Functional Consultants Guide to VBS

Oracle Visual Builder (VB Studio) allows you to extend Redwood pages in a supported way — without writing code. If you’re a functional lead or business analyst, Express Mode is where you’ll spend most of your time. The process is not overly complicated, but there is still a lot of technical work behind the scenes. If you aren’t sure your technical team is ok with you doing this, I recommend confirming with them first. You don’t want surprises!

This guide walks through how to safely edit pages, create rules, add validations, and publish changes correctly.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

  • You must have created a Visual Builder project OR
  • You must be a member of an existing project
  • You must have appropriate roles to extend Redwood pages
  • Your environment must already be connected to VB Studio

If you do not see the “Edit Page in Visual Builder” option, confirm your project membership and security roles.

Fastest Way to Start Editing

The simplest way to edit a page:

  1. Navigate to the actual Redwood page in Oracle Fusion that you want to extend.
  2. Click the User Menu (drop-down) in the top right.
  3. Select Edit Page in Visual Builder.

This opens the page directly in VB Studio and prevents you from having to search for it manually.

Navigating inside Visual Builder to locate a page can be confusing and time-consuming. Launching directly from the page is much faster.

And this is Redwood only. On Classic? Great time to convert to Redwood!

Stay in Express Mode

When Visual Builder opens:

You will see Express Mode and Advanced Mode.

Stay in Express Mode unless you are a technical developer.

  • Express Mode = functional extensions (fields, rules, validations, guided journeys)
  • Advanced Mode = code-level customization (JavaScript, business objects, layout changes)

If you are not a technical user, you will not find useful configuration options in Advanced Mode — and you risk breaking the system. Fastest way to get your privileges revoked is flipping to Advanced Mode!

Configuring Page Behavior

In Express Mode, you primarily work in three areas:

  1. Configure Fields and Regions
  2. Configure Validations
  3. Journey Codes

Configure Fields and Regions

This is where most functional configuration happens.

You can:

  • Show or hide fields
  • Make fields required
  • Make fields read-only
  • Default values
  • Conditionally display regions
  • Apply logic based on other field values

Creating a Form Rule

To create a rule:

  1. Click the + (plus sign) to create a new rule.
  2. Choose whether the rule:
    • Always applies
    • Applies only when certain logic is met

You can use simple logic like:

  • If Business Unit = X
  • If Requisition Type = Y
  • If Category ID = Z

Example: Default a Boolean Field

If you want to mark a requisition as Negotiated:

  • Locate the field
  • Choose Set Value
  • Enter: true

You can also:

  • Set Required = True
  • Set Read Only = True
  • Hide Field = True

All from the same rule configuration panel.

Important: Not All Fields in the LOV Work for Logic

This is one of the most common mistakes.

Some fields appear in the List of Values (LOV) when building logic, but they are not usable in rules or validations.

If you are ever unsure, search Oracle documentation for:
“Extending Redwood Pages,” as an example, here is the link for Redwood Self Service Procurement: https://community.oracle.com/customerconnect/discussion/comment/1583837

If Oracle documentation does not show an example using that field, assume it may not work.

Real Example

You may see both:

  • Purchasing Category Name
  • Purchasing Category ID

In logic configuration.

However:

  •  Purchasing Category Name will NOT work reliably in validation rules.
  •  Purchasing Category ID WILL work.

Oracle documentation examples reference the ID, not the name.

If it is not documented, it is not guaranteed.

If you think that sounds odd, I ask that you upvote my idea: https://community.oracle.com/customerconnect/discussion/873959/allow-validation-rules-on-category-name

Configure Validations

Validations allow you to:

  • Display inline error text under a field
  • Show pop-up messages
  • Block submission
  • Display warning messages

To create a validation:

  1. Select Create Validation
  2. Define the condition (logic)
  3. Define the message
  4. Choose severity:
    • Error (blocks submit)
    • Warning (allows submit)
    • Info

Example Validation

If Category ID = X
AND Amount > $50,000
→ Display error:
“Category X requires sourcing for amounts over $50,000.”

Guided Journeys

Journey Codes allow you to attach Guided Journeys to:

  • Entire pages
  • Specific sections
  • Specific regions

Enter the Guided Journey Code provided by your administrator.

This allows you to:

  • Embed AI Agents into the page
  • Display help text
  • Display policy instructions
  • Link to SOP documentation
  • Guide users through compliance steps

This is extremely useful for all clients and industries, because it is a singular spot to get information across modules, as long as they are all Redwood.

Previewing Your Changes

Use the ▶ Play button (top right corner) to preview your changes.

This launches a runtime preview of your configuration.

Always test:

  • Required fields
  • Conditional visibility
  • Validation triggers
  • Default values
  • Submission behavior

Do not assume logic works without preview testing.

Publishing Changes

Visual Builder uses a CI/CD pipeline model. Don’t worry, you don’t need to know what that means.

You do NOT:

  • Log into Production
  • Open Visual Builder
  • Make changes directly there

Instead:

  1. Development/Test Pod is connected to Production
  2. Changes are made in VB Studio tied to that environment
  3. Changes are committed and pushed through the pipeline
  4. Deployment promotes changes to Production

This ensures:

  • Version control
  • Governance
  • Audit trail
  • Controlled promotion

Always coordinate publishing with your technical team or release manager. For that reason, I am not including steps to publish changes in this guide.

Best Practices

  • Stay in Express Mode
  • Follow Oracle documentation examples
  • Preview before committing
  • Document every rule you create
  • Keep logic simple and readable
  • Avoid overlapping rules when possible

Final Thoughts

Visual Builder is one of the most powerful tools in modern Oracle Fusion.

Used correctly, it allows you to:

  • Enforce policy
  • Reduce user error
  • Improve data quality
  • Add guided compliance
  • Deliver value without custom code

Used incorrectly, it can cause confusion and unpredictable behavior.

Stay disciplined, stay documented, and stay in Express Mode unless you truly need Advanced customization.

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