OTBI Ad Hoc Workshop

Oracle HCM Cloud
Hands On Workshop
OTBI
(Answers Only, No Composer)
Table of Contents
1: Customer Connect: Import the Finished Report.........................................2
2: Build the Report: Select the Data...............................................................3
3: Build the Report: Add Conditions (Filters)...................................................4
4: Build the Report: Add Calculated Columns.................................................9
5: Build the Report: Data Formatting Changes.............................................12
6: Build the Report: Layout Changes............................................................13
7: Save the Report........................................................................................18
8: Update the Report: Column Selector........................................................19
9: Update the Report: Report Prompts.........................................................20
10: Publish the Report: The Different Options..............................................23
11: Other Useful Techniques using Customer Connect Examples................33

HCM Cloud - OTBI Ad Hoc Reporting Script (r9 – Feb 2015)
1: Customer Connect: Import the Finished Report
Action: Log into Customer Connect

Action: In the search box top right enter
hints and tips and choose Go
A list of matching entries will be displayed
Action: Click on “A few OTBI Hints and

Tips”
The post will open – it has a description of

its contents, a screenshot of the report and
two files below the screenshot. It is the txt
file that contains the report definition you
can import onto your environment.
Action: Click on CustomerConnect

Example1.txt to open the file in notepad
Action: Copy the contents of the file
In HCM Cloud create a new report …
Action: Choose New / Analysis - pick any

subject area and once the empty report
has rendered, choose the Advanced tab.
Action: Replace the code in the Analysis

XML box with the code you have copied
from the file above
Action: Click on Apply XML button below

the box and then choose the Results tab to
see the report displayed (you may need to
undo the drills on the table at the bottom).
Action: Optionally save the report and

close it.
Discussion Point – there are two ways of

sharing reports, copying the XML (as
shown here) or archive/unarchive.
Page 2 of 33
2: Build the Report: Select the Data

Discussion points Selecting Data
 Data is grouped into subject areas
 Reports can be built across subject areas
 Reports should be built with as much flexibility as possible to
minimise the number that have to be maintained
o Use flexible conditions not hard coded values
o Provide additional columns on the right mouse click
o Provide multiple views for users to choose between
o Provide drill paths that make investigation intuitive
 Reports are saved in the Shared/Custom folder for shared use,
or in My Folders for personal user
We are going to re-create the same report

in several steps. To begin with, we are
going to select the data.
Action: Choose New/Analysis
A list of subject areas to which you have

access will be displayed.
Action: Choose Workforce Management –

Worker Assignment Real Time (it is an
alphabetical list so you may need to scroll
down a bit)
The Answers screen will display with the

subject area on the left and the selected
columns and conditions (filters) on the right
(these will be empty at this stage).
Action: Take a moment to look at the

folders and items that are available.
Action: Choose the following items by

double clicking or dragging/dropping
(Folder > Item)
Business Unit > Business Unit Name
Worker > Assignment Status Type

Worker > Date of Birth
Worker > Employee Ethnicity
Worker > Employee Gender
Worker > Name
Worker > Person Number
Worker Assignment > Head Count
Page 3 of 33
To see the data (current headcount by

business unit), we need to run the report
Action: Click on the Results tab
The data should look something like that

on the right hand side.
Action: Take some time to practice

dragging and dropping the columns around
– you can change their order, move some
up to the sections and table prompts above
the data.
It is possible to add a number of conditions

to a report to limit the data being returned.
We will do that next.
3: Build the Report: Add Conditions (Filters)

Discussion points Add conditions (or filters)
 Create options
o A – User adds to the report
o B – User saves the filters separately and makes them
available to other users to use in their reports
 Flexibility by making them dynamic based on centrally
maintained variables e.g. current year
 You can add conditions (filters) on items that are not in the
report selected columns
We are going to look at adding three

different conditions:
- Limit assignment status type to active

assignments
- Limit person type to employees
- Limit employee hire date to employees
hired in the last 12 months
First – assignment status …
Action: Choose the Criteria tab and focus

on the Selected Columns area
Page 4 of 33
Action: Click the icon to the right of

Assignment Status Type and choose Filter
Action: Review the different operator types,

choose is equal to / is in
Action: Review the values in both the drop

down list and using the binoculars to
search for items. Choose Active
Discussion point – not all fields will have a

list of values eg date fields
Action: Click on OK
The condition is added to the filters region

of the report.
(optionally run the report to see updated

data – then return to the Criteria tab)
Second – person type …
This is a little different as person type is

not a selected column in the report.
Action: On the Criteria tab, in the Filters

region towards the right hand side, click on
the Create a Filter button
Action: Select More Columns … and

choose Person Type from Worker folder
Action: In the same way as for the first

filter, choose is equal to / is in and
Employee
Action: Click on OK
Page 5 of 33
The condition is also added to the filters

region of the report.
(optionally run the report to see updated

data – then return to the Criteria tab)
Third – employee hire date …
Again this is a little different – we want to

limit employee hire date dynamically.
We are going to look at 2 different options

for this condition – first to limit it to only
those employees hired in a specific
calendar year …
Action: On the Criteria tab, in the Filters

region towards the right hand side, click on
the Create a Filter button
Action: Select More Columns … and

choose Employee Hire Date from within
the Worker folder. Click OK
Action: Click on the Edit Formula button

beside Employee Hire Date.
This is where we can build up formulas (in

this case for a condition but the same
screen is also used for calculated columns
in a report which we will see later).
Action: Click the f(…) button below the

formula box
Action: Take a moment to look at the

function folders and see the type of options
that are available. If you click on one, there
is a brief description of it below
Action: From the Calendar/Date folder

choose Year (bottom of the list in that
folder)
Action: Click on OK
The updated formula for Employee Hire

Date will be displayed showing the Year
function around it.
Action: Click on OK
Page 6 of 33
Action: Choose is equal to / is in and then

type in a hardcoded value for a year that
you know has some data eg 2010 (no
quotes required)
Action: Click on OK and then run the report

(click on the Results tab).
The data will now be filtered to only those

employees who were hired in 2010.
(optionally to check the condition is

working, from within the Results tab, open
the worker folder, drag the employee hire
date into the report and sort by clicking on
the column heading to ensure all hire dates
are from the correct year)
You could combine this with a report or

dashboard prompt to allow the user to pick
a different year each time they look at the
report (we will be covering these later)
We now want to change the condition so it

looks for any hires in the last 12 months
(rolling period)
Action: Back on the Criteria tab, click the

Edit Filter button beside the condition (the
pencil icon).
Action: Edit the formula for the column and

remove the Year function – be sure to
leave the Quotes around the folder and
item names though
Action: Click on OK (you will get a warning

about the date format, click OK)
Action: Change the Operator to be Greater

Than
Action: Remove the value you typed in
Action: Click on the Add More Options

button, choose SQL Expression and an
empty SQL Expression box will be
displayed
Page 7 of 33
TIMESTAMPADD(SQL_TSI_YEAR, -1,
CURRENT_DATE)
Action: Copy the code above which will

take 1 year off the current date (we will
explain this function in more detail later in
the workshop), Paste this code into the
SQL Expression box and click on OK
Action: Run the report (click on the Results

tab).
(optionally to check the condition is

working, from within the Results tab, open
the worker folder, drag the employee hire
date into the report and sort by clicking on
the column heading to ensure there are no
hire dates from one year ago or more)
You may get very little data returned, but

the two techniques you have practiced
here are key to developing more complex
conditions on dates. They give enormous
flexibility. We will return to functions,
columns and conditions in the next section.
Action: To ensure more data, return to the

Criteria tab and delete the filter by clicking
on the delete icon beside it. Also delete the
employee hire date from the Selected
Columns if you have included it above.
You should now have two filters in the

Filters area of your report.
Discussion Point – if you want to save your

filters for future use, in the Filters section to
the right hand side, choose the More
Options icon and then Save filters.
The filters are then available to other

reports – they are saved in a folder called
Subject Area Contents and can be found
by looking in the Catalog area (displayed
below the subject area folders and items
on the Criteria tab, left hand side).
Page 8 of 33
Choose the Filters option from the List and

then navigate to the location where you
saved the filter – in this case a Headcount
filter within the OTBI Dashboards folder.
To use the filter in a report, simply double

click on its name, a screen will be
displayed with the details of the filter and
then click OK.
4: Build the Report: Add Calculated Columns

Action: Click on the Results tab to look at
the data in your report
If we look at the original report we

downloaded from Customer Connect, there
are two calculated columns that we need
to add – age and age band.
To create these, we will build on the

techniques introduced above.
Page 9 of 33
Potential discussion points/background Adding Calculations

knowledge  New calculations can be added by users (report by report)
 You DON’T copy a column in a report, instead you add another
column and update its formula
 A range of functions are available
 Future enhancements will support users saving their
calculations for re-use
First, age …
This calculation is based on date of birth
Action: Click on Criteria Tab and add the

following item
Worker > Date of Birth
This column will now be shown twice in the

report (the second one will be to the right
of the selected columns). We are going to
adjust the formula of the second
occurrence for the age calculation.
Action: Click on the drop down to the right

of this new item and choose Edit Formula
The current formula "Worker"."Employee

Date of Birth" is displayed. You can build
up your own formulas in here, using the
functions and columns
eg column a/column b * 100
In addition, Customer Connect is a good

source of calculations that are more
complex or to get advice from other
customers or subject matter experts on
how to achieve different calculations.
Action: Highlight the formula and replace it

with the code on the right (from the hints YEAR(CURRENT_DATE) - YEAR("Worker"."Employee Date Of Birth") -
and tips document on Customer Connect
(CASE WHEN (CAST(MONTH(CURRENT_DATE) AS INT)*100) +
that we searched for earlier)
CAST(DAY(CURRENT_DATE) AS INT) < (CAST(MONTH("Worker"."Employee
Functions used: Date Of Birth") AS INT)*100) + CAST(DAY("Worker"."Employee Date Of
YEAR – the year of the date Birth") AS INT) THEN 1 ELSE 0 END)
MONTH – the month number of the date
DAY – the day number of the date
CAST – data type conversion
Other constructs:
INT – data type of integer
CASE, THEN, ELSE – if then else
Page 10 of 33
Action: Click on Custom Headings and

give your new calculated column a more
meaningful name - Age
Action: Click OK
Action: Run the report and the age will be

displayed
Second, age group ….
Now that we have age, there is a simple

technique for grouping values into bands
(or buckets). These are known as “bins” in
Oracle BI.
Action: On the Criteria tab, add Date of

Birth to the report again and choose to Edit
Formula
Action: Towards the bottom of the Edit

Column Formula box, choose the column
button and then pick Age.
This replaces the current formula with the

definition for age, which is what we want
our bands to be based on.
Action: Click on Custom Headings and

give your new calculated column a more
meaningful name – Age Band
Action: Choose the Bins tab
A bin is simply a mechanism for grouping

values together. We are going to have 6
age bands: 20 and younger, 21 to 30, 31 to
40, 41 to 50, 51 and older, Unspecified
Action: Click on Add Bin
Action: Define the condition for the first

band – is less than or equal to 20
Action: Click on OK
Page 11 of 33
Action: Give the bin a name (that is the

name that will appear in the report so think
about your naming convention, it will also
affect sorting)
Action: Click on OK
Action: Click on Add Bin and repeat for the

other bands using the conditions below
and giving each one a meaningful name
- Between 21 and 30
- Between 31 and 40
- Between 41 and 50
- Greater than or equal to 51
- All other values (defined already)
Action: When complete, click on OK and

choose the Results tab to see the new
column
We now have all the data we need to

create the final layout for the report. In the
next section we will briefly look at
formatting changes before concentrating
on techniques around visualising the data.
5: Build the Report: Data Formatting Changes

Discussion points Formatting Data in the Report
 Column Properties are used for setting up formatting options
 Tabs cover Style, Column Format, Data Format, and
Conditional Formats
 Column format includes the default for whether you want the
same value to repeat or be suppressed
 Every change that is made in these screens can be applied
just to the current report (by choosing the UK button) or be
saved as a default more widely for that item or data type.
 PLEASE TAKE CARE if choosing to update the defaults as it
may impact more items than you are expecting and is NOT
easy to reset.
 Formatting can also be updated from the reports and charts
that you include in the report layout
Page 12 of 33
Action: Click on Criteria tab
Action: For any item(s) in your report,

choose the Column Properties
Action: Explore the options on the Style,

Column, Format, Data Format and
Conditional Format tabs. See what impact
they have on your report
Discussion Point - the other two tabs in this

wizard (Interaction and Write Back) relate
to how the items behave when clicked on
by the user of the report.
Interaction enables drill paths to be defined

to for example link 2 reports together. This
will be covered using another Customer
Connect example later.
Write Back is NOT enabled on SaaS but

enables certain fields to be designated as
read/write. It is used by on premise
customers for scenario modeling etc.
6: Build the Report: Layout Changes

Discussion points Addition of views into a report
 Default view for a new query will always be the Table view, one
column per item chosen
 However, multiple views can be created from one query
 Different views can be the default for different purposes (e.g. a
complex view for a dashboard, but simpler for an email)
 Ensure reports are flexible and interactive
 Views can support drill down hierarchies (automatically picked
up from data model) and drill across to related information (set
up in the report using the Interaction tab discussed above)
Page 13 of 33
As we have seen already, whenever we

create a new report we automatically get a
tabular view with a title on the default
layout. This default layout is called the
Compound Layout and allows us to group
together the different visualisations we
want to use. We can also work on the
components individually by editing them.
We would like to add some new visuals to

our report to make it look the same as the
one we downloaded from Customer
Connect.
First we are going to add some summaries

at the top of the total headcount in our
population, as well as the average age
across all of them.
These are called Performance Tiles.
Action: Click on the New View icon
Action: Review the options for the different

view types
(note – Map is NOT enabled in OTBI

currently, but is available in OTBI
Enterprise)
Action: Choose Performance Tile
A performance tile will be added to the

report layout at the bottom. It will default to
Head Count.
Action: Click on the Edit icon and update

the properties.
Page 14 of 33
Action: Explore the properties including the

labels, styles and formatting options to
update the look and feel of the tile.
Try and end up with something that looks

the same as this ….
Action: When finished, click Done and then

drag the performance tile towards the top
of the report, just below the title.
Action: Add another Performance Tile –

this one will be for the average age. Edit it
as before and try and update the Measure
to be the Age column – is it available?
Discussion Point – age is not available

because when we created the item, we
didn’t specify an aggregation method. For
columns to be available as performance
tiles they must have this defined.
Action: Click Done and go to the Criteria

tab
Action: Edit the formula of the Age column

and set the aggregation to be Average
Action: Click OK and then return to the

Results tab and edit your second
performance tile again
Page 15 of 33
Action: Choose Age as the measure and

then update the other formatting
Action: Click done and drag this

performance tile to the right of the first one
at the top of the report
When you are adding multiple of the same

view type (in this case performance tiles),
best practice says to rename each one to
something more meaningful so that they
are easier to identify and work with.
To do this, on the Results tab in the bottom

left hand corner, look for the Views section.
Highlight the view in question, click on the
rename view icon and give the view a
meaningful name to reflect what it displays
The next layout change we are going to

make is to add a pivot table with a chart –
as shown on the right here. This will allow
us to compare, by business unit, the
headcount total headcount and average
age.
Action: Click on the New View icon
Action: Choose Pivot Table
A new pivot table will be added at the

bottom of the layout. The initial view will
almost certainly not be exactly what we
want and so we need to edit it.
Action: Choose to edit this view
Page 16 of 33
Action: In the Layout section at the bottom

drag the items around until you have
- Rows: Business Unit
- Columns: Measure Labels
- Measures: Head Count, Age
- Excluded: Everything Else
(optional – review the totals options on the

rows and columns)
Action: Choose the Graph Pivoted Results

button towards the top and then change
the Graph Type to be Line Bar
(optional – review the other formatting

options to see the impact on your chart)
Action: Click Done and drag the pivot chart

to be above the table in the Compound
Layout
The layout is now almost complete, there

are just some final changes to be made to
the tabular layout.
Action: On the table view in the Results tab

- Click on View Properties for the
Table and update to only display
10 rows per page
- Drag the business unit above the
other columns into the table
prompts
- Right click on assignment type
column header and choose
Exclude column (the user can re-
include this column when using the
report using the right mouse click
options ie it is still available just not
displayed)
- Reorder the columns using drag
and drop so you have person
number, name as the first two
columns
- Still on the Results tab, open up
the worker folder on the left and
drag assignment number onto the
table (notice how it only adds it to
this one view when you do it this
way)
Page 17 of 33
Finally we need to update the report

settings to enable the full right mouse click
options for the end user and to have a
friendly message if not rows are returned.
Action: Click on Analysis Properties icon

above the Compound Layout
Action: Choose Display Custom Meessage

from the No Results Settings drop down
list
Action: Type your message – this will be

displayed to the user when no rows exist.
Action: Choose the Interactions tab
Action: Switch on all interactions, click OK
Discussion Point – switching on

interactions make reports much more
flexible for the end user, especially if there
are additional columns available for them
to choose. The other tab (Data) determines
how hierarchies and null values are treated
Action: Look at the other view types, try

including some and see how they display
and are updated
7: Save the Report

Discussion points Selecting Data
 Security determines who can save reports and where
 Security all determines what data is returned when someone
opens a report
 Reports are saved in the Shared/Custom folder for shared use,
or in My Folders for personal use
Action: Click on the Save Request icon

(top right)
Action: Save it to My Folders and call it

“Head Count by Age xx” where xx is your
initials
Page 18 of 33
8: Update the Report: Column Selector

Discussion points Column and View Selectors
 Column Selectors allow users to switch the dimension they are
viewing the data by, so a report by business unit can become a
report by job or grade or location
 View Selectors allow users to switch between different
visualization of the data, so a report can be viewed as a table,
pivot table, waterfall chart etc
 Both selectors greatly increase the flexibility of the reports you
create
I’d like even more flexibility in this report, to

be able to view the data not just by
business unit but also to switch to viewing
it by job family (or any other attributes I
have available). This is called a column
selector.
Action: Add a view called Column Selector

and drag it to the top of your layout below
the Title
Action: Click on the Edit icon for the

Column Selector
Action: Click the Include Selector check

box on Business Unit column – the column
will go yellow
Action: From the folders on the left, double

click on Job Family Name from within the
Job folder
Action: Type View by into the Label
Action: Check that Job Family Name

appears in the drop down list at the bottom
Action: Click on Done
Page 19 of 33
To review how this will look on a

dashboard
Action: Click on the See how the report will

look in a dashboard icon
The report will open in a separate browser

window – maximise the window
- Switch between the business unit

and job family on the top drop
down and notice how the value
changes through the layout views
- When done close the new browser
window
Action: Save the Report
(Optional – add a view selector to choose

between the pivot table and table view. If
added, delete the pivot table and table
from the compound layout)
9: Update the Report: Report Prompts

Discussion points Prompts
 Prompts can be defined at report level so each time a user
runs a report they are prompted to enter a value
 The prompt can be mandatory or optional
 Prompts can also be defined at dashboard level so that a
number of reports are updated on the basis of one selection
At the moment, our report is prompted by

employee type and assignment status type
and these are hard coded values. I’d like to
allow the user to choose which values they
want to run the report with.
Action: Choose the Prompts tab
Action: Choose the Add Icon and then

Column Prompt
Page 20 of 33
Action: From the list of columns displayed,

choose Assignment Status Type.
Action: Review the Options available but

accept the defaults and click on OK
Action: Repeat the action above to add a

second prompt for person type – you will
need to choose it from More Columns …
as person type is not displayed in the
report
When complete, you will have two

selections on your prompts
Action: Check the New Column box for the

second row to display both parameters on
a single line
To test the parameter, we need to preview

the report.
Action: Click on the See how the report will

look in a dashboard icon
The report will open in a separate browser

and you will be prompted for values.
Discussion Point – the way prompts work

is driven by both the definition of the report
prompt but also the definition of the
conditions (filters) on the report (if there
are any). Note that report prompts do not
require there to be report filters to work
Page 21 of 33
In this example
- Prompts are optional and the filter
have hard coded values
- Therefore if the user makes no
selection on the prompts the hard
coded values will be used. But if the
user chooses from the prompts that
will override the hard coded values
- If the filters on the report were
changed to remove the hard coded
values and instead use the option
called “is prompted” then if no values
were selected in the prompts, the
report would return all rows. Similarly if
there were no report filters.
Action: Choose some values and view the

report. When done close the new browser
window
(optional – review the prompt and filter

options again and try some different
combinations)
Discussion Point – one technique that can

be useful when testing prompts and filters
is to show a filter view on the layout. This
shows you what values are being passed
to the report and can help with tracking
back any issues.
Action: Add a New View – choose Filters
A Filters view will be added to the bottom

of the layout, showing the current status of
any filters that are being applied.
Action: Preview the report again and see

how the values displayed in the Filters
view changes depending on the values you
choose in the prompt
Action: Click on the Save As Request icon
Action: Save it to My Folders and call it

“Head Count by Age Prompted xx”.
Page 22 of 33
10: Publish the Report: The Different Options

Discussion points Publishing Reports
 Reports can be shared in a number of different ways
o Saving them in a shared folder in the catalog
o Add them into a briefing book
o Sending them as an alert eg to email
o Placing them on a shared BI dashboard
o Embedding them in a Fusion classic screen
o Adding them to the SUI Analytics button
o Accessing them from Microsoft Office
 Best practice recommends that you should always share a link
to a report rather than the full report to ensure that HCM Cloud
security is maintained
Now that we have 2 reports built, we are

going to look at some of the techniques for
sharing those reports with other users.
First, via the shared folders in the web

catalog.
At the moment the reports are only in My

Folders, so the first thing we need to do is
move them to the shared folders
Action: Click on the Catalog link
Action: Open the folder structure on the left

and review the folders that are available
under My Folders and Shared Folders.
Discussion Points – visibility is driven by

security so your view may well be different
to people with different roles.
Also, remember that Subject Area

Contents is where any saved filters are
stored. If the report you want to share your
filters, those filters must be in a shared
folder that users have access to (take care
not to save them in My Folders by mistake)
To move content around the web catalog,

you can drag and drop it. We will first
create a new folder.
Page 23 of 33
Assuming you have access to do so ..
Action: Highlight the Custom folder under

Shared and create click on the New icon
Action: Choose Folder and call it “Reports

xx” where xx is your initials
Action: Click on OK
(if you can’t do this, then just use an

existing shared folder to which you do
have access)
The new folder will be displayed under

Custom – at the bottom of the list on the
right hand side.
Action: Click More under the new folder

and review the options under Properties
and Permissions. Also notice that this is
where you can access the options to
rename or archive/unarchive the folder
(useful for moving reports from test to
production or for sharing them on
Customer Connect).
To move the reports from My Folders to

Shared Folders use drag and drop
Action: Open up the tree under Shared

Folders/Custom to ensure that your new
folder is visible on the left hand side
Action: Click on My Folders to find your

reports
Action: Drag the first report from its current

location and drop it onto Reports CG
Action: Repeat for the second report
(you can select multiple at the same time)
Page 24 of 33
Both reports are now visible in the Reports

xx folder and anyone with access to that
folder will be able to see them
Note - you can also copy and paste using

the tasks in the bottom left hand corner of
the catalog page
Reports can be added to briefing books to

be shared.
Action: Highlight the Reports xx folder and

for either of your reports choose More and
then Add to Briefing Book
Action: Choose Snapshot and No for the

radio buttons and then put in a description
if required
Page 25 of 33
Action: Click on Browse
Action: Navigate on the tree structure on

the left to the Reports xx folder and then in
the name field on the right hand side, enter
xx Briefing and click OK
This will create a new Briefing Book called

xx Briefing within the Reports xx folder
Action: Click on the refresh icon to see the

folder contents updated
Action: Repeat for any other report you

have access to, choosing to place it in the
same briefing book
Action: To view the contents of the briefing

book, choose either the PDF or Web
Archive links underneath it
Action: To edit the briefing book, click the

Edit link – you can either edit the settings
for each report saved or you can change
the order of the pages using drag and drop
Page 26 of 33
To send the briefing book or any report as

an alert, we need to create an Agent.
Action: Choose New/Agent
Action: Explore the General, Schedule and

Condition tabs to see the options that are
available
Conditional Alerts are a very useful

mechanism of only sending out reports
when a threshold has been breached.
Action: Choose the Delivery Content tab
Action: Add a subject (the email name),

content (your briefing book but notice the
other options), format and delivery
options/attachment note.
Page 27 of 33
Action: Choose the Recipients tab
Notice that you are automatically a

recipient
Assuming the email server is correctly set

up …
Action: Manually add an email address

using the email button and click OK
Action: Save the Agent by clicking on the

Save button – call it xx Agent and put it into
your Reports xx folder
Action: Run the Agent by clicking on the

Run Agent Now button (which becomes
enabled when you save the Agent)
Action: Click on OK to the Successful Run

message and switch to email to see the
email appear
Action: Try and set up another agent that

will send one of your reports (rather than
the whole briefing book) to your user. Start
from the More option under your report
name and choose Schedule, this is the
other navigation to create an Agent
(DO NOT add an email address this time).
Hint – the only tab you should need to

update is the Delivery Content tab –
everything else should be defaulted
Action: Run the second Agent
Notice how this time the alert is delivered

to the dashboard (this is the default unless
a user have chosen different personal
preferences). As soon as the Alert
completes, the Alerts icon displays and the
user can access the alert from there
Page 28 of 33
So far we have looked at three ways of

sharing content – shared folders in the
catalog, briefing books and alerts.
We will now look at adding the report to a

BI dashboard. The process of adding
content to a BI dashboard is very simple.
Whether you have an existing dashboard
or are creating a new dashboard, it is a
drag and drop process.
Action: Click Dashboards and review the

Dashboards to which you have access
(there may not be any)
In the same way that the catalog has

Personal and Shared content, dashboards
are either “My Dashboard” so personal to
you or Shared so available to groups of
users based on security.
Action: Click New and choose Dashboard
Action: Give you dashboard a name of

Demo xx Dashboard
Action: Pick the dashboards location under

Custom
Action: Choose to Add Content Now and

then click OK
An empty dashboard will be presented in

the dashboard builder
Action: Review the options in the top left

hand corner
Action: Navigate through the catalog on

the left hand side to find your folder and
reports. Drag one of your reports across
into the dashboard.
Notice that My Folders doesn’t appear –

you cannot put a personal report on a
shared dashboard
Page 29 of 33
Action: Click on Save and then Run to view

the dashboard and check the column
selector prompts are working OK
Action: Edit the dashboard by choosing the

Page Options icon in the top right hand
corner and then Edit Dashboard
Using the dashboard objects on the left

hand side you can add a number of items
to your dashboards, including other
reports, additional sections and columns
and other layout features.
Action: Drag the Alert Section to the top of

your dashboard page
(optional – add other content types to see

what options are available)
Action: Click on Save and then Run
We are now going to look at adding a

dashboard prompt to this page to update
the report. First we will need to create a
dashboard prompt. This is the same
process as we went through earlier to
define the page prompts.
Action: Choose New and then Dashboard

Prompt
Action: Choose Workforce Management –

Worker Assignment Real Time subject
area
Action: Define two lines on your prompt –

one for Person Type and one for
Assignment Status Type. Display them on
Page 30 of 33
one line (New column check box)
Because this is a dashboard prompt we

are going to remove the need to click on
Apply to run the new values.
Action: In the display section of the prompt,

click on the Edit icon
Action: Remove the title (Page 1) and

uncheck the boxes for the Apply and Reset
buttons
Action: Click on OK and then save the

dashboard prompt. Call it xx Dashboard
Prompt and save it in your Folder xx
Action: Return to your dashboard and

choose Edit Dashboard
Action: From the catalog on the left, drag

your dashboard prompt to the top of the
page
Action: Choose Save and then Run to view

the dashboard
Page 31 of 33
Action: Choose different values for the

prompt and see the data update
Discussion Points – for every dashboard

prompt you must have a corresponding
filter on the report (unlike for page
prompts).
If the filter has a hard coded value that will

be the default data returned by the report
until a different selection is made using the
dashboard prompt. At that point the
selection will take precedence.
All reports on a page do not need to be

linked to all prompts, but make sure users
understand what they are looking at if not.
A filter on a report that is defined as

“prompted” rather than a fixed value will
return all rows until a value is chosen in the
dashboard prompt.
Optional – create another report prompted

by these columns, add it to the dashboard
and ensure that it updates at the same
time.
To share a report using the Analytics

button in SUI, each user needs to pick their
own favourites. You can either do this in
SUI, using the Search Icon, or you can
mark it as a favourite here within the
Catalog.
Action: Click on Catalog
Action: Find the report you want, click on

More and Add to Favorites. Navigate back
to SUI and the report will be displayed in
the list of favourites.
When accessing a report or dashboard via

SUI, think about the sizing and display to
ensure scrolling is minimized.
The other options for sharing – embedding

them in a classic page and accessing them
via the Microsoft Office addin - do not have
any exercises in this script.
Page 32 of 33
11: Other Useful Techniques using Customer Connect Examples

You should now be in a position to start building your own reports on any subject area in HCM Cloud. As with all
reporting tools, the longer you spend becoming familiar with the subject areas and the data the items return, the
more value you will get from the tool. Therefore, we would recommend you also review and follow these recordings /
posts from Customer Connect
General
Latest list of reports posted, How to Docs and Videos - http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/posts/6cb6d5ec94
Look and Feel / Usability
Controlling Colours in a Chart – http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/posts/56959f6dc2
Drill Down Report Example: Talent Review Meeting – http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/posts/dbdddce221
Include and Exclude Columns from a report - http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/posts/041f019d39
Selection Steps, Groups and Calculated Items - http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/posts/ca803b8354
Data Returned
Bradford Factor Calculation - http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/posts/022d7fede0
Current and Previous Jobs – http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/posts/a0edcf37c1
Point in Time Reporting Example - http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/posts/b6065de26e
Restrict Dashboard Prompt Selections by Security - http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/posts/bf987bfc44
Cross Subject Area Report - http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/posts/7b519a2e23
Historical Reporting White Paper -

http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/files/7423cb1c1e/OTBI_HCM_historical_reporting_v2.pdf
HCM OTBI Security White Paper -

http://appsconnect.custhelp.com/files/ab83596774/Fusion_HCM_OTBI_Security_White_Paper_11.1.1.8.0.pdf
Start following key Oracle contributors
Page 33 of 33

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Oracle HCM Cloud

1: Customer Connect: Import the Finished Report.........................................2

2: Build the Report: Select the Data...............................................................3

3: Build the Report: Add Conditions (Filters)...................................................4

4: Build the Report: Add Calculated Columns.................................................9

5: Build the Report: Data Formatting Changes.............................................12

6: Build the Report: Layout Changes............................................................13

7: Save the Report........................................................................................18

8: Update the Report: Column Selector........................................................19

9: Update the Report: Report Prompts.........................................................20

10: Publish the Report: The Different Options..............................................23

11: Other Useful Techniques using Customer Connect Examples................33

1: Customer Connect: Import the Finished Report

Action: Log into Customer Connect

A list of matching entries will be displayed

Action: Click on “A few OTBI Hints and

The post will open – it has a description of

Action: Click on CustomerConnect

Action: Copy the contents of the file

In HCM Cloud create a new report …

Action: Choose New / Analysis - pick any

Action: Replace the code in the Analysis

Action: Click on Apply XML button below

Action: Optionally save the report and

Discussion Point – there are two ways of

2: Build the Report: Select the Data

We are going to re-create the same report

Action: Choose New/Analysis

A list of subject areas to which you have

Action: Choose Workforce Management –

The Answers screen will display with the

Action: Take a moment to look at the

Action: Choose the following items by

(Folder > Item)

Business Unit > Business Unit Name

Worker > Assignment Status Type

Worker Assignment > Head Count

To see the data (current headcount by

Action: Click on the Results tab

The data should look something like that

Action: Take some time to practice

It is possible to add a number of conditions

3: Build the Report: Add Conditions (Filters)

We are going to look at adding three

- Limit assignment status type to active

First – assignment status …

Action: Choose the Criteria tab and focus

Action: Click the icon to the right of

Action: Review the different operator types,

Action: Review the values in both the drop

Discussion point – not all fields will have a

The condition is added to the filters region

(optionally run the report to see updated

Second – person type …

This is a little different as person type is

Action: On the Criteria tab, in the Filters

Action: Select More Columns … and

Action: In the same way as for the first

The condition is also added to the filters