Overzicht van geweldige gratis technologie: Oracle application Express. Met deze tool heb ik voor vele gebruikers snel verschillende applicaties gebouwd
APEX 3.1 released 29-FEB-2008 # 8 in OTN Downloads
Once you have defined the Oracle tables and views APEX provides wizards to rapidly create professional fully functional applications that can be easily deployed.
Customers use Application Express to build reports against existing tables. Customers have built reporting solutions against SAP and the eBusiness Suite using Application Express.
Apex.oracle.com - Up to 4 Million hits / week 10,000 development accounts Packagaded Apps Average 3,500 downloads / week Extensive conference participation 50+ sessions at ODTUG Kaleidoscope 2009 38 APEX sessions at Oracle Openworld 2008 Releases 9 Major releases since 2004
8 books in the last 2 years and several new books currently being written
Discussion Points: Given that APEX is a “no-cost” feature of the Oracle DB don’t get a lot of marketing However, have an exceedingly strong community which has grown through word of mouth APEX OTN Forum has a wealth of information and the community will happily answer questions both simple and advanced
Discussion Points: Since APEX was first released in 2004 there have been 8 major releases. HTML-DB was renamed to Oracle Application Express in 2006 due to complaints about the original name but it is the same tool Before being released as HTML-DB the tool was known as Project Marvel. Web-DB is a completely different tool with NO shared code – Web DB pre-dates Project Marvel and was further developed independently as the basis for Oracle Portal.
Discussion Points: APEX is targeted at the Rapid Application Development (RAD) developer. APEX best suited to Departmental / Targetted applications. Not to say it can’t be used for enterprise applications or developed by end-users – Many examples of both Advantage over scripting languages is the declarative framework and longevity as based on PL/SQL which has been around for 20 years Productivity Apps = Packaged Applications which are a set of self service productivity applications usable by non-programmers.
Discussion Points: Many RAD Tools provide widgets, etc shown in the first column A Few have some of the second column covered as well But how many of them have include this third column out of the box. When we say out-of-the-box here we don’t mean this features can be implemented (under your breath) with a ton of complex code but 100% declarative - no coding For example: APEX Application Builder is built with APEX and is provided in all the Oracle standard languages using the Translation Services Every component (page, button, item, validation, etc) can be controlled with conditional logic to make a very flexible application Authentication frameworks for LDAP, SSO, Database users, etc are included to make it easy to integrate with corporate standard Authorization allows for grouping of permissions to make it easy to ensure user access to application functionality is correctly maintained Session state management is built directly into the tool to ensure security and consistency Developers can concentrate on meeting business requirements rather than the plumbing required to ensure the application they deliver is secure, scalable, and reliable.
Discussion Points: APEX is effectively a 2-Tier architecture where the client (a simple Web browser) talks through to the APEX Engine which resides in the Oracle DB Given the fact it resides in the Oracle Db it can be installed into any edition and any version of the Oracle DB 9iR2 and above SE, SE1, or EE and Oracle XE. The APEX Engine serves HTML pages and processes page submissions based on the meta data stored in tables within the DB Communication between the browser and database can be configured using the APEX Listener (Soon to be released), Embedded PL/SQL Gateway (EPG) which is part of the DB, or Apache and mod_plsql.
Discussion Points: Oracle Application Express enables a single database to host large numbers of users. Users work in a dedicated work area called a workspace . A workspace is a virtual private database that enables multiple users to work within the same Oracle Application Express installation while keeping their objects, data and applications private. This flexible architecture enables a single database instance to manage thousands of applications. It turns a single database into a hosted service , making it an ideal platform for consolidation of smaller data stores .
APEX gives you a choice: - Run it where it makes the most sense for you and your organization. - Across any platform that Oracle runs - Provides you the opportunity to change your mind - Start out hosted and move in house - Develop on a laptop and deploy to a hosted service - its up to you runs on 10gR2 and above
Discussion Points: As APEX has a simple architecture and is browser based it makes the transition for developers and end-users seamless - simply provide the URL for the cloud environment. The multi-tenant capabilities allow multiple development teams and their associated applications to co-exist within one Oracle DB minimizing costs (You only need one instance) Given that APEX is fully-contained within the Oracle database maintaining the environment is greatly simplified
Discussion Points: The APEX Engine, and hence APEX applications, can be easily integrated with outside data sources using Web Services and DB links. Given that APEX resides within the Oracle DB it can easily integrate with other Oracle database features. APEX applications can also be extended using Javascript and AJAX to provide a richer UI.
Discussion Points: The APEX Listener is currently undergoing internal testing. Given the greatly enhanced functionality it will become the preferred listener for use with APEX 3.1 and above on all supported Oracle databases. One of the key attributes of the new listener is that it is Java based and extensible allowing much greater flexibility and improved performance. APEX Listener 1.0 is planned to be released in conjunction with APEX 4.0. Subsequent releases will be on a separate timeline.
Discussion Points: Access is loved by business users because they can build their own applications without needing to rely on IT. What start out as simple departmental applications often grow in importance and functionality but without any of the safeguards of applications developed by IT. Once the original creator moves on there is often no one left who knows anything about the application. When one of these applications fails it is normally IT who has to scramble to work miracles and correct applications they may have no prior knowledge of.
Discussion Points: You need to use both SQL Developer and APEX to migrate Access applications SQL Developer is used to migrate the data schemas and data across to the Oracle database APEX is used to generate a first-cut design based on the Forms, Reports and Queries within the Access application Many companies consolidate the Access tables as part of the migration (e.g. 5 different customer tables into one customer table) In such cases often quicker to build APEX application from scratch using the built-in APEX wizards. The value in creating an APEX project and generating is not just in the ability to generate a first-cut design. It is also the ability to review and analyze all the source from the Access application, including the VB source which can’t be generated. Especially for undocumented, complex applications APEX developers can review the old functionality to determine how to create the replacement application.
Discussion Points: Forms has been around since the 1980’s and has a very loyal and well deserved following. Forms is not being de-supported and Forms 11 is due soon. Primary driver for many is they have applications written in old versions of Oracle Forms which is not fully supported. Their existing development staff is very comfortable with SQL & PL/SQL and used to working within a declarative environment, therefore, the transition to APEX should be quick and they should feel somewhat comfortable with the APEX Application Builder. Developers will need to learn the differences in the tools and paradigm (e.g. stateful v’s stateless, etc.) The resulting APEX applications will not look nor behave exactly the same as the old Forms application so it is important to keep users involved throughout the conversion project. Converting Oracle Forms to any other tool is going to require significant investment in time and resources. Prototyping is strongly recommended to get user’s buy-in and be able to estimate the total effort involved in order to build a realistic project plan.
Discussion Points: Converting from Oracle Forms to APEX (or to any other tool for that matter) requires significant investment of time and resources. It is strongly recommended that you undertake a Proof-of-Concept to determine the effort required and expected results before creating a project plan. Given that Oracle Forms and APEX applications can happily co-exist, it is advisable for large applications that development be broken into multiple stages or releases. Oracle Forms History since 1987 Forms 2.0, 2.3, 3.0 - Character Mode Forms 4.5, 5.0, 6i - Client Server Oracle Forms 9i, 10g –Forms Server Oracle Forms 11g Under Development - Large and active customer base - Fully supported and being enhanced - Used by Oracle Applications through R12 - No mandate that customers must migrate existing Forms applications
Discussion Points: Once you have created the XML Files then you need to Create a project in APEX {Ensure APEX Schema has relevant Tables / Views} and then load all the source files Load all source files (not just Forms and Reports) eventhough they can’t all be generated. Then developers don’t need to go back to Oracle Forms (For new developers don’t need to install Forms and learn how to navigate around, etc.) All components can then be annotated and tracked throughout the project
Discussion Points: Heavy utilization of Interactive Reports allows analysts to quickly navigate around and update components as necessary
Discussion Points: Generation uses the exact same “Create Application Wizard” as utilized when creating an application based on an existing Table. Therefore, the generated application does not have any ‘specialized’ code making it hard to enhance, maintain , etc. For details on the generation rules refer to the Migration Guide – Appendix A Forms Generation Capabilities and Workarounds (http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E14373_01/migrate.32/e13368/toc.htm)
Discussion Points: Re-implementing the business logic and finalizing the UI represent the bulk of the conversion project effort. By utilizing the Annotations you can track your completion progress.
Discussion Points: Converting from Oracle Forms to APEX needs to be treated as a project and managed accordingly. Generating the initial design only gets you part way to completion of the conversion project. User Acceptance and Training are key to the project’s success.
Discussion Points: Readily integrate user authentication using one of the pre-configured schemes or define your own custom authentication
Discussion Points: Once the user has gained entry into the application just as important that they can only access processes and data they are permitted to.
Discussion Points: For more information please refer to the APEX Application Builder User’s Guide – Chapter 13: Managing Application Security – Understanding Administrator Security Best Practices (http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E14373_01/appdev.32/e11838/sec.htm#CCHECGBI)
Discussion Points: For more information please refer to the APEX Application Builder User’s Guide – Chapter 13: Managing Application Security – Understanding Developer Security Best Practices (http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E14373_01/appdev.32/e11838/sec.htm#CCHEGCHF)
Discussion Points: For more information please refer to the APEX Application Builder User’s Guide – Chapter 13: Managing Application Security – Understanding Developer Security Best Practices (http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E14373_01/appdev.32/e11838/sec.htm#CCHEGCHF)
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Discussion Points: Surveys regularly conducted on APEX OTN Forum.
Discussion Points: 3.1.2 built into Oracle Audit Vault 10.2.3 as their complete reporting solution. Instead of hundreds of static reports AV team developed small number of Interactive Reports and allow customers to customize the information. Audit Vault useful to APEX development team as helped prove the functionality and scalability provided with Interactive Reports. 3.2 introduced Forms Conversion. Even if not interested in converting from Oracle Forms to APEX should still upgrade ASAP due to the many enhanced security features 4.0 currently scheduled for end of calendar year 2009 – Statement of Direction provides latest list of planned features
Discussion Points: APEX is a unique tool that is positioned squarely at the RAD developers who need to build departmental / targetted applications very quickly. .NET is designed for teams of university trained enterprise developers for building large enterprise-class heterogeneous applications. Microsoft and IBM don’t have any competing tools that combine the ease of development with the full capabilities of the database including scalability, reliability, security, etc. The community very strongly supports APEX through the OTN Forum and presenting at Oracle conferences (http://apex.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=59652:1:0). Given that APEX is a “no-cost” feature of the Oracle DB, the tool gets very limited marketing budget, however, the popularity within the community is growing rapidly through word-of-mouth and the productivity / capabilities it delivers. The number of consulting companies and commercial applications built around APEX is also growing rapidly. There is a very large pool of developers with extensive experience and skill writing SQL and PL/SQL. These are the primary languages for building APEX applications so maximizes their existing knowledge. The many typical use cases, especially relating to converting legacy applications and consolidation, demonstrate the flexibility of APEX and power of providing an extensible framework based on the Oracle DB and PL/SQL. APEX provides Web 2.0 features out-of-the-box, such as Interactive Reports, Flash Charts, etc., but can also be extended with Javascript, JS Libraries and AJAX to incorporate more Web 2.0 capabilities. Because APEX resides within the Oracle DB it inherits all the strengths of the DB in relation to scalability, security, reliability, etc. and can take advantage of all other DB features (Oracle Text, Mapping, OLAP, RAC, Partitioning, etc.). APEX also provides multiple administration capabilities, including multi-tenant hosting, to minimizing the administrative overheads. APEX has proven to be very successful being integrated with off-the-shelf commercial applications to enhance the functionality of those applications. Integration can be accomplished by directly installing APEX into the same Oracle DB, using Oracle DB Links, or via Web Services
Discussion Points: These are some of the misconceptions that are often propagated to try and discredit APEX. Scalability - For each page request / submission there is a maximum of 1 Database round trip APEX Meta data is defined directly in DB tables and utilizes PL/SQL , concurrency, monitoring and administration, etc. ARIA is Oracle’s most used internet application with a peak load of over 30,000 page requests / hour running on a single server AskTom is a very popular and highly available internet site www.thinkquest.org has over one million users running on an Oracle RAC environment
Discussion Points: This site is rigorously maintained to provide the most up to date information Wealth of information for both those starting out and the experienced APEX developer For those getting started recommend the following: Hosted apex.oracle.com – Sign up for a free development account so you can start immediately without needing to install anything Documentation & Tutorials – Specifically 2 Day + Developers Guide Oracle By Examples – Step-by-step tutorials to develop specific functionality Packaged Applications - Point solutions that can be used as is or enhanced to meet specific requirements or used purely for learning Community & Partners – Especially the Blogs – Using a blog aggregator recommended OU Courses & Community Events – Instructor led courses, etc. APEX OTN Forum – If you have a question chances are it has already been asked and answered on the forum
Discussion Points: OTN page invaluable resource often updated with additional content Hosted development provides free “development only” site for kicking the tires
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