12 Design Studio Platform Tools

This chapter provides an overview of Oracle Enterprise Packet for Eclipse and Java Development Tools, that you use with Oracle Communications Service Catalog and Design - Design Studio.

Working with Oracle Enterprise Packet for Eclipse

Design Studio supports Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse, a set of certified plug-ins designed to help you develop and debug Java EE applications that can be deployed on Oracle WebLogic Server from Eclipse.

Design Studio uses the Eclipse platform as a product framework and as an integrated development environment (IDE) to support plug-in architecture and customizations. Eclipse provides a GUI to manage and configure data across Oracle Communications products.

Eclipse supports application development tool construction, independent tool vendors, GUI and non-GUI application development, numerous content types (including Java, HTML, C, and XML), tool integration, and use of Java language for writing the tools.

For more information about installing Oracle Enterprise for Eclipse, see Design Studio Installation Guide.

Note:

To run Oracle Enterprise for Eclipse, system administrators must install the correct Java Runtime Environment and Java Developer Kit. See Design Studio Installation Guide for more information.

Oracle Enterprise for Eclipse includes a number of tools that are useful for middleware development and includes all of the required features to support Design Studio. These tools compliment Design Studio features to provide a more complete design environment for building solutions.

About Java Development Tools

Java Development Tools (JDT) provide a set of workbench plug-ins that add the capabilities of a full-featured Java IDE to the Eclipse platform. JDT plug-ins provide APIs that can be further extended by other tool builders. Additionally, the JDT includes a built-in Java compiler that compiles Java code and creates error messages when compilation fails.

About Database Development Tools

Oracle Enterprise for Eclipse provides tools to help you develop applications that use Oracle Database. These tools include:

• Support for the integration of Oracle Database with Eclipse Data Tools Platform.

• Diagram viewers for visualizing database schemas and object-relational mapping.

• Database Explorer, which supports data editing, data load/extract, and Data Definition Language generation.

• SQL tools that support SQL editing, running and stored procedures.

About Application and WebLogic Server Tools

Oracle Enterprise for Eclipse editors and optimized development tools for application server development simplify work with products like WebLogic Server by providing:

• Fast, iterative deployment for local and remote servers.

• Support for JAX-WS web services (editor and configuration support).

• Oracle Enterprise for Eclipse visual deployment descriptor editors for *-jms.xml, weblogic.xml, weblogic-application.xml, weblogic-ejb.jar.xml, faces-config.xml, and persistence.xml files, and a JSR 88 deployment plan editor.

About Web Application Tools

Oracle Enterprise for Eclipse web application tools simplify working with technologies like JSF, JSP, CSS, ADF, and others.

Web Applications

The following web application tools simplify analyzing and visualizing dependencies to reduce run-time debugging and to improve code quality:

• AppXRay and AppXaminer offer compiler-level awareness of Java, Oracle Application Development Framework (Oracle ADF), HTML, CSS, JSP, JSTL, and JSF at design time, with capabilities in code and annotation completion, code navigation, dependency visualization, consistency checking with generated classes and configuration files, pre-build error checking, and validation.

• An enhanced Eclipse Web Tools Platform (WTP) Web Page Editor (WPE) includes a Smart Property Sheet to simplify tag configuration and data binding. WPE also includes localization support, JSF, JSP, JSTL, CSS/HTML, and a Tag and Data Palette.

Web Tools Platform

The WTP extends the Eclipse platform to simplify web and Java EE application development. WPT provides the following tools to simplify deploying, running, and testing applications:

• Core Web Tools Platform (EJB Tools, Java EE Tools, Server Tools)

• JavaServer Faces Tools

• Data Tools Platform Project

Oracle ADF Tools

Oracle Enterprise for Eclipse provides design-time support for application development with Oracle ADF. You can create applications that leverage Oracle ADF Faces and Task Flows, validate and refactor Oracle ADF dependencies using AppXRay, deploy and debug with Oracle WebLogic Server, and create Oracle ADF Libraries for application reuse.

The following Oracle ADF tools simplify Java EE development by minimizing the need to write code that implements the application's infrastructure:

• Oracle ADF Server Extensions to configure WebLogic Server and Eclipse for ADF development

• ADF Project Templates and Facets

• ADF-enabled JSP Templates

• ADF design time support

  • WPE enhancements for ADF source development

  • Smart Property Sheet to simplify tag configuration and data binding

  • Tag Palette enabled for ADF Faces and Data Visualization Tools (DVT) components

  • Tag editors for drag and drop configuration of ADF tags

• AppXRay support for ADF tags

About JPA and Oracle Coherence Tools

The following Oracle Enterprise for Eclipse tools help you create applications that map objects to relational databases.

Java Persistence API (JPA) Tools

JPA tools simplify working with the Java programming language framework to manage relational data in applications using Java Platform, Standard Edition, and Enterprise Edition. These tools enable you to:

• Use object relational mapping tools for Java Persistence API

• Generate entities from schema

  • Start with any database connection

  • Create entities based on table relationships

  • Define new entity associations

• Generate entities from POJO

  • Annotate existing Java class

  • Map POJO fields and properties to database schema

• Use the Entities editor, which includes:

  • A design view to display and edit existing entity relationships

  • Hyperlinked navigation to entity source code

• Use the JPA Details view, enabling you to:

  • Edit entity properties and relationships from the Entities editor

• Support EclipseLink/TopLink, Kodo, OpenJPA, and generic JPA providers

Oracle Coherence Tools

Oracle Enterprise for Eclipse supports Oracle Coherence. You can run, deploy, and debug Coherence servers from Eclipse, as well as create and configure projects, and leverage visual editors for cache configuration and override descriptors.

About Third-Party Tools

Design Studio and the Eclipse platform support third-party tools that are helpful for readiness, testing, and other administrative activities. For example, you might use:

• soapUI, as a test tool for calling web services.

• HermesJMS, as a test tool for sending and receiving JMS messages.

• SQL Developer, as a utility for maintaining the database.

• XQDT for Eclipse or oXygen XML Developer, as an XQuery editor.