Overview of Integration with Oracle EBS

The following overview describes how the components of Loftware Cloud work together with Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS.

Loftware Cloud

Loftware Cloud enables you to create and edit label templates. It also provides you with access to document storage with version control, approval processes, user management, and print history. Additionally, Loftware Cloud provides you with support for integrating with third-party applications.

Loftware Cloud includes the following:

  • Loftware Desktop Designer and Loftware Web Designer are applications for designing label templates. Web Designer is cloud-based and is part of Control Center. Desktop Designer is installed locally, offers enhanced functionality compared to Web Designer, and can connect to Control Center.
  • Loftware Control Center is a cloud-based application that enables you to share and store your label templates and to print labels. In Control Center, you can view all your devices (printers).
  • Loftware Automation is an application that automates repetitive tasks like automated printing and provides support for integrating with third-party applications. Automation can connect to Control Center.

Tip: For a complete overview of which applications are contained in each Loftware Cloud product, see Getting Started Guides.

The following diagram provides a high-level overview of the Loftware Cloud platform:

Loftware Cloud platform overview

When Automation receives data from Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS, it fetches the correct label template from Documents in Control Center, populates the fields in the label template with the business data provided in the data from the Oracle application, and prints a label to the requested label printer.

Automation exposes the HTTP REST APIs that are consumed by Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS. Automation synchronously sends the response for each call.

Loftware Automation Configuration

The Oracle EBS integration package for Loftware Cloud provides a Loftware Automation configuration file (.misx). You deploy the Automation configuration file and start the trigger. The Automation configuration contains one Cloud Trigger that provides the API endpoint for Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS.

Triggers: Integration with Oracle EBS

The action in the trigger is based on the built-in action Run Oracle XML Command File. This action can parse the XML data from Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS and run the print actions accordingly.

All actions before this one are there to ensure the label names in the XML include a full URL prefix to the location in your Documents page in Control Center. The URL is read from the Automation configuration file and appended into the XML data.

After the actions in the trigger are complete, a JSON response is sent back to Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS.

Designing Labels in Designer

With Loftware Desktop Designer or Loftware Web Designer, you can create and edit label templates and connect them to dynamic data sources.

Tip: For information about how to create a label by using Desktop Designer, see Label.

When Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS consumes the Loftware API, it provides the data received with data to support Automation, including key-value pairs for the label variables.

Each label template connected to a dynamic data source contains the variables as data sources for the label objects. These variables connect to label objects and provide values for those objects at print time.

Designer: List of label variables

The variables defined in the label template must have the same names as the data fields in the Oracle applications.

Designer: Import Data Sources

Referencing Label Templates

You must store your label templates in Documents in Control Center. When directing Loftware Automation to a label template, it is recommended that you provide the full path to the label template from the root folder in Documents.

For example, if you have a label template label.nlbl stored in a folder called Labels that is in the Project1 folder, then the form of the full path to the label template should be the following: /Project1/Labels/label.nlbl.

If you do not provide Loftware Automation with the full path to a label template in Documents in Control Center, then Loftware Automation searches the following locations for the label template:

  • The folder where the Automation configuration for Oracle EBS (.misx file) is stored
  • The .\Labels folder
  • The ..\Labels folder
  • The default label folder

Tip: For more information about referencing label templates, see Using project folders to manage files needed on the label or form.