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XML/BI Publisher Interview Questions
What is BI Publisher?
A. It is a reporting tool for generating the reports. More than
tool it is an engine that can be
integrated with systems supporting the business.
Is BI Publisher integrated with Oracle Apps?
Yes it is tightly integrated with Oracle Apps for reporting
needs. In !!.".!# instances $ml
publisher was used in %!& we can it BI Publisher
What is the difference between $ml publisher and BI
Publisher?
'ame is the difference initially it was released on the name of
$ml publisher( the initialpatchset) later on they ha*e added more
features and called it Business Intelligence Publisher. In
BI by default we ha*e integration with +atadefinitions in
%!& instance. Both these names can be
used interchangeably
What are the *arious components re,uired for de*eloping a BI
publisher report?
+ata -emplate ayout template and the integration with /oncurrent
Manager.
0ow does the concurrent program submitted by the user 1nows
about the datatemplate or
layout template it should be using for generating the
output?
-he concurrent program 2shortname3 will be mapped to the 2code3
of the +atatemplate.ayout template is attached to the datatemplate
this forms the mapping between all the three.
What is a datatemplate? +atatemplate is an $ml structure which
contains the ,ueries to be run against the database
so that desired output in $ml format is generated this generated
$ml output is then applied on to
the layout template for the final output
What is a layout template?
ayout template defines how the user *iews the output basically
it can be de*eloped using
Microsoft word document in rft (rich te$t format) or Adobe pdf
format. -he data output in $mlformat (from +ata template) will be
loaded in layout template at run time and the re,uired final
output file is generated.
What are the output formats supported by layout template?
$ls html pdf e-e$t etc are supported based on the business
need.
+o you need to write multiple layout templates for each output
type li1e html4pdf? 'o only layout template will be created BI
Publisher generates desired output format when
the re,uest is run
What is the default output format of the report?
-he default output format defined during the layout template
creation will be used to
generate the output the same can be modified during the re,uest
submission and it will o*erwrite
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the one defined at layout template
/an you ha*e multiple layout templates for a singe data
template? Yes multiple layouts can be defined user has a choice
here to use one among them at run
time during conc re,uest submission
Where do you register data and layout templates?
ayout template will be registered under $ml publisher
administratorresponsibility5-emplates tab.
+ata template will be registered under $ml publisher
admininstrator responsibility5 +ata
+efinitions
I want to create a report output in !# languages do I ha*e to
create !# layout templates?
'o BI Publisher pro*ides the re,uired translation for your
templates based on the number
of languages installed in your oracle apps en*ironment re,uires
outputs are pro*ided
What is the re,uired installation for using BI Pub report?
BI Publisher des1op tool has be installed. 6sing this tool you
can pre*iew or test the reportbefore deploying the same on to the
instance.
0ow do you mo*e your layout or data template across instances?
$doloader is the utility that will be used.
What is the tool to map re,uired data output and layout
templates so that they can be tested in
local machine? -emplate *iewer will be used for the same.
Which component is responsible for generating the output in $ml
format before applying it tolayout template?
+ata7ngine will ta1e +ata-emplate as the input and the output
will be generated in $ml
format which will then be applied on layout template
/an BI publisher reports be used in OA8 pages?
9+O template utility helper :a*a classes are pro*ided for the
same.
'ame some business use cases for BI reports?
Ban1 78- customer documents shipping documents internal analysis
documents or any
transactional documents
0ow do you pass parameters to your report?
/oncurrent program parameters should be passed ensure that the
parameter name4to1en aresame as in the conc prog defn and the data
template
What are the *arious sections in the data template?
Parameter section
