One of my colleagues got in touch with someone she used to work with.  They were able to provide a private API: APPS.wip_flowUtil_priv.  My colleague tried the API call explodeRequirementsToMTI and was able to get the components to backflush.  We thought all was well.

However, upon further testing, I noticed something strange.  The original Assembly was getting stuck in the interface.  And when resubmitted, I saw both the assembly and another round of components getting transacted.  What was going on?

Further testing provided me with the answer: the originally inserted assembly record was getting slightly altered by the material transaction worker before getting marked in error.  Altered to a point which would spawn component backflush transactions if marked for processing and then processed.  I tried inserting a fresh assembly record into the MTL_TRANSACTIONS_INTERFACE table with the updated fields and was able to get the components to backflush, automatically, without any errors.

We now have a functioning R12 Work Order-less completion interface which inserts assembly completion records into the MTL_TRANSACTIONS_INTERFACE table.  Records which are correctly formed and spawn component issue (backflush) transactions when processed by the material transaction manager (Process transaction interface).

These are the two fields that were changed by the transaction manager:

OPERATION_SEQ_NUM from -1 to NULL
TRANSACTION_BATCH_SEQ from NULL to 1

Below is the insert statement we are using, with Oracle 12.1.3 changes noted.

INSERT INTO MTL_TRANSACTIONS_INTERFACE(
TRANSACTION_INTERFACE_ID,
TRANSACTION_HEADER_ID,
SOURCE_CODE,
SOURCE_LINE_ID,
SOURCE_HEADER_ID,
PROCESS_FLAG,
VALIDATION_REQUIRED,
TRANSACTION_MODE,
LOCK_FLAG,
LAST_UPDATE_DATE,
LAST_UPDATED_BY,
CREATION_DATE,
CREATED_BY,
LAST_UPDATE_LOGIN,
REQUEST_ID,
PROGRAM_APPLICATION_ID,
PROGRAM_ID,
PROGRAM_UPDATE_DATE,
INVENTORY_ITEM_ID,
ITEM_SEGMENT1,
ORGANIZATION_ID,
TRANSACTION_QUANTITY,
PRIMARY_QUANTITY,
TRANSACTION_UOM,
TRANSACTION_DATE,
SUBINVENTORY_CODE,
LOCATOR_ID,
TRANSACTION_SOURCE_ID,
TRANSACTION_SOURCE_TYPE_ID,
TRANSACTION_ACTION_ID,
TRANSACTION_TYPE_ID,
TRANSACTION_REFERENCE,
TRANSFER_SUBINVENTORY,
TRANSFER_ORGANIZATION,
ERROR_EXPLANATION,
ERROR_CODE,
ATTRIBUTE10,
ATTRIBUTE_CATEGORY,
WIP_ENTITY_TYPE,
OPERATION_SEQ_NUM, –****CHANGED****
TRANSACTION_BATCH_SEQ, –****CHANGED****
BOM_REVISION_DATE,
ROUTING_REVISION_DATE,
SCHEDULE_NUMBER,
SCHEDULED_FLAG,
FLOW_SCHEDULE)
VALUES(
MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS_S.NEXTVAL, –TRANSACTION_INTERFACE_ID
MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS_S.NEXTVAL, –TRANSACTION_HEADER_ID
‘BACKFLUSH TEST’, –SOURCE_CODE — Reference to legacy/interface data
-99999, – SOURCE_LINE_ID — Reference to legacy/interface data
-99999, – SOURCE_HEADER_ID — Reference to legacy/interface data
1, –PROCESS_FLAG
1, –VALIDATION_REQUIRED — 1=FULL
3, –TRANSACTION_MODE — 2=Concurrent, 3=Background
2, –LOCK_FLAG
sysdate, –LAST_UPDATE_DATE
1001, –LAST_UPDATED_BY
sysdate, –CREATION_DATE
1001, –CREATED_BY
1000001, –LAST_UPDATE_LOGIN
NULL,– REQUEST_ID
NULL,– PROGRAM_APPLICATION_ID
NULL,– PROGRAM_ID
SYSDATE,– PROGRAM_UPDATE_DATE
100001, –INVENTORY_ITEM_ID
‘ITEM_NUMBER’, –ITEM_SEGMENT1
100, –ORGANIZATION_ID
10, –TRANSACTION_QUANTITY
10, –PRIMARY_QUANTITY
‘EA’, –TRANSACTION_UOM
SYSDATE,– TRANSACTION_DATE
‘FG’, –SUBINVENTORY_CODE
10001, – LOCATOR_ID
”, –TRANSACTION_SOURCE_ID – NULL as Work Order-less
5, –TRANSACTION_SOURCE_TYPE_ID
31, –TRANSACTION_ACTION_ID
44, –TRANSACTION_TYPE_ID
‘TEST TRANSACTION ON ‘|| SYSDATE, – TRANSACTION_REFERENCE
NULL,– TRANSFER_SUBINVENTORY
NULL,– TRANSFER_ORGANIZATION
NULL,– ERROR_EXPLANATION
NULL,– ERROR_CODE
‘TEST ATTRIBUTE’, –ATTRIBUTE10
‘ORG’,– ATTRIBUTE_CATEGORY
4, –WIP_ENTITY_TYPE
NULL,– OPERATION_SEQ_NUM ****(Was:-1)****
1,– TRANSACTION_BATCH_SEQ****(Was: NULL)****
SYSDATE,– BOM_REVISION_DATE
SYSDATE,– ROUTING_REVISION_DATE
WIP_JOB_NUMBER_S.nextval, – SCHEDULE_NUMBER
2, –SCHEDULED_FLAG
‘Y’ – FLOW_SCHEDULE);

QR Codes are two-dimensional machine readable images.  Much like normal barcodes, such as UPC codes, but with a much higher density of information, and significant redundancy/error correction.  Any simple text can be encoded in a QR Code and then read by a machine using a scanner or camera.

When I was doing some research on QR Codes I found they can be used for other purposes such as encoding VCARDs. VCARD files are simple contact or address book files saved as plain text.  Most address book applications can save and open VCARD files with ease.  Many QR scanner applications recognize QR codes with VCARDs as the encoded text.

So, when I was designing my most recent personal business card I though it would be a neat idea to include a QR encoded VCARD on them.

The first step was getting a VCARD.  Unfortunately this was not an easy task. Although there is a standard for VCARDs, most software applications interpret the standard differently, especially as related to the phone number.  It is worth mentioning that if too much information is in the VCARD text, the QR Code will get denser, and thus harder for phones to read.  Through some trial and error, I ended up with this VCARD:

BEGIN:VCARD
N;LANGUAGE=en-us:Hayes;Ed
EMAIL;INTERNET:ed@edhayes.us
TEL;CELL:440-263-4420
URL:http://www.edhayes.us
ADR:;;;CHICAGO;IL;;
END:VCARD

Any decent QR encoding software should be able to encode this.  I used the one available at http://invx.com/code.  Make sure the encoder encodes the text as the QR code, rather than encoding a URL that directs the user to a page displaying the text.

Finally I placed the encoded QR code image on my business card.   Now, when I give my card to someone, they can scan it with their phone, and my contact gets added to their address book.  Not only does this ensure that there are no typos, it’s much easier for the user to enter my contact information by scanning an image rather than typing on a tiny keyboard.

The iSetup module worked pretty well in our proof of concept testing.  But we ran into a problem when we started migrating our multi organization/business unit configurations. We have multiple business units because we are sharing the instance with another division at our company. Migrating configurations with iSetup brings all the ORGs and sites along with each configuration, however we only wanted our division’s configurations migrated.  To solve the problem, we started editing the exported XML before loading it into the new instance.

Editing XML is relatively time consuming and prone to error when editing in a text editor compared to a program designed to edit XML.  We tried to use the free Microsoft XML Notepad 2007, however, loading the exported files was causing iSetup to fail on upload.  I found the problem and solved it as described below.

Conditions

• Oracle iSetup module in Oracle E-Business suite R12
• XML Documents edited by Microsoft XML Notepad 2007

Symptoms

• iSetup reports error when uploading edited XML files
• Log file as seen here:

oracle.xml.parser.v2.XMLParseException: Start of root element expected.
at oracle.xml.parser.v2.XMLError.flushErrors1(XMLError.java:320)
at oracle.xml.parser.v2.NonValidatingParser.parseRootElement(NonValidatingParser.java:341)

at oracle.xml.parser.v2.NonValidatingParser.parseDocument(NonValidatingParser.java:303)
at oracle.xml.parser.v2.XMLParser.parse(XMLParser.java:205)
at oracle.apps.az.r12.api.BC4JAPI.createAPIEntityItems(BC4JAPI.java:330)
at oracle.apps.az.r12.extractor.cpserver.UploaderContextImpl.validateExtract(UploaderContextImpl.java:170)
at oracle.apps.az.r12.extractor.cpserver.UploaderContextImpl.upload(UploaderContextImpl.java:105)
at oracle.apps.az.r12.extractor.cpserver.UploaderCp.runProgram(UploaderCp.java:74)
at oracle.apps.fnd.cp.request.Run.main(Run.java:157)

Solution

1. Download extraction ZIP file generated by Oracle iSetup
2. Extract ZIP file to your computer
3. Edit and save extracted XML file in Microsoft XML Notepad
4. Open saved file in Notepad (Text Editor)
5. Save As ASNI encoding
6. Replace existing file within original ZIP file
   1. ZIP file compression levels and algorithms must reamin intact
   2. 7-ZIP supports replacing files within an existing file using drag and drop functionality
7. Upload updated ZIP file to Oracle iSetup as a new extraction.
8. Load extraction into source instance

Conclusion

Mr. Tunney,

My name is Ed Hayes, and I am a constituent of yours.  As a fellow member of the LGBT community, I appreciate your support of all LGBT issues.  I am also a frequent customer of your Ann Sather restaurants which I am proud to have in Lakeview.

With that said, I live at 519 W Melrose and fully support Wal-Mart entering Lakeview with its new convenient store concept.

Lakeview has had a grocery store deficit for many years since the Dominic’s burned down in 2005.  With the project to rebuild Dominic’s apparently dead, I see no reason prevent Wal-Mart from entering the area. Especially if they are planning a convenient store which does not require a parking lot.  The Lakeview long term plan designates Broadway as being a pedestrian street.  A Convenient store like Wal-Mart would conform to that more than the previously planned Dominic’s with parking lot, and more than the Trader Joe’s currently being constructed with a parking garage.

None of the products sold by local small businesses/boutiques would be in competition with Wal-Mart’s convenient store concept.  The only competition to Wal-Mart’s store are the current grocery store offerings.  The current grocery stores closest to the planned Wal-Mart lcoation (Dominic’s, Jewel, Whole Foods, Treasure Island, and Market Place) have prices much higher than Wal-Mart’s expected prices. If/when Wal-Mart enters the market, consumers will pay less on their every day groceries, giving them more buying power for local restaurants and boutiques.  That means Wal-Mart would actually help local businesses.  Furthermore, Wal-Mart would increase foot traffic along Broadway and Clark; foot traffic that could only help other local businesses.  And as I mentioned before, is already part of the long term Lakeview plan.

Accusing Wal-Mart of having poor labor relations is completely unfair.  Wal-Mart has arguably better labor relations than many other local grocers and businesses.  If Wal-Mart’s labor relations are as bad as people claim they are, nobody will want to work there, and the store will never open.  Never the less, the unemployment rate in Chicago is quite high, and adding potential jobs is important to everybody in the city.  I don’t see any point on blocking any employer from creating much needed jobs.

The recent news to rezone the storefront which Wal-Mart plans to lease is outrageous.  I am fairly certain that many other retailers on the same corner as the potential Wal-Mart have just as large of a footprint as Wal-Mart plans to have, if not larger! I don’t know their exact square footages, but Borders, TJ Maxx, World Market, and Bed Bath and Beyond are all quite large.

Trader Joe’s is coming soon; why are they getting any special treatment?  They are just as much a national chain and arguably more specialized than Wal-Mart. Trader Joe’s will provide more of a threat to local businesses than Wal-Mart ever will. If the goal is to save local businesses, why was Trader Joe’s allowed to build a store?

The building Wal-Mart plans to occupy currently has three empty storefronts.  Borders is about to provide another open storefront very close by.  And, there are countless smaller storefronts in the neighborhood which are also empty.  If a company like Wal-Mart is planning to improve and occupy two of those empty storefronts, it is preposterous to block them.

The only argument I would agree with against Wal-Mart is that it is a national chain, and our neighborhood would be better off with local small businesses.  But if National chains are so bad, why are so many other National chains already allowed to be in the area?  Walgreens, CVS, Panera, Starbucks, Hair Cuttery, Best Buy, Chipotle, TJ Maxx; I could go on and on.  Any argument against Wal-Mart must also be applied to other retailer.

If the argument was against a Applebee’s, I would be in complete agreement with you.  However, this argument is over a store which sells the same exact products as Dominic’s, Jewel, and Treasure Island.  However, Wal-Mart has a superior supply chain which allows them to sell their goods at drastically lower prices.  Personally, I prefer to pay as little as possible for commodities such groceries.  Milk or flour is the same no matter where it is purchased.  Why pay more just because a store is “local”.  A “local” grocer that sells flour provides no benefit over a national flour retailer.  When it comes to restaurants and clothing, I am willing to pay more for unique and higher quality offerings offered by local businesses.

Please reconsider your decision to attempt to block Wal-Mart from entering our community.  I would gladly discuss this with you further if given the chance.

Regards,
Ed Hayes

Board and fellow condominium association members,

The following is a proposal for insulating our building’s hot water tanks.

Summary

Insulating the two hot water storage tanks and pipes will cost $3,200, provide more than $1,371 annual energy savings, and provide an annual return on investment of more than 43% (less than 2.33 year payback period).  I urge the Board and fellow condominium association members to support this investment; it is rare to find an annual ROI of more than 43%.

Assumptions

Estimate

Footnotes

1. Temperature data: http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0225
2. I made a request to the Board for a copy of the utility bills on August 23rd 2010.  I did not receive a response, therefore, I used cost data based from the Peoples Gas website: http://www.peoplesgasdelivery.com/business/gas_rates.aspx#availableRates

Saturday, I returned with a few friends of mine.  I was excited to show them what the CBA was all about.  Although, when I tried to use the second and last Groupon I had purchased, I was unable to use it. I was told I could not use a Groupon on the weekend. Concerned, I looked at the terms and conditions of the Groupon and could not find wording which indicated the Groupon could not be used on the weekend, or wording that would allow the terms to be changed post-purchase.

I asked to speak to a manager and was told he was not in. I then asked to speak to the manager-on-duty; I was told there was not one and that every employee was a manager of the co-op.

My positive perception of the CBA quickly changed.  The customer behind me in line also came to use his Groupon.  He decided to leave; not paying for the food he had ordered.  Trying not to ruin my fiends experience I decided to stay and paid cash.

From what I can tell, your business does not like Groupon, as indicated by your staff, your terms changes, and your website indicating a post-Groupon party.  Holding a grudge against a company that your business agreed to do business with is quite off-putting.

Although business may have been financially painful during the Groupon period, the Groupon had the opportunity to built your customer base quite substantially.Whether or not the decision not to take the Groupon during the weekend had much, if any, negative impact, I do not know.  What I do know is that it will be hard to measure what positive impact the Groupon may have had when it is likely negative sentiment was created for an unknown quantity of customers.

My goal here is not to tell you how to run your business, but to tell you that trust is extremely important.  As I mentioned before I was a fan of the CBA before Saturday.  Today my feelings are much different.  Although the food and atmosphere of the CBA are highly desirable, at this point I do not know if I trust your business enough to ever return.  My friends, which also liked their food, feel the same way after they witnessed what happened.

Regards,
Ed Hayes

I started doing my tax return with H&R Block online last week.  Upon visiting the site, I clicked on the “Start Now” under the FREE edition.  As returning user, I entered my username and password and clicked log-in.  Suddenly, I was thrown into the Premium service, without warning.   Thirty minutes went by as I tried to search the FAQ, support, and rest of the internet for a way to switch back to the free edition.

Giving up, I called their support phone number.  The gentlemen I spoke to asked for my e-mail address and birth date to verify my account. He verified that I was in a  premium account, but was unable to tell me how I got to the premium section without paying or how to get back to a free account, making sure I did not have to pay later.  It sounded like he was a complete novice.  I must have spent 20 minutes on the phone with H&R Block cycling between representative confusion and hold music.

Frustrated, I asked for the gentleman’s supervisor.  He requested my Social Security Number in order to verify my account.  Why would I be asked for my Social Security Number when requesting a supervisor?  And why now, not before.   That made absolutely no sense to me.  I refused to divulge the information as it served no purpose, and I had already been verified.

I was about to be late to a Fit-Core class at my gym, so I thanked the gentlemen and hung up.

Now, a week later, I am trying once again to start working on my tax return.  I login, and see this message:

H&R Block Online 2010 Screen Capture

What am I supposed to do? Was this proof-read at all?

• The explanation makes no sense to me
• There appears to be internal-use-only jargon and/or industry acronyms within the explanation
• What is this newsletter they are describing?
• What are the implications, other than price, for switching?
• Will my tax data be deleted either way?
• There is a space before a period within the explanation

I think it’s time to file with TurboTax Free edition.

**UPDATE**

Upon publishing this post, an automated Tweet went out on twitter, and I quickly got a response from H&R Block. I responded with my phone number a and the best time to call which they acknowledged.  Promptly, at the time I specified, I got a call back from H&R Block!  Within ten minutes H&R Block had apologized and solved my problem!

I would have liked to thank H&R Block for their quick response, but it is hard to do that when I had to go through all of this just to solve a problem that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.  Furthermore:  their initial line of support should have been able to solve this just as quick!

For quite some time now, I have been a deal hunter.  I’m cheap.  I love deals.  And thus, Aldi, a value oriented grocery store, has become a staple in my life.  Aldi’s strategy is quite simple; offer a low variate of store brand products at a small no frills store.

If you want a cart, you have to deposit a quarter to borrow  it (you get the quarter back when you return the cart). Want a bag?  It will cost you $0.15.

With all this attention to cost cutting, you would think they would also skimp on customer service. That is not case. I recently communicated with Aldi about a change in their Bran Flakes recipe, and I have been amazed at the level of service I have received.

The Bran Flakes I used to buy from Aldi were outstanding. And at $1.59 a box, you couldn’t find a better deal, even if your life depended on it.  However, the manufacturer of the cereal recently changed the recipe they use to produce the product, and I was not impressed with the change.  I still eat the Bran Flakes, but I don’t enjoy them as much as I used to.

I thought I would express my dissatisfaction with the recipe change to Aldi via their website.

I quickly got response.  Aldi was extremely apologetic and wanted to follow up with the manufacturer about the change.  I was told to expect a followup from the manufacture.

Ralston Foods, the manufacturer of the Bran Flakes, responded just as hastily as Aldi did.  The requested that I send the “best by” date and manufacturing codes from the top of the box.  I did so, responding by E-mail when I got home.

Aldi, again followed up, sending me a letter in the mail apologizing for the change in quality.  They also explained that I can use the letter they sent at a store to get a refund and a replacement product.  Their Double Money Back guarantee is apparently taken very seriously.

I also got a letter in the mail from Ralston Foods asking for the top of the box.  I don’t know if they sent the piece of mail before or after I E-mailed them the code, but since they included a prepaid envelope, I will be sending them the box top as requested.

Finally, I got a third letter in the mail.  Again, this was from Ralston Foods.  But this piece of mail included something that I was not expecting. I received a check for $4.00!  Keep in mind Aldi already committed to refunding me and replacing my product.

It is astonishing how committed both Aldi and Ralston Foods are to the quality of their products and the satisfaction to their customers.  I have never received this level of response from any other company.  Aldi and Ralston foods put companies like Best Buy, Apple, and Compaq (now HP) to shame!

All this for a $1.59 box of cereal!

I read an article written by John C. Dvorak posted on MarketWatch about Foxconn;  I thought it was quite interesting and worth a read.

From what friends have told me and from most reports it is “essentially a steel mill on one end and computers come out of the other end.”

Read More: Foxconn’s troubles expose China’s woes