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Oracle® Developer Suite Installation Guide
10g (9.0.4) for Windows, Linux, Solaris, and HP-UX
Part No. B10579-02
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B Components

Oracle Developer Suite combines leading Oracle application development and business intelligence tools into a single, integrated product. Built on Internet standards such as Java and XML, the suite provides a complete and highly productive development environment for building applications for Oracle Application Server and Oracle9i Database.

This appendix briefly describes the development tools available in Oracle Developer Suite. The following topics are included:

Oracle9i JDeveloper

Oracle Business Intelligence Beans

Oracle Reports Developer

Oracle Discoverer Administrator

Oracle Forms Developer

Oracle Software Configuration Manager

Oracle Designer

Additional Documentation

B.1 Oracle9i JDeveloper

Oracle9i JDeveloper is a J2EE and XML development environment with end-to-end support for developing, debugging, and deploying business applications and Web Services. To maximize developer productivity, JDeveloper provides a comprehensive set of integrated tools to support the complete development life-cycle, including the industry's fastest Java debugger and the innovative profiler and CodeCoach tools for code performance analysis and improvement. JDeveloper simplifies J2EE development by providing wizards, editors, visual design tools, and deployment tools to create high-quality, standard J2EE components including applets, JavaBeans, JavaServer Pages, servlets, and Enterprise JavaBeans.

To simplify the development of scalable, high-performance J2EE applications, JDeveloper offers an open and extensible J2EE framework called Business Components for Java (BC4J). BC4J is an object-relational mapping tool that implements Sun's J2EE design patterns, allowing developers to quickly build sophisticated J2EE applications.

B.1.1 Supported Deployment Environments

JDeveloper can be used to deploy applications in a variety of environments. JDeveloper is based on Sun Java SDK 1.4.1, and the applications or components that you create may be deployed on any J2EE certified platform running that SDK version.

Although JDeveloper and clients developed with JDeveloper may work in other environments, this version of JDeveloper has been specifically certified for the following environments:

  • Browser

    • Netscape Navigator 4.79 and higher

    • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5, 6.0

    • Java WebStart

  • Application Server

    • Oracle Application Server versions 9.0.2, 9.0.3, and 9.0.4

    • Oracle Application Server Containers for J2EE 2.0.0.0, 9.0.2, 9.0.3, and 9.0.4

    • Visibroker 4.5.1

    • WebLogic 6.1, 7.0 Service Pack 1

    • Apache Tomcat 4.1.12

    • JBoss 3.0.4 (with Tomcat 4.1.12)

  • Client Runtime Platforms (platforms for applications, WebStart, and JSPs created with JDeveloper and deployed to an appropriate Application/Database Server)

    • Windows NT 4.0 (Service Pack 6a or higher)

    • Linux x86, with either KDE2 or GNOME desktop

    • HP-UX, with either CDE or VUE desktop

  • JDBC

    • Oracle Thin JDBC

    • Oracle JDBC-OCI8

    • Oracle Lite JDBC

    • Sun JDBC-ODBC Bridge

  • Database (this lists the data sources you can connect to and develop against)

    • Oracle9i RDBMS v9.0.1 and v9.2.0.2

    • Oracle8i RDBMS v8.1.7.1 and v8.1.7.2

The version of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) included in both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer is older than the 1.4.1 JVM used in JDeveloper. Therefore, user's browsers may require you to install a JVM Plug-in. You can download the plug-in from

http://java.sun.com/products/plugin.

B.1.2 Oracle on the Web

Oracle provides a number of resources on the Web. These are some sites you may find helpful:

B.1.3 Oracle Business Intelligence Beans

Oracle Business Intelligence Beans is an integrated component of JDeveloper that enables developers to build applications that incorporate business intelligence capabilities. Such applications can be deployed in an HTML-client environment, where the application runs on a server and is viewed in a browser on the user's computer, or in a Java-client environment, where Java runs on the user's machine. The analysis features of BI Beans rely on the new analytic capabilities provided in the Oracle9i Database -- OLAP option.

The key components of Oracle BI Beans are the following:

  • Presentation beans: Graph, Crosstab, and Table

  • OLAP (data) beans: QueryBuilder, CalcBuilder, and Dimension List

  • BI Beans Catalog and associated persistence services

  • HTML-client applications based on business intelligence UIX components (servlets) or JSP tags

B.1.3.1 Deployment Requirements

This section describes requirements for the deployment environment. For information about deploying applications, consult the Help system. In the Table of Contents, expand the Oracle Business Intelligence Beans node, then click Deploying Applications.

Data server: Oracle9i Enterprise Edition Release 2 (9.2.0.3 or higher) with the OLAP option and with all required patch sets. For a complete list of required patch sets as well as up-to-date information about which database releases are supported, consult the Oracle BI Beans product area on Oracle Technology Network (http://otn.oracle.comproducts/bib/content.html).

Metadata: Appropriate metadata must be defined in the Oracle database in order to support business intelligence applications. For information about defining OLAP metadata, see the Oracle9i OLAP Services Concepts and Administration Guide, which is part of the documentation set for Oracle9i, or refer to the Help system for the OLAP management tool in Oracle Enterprise Manager, which is the tool you use to create the metadata. You can also use Oracle Warehouse Builder to create appropriate metadata.

Browser: In an HTML-client application, the user's browser must support cookies.

Image generation on Linux, Solaris, and HP-UX platforms: Image generation for JSP and servlet applications on Linux, Solaris, and HP-UX must run in a "headless" environment -- that is, on a computer that lacks frame buffer hardware. You must explicitly enable headless mode, as follows:

  1. In the JDeveloper System Navigator, right-click the project node and choose Project Settings from the drop-down list.

  2. Under Development, click Runner.

  3. Add the following Java Option:

    -Djava.awt.headless=true

Requirements for applications that are deployed to Oracle Application Server

Oracle BI Beans uses different .jar files from those that ship with Oracle Application Server. If you want to deploy a Oracle BI Beans application to Oracle Application Server, then you must follow the procedure in Setting up a Separate OC4J Instance for a BI Beans Application, which is available from the Oracle BI Beans product area on Oracle Technology Network (http://otn.oracle.com/products/bib/content.html).

Deploying to Other Web Servers

Oracle Corporation supports deployment of Oracle BI Beans applications to BEA WebLogic Server™. See the technical note, Deploying Applications to BEA WebLogic Server, which is available from the Oracle BI Beans product area on Oracle Technology Network (http://otn.oracle.com/products/bib/content.html). Additional technical notes that describe how to deploy to other web servers will be posted as they become available.

Requirements for applications that use the BI Beans Catalog

  • Database: The BI Beans Catalog can use either Oracle9i Database Release 1 or Release 2.

  • Client-side driver:

    • Oracle JDBC Thick (OCI) driver. Recommended for better performance, especially in a multiuser environment. Also recommended for use with JDeveloper in a WAN environment. This driver is installed with Oracle9i and requires configuration. To configure the driver, you must install the Oracle9i client on the computer where BI Beans is running. You can download the Oracle9i client from Oracle Technology Network (http://otn.oracle.com), where it is available as a separate download on the main Oracle9i download page.

      or

    • Oracle JDBC Thin (Pure Java) driver. Installed with Oracle9i JDeveloper; recommended for use with JDeveloper, except in a WAN environment.

B.1.4 UIX

Integrated UIX technology components in JDeveloper enable you to rapidly build HTML-based clients which utilize Servlets and JSPs. UIX is an open framework for building J2EE-compliant web applications. UIX includes Java class libraries, APIs, parsers, and other software for creating web applications with page-based navigation, such as an online shopping application. Although UIX is server-based and implemented in the Java programming language, Java is not required on the client. All you need to view a UIX application is a browser. UIX supports a variety of clients, including HTML-compliant browsers and mobile devices. The UIX technologies are located in the oracle.cabo package and its subpackages.

B.1.5 Bali

Integrated Bali technology components in JDeveloper enable you to rapidly build traditional Java-based clients such as Java applets and applications. Bali is a set of technologies that constitute a framework for building the presentation layer of your Java-based client applications. Bali technologies build upon the JFC (Java Foundation Classes) framework and provide an Oracle Look and Feel implementation. Oracle Help for Java is also available as a component for integration into any Java-based product. All of the Bali technologies are implemented in 100% Java code and located in the oracle.bali package and its subpackages.

B.2 Oracle Reports Developer

Oracle Reports Developer enables you to build and publish high-quality Web and paper reports based on dynamic data. All reports developed using Oracle Reports Developer can be deployed seamlessly on Oracle Application Server. Using Oracle Reports Developer makes publishing information easy because it allows you to access any data, and publish it in any format, and send it anywhere. For example, you can publish data from sources such as SQL databases, OLAP databases, XML feeds, and JDBC-enabled data sources.

Through Oracle Application Server, you can publish your reports in a variety of widely used formats, including HTML, PDF, delimited text, RTF, PostScript, PCL, and XML. You can also extend your HTML reports pages by embedding your own data-driven Java components or Oracle Reports Developer custom JSP tags into the HTML document via a wizard interface. The use of wizards expedites major tasks in report production, while the use of report templates and a live data pre-viewer allows for easy customization of the report structure.

B.3 Oracle Discoverer Administrator

Oracle Discoverer Administrator (formerly Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition) is a tool for designing and presenting a business user oriented view of data from data warehouses, data marts, and online transaction processing systems for business professionals to access using Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer (available in Oracle Application Server). The installation of Oracle Discoverer Administrator includes a copy of Oracle Discoverer Desktop. Oracle Discoverer Administrator is the only tool you need to support your Discoverer Plus, Discoverer Desktop, and Discoverer Viewer users.

B.4 Oracle Forms Developer

Oracle Forms Developer is a rapid application development tool that provides a highly productive, end-to-end development environment for building enterprise-class, database-centric Internet applications with a rich Java interface. The integrated set of builders, re-entrant wizards, and property palettes enable you to quickly develop sophisticated, multi-lingual, and interactive forms and business logic with minimal coding effort. Applications developed using Oracle Forms Developer can be instantly deployed to the Internet using the Forms Servlet and Forms Listener Servlet, which are included with Oracle Application Server.

Oracle Forms Developer includes a subcomponent to help manage the translation of Oracle Forms and Oracle Reports files into different languages. This subcomponent, called TranslationHub, is available on Windows only and enables you to make efficient, consistent translations.

B.5 Oracle Software Configuration Manager

Oracle Software Configuration Manager (Oracle SCM), formerly Oracle Repository, is a highly scalable software configuration management system for multi-developer, multi-stream software development projects of any size and complexity. The repository-based architecture manages structured and unstructured data throughout the development life-cycle. Comprehensive features of Oracle SCM include version control and version history, configuration management for component-based application architectures, and dependency management.

B.6 Oracle Designer

Oracle Designer enables you to visually model and automatically generate databases and applications that exploit the power and portability of Java and HTML user interfaces. Oracle Designer is a wizard-based, task-oriented, integrated design and generation toolset that lets you model, generate, and capture the requirements and design of n-tier Internet applications quickly, accurately, and efficiently. The robust design capture features enable you to protect your current investment by capturing all the design information for a legacy application easily.

B.7 Additional Documentation

All components have online help systems that are installed with the product. Some components provide additional documentation that is available in the Oracle Developer Suite Documentation Library.

For information on viewing and installing the Oracle Developer Suite Documentation Library, see Appendix C, "Installing the Documentation Library".