1 Overview of Oracle Multimedia OraDAV Driver

Oracle Multimedia (formerly Oracle interMedia) OraDAV driver enables WebDAV access to media content in an Oracle database.

WebDAV is a protocol extension to HTTP 1.1 that supports distributed authoring and versioning. WebDAV enables the Internet to become a transparent read and write medium, where content can be checked out, edited, and checked in to a URL address. The mod_dav module is an implementation of the WebDAV specification. The standard implementation of the mod_dav module supports read and write access to files.

OraDAV is the Oracle implementation of WebDAV. OraDAV refers to the capabilities available through the mod_oradav module, which is an extended implementation of the mod_dav module. The mod_oradav module can read and write to local files or to an Oracle database. The Oracle database must include an OraDAV driver (a stored procedure package) that the mod_oradav module calls to map WebDAV activity to database activity. Essentially, the mod_oradav module enables WebDAV clients to connect to an Oracle database, read and write content, and query and lock documents in various schemas. The mod_oradav module is integrated with the Oracle HTTP Server, which is the Web server component of Oracle Application Server.

Each OraDAV driver manages documents in a repository in an Oracle database by providing support for the following WebDAV functions over the Internet:

• Reading and writing documents

• Locking and unlocking documents

• Managing hierarchies of information, including the following:

  • Creating them

  • Populating them

  • Deleting them

• Retrieving properties associated with documents

• Associating properties with specific documents

Oracle Multimedia OraDAV driver consists of a set of PL/SQL packages installed in the ORDSYS schema. This driver manages a specific repository, which is called an Oracle Multimedia container (or a container) in an Oracle database. This container includes media tables to store media content by default. This container also includes auxiliary tables that enable the driver to provide WebDAV functions on the media content. The Oracle Multimedia container can be created in any user schema.