Power of OOW and WOA
October 21st, 2009
Archive
Archive for the ‘oracle application express’ Category
OOW Presentations
September 22nd, 2009
Oracle Open World (OOW) is just a few weeks away. It’s going to be a busy week for a lot of people! Rolta TUSC will have a LOT of presentations that week. We have 2 booths at the conference. Numerous demo stations will be at the booth. It’s going to be a fun week! I have 3 presentations. 1 on Monday, 1 Wednesday and the final one Thursday morning. I’ll be arriving on Sunday and heading home on Thursday. I always love a week in San Fran! Here are my presentations - please come see me!
Title: Wimpy Web Services Versus Powerful, Flexible Web Services
Track: Oracle Develop: Service-Oriented Architecture
Date: 12-OCT-09
Time: 11:30 - 12:30
Venue: Hilton Hotel
Room: Yosemite C
In this presentation, Brad will discuss the importance of strong Web Services, the difference between wimpy services and powerful flexible Web services. Many companies today are attaching SOA MBOs to their technical teams. These performance metrics often measure based on quantity rather than quality. What is quality? Reuse? Performance? Flexibility? Brad will discuss this topic in detail.
Title: Building a Mashup with Application Express
Track: Database
Date: 14-OCT-09
Time: 17:00 - 18:00
Venue: Moscone South
Room: Room 252
In this presentation, Brad will talk about how to develop a mashup using Oracle Application Express. Traditionally people think of ApEx as being an “Oracle database” tool only - not a mashup tool. However, Brad will show how you can consuming Web Services to access data from any source - Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, Access, Excel, Cloud Databases (like Zoho), etc. In Brad’s presentation titled “Scalable Oracle ApEx” he explains how to create an n-tier architecture for ApEx. This architecture provides unparalleled scalability to your organization. This presentation explains the implementation side (i.e. the specifics) of this solution.
Title: Scalable Oracle Application Express: Case Study of a True N-Tier Architecture
Track: Database
Date: 15-OCT-09
Time: 09:00 - 10:00
Venue: Moscone South
Room: Room 306
Do you like the power and flexibility of Oracle Application Express (ApEx)? But…are you frustrated by the fact that it chews up database cycles generating dynamic HTML pages? Do your architects and DBAs go mad thinking about this? I know I sure have! This presentation will demonstrate a solution to this architectural dilemma! A reference architecture is provided along with a case study that this presentation is based around. You’ll see exactly how to scale ApEx (inexpensively) within your environment.
ajax, bpel, mashups, oracle, oracle application express, rest, soa, web 2.0, web services
Cool Apex Integration with AJAX, YUI, Google Maps, and more
March 9th, 2008
A few people have asked for information about integrating Apex with YUI, Google, etc. I have not written an article to go along with my presentation yet, but I wrote 2 things that might be of interest to you. First, I wrote a PPT presentation that discusses these topics in detail. Second, I wrote an Apex application that demonstrates each of the topics covered in the presenation. I’m presenting this topic at the Utah Oracle Users Group (see their Apex website) on Friday. You can download the presentation and the application at the TUSC site. You also might be interested in my Advanced Apex Topics presentation, which includes several great examples for Apex…and there is an application to go with that presentation too. I continue to be impressed by the Yahoo User Interface Toolkit (YUI). It’s SUPER easy to embed YUI functionality (i.e. Web 2.0 functionality) into your Apex application - it’s quite cool! Have fun!
Web 2.0 (and AJAX) Toolkits with Oracle Apex
December 20th, 2007
Would you like to take your Web applications to a whole new level, but don’t want to spend countless hours writing AJAX and Web 2.0 code? Fortunately Google and Yahoo have greatly simplified this for all of us. Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to demonstrate how you can integrate both of these toolkits into Oracle’s Application Express (Apex). Google and Yahoo went down 2 completely different paths as I’ll talk about soon enough. I can’t find anything about the integration between these libraries and Apex, so I’ll take that challenge on next.
Introduction to Oracle Application Express (APEX)
October 21st, 2007
As I mentioned last week, one of Oracle’s best kept secrets is APEX. This week I thought I would cover a variety of APEX topics. Today I thought I’d talk about where you might start in your APEX journey. Next week I should be able to start covering some advanced APEX topics.
You may have heard about Project Marvel or HTML DB, which has been renamed APEX. You might get the feeling this tool is Oracle’s scaled-down version of Oracle Portal or the next coming of its predecessor, WebDB.
APEX is a powerful and easy way to quickly develop a database-centric HTML / browser-based Web application. You can install it on your own machines or run in a hosted environment on Oracle’s site. All development (construction of pages) is done through the browser interface. You can use SQL Workshop to run SQL statements and add data to your environment. This easy-to-use tool will impress you in no time at all!
What is APEX?
You could say APEX is Oracle’s answer to wizard-based Web Development. It certainly is full of wizards! APEX contains metadata (lots of it) on everything in the tool, too. It produces dynamic HTML and it’s fast! APEX uses the PL/SQL module for Apache (mod_plsql). It doesn’t use any Java code. Anything you can do in SQL or PL/SQL can be done using APEX. APEX provides a nice Web-based team development environment for your organization.
APEX’s origin
If you’re curious about where APEX came from, it originated from developer of the Oracle Calendar, which became Web Forms, then was integrated into Oracle Portal. Oracle’s very own Tom Kyte’s “ASK TOM” site was an early adaptor of APEX. APEX was originally known as Project Marvel. It’s now called APEX because of legal issues. APEX had an interim name of HTML, but since you don’t write in HTML (although it does deliver HTML) and it’s not a database product, the name was changed to APEX. APEX does deliver HTML and it is database driven, so I assume that’s where the interim name came from. I’ve also seen it referred to as Einstein.
APEX components
APEX has a number of components, including:
• SQL Workshop
— Interact with your database as with SQL*Plus, but visually
— Data dictionary and object browsing, query by example
• Utilities
— Load and extract data from the database
— Turn a spreadsheet into a table in a few seconds
— Generate DDL
— Object reports
— Monitor the DB and the applications
• Application Builder
— Centerpiece of APEX
— Loaded with wizards
— Created reports, forms and charts
— Connect pages using branches
— 75 predefined widgets
— Basic HTML, popup lists, calendars, etc.
— Full data entry validation
Additional features
APEX supports full session and state management. Each user has his/her own session. A valid username/password is required to access the application’s data. You have complete user interface control. The look-and-feel is separate from application logic through the use of extensive templates.
APEX also supports flexible authentication and authorization schemes, which can use pre-built or built-in methods, or you can develop your own custom authentication scheme.
What about Portal?
One Oracle employee called the release of APEX “Larry’s Darwin theory.” In other words, survival of the fittest products. How does APEX compare to Oracle Portal? Portal is far more comprehensive than APEX, but in many ways the two are similar. At least that was true of Portal 3.0. Portal is not integrated into WebCenter (Oracle’s Java IDE) and follows the open source Portal standards, so the products are clearly on different paths once again.
Installing APEX
If you don’t want to install APEX, you can apply for a free account at http://apex.oracle.com and use it in a free-hosted environment. It works the same in the hosted environment as it does if you install it on your own server. APEX allows you to set up other developers/users for testing — in fact, it’s better at production roll outs than Portal.
APEX installation is very easy. You must be running Oracle 9iAS with mod_plsql and running version 9.2.0.3 of the database. Support can be found via the OTN discussion forum, as well.
If you don’t have APEX running currently, then I would recommend creating a workspace at Oracle’s hosted site so you can experiment with APEX and how to create an application. This will convince you that it’s the best kept secret - quickly!
What can you do with APEX?
Pretty much any Web-based application can be developed using APEX. Because it’s a wizard-based tool, more complex functions are going to be difficult to accomplish. In other words, the easier the application, the better suited to APEX it is.
Like any application, the more you use it, the quicker your development will get. Later this week I’ll discuss some applications that were developed with APEX. There was no knowledge of the product prior to the development of the first application. As you’ll see that it took the longest time to develop. Subsequent applications were considerably faster.
Presentation List
October 18th, 2007
I often get asked to present at different conferences, I thought it would make sense to publish my current presentation abstracts here. If you’re interested in having me speak at a user’s group, please call me (303)985-2213 or email me. Thanks for your consideration! See the link for prior presentations I’ve given.
Web 2.0
You’ve heard the term Web 2.0 and might be wondering exactly what it means to you and your business. You might be wondering what Web 2.0 includes. On the other hand, you might be right in the middle of it all, but noticing that more and more Oracle products seem to offer Web 2.0 entry points. Or maybe you’re not using Oracle technology for anything but your backend database. You might be wondering which other products should be under consideration? Which should be avoided? What’s a good entry point solution?
Internal and External Application Integration
Oracle Fusion Web Services ventured down the path of a full bore implementation of internal and external application integration in what I perceived as the most efficient and cost effective manner, you’ll get the benefit of my hindsight introspections today. Specifically, I implemented a light weight Service Oriented Architecture (i.e. Web Services) wherever it made sense. This presentation will discuss the good, bad and ugly about this approach that was taken. Knowing what I know today, I would in fact take this approach again. In fact, I highly recommend my self-named light-weight SOA.
Using Web Services, your customers (whether internal or external) are able to seamlessly access your core technology as if that technology is running in its own environment. This presentation will include a demonstration of the above mentioned application in action. If you have customers or vendors who have provided you with Web Services that you need to integrate into your existing applications, you’ll want to attend this presentation.
Advanced Oracle Application Express Tips and Techniques
Oracle Application Express (Apex) is a powerful and comprehensive tool. Numerous advanced tips and techniques will be covered in this presentation. These topics include: pop-up windows, complex searches, document management, indexing and searching, “tool tip” or hints, email links, page 0, help text, background jobs, “add to my calendar” feature, saving contacts (VCF), sending mass emails, and more.
Mapping Your Data with Google Maps
Do you have data in your Oracle database that you would like to visual map in Google Maps for your end users? This presentation will discuss and demonstrate how you can take a series of latitudes and longitudes and turn them into a visual map containing your data. Numerous implementations will be discussed including 1. using AJAX to pull records from the database based on the current Google map coordinates, 2. driving the map display based on properties on a map, 3. outlining census tracts on a Google Map.
Cleaning up with AJAX in Apex
Years ago I used to discuss performing asyncronous activities with the hidden JavaScript page. With the improvements to JavaScript and our use of XML, Asyncronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) provides functionality we’ve been using for years, but it’s much easier to implement now. This presentation will cover AJAX in a variety of forms. Oracle Application Express (Apex) provides a little known secret called the “On Demand” feature…which allows for AJAX calls back to the database. Google and other companies provide AJAX functionality that you can use for application integration. In this presentation you’ll learn how to write your own AJAX server side code and how to make use of existing server side AJAX code.
Step-by-step Web Service Creation and Integrating or Using an Existing Web Service Tutorial
The Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) provides the foundation for any company’s business-to-business process delivery. Using Web Services, your customers (whether internal or external) are able to seemly access your core technology as if that technology is running in their own IT environment. This presentation will include a demonstration of the SOA application in action. This presentation will cover step-by-step Web Service creation and deployment. If you have customers or vendors who have provided you with Web Services that you need to intergrate into your existing applications, you’ll be happy that this presentation will also cover how to integrate and use an existing Web Service in a step-by-step manner. In this presentation, you’ll learn how Web Services can change how you deliver applications to your customers (and other internal groups).
Building a low cost non-Oracle grid for scale in your Oracle environment
Have you considered using Oracle Express (the free Oracle DB version) to reduce costs? Does the 4GB database size limit cause issues for you? Are you considering greating a low cost non-Oracle grid? Perhaps using MySQL or PostGRES? Do you already have your “master” database in Oracle? In this presentation, you’ll learn how IntelliReal stores their “master” database in an Oracle Standard Edition One database instance and uses a MySQL grid to provide a low-cost scalable solution to meet their needs. The Oracle database is about 4TB. The grid effectively stores a materialized view of the key data from the Oracle database, which is roughly 400Gb of data, into a series of physically partitioned MySQL databases. The data is US residential property data. Data is partioned by US counties - about 1000 databases (or schemas in MySQL). The grid started as a 5 wide grid and 2 deep (for load balancing), but is currently 1 wide and 10 deep. This architecture will be discussed in detail.
Case Study - How IntelliReal is using Web Services and SOA to seamlessly integrate companies
IntelliReal (http://www.intellireal.com/) is a real property market intelligence company. IntelliReal utilizes advanced technology and data aggregation to provide significantly enhanced data mining, accuracy, speed and reduced cost delivering valuation solutions. The Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) provides the foundation for IntelliReal’s business-to-business delivery. IntelliReal’s customers are able to seemly access the IntelliReal core technology as if that technology is running in their own IT environment. This presentation will include a demonstration of the SOA application in action. IntelliReal uses Oracle Application Express (APEX) as the “sales” tool, but typically delivers their solution from business-to-business using the SOA solutions. This presentation will cover the SOA and how it can change how you work to deliver applications to your customers (and other internal groups).
Case Study - How IntelliReal used Oracle Application Express to Rapidly Build their Production Environment
IntelliReal (http://www.intellireal.com/) is a real property market intelligence company. IntelliReal utilizes advanced technology and data aggregation to provide significantly enhanced data mining, accuracy, speed and reduced cost delivering valuation solutions. IntelliReal’s user interface was developed using Oracle Application Express (APEX). With most any technical presentation that you’ve attended, you’re likely always thinking about how to relate your environment to what the speaker is discussing and building a real world application using the tool. This presentation covers a specific business problem that was solved u
sing APEX: delivering a rich user interface for “show.” IntelliReal’s primary customer base are businesses. Most of the customers actually access the IntelliReal systems using SOA. The APEX application uses the SOA components too. This presentation will discuss the functional requirements, how the application continues to be extended, the net results and cost savings. This presentation will include an online demo and discussion of the components.
Application Express 101 - Introduction, Installation and Configuration (1/2 day)
In this session, you’ll learn to use Apex from concept to delivery to support. We’ll start with the basics of Apex– we’ll talk about installation and configuration options. We’ll use an existing database (i.e. an Excel spreadsheet) and build a real world application from the ground up. The exercises will cover a specific business problem that was solved using HTML-DB: getting people to RSVP to monthly events without having to call them. Sounds simple enough, but you’ll see how far this application was taken to solve this real world problem. This session will discuss and demonstrate the functional requirements, how the application was extended, the net results and cost savings.
Top DBA Scripts using Application Express
Developers and DBAs are always interested in scripts and tools that will help them be more efficient. This presentation will discuss how Apex can be used to manage and execute a library of DBA scripts. A number of helpful scripts will be discussed. The Apex application demonstrated will be available for you to download and install in your environment.
Advanced Oracle Application Express Tips and Techniques
Oracle Application Express (Apex) is a powerful and comprehensive tool. Numerous advanced tips and techniques will be covered in this presentation. These topics include: pop-up windows, complex searches, document management, indexing and searching, “tool tip” or hints, email links, page 0, help text, background jobs, “add to my calendar” feature, saving contacts (VCF), sending mass emails, and more.
Hands-on Application Express Full Day Session (8 hours and hands-on only)
In this full day hands on session, you’ll learn to use Apex from concept to delivery to support. We’ll start with an existing database (i.e. an Excel spreadsheet) and build a real world application from the ground up. The exercises will covers a specific business problem that was solved using HTML-DB: getting people to RSVP to monthly events without having to call them. Sounds simple enough, but you’ll see how far this application was taken to solve this real world problem. This session will discuss and demonstrate the functional requirements, how the application was extended, the net results and cost savings.
Apex is a declarative web-based application development & deployment environment. It’s a powerful and easy way to quickly develop a database-centric Web application. You can install Apex on your own machines or run in a hosted environment on Oracle’s site. All development (construction of pages) is done through the browser interface. You can use the SQL Workshop and the Data Workshop to run SQL and add data to your environment. This easy-to-use tool will impress you in no time at all!
This presentation gives the participants a good introduction and great hands on experience with the Apex development environment and a good idea of the power that it contains to create quick powerful Web application in a very short time.
Building a Real-World Application Express Application
With most any technical presentation that you’ve attended, you’re likely always thinking about how to relate your environment to what the speaker is discussing and building a real world application using the tool. This presentation covers a specific business problem that was solved using HTML-DB: getting people to RSVP to monthly events without having to call them. Sounds simple enough, but you’ll see how far this application was taken to solve this real world problem. This presentation will discuss the functional requirements, how the application was extended, the net results and cost savings. This presentation will include an online demo of the application and how to change it.
Changing the World with Oracle Web Services and the Service Oriented Architecture
Web Services are the next logical step in application development. They provide a major step forward in the Internet computing model. There are so many components and continual research going on in this area. This presentation will focus on the things you really need to know and care about with Web Services. This presentation will focus on a practical example of a Web service application of the future.
Building a Virtual Data Warehouse
Real-time data warehousing requires real-time access to operational systems and to a shared repository of dimension data. Users can then use the data warehouse environment for strategic reporting and trending, as well as tactical operational reporting. Some data warehouse implementations attempt to address the need for real-time reporting by introducing an “operational data store” into the architecture — an operational companion to the data warehouse. An operational data store commonly stores data in a format that is close to its format in the operational systems, minimizing the complexity of the transformations performed. The operational data store provides an integrated view of operational data. Operational data stores commonly don’t store much historical data, limiting their potential usefulness. This presentation demonstrates a virtual data warehouse, which will provide you with the best of both worlds.
Building Quick and Powerful Web Applications using Oracle Application Express
You may have heard about Project Marvel, HTML DB or Apex. This tool is a declarative web-based application development & deployment environment. It’s a powerful and easy way to quickly develop a database-centric HTML Web application. You can install Apex on your own machines or run in a hosted environment on Oracle’s site. All development (construction of pages) is done through the browser interface. You can use the SQL Workshop and the Data Workshop to run SQL and add data to your environment. This easy-to-use tool will impress you in no time at all!
The presentation starts with a definition of Apex; what is it, where did it come from and what are its major features. Next I will address the installation of Apex on a local machine or the ability to have applications hosted on Oracles site. I will move on to the uses for Apex; what type applications are best suited for Apex, examples of applications and their development time frames.
The first major section of the presentation will be a step by step walk through of creating a sample Apex application. During this section I will address in detail some of the features and capabilities of the development environment along with some of the gotchas that might come up. I will go into details on the components of a standard Apex “page”; the common things all pages possess, the way that components are shared between pages and the ability to apply application wide templates. I will demonstrate creating reports and graphs through the use of the built in wizards, standard to Apex. I will also talk about the built in security that Apex offers, both through login and through individual page and item security.
After demonstrating the construction of a simple application I will address more specific details such as the rendering process that happens as t
he page is created. This allows for the student to understand what happens under the hood and how it influences the pages as they are built. Next I will talk about how to manage and monitor the development environment. The entire Apex development environment is accessed via a web interface. Administration of this environment is also handled through this interface. An administrator can create workspaces, create users and assign privileges. Through this interface you can also view, create and modify almost any database object.
This presentation gives the participants a good introduction to the Apex development environment and a good idea of the power that it contains to create quick powerful Web application in a very short time.
Transforming Oracle Data Into ANY Format Using XML
You’ve surely heard a lot about XML. Get ready to understand its power with XSU, XSQL and XSLT. Learn how easy it is to extract data and manipulate it into a variety of output formulas. Attending this presentation will spark all kinds of ideas - from extracting XML from your database to receiving XML files from another server or another company. Join us for this session - and feel the power. Oracle 10g AS provides a powerful utility to help you generate XML straight from data in your Oracle database –- the XSQL processor. XML style sheets (a.k.a. XSLT with a file extension of XSL) allow you to manipulate XML into various usable forms. This presentation demonstrates just how easy it is to extract data and manipulate it into a variety of output formats.
Java-based Oracle Web Development (4-8 hours)
This presentation will cover a number of topics including a number of components that you should “study” to round out your development knowledge. JDeveloper 10g (and the ADF) is an amazing development environment. Each new version gets closer to rivaling Oracle Forms. Now with the Oracle Application Developer Framework (ADF), which includes TopLink and Struts, you can quickly and easily develop a GUI/HTML-based Web application using this point-and-click, drag-and-drop development tool. After JDeveloper’s ADF is covered, we’ll talk about Java Server Pages, Java Stored Procedures, and Java Database Connectivity. This presentation will wrap up discussing a number of other tools that you might want to consider for your development efforts.
Life Optimization
Every day that passes is one less that you have in your life. Do you want to get the most out of every day? Have you figured out the secret to life? Do you want to be an overnight success? Are you a success now? Maybe you want to have the most toys with you die? The 8 traits of the world’s most successful people will be covered. How many of these traits do you share with them? Brad will share techniques that have helped him through his career and personal life. The goal of this presentation is to provide you with take away value – a few golden nuggets that you can use in your life every day. I want to make a difference for you. Life’s too short not to enjoy every day. Great satisfaction comes from achieving on and off the job. This presentation will also include an exercise to get you started.
IT Optimization
This presentation will address IT Optimization and how it effects your organization. How can you provide real data that is relevant to business needs? Technologies like Oracle RAC, Grid computing, Linux all will play into your future. Rapid application development is also a key to your future success. Gartner Inc.’s list of top 10 resolutions for CIOs in 2005 includes at number six, “Get hands-on experience on new key technologies. ” This presentation will talk about tools such as JDeveloper and Apex which bring rapid application development to a whole new level.
Resolving Conflict with the Arrow of Truth
Have you ever run into a conflict at work or at home, but you had difficulty resolving the problem? By using the methods described in this presentation (the arrow of truth), you will be able to work through issues that otherwise may appear irresolvable. This method works not just at work, but at home too.
Funny idea for a presentation - show a video on top of someone’s face. Kind of like a ventriliquist, but with a video projector. Got the idea from seeing Dave Maney stand in front of YPO group with projected video shining on his face - looked like lips on his forehead. Could line people up (1-n) with x’s. Could record it and play it back for everyone too.
Developing New and Using Existing Web Services
We’ll find some existing Web Services and make use of them in our application, then we’ll develop some Web Services for others to use. This full day session will cover Web Services end-to-end.
Web Services are the next logical step in application development. They provide a major step forward in the Internet computing model. There are so many components and continual research going on in this area. This presentation will focus on the things you really need to know and care about with Web Services. This presentation will focus on a practical example of a Web service application of the future.
Having ventured down the path of a full bore implementation of internal and external application integration in what I perceived as the most efficient and cost effective manner, you’ll get the benefit of my hindsight introspections today. Specifically, I implemented a light weight Service Oriented Architecture (i.e. Web Services) wherever it made sense. This presentation will discuss the good, bad and ugly about this approach that was taken. Knowing what I know today, I would in fact take this approach again. In fact, I highly recommend my self-named light-weight SOA.
Using Web Services, your customers (whether internal or external) are able to seamlessly access your core technology as if that technology is running in its own environment. This presentation will include a demonstration of the above mentioned application in action. If you have customers or vendors who have provided you with Web Services that you need to integrate into your existing applications, you’ll want to attend this presentation.
ajax, authorship, bam, bpel, mashups, oracle application express, web 2.0, web services
Oracle’s Best Kept Secret
October 17th, 2007
According to Oracle, “Oracle Application Express (Oracle APEX) is a rapid web application development tool for the Oracle database. Using only a web browser and limited programming experience, you can develop and deploy professional applications that are both fast and secure.”
What the Apex site doesn’t say is that it’s also Oracle’s best kept secret. Developers who “get” Apex (i.e. anyone who uses it for a few weeks) absolutely love the power of the development environment. Several people have formed their entire company around development using solely this product. Did you ever see a “(Oracle) Forms only” shop? Or an (Oracle) RPT shop?
Apex is a rapid development environment…very rapid. If you’re an Oracle developer at heart (which means you know SQL and PL/SQL really well), Apex takes the mystery out of Web development. Write a query and view it in a browser! The data can be viewed as an HTML table (i.e. a report) or an Adobe Flash graph. Data can easily be edited in forms. A page can be made up of any number of components (i.e. charts, reports, forms, etc.). If you would like to execute a PL/SQL procedure or function before or after your page displays - fear not, Apex can easily handle this task with its processes.
Where and how do you get started? Your mission for today is to simply go to the Oracle Apex site and surf around to learn some more about Apex. In the upcoming weeks, I’ll cover a number of Apex tips here on my blog.
By the way, I love the Apex pricing model. First off, if you already have an Oracle Database, then you’ve already paid for an Apex license (i.e. it’s included with the DB license). Or…if you don’t have any Oracle licenses, Oracle offers a free Oracle database license, called Oracle Express. Express has limitations (i.e. 4Gb of storage, 1 dual core machine, etc.) associated with it, but it is a free Oracle license. Oracle Express comes with Oracle Application Express. In other words, you can develop and deploy an entire Web application for free!
Web 2.0 Development Environments
October 11th, 2007
We’re down to the last section of the Web 2.0 article and here it is. In this section, I discuss the Oracle development environments that you might want to consider:
Development Environments
Web 2.0 includes a number of development environments. In this paper, we’ll discuss:
- Oracle Application Express
- WebCenter Suite
- Ruby on Rails
- Grails on Groovy
- .NET
- PHP
- Flash and Flex
The development environment you select will depend on numerous factors including your core competencies. If you’re an Oracle shop, Oracle Application Express is the most logical place to start.
Oracle’s Application Express (Apex)
Apex provides an excellent entry point (and long-term) solution to take you into Web 2.0. Apex provides solid Web 2.0 user interface components, the ability to develop mashups, collaborate, embed Web Services and so much more. If you’re interested in more specifics about Apex and how it fits into the Web 2.0 world, visit: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/application_express/html/web2.0.html
The foundation of Application Express (i.e. the PL/SQL module for Apache) is not new technology by any means. It’s been around since the early 90s (except that it was embedded into a Spyglass app server). Apex uses SQL and PL/SQL as its basis for development. Apex abstracts the developer from writing HTML, AJAX, Web Service calls by providing an amazing wizard-based development environment. Apex is an excellent development tool for any existing Oracle shop where the core competencies include SQL and PL/SQL skills.
Oracle’s Apex Website (http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/application_express/index.html), hosted environment (http://apex.oracle.com/) and Apex forum (http://forums.oracle.com/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=137) all provide you with greater starter kits, tutorials, sample and starter packaged applications (including employee directories, ask the expert – i.e. Ask Tom, bug tracker, discussion forum and issue tracker – i.e. Metalink and so many more), white papers and considerable Apex knowledge.
Apex includes many Web 2.0 features including build-in AJAX (called On Demand Processes), functionality to integrate into your applications, Web Services, Partial Page Request (PPR) Reporting and Charting, Auto Updating Reports and Charts, Reports with AJAX based Detail Frames, AJAX-Based Cascading Select Lists, Query Builder, SQL Workshop Query by Example, Flash charting, tooltips, and expanding trees.
Apex has always done a great job of providing its roadmap for the future. Version 4.0 of Apex has been touted as the Web 2.0 version, which will include some new Web 2.0 functionality including:
- Interactive reporting region types which natively integrate Web 2.0 features to filter, break and sort data
- Declarative support for AJAX validations
- New item/region types, including DHTML calendar and AJAX tree
For more information on Oracle’s Apex statement of direction, see: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/application_express/apex_sod.html
There are two additional benefits of using Apex:
- If you already have an Oracle database, you already have Apex. In other words, it comes with the database. You don’t have to purchase Apex separately. So you get Apex “for free.”
- If you don’t already have an Oracle database and you can run your application on Oracle Express (Oracle Database 10g Express Edition or XE), you can run your application on Oracle and Apex for free. In fact, XE is an excellent free solution provided by Oracle. XE comes with Apex as the built-in database management and development environment. With XE you can develop using Apex, Grails, Java, PHP, .NET, or most any development environment. See http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/xe/index.html for more information.
WebCenter Suite
If you’re looking for an Enterprise level Web 2.0 solution, then WebCenter Suite is the Swiss Army Knife of Web 2.0. All of the above applications, components and functionality can be created with WebCenter. WebCenter Suite includes functionality for:
- Visual interfaces of Web 2.0
- Oracle ADF Faces
- AJAX
- Adobe Flex
- Collaboration & Social Networking - Wikis and Blogs - Authorship
- Linking and Tagging
- Content Management
- Search Management
- Portal and Mashups
- Web Services and other Extensions
WebCenter is the main integrated development environment (IDE) for all Oracle eBusiness Suite applications. WebCenter has been around for some time. It was formerly called JDeveloper, which is a complete IDE (not just for Java). WebCenter is the future of Oracle Fusion. For more information see: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/webcenter/services.html
WebCenter is Oracle’s promise land for Web 2.0 and the future of all Oracle Fusion Middleware development. For more information about AJAX within WebCenter, see: http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/java/ajax.html
All of the new open standards Portal functionality is built into WebCenter. If you’re interested in developing a complete mashup application, you’ll want to read Chris Ostrowski’s book, “Oracle Application Server Portal Handbook” (http://www.amazon.com/Oracle-Application-Server-Portal-Handbook/dp/0072264608) and his Web site demos (http://oski-oracle.info/index.html). Oracle’s demos provide about 10 percent of what you’ll need to do. Chris’ excellent demos will provide the rest of the critical information.
You may also wish to check out the WebCenter and Web 2.0 Forum: http://forums.oracle.com/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=354
Ruby on Rails
Many sites have been developed using Ruby on Rails. Ruby uses a template-based approach to application development. The RubyOnRails Web site (http://www.rubyonrails.org/) provides great tutorials and other pertinent information about Ruby. Ruby helps you follow best practice methodologies without coding as such – i.e. it’s automated. There are several great articles for using Ruby for Oracle such as http://www.oracle.com/technology/pub/articles/haefel-oracle-ruby.html. Sites such as http://www.bookrenters.com/ use Ruby as their development platform. Ruby can be thought of as a Web 2.0 development environment. Web Services will automatically be created for each interface that you develop.
Rails is similar to SmallTalk, which is not an easy programming environment to learn. Ruby greatly simplifies Rails development by writing large chunks of Rails code for you. The good news is that when you extend beyond the capabilities of Ruby’s wizards, you’ll be able to do anything
you would like with Rails.
Ruby is a great development environment for “open source” shops. If you’re an Oracle shop, Ruby is not likely to be your first choice. Rather Apex is often the first choice for Oracle-centric Web 2.0 developers because Apex uses PL/SQL as its core language of choice. Rails is an object-oriented language, which is similar to Java in that regard. Java is typically difficult for Oracle developers to learn.
Grails on Groovy
If Ruby on Rails isn’t confusing enough, how about Grails on Groovy? Grails is the Java version of Ruby. Grails provides a quick development framework. Grails is to Groovy what Ruby on Rails is to Ruby. You can obtain more information at http://build.canoo.com/grails/. Grails is a good Web 2.0 environment if you’re a Java shop looking for a Ruby-like solution.
.NET
If you’re a Microsoft shop, then .NET is likely your development world. .NET is effectively Microsoft’s Web Service world. Oracle provides .NET toolkits for WebCenter. See http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/windows/odpnet/newbetafeatures.html?msgid=5904414 for more information.
PHP
PHP originated out the Perl shops. If you’re a Perl shop, you might want to consider PHP for your Web 2.0 development. Oracle also provides PHP toolkits for Oracle. If you’re interested in these toolkits, see: http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/php/index.html
Flash and Flex
If you like Oracle’s Application Developer Framework (ADF), but you don’t feel its “open source” enough for you, you might want to consider using the Eclipse IDE with the Adobe Flex plug-in. Flex provides the Web 2.0 functionality and the rapid application development that you’re seeking.
Adobe Flash is used by many of the Web 2.0 application development environments. For example, Apex includes Flash for charting.
Videobloom (http://www.videobloom.com/) provides a number of Flash-based development toolkits.
Conclusion
As you can tell, Web 2.0 is a complex topic. Oracle recently created an excellent Webcast on Web 2.0. that complements this paper. You can find this Webcast at: http://www.oracle.com/pls/ebn/live_viewer.main?p_direct=yes&p_shows_id=5828710
Hopefully this paper has provided you with a better understanding of the components involved in Web 2.0 as well as the development environments that are available. Again, if you’re a traditional Oracle shop, Oracle Application Express is the most logical place to start your Web 2.0 effort.
Through this paper, you’ve seen examples of how Web 2.0 delivers a new platform of real-world applications that allow employees and customers to share information in a much more cost-effective method. Hopefully they have inspired you to think about how you can replace email as your business’ collaboration tool and how you might approach a Web 2.0 application for your employees and customers.
For Further Reading:
White Paper:
(www.tusc.com/wp)
Internal and External Application Integration through Web Services
Web Briefing:
(www.tusc.com/briefing)
Internal and External Application Integration through Web Services
How IntelliReal uses Web Services to Enable Customers to Better Service their Clients
Books:
Oracle Application Server Portal Handbook (ISBN: 0072264608), by Christopher Ostrowski
Oracle HTML DB [Apex] Handbook (ISBN: 0072257687), by Lawrence Linnemeyer & Bradley Brown
Recent Comments