Common Errors and

Solutions when Using

Workflow in Order
Management
Mercedes Vizueta
Oracle Corporation
Agenda
• Introduction
• Processing Orders Using Workflow
• Error Handling
• Data Corruption
• Workflow Performance Degradation
• Data Needed to Request Data Fix
• Conclusion
Introduction
OM Item Types
• OEOH - Starts Header flows
• OEOL – Starts Line flows
• OECOGS – Builds the COGS account
Generic Order Header Workflow
Process

The Order Flow – Generic is the most commonly used

header flow. It can be used with any line flow for any
item type, with outbound lines and with return lines
Generic Order Line Workflow
Process

The Line Flow – Generic is the most commonly used

line flow. It can be used for all items including ATO
items. It will not work for configured items generated
from assemble-to-order models
Viewing Workflow in OM
• From OM you can view the active workflow
processes and their associated functions,
messages, sub-processes, notifications and
properties:
– Open the desired order in OM
– Navigate to the Tools menu and select Workflow
Status
– A new window opens and displays the workflow
status as an activities list.
Activities List Window
Processing Orders Using
Workflow
Synchronous, Manual or Deferred
Completion
• Synchronous: WF activities are executed
online until it reaches the end of the flow, a
block activity or is deferred
• Manual: If the order/line hits an “Eligibility
Block”, use the Progress Order LOV to move
the process forward.
• Deferred: An order or line stops because the
flow is deferred to the Background Engine.
Activity Results
• Most OM functions use the “OM Sub-Process
Results, handles Holds” lookup:
– Complete – When it executes successfully.
– Incomplete – When it runs into expected errors.
– On Hold – When it runs into a generic or activity
specific Hold.
– Not Eligible – When it does not make sense for the
Order Header or Line to be processed by that
activity.
Workflow Enabled Order or
Line Processes
• Booking, Scheduling, Create Supply, ATO
Processing
• Ship, Pick Release, Ship Confirm
• Purchase Release, RMAs
• Fulfillment, Invoice Interface
• Close Order and Close Line
Error Handling
Expected and Unexpected
Errors
• Expected Errors: Errors that processes expect to
run into and handle. Easy to recover from.
– Example: Incomplete Result at Booking
• Unexpected Errors: Errors that a process does
not expect:
– Data Integrity errors
– The table does not exist
– Rollback segments cannot be extended
– The package does not exist
Incomplete Result at Booking
Process Messages Window
• When an activity is completed via the Sales
Order window, the Process Messages window
appears to display messages that indicate
errors.
– The error message can be retrieved from the
Header or the Line using Actions > View Open
Messages.
– After providing the missing information you can
repeat the Book activity via the “Book” button or
the Progress Order LOV.
Process Message Window
Exception Management
• Visibility of the Workflow errors to functional users.
– After correction of the issues, you can “Retry” the
Workflow Activity from the Sales Order/Quick Sales
Order Window.
– If the activity completes successfully, you will get a
success message. Otherwise, you will see the error
messages. Retry will have to be repeated after fixing
the errors.
– When profile “OM: Show Process Messages Flag” is
set to Yes, the Open Messages checkbox displays a
checked value indicating that message(s) exist for the
order.
Fulfill Activity in Error
Retry Fulfill Activity in Error
Retry Activities in Error
Concurrent Program
• Provides the ability to retry more than one workflow
across orders in batch mode.
• Can be run in Preview and Execute mode.
– Preview is the default. Does not execute the
errored flow. Provides a report and count of the
error activities along with the errors in the log file.
– Execute mode retries the errored flows. It displays
the result of the Retry and any error messages in
the log file.
Data Corruption
What is Data Corruption?
• When the integrity of the data has been corrupted.
OM not in synch with OEOH or OEOL workflow
status
• Order headers or lines cannot be retried successfully
using Exception Management functionality
– Invalid data must be fixed via direct update using SQL.
It is important to identify the exact nature of the data
corruption and the number of affected transactions
• Data fix must be provided by Development/Support.
– Data fixes are not generic. They should not be applied
for other similar issues without approval of Support /
Development
Causes of Data Corruption
• Not following standard customization practices.
– Use OM Workflow Validation functionality to evaluate
and validate proposed workflow extensions.
– Validation can be done in the Transactions form or
through the “Validate OM Workflow” concurrent
program.
• Expediting or skipping problematic lines or headers.
• Improperly retrying (rewinding) the workflow activity.
• Purging Workflow or any other OM data using SQL.
• Modifying item properties when there are open sales
orders.
Patches to Prevent Skipping of
Workflow
• Patch.3968068: Prevents users from
skipping activities from the Workflow
Status Monitor.
• Patch.2979522: Sends a Workflow
Notification to the sysadmin and User
when he/she skips a Workflow activity.
Patches to Fix Known Data
Corruption Issues
• Note.398822.1 maintains a list of all data fix patches
available (these are not root cause fixes).
• Patch.5590106 ensures that all dependent
transactions are consistently marked canceled when
a Sales Order line is canceled.
• Retry Activities in Error concurrent program will set
the SHIP_LINE Activity in Error to “Notified” instead
of retrying in the case of error (or line progressed to
status other than “Notified”) when there is a
corresponding closed delivery detail.
Examples of Data Corruption
• Cannot book orders
• Lines in Fulfillment / Ship Sets cannot be progressed
• Invoice interface fails
• Missing line flows
• Interface Trip Stop fails:
– Order line is closed but delivery details are not yet
interfaced.
– Order line is canceled but the delivery detail is not yet
canceled.
– Delivery details are shipped but order lines are in
“Awaiting Shipping” status.
Unprocessed Shipping
Transactions
• Perhaps most critical data corruption. It prevents
users from closing the Inventory period.
– Records have been shipped confirmed but have not
yet been interfaced to Inventory.
– Running ITS with debug on will provide Users visibility
to the exception/error.
• If re-executing Inventory Interface fails after
correcting any errors, the issue would most likely
need a data fix script.
• For a full detailed listing of the pending shipping
transactions, use the BDEprdcls.sql diagnostic script
Workflow Performance
Degradation
Causes of Workflow
Performance Degradation
• Obsolete Runtime Data in the Workflow tables
– Run the “Purge Obsolete Workflow Runtime Data”
concurrent program on a periodic basis
– Only completed workflows with no pending parent and
children workflow can be purged
• Improper workflow customization
– When care is not taken during customization, the
workflow may iterate or loop unnecessarily creating
rows in the workflow tables each time. See
Note.345090.1.
Data Needed to Request
Data Fix
Data Needed to Request
Data Fix
• Provide the following with Service Request (SR)t:
– Diagnostics AppsCheck for OM, Shipping and Pricing
– Diagnostics OM Order Information output and/or the
HTMomse11i output for the entire order
– OMDebug or ITS debug file
– BDEprdcl.sql output if issue deals with closing
inventory period.
– Workflow definition file if issue deals with custom
workflows
– Cogs_11i.sql output if issue deals with COGS account
generation failure
Conclusion
Conclusion
• Workflow in Order Management provides you with
powerful order processing and fulfillment capabilities.
• Improper customizations can lead to data corruption
or workflow performance degradation.
• Exception Management functionality and the Retry
Activities in Error concurrent program provides Users
the ability to retry one or more workflow across
orders.
• Data corruption require direct SQL updates
• To obtain a data fix script, please log a Service
Request with Support.
Questions?