A.2 ADF File Overview Diagram

The relationship between the Oracle ADF metadata files defines dependencies between the model data and the user interface projects. The dependencies are defined as file references within XML elements of the files.

Figure A-1 illustrates the hierarchical relationship of the XML metadata files that you may work with in the Oracle ADF application that uses an EJB session bean as a service interface to JavaBeans and JSF web pages.

Figure A-1 Oracle ADF File Hierarchy Overview for an EJB-based Web Application

A.2.1 Oracle ADF Data Control Files

These XML configuration files required in an Oracle ADF application appear in the data model project:

• DataControls.dcx is the registry for the data controls in the application. It contains information about the type of data control needed to work with a particular service (e.g. EJB, JavaBean, XML, Webservice, etc.) and how to construct the data control at runtime.

  For details about what you can configure in the DataControls.dcx file, see Section A.4.

• Structure definition files are the structure definition XML files for each business service type in the application. It contains information about the type of data control needed to work with a particular service (e.g. EJB, JavaBean, XML, Webservice, etc.) and how to construct the data control at runtime. For example, in the SRDemo application, which uses an EJB session bean as a service interface to JavaBeans, these files appear in the data model project:

  • <sessionbeanname>.xml—This is the structure definition XML file for each data type involved in the service interface. The name matches the name of that data type. For an EJB service interface, there is one structure definition file for the service class itself.

  • <beanname>.xml—This is the structure definition XML file for each JavaBean that appears as method return values or method arguments in the service interface.

    For details about what you can configure in the structure definition files, see Section A.5.

• adfm.xml is the registry for the data controls in the JDeveloper design time. The Data Control Palette uses the file to locate the DataControls.dcx file that appears in the data model project. For a sample of the adfm.xml file, see Section A.4.3.

A.2.2 Oracle ADF Data Binding Files

These standard XML configuration files for an Oracle ADF application appear in your user interface project:

• DataBindings.cpx— This file contains the pageMap, page definitions references, and data control references. The file is created the first time you create a data binding for a UI component (either from the Structure window or from the Data Control Palette). The DataBindings.cpx file defines the Oracle ADF binding context for the entire application. The binding context provides access to the bindings across the entire application. The DataBindings.cpx file also contains references to the <pagename>PageDef.xml files that define the metadata for the Oracle ADF bindings in each web page.

  See Section A.6 for details about what you can configure in the DataBindings.cpx file.

• <pagename>PageDef.xml—This is the page definition XML file. This file is created each time you design a new web page using the Data Control Palette or Structure window. These XML files contain the metadata used to create the bindings that populate the data in the web page's UI components. For every web page that refers to an ADF binding, there must be a corresponding page definition file with binding definitions.

  See Section A.7 for details about what you can configure in the <pagename>PageDef.xml file.

A.2.3 Oracle ADF Faces and Web Configuration Files

These XML configuration files required in a JSF application appear in your user interface project:

• web.xml—Part of the application's configuration is determined by the contents of its J2EE application deployment descriptor, web.xml. The web.xml file defines everything about your application that a server needs to know. The file plays a role in configuring the Oracle ADF data binding by setting up the ADFBindingFilter. Additional runtime settings include servlet runtime and initialization parameters, custom tag library location, and security settings.

  For details about ADF data binding and JSF configuration options, see Section A.8.

• faces-config.xml—This JSF configuration file lets you register a JSF application's resources, such as validators, converters, managed beans, and navigation rules. While an application can have more than one configuration resource file, and that file can have any name, typically the filename is faces-config.xml.

  For details about JSF configuration options, see Section A.10.

• adf-faces-config.xml—This ADF Faces configuration file lets you configure ADF Faces-specific user interface features such as accessibility levels, custom skins, enhanced debugging, and right-to-left page rendering.

  For details about ADF Faces configuration options, see Section A.11.