Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS (formerly Loftware Oracle Agent) is a component that enables supported Loftware solutions to integrate with Oracle® E-Business Suite (EBS) so that Oracle® Warehouse Management (WMS) applications can receive and process label print requests. Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS can be updated independently of the Loftware solution, ensuring that the solution can have the most up-to-date integration capabilities available.
An Oracle administrator installs Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS in the Oracle EBS system database and configures it to securely connect with a Loftware solution. An administrator of the Loftware solution can configure an Oracle integration for use with label templates without needing to enter Oracle credentials.
This guide helps you to deploy the NiceLabel Automation configuration to support the Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS and explains the integration processes.
The latest Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS version natively supports NiceLabel.
How to obtain the software?
If you are a new customer interested in Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS, or an existing NiceLabel customer interested in using Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS in conjunction with NiceLabel, contact Loftware Sales.
The Automation integration .zip
file contains:
-
NiceLabel Automation configuration (
.misx
file)Note
NiceLabel Automation is an application that automates repetitive tasks.
Learn more about NiceLabel Automation.
-
NiceLabel Automation integration with Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS guide
Before you start, check the System Requirements.
Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS
For a successful integration, the requirements for Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS are:
-
Oracle Database 19c
-
The Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS must be installed in your Oracle EBS database. For a detailed installation process, see the Getting Started with Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS.
NiceLabel
For a successful integration, the requirements for NiceLabel are:
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NiceLabel installation:
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LMS Enterprise 10.5 or later
-
-
NiceLabel Automation prerequisites:
-
Printer drivers must be installed. You can install printer drivers directly on your computer, or you can register the drivers from the print server you may have.
Note
For the best printing experience, we recommend you install Loftware printer drivers.
To install Loftware printer drivers, see the Printer driver installation guide.
If you already have printer manufacturer's drivers, you can replace them with Loftware printer drivers to optimize your printing process.
If you already have Loftware printer drivers, we recommend you update them to the latest versions. See Updating printer drivers.
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The user account that the NiceLabel Automation Service runs from, must have read permission to the folder or folders in Document Storage, where labels are stored.
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All printers must be visible to the computer and the user account under which the Automation Service runs. Automation creates print jobs on this computer and sends them to the printers using Windows Spooler. The printers must be accessible for printing for the user account under which Automation Service runs. Make sure to use a real user account when using network printers (do not use a Local System Account).
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NiceLabel
Your NiceLabel product allows you to create and edit labels (Desktop Designer), have access to document storage with versioning, approval processes, user management, and print history (Control Center) and provides an integration system (Automation).
Your NiceLabel product contains:
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NiceLabel Desktop Designer is an application for designing and printing labels. Install Desktop Designer on your computer and connect it to Control Center. In Control Center, you can see all your printers connected to your Desktop Designer.
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NiceLabel Control Center is a cloud-based application that allows you to share and store your labeling files and print labels. Control Center connects all printers of all users who have their Desktop Designer connected to Control Center.
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NiceLabel Automation is an application that automates repetitive tasks like automated printing.
When NiceLabel Automation receives a data payload from the Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS, it first fetches the correct label from Documents in Control Center, populates the fields in the template with the business data provided in the Oracle payload, and prints a label to the requested label printer.
NiceLabel Automation exposes the HTTP REST APIs that are consumed by Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS. NiceLabel Automation synchronously sends the response for each call.
NiceLabel Automation
The integration bundle provides a pre-built NiceLabel Automation connector (trigger). You deploy the provided Automation configuration (.zip
file) and start the trigger. The NiceLabel Automation configuration contains one Cloud Trigger that provides the API endpoint for the Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS.
The action in a trigger is based on the built-in action Run Oracle XML Command File. This action can parse the XML payload from the Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS and execute 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 NiceLabel configuration file and appended into the XML payload.
After the actions in the trigger are complete, a JSON response is sent back to the Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS.
Designing labels in NiceLabel Desktop Designer
With NiceLabel Desktop Designer you can create and edit labels and connect them to dynamic data sources. See how to create a new label in Desktop Designer.
When Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS consumes the NiceLabel API, it provides the JSON payload with the data for NiceLabel Automation, including key-value pairs for the label variables.
Each label, 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.
The variables defined in the label must have the same names as the data fields in the Oracle applications. You can create variables in the label manually, but you can also import variables from the existing labels or the Oracle XML payloads.
Label referencing names
You must store your labels in the Documents in your Control Center. Reference the name of your labels from the root folder in Documents.
For example, if you have a label label.nlbl
stored in a folder called Labels , which is in the Project1 folder; the correct form of the full path to the template is /Project1/Labels/label.nlbl
.
If you don't provide the full name to the label templates in Control Center, including the full path to the label template, Automation has to find a label template:
in your-
the same folder where MISX is stored
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folder .\Labels
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folder ..\Labels
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default label folder
See Using project folders to manage files needed on the label or form for more information.
Deploying NiceLabel Automation
To deploy the pre-configured Automation configuration, you must load it into NiceLabel Automation Manager and start the triggers.
Installing and activating NiceLabel Automation
NiceLabel Automation is part of NiceLabel desktop applications installation. The required module to run the Automation configurations is "Automation."
For more details, see the NiceLabel installation guide.
For activating NiceLabel Automation, see Licensing and activating NiceLabel.
Deploying triggers in Automation
Before you can start deploying triggers, make sure you have NiceLabel Automation installed on your computer and that your NiceLabel product is activated.
For activating LMS Enterprise, see Activating NiceLabel LMS Pro/LMS Enterprise and signing in to License Center.
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Extract the
.zip
file to a folder in Documents in your Control Center. -
Run NiceLabel Automation Manager.
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Go to Triggers, then click the +Add button.
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In the Open window, browse for your
.misx
file and click Open.Automation Manager loads the configuration and lists the triggers in the right-hand pane.
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Select all triggers and click Start on any of the triggers. All triggers will start. Triggers’ icons turn green, and the status changes to “Running.”
Important
Once started, the triggers will automatically start upon the server reboot.
The URL endpoint for NiceLabel on-premise products is custom (on your server), but you still need an integrator key to authenticate the call to the API.
Note
Your NiceLabel integrator key can be created before or after Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS is installed.
To generate the integrator key:
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In your browser, open your local Control Center. The URL is custom for your installation, for example,
http(s)://<YourServerName>/epm
.Replace <YourServerName> with the name or IP address of your server where your Control Center is installed.
Note
Using either http or https depends on whether your web server enables encryption.
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Go to Integrations > Cloud integrations.
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Click Add.
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Type in the name of the integrator. The integrator key is auto-generated.
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Click Save.
To consume the API, use the following URL:
API |
URL |
---|---|
Loftware Integration - Oracle EBS trigger |
http(s)://<YourServerName>/epm/api/trigger/Api-OracleEbs |
Each API request must include a custom header with the name Integrator-Key. Its value is the subscription key obtained in Authentication for NiceLabel APIs.
Replace <YourServerName> with the name or IP address of the server where your NiceLabel Control Center is installed.
Using either http or https depends on whether your web server enables encryption.