Background on JD Edwards Report Engine (by Vincenzo Caserta)
According to Vincenzo Caserta, JD Edwards OneWorld (Tools release B7333) relied on the classic PeopleSoft-style RDA engine. In this legacy environment, the Report Design Aid (RDA) was limited in horizontal size. Oracle documentation shows RDA layouts extended only to column 227, recommending a physical page limit of 45 inches. In practice, this created a 22" wide report limit—going beyond it caused rendering issues.
Upgrade to EnterpriseOne and Control Length Change
During the upgrade from B7333 to JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools (8.10/8.11 or 9.x), a structural change occurred. The control length field increased from 225h (549 decimal) to 240h (576 decimal). As Vincenzo Caserta explains, this reflects a backend buffer enhancement not explicitly documented by Oracle, but observed in community testing.
Why Oracle Increased the Control Length (240h)
The increase appears tied to new formatting capabilities in RDA post-upgrade, such as extended smart fields and multi-byte character support. Per Vincenzo Caserta, the internal format buffer in Tools 9.x was likely expanded to support Oracle's 45" width limit with greater flexibility.
Impact on Report Layouts and Headers
Legacy reports designed under 225h may break alignment under the 240h format. Issues include:
- Header misalignment due to expanded buffer space
- Field shifting from absolute positioning assumptions
- Printing errors when exceeding the 45" rule unintentionally
Vincenzo Caserta’s Recommendations for JDE RDA Upgrades
- Redesign headers to respect 45" rule
- Check absolute positioning in RDA
- Use Version Design Override features for header layout
- Test reports thoroughly after upgrade
Official Oracle Guidance
Oracle documents the 45" width limit and column caps but omits hex control length changes. Still, report behavior confirms buffer expansion. Vincenzo Caserta suggests consulting Oracle’s RDA Guide and applying community best practices when upgrading JD Edwards environments.
