In Part 1 of this series, we looked at how to set up easy access to all your Oracle Cloud services using the “My Connections” feature.  Now we’ll look at further enhancing the user experience by tying these connections into Navigation Flows in Oracle PBCS.

After you have your “My Connections” set up, you can enable connections within navigation flows. This means that you can have cards and clusters from other applications or subscriptions in your source application’s navigation flow, thus creating a much more cohesive user experience for planners.

Before you can customize your navigation flow using “My Connections” you must first have the connections enabled in the source application. Once complete, go to the Navigation Flow maintenance screen and either create a new flow, or edit an existing one.   For example, select “Add Existing Card/Cluster.”   In the subsequent screen, on the left side, you will now see the option to select any of your connections, with “Local” being the application you are currently logged into.

Creating or editing a Navigation Flow in Oracle PBCS

In this example, I selected the Revenue card from EPBCS to add to the navigation flow in a local planning application. When adding the Revenue card, you will see (EPBCS – Default) next to it – this is because the connection is EPBCS and the navigation flow name is Default in the target application. This will only show in the navigation flow editor, not on the user’s home screen.

The Default Navigation Flow in Oracle PBCS

Once the Navigation flow is saved and active, you must select “Reload Navigation Flow” on your home screen to update.

Reload Navigation Flow in Oracle PBCS

Once reloaded, you will see your Revenue card on your home screen.  Click the card links you to your EPBCS connection as if it was a part of the source application.

Editing a EPBCS connection from your Home screen

This great feature allows seamless access to multiple applications for planners using the simplified interface. Navigation flows across connections will simplify the user experience, streamline business processes and allow planners to have a direct click path for all of their Enterprise Performance Management needs.