Oracle eBusiness Suite R12.2.7 – New Features/Just the Facts

Oracle e-Business Suite R12.2.7 Released

Oracle eBusiness Suite R12.2.7 – New Features/Just the Facts

Full PDF Presentation here – Oracle eBusiness Suite R1227_Highlights_jlui

Summary Based Upon Presentation by Cliff Godwin, Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2.7 Highlights, September 2017 – Watch the video here.

Roadmap [image]

iProcurement 12.2.7

• Auto-Suggest Catalog Items
• New Supplier Creation Flow for Non-Catalog & Contractors
• New Supplier Creation Flow for Spot Buys
• Show Procurement Activities to Requesters
• New Requester Notifications for P.O. Status Updates
• Simplified Shopping Cart UI

Auto-Suggested Catalog Items [image]

Supplier On-boarding Flow [image]

Supplier Creation Flow for Spot Buys [image]

PO Information to Requesters [image]

Purchasing / Contracts 12.2.7

• Purchasing
  • Automated Grouping of Multiple Requests to PO’s
  • Validate Agreement Line Amounts During Order/Release Submission
• Procurement Contracts
  • Content Search
• Procurement Command Center
  • Partial Searches / Snippet Preview

PO Requisition Auto-Grouping [image]

PO Line Amount Validation [image]

Contracts Content Search [image]

iSupplier / Supplier Lifecycle Mgt

• Improved Automatic Recurring Assessments
• Contact and Address Purpose and Associated Notifications
• Visibility of Dynamic Supplier Lists

Supplier LCM – Recurring Assessments [image]

Supplier LCM / iSupplier Portal [image]

Project Procurement 12.2.7

• Support for Technical Specifications
• Support for Buyer Notes
• Support for Descriptive Flexfields
• Planning by Need-By Date
• Change History Page UX Enhancements

Projects 12.2.7

• Project Costing
  • Calculate Overtime Labor for Work-Based Timecard Layouts
• Project Planning & Control
  • Work Plan Lifecycle
• Advanced Project Planning & Controls
  • Support for Unit Rate Contract Schedule of Values

PP&C Workplan Lifecycle [image]

AP&C Unit Rate Contracts [image]

Order Management 12.2.7

• Order Management
  • Milestone Billing
  • Manual Item Substitution After Booking
  • Schedule Order Enhancements
• Quoting
  • Quote Status Flow by OU; Defaults, Updates
• iStore
  • Order Type per Specialty Site; Email Notification Style
• Customer Hub
  • Enhanced Party Merge

OM: Milestone Billing [image]

Quote Status Flow by OU [image]

Logistics / Inventory 12.2.7

• Inventory / WMS
  • Material Workbench UI
  • Enhanced Receiving & Shipping UI
  • Enhanced Shipping / Oracle Transportation Mgt Integration
• Material Supply Chain Administration (MSCA)
  • Label Reprints by Any User; Default Org on Login

Material Workbench UI

Manufacturing 12.2.7

• Discrete MES
  • Enhanced Supervisor Review of Operator Times
  • Express Complete for Related Job Operations
• Process Manufacturing
  • Automated Time-Based Sampling
• Cost Management
  • Accrual Reconciliation for Inventories

Express Complete for Related Job Operations

Automated Time-Based Sampling

Value Chain Planning 12.2.7

• Functional Security for ADF UI’s
• Org & Function Security in Supply & Service Parts Planning ADF Work Areas
• Production Scheduling of Phantoms

Org & Function Security

Asset Lifecycle Management 12.2.7

• Enterprise Asset Management
  • Work Order Mass Updates
  • Generate Preventative Maintenance Work Order Report
  • Operation Completion as Mandated
  • Add Supplier Info for Work Order Directives
• Installed Base
  • WebADI for Extended Attributes

WebADI for Installed Base Extended Attributes

Service 12.2.7

• Advanced Scheduling
  • Add Resource Cost Factoring
• Spares Mgt
  • Error Packing and Shipping Instructions for Parts Requirements; Copy Requirements to Internal Orders
• Field Service
  • Self-Assign Labor Debrief Checklist Consolidated Debrief
• TeleService
  • Enhanced UI’s
• Depot Repair / Depot Info Discovery
  • Improved Graphs, Drilldowns

Depot Repair Information Discovery

Channel Revenue Management 12.2.7

• Multi-Currency Approval Rule for Claims
• Standalone Installation Support

Channel Revenue Mgt Standalone Support [image]

Human Capital Management 12.2.7

• Time & Labor
  • Timecard Entry for Terminated Employees
  • Timekeeper Grouping by Supervisor
  • OT Calc for Project Work-Based Layout
• Payroll
  • Dynamic Assignment Sets UI/WebADI
• Learning Management
  • Test Overview for Online Assessments
  • Certification-Only Classes

Payroll Dynamic Assignment Sets [image]

Learning Mgt: Online Assessments [image]

ATG OAF User Experience 12.2.7

• Administrator Personalizations
  • Admin Personalization Workbench
  • Themes
• End-User Interactions
  • HGrid Column Freeze
  • Add to Favorites via Icons
  • Enhanced Look-Ahead LOV’s
  • Enhanced Attachments

OAF Roadmap 12.2.x [image]

Admin Personalization Workbench [image]

OAF Themes [image]

Advertisement

Oracle OpenWorld 2016 in 5 Pages

 

Oracle OpenWorld 2016 Cloud Services and Products Summary

4 Days (almost 7 for me) of Product Directors and Managers spinning as many plates in the air as humanly possible, all being tossed into the Cloud with a fervor only matched by the lack of compensation being provided for conventional technology stack sales, left me with some specific value-adds for my time spent (not including the Safe Harbor information, we can’t say anything about….sshhhh.)

Note: (I’m EBS-centric and we have very little budget for hardware, so while I was amazed at the new SPARC S7 processors with on-board encryption and J/SQL optimization, alas they didn’t make it into my summary pages this year.)

AD/TXK Delta.8
Oracle E-Business Suite Applications DBA and Technology Stack Release Notes for R12.AD.C.Delta.8 and R12.TXK.C.Delta.8 (Doc ID 2159750.1)

Configuring Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.x Using Logical Host Names (Doc ID 1968231.1)

• e-Mail Notifications at Parent and Child Levels for Request Sets
• Save and Re-use Concurrent Program Parameters (CP Templates)
• Regex Support in Profile Option Values and FND_MESSAGES
• Multiple OA Framework Windows and Tabs in Multiple Browser Windows
• EBS Healthcheck Diagnostics
• 64-bit JDK’s on CM Tier
• adop Improvements
• Delta Sync Mode (syncmode=patch/delta) – changed rows only
• Rsync support in phase=prepare
• Custom module sync auto-supported (no custom drivers req’d)
• Standardized logging SessionID/ExecutionID/phase/node

EBS 12.2.6.AD Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2.6 Readme (Doc ID 2114016.1)

• Security Configuration Console
• JSP Whitelisting
• Redirection Whitelisting
• AD/TKX.Delta.8 incorporated
• More HTML User Interfaces: HTML alternatives to several existing Forms; interfaces offer simpler layouts and more modern user interactions.

–Examples include the Update Assets UI in Enterprise Asset Management, and AOL setup UIs for Users, Responsibilities, and Flexfields.

SecureFiles does not allow shrinking of the tablespace after deletions (AP Imaging)

Available Interconnect Cloud Service adapters:

• –PL/SQL
• –Java Beans
• –Apps Modules

Roadmap ICS adapters:

• –REST
• –Concurrent Programs
• –XML Gateway
• –BPEL/Business Services

CAAS (Cloud Adaptive Assistant Service) – The widget Larry was text-chatting with.

Mobile Foundation and Mobile Application Framework

Foundation v6 released August 2016

–Incorporates MAF 2.3.2

–Enhancements for Approvals (HR, Projects, Service Centers, Quoting, Custom Approvals)

Foundation v7 scheduled for April 2017

MAF Roadmap items:

–Airwatch and MobileIron support

–Mobile REST API’s

–EBS Integrated Service Gateway support (SOA)

PDF Version for download:       oracle_oow16_summary_jlui

Something New from Dove – A Dry Spray?

Courtesy of the try and review site Influenster a couple new interesting ideas showed up in the mail this weekend.

Dove Dry Spray anti-perspirant/deodorant trials.

Since these new products do not contain alcohol or water, they spray on but evaporate immediately on-contact.

The 48-hour claim probably was under conditions of not actually washing anything off (regardless of the petroleum distallates used – see the ingredient list below); for practical purposes, this is a non-powder based D/AP product that as long as you shake well before using, doesn’t have a residue, and works relatively invisably (long-term effects of spraying butane on yourself, or the environmental impacts still to be determined.)

The inventors are still at it.

Ingredients as listed:
Butane, Hydrofluorocarbon 152A, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isobutane, Ppg-14 Butyl Ether, Helianthus Annus Seed Oil, Disteardimonium Hectorite, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Fragrance, Propane, Bht, Octyldodecanol, Propylene Carbonate, Dimethiconol, Tocopheryl Acetate

 

What’s New Features in Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) Cloud Control 12c Release 5 (12.1.0.5)

I kept getting asked what’s new in Release 5 – so here’s the summary of what’s changed since 12.1.0.4.0 (the prior release for the past 12 months):

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/oem/grid-control/downloads/index.html

http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E24628_01/doc.121/e25353

What’s New in Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 5 (12.1.0.5)

•     Oracle Cloud Management (Hybrid Cloud)
•     Database Plug-in 12.1.0.8 Features
•     Fusion Middleware Plug-in 12.1.0.8 Features
•     Cloud Management Plug-in 12.1.0.10 Features
•     Chargeback and Consolidation Planner Plug-in 12.1.0.7 Features
•     Virtual Infrastructure Plug-in 12.1.0.2

Oracle Cloud Management (Hybrid Cloud) – This enhancement is new in Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Release 5 (12.1.0.5).
Enterprise Manager Cloud Control now provides you with a single pane of glass for monitoring and managing both your on-premise and Oracle Cloud deployments, all from the same management console. By deploying Management Agents onto the Oracle Cloud virtual hosts serving your Oracle Cloud services, you are able to manage Oracle Cloud targets just as you would any other targets. The communication between Management Agents and your on-premise Oracle management service instances is secure from external interference. Support is provided for managing Oracle Database and Fusion Middleware PaaS targets, as well as JVMD support for monitoring JVMs on your Oracle Cloud virtual hosts.

Oracle Cloud Management includes the following key features:

•     Automated agent deployment and configuration
•     Database and Java PaaS instances monitoring
•     Incident management including notifications and ticketing integration
•     Configuration management including Search and Inventory, comparison between on-premise and cloud instances, configuration history, and compliance
•     Cloning between on-premise and Oracle Cloud
•     One-off patching of Oracle Cloud database instances

Database Plug-in 12.1.0.8 Features

• Snap Clone Leveraging Sparse Clones on Exadata
  You can now create a Test Master pluggable database (PDB) to use as the snapshot source for thin cloning on Exadata ACFS.
  For functional testing scenarios, for example on development or testing systems, business IT users now have on-demand access to production data copies without incurring the penalty of multi-terrabyte storage.
• Data Cloning to Oracle Cloud
  With this release you have the following data cloning to Oracle Cloud options:
  • Like-to-like cloning: on premise to-from Oracle Private Cloud:
    Enterprise Manager12c PDB to 12c PDB, assuming the containers exist on both sides
    Regular non-container dedicated database to dedicated database
  • Like-to-unlike data migration:
    Regular to PDB migration where the source is an on-premise non-PDB database and the data is migrated to a cloud based PDB
    PDB to normal database migration where the source is a PDB on an Oracle PaaS cloud and data and schema are migrated to a non-container CDB on premise

Fusion Middleware Plug-in 12.1.0.8 Features

• Generic JVM Provisioning for Private Cloud
  This feature enables self-service users to provision non-Oracle middleware components as cloud services. It also uses Enterprise Manager’s chargeback and quota management capabilities to enable administrators to limit service usage based on organizational policies.
• JVMD Support for PaaS
  Enterprise Manager Cloud Control now enables you to deploy JVMD agents on your Oracle Cloud virtual hosts. These deployed JVMD agents can report to a JVMD engine deployed in your private network. This feature enables you to monitor the JVMs deployed on the virtual hosts running your Oracle Cloud services as well as the JVMs deployed on the hosts in your private network using a single console, for example Enterprise Manager Cloud Control deployed in your private network.
• Middleware Self Service Portal Support for Virtual Java as a Service with Exalogic Systems
  WebLogic services that have been provisioned on Exalogic systems using Service Manager can now be viewed in the Cloud Self Service Portal as part of the Exalogic Private Cloud service family.
• MWaaS on Solaris SPARC
  This project integrates MWaaS with the Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center. It provides the ability to dynamically add or remove the virtual hardware in a MWaaS cloud.

Cloud Management Plug-in 12.1.0.10 Features

• Dynamic Scaling of PaaS Zone Through Integration with the Sun Solaris SPARC Ops Center 12c Adapter
  Enterprise Manager 12c is integrated with the Ops Center through the Sun Solaris SPARC adapter. An instance of this registered adapter is used by the associated PaaS Infrastructure zone to provision or delete VMs on demand. The communication with the Ops Center server is achieved through the use of a client kit.
  This integration enables customers to provide layered services capability in a private cloud, for example DBaaS using a Solaris VM based IaaS. Any spike in compute demand can now be handled instantly by cloud administrators.
• DBaaS PaaS Provider Pools Integration with Ops Center
  Administrators can now increase the capacity of a DBaaS pool by clicking a single button. Doing this transparently provisions a virtual machine or cluster through the associated Ops Center adapter attached to the PaaS zone. It also deploys the requisite software components, for example Enterprise Manager Agent, Grid Infrastructure, Oracle Database and so on, through the gold image provisioning or by cloning from an existing reference member of the pool.
  Compute resource scarcity at PaaS provider level results in the failure of self service provisioning requests. This integration helps SSA administrators to respond to such failures promptly.
• Clone to Oracle Cloud
  Administrators now have the ability to create a full clone of an Enterprise Manager 12c pluggable database amongst existing container databases within the on-premise IT infrastructure or to an Oracle Cloud. Administrators can also clone a service from on-premise to Oracle PaaS and vice-versa. The cloning is supported in two broad categories:
  •     Peer-peer clone: Clones directly from an on-premise target to Oracle Cloud.
  •     Clone through the Software Library: Administrators can archive a gold image into the Software Library in one step and then deploy it in a separate step.

Chargeback and Consolidation Planner Plug-in 12.1.0.7 Features

• Host Consolidation Support for Oracle Cloud Shapes
  Oracle Enterprise Manager now provides host consolidation support for Oracle Cloud shapes. When creating scenarios for physical server to physical server (P2P) consolidations that target new or phantom destinations, you can choose physical machines configured in the Oracle cloud by selecting the cloud computing configuration, or shape, to use as the destination. Oracle provides a wide range of shapes to help you select a combination of processing power and memory for your instances that best suits your business requirements.

Virtual Infrastructure Plug-in 12.1.0.2

• Dynamic Resource Provisioning Support
  Through integration with Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center, dynamic on-demand resource provisioning enables Oracle Cloud and self service administrators to dynamically increase or decrease resources in their private cloud setup based on usage requirements. Resources can either be infrastructure resources such as hosts (based on virtual machines) or platform resources such as middleware and database Oracle homes. Resources can be dynamically added when additional service instances need to be provisioned due to high usage or decreased if existing resources are not being used.

That’s it, in a nutshell.

New feature in the 12.1.0.4.x OEM agents – Metrics Browser

Actual content being collected depends on what plugins are available on the agent.

https://(agenthostname):(port)/emd/browser/main

(agenthostname):(port) obtained from $AGENT_HOME/bin/emctl status agent

---

Metric Browser Login

Top of Form

Enter user ID and password:
Agent UserName or root Password

PDP Type
None Sudo PowerBroker

RunAs Username Profile name (only applicable if PowerBroker)
And then click this button:

Bottom of Form

---

Screenshot of OEM 12.1.0.4.0 Agent Metric Browser

EMAGENT 12.1.0.4.0

Health Meter Score	Schedule	Properties	Upload System	Top Target/Metric Cpu Reports	System State Dumps	Agent Key Performance Charts	Agent KPI Charts
100.0	Schedule	Properties	Upload System	Top Target/Metric Cpu Reports	System State Dumps	Agent Key Performance Charts	Agent KPIs

Target List

TargetType

TargetName

BrokenCode

BrokenReason

Status

Version

Runtime Version

Blackout Status

Master

ScheduleStatus

HealthScore

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Target Events

Host

(hostname)

0

—

MONITORED

4.4

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

99.6

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle Concurrent Processing

(ORACLE_SID)-Core Managers for Concurrent Processing

0

—

MONITORED

12.03

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Custom Oracle Concurrent Program

(ORACLE_SID)-AUS_FNDGSCST

0

—

MONITORED

12.02

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Custom Oracle Concurrent Program

(ORACLE_SID)-(ORACLE_SID)_7BK_AGING

0

—

MONITORED

12.02

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle E-Business Suite Custom Objects

(ORACLE_SID)-Oracle E-Business Suite Custom Objects Configuration

0

—

MONITORED

12.01

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Internal Concurrent Manager

(ORACLE_SID)-Internal Concurrent Manager

0

—

MONITORED

12.02

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle E-Business Suite Node

(ORACLE_SID)-Infrastructure (ORACLE_SID)_(hostname)-Database Context

0

—

MONITORED

12.03

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle E-Business Suite Patch Information

(ORACLE_SID)-Oracle E-Business Suite Patch Information Configuration

0

—

MONITORED

12.03

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle E-Business Suite Workflow

(ORACLE_SID)-Workflow Infrastructure

0

—

MONITORED

12.02

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle Workflow Agent Listener

(ORACLE_SID)-Oracle Workflow Agent Listener

0

—

MONITORED

12.01

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle Workflow Background Engine

(ORACLE_SID)-Workflow Background Engine

0

—

MONITORED

12.01

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle Workflow Notification Mailer

(ORACLE_SID)-Oracle Workflow Notification Mailer

0

—

MONITORED

12.01

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Database Instance

(ORACLE_SID)

0

—

MONITORED

5.3

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

99.3

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Database Instance

(ORACLE_SID)

0

—

MONITORED

5.3

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

100.0

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle E-Business Suite

(ORACLE_SID)-Oracle E-Business Suite

0

—

MONITORED

12.03

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Agent

(hostname):(port)

0

—

MONITORED

12.4

6

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Agent proxy

(hostname):(port)_proxy

0

—

MONITORED

12.01

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle Home

OraDb11g_home1_(hostname)

0

—

MONITORED

2.0

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle Home

OraDb11g_home2_(hostname)

0

—

MONITORED

2.0

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle Home

agent12c1_(hostname)

0

—

MONITORED

2.0

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Oracle Home

agent12c2_18_(hostname)

0

—

MONITORED

2.0

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Listener

LISTENER_(hostname)

0

—

MONITORED

2.7

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Listener

(ORACLE_SID)_(hostname)

0

—

MONITORED

2.7

2

false

true

OPERATIONAL

—

Severities

Schedule

CollectionItems

Events

Timestamp = 2015-06-16T10:37:34.693-07:00

Logout https://(hostname):(port)/emd/browser/logout

Copyright (c) 1996, 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved

Each clickable link allows you to see what each metric being collected is actually collecting, and what the current values that are being passed to the OEM OMS Repository look like.

This is referenced in the My Oracle Support document:

List Of All Metrics In Enterprise Manager 12c Cloud Control (Doc ID 1678449.1)

Hellmann’s Gets The Squeeze on Mayo (aka Best Foods)

Kewpie mayonnaise with sample squeeze top (image courtesy of Spice-World)

We often use Kewpie around the house, mostly because it happens to come in a non-messy squeeze bottle that is convenient to take on picnics and pass around the table at family gatherings.

Thanks to a free sample from Influenster, the latest forth-coming

Hellman’s Mayonnaise new squeezable bottle.

packaging from Hellmann’s (also known on the West coast as Best Foods) has decided to release its quite popular (and lighter than Kewpie) mayonnaise in a new top-down squeeze bottle that comes quite nicely designed to sit upside-down without tipping.  The typical spout that is found on similar ketchup bottles has been made pressure-sensitive allowing a very narrow (2mm) stream of mayo to be sent in a controlled stream accurate enough to write with (or at least make fancy lines and streams) whether decorative, or simply portion-controlling (studies show that using a dab here and there can have just as much taste and schmearing the mayo all over everything, yet saves on serving size big time.)  It’s refillable, and using a smoother plastic interior, is designed to allow most of the mayo to exit the bottle leaving less waste behind (Hellman’s quotes “over 1000 lbs. of mayo are wasted each year just because it’s left behind in bottles and jars)  Look for it coming soon to a grocery shelf near you.

How to migrate EM12c R3 OMS and repository to a new host

Very useful, even if you’re moving parts of OEM 12c from one host to another, or modifying the filesystem mounts.

Pardy DBA

(EDIT 20130917: If you simply need to change the IP address of your OEM server, please review MOS note 1562029.1.  The procedure in that note may allow you to change your OEM server’s IP address without following the lengthy process I describe below.)

In order to save power in our data center, I need to migrate my EM12c R3 environment from the host where it currently runs to a new host.  I have a simple configuration, with a single OMS, no load balancer, and the repository database runs on the same host as EM12c R3 itself.  I also have BI Publisher installed and integrated with EM12c, and a few third party plugins as I’ve detailed elsewhere on this blog.  If you use an OS other than Linux x86-64 I suggest you research thoroughly as this procedure may or may not apply to your environment.  Further, if you have a multi-OMS…

View original post 3,770 more words

2014-01 Shinnyo-en Buddhism Podcast – The New Year

2014-01 Shinnyo-en Buddhism Podcast – The New Year

• Saisho – How to Use the Force
• Using Diversity to Strengthen and Broaden Community
• Self-Reflection Leading to Global Peace

Subscribe to this Podcast (RSS) or iTunes or via Flipboard

(Based upon Shinnyo-en’s Annual Guidance and Points of Practice for 2014 – Year of the Horse)

In HH Keishu Shinso’s New Year’s address she presented the 2014 guideline including working to extend saisho (lit. spiritual wonders) and our annual practices to include contributing in a loving and kind manner with diversity, and using sesshin (lit. self-reflection) to build our world of friendship. Part of our embodiment of the astrological animal traits, is not to just abide by your own birth year’s characteristics, but to also extend your focus and reach according to each year’s sign, sort of like being re-born each year into that year’s emphasis. Horse years include broadening horizons, openness, gatherings and crowds, and certainly  an attraction to many many diverse interests. So with that in mind, let’s explore this year’s guidelines and practice items as a whole.

The concept of saisho can be thought of of being similar to the concept of the “Force” in George Lucas’s Star Wars – an energy which flows through every living thing in the universe, neither created nor destroyed, but simply transitioning from form to form, and state to state.

So if entropy and enthalpy are the scientific study of such energy transitions, what does religion and spirituality do with the same concepts? Well, science does well at interpreting what happens when something occurs, such as when a brain cell is electrically stimulated causing a word to be uttered in a verbal response. And psychologically, we may be able to interpret what natural versus nurtured behavioral elements led to the specific content of those words.

But when someone’s words become altruistic — generated in a way that does not seem to directly extend from internal drives and motives, nor self-satisfying objectives, those we may speak of as being driven through a path other than simple scientific cause and effect. We might think of religion being wrapped around a focus of many miraculous events, such as rising from the dead, or surviving apocalypse, but in reality, there are other forms of “miracles” which we simply need to examine our own history to understand that the definition is temporary. Just 100 years ago, many millions fell victim to invisible virus outbreaks, and bacterial infections which were thought to be terminal (and to some extent brought about by divine retribution.) But as the collective human mind became increasingly open to the concept of “invisible life forms” and synergetic treatments, our own collective suffering diminished in return. A couple thousand years ago, we were pretty sure lead was really safe, and mercury was a form of medicinal cure.

So, the concept of saisho, could simply be humanity’s continued diminishing fear of the unknown (or hard to explain), and embracement of harmonic balance. Wave energy is a good example of harmonic convergence or cancellation. When waves are sent in opposing directions to each other, they tend to cancel each other’s energy, and result in a flattened and still surface devoid of movement. Combining wave forces in the same direction creates reinforcement and greater amplitude and strength than contained within the original separated waves. So as religions and spirituality converge and reinforce, rather than conflict and cancel each other, we may observe a rather miraculous result.

Just as small trickles of melting ice and tiny streams converge towards amazingly huge rivers and oceans, so works the power of diversity, or simply variety. In the early days of Shinnyo-en, when food and resources were scarce, the Shinnyo parents (Shinjo and Tomoji Ito) raised vegetables on the temple grounds and gave them to the neighbors and practitioners  Tomoji was known for silently cleaning and polishing attendees shoes while they attended lessons by Shinjo, simply because she thought it would bring a smile to someone’s face if they came out and found them that way. Similarly, the early morning cleaning practices wherein we go out and clean and polish a nearby public place, are not meant to be huge demonstrations in public service, but simple small efforts to make a corner of the world a brighter and more enjoyable place.

Perhaps you leave a thank you card for a co-worker for their efforts, or +1 someone’s post on Google, or have some other way to positively contribute to someone else experience of life – it’s an action that counts. It builds merit. And it is more than deciding NOT to do something.

From the ancient roots of philosophy – being a lover of wisdom, and seeker of universal truth, and contrasted with another ancient word, phronesis – seeking practical truth and comprehension, tempered with life experience, the simple example often given is about conveying words of truth to someone. Philosophically, those words can be harsh and bitter to someone unreceptive to them. Phronetically, one might avoid saying anything at all, as being the practical way to avoid the conflict. But through self-reflection (sesshin), we achieve a third state of placing ourselves into the recipients shoes, so to speak, and choose words which can enlighten the person to what we mean to say, truthfully, but without the pain, conflict, or avoidance. Sometimes this self-reflection leads to discovery that what we thought was something worth saying, wasn’t anything at all, and turned out to be an effort to persuade someone else. Remember that harmony includes diversity,  and does not strive towards conformity. Balance depends on the relative weight, mass and distribution of each element, and choosing an arbitrary center doesn’t make something balanced. So, be sure you know your own elements, and embrace your own variety (hint: it’s that self-reflection thing), and choosing your centers of balance will  become based upon solid reference points rather than guesswork.

Change VARCHAR2 to 32K – 12c Edition

Here’s also the My Oracle Support Main 12c Reference Document – Master Note For Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) Database/Client Installation/Upgrade/Migration Standalone Environment (Non-RAC) [ID 1520299.1]

(Requires a valid My Oracle Support Login)

Related articles

• Why upgrade to Oracle 12c (pythian.com)
• Oracle to charge extra for 12c database’s ‘fundamental’ feature (techcentral.ie)
• Oracle database 12c now available for download (pcworld.com)

Oracle has made a few changes to the database to allow organizations to reduce the cost of migrating to Oracle 12c.  One of these changes is with the size limits that have been placed on the VARCHAR2, NVARCHAR2 and RAW data types.  In past versions of Oracle database the maximum size for these data types were 4,000 bytes.  In Oracle 12c, these data types can now  be increased to 32,767 bytes.

In order to set these data types to use the larger setting, the MAX_STRING_SIZE parameter needs to be set.  The only values that this parameter can take is STANDARD and EXTENDED.  Once the parameter has been set to EXTENDED, you cannot go back to STANDARD.

Note: Altering MAX_STRING_SIZE will update database objects and possibly invalidate them

To increase the size of the VARCHAR2, NVARCHAR2 and RAW columns for a non-CDB database,  these steps need to be followed: 

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Momoiro Clover Z – 5th Dimension Countdown…

Because it’s out, now, on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/5th-dimension/id633919099

DIRECT JAPAN

… 4 days before the most awaited J-Pop album of 2013 gets released!… 

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Alll About Database 12c At Collaborate 13 #C13DEN – IOUG Forum

The Background behind Oracle Database 12c Revealed at Collaborate 13 presented by Bobby Curtis (BIAS Corp – @curtisbl294) and me:

And then we explain the specifics about What You Need to Know about Database 12c, and Why being part of IOUG made this possible: