Weblog for the AMIS Technology corner
Posts tagged fusion middleware
The Future of Forms is ….. Forms (and some friends) (UKOUG, 2011 – with Grant Ronald)
Dec 11th
Slides for the presentation I did with Grant Ronald during UKOUG 2011, last week in Birmingham. The abstract for this presentation: “Many organizations run enterprise Oracle Forms applications created in the 90s. They now wonder about the future of their application.This session tells how modernization of the application landscape could take place, using a mix of the latest version of Forms and other technologies like SOA, ADF and perhaps APEX.
Forms 11g integration and extension points are discussed and demonstrated. Forms applications serving internal, professional user groups today are typically by and large suitable for continued use. Modernization of these applications therefore typically focuses on integration – with a SOA environment and Event infrastructure and with new user interfaces and Portals – and to some extent to enhancing user experience and functionality of the application.
This session shows how Forms 11g – part of Fusion Middleware and running on WebLogic Server – can be integrated in a modern Service Oriented Architecture and how it can be embedded in Web 2.0 Portals and Applications. The audience will see how Forms can quite easily get a face-lift – to bring it on par UI wise with other modern applications. The session will also discuss when other technologies such as ADF or APEX might come into mix.”
Manage Agility through Manage-ability – Introducing Design Time at Run Time in Oracle Fusion Middleware
Nov 10th
Below is my presentation from the OGH DBA, SOA & BPM Day on November 8th. My talk was about achieving instant agility with application, through the ability to manipulate behavior and look & feel of applications at run time. And also to provide various flavors – parallel versions – of the application through customization.
Oracle Fusion Middleware has built-in infrastructure to provide run time agility as well as customization. This infrastructure is commonly referred to as ‘design time at run time’ (and lately also the Fusion Extension Platform). It is based on MDS (meta data services) Repository and a bunch of run time, WYSIWYG tools: the composers.
To make agility work through design time at run time, it is adamant that organizations clearly define the roles and the process associated with it. And finding staff to play the role of ‘run time application editor’ will not be easy.
Clone your Oracle FMW SOA Suite 11g
Aug 11th
Sometimes, you would like to have an extract from a SOA Suite 11g production environment to test it in a test or acceptance environment.
There are several ways to do this, but in this post I’d like to discuss about how to get a clone of your SOA Suite 11g, from one WebLogic Server host to another.
To extract a clone, you will have to determine which components should be cloned:
- The SOA repository schema’s, like MDS, SOA-INFRA and so on.
- The WebLogic and FMW software
- The SOA Suite Domain Configuration including all SCA components and other deployments.
Powering the Cloud with Oracle WebLogic
Jun 29th
I am presenting later today on the Oracle Fusion Middleware Forum (Spoorwegmuseum, Utrecht). The topic of today’s presentation is cloud computing – especially Platform as a Service – and how WebLogic provides the Platform in the cloud.
My presentation can be seen on SlideShare:
And downloaded here: http://technology.amis.nl/blog/articles/articles-written-in-2011.
SOA Suite 11gR1 PS3 – Some new BPEL features
Jan 17th
The Patch Set 3 for SOA Suite 11g R1 that was released last weekend brings bug fixes, stabilization, further integration between components and a bunch of new features. Most of them not spectacular, but quite useful all the same. More to please users of the product than perhaps potential buyers…
A few of these new features for the BPEL component are highlighted in this article – and are the first small deviations from the screenshots and the detailed guidelines that I have written in the SOA Suite 11g Handbook.
For BPEL the key new features are: BPEL 2.0 support (design time, as run time support apparently was available for a bit longer), variable initialization (as part of that BPEL 2.0 support)and a way (way, way) better Assign dialog! (read on, that is a must see).
WebCenter 11gR1 PS3 – Design Time at Run Time with a Vengeance – introducing run time Data Controls and Data Visualizations
Jan 16th
The concept of design time @ run time that empowers application administrators and even end users to influence the application after it has been deployed has been gaining traction over the last few years. Bit by bit, run time customization facilities have made their way into Fusion Middleware. In the form of the SOA Composer, the BPM Process Composer, custom customization in ADF and various WebCenter features – most prominently the Composer framework.
The recent 11gR1 Patch Set 3 release has brought design time @ run time to the next level. In terms of functional richness as well as ease of use. Design Time at Run Time enables run time application administrators to not only change the layout of existing pages as well as add new content – static HTML or live Portlets -, but also to create new pages, edit the navigation structure of the application, change component properties and skin-attributes, create data controls and create and edit taskflows. Many of the application aspects that until recently were the sole discretion of the application developer are now available at runtime to privileged users. All in aid of agility and quick time to market.
This article gives a very rapid demonstration of the creation of a new WebCenter Portal application with only default content. This application is deployed in the Integrated WebLogic Server. At run time, a new page is created as well as a new Data Control for Employee from the EMP table in the SCOTT database schema. A table visualization of the Employees is added – still at run time – to this dynamically created page.
This next screenshot is of a page that did not exist when the application was deployed, with a table component that was created at run time through a data control that was also configured after deployment.
JavaOne 2010 – Keynote by Thomas Kurian – Java Strategy and Directions
Sep 21st
JavaOne started this morning with the first many dozens sessions and the Java Pavilion & Exhibition hall. The official kick off so to speak took place tonight, with Thomas Kurian’s keynote, in which he unfolded Oracle’s plans for Java. He wants to make it abundantly clear how important Java is to Oracle, how important the unity of the community around Java is and how urgent it is for him (almost on a personal level) to see the Java platform and community regain momentum, after a period of FUD and near stand-still. His keynote contained a number of very concrete statements and plans that Oracle intends to execute. He did not necessarily say this out loud – but between the lines I clearly read that Sun had fantastic ideas but not necessarily the capacity (and at some point obviously the budget) to deliver on them and that Oracle intends to bring its ability to execute and deliver (see for example the acquisition and subsequent integration of BEA and others) to the table and get Java moving once more.
His announcements included:
- Java SE 7 will be available in the Summer of 2011 -provided JCP joins in and approves.
- Java SE 8 will follow in 12-18 months after SE 7 – provided JCP….
- the process for defining Java EE 7 will commence shortly
- Java (through Java FX) will be the premier development technology for rich user interface applications (on any platform); JavaFX will be integrated into the Java programming language, JavaFX script will disappear (this will take two stages, one until Summer 2011, the other one until the year after)
- JavaFX will offer native, two-way interoperability with JavaScript and HTML 5/DOM. JavaScript can access the FX SceneGraph, JavaFX can access the DOM tree and (rich) HTML can be rendered inside FX apps; FX will get databinding facilities with REST, JDBC, JSON, XML etc.
- JavaFX UI Controls will be released into Open Source.
- As JavaFX will be integrated into Java and run on the JVM, its capabilities for Rich Media handling and 2D and 3D rendering will be available to any other language running on the JVM as well, meaning that for example Groovy, Scala and JRuby can integrate JavaFX capabilities
- Oracle is also planning to deliver a hardware-accelerated graphics engine that will enable JavaFX applications to render stunning interactive 2D and 3D experiences in real-time.
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Plans for Java ME – Oracle’s preferred flavor of Java on mobile – that will let the stack render HTML, CSS, and Javascript by default. Java ME is going to include WebKit Engine, JavaScript Engine, and Java/JavaScript Bridge, which will mean phones running future versions of Java ME can access web services and apps outside of a browser and – potentially – without any performance bugs or performance issues.
The engine will plug into the Java ME virtual machine and into Java FX.
Oracle’s Java ME engine will make use of what modern graphics hardware accelerators can do in term of (60 frames/s) rendering of 2D and 3D.” (Direct X from Microsoft for Windows in addition to OpenGL or “better”). Java ME is going to be optimized for the ARM7 and ARM9 chipsets licensed by handset component makers Broadcom, Samsung, NEC, Texas Instruments, and others with the stack also updated to include APIs that take advantage of phone features such as payment, telephony, and location.
- Oracle – proud owner of two JVMs, the Sun Hotspot JVM and the BEA JRockit JVM – will merge these two together, making many of the enhancements in JRockit available under the same (liberal, largely free) conditions that apply for the Sun JVM today. This converged JVM will be based on OpenJDK. JRockit Mission Control will be available for the Hotspot JVM.
- Oracle will release two new releases of Glassfish in 2011; Glassfish will be improbed through the inclusion of several features from WebLogic and will very much be continued. It is both an open source product (as well as reference implementation for JEE) and a commercial (support) offering from Oracle (that includes a number of high end facilities also available with WLS). Glassfish will always be first to ship for JEE (for obvious reasons).
- Oracle also commits to two new NetBeans releases in 2011
Oracle Open World 2010 presentation: Forms2Future: the ongoing journey into the future for Oracle based organizations
Sep 21st
Many organizations around the world have adopted Oracle technology for developing custom applications. Over the past two decades, they may have used PL/SQL, Reports, Forms, Designer, Portal or the Web PL/SQL Toolkit. Many of these organizations have come to face new challenges: more agility or functionality, new user groups or channels or more efficient maintenance. Or they fear getting stuck in the past, running out of support or qualified and motivated resources. What is the right way to approach the future? What mix of tools, how and when to adopt which new technology, how to build a business case? This session recounts various more and less successful warstories of organizations that embarked on a journey into the future.
Peter and I today did our session together about the road to the future for organization that heavily us Oracle software. It was a good session with a lot of interesting questions. It is quite clear to me how much confusion there is, how many organizations are struggling with defining their future plans. How many people hear mixed messages from for example Oracle sales people. And how they simply would like to get a clear, untainted and unbiased picture of what the options (and reasons) for making future oriented moves. This presentation for many attendees proved a valuable step in that direction. We would like to continue these conversations!
More than five years later – we are finally there: Larry Elison announcing Fusion Applications
Sep 20th
Larry Ellison: We set out to deliver the next generation of business applications. Our task: Take all of the best features from Oracle’s major application products – including E Business Suite, PeopleSoft, Siebel and JDEdwards. Rebuild them, on top of modern middleware infrasructure, all written in Java. It took us five years of engineering. Now, we are finally there.
First we had to build the middleware. Then we rebuilt all the applications. We will start to deliver at the end of this year. In Q1 2011 there will be general availability of all modules.
I want to make it very clear that it runs on exactly the same existing Fusion Middleware technology that is available to all out customers. We use what you (can) use too.
It took some effort. Originally the Applications development teams said that the existing middleware was deficient in 75 ways. They had all sorts of internal workarounds. Then the mandate for the FMW teams became: Fix that (those 75 deficiencies). We have merged the teams together [under Thomas Kurian].
Configure SOA Suite 11g for sending email notifications with Google Mail
Aug 19th
One of the ways of the SOA Suite 11g for communicating with the outside world – apart of course from web service calls and interaction via technology adapters – is through the new User Messaging Service (UMS), a facility installed in the SOA Domain during installation of the SOA Suite. The UMS enables two-way communication between users (real people) and deployed applications. The communication can be via various channels, including Email, Instant Messaging (IM or Chat), SMS and Voice. UMS is used from several components in Fusion Middleware, for example BPEL, Human Workflow, BAM and WebCenter and can also be used from custom developed applications.
This article describes how the User Messaging Service can be configured to use Google Mail as its mail server for sending and receiving emails and how we can make use of that facility from a simple BPEL process. Note that the steps described in this article apply to any public email server – Yahoo, Hotmail, Lycos and others – as well as your own email server.
