How to enable attachments on Qualifications Form

In my previous post (which you can find here), I covered what it takes to store attachments submitted via self-service transactions. In that post, we covered that attachments submitted via "Education and Qualification" and "Other Professional Qualifications" self-service transactions will be stored on the Qualifications form.

However, unlike other windows, the Qualifications form does not come with attachments enabled out-of-the-box. To be able to enable attachments on Qualifications window, please follow these steps:

1) (Navigate to) Application Developer --> Attachments --> Document Entities
Use this form to define document entities for Qualifications.
Table: PER_QUALIFICATIONS
Entity ID: PER_QUALIFICATIONS
Entity Name: PER_QUALIFICATIONS
Prompt: QUALIFICATIONS
Application: Human Resources

2) (Navigate to) Application Developer --> Attachments --> Attachment Functions
Use this form to define attachment functions.
Type : Form
Name: PERWSQUA
User Name: Qualifications
Session Context Field: Leave Blank
Enabled: Yes

3) Open Button - Categories
Click on the ‘Categories’ button of ‘Attachment Functions’ form and select ‘Miscellaneous’ as the category. Close this sub-form.

4) Open Button - Blocks
Click on the ‘Blocks’ button of ‘Attachment Functions’ form:

Block Name: QUALIFICATIONS

Method: PERWSQUA

Secured By: Organization

All other columns: Leave Blank

5) Open Button - Entities

Click on the ‘Entities’ button of ’Blocks’ form:

Entity: PER_QUALIFICATIONS

Display Method: Main Entity

Include in Indicator: Checked

Indicator in View: Leave Blank

Priviledges: Query, Insert, Update, Delete: Always

Primary Key Fields: Key 1: QUALIFICATIONS.QUALIFICATION_ID

That should do it. 

Documents of Record vs. Save Attachment

In its release 12.1, Oracle has come out with a new feature to save attachments that are uploaded while submitting a transaction. This is achieved by enabling the "Save Attachment" checkbox on the review page via personalization. However, the Documents of Record (DOR) functionality overlaps to an extent with this "Save Attachments" functionality. What are the considerations in deciding which of these should be used? Read on for the points to be considered:

Feature	Save Attachment	Documents of Record (DOR)
Definition	Allows documents to be attached to Self Service Transactions. These attachments are visible during transaction approval.	DOR is independent functionality to capture documents as attachments, along with information associated with the document, such as date of issue or expiry, etc., and up to 20 additional customer defined fields per document type.
Enabled for	Absence, Qualification, SIT, Hire, Transfer, Personal Information, Competency, Worker Status Change, Pay Change, Termination, etc. Depending on the transaction type, the attachment is stored on different Core HR screens.	Seeded document types (provided by Oracle) are: Birth Certificate, Death Certificate, Degree Certificate, Driving License, ID Card, Medical Certificate, Passport, Visa, Residence Permit, Training Certificate, Work Permit. You can choose any of these or define a further unlimited number of document types to capture pertinent information
Attachment Creation	Attachment is created with the transaction that the attachment supports. E.g. Absence, Qualification, etc.	Attachment creation is independent of the transaction. E.g. Passport, Visa, etc.
Security	Same as Transaction security; i.e. employee having access to the transaction also has access to attachment.	What documents are visible can be controlled at a responsibility level.
Verification	Attachment is deemed verified when transaction is approved.	Verification status is separately tracked. Once document is submitted, it needs to be explicitely verified by Manager or HR Dept
Trace Back	Once transaction is approved, attachments are stored on Core HR screens and lose context with the transaction. Employee or Manager then cannot view such attachments.	As long as the documents are visible to their responsibility, employee or manager will be able to view the documents, even after the documents have been "verified"
Reporting	Not possible, or at best, a rudimentary reporting	Through "Search Documents of Record" function available to HR personnel, it is relatively easier to search for documents (say) expiring soon. Also, since DOR requires a number of fields to be captured along with the attachment, custom reports can later be built to pull out meaningful information