Planning Technology Types

You must create at least one new technology type for each Adapter Area.

Oracle Life Sciences Data Hub requires that you follow a naming convention to distinguish between technology types:

• If the adapter needs to open an integrated development environment (IDE) you must create a technology type with a name that ends with the string DEV. The system calls the Build_IDE_Config_function only for technology types whose name ends with DEV.

  This technology type can handle opening two different IDEs if required, using the value that the system supplies to an input parameter of the Build_IDE_Cfg_Function to determine whether the user launched the IDE from the Reports tab or from a Program or Business Area.

• If the adapter does not open an IDE, or if it needs to do something in addition to opening an IDE, create a technology type (or an additional technology type) that does not have a name that ends with DEV.

You may need more than one technology type of the non-IDE type if your adapter needs to call two different functions at the same point in processing—that is, if a fork is required.

For example, the Oracle LSH OBIEE adapter has three technology types, CDR$OBIEEDEV for the IDE and two others, CDR$OBIEE and CDR$OBIEETMP. CDR$OBIEE is the base technology type for the OBIEE adapter; the one whose name is in the tech_types column of the adapter area table. Each of the two has both an Execution_Function and a Post_Execution_Function so they cannot coexist in the same technology type. Instead, the Install_Function of the base OBIEE technology type, which the system calls during Business Area installation, calls both execution functions. The execution function of the second technology type is coded to wait until the post-execution function of the first has completed so that the following occur in order:

1. Generate the RPD file.
2. Upload the RPD file to the Business Area Source Code definition.
3. Deploy the RPD file to the OBIEE Presentation Server.
4. Restart the OBIEE Presentation Server.

In addition, if your external system uses multiple types of processing—for example, Java and C++—you must create a technology type for each processing type.

Each technology type definition includes:

• A unique ID. Contact Oracle Support to get an ID for your technology type that is unique across all adapters developed for use with Oracle Life Sciences Data Hub.
• The object type to be created using the adapter.
• A service type; see Planning Services.
• The names of functions and procedures to be used during object installation and execution.

• Oracle LSH uses operators for job tracking. Specify one of two possible Oracle LSH operators for adapters that run jobs:

  • CdrPLSQLImmediate_1 for external systems that use PL/SQL to execute their Load Sets, Programs, or Data Marts.
  • CdrSERVICE_1 for external systems that are located on an operating system; these adapters use the Oracle LSH Distributed Processing (DP) Server to execute their defined objects.

  No operator is required to launch an IDE, so an IDE technology type may not need an operator. However, if the adapter needs to take an action in the IDE during or after the launch, its technology type needs the CdrSERVICE_1 operator. For example, the OBIEE 10g adapter needs to copy the RPD file to OBIEE and restart the Presentation Server the first time an OBIEE Business Area is installed. It uses this operator for that purpose.

  Note:

  There is one additional OWB operator, CdrDiscovererBA, which was hardcoded for the former Oracle Discoverer adapter. Do not use this operator.