The golden rule: never modify standard seeded reports
Oracle’s standard BIP and OTBI reports are maintained by Oracle and updated with every quarterly release. If you modify a seeded report directly, your changes get overwritten on the next patch — without warning.
Always work with copies.
Creating a custom copy
In BIP catalog:
- Navigate to: /Shared Folders/Custom (create if it doesn’t exist)
- Find the standard report you want to customise: /Shared Folders/Oracle Fusion [Module]/Reports/…
- Right-click → Copy → paste into /Shared Folders/Custom/[Module]/
- Rename to indicate it’s custom:
XX_PO_Details_Report
The XX_ prefix is a naming convention indicating a customisation (from EBS development practice).
Types of customisation
Template only (most common): keep the standard data model, create a new layout template. Safer — data model is Oracle’s, only formatting changes.
Data model extension: add additional SQL datasets for data Oracle’s standard model doesn’t include. Risk: Oracle’s data model changes in an upgrade may conflict with your additions.
Full copy: copy both data model and templates. Highest control, highest maintenance burden.
Adding custom columns to a standard report
- Open the copied data model
- Add a new dataset or extend the SQL with JOIN to your custom table
- Update the layout template to display the new field
For adding a custom DFF (descriptive flexfield) to a standard PO report, join the extended attribute table to the main query using the transaction key.
Maintaining custom reports through upgrades
After each Oracle quarterly release:
- Check if the standard report changed (compare your copy with the new standard)
- If the standard data model changed, assess whether your customised copy needs updating
- Maintain a change log: what was customised, why, when
The Oracle SaaS update process doesn’t touch your /Custom folder — but it may change the underlying tables your custom SQL queries.
OTBI customisations
Custom subject areas in OTBI are not supported directly in Fusion Cloud. Instead, create custom analyses referencing standard subject areas — these persist through upgrades. For data not in standard subject areas, use BIP with custom SQL.