ADF applications are typically heavily into data. One of the major strengths of the framework is the data binding layer that allows rapid development of complex user interfaces bound to underlying data controls. These data controls expose data sources such as relational databases, web services, content management systems, JMX beans (as of 11g), REST/URL services and plain files. ADF applications in the recent past had to be developed with all these data sources present – without them the UI components could not be rendered and the application would not run.

This limits the flexibility during the development process: data sources are required for creating the databound user interface. Without them, no meaningful user interfacer can be created.

With 11g, a new type of data control is introduced: the Placeholder Data Control. Placeholder Data Controls are the stand-ins for real data controls. They can be used when the real data control and its underlying data source are not yet available or the application is temporarily off line without access to the database or web services that underpin the model. Placeholder Data Controls allow the creation of a data bound user interface in the More >