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Oracle9i Application Developer's Guide - XML
Release 1 (9.0.1)
Part Number A88894-01
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Preface

The Preface has the following sections:

About this Guide

This manual describes Oracle9i's XML-enabled database technology. It describes how XML data can be stored, managed, and queried in the database using Oracle XML-enabled technology and the appropriate Oracle development tools.

After introducing you to the main criteria to consider when designing your Oracle XML application, this manual describes an overview of several scenarios that are based on real-life existing business applications. You are then introduced to the XML Developer's Kits (XDKs) and how the XDK componoents can work together to generate and store XML data in a database. Examples and sample applications are introduced where possible.

Oracle9i Case Studies - XML Applications describes case studies that use Oracle XML-enabled technology. The case studies are presented according to their main function, namely, whether they are primarily used for one or both of the following:

Examples and Sample Code

Many of the XDK examples in the manual are provided with your software in the following directories:

A detailed application with example code is described in Oracle9i Case Studies - XML Applications, "Building a B2B Application Using XML and AQ". This describes how to build an XML B2B data exchange and customized presentation application.

Composed or Decomposed (Generated) XML

In general, XML documents are processed in one of two ways:

Oracle XML-Enabled Technology

The main Oracle XML-enabled technology components are the XML Developer's Kits (XDKs). These are available in four language implementations:

Audience

This guide is intended for developers building XML applications on Oracle9i or Oracle9iApplication Server (Oracle9iAS).

Prerequisite Knowledge

An understanding of XML and XSL is helpful but not essential for using this manual. References to good sources for more information are included in Appendix A and in the FAQ section of Chapter 3. An XML primer is included in Appendix A.

Many examples provided here are in either SQL, Java, PL/SQL, C, or C++, hence a working knowledge of one or more of these languages is presumed.

If you understand XML but know nothing about databases...

The best place for you to start is:

  1. Read Oracle9i Concepts.. First plan, model, and design your database.

  2. Read the chapters in Part I, "Introducing Oracle XML-Enabled Technology" and Part II, "Storing and Retrieving XML From the Database".

  3. Visit Oracle Technology Network (OTN) sites at:

  4. Check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sections in this manual, starting with those at the end of:

  5. If you still have questions, consult with your Oracle representative or, to help get you started, go to the "Discussions" option on OTN and post your question there.

  6. Read Oracle9i Case Studies - XML Applications for ideas from similar applications.

  7. Of course, once you have determined which language you need for your application and which XDK components you need to build your application, for detail on the XML components and how they are used, see:

If you understand databases but know nothing about XML...

The best place for you to start is:

  1. Read Appendix A, "An XML Primer" and the references at the end of Chapter 3, "Oracle XML Developer Kits (XDKs) and Components: Overview and General FAQs". There are many good books and web sites that introduce you to XML. Some of these are listed in Appendix A.

  2. Read Chapter 4, "Using XSL and XSLT".

  3. Read the FAQs at the end of the chapters, starting with:

  4. Read Oracle9i Case Studies - XML Applications for ideas from similar applications.

  5. Of course you need to read about the (new) native XML support in Oracle9i, so read the chapters in Part I, "Introducing Oracle XML-Enabled Technology" and Part II, "Storing and Retrieving XML From the Database".

  6. Visit the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) XML site at http://otn.oracle.com/tech/xml for information about the XML Developer Kits (XDKs) available as well as white papers and demos.

  7. Of course, once you have determined which language you need for your application and which XDK components you need to build your application, for detail on the XML components and how they are used, see:

  8. If you still have questions, consult with your Oracle representative or, to help get you started, go to the "Discussions" option on OTN and post your question there.

Feature Coverage and Availability

Information in this manual represents a snapshot of information on Oracle XML-enabled technology components. These change rapidly. To view the latest information, refer to Oracle Technology Network (OTN) at: http://otn.oracle.com/tech/xml

How this Manual is Organized

This manual is organized into 10 parts, 29 chapters, and 8 appendixes. It includes an index and glossary.

Roadmap of this Manual

Figure 0-1, "Oracle XML Components and E-Business Solutions: Roadmap of this Manual", maps all the main "stops" in the manual. In the online versions of this manual, if you click on these "stops" you will go directly to the chapters of interest. A more detailed version of this diagram is provided in Chapter 1, "Oracle XML-Enabled Technology".

Not shown in the roadmap are the Appendixes which include the XML Primer, and XDK cheat sheets and specifications.

Figure 0-1 Oracle XML Components and E-Business Solutions: Roadmap of this Manual


Text description of adxml074.gif follows This takes you to Part 6, XDK for Java...Parser and XSLT for Java, Class Generator for Java, Schema Processor for Java, XSQL Servlet, XSU This takes you to Part 8, XDK for C...Parser and XSLT for C, XML Schema Processor for C This takes you to Part 9, XDK for C++...Parser and XSLT for C++, XML Schema Processor for C++, Class Generator for C++ This takes you to Part 10, XDK for PL/SQL...Parser and XSLT for PL/SQL This takes you to Part 7, XDK for Java Beans This takes you to Chapter 7, XML SQL Utility (XSU) This takes you to Chapter 16, How Oracle Exchange Uses XML This takes you to Chapter 9, Exchanging XML Data Using Oracle AQ This takes you to Chapter 10, XSQL Pages Publishing Framework This takes you to Chapter 15, Using the PDK for Visualizing XML Data in Oracle Portal This takes you to ChapterOracle9iAS Reports Services and XML This takes you to Chapter 13, Using Metadata API This takes you to Chapter 18, Using Oracle9iAS Dynamic Services and XML This takes you to Chapter 8, Searching XML Data with Oracle Text This takes you to Chapter 1, Oracle XML-Enabled Technology This takes you to Chapter 2, Modeling and Design Issues for Oracle XML Applications This takes you to Chapter 3, Oracle XML Developer Kits (XDKs) and Components: Overview and General FAQs This takes you to Chapter 4, Using XSL and XSLT This takes you to Chapter 17, Introducing Oracle XML Gateway This takes you to Chapter 11, Using JDeveloper to Build Oracle XML Applications This takes you to Chapter 12, Building BC4J and XML Applications
Text description of the illustration adxml074.gif

Related Documentation

For more information, see these Oracle resources:

How to Order this Manual

In North America, printed documentation is available for sale in the Oracle Store at: 

http://oraclestore.oracle.com/

Customers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) can purchase documentation from: 

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Other customers can contact their Oracle representative to purchase printed documentation.

To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or other collateral, please visit the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). You must register online before using OTN; registration is free and can be done at 

http://otn.oracle.com/membership/index.htm

If you already have a username and password for OTN, then you can go directly to the documentation section of the OTN Web site at 

http://otn.oracle.com/docs/index.htm

Downloading Release Notes, Installation Guides, White Papers,...

To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or other collateral, please visit the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). You must register online before using OTN; registration is free and can be done at 

http://otn.oracle.com/membership/index.htm

If you already have a username and password for OTN, then you can go directly to the documentation section of the OTN Web site at 

http://otn.oracle.com/docs/index.htm

How to Access this Manual On-Line

You can find copies of or download this manual from any of the following locations:

Conventions

This section describes the conventions used in the text and code examples of this documentation set. It describes:

Conventions in Text

We use various conventions in text to help you more quickly identify special terms. The following table describes those conventions and provides examples of their use.

Convention  Meaning  Example 

Bold 

Bold typeface indicates terms that are defined in the text or terms that appear in a glossary, or both. 

When you specify this clause, you create an index-organized table.  

Italics 

Italic typeface indicates book titles or emphasis. 

Oracle9i Concepts

Ensure that the recovery catalog and target database do not reside on the same disk. 

UPPERCASE monospace (fixed-width font) 

Uppercase monospace typeface indicates elements supplied by the system. Such elements include parameters, privileges, datatypes, RMAN keywords, SQL keywords, SQL*Plus or utility commands, packages and methods, as well as system-supplied column names, database objects and structures, usernames, and roles. 

You can specify this clause only for a NUMBER column.

You can back up the database by using the BACKUP command.

Query the TABLE_NAME column in the USER_TABLES data dictionary view.

Use the DBMS_STATS.GENERATE_STATS procedure. 

lowercase monospace (fixed-width font) 

Lowercase monospace typeface indicates executables, filenames, directory names, and sample user-supplied elements. Such elements include computer and database names, net service names, and connect identifiers, as well as user-supplied database objects and structures, column names, packages and classes, usernames and roles, program units, and parameter values.

Note: Some programmatic elements use a mixture of UPPERCASE and lowercase. Enter these elements as shown. 

Enter sqlplus to open SQL*Plus.

The password is specified in the orapwd file.

Back up the datafiles and control files in the /disk1/oracle/dbs directory.

The department_id, department_name, and location_id columns are in the hr.departments table.

Set the QUERY_REWRITE_ENABLED initialization parameter to true.

Connect as oe user.

The JRepUtil class implements these methods. 

lowercase monospace (fixed-width font) italic 

Lowercase monospace italic font represents placeholders or variables. 

You can specify the parallel_clause.

Run Uold_release.SQL where old_release refers to the release you installed prior to upgrading. 

Conventions in Code Examples

Code examples illustrate SQL, PL/SQL, SQL*Plus, or other command-line statements. They are displayed in a monospaced (fixed-width) font and separated from normal text as shown in this example: 

SELECT username FROM dba_users WHERE username = 'MIGRATE';

The following table describes typographic conventions used in code examples and provides examples of their use.

Convention  Meaning  Example 

[ ] 

Brackets enclose one or more optional items. Do not enter the brackets. 

DECIMAL (digits [ , precision ]) 

{ } 

Braces enclose two or more items, one of which is required. Do not enter the braces. 

{ENABLE | DISABLE} 

| 

A vertical bar represents a choice of two or more options within brackets or braces. Enter one of the options. Do not enter the vertical bar. 

{ENABLE | DISABLE}

[COMPRESS | NOCOMPRESS] 

... 

Horizontal ellipsis points indicate either:

  • That we have omitted parts of the code that are not directly related to the example

  • That you can repeat a portion of the code

 

CREATE TABLE ... AS subquery;

SELECT col1, col2, ... , coln FROM employees; 

.

.

. 

Vertical ellipsis points indicate that we have omitted several lines of code not directly related to the example. 

 

Other notation 

You must enter symbols other than brackets, braces, vertical bars, and ellipsis points as shown. 

acctbal NUMBER(11,2);

acct CONSTANT NUMBER(4) := 3; 

Italics 

Italicized text indicates placeholders or variables for which you must supply particular values. 

CONNECT SYSTEM/system_password

DB_NAME = database_name 

UPPERCASE 

Uppercase typeface indicates elements supplied by the system. We show these terms in uppercase in order to distinguish them from terms you define. Unless terms appear in brackets, enter them in the order and with the spelling shown. However, because these terms are not case sensitive, you can enter them in lowercase. 

SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM employees;

SELECT * FROM USER_TABLES;

DROP TABLE hr.employees; 

lowercase 

Lowercase typeface indicates programmatic elements that you supply. For example, lowercase indicates names of tables, columns, or files.

Note: Some programmatic elements use a mixture of UPPERCASE and lowercase. Enter these elements as shown. 

SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM employees;

sqlplus hr/hr

CREATE USER mjones IDENTIFIED BY ty3MU9; 

Documentation Accessibility

Oracle's goal is to make our products, services, and supporting documentation accessible to the disabled community with good usability. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For additional information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program web site at

http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/.

Reading Code Examples

JAWS, a Windows screen reader, may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise empty line; however, JAWS may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace.

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