Monthly Archives: November 2007

Changing DNS Settings on TSTT Paradyne Router

After setting up TSTT’s Internet Broadband, users sometimes have difficulty accessing web sites. The user must click the Refresh button several times before the site loads. By default, TSTT’s ADSL router is configured to use TSTT’s DNS server. This DNS server is not very reliable. This documentation shows how to change the DNS Settings on TSTT’s Paradyne router to point to the freely available OpenDNS servers.

Step 1:        Load the web browser (for example, Internet Explorer).

Step 2:        In the Address Bar, type http://192.168.1.1 and press Enter.

Step 3:        The web browser prompts you for a username and password to log into the router. Enter admin in both fields. Then click OK.

Step 4:        The Paradyne ADSL CPE page appears showing the router’s settings.

Step 5:        Using the menu to the left of the page, navigate to Advanced Setup > DNS > DNS Server. The DNS Server Configuration page appears.

Step 6:        By default, TSTT’s DNS Server IP addresses will appear in the fields. Make a note of the current DNS server settings in the event you need to revert to them.

After this, ensure that the Enable Automatic Assigned DNS is unchecked. Enter the following new IP addresses into the fields. Then click Save.

Primary DNS server 208.67.222.222
Secondary DNS server 208.67.220.220

After saving the changes, the router must be rebooted. This can be done by unplugging the router, waiting ten seconds and then plugging back in the router. The router will detect the new settings and begin using them.

To learn more about OpenDNS and the advantages it provides, navigate to the web site http://www.opendns.com.

Reports Developer Quirks and Tips

1. To change the orientation of a report, navigate to Layout Model > Main Section. Bring up Property Palette. Change the Report Width and Report Height under Character Mode e.g. 132 x 66.

2. To view the output as it would appear in Oracle Applications, navigate to Data Model > System Parameters > MODE. Set the Initial Value under Parameter to Character.

3. For Oracle reports that will be registered in Oracle Applications, set the format of the date parameter in the Oracle report to Input Mask:
RRRR/MM/DD HH24:MI:SS

4. Set the corresponding parameter’s format in the Oracle Application concurrent program definition to Date (FND_STANDARD_DATE).

5. When using date parameters in the Where clause of the query, use:
LAST_UPDATE_DATE >=  :P_START_DATE
Not TO_CHAR (:P_START_DATE) or TO_DATE(:P_START_DATE)

6. Colour each frame with a different background to easily identify and distinguish them.

7. To break the page on a frame, change the property ‘Maximum Records per Page’ from 0 to 1.

8. Ensure that the Token field for the Parameter for the Concurrent program matches the user parameters for the Oracle Report.

9. To reset page numbers on a group, insert a field in the layout. Set the source at Physical page number. In the properties for the field you will see field Page Numbering below format mask field. Here you can reset the page numbers according to the group for PO.

10. To get a summary field by group name, in the Data Model view, click on the Summary Column button and then click on the group to enter it in.

11. REP-1212: Object ‘Body’ is not fully enclosed by its enclosing object ”.
Set the Output Style in the Concurrent Program definition for the report to a wider style (either Landscape or Landwide).

Creating Cash API For AR

Formatting Data File

There are eleven columns in the data file, in the following order:

  1. Receipt number
  2. Currency
  3. Customer number
  4. Payment method id
  5. Receipt Type
  6. Amount applied
  7. Apply date
  8. Apply GL date
  9. Comments
  10. Customer reference

The Excel worksheet must be formatted before exporting to Comma-Separated Values (CSV). There must be NO commas in any cell before exporting the data to CSV. The SQL*Plus script parses the data by commas, so any of the fields with commas will cause the program to fail

Remember to format the Amount Applied column without commas.
Preparing Data File
The file is usually saved with a .csv extension. It is renamed to remove spaces from the filename (8-character file name and 3-character extension). The data file can be named such that the data it contains can be identified from the name. For example, creatcs1.dat.

The first row of the data file contains the column headings of the Excel worksheet. Remember to delete the first row in the data file before uploading the file to the server.
Uploading Data File
Once prepared, the data file is uploaded to the server via FTP. From the Command Prompt, use ftp to log on to the server (as oraprod user) and change to the directory to upload the data file to:

Server Name Upload Directory
test /raid01/oraclone/custload
ora /raid01/oraprod/custload

After uploading the data file, log on to the server using Telnet or PuTTY. Navigate to the upload directory (cd /raid01/oraclone). Copy and paste the data file to ‘creatcsh.dat’. To obtain the number of rows in the file, execute the command:

$ cat creatcsh.dat | wc

Preparing SQL*Plus Environment
Load SQL*Plus on the client machine (not server) and log on to the instance as user oraprod. The scripts automatically sets the ORG ID and serveroutput settings in SQL*Plus, so it is not necessary to set it manually.

Since data from a text file is accessed from the SQL procedure, we must tell the instance the directory to search for the data file. To set this up, execute the ‘CREATE DIRECTORY’ SQL command and specify the directory on the server that the data file is located in:

SQL> CREATE DIRECTORY CLONEDATA3 as ‘/raid01/oraclone’;

To verify that the directory has been set up, query the DBA_DIRECTORIES view:

SQL> select * from DBA_DIRECTORIES;

Running the Create Cash API script
The SQL code for loading the data is in the creatcsh.sql file, located in C:SCRIPTS. The code can be run by either copying/pasting the SQL code, or by running the script:

SQL> @ C:Scriptscreatcsh.sql

Note that the changes are not committed, you must manually commit the changes once you are satisfied:

SQL> commit;

Setting Up TT Receipts Printer

This documentation shows how to set up the TT Receipts printer in Oracle Applications.

Step 1:        Set up a new Printer Style. Switch to the System Administrator responsibility. Navigate to Install > Printer > Style.

Style Name: TT_RECEIPT

Seq: 53

User Style: TT_RECEIPT

SRW Driver: ghlrecpt

Description: TRINIDAD RECEIPT STYLE

Columns: 132

Rows: 33

Step 2:        Set up a new Printer Driver. Navigate to Install > Printer > Driver.

Driver Name: TT_RECEIPT

User Driver: TT_RECEIPT

Description: TRINIDAD RECEIPT DRIVER

SRW Driver: ghlrecpt

Driver Method: Command

Arguments: lp -o nobanner -c -d$PROFILES$.PRINTER -n$PROFILES$.CONC_COPIES -t”$PROFILES$.TITLE” $PROFILES$.FILENAME

Initialization: /eE

Reset: /eE

Step 3:        Add the new Printer Style and Driver to a Printer Type. Navigate to Install > Printer > Type.

Type: EPSON

Description: PCL

Style: TT_RECEIPT

Driver: TT_RECEIPT

Step 4:        Add the new Printer. Navigate to Install > Printer > Register.

Printer: DotMatrix

Type: EPSON

Description: Cashier Dot Matrix

Step 5:        Associate the Printer Style and Name with the Receipt concurrent program. Navigate to Concurrent > Program > Define.

Program: TT_RECEIPT

Short Name: TT_RECEIPT

Application: Custom Application

Description: AR Receipt Printing Program

Executable Name: TT_RECEIPT

Method: Oracle Reports

Use in SRS: Checked

Restart on System Failure: Checked

NLS Compliant: Checked

Style: TT_RECEIPT

Style Required: Checked

Printer: DotMatrix

The following is the contents of the recpt.prt file (located in /raid01/oraprod/oracle/prodappl/fnd/11.5.0/reports directory on the oradata server):

printer “dec LN03 Portrait”

height   33

width    80

between pages control(L)

return        “”

linefeed      control(M) control(J)

code “bold on”         esc “[1m”

code “bold off”        esc “[0m”

code “underline on”    esc “[4m”

code “underline off”   esc “[0m”