This was the presentation at OBUG Connect 2013 in Antwerp Belgium. 10 lessons learned in a Real Life ADF Project

1. Luc Bors, 26-mar-2013, OBUG Connect Antwerpen
10 lessons learned
Real Life Forms to ADF

2. Who Am I
• Luc Bors
• Principal Consultant
• AMIS Nieuwegein Netherlands
• Friends of Oracle & Java
• 5 Oracle ACE(D)
• Oracle Partner

3. Where Are You Now ?
• HUGE Forms investment
• Mission critical, complex systems
• Low maintenance, stable system for over 10 years
• Mostly undocumented systems
• VERY fast productive development
• Trained developer pool
• Looking to leverage the existing investment

4. Where Do We Want to Go ?

5. Some Modernization Projects

6. Most Recent Project
• Ministry of Security and Justice
• Application >20 years old
• Decentralized architecture (19x)
• Approx. 2.000 users
• 1 million cases per year
• 10.000-15.000 letters per day

7. Modernization Project Triggers
• Very old technical environment(end-of-life)
• Maintenance is expensive
• Staffing is difficult
• Architecture not flexible
• Need to be ready for the future

8. Distributed Architecture
• 19 distributed implemenations• 1 central implemenation
• Less Hardware
• Less Administrators
• Less Duplicate Data
• More Insight
• More Control

9. Centralized system

10. Forms Application
• Forms 4.5 / Reports 2.5
• Character mode
• Terminal Emulation
• Enables Macros !
• Desupport 31 December 2003
• Runs since 1991 …

11. Not Really Web 2.0 ……………

12. Web 2.0 !

13. Web 2.0 !

14. IST - SOLL
• Character Mode
• Distributed
• Data Duplication
• 250 Modules
• 90 Reports
• 15’’ Monitors
• Application
• Web Technology
• Centralized
• Data Standardization
• < 100 Modules
• 50 Reports
• 24’’ Monitors
• Platform

15. What did we Learn ?

16. Lesson 1: The Right Size
• Think Big Start Small.
• Don’t be Tempted.
• Use Small PoC !

17. Lesson 1: The Right Size

18. Lesson 1: The Right Size
• Application Architecture
• Taskflow with page fragment and per
Taskflow 1 page with 1 static region
• All in one big workspace
– Or
• Taskflow with page fragment and per
Application 1 page with 1 dynamic
region
• Use separate workspaces

19. Lesson 2 : Don’t Copy Paste
• Migrate “As-is” …… ??
• Don’t try to copy forms functionality
– Know your ADF Faces Components
• Forms Built-ins are not available in ADF
and PL/SQL is not Java. Your options:
– Whenever possible
• transfer to DB
– Whenever lucky
• Use a declarative or zero code ADF Alternative
– Otherwise
• Code Java Alternative

20. Lesson 2 : Don’t Copy Paste
• Forms code for:
– Buttons
– Canvasses
– Navigation
• ADF code for:
– None of the above

21. Lesson 3 : Involve People
• Grumpy Old Men
• Talk with all People involved in
the project
• Let them know what you are
doing
• Let them decide what goes in
and what not

22. Lesson 3 : Involve People
• Include operational team
• Infrastructure (DTAP) : Ready on Time
• Don’t underestimate WebLogic configuration
• SSO via MS-AD

23. Lesson 4 : Hire Experts
• Training is not enough.
• Steep learning curve
– Don’t mix in regular work
– Long “Conscious Incompetence”
phase: motivational dip
• Hire Experts 0
1
2
3
4
5
Week
1
Week
20
Week
30
Week
40
Week
52
Next
Year
Even
Later
Imaginary ADF Learning
Curve

24. Lesson 4 : Hire Experts
“The cheapest ADF Consultant is
the one with the highest hourly rate”

25. Lesson 5: Planning & Process
• Scrum
• Predictable Results
• Short Cycles

26. Lesson 5: Planning & Process
• Short Development Cycles
– Easy to Adjust
– Easy to Demo
– Nearby Goals
Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3
2 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks
Demo
Demo
Demo

27. Lesson 6 : Think Performance
• Performance First, not Last
• Might look good, however….
• Consider Tools
• …. And Watch Now Carefully !

28. Lesson 6 : Think Performance
• ViewObject queries caused by unintentionally left iterators in pageDefs
• Iterator bindings can still be refreshed and the ViewObject
unnecessary executed - for example when you have Refresh=“ifNeeded”)

29. Lesson 6 : Think Performance
• Oracle’s Default Values Do Not
Always Rock !
– ViewObject fetchMode and
fetchSize are underestimated
properties and have big
performance impact
– The default value is 1 - will give
poor performance (unless only one
row will be fetched)

30. Lesson 6 : Think Performance
• Too much data in ADFBC memory…………..
• Try to avoid loading more database rows than you need
• Be careful if you really do need to load a proportional number
of database rows

31. Lesson 6 : Think Performance

32. Lesson 7: Business Rules
• The $ 1.000.000 Question

33. Lesson 7: Business Rules
• Business Components is not Always the Best Place !
• For employees with a Job (attribute value) equal to
SALESMAN the value of the Salary attribute should not be
higher than 2500.
• The difference between the maximum salary for all
employees with the same job and their average salary may
not exceed 30% of the average salary

34. Lesson 7: Business Rules
Hey, I can do ADF !
We can’t……….
….. But we can do
PL/SQL

35. Lesson 8: Documentation ?

36. Lesson 8: Documentation !
• *.fmb are not Documentation !
• Provide proper Documentation
• It is a Valid Investment
• Create a Cookbook
– Architectural issues
– Development How to‘s

37. Lesson 9: Automated Migration
• Automated migration is not easy.
– You can run into issues that an automated tool cannot handle
– You still need to re-code forms triggers (PL/SQL)
• JHeadstart Forms2ADF ?
– Not Really on Option
• Automated migration doesn’t exist.

38. Lesson 10: Keep up the Pace

39. Lesson 10: Keep up the Pace
• Service Oriented Architecture
• Business Process Management
• Service Bus
• Mobile

40. Lesson 10: Keep up the Pace

41. Summary
• Lesson 1: The Right Size
• Lesson 2: Don’t Copy Paste
• Lesson 3: Involve People
• Lesson 4: Hire Experts
• Lesson 5: Planning & Process
• Lesson 6: Think Performance
• Lesson 7: Business Rules
• Lesson 8: Documentation
• Lesson 9: No Automation
• Lesson 10: Keep Up the Pace

42. Luc Bors, AMIS, The Netherlands
Luc.Bors@amis.nl
LucBors@gmail.com
Follow me on : @lucb_