEvent.RuleType_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.CommonSupplierIDMap_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.CommonCommodityCode_CSVpartition1.IntegrationEvent.CommodityCode_Oraclepartition1.IntegrationEvent.AccountingCombination_Oraclepartition1.IntegrationEvent.User_CSVNone.IntegrationEvent.FormEntry_CSV...None.Task.InitIndexLoadNone.Task.RefreshCatalogEntriespartition1.IntegrationEvent.PermissionMap_CSV

How to Change Scheduled Task Files

This section describes the mechanics of making changes to scheduled task configuration files: how to find them, edit them, and load changes.

Where to Find Scheduled Task Configuration Files

When you install Ariba Buyer, the configure script creates a default scheduled taconfiguration file for each partition, and also a configuration file for global data. Bdefault, the scheduled task configuration file for each partition is:

config/variants/<xxx>/partition/<yyy>/ScheduledTasks.table

and the one for the shared scheduled tasks is:

config/variants/Plain/partition/None/CommonScheduledTasks.table

The filenames are specified in config/Parameters.table, with the parameter Application.Base.ScheduledTaskFile. If you decide to move or rename one of the schedultask configuration files, you must adjust the entry in Parameters.table accordingly. For example, here is an entry from Parameters.table that sets the filename for the configuration file used for unpartitioned data:

Partitions = {None = {

Application = {Base = {

ScheduledTasksFile =

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"variants/Plain/partitions/None/CommonScheduledTasks.table";};

};};

How to Change Scheduled Task Configuration Files

You make changes to scheduled task configuration files by editing the default configuration files in your config directory. The preferred tool for editing scheduled task configuration files is the Ariba Table File Editor, which is one of the administrative tools available from the Enterprise Manager.

You can also edit scheduled task configuration files with an text editor. If you choose to use a text editor, check the Ariba Platform Reference Guide for detailed syntax information

How to Load Changes

Ariba Buyer reloads the scheduled task configuration files each time you start the server. If there are any errors in the configuration file, the server fails to start and writes an error in the log file. You must fix the error and restart the server.

You can also refresh the scheduled task list for a partition with the Refresh command in the Enterprise Manager. This command reloads the scheduled task file without restarting the server.

For more information on managing scheduled tasks with the Enterprise Manager, see the Ariba Buyer Administration Guide or the Ariba Buyer help system.

Summary

To summarize the information in this chapter:

• Every configuration has a set of scheduled tasks, which run in the background on a regular schedule. You define the set of tasks and the schedule for each task in a scheduled task configuration file.

• Each partition has its own scheduled task configuration file. You specify the name of the configuration file for with the parameter Application.Base.ScheduledTaskFile. Typically you set this parameter in the Partitions section of config/Parameters.table, with a different value for each partition.

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• To set up your scheduled tasks, you adjust the parameters of scheduled tasks or remove tasks you don’t plan to use. You cannot add new scheduled tasks.

• If you make changes to the schedule task configuration file, you can reload those changes from the Enterprise Manager or by restarting the server.

• Scheduled tasks often send notification messages. If you would like Ariba Buyer to skip your company’s holidays when deciding when to send notification messagset the parameters Application.Base.SkipWeekendsAndHolidays and Application.Base.CompanyHolidays.

• You can run scheduled tasks manually from the Enterprise Manager without waiting for the next scheduled time.

• You can set up scheduled tasks to run during initdb by listing them in the LoadDb.txt file. This is appropriate only for specialized scheduled tasks, such as InitIndexLoad.

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Chapter 8Resource Files

Ariba Buyer supports internationalized configurations in which different users can interact with the application in different languages.

You build an internationalized configuration around a set of locales. A locale is a unique combination of language, country, and language variant. For example, American English and British English are locales that share the same language but have different countries (and no variant), while Norwegian and Norwegian Bokmal are two locales that share the same language and country but have different variants.

Ariba Buyer supports multilingual configurations by externalizing data into resource files, one set of files for each locale. Those localized resource files contain data that is typically translated or represented differently based on locale, such as error messages and user interface labels.

In an Ariba Buyer configuration, the following data is kept in resource files:

• Strings that appear in the user interface (labels and error messages)

• User interface display formats (dates and addresses)

• Images (command button labels)

• Help files (text and images in the help system)

• Login Hints and News bulletins, on the Ariba Front Page

This chapter introduces Ariba Buyer resource files and describes how you can make changes in an internationalized configuration.

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Resource Files in the Default Configuration

In the default configuration, Ariba Buyer provides a set of resource files that define the data for each supported locale. When you install Ariba Buyer, the resource files for the default configuration are in:

/<WebComponentsDir>/ariba/resource/<locale>/...

Within the ariba/resource directory there is a subdirectory for each locale, and within the locale directories there are subdirectories for different kinds of resources:

• help

• images

• movies

• news

• strings

• styles

For example, the resources for strings in a Swiss French locale reside in:

/<WebComponentsDir>/ariba/resource/fr_ch/strings

And the help files for a Japanese configuration reside in:

/<WebComponentsDir>/ariba/resource/ja_JP/help

Format of Resource Files

This section describes the format of the resource files.

Resource Files for Strings

The strings directory contains the resource files for user-visible strings in Ariba Buyer, including user-interface labels, logging messages, data formatting, “alt” tags for images, and so on.

The strings resource files are in CSV format, with extension csv. Within the strings directory, each resource filename has a prefix that indicates the kind of informatiothe file:

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• Files named Log.<category>.csv contain log messages. There is one file for each logging category. For example, Log.constraints.csv contains log messages associated with constraints.

• Files named aml.<file>.csv contain strings referenced from metadata XML modules. For example, aml.Core.csv contains strings referenced from Core.aml.

• Files named resource.<type>.csv contain resource strings for data formats, status strings, reporting formats, and other localizable data. For example, resource.address.csv contains the files for localizing address layouts.

• Files named ariba.<module>.csv contain resource strings for error messages or text from the Java files in the default configuration. For example, ariba.html.alt.csv has the text strings for the alt tags in images in the user interface.

• Files named config.<module>.csv contain resource strings for error messages or text from the Java files in config. For example, config.java.oracle.common.csv has the text strings for messages related to Oracle-specific features such as Oracle organizations.

Each of these resource files is in CSV format, with one line of the file for each string. The CSV file contains a unique identifier for each resource string, the text of the string, and optional text as comments.

For example, consider the words “Ship To,” which appear on printed orders sentfrom Ariba Buyer. Those words come from the following line in a CSV file:

ShipTo, "Ship To", Label printed above Ship To name/address

The first field is the unique key; the second field is the text that is visible to users,the last is a comment.

Resource Files for Date Formats

Different locales represent dates differently. For example, in some locales “Jan 32000” is a valid date, but in others it would be “3 Jan 2000.”

Ariba Buyer uses the resource file resource.date.csv to define the valid date formats forcalendar dates in each locale. Each line in this file defines a valid date format.

UniqueKey

Text ofString

ExplanatoryText

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For example:

DayOfWeekStart,0,0 is Sunday.

This line specifies that the “beginning of the week” for this locale is Sunday, whicday 0. In other locales, the beginning of a week might be on Monday.

This file also defines the valid formats for parsing dates that the user enters andrepresenting dates in the user interface. For example, the key ConciseFmt defines date formats for representing dates in the user interface. In the default en_US configuration, the key looks like this:

ConciseFmt, "M/d/yyyy", Must be a valid java.text.DateFormat format.

The key SystemFormats defines the date formats that are recognized when parsing parameters in files such as config/Parameters.table. In the default en_US configuration:

SystemFormats,"MMM-d-yyyy;MMM-d-yy;yyyyMMdd","list of date formats to try when parsing any date string; "

Resource Files for Address Formats

Different locales represent addresses differently. For example, here is a typical address in US English:

9210 Willow LaneAdelphi, Maryland 20783USA

Ariba Buyer uses the resource file resource.address.csv to define the valid address formats for each locale. The address resource file specifies the way that the addpresented—city, state, ZIP, and so forth.

For example, here is the resource file (resource.address.csv) in the default configuration:

8859_1,,Address1, "@@Lines@@", Technical: Address TemplateAddress2, "@@City@@, @@State@@ @@PostalCode@@", Technical: Address TemplateAddress3, "@@Country@@", Technical: Address TemplateAddress4, "", Technical: Address TemplatePostalCodePrefix,"", Technical: Address Template

This resource file defines an address layout with four lines and defines which fieappear on each of the four lines of the address.

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The first line defines a character encoding, which in this case is ISO-Latin-1. The character encoding is required for all resource files. For more information on character encoding specifications in CSV files, see the Ariba Buyer Reference Guide.

The remaining lines in this file has three fields: the first is an identifying key (Address1, Address2, Address3, Address4 , and PostalCodePrefix), the middle is the value for that key, and the last is a comment. So in this example, the value of Address2 is:

@@City@@, @@State@@@@PostalCode@@

That is, the second line of an address consists of City, State, and Postal (ZIP) Code.

The @@ syntax specifies that the value of that field is filled in dynamically. The word “Technical” in the comment is a hint that the line uses dynamic substitutions.

You use this resource file to change the way that the lines are presented on the and to specify what goes on which line. If you want to move something from one to another, or add something to an existing line, you change the key for that lineyour override.

For example, if you want to swap City and State in line 2:

Address2, "@@State@@, @@City@@ @@PostalCode@@",Address Template

Resource Files for Images

The resource files for images can be in either GIF or JPEG format.

Resource Files for News Files

The news directory contains HTML files that are included in the Ariba Buyer logiscreen. The default configuration includes examples of these files, which shouldbe full HTML files (no <head> or <body> tags, for example), but instead snippets of HTML to be included in the existing HTML login page. To customize news and loinformation, you edit these files to include your preferred text and images.

For more information on configuring the login page with news and hints, see theAriba Buyer Customization Guide.

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Resource Files for Help Files

The resource files for the help system are in HTML format. Ariba Buyer does not support changes or customizations to the help system, except when you are creating new help system pages for eForms that you are adding to your configuration.

For information on how to write help pages for eForms, see the Ariba Buyer eForms Tutorial.

How to Customize Resource Files

You can make customizations that change the content of strings, replace images, and add additional data formats.

To change a resource file, you define an extension and put your extension in the config directory. You never modify the original resource file.

To define an extension, create an extension file in the config/resource directory. Inside the config/resource directory, make sure the directory structure that mirrors the directory structure in the ariba/resource directory. For example, to create a resource file that changes the resource file:

ariba/resource/en_us/strings/resource.date.csv

Put your changes in the file:

config/resource/en_us/strings/resource.date.csv

When you create a custom version of a strings resource file, you put in that file only the resources you want to modify, and not the entire contents of the original resource file. Ariba Buyer treats values in the config\resource file as overrides for the corresponding values in the ariba\resource file.

Note: Customizations to the Ariba Buyer help system are not supported.

How to Edit Resource Files

String resource files are in CSV format. The recommended tool for editing such configuration files is the Ariba CSV File Editor, which is one of the administrative tools available from the Enterprise Manager.

You can also edit resource files with any text editor.

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Note: For the address and date formats, use a text editor, and not the CSV editor.

How to Load Changes

Ariba Buyer caches resource files after the first use. If you have a running configuration and a resource file is in active use, you have to restart the server to see your changes. If you have never accessed the resource file and it is not yet in the cache, you can make changes without restarting the server.

How to Find Resource Keys

Ariba Buyer provides a debugging mode that displays the resource keys for strings in the user interface, as tooltips. You can use this debugging mode to help determine which resource key specifies a given string that is visible on the screen.

To enable resource key debugging, set the parameter System.Debug.i18N in config/Parameters.table to true.

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Summary

To summarize the information in this chapter:

• You use resource files to describe data that varies from one language to the next: error messages, labels on the screen, images, and the help system.

• The resource files for the default configuration reside in the directory ariba/resource, which has subdirectories for each locale.

• To customize a resource strings file, you create a file in config/resource that has only the strings you want to change. Don’t supply the whole file—just the strings yoare replacing.

• To customize an image, you create a file in config/resource that has the new image.

• You cannot customize the help system.

• The resource files for dates and addresses define the valid formats, as well as the strings themselves. These are the only two resource files that affect the layout of the data.

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Chapter 9Approvable Documents and Approval Flow

An approvable document is a request that requires approval by one or more people. Ariba Buyer provides an approval flow process that is consistent for all kinds of documents, so that users who are familiar with the approval process for one kind of document are able to quickly and easily understand the process for another type of document as well.

The default Ariba Buyer configuration defines a standard set of approvable documents, some of which users create (for example, purchase requisitions and expense reports) and others that Ariba Buyer creates automatically (for example, catalog update approval requests and purchasing card reconciliation requests).

Each approvable document has an associated set of properties that specify characteristics such as:

• How approvable documents are numbered and named

• Which users have permission to run queries, change the approval flow, or make changes to a document

• What information is included in notification messages

Each approvable document type also has an associated set of approval rules that define who must approve that request and under what circumstances.

This chapter describes how Ariba Buyer defines the properties and approval rules for approvable documents.

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Approvable Document Properties

Ariba Buyer defines the set of approvable documents in a configuration with an integration event that reads from a CSV file. This integration event lists a set of document types and the properties of each such document.

Ariba Buyer uses this integration event to specify properties of approvable documents, such as:

• Who can create documents of that type

• How the documents are numbered

• What users have permissions to run queries to locate such documents

• What information is included in notification messages about approvables of that type

• Which users can make changes to an approvable document after it has been submitted for approval

For example, in the default configuration, users are allowed to create purchase requisitions, but are not allowed to create new purchase orders directly from the user interface. Similarly, in the default configuration, notification messages about requisitions show just a summary of the requisition, and not the full history or set of comments.

For information on how to customize approvable document properties in your configuration, see the chapter on Approvables in the Ariba Buyer Configuration Guide.

If you have purchased Ariba’s eForms feature, you can also create your own approvable document types, known as eForms, and define those forms in the lisdocuments in ApprovableType.csv. For information on creating and using eForms, seethe Ariba Buyer eForms Tutorial.

Approval Rules and Approval Flow

Every approvable document has an associated set of approval rules, which define who must approve that request and under what circumstances. You can paraphrmost approval rules as if...then... sentences. For example:

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Chapter 9 Approvable Documents and Approval Flow Approval Rules and Approval Flow

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“If the requester and the preparer are not the same person, then ask therequester to approve.”

“If an expense report has violations, then the violation manager must approve.”

“If the requisition has any line items with a commodity code of CAPEX, ththe Facilities Manager must approve.”

When an approvable document is submitted for approval, Ariba Buyer runs the approval rules for that document type to generate an approval diagram, which shows the order of approvals for that document. This approval flow diagram appears in the user interface, on the approval flow tab.

The following is an example of an approval diagram:

Approval rules are in JavaScript. The default configuration provides a default set of approval rules for each approvable document in your configuration. To tailor your configuration to follow your company’s business processes, you can modify or exthe rules in the default configuratin with your own new JavaScript rules.

To modify or create approval rules, you must use the Ariba Buyer Rule Editor, wis an administrative tool available from the Enterprise Manager.

For information on how to define and adjust the approval rules for any documentype, see the Ariba Buyer Approval Rules Guide.

Escalation and TimeOut

To avoid situations where documents are “stuck” in the approval process, Ariba Buyer provides mechanisms for escalation and timeout of approvables that have not been handled in an adequate time frame:

• If an approver does not take action on an approvable within a specified time period, that approval request is esclalated to the approver’s immediate manager

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• If an approvable is not completely processed within an appropriate time frame, that approval request times out and is automatically withdrawn. Once a document times out, the only way to start the approval flow process over is to resubmit the document.

Ariba Buyer uses scheduled tasks to handle escalation and time out. For more information on these scheduled tasks, and how to define the time periods involved, see the “Approvable Documents” chapter of the Ariba Buyer Configuration Guide.

Editing Documents After Submission

After a document has been submitted, it cannot generally be edited. However, inconfigurations you want to allow administrative users to make post-submission eto approvable documents.

When a user makes changes to a submitted document, he or she has to “check odocument for editing and then later save the changes. To configure post-submiseditability, you specify both which users are able to check out a document for edand what sorts of changes can be saved.

To specify who can make changes to a document, you change the document properties.

To specify the rules on what sorts of changes can be saved, you write JavaScripedit rules. For example, you might define edit rules for requisitions specifying that:

• The purchasing agent can make any changes at any time.

• If the submitted changes affect the total of the requisition, then the request must be resubmitted

For information on how to set up the document properties specifying who is able to check out a document to make changes, see the Ariba Buyer Configuration Guide.

For information on how to write JavaScript edit rules specifying what happens when the changes are saved, see the Ariba Buyer Approval Rules Guide.

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Notification Messages

Notifications are e-mail messages that Ariba Buyer sends to users to keep them informed of various events. Ariba Buyer sends notification messages to interested parties when there is a change in the status of an approvable document (for example, when a user needs to take action), and when there are errors that require the attention of an administrator.

For example:

TO240: ‘Vacation Day’ has been fully approved

To view this request in the Ariba system, use the following URL:

http:// Ariba:3377/login?username=me\JSmith&itemID=y4wrv.93&template=/ariba/common/html/expand.htm&partition=part1

To set up your configuration, you must set parameters in config/Parameters.table that specify the URL to use in these links, the “From” field to be used in the e-mail, anon.

Youu can also choose whether to enable the e-mail approval feature. The e-maiapproval feature enables users to approve or deny approvable documents by responding to notification messages. Users indicate when they want to approve deny an approvable document by typing x or X in a check box, or by clicking a mailto: link. Notification messages using this feature include lines like the following:

To select approve or deny, reply to this message and place an X in the [ ] before the action you wish to take.

[ ] Approve WorkflowActionID,r27.1h,2ocjnua1krn0,fmm.u,1,fmm.u;[ ] Deny WorkflowActionID,r27.1h,2ocjnua1krn0,fmm.u,1,fmm.u;

For information on how to configure notification messages, how to specify whichusers receive notification messages, and how to enable (or disable) the e-mail approval feature, see the Ariba Buyer Administration Guide.

Summary

To summarize the information in this chapter:

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You define the set of approvable documents in your configuration, and the properties of each, with the file ApprovableType.csv. For information on this file and the kinds of changes you can make with it, see the Ariba Buyer Configuration Guide.

You specify the approval rules and edit rules for documents with JavaScript rules files. You edit these rule sets from the Ariba Buyer Rule Editor, which is an administrative tool available from the Enterprise Manager. For information on creating and editing rules, see the Ariba Buyer Approval Rules Guide.

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Chapter 10Catalogs and Catalog Administration

When a user asks to choose items to include on a purchase requisition, Ariba Buyer brings up the Product Catalog Chooser, which is a collection of catalog items that are available for your users to order. The user can browse or search through the catalog to find items of interest.

As part of your initial configuration, you load the products that are available for users to order and structure the product catalog so that your users can find items quickly and easily.

To configure the product catalog, you:

• Load in catalog data from suppliers, which makes those items available for users to order

• Set up the product categories that users can browse to find products

• Set up permissions for administrative users who will be doing catalog administration.

This chapter introduces catalog configuration and administration in Ariba Buyer.

Adding Products to the Catalog

When you first install Ariba Buyer, the product catalog is empty. Before users can purchase items, you must specify what items are available for them to order.

In a typical configuration, you read most catalog data into Ariba Buyer by setting up a connection to Ariba Commerce Services Network (Ariba CSN). Ariba CSN is a worldwide exchange where suppliers publish catalog data and make it available to buyers.

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You can also load in individual catalogs on an ad hoc basis, specifying a filename or URL where the catalog data can be found.

This section describes those methods in more detail.

Ariba CSN Subscriptions

Ariba CSN is a forum for exchanging information between suppliers and buyers. In a typical Ariba Buyer configuration, you:

• Register with Ariba CSN, as a buyer, and indicate the suppliers with whom you interact

• Configure Ariba Buyer to communicate with Ariba CSN

• Set up subscriptions to specific supplier catalogs on Ariba CSN

You do the basic configuration only once, as you are setting up your initial Ariba Buyer configuration, by defining appropriate parameters in config/Parameters.table. For example, you set parameters that tell Ariba Buyer your account name and password on Ariba CSN.

For information on how to set up communication between Ariba Buyer and Ariba CSN, see the Ariba Buyer Reference Guide.

Once you have established connectivity with Ariba CSN, you set up subscriptions from the Enterprise Manager, by naming a URL on Ariba CSN where the catalog can be found. When you subscribe to a catalog on Ariba CSN, Ariba Buyer polls that catalog regularly to see if the supplier has made any changes. If so, Ariba Buyer retrieves the revised catalog, prepares a list of items that have changed, and submits that list of changes for approval.

Other Catalog Imports

For times when you want to include items in the product catalog that are not available through Ariba CSN, you can set up ad hoc imports for catalog files.

To set up such an import, you specify the file name (or URL) where Ariba Buyer can find the catalog data. Each time you want to load an updated version of that file, you do so manually, from the Ariba Buyer Enterprise Manager.

The only way to set up automated loading of revised catalog versions is by subscribing to those catalogs on Ariba CSN.

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Chapter 10 Catalogs and Catalog Administration Tying Catalog Data Into Your Configuration

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For information on how to set up such imports, and other alternative ways of loading catalog data, see the Ariba Buyer Catalog Management Guide.

Catalog Item Punchout

Suppliers can also choose to support “punchout,” where the item in the Ariba Buproduct catalog is basically just a link directly to the supplier’s Website. When a chooses that item from the Ariba Buyer catalog, he or she goes directly to the supWebsite to browse more information about the product and decide whether to or

From the Ariba Buyer side, there is no additional configuration required for punchThe supplier creates items in the product catalog and explicitly marks them as punchout items.

Tying Catalog Data Into Your Configuration

A catalog entry typically includes supplier, commodity code, currency, and unit omeasure data. The data in those fields must tie into the basic data you have loayour configuration.

For example, when you load a catalog item into Ariba Buyer, it’s critical that the currency used in that catalog item be one that is defined in your Ariba Buyer configuration.

In Ariba Buyer, catalog items are unpartitioned. Any catalog item that you load inpotentially be visible throughout your partition. If you want to restrict access to certain catalog items, by user or by partition, you do that by adding filters. The catalog items themselves are always global data, available throughout your configuration, but they might not necessarily be visible to all users.

As you set up your catalog configuration, you have to ensure that the commoditycodes, currencies, suppliers, and units of measure are defined properly, so that are handled correctly in all partitions. For each of these kinds of data, you have tup both a set of global data (like a list of countries) and a set of partitioned data the country names used in each partition).

For information on how to define the shared data used by catalog items, and masure that the catalog data you load ties into that shared data, see the Ariba Buyer Procurement Guide.

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The Catalog Hierarchy

Ariba Buyer provides two ways to navigate the product catalog: searching and browsing.

Configuring Catalog Searching

Ariba Buyer implements catalog searching by creating a full-text index of all catalog data. In the default configuration, that full-text index includes the following fields:

• Description

• Supplier Part Number

• Any additional attributes specific to the product being ordered

There is no configuration required to enable catalog searching. There is a scheduled task that generates the product index periodically, and you generally set up your configuration so that the scheduled task runs after you have added new products to your catalog.

If you find that you need to add additional fields to the full-text search, or set up the user interface for searching differently, consult the Ariba Buyer Catalog Management Guide for information on the configuration options that are available.

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Configuring Catalog Browsing

Ariba Buyer implements catalog browsing with a hierarchical “tree” of products. Ycan think of that hierarchy as a table of contents for the product catalog. For exa

In this example, there are major categories for “Internet Catalog,” “Computers,” “Industrial Equipment & Supplies,” and “Office Equipment.” Most of those categories have subcategories, as well.

During your initial configuration, you choose the set of entries in the table of contand decide how those entries should be organized.

Every configuration has to define its own catalog hierarchy, which resides in the configuration file config/Catalog.table. You use that file to define categories you want tmake available to users, and to tell Ariba Buyer which products fall in those categories.

For example, to set up a category called “Office Supplies” you:

• Define an entry in catalog.table for Office Supplies

• Associate one or more product codes (commodity codes) with that category

All products in the Ariba Buyer database that have that commodity code (or commodity codes) are part of that product category.

You generally set up an initial version of your catalog.table file early in your implementation and then refine it as necessary, to help guide users to choose products effectively.

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To configure this file, you need a good understanding of how your company uses commodity codes, and how Ariba Buyer uses them: for information on commodity codes in Ariba Buyer, see the Ariba Buyer Procurement Guide.

Multilingual Considerations

In a multilingual configuration, different users see the catalog hierarchy in different languages. As with other aspects of Ariba Buyer, the localization is handled with resource files.

In a multilingual configuration, there is still just one Catalog.table file that defines the hierarchy. But instead of defining specific labels for the categories, like “Office Supplies,” the Catalog.table file uses resource strings to define the category labels.

To display the catalog items themselves in different languages, you could have asingle catalog with several entries for the same catalog item, each in a different language. Then, you could create a custom filter that displays only those items tare in the user’s language. To create the filter, you use the CustomCatalog interface and reference the class in the application.procure.CustomCatalogImplementation parameter in Parameters.table. For more information on creating custom catalogs, see the Ariba Query API Guide.

Catalog Administration

Catalog configuration typically requires some on-going administration, as the seproducts in your configuration shifts and changes.

The most important component of catalog administration is keeping the catalog lrunning smoothly. The process for a new or revised catalog to become availableAriba Buyer is as follows:

1. An administrator starts the catalog import from the Enterprise Manager (it’s an ad hoc import) or the import starts automatically (if Ariba Buyer picup the revisions from Ariba CSN).

2. Ariba Buyer generates a tracker that shows the progress of the catalog datas it is validated and processed. The Enterprise Manager shows you allavailable trackers and lets you monitor the progress of imports that are iprogress.

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Chapter 10 Catalogs and Catalog Administration Summary

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3. When the catalog is validated successfully, Ariba Buyer creates an approvable document (a Supplier Data Update) document, and routes it for approval according to your company’s business rules. In a typical configuration, you will have an administrative user such as a Catalog Manager who sees and approves these documents.

4. Once the document is approved, the catalog is queued for “live loading”Ariba Buyer uses a scheduled task to pick up all pending catalog data aload it into the Ariba Buyer database.

5. Ariba Buyer runs a scheduled task, either on a regular background basion demand, that updates the full-text index and makes the items in the ncatalog available through the catalog search.

If things are running smoothly, the catalog administrator is involved only when thare revised catalogs to review and approve, and when there are new catalogs avthat require subscriptions or imports to be defined in the Enterprise Manager.

However, if suppliers create catalog with bad data, or if there are network or transmission problems loading catalogs, your administrative team will be notifiedmay have to take additional action. In the event that anything does go wrong theadministrator can follow the full history of the catalog import from the Enterprise Manager.

For more information on catalog loads, approvals, and the import process, see tAriba Buyer Catalog Management Guide.

Summary

To summarize the information in this chapter:

• You populate the Ariba Buyer product chooser with catalog data that you obtain from your suppliers. You usually load catalog data through Ariba CSN, but can also load by naming a disk file or URL that contains catalog data.

• Catalog items include several fields that must be defined in your configuration: supplier, unit of measure, currency, country, and commodity code.

• You don’t generally configure catalog searching, although you can in specializcircumstances.

• You configure product browsing by defining the set of categories you’d like to make available, and the products in each.

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• Catalogs tend to change frequently and you should plan to have an administrator available to do ongoing catalog administration.

For complete information on catalog configuration and administration, see the Ariba Buyer Catalog Management Guide.

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Chapter 11Metadata XML Files

Ariba Buyer uses a set of metadata XML configuration files to define the data in the Ariba Buyer database and describe the user-interface properties of that data. The word “metadata” means a scheme for describing data; metadata XML allows you to describe the Ariba Buyer database using terminology from the Ariba object modrather than low-level database schemas.

You use metadata XML files in two phases of your configuration: data configuratand customization. For example, you can use metadata XML files to add new fielother data, or to make changes such as hiding fields under certain circumstancemodifying the appearance of a field.

For more information on using metadata XML files, see:

• Ariba Buyer Customization Guide, which is an introduction to using metadata XML files for customization

• The Ariba Platform Reference Guide, which includes reference information on metadata XML

Metadata XML Configuration Files

Metadata XML files define the data in the Ariba database by naming classes, fields, and properties of the fields. Metadata XML files are structured into modules, which describe collections of related data. For example, the file Requisition.aml contains the metadata XML for procurement-specific data and the file ExpenseReport.aml contains the metadata XML for expense reports.

Because metadata XML files serve both to define the data in the Ariba Buyer database and also to define the user interface properties of that data, you use them at several points in your configuration and customization process.

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During the configuration phase, you edit metadata XML files to describe the shape of the data you are storing in the Ariba Buyer database. At this stage, the metadata XML files are closely tied to your chosen integrations: you use metadata XML to describe the shape of data to be stored in the Ariba Buyer database, and you use your data integrations to describe where Ariba Buyer finds that data.

During later customizations, you can continue to modify the metadata XML properties of existing data, although you cannot make changes that modify the database layout. For example, after you have run initdb to define your database, you can change most properties of a field, but cannot change its type (since that would modify the database layout).

Extension Files

You make metadata XML changes by creating extension files. Each extension defines changes and additions to a named metadata XML module. For example, if you want to add a new field to line items on requisitions, you define an extension to the Requisition module that extends the LineItem object.

Each metadata XML file includes metadata XML definitions, which can add new data to the default configuration or supply overrides for the information that is already there.

For more information on the best programming practices to use when structuring your extensions, see Ariba Buyer Customization Guide.

Format of Metadata XML Files

XML is a general term for a family of markup languages that use similar syntax, with tags and quoted attributes. Metadata XML files are stored in text files with extension .aml.

The syntax of metadata XML files looks very much like HTML. Here is an excerpt that illustrates the syntax:

<module name="ariba.common.meta.Core"><class name="ariba.common.core.User" super="ariba.common.core.Role">

<field name="EmailAddress" nullAllowed=”true”><type class="java.lang.String” length="255"/><properties label="Email Address"/>

</field></class>

</module>

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Each XML language defines its own set of tags. Ariba metadata XML files provide a set of tags that you can use to define new classes and fields or change the properties of existing ones. This example shows several of those tags: module, class, field, type, and properties.

For a complete list of the tags and attributes that are valid in metadata XML files, see the Ariba Platform Reference Guide.

How to Change Metadata XML Files

This section describes the mechanics of working with metadata XML files: where to find the configuration files, how to change them, and how to load your changes.

Where to Find Metadata XML Files

When you first install Ariba Buyer, your configuration includes a set of metadata XML files that describe the data in the default configuration. Those files are stored in the directory ariba/common/meta.

Extension files also have the extension .aml and are located in the config directory. The exact location depends on whether the extensions apply to a single variant or to your entire configuration. For example, extensions for a variant called var1 reside in:

config/variants/var1/extensions

Extensions that apply to your entire configuration reside in:

config/variants/Plain/extensions

The default configuration also includes a set of extension files that illustrate typical extensions for integration with various underlying ERP systems. For example, if you define a PeopleSoft configuration using Ariba’s default files, that configuration winclude a file called:

variants/<varName>/extensions/PeopleSoftVariantsExt.aml

Treat these extensions as part of the default configuration. Do not modify or delethem.

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How to Load Changes to Metadata XML Files

After making changes to a metadata XML file, you must reload the metadata into Ariba Buyer. Because metadata XML files can reference one another, Ariba Buyer always loads all metadata extensions in your configuration as a unit. You reload all extensions; you don’t reload just one individual file.

To load metadata extensions into Ariba Buyer, you can:

• Restart the Ariba Buyer server or

• Use the Load ... Extension Files command, available from the Enterprise Manager

The Load ... Extension Files command is faster, but it does not handle extensions with deletions, such as removing fields from the default configuration or removing fields from groups. For changes that involve deletions, you must restart the server.

If you’re not sure which method to us, it is always best to restart the server.

Before you use the Load ... Extension Files command, you should make sure that there are no users currently connected to that instance of Ariba Buyer. For information on how to check whether there are any clients connected, see the Ariba Buyer Administration Guide.

Summary

To summarize the information in this chapter:

• Files with extension .aml describe the data in the Ariba database. They are in XML format, using an XML language called metadata XML.

• You can find the .aml files that describe the default configuration in the directory ariba/common/meta.

• You can define extensions or customizations by creating new .aml files in the config directory. These extension files reside in a directory associated with a variant. For example, extensions for a variant called HQ reside in config/variants/HQ/extensions.

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Chapter 12Wizard Files

Ariba Buyer provides user-interface wizards that help users perform specific tasks, such as creating approvable documents (requisitions, user profiles, expense reports, and e-forms), filling out receipts, reconciling purchasing card charges, and running reports.

Each of the Ariba Buyer wizards uses a basic wizard infrastructure that provides a consistent “look and feel” for wizards across Ariba Buyer. The wizard infrastructuprovides Next and Back buttons, a navigation bar with a list of steps, a frame andpage title, and a set of instructions for the user.

You can configure the screens in an Ariba Buyer wizard using the same techniquyou use to configure the rest of the user interface. But when you’re working withwizards you can also make a set of additional customizations—those that affectand structure. For example, you can change the behavior of the Next and Back buttons on a frame, add a new frame, or adjust the order of existing frames.

You make changes to the flow and structure of wizards with wizard configuration files. This chapter introduces wizard configuration files and describes the kinds ochanges you can make with them.

Wizard Configuration Files

Ariba Buyer defines the flow and structure of a wizard with two kinds of configuration files:

• Wizard files, with extension .awz

• Wizard frame files, with extension .afr

A wizard typically consists of one .awz file and several .afr files. All wizard configuration files are in XML format.

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The wizard file, with extension .awz, defines the basic structure of a wizard. The wizard file specifies:

• The names of the frames in that wizard

• The default flow of the frames in the wizard

• The names of each step in the wizard (for the checklist)

Here is a short example that illustrates an .awz file:

<wizard name = "AcmeWizard"displayName = "@ariba.html.arp/CreateRequisitionTitle"description = "Wizard for Acme’s road running process. "version = "1.0"flow = "SEQUENTIAL">

<step name = "Step1"displayName = "@ariba.html.arp/CreateRequisitionStep1"flow = "PARALLEL">

<step name="Step1-A" file="CatalogItem.afr"/><step name="Step1-B" file="NonCatalogItem.afr"/>

</step><step name="Step2" file="Approvable/Justify.afr"/>

</wizard>

Each wizard frame file, with extension .afr, defines the content of a wizard frame. A wizard has one wizard frame file for each frame of the wizard. The wizard frame configuration file specifies:

• The display name of the wizard frame

• The page title

• The page hint

• The content of the frame

• The control flow of the frame

Using Wizard Files

The default configuration includes one wizard file and a set of wizard frame configuration files for each wizard in the configuration. The wizard file defines the control flow and structure of the wizard; each wizard frame file defines a specific frame.

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Chapter 12 Wizard Files Changing Wizard Files

To modify or extend wizards, you define wizard extension files. You can use wizard extension files to make changes such as adding new steps to wizards, changing existing steps, and deleting steps.

Wizard extension files are in XML format, much like the original wizard configuration files. For example:

<!DOCTYPE inWizard SYSTEM "../../../../../ariba/htmlui/fieldsui/wizards/wizardExt.dtd"><inWizard name = "AcmeWizard"

displayName = "Cool New Wizard"<deleteStep name="JustifyFrame"/><step name = "MyNewStep"

displayName = "My New Step"flow = "PARALLEL"><step name="JustifyFrame" file="Approvable/Justify.afr"/><step name="ReviewFrame" file="Approvable/Review.afr"/>

</step></inWizard>

Changing Wizard Files

This section describes the mechanics of working with wizard files: where to find the configuration files, how to change them, and how to load your changes.

Where to Find Wizard Files

The wizard configuration files for the default configuration are in one of these directories:

ariba/variants/Plain/wizards

ariba/variants/<xxx>/wizards

where <xxx> is the name of a variant in your configuration. Within those directories are subdirectories for each of the standard wizards. For example, the files for the requisition wizard are in:

ariba/variants/Plain/wizards/Requisition

The generic wizard files (those in Plain) are loaded first, and the variant-specific wizard files are loaded afterwards. Any variant-specific wizard files take precedence over the generic ones.

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Changing Wizard Files Chapter 12 Wizard Files

When you create wizard extension files, you store those extensions in the corresponding locations in the config directory:

config/variants/Plain/wizards

config/variants/<<xxx>/wizards

For example, you would put generic extension files for the Requisition Wizard in:

config/variants/Plain/wizards/Requisition

and any variant-specific files in:

config/variants/<xxx>/wizards/Requisition

How to Edit Wizard Files

Wizard configuration files are in XML format. If you have an XML editor available, you can use that editor to edit wizard configuration files, or you can use any text editor.

How to Load Changes

To load changes to wizard files, restart the server.

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Chapter 12 Wizard Files Summary

Summary

To summarize the information in this chapter:

• Ariba Buyer uses a set of configuration files in XML format to define the logic and control flow of wizards.

• Wizard configuration file are in XML format and have the extensions .awz and .afr.

• When you extend a wizard, you put your extension file in one of these two directories:

config/variants/Plain/wizards

config/variants/<xxx>/wizards

Variant-specific extensions take precedence over generic ones.

For more information on wizards, see:

• Ariba Buyer Customization Guide, which provides an introduction to wizard customization

• The Ariba Platform Reference Guide, which includes reference information on wizard configuration files

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Chapter 13The Sample Directory

To help you with configuration and customization, Ariba Buyer provides a collection of sample code that implements optional features and examples. This sample code is located in the sample subdirectory of your Ariba Buyer installation directory. For each piece of sample code in that directory, there is a README.txt that describes the feature and how you can customize it for use in your configuration.

This chapter is an overview of the available samples. For details on how to set up or use any of the samples, see the associated README.txt file.

Sample Features

The sample directory includes sample implementations of additional features that are not available in the default configuration. You can install these features from the sample directory, and use them without modification, but in general you should think of them as starting points for additional customizations of your own.

This section provides a brief overview of some of the major features available in the sample directory. To see what else is available, be sure to browse through the sample directory and check the README.txt files.

Catalog Forms

A catalog form is a feature that allows you to create catalog items where the user can fill out additional information about the item being ordered. For example, there is a custom form for business cards: when a user picks the business card item from the catalog, Ariba Buyer creates an additional window where the user can fill out the details of that business form.

In the directory sample/procure/forms, you will find a number of examples of forms that are available through the product catalog:

• BusinessCard

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• DesktopSystem

• PlantMaintenance

• ServiceEngagement

• Stationery

• WirelessModem

For more information on catalog forms, see the Ariba Buyer Procurement Guide.

Requisition Import Example

Ariba Buyer was designed so that users could create requisitions, submit them for approval, and keep track of them, all within the Ariba Buyer application. But there are times when your company might need to allow Ariba Buyer to pull in requisitions generated from some other system.

If you are in the process of transitioning from another requisitioning system to Ariba, or if you have a system that handles just one aspect of requisitioning, you might want to use the Requisition Import sample code as an example of how to pull those external requisitions into Ariba Buyer.

The files associated with the Requisition Import example are in the directory /sample/procure/requisitionimport. For more information on this sample implementation, see the Ariba Buyer Procurement Guide.

eForms

In addition to purchase requisitions and expense reports, a typical company has many other sorts of forms as well, like payroll change requests, vacation requests, and travel profiles. In Ariba Buyer you can set up any and all new documents as Ariba eForms and use Ariba’s approval routing and tracking facilities to automate the documenhandling.

The sample eForms are in sample/eforms. In that directory is a README.txt file that introduces each of the sample eForms.

For more information on setting up eForms, see the Ariba Buyer eForms Tutorial.

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Chapter 13 The Sample Directory Sample Features

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Taxware

Ariba Buyer provides a mechanism that allows you to plug in external packages that perform computations on the server and display the results.

As an example of the integration, Ariba Buyer provides sample code that integrates with Taxware International’s packages for Tax and VAT fees. The Taxware softwruns on the server side, and the Ariba architecture allows you to display the resuthose computations in the client, as part of a purchase requisition.

Fees of this sort are only “FYI” in Ariba Buyer: the final extra costs are calculatedthe supplier and included on the supplier invoice. However, the Taxware feature makes the tax information available as a “hint,” to give employees an idea of theexpected tax and VAT costs while the requisition is being processed.

The directory sample/other/taxware contains our sample implementation of the Taxwaintegration. For more information on the Taxware example, see the Ariba Buyer Configuration Guide.

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Appendix AConfiguration File Reference

This appendix lists the files in the config directory, describing how to make changes to each file. It separates the files into three categories:

• Shared configuration files

• Files that vary by variant

• Files that vary by partition

Shared Configuration Files

This section describes the configuration files that apply across your configuration, to all variants and partitions.

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Shared Configuration Files Appendix A Configuration File Reference

These files reside at the top level of the configuration directory.

Table 1. General Configuration Files

File or Directory Description How to Update

catalog.table Defines the hierarchy used in the Product Catalog Chooser, specifying the categories and subcategories, and which products fit into each category.

See the Ariba Buyer Catalog Management Guide.

Use the Catalog Hierarchy Editor, from the Enterprise Manager.

ConnectionInfo.table Defines how Ariba Buyer connects to external systems, such as ERP systems.

See “Connecting to External Systems” on page 48.

Restart the server.

LoadDB.txt Defines the load order for data integrations and scheduled tasks.

See “Defining the Load Order for Data” on page 50.

Read only at initdb time.

LoadDBLanguage.txt Defines the load order for languages in a multi-lingual configuration.

See the Ariba Buyer Configuration Guide.

Read with the -loadlanguage option to initdb

EnterpriseManager.table Configuration file for the Ariba Enterprise Manager.

See the Ariba Buyer Administration Guide.

Log out of the Enterprise Manager; log back in.

Parameters.table The main configuration file for Ariba Buyer.

See “Ariba Buyer Parameters” on page 33.

Restart the server.

java

Directory for custom Java files.

See the Ariba Buyer API Guide for information on how to create custom Java.

Put .class files in this directory, and then add to the package config.java so the server can find them.

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Appendix A Configuration File Reference Files that Vary by Variant

Files that Vary by Variant

This section describes the configuration files that apply only to a particular variant. In a typical configuration, these files are located in the directory config/variants/<xxx>, where <xxx> is the name of the variant.

Table 2. Files that Vary by Variant

File or Directory Explanation How to Update

data

*csv CSV data files for data that is not partitioned. Most data is by partition; only a few files reside here.

See the Ariba Buyer Configuration Guide.

Run the integration event from the Enterprise Manager.

extensions

*aml Metadata XML extension files.

See “Metadata XML Files” on page 85.

“Load ... Extensions” command on the Enterprise Manager.

rules

PurchaseOrderRules.jsRequistionRules.jsUserProfileRules.js...

JavaScript files for approval rules.

Use the Rule Editor on the Enterprise Manager.

wizards

*./*.afr

*./*.awz

Directory for each Wizard in Ariba Buyer.

See “Wizard Files” on page 89

Restart the server.

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Files that Vary by Partition Appendix A Configuration File Reference

Files that Vary by PartitionThis section describes the configuration files that apply only to a particular partition.

Table 3. Files that Vary by Partition

File or Directory Description How to Update

IntegrationEvent.table Configuration file that describes the integration events for a partition.

See “Data Integration” on page 47.

Use the Refresh command, from the Enterprise Manager.

ScheduledTasks.table*

(The name is specified with the parameter Application.Base.ScheduledTasks; you’re free to choose a different name.)

The configuration file for scheduled tasks.

See “Scheduled Tasks” on page 55.

Use the Refresh command, from the Enterprise Manager.

data

*csv CSV data files for integrations that read from CSV files as the data source.

See “Data Integration” on page 47.

Run the integration event, from the Enterprise Manager.

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Appendix BReference List of Parameters

This appendix contains a list of the parameters discussed in this document. The appendix contains two sections: application parameters and system parameters. For a complete list of all available parameters, see the Ariba Buyer Reference Guide. For general information on how to set parameters, see the “Ariba Buyer Parameterschapter in the Ariba Buyer Configuration Overview.

Notes about working with parameters:

• If you have your Web server and Ariba Buyer server on different computers, you must have a copy of config/Parameters.table on both computers and make changes to both, or have the copy on your Ariba Buyer Core Server computer accessible through file system sharing to the Web server computer. For more information on system architecture and how to make sure that config/Parameters.table is accessible on all machines, see the Ariba Buyer Web Server Configuration Guide.

• You can encrypt values for parameters (such as passwords) so that the values are not visible to users in plain text. For information on parameter security, see the “Managing Security” chapter of the Ariba Buyer Administration Guide.

• Parameters are case-sensitive. Check the case of your parameters carefully.

• If you include special characters such as \ in config/Parameters.table, you must quote those characters.For complete information on the syntax of table files, see the Ariba Platform Reference Guide.

• When you create customizations with custom Java, it is possible to create and name custom parameters of your own. You should place such parameters in either Application.Customer or System.Customer, as appropriate. For information on creating custom Java code to include in your configuration, see the Ariba Buyer API Guide.

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Application Parameters

This section describes the parameters in the Application section, which are those that can potentially be different for each partition. For information on how to set parameters specific to a partition, see the chapter “Ariba Buyer Parameters” in tAriba Buyer Configuration Overview.

Application.Base

Application.Base.CompanyHolidays

This parameter names one or more dates as company holidays, which mthose dates are ignored when calculating how many “working days” havpassed. This parameter applies to all scheduled tasks that send remindemessages to users. It applies only when Application.Base.SkipWeekendsAndHolidays is true.

You specify the holidays as a string of dates, separated by colons. Eachcan be in any format defined by the SystemFormats key in resource.date.csv. To define no holidays, set this string to "".

For example:

CompanyHolidays = "Jul-4-1998:Dec-25-1998:Jan-1-1999";

For more information on scheduled tasks, see “Weekends and Holidayspage 57.

Application.Base.Data

Application.Base.ScheduledTasksFile

This parameter names the configuration file for scheduled tasks. You generally set this parameter in the Partitions section, with a different setting for each partition in your configuration.

For example:

ScheduledTasksFile = "CommonScheduledTasks.table";

For more information, see “Scheduled Tasks” on page 55.

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Appendix B Reference List of Parameters System Parameters

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Application.Base.SkipWeekendsAndHolidays

This parameter is a boolean that specifies whether scheduled tasks should skip weekends and holidays when deciding how many days have gone by. It applies to scheduled tasks, but only to those scheduled tasks that send reminder messages to users.

In the default configuration, this parameter is set to true.

For more information, see “Weekends and Holidays” on page 57.

System Parameters

This section describes the parameters in the System section, which are those that applyglobally across all partitions.

System.Base

System.Base.Data

System.Base.EnableInstancePromotion

This parameter is a boolean that indicates whether you are currently in tprocess of promoting an Ariba Buyer instance. If set to true, the initdb and serverStart scripts expect additional parameters, which define the details othe instance promotion. If set to false, instance promotion is disabled and thinitdb and serverStart scripts do not recognize the additional arguments.

For more information, see “Managing Instances” on page 39.

System.Base.ExternalConnectionsFile

This parameter defines a file that specifies connection information for enterprise integration. You use the connections file to specify how AribaBuyer connects to external machines such as ERP systems.

In the default configuration, this parameter is set to ConnectionInfo.table.

For more information, see “Connecting to External Systems” on page 48

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System Parameters Appendix B Reference List of Parameters

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System.Base.Production

This parameter is a boolean that specifies whether the Ariba Buyer Core Server is in production mode. If Production is false, a red warning is displayed on the login page saying “System is running in Development mode. Do not use for Production activity.” If Production is true, this warning does not appear

When the server is in production mode:

• The “Reload Extensions” command in the Enterprise Manager puts upalert requiring you to restart the server instead.

• The System.Base.BuyerLoginURL parameter is required to start with https.

• The System.Base.Authentication parameter must be set to the value CGI.

• The System.Base.CGILoginURL parameter must start with https.

In the default configuration, this parameter is set to false.

System.Base.SecureParameters

This parameter allows you to specify that the values of certain fields are encoded, and not in plain text. By default, all parameters are in plain text, but you may prefer to encode some parameters for security reasons.

The value is a vector of parameter names, surrounded by parentheses and separated by commas. For more information on the syntax of vectors, see the Ariba Platform Reference Guide.

To supply encoded parameters, you encode the value and put the encoded value in the config/Parameters.table and then use the SecureParameters to specify the list of encoded parameters.

For information on how to obtain the encoded value so that you can supply it in the file, see “Configuration File Security” on page 31.

For example:

SecureParameters = (System.Database.AribaDBPassword,System.Database.AribaDBUsername

);

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Appendix B Reference List of Parameters System Parameters

System.Debug.I18N

This is a boolean parameter that enables or disables internationalization debugging information in the HTML pages that Ariba Buyer generates. If you set this parameter to true, Ariba Buyer includes the i18n keys that are used to generate localized strings.

This is a debugging parameter only. You should always set it to false in production environments.

In the default configuration, this parameter is set to false.

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Appendix CCommand Line Tools

This appendix is a reference list of the scripts described in this manual.

AribaEncode

You use aribaencode to encode a string, such as a password, so that you can put the encrypted version in a configuration file.

To encode a string to be used in the config/Parameters.table or Connections.table file, type the following command at the command prompt in your Ariba Buyer Core Server installation directory:

aribaencode <xxx>

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instanceParams Appendix C Command Line Tools

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You use the instanceParams script to manage instance-specific parameters from config/Parameters.table. For an introduction to this script, see “Managing Instances,” page 39.

The instanceParams script runs from the command line in a loop, prompting for inputThe command loop recognizes the following commands:

FastCreate [instance]AdvancedCreate [instance]Edit [instance]View [instance]Delete [instance]List [instance]QuitHelp [command]

Once you have entered the command loop, you remain in command-prompt mountil you type Quit. This section describes each of those commands, in order.

For convenience when using this script, note that:

• To enter a command, you can type either the entire command or specify just the minimal set of characters for that command. For example, “a” for AdvancedCrand “d” for Delete.

• For commands that take an instance as argument, you can supply the instance name on the command line (“View dev”) or you can type View and wait to be prompted for an instance name.

FastCreate

You use FastCreate to create a set of parameters associated with a new instance. TFastCreate command requests the minimum set of parameters that must change between instances. As an alternative, you can use AdvancedCreate, which iterates through a more extensive list of parameters.

When you choose FastCreate, the instanceParams script:

6. Displays a list of all existing instances (so you can avoid name conflicts)

7. Prompts you for the name of the new instance you want to define

8. Starts prompting for values of specific parameters. For example:

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Appendix C Command Line Tools instanceParams

Enter value for System.Base.BuyerLoginURL<default: http://acmeServer:3377/Ariba>:Hit return to accept default.->

9. Loops through remaining parameters and then asks you if you want to save your instance:

About to save results to instances\ACME\InstanceParameters.table.Are you sure? (y=yes, n=no)

Some parameters are optional (have default values). Others are required (have no default values). The required parameters are those that must be different across instances. For example, you cannot have two instances that use the same HTTPPort or the same database username.

If you ask to create an instance that already exists, the script asks you if you want to overwrite the existing file:

Creating a new instance named ABCInstance parameters file already exists.Continuing will result in the file being overwritten.Do you wish to continue? (y=yes, n=no)

When you ask to save an instance, the instanceParams script checks to see if all required parameters are different from those in existing instances. If not (if you have specified a value that exists in another instance), the script issues an error:

About to save results to instances\DEF\InstanceParameters.table.Are you sure? (y=yes, n=no)-> y***Conflicting parameters found:***

Instance: ABCkey: System.Database.AribaDBUsernamevalue: ariba

***Conflicting parameters found:***Instance: ABCkey: System.Nodes.Node1.HTTPServerPortvalue: 3377

***WARNING: instances\DEF\InstanceParameters.table NOT saved.***reason: conflicting parameter values.Please resolve the conflicts and retry.Hit any key to continue.

To recover from this error, you must return to the instanceParams script and check each of the required values (the ones for which there are no defaults).

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instanceParams Appendix C Command Line Tools

AdvancedCreate

You use AdvancedCreate to create the complete set of instance-specific parameters associated with an instance. The AdvancedCreate option is like FastCreate, above, except that FastCreate prompts for a smaller set of parameters. FastCreate allows you to specify a subset of the parameters that AdvancedCreate allows you to specify.

The usage and errors for AdvancedCreate are the same as those for FastCreate, above.

Edit

You use Edit to view (and possibly modify) the parameters associated with an instance. When you choose Edit, the instanceParams script:

1. Asks you to choose an instance.

2. Displays a list of parameters associated with that instance.

3. Enters an Edit loop, where the commands available are as follows:

ModifyNextPreviousChangePageSizeSaveQuitHelp

You use Next and Previous to scroll through pages of parameters, and can use ChangePageSize to determine how many lines are displayed at a time.

You use Modify command to change a parameter, specifying which one you want to change by supplying the line number.

You use the Save command to finalize the changes you have made.

If you ask to edit an instance that does not exist, you see the following error message:

Editing the instance named ABCinstances\ABC\InstanceParameters.table does not exist.You need to create the instance before editing.

View

You use View to view the parameters associated with a new instance. When you choose View, the instanceParams script:

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Appendix C Command Line Tools instanceParams

1. Asks you to choose an instance.

2. Enters a Display loop, where the commands available are as follows:

NextPreviousChangePageSizeQuitHelp

You use Next and Previous to scroll through pages of parameters, and can use ChangePageSize to determine how many lines are displayed at a time.

Delete

You use Delete to create the parameters associated with a new instance. When you choose Delete, the instanceParams script:

1. Deletes the named instance from the collection of instance-specific parameters being maintained.

List

You use List to see a list of the instances for which you have parameters defined. When you choose List, the instanceParams script:

1. Lists all available instances

You can also check a specific instance, by supplying an instance name as argument to the List command. For example:

List DEV

If you ask to edit an instance that does not exist, you see the following error message:

Listing the instance named ABCinstances\ABC\InstanceParameters.table does not exist.You need to create the instance before editing.

Quit

You use Quit to exit the command processing loop.

When you choose Quit, the instanceParams script:

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instanceParams Appendix C Command Line Tools

1. Asks for confirmation

2. Exits the instanceParams loop, assuming you confirm the request

Help [command]

You choose Help to obtain usage information for one of the commands. When you choose Help, the instanceParams script prints help information for the specified command. The command can be any unique prefix of a command; for example:

Help del

prints help information for the Delete command.

To print help for all commands, use

Help *

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Index

Symbols.afr files 31, 89.awz files 90.csv files 29.js files 31.table files 30

Aad hoc imports 78addresses

resource files for 66Application section

parameters in 34Ariba CSN 77ariba/common/meta 87aribaencode command 109aribaencode script 36

Bbrowsing the catalog 81business rules 31

Ccase-sensitivity

in parameters 37Catalog.table file 81catalogs 77

ad hoc imports 78approving catalog changes 82catalog browsing 81catalog searching 80loading into Ariba Buyer 77

comapny holidaysspecifying 104

Commerce Services Network 77CommonScheduledTasks.table 59CompanyHolidays parameter 57config directory 26configuration files

for integration events 47reference list 99security of 31

configure script 23CSV files 29

Ddates

resource files for 65debugging

resource keys 69

Ee-email notifications

see notificationsEnableInstancePromotion 105encoding parameters 36encoding strings 109Enterprise Manager

loading extensions 88ERP integration 18extension files 26

deleting 87external connections file 47

finding in file system 52

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Index

Hhelp system

resource files for 68holidays 104

ignoring in schedules 57

Iimages

resource files for 67importing requisitions 96initdb 16

specifying order of data 50initialization order file 47

finding in file system 52instance management 39instanceParams script 40, 110instances directory 44instance-specific parameters 40integration event configuration files 47

JJavascript files 31

LLoad Extensions command 88LoadDB.txt

including scheduled tasks in 58

Mmetadata XML files

defining extensions 86multi-ERP architecture 19

NNone (partition) 28notification messages

permissions for 58

Pparameters

Application parameters 34case-sensitivity of 37encoding for security 36file format 33how to change 37instance-specific 40maintaining instance-specific parameters

39reloading after changes 38

Parameters.tableinstanceParams script 110

partitions 20partition None 28SupplierDirect 28

permissionsfor scheduled tasks 58

Plain variant 27product hierarchy 81production mode 106punchout 79

RRequisition Import worksheet 96resource files

for addresses 66for dates 65for help system 68for images 67

resource keysdebugging 69

resourcesfor text strings 65

Sscheduled tasks

configuration file for 104configuration files for 56ignoring weekends and holidays 57loading at initdb 58setting schedules 57

ScheduledTasks.table 59

116 Ariba Buyer Configuration Overview 705en_us2001.5.42

Index

searching the catalog 80SecureParameters 36security

configuration files 31strings

resource files for 65Supplier Data Update approvable document

83SupplierDirect partition 28System.Base.ExternalConnectionsFile 52

Ttable files 30taxware integration 97

Uunpartitioned data 20

Vvariants 21

the Plain variant 27

Wwizard configuration files 89wizard frame files 89worksheets

Requisition Import 96

XXML format 86

Ariba Buyer Configuration Overview 117

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