Events and publications

A list of events\presentations and publications:

Events:

SOA Lite - a taste of SOA with a smidgen of web services

ODTUG Kaleidoscope 2009 Conference Attempting to gorge yourself on the 5 course SOA meal may result in a stomach ache and a bill you can least afford at the moment.Instead a quick and easy recipe with some simple ingredients of web services will give your systems that little taste of SOA you so crave. Chris will describe why web services may be a better fit for you than SOA, qualities of contemporary web services, what skills to focus on when starting out with web services, and a few hints and tips from the web service trenches.

Back to Basics: Simple Database Web Services without the Need for SOA

ODTUG Kaleidoscope 2009 Conference Oracle Open World 2008 San Francisco AUSOUG 2008 Perth & Gold Coast Conferences Oracle is heavily heading down the SOA line which can be intimidating to database programmers with no experience in the web service arena or running application servers, let alone SOA. This presentation will identify as a first step that database programmers can make use of database packages like utl_http, utl_dbws and 11g's Native Web Services for consuming and publishing web services without adopting SOA straight off the ranks.

AUSOUG JDeveloper 1 Day Aussie Masterclass Series

AUSOUG 2008 Adelaide, Hobart, Sydney, PerthConference AUSOUG 2008 Gold Coast Conference Abstract: Scared of JDeveloper because you don't know Java, but worried you'll miss the boat in developing Oracle web applications with Oracle's tool of choice for Fusion development? In 2008 the Australian Oracle User Group in conjunction with the Oracle Applications User Group and leading Practitioners and Educators in Fusion Applications and Middleware area will be running a series of events to educate our members on Fusion. The first of this series sponsored by the Oracle Technology Network will introduce you to simplicity of web development with the latest 11g Technical Preview version of JDeveloper, without writing a single line of Java!"

The great Oracle development tools debate

AUSOUG 2007 Victorian Conference AUSOUG 2007 Western Australian Conference Abstract: Oracle Forms is dying? It's hard to tell because Oracle just extended it's support into the next decade. To others it may appear Oracle has chosen JDeveloper as the main development tool, including its support for ADF and BPEL/SOA. Yet Oracle has revamped HTML DB as Application Express (APEX) which is winning large amounts of publicity and has even been used to deliver applications like Metalink. What's happened to the Oracle development environment? It used to be so much easier, there was only one choice! Come and join "the great Oracle development tools" debate. Our panel session of Oracle development experts will argue over what tools you should be considering, which is the best for your organisation, and which one is just, well, cool!

Take a load off! Load testing your Oracle Apex or JDeveloper web applications

AUSOUG 2007 Victorian Conference AUSOUG 2007 Western Australian Conference Abstract: Geeeez, after demanding you unit test, system test, black box test, white box test, test-test-test everything, your manager is now demanding you load test your brand spanking new Oracle web application. How on earth can you do this? .... and stop your manager from nagging? This technical presentation will explain the concepts behind preparing for load testing, the Http protocol's request/response model, and live demonstrations using Oracle's Http Analyzer and Apache's JMeter to stress test your Oracle web application. The presentation is suitable for anybody, be it DBAs or developers, who are concerned about the performance of any web based application, possibly an Apex or JDeveloper or 3rd party web application. Knowledge of Apex or JDeveloper is not mandatory for this presentation and will not be covered in any depth. Agenda: The need for load testing Preparing for load testing Understanding Http protocol's request/response model Demo of Oracle's Http Analyzer to capture web application request/responses Demo of Apache's JMeter to run automated web application load testing

All you (ever) needed to know about Java

AUSOUG 2007 South Australian monthly meeting NZOUG 2007 Auckland Conference AUSOUG 2006 Western Australian Conference Abstract: This is a mini-lesson on Java concepts and syntax. The presentation is aimed at PL/SQL developers and DBAs who need to know sufficient Java to build ADF Business Component and ADF Faces applications, or Java routines within the Oracle database, as well as managers looking for high level concepts around Object-Oriented and Java programming. The workshop provides an intensive introduction to Java and is normally part of SAGE Computing Service's JDeveloper 5-day workshop. Previous attendees have admitted they learnt more about Java in this workshop, than in all their previous struggles to come to terms with the language.

Forms programmers never die, they just switch to JDeveloper

NZOUG 2007 Auckland Conference Abstract: With the release of ADF Faces in JDeveloper 10.1.3, Oracle developers finally have a productive, component based, framework for developing Java applications. This presentation covers a "mind map" between traditional Oracle Forms and PL/SQL techniques and development with ADF faces. This is designed to assist Forms developers and those who are new to JDeveloper in making the transition. The presentation is then followed by a peek inside JDeveloper ADF Faces with a more detailed look at the ADF technologies available in JDeveloper, as well as a few tips on some of the best approaches for a Forms or Designer developer to get started and use the product.

Where do we go from here? Why many IT staff are living in the past

New Horizons 2007 Victoria Abstract: Unfortunately many IT professionals learn the capabilities of various technologies at the beginning of their careers and then continue to operate under the same set of constraints for the remainder of their working lives. This presentation discusses some of the exciting new directions in the Oracle technology suite and how best to take advantage of them. It provides guidance on which tools are best suited to your organisation’s application requirements and skill set.

SQL Developer hands-on class

AUSOUG 2006 Victorian Conference Abstract: Oracle recently announced the future obsolescence of SQL*Plus GUI version. We are being encouraged to switch to using the new free SQL Developer GUI tool. This tool not only provides SQL access to the database for seasoned developers, but also allows easier access for less technical users. This presentation gave attendees hands on experience of using the SQL Developer product. The session included basic SQL syntax training so that End Users can utilise the product to access their data. The workshop included: Overview of the product: basic interface, where to find help, creating a connection Browsing the database Entering and running SQL , basic SELECT, WHERE clauses, JOINS, aggregates Creating and changing database objects

The DBA's realm: deploying JDeveloper applications to OC4J

AUSOUG 2006 Western Australian monthly meeting Abstract: JDeveloper ADF applications are becoming all the rage in Oracle development circles, just look at EBS v12 (Forms is dead! Long live Forms! Forms is dead!). But developing an ADF application is different from deploying it for production purposes on OC4J under OAS, and the task moves from the realms of the developer to that of the DBA (the buck has to stop somewhere). DBAs need to have an understanding of how and what JDeveloper does when deploying to the OC4J container with OAS, and what the issues are, rather than leaving it in the hands of those pesky developers.

Virtual Private Database features in 10g

AUSOUG 2005 Victorian Conference AUSOUG 2005 Victorian Conference Abstract: Business requirements, Australian legislation and web based applications have changed the security requirements on databases holding private data. Oracle introduced the Virtual Private Database (VPD) to address these needs, implementing database policies to restrict rows and columns retrieved via SQL, and in turn removing the need for public synonyms, roles and user accounts. Chris Muir discusses how to implement VPD features in Oracle 10g to satisfy contemporary database security needs.

Publications:

Taking an Oracle ADF Application from Design to Reality

Java Developer Journal Website 2009 Java Developer Journal 2009 Print Magazine Volume 14 Issue 2 This multi-part article takes a narrative approach to assist other developers in understanding the mindset and skills required to build an Oracle ADF solution. The article introduces techniques such as storyboarding to capture user requirements, prioritization of requirements to break your problem set into discrete solvable units using a technique known as "MoSCoW," and step-by-step problem decomposition to implement the discrete solutions in ADF Business Components and ADF Faces RC under Oracle JDeveloper 11g.

JDeveloper: An IDE that moves with the Times & REA Is Where RIA Becomes the Norm

Java Developer Journal Website 2009 Java Developer Journal 2009 Print Magazine Volume 14 Issue 2 Do you believe that the day when programmers could focus on one language in their jobs is gone? Thanks to the ever-changing IT landscape and the uncertain financial times, contemporary developers are expected to work with a wide range of platforms, frameworks, languages as essentially “masters of all and specialists in none.” You need your IDE to move with the times too, moving beyond the simple compiler and debugger to solve the challenges that contemporary developers face. Oracle JDeveloper is such an IDE. Today JDeveloper 11g is a complete end-to-end development platform, including a strong declarative programming model that removes the need to write everything by hand in Java, a mature framework used by Oracle itself in its own products, delivered on one of the strongest application server platforms in the industry, and ultimately assisting you, the modern programmer, in meeting your day-to-day IT challenges.

Q&A with Grant Ronald

UKOUG Oracle Scene Magazine 2008 When talking about Oracle Forms and JDeveloper, one Oracle personality stands out among others - long time blogger Grant Ronald from Oracle Corporation UK. Grant has for a long time "pimped" Oracle Forms and its big brother JDeveloper at Oracle events and user group events around the world. His popularity is shown by his blog receiving on average 2000 hits per day. Lately, to reassure Oracle customers that Oracle intends to keep on supporting Oracle Forms and show that Forms has a future inline with JDeveloper, Grant has been responsible for the Oracle's Forms Modernization message.

Return to Formsville

OTN Website 2008 New programmers moving into Oracle sites running legacy Oracle Forms and Oracle Designer applications face many challenges. New programmers rely heavily on their senior counterparts to teach them how to structure their applications, as well as the benefits of such structures from hard-earned experience. There are certainly plenty of best practices around for Oracle Forms, and Oracle Designer gave its own particular stamp to Oracle Forms architecture. Yet at many sites, senior programmers have moved on, leaving their successors guessing why applications are structured as they are. With the pressure to fix mounting maintenance issues, the elegance of the original solutions can be jeopardized. For those starting their Oracle Forms journey, this article attempts to explain the key architectural concepts that are common to many Oracle Forms– and Oracle Designer–based applications, including their benefits and how you can use them to your advantage. In particular, the article will focus on: A simple Oracle Forms trigger architecture A flexible Corporate-Application-Form Oracle Forms library architecture Extending the approach to forms generated from Oracle Designer Oracle Designer artifacts, including the table API, cg_ref_codes, and journal tables.

Oracle development review

IOUG Select Magazine 2008 UKOUG Scene Magazine 2008 Probably the most keenly debated, and often, heatedly discussed topic amongst Oracle's development community is: "Which development tool is best?" While newbies look for guidance, zealots vehemently defend their tool of choice. However, the reality is maybe slightly mundane. Like debating the "best car" in world, there are numerous choices, each have their plus and minus points, and let's face it, they all in the end do a very similar job. So, regardless if you are a hot headed lamborghini lover or family of five with a people carrier, this article gives you the low down on some of Oracle's latest and best loved development tools (with not a cup-holder in sight) from Oracle experts in the Oracle development community. "Like choosing a car or selecting a tool for some DIY at home, the choice is driven not so much by the tool, and more by the job you need to do" says Grant Ronald, Product Manager in Oracle's Application Development Tools division. "The What, Who and Where are the questions you need to be asking. This way, you tend to find your choice drawn to a specific tool, or you may decide to use a combination of tools for building your application. The key point is, you do have a choice with each tool having its own sweet spot." Grant continues “This article picks just a few of the criteria you should be considering, and with input from recognised experts commenting on their area of expertise, it gives a balanced and measured insight into the tools".

Integrating the Oracle Designer Legacy Table API withOracle JDeveloper 11g ADF Business Components

OTN Website 2007 Oracle Designer is now firmly in maintenance mode, but it is still common to encounter legacy database schemas that have Designer's fingerprints all over them, with generated Table APIs and good old cg_ref_codes. Such constructs may be unfamiliar to the newer Oracle developers in the crowd, but this approach was the cutting edge at one time. Fortunately, with Oracle JDeveloper 11g's various enhancements to Application Development Framework Business Components (ADF BC), such legacy code needn't be ignored or replaced. By embracing ADF BC's inherent support for calling database PL/SQL, you can give new life to your legacy Oracle Designer database systems. This article specifically investigates integrating the Oracle Designer Table API with Oracle JDeveloper 11g (in Technical Preview 2 at the time of this writing).

A tool with many faces: splitting a JDeveloper ADF Faces faces-config.xml file

IOUG Select Magazine 2007 A JDeveloper ADF Faces application utilising the JavaServer Faces (JSF) specification will be heavily dependent on it's faces-config.xml file. This file defines all entries for the JSF managed beans, navigation and other elements used in your JSF application. The file can quickly become large and cumbersome in a medium to large application and a particular bottleneck as multiple developers attempt to modify it. Is it possible to split this file into logical parts to avoid these limitations?

Oracle RDBMS Q&A with Doug Burns

AUSOUG Foresight Magazine 2007 In an ongoing series of articles, Chris Muir chats to Oracle blogger and well known UK presenter Doug Burns who maintains his slightly off-center Oracle DBA blog (check out the stuffed toys!?). Doug, who holds 9i DBA certification, has 16 years experience as an Oracle DBA and is a member of the expert Oaktable group. His opinions, insights and experience in the Oracle arena are held in considerable regard by the Oracle community.

Oracle Application Server 10.1.3 for J2EE Beginners

AUSOUG Foresight Magazine 2006 So you've built your first JDeveloper web application using the 1001 Oracle examples. You're boss is impressed. "Wow, that's one of the best web-pages I've ever seen Jones" (you're name is Jones isn't it?). And with a wave of the hand as your boss walks away, you hear the words "deploy it". Welcome to the world of J2EE application servers and Oracle's latest flagship Oracle Application Server 10.1.3.

JDeveloper Q&A with Steve Muench

AUSOUG Foresight Magazine 2006 In an ongoing series of articles, three Australian JDeveloper developers quiz Steve Muench of Oracle about his past, how he made the transition from Oracle Forms to Java, and on the latest and greatest JDeveloper 10.1.3 release. As an Oracle Ace with a visible web presence and his own blog, Steve is a leading force behind JDeveloper. His articles are a first port of call in making effective use of Oracle's ADF technology stack. Having worked for Oracle on just over 15 years, his fingerprints can be found in many Oracle's solutions.