This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates appear in the following table:
| Date | Product | Feature | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 NOV 2020 | Web Services | Conversion Units for Float Attributes | Updated document. Revised feature information. |
| 13 NOV 2020 | Web Services |
Developer Toolkit REST APIs | Updated document. Revised feature information. |
| 13 NOV 2020 | Web Services |
Expanded Domains for Commerce Dynamic Menus | Updated document. Delivered feature in Update 21A. |
| 13 NOV 2020 | Oracle CPQ Asset-Based Ordering |
Support Business Time Zone for Asset-Based Ordering | Updated document. Delivered feature in Update 21A. |
| 13 NOV 2020 | BML |
Filter Data with Get Transaction BML Function | Updated document. Revised feature information. |
| 16 OCT 2020 | Created initial document. |
Oracle Configure, Price, and Quote (CPQ) enables companies to streamline the entire opportunity-to-quote to-order process, including product selection, configuration, pricing, quoting, ordering, and approval workflows. Oracle CPQ provides a flexible, scalable, enterprise-ready solution ideal for companies of all sizes that sell products and services across direct, indirect, and e-commerce sales channels.
This guide outlines the information you need to know about new or improved functionality in Oracle CPQ 21A.
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Security & New Features
We would like to remind you if your system has modified security structures you may need to advise your security administrator of new features you would like to implement.
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The following BML feature is available in Oracle CPQ 21A.
Filter Data with Get Transaction BML Function
In 20C and earlier, the gettransaction BML function returns the complete document XML without a way of filtering it. For quotes with several hundred or thousand lines, this can perform poorly. Beginning in 21A, Oracle CPQ provides the ability to filter data when running the gettransaction BML function.
Bulk Upload and Download Services
The following Bulk Upload and Bulk Download feature is available in Oracle CPQ 21A.
Bulk Download of Event Log Data
Beginning with Oracle CPQ 21A, bulk download services supports the download of Event Log data in CSV format. This provides administrators with easier data access to aid in troubleshooting issues. The Event Log data can be filtered by date, business ID, user, action, and server time.
The following Commerce feature is available in Oracle CPQ 21A.
Commerce Dynamic Menu Attributes
Oracle CPQ 21A introduces Dynamic Menu attributes for JET Commerce UIs. Similar to Configuration Single Select Pick Lists, Dynamic Menu attributes allow customers to implement drop-down menus that display dynamic options. Dynamic Menus are available for Commerce main and sub-documents, and they can be referenced in Commerce rules, BML, Formulas, and Document and Email Designer Templates. The v11 Commerce Transaction REST APIs will also support Dynamic Menu attributes.
Dynamic Menu attributes have several advantages over Single Select Menu attributes:
- Administrators can easily maintain menu options using Oracle CPQ Data Tables.
- Updated table values for Live or deployed Data Tables are automatically available in the Dynamic Menu.
- Dynamic Menu attributes can dynamically filter menu options based on other Commerce attribute values and user input.
The following Data Table feature is available in Oracle CPQ 21A.
Beginning with Oracle CPQ 21A, the color of the circle icon for a data table that has not been deployed is changed from blue to orange. This change allows end users to more easily recognize the status of the data table.
The following Developer Tools are available in Oracle CPQ 21A.
To help administrators and developers manage CPQ technical artifacts, Oracle CPQ 21A introduces the CPQ Developer Toolkit. This toolkit is a combination of Command Line Interface (CLI) and open REST APIs, which allow customers to communicate with their CPQ site. This client-side tool that can change the way administrators work with customized BML code.
In Oracle CPQ 21A, the Developer Toolkit is enabled to be used with Commerce and Util BML Libraries. Customers use Commerce and Util BML Libraries heavily within CPQ environments. These elements play important roles during CPQ implementation and expansion. The Oracle CPQ Developer Toolkit can reduce the amount of time spent implementing, testing, and deploying complex BML across different CPQ environments.
Customers can use the CPQ Developer Toolkit to implement the following continuous development and integration practices for their CPQ scripts and code:
- Pull the latest Util and Commerce BML Libraries to your local systems
- Use your preferred tools to write BML code locally and deploy it to your CPQ sites
- Manage BML Libraries with your own source control tools (Git, CVS, SVN)
- Validate and test your changes directly with CLI
- Write, save, and execute unit tests for BML Libraries
The following JET Transaction UI feature is available in Oracle CPQ 21A.
Unit Conversion Support for Float Attributes
Beginning in Oracle CPQ 21A, the JET Transaction UI supports float attributes with defined conversion fields. When a conversion class is associated with a float attribute, users are able to indicate which units they are using when setting attribute values. For example, if a temperature attribute is created and linked to a pre-defined conversion class with associated units, the user can select whether the temperature is in Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin, or any other unit included in the class. The v11 Commerce Transaction REST APIs will also support float attributes with defined conversion fields.
Oracle CPQ Asset-Based Ordering
The following Asset-based Ordering (ABO) feature is available in Oracle 21A.
Support Business Time Zone for Asset-Based Ordering
The Oracle CPQ Ref App used by the ABO package stores the commerce start, end, and request dates as date-only format without timestamp and time zone, while asset start and end dates are stored with full timestamp information. In Oracle CPQ 20C and earlier, during the translation of the date information between commerce and asset, the commerce date is always based on the "0" hour of the server default time zone (usually GMT+0).
End users that are in the same time zone as the server default see the commerce and asset date and time information consistently. However, when an end user is located in a different time zone than the server default and their user profile is set to display their local time zone, the translation between the server time zone and their local time zone may overlap dates and cause the commerce date display to be different than the asset date display. This may cause confusion and result in undesirable business date handling.
In Oracle CPQ 21A, an updated 21A ABO package provides a new administrator-defined business-level time zone setting called businessTimeZone. The business time zone is used, rather than the server default time zone, as the basis for all asset-related date and full timestamp translations. This provides administrators the ability to set a time zone that is more relevant to their business.
The updated package interprets the commerce date fields consistently during ABO processing based on the specified business time zone setting. End users may need instruction on how to interpret their user interface display of start, end, and request date fields in relation to the overall business time zone setting.
Customization of older ABO packages can be implemented for this feature as well. For more information on backward compatibility of this ABO enhancement, refer to the Oracle CPQ 19B or later Asset-Based Ordering Implementation Guide.
Oracle CPQ 21A provides the following features that support Oracle's goal to provide superior cross-application CX solutions to customers.
REST - Export Lines Commerce Integration Type for CX Sales
Oracle CPQ 21A introduces the REST – Export Lines Commerce integration type to replicate and synchronize CPQ quote lines to Oracle CX Sales. This feature will enable CX Sales users to search quotes and quote lines within CX Sales using key quote line data.
Attribute Mapping for CX Sales Quote Line Integration
Oracle CPQ 21A also introduces a new Attribute Mapping page that allows CX Sales customers to customize their integration without the use of XSL. This page provides a user-friendly interface to map attributes and supports the ability to drag-and-drop or directly enter Oracle CPQ and CX Sales attributes.
Predefined CX Sales Quote Lines Integration Items
Oracle CPQ 21A provides new customers with predefined CX Sales Quote Lines export integration items. Existing customers can leverage the new CX Sales Quote Lines integration by importing a migration package to implement the predefined content or by using the new attribute mapping UI to integrate customized attributes. With limited implementation set up, customers can create quotes and the two sites can exchange information about quote lines created or updated in CPQ.
The following Web Service features are available in Oracle CPQ 21A.
Conversion Units for Float Attributes
The v11 Commerce REST APIs provide support for complex objects for Float attributes when conversion units are defined.
Oracle CPQ 21A provides REST APIs to support the following Developer Toolkit functions: download, validate, save, and deploy site BML and BMLT (BigMachines Extensible Language Test) files.
Expanded Domains for Commerce Dynamic Menus
The "expandedDomains" property can be included in Commerce action and interact REST API requests to return domain information for specified dynamic menu attributes.
The v11 Unit Conversion REST API, delivered in Oracle CPQ 21A, provides support for unit conversion support for Float Attributes.
Beginning in Oracle CPQ 21A, new and updated v11 REST APIs expand web service support to manage CPQ users. The following web services are now available:
- Retrieve, update, export, and import lists of users
- View user company assignments
- Manage group assignments and access permissions
- Bulk update user status
- Password and security question management for users