Weblog for the AMIS Technology corner
Oracle E-Business Suite
Automatic testing Oracle Service Bus using Hudson, maven and SoapUI
Feb 23rd
A lot of current projects are implementing some sort of service based architecture. Testing in this architecture becomes more complex. When implementing an OSB project with Scrum you test-automation is imperative. Scrum will require more frequent testing of your system. This is only feasible (in time and money) when you automate as much as possible.
Using soapUI you are able to create visually SOAP tests on your OSB implementation and running them against the defined infrastructure (develop, test, acceptance). SoapUI enables with easy tools to implements verification and validation of the responses of your OSB implementation. When running the test you are also able to set limits in SLA response times on all the calls. This way you are able to monitor depreciation of performance in older parts of your OSB implementation when adding new services.
You can record and edit your SOAP test easy with the soapUI interface and edit it later. When you maven-enable your project it is quite easy running your tests when you implement the “maven-soapui-plugin” (see my other posting http://technology.amis.nl/blog/3061/automated-soap-testing-with-maven). In the meantime version 3.0 of this plugin is released.
When implementing this with Hudson you do not have to convert the results.xml into a Surefire report. Hudson will manage this for you. Hudson will also enable you with an historical overview of all your test results.
Oracle Enhances XBRL Reporting Capabilities with UBmatrix, Inc.
Jun 27th
Oracle posted a press release about their involvement and commitment for UBMatrix XBRL technologies last Wednesday saying (among others):
"To help publicly held companies facilitate the preparation, publishing and automatic exchange of financial statements in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language), Oracle will embed UBmatrix, Inc.’s leading XBRL technology into Oracle’s Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) System, Oracle announced today."
"Oracle and UBmatrix are also working together to provide enterprise class storage and management for XBRL-based information in Oracle® Database 11g. Using Oracle Database’s XML DB feature, organizations can easily and quickly store, access and query their XBRL data."
A lot of you might ask themselves: "Who are or what is UBMatrix?" and "How does it all fit in…?"
UBMatrix is one of those small but cool companies that have an idea and drive that idea to bigger heights. Their ideas about how to deal with XBRL and how to make it more succes full are very innovative. XBRL is an open standard to exchange and/or embed business and financial related data via XML. "Nothing more and nothing less…", but applying it has a great impact to other systems, sometimes called "the ripple effect".
XBRL is becoming the standard for financial information exchange and reporting demonstrated by the XBRL programs being driven by the SEC, FDIC, and the European Central Bank Supervisors. My Dutch Tax Office has embraced it and among others setup a taxonomy for XBRL (The Dutch Taxonomy Project). This "central hub" (the Dutch Tax Office) will eventually cause more and more organizations to exchange their data via XBRL (therefore the "ripple effect").
The setup for the Dutch Taxonomy project background is simple…
Oracle Fusion Applications – it is for real! (and impressive too)
Jun 23rd
When Oracle started acquiring companies in the ERP space, they unfolded (the outline of) the Fusion strategy. With three aspects to it as I understood it: the Fusion Middleware stack, the integration of the acquired companies into the Oracle fold and the development of the next generation of Enterprise applications, duped Fusion Applications.
After some intial excitement and quite high expectations, the buzz subsided and Oracle became somewhat quiet. They did embed PeopleSoft, Siebel, Retek, JDEdwards and many others. They also went on developing and releasing Fusion Middleware. But the Fusion Applications were never heard about again. Or so it seemed. People even started to wonder whether they were for real. With the Applications Unlimited program – that guarantuess virtual everlasting support on all of the Oracle Apps products – and the AIA (Application Integration Architecture) that makes all Oracle Apps products work together, the necessity for Fusion Applications seemed somewhat less urgent. And indeed, no serious progress (or anything at all really) was visible at Oracle Open World 2008, even though in 2007 Larry had announced the first modules shipping in the Spring of 2008.
Here at the ODTUG 2009 conference, I have learned that Fusion Applications are for real. And I have seen them as well. And I was impressed. After several years of hearing, interpreting and to some extent telling the Fusion stories, now it all seems to come together. Next week (July 1st) we will have the big launch of Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g – with among other things the SOA Suite 11g, WebCenter 11g (Spaces, Framework, Services, Composer), WebLogic Server 10.3.1 and the next level of ADF 11g – and the Fusion Applications products are coming together rapidly as well. Oracle also has started to expose the Fusion Apps, recently at the Collaborate conference and this week also at ODTUG.
Oracle Workflow, a brief introduction – Part 2 Building a simple workflow
Dec 24th
In this blog I will show you how easy it is to build a process with Oracle Workflow. This demo consist of an automatic step (plsql function) and a FYI notification. The process will be deployed in the workflow environment described in my previous blog (Part 1).
Workflow Builder
To build a process you need Oracle Workflow Builder 2.6.3.5. The install file can be downloaded from the following url: www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/workflow/index.html
Personalizations in CRM foundation
Dec 8th
The Case
At the customer we use Oracle Incentive Compensation (OIC). OIC is used to compensate external partners. These partners are maintained in CRM foundation. The partners are set up as salesperson. Salespersons can be used inside OIC.
The customer has two operating units. In CRM for each operating unit, the salesperson must be set up. So if you had setup the salesperson in operating unit A, then there’s not yet a salesperson in operating unit B.
The problem in CRM foundation is that it is possible to change information of operating unit B, while you’re using a responsibility that is assigned to operating unit A. If you change information of operating unit B, using the responsibility for operating unit A, the relation in the database will be made with operating unit A. So for example you changed a role that is used in operating unit B this will be related to the salesperson of operating unit A. This causes inexplicable errors. On screen everything seems ok, but somewhere hidden in the database there is a wrong relation.
Some sql scripts for analyzing Oracle eBS
Nov 11th
While working in Oracle eBS it can sometimes be very helpful to have a quick overview of how and/or what is setup. Sometimes it is enough to just use what was made available to you and by clicking through the available setup screens you will simply find what you are looking for. However, in some cases you end up not having the right responsibilities to see these details or you just want to prevent scrolling and clicking through these windows or combine details from different screens. Read the rest of this entry »
The AMIS team reports from Oracle Open World – big and small announcements, guidance and tips
Oct 4th
Last night, the AMIS crew that visited the Oracle Open World conference reported their findings in a 3.5 hour session. In segments on SOA & BPM, Middleware, Database, Oracle Applications (AIA) and Development technology, we presented the highlights from close to 1900 sessions – no small feat. And utterly incomplete of course. However, all in all, for people who did not attend the "red party" the evening gave a very useful overview of what Oracle is doing and where it is heading.
Oracle Workflow, a brief introduction – Part 1 Setting up an environment
Oct 1st
Maybe the following question will arise after reading the title: Oracle Workflow isn’t that obsolete technology?
The answer can be very short: Yes it is. (Read the SOD on http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/ias/workflow/workflow_sod.html)
But it’s still interesting enough to dive into it. Oracle Workflow is heavy used in the E-Business Suite and also used by Warehouse Builder, with, in both cases, workflow customizations. There are also a lot of customers using the standalone variant. Imagine they all want to convert to Oracle BPEL… Then it would be nice to know something about it.
In the next (at least) 3 blogs, i will give you a brief look into the world of Oracle Workflow, consisting of the following subjects:
• Building a simple workflow
• Setting up a workflow with email communication
• Using the Business Event System
What do you need for a start?
Download the Oracle database 10.2.0.1 and the corresponding Companion CD from OTN. You also need the Workflow builder software (in a later stage). It can be found at the following link: http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/workflow/index.html
The basic installation of the database software with a starter database (I used the EE) will be enough to install and run the Workflow server.
Read the rest of this entry »
Oracle Data Mining meets performance method “GAPP”
Sep 29th
Sunday 21 September 2008 at Oracle Open World, I had the opportunity to present my method "GAPP" once more (HOTSOS 2008 and Planboard may 2008). This time I also mentioned how the method can be used with Service Oriented Architectures (SOA). For people not knowing what "GAPP" is all about I give a small introduction to the method. I also like to tell you why I started with “GAPP” in the first place and what the added value is of the method above other methods.
"GAPP" means General Approach Performance Profiling and can be used to find out where in your architecture the most wait time variance can be explained from your business process. "GAPP" makes it possible with very little data, in higly complex technical infrastructures, still be able to find the performance bottlenecks for a specific business process. The nice thing about the method is that it is not only able to pinpoint a bottleneck which is already there, it is also able to pinpoint a future bottleneck in a normal running system. This is something what only "GAPP" can do.
What makes “GAPP” special:
- The method can analyse the full infrastructure, so from front-end to back-end
- The method is not focussing on one piece of the infrastructure, like only the database
- The method is able to predict how the response time of a business process will react on changes in involved factors
- The method is able to predict when a certain bottleneck will evolve to a real problem
Incentive Compensation – Classification Ruleset stays in status Install Pending.
Sep 26th
Recently we where doing a test at our customer site and part of that test was changing an existing Classification Ruleset. This had been done before, but for some reasons when we tried it then the Synchronization of the Rulesets completed successfully but the Ruleset itself stayed in status Install Pending. With a Ruleset in this status you can’t do any calculations in Oracle Incentive Compensation.
We looked at metalink but couldn’t find anything. We issued a SR with Oracle, they couldn’t find anything either and kept us waiting for over 2 month. In the meanwhile another project also required us to change the Ruleset, but we couldn’t wait much longer. So I started working my way to the trace files for the Synchronize Rulesets myself. A big file with a large number of queries. It was the first time I’ve really looked at a trace file so maybe I was a bit lucky when I stumbled upon this step:
select oracle_username fromAPPS.fnd_oracle_userid where install_group_num = 1 and read_only_flag = 'U'
