ADF SOA Blogs

Taskflow Template usage For Navigation

2013-03-11T04:07:00.000-07:00

This post is about usage of taskflow template for handling navigation. Whenever I google about taskflow template, the links available used to show the exceptionHandling done through taskflow template. Wondered about other scenarios where Taskflow Template can be used. Here goes one sample for taskflow template usage.

Consider the following usecase :

Taskflow has multiple pageFragments and other taskflow call activity. Then how to handle return from the taskflow and enter proper pageFragment or taskflow.

Each pageFragment includes another reusable pageFragment "navigation.jsff " to have links available to navigate across functionality. Sample Fragment Code :

Here goes the sample for navigation.jsff -

Now user is inside view1 of tf1 and click on ViewPersonPolicy link. One way of defining navigation is all taskflows has taskflow return activities (outcome = next action string ) defined so that it returns from the taskflow (tf1 ) and enters proper taskflow as requested.

Here comes the usage of taskflow template. Define all taskflow return activities with proper outcome in template then generate tf1, tf2, and tf3 based on that template . On clicking of any link in navigation.jsff proper taskflow return activity will be used to exit which has outcome for the requested pagefragment.

You will get more idea after looking at the application code available for download here.

DataControl Scope Shared across tabs in dynamic Tab Shell

2013-03-11T01:14:00.001-07:00

This post is about illustration of dataControl scope sharing across tabs when using dynamic tab shell template. If you are new to dynamic tab shell template, refer to below two links : -

Dynamic Tabs UI Shell Template Functional UI Pattern ->
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/adf/uishell-093084.html

A Template with Behaviour By Frank Nimphius->
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/issue-archive/2012/12-mar/o22adf-1518265.html

What happens when you try to open multiple taskflows ( Having dataControl scope marked as shared ) in different tabs - It gets shared across tabs also.

Download the application and modify database connection to point to your HR Schema.

1. Run the First.jspx. Click on "Start First Activity". Select any department.

2. Now Click on "". You see the row currency is maintained across tabs. Both the taskflows has their datacontrol scope shared.

Try selecting the departments in one taskflow and then open the second taskflow in another tab. You will see that the same department is selected in the departments table.

Sample application can be downloaded from here.

Accessing and Iterating HashMap Values

2012-07-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

This post covers how to access value for a particular key in HashMap and iterate over the HashMap.

First we will cover access value for a particular Key in HashMap : -

1. Create a HashMap in bean. Say we have changeMap in testMapBean.
2. To Access value for key 'abc', use following expression #{pageFlowScope.testMapBean.changeMap.abc}

Simple !

Iterate Over values of HashMap : -

1. Create a HashMap in bean.
2. Create a method returning entrySet array for HashMap.
3. Bind iterator to entrySet returned and access each value using expression : #{row.value}

Sample application can be downloaded here ( HashMapAccessApp ).

Custom Operator ( IN operator ) In viewCritria at Design Time

2012-07-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

There are a couple of post which explains how to apply IN operator where clause to viewobject. This post refer to already existing solution and new posted solution on case by case basis. Here goes the different approaches :

1. IN OPERATOR THROUGH CUSTOM VC -> When u have option to write a method, you can create and apply custom view criteria as described in here ( Use SQL subquery and SQL OPERATOR ( IN, BETWEEN) in ViewCriteria ).
2. IN OPERATOR IN VO QUERY -> When you have IN operator in query of viewobject and want to pass multiple values through that bind variable, you can use either of these approaches :
a) Using Type and Cast : Example 126 from Steve's Blog :-

Create Type and DB function returning that type for comma separated list.
Use type in query like

SELECT Departments.DEPARTMENT_ID,
Departments.DEPARTMENT_NAME,
FROM DEPARTMENTS Departments
WHERE DEPARTMENT_ID IN (

SELECT * FROM TABLE(

CAST ( in_number_list(:CommaSeparatedListOfDeptId)

as num_table)))

b) Using regular expression : Passing comma separated string as bind variable for VO query's IN operator
          WHERE Emp.ENAME in
                (select regexp_substr(:Bind_Ename_Comma_Sep_List,'[^,]+', 1, level)
   from dual
   connect by
          regexp_substr(:Bind_Ename_Comma_Sep_List, '[^,]+', 1, level)
              is not null)

3. OVERRIDE getCriteriaItemClause METHOD FOR CUSTOM WHERE CLAUSE :
Using bind variable for the SQL statements with IN clause
Download the application from the link ( available at bottom of page) and look for Dept_OverriddenGetCriteriaItemClause_VOImpl.java .

4. USING CUSTOM IN OPERATOR IN VIEW CRITERIA AT DESIGN TIME :

At first create you design time viewcriteria. Regarding how to add custom operator you can refer to dev guide Section 31.3.3. Here goes the code snippet for CUSTOM_IN Operator.

NOTE : Default value for departmentIdVar is -1to avoid where clause i.e. DepartmentId IN ( null).

If you want to have some other kind of customized where clause that should be applied using custom operator, write a method in your VOImpl returning whereClause String and refer to it in your customOperator . For example : you want to apply where clause : -   Salary Between 2000 And 5000 the your customWhereClauseMethod should return String "Between 2000 And 5000".

return adf.object.getViewCriteria().getViewObject().customWhereClauseMethod()

You can download the sample application from here ( CustomOperatorApp ) . Run the application module and try passing the comma separated values and it works.

XMLGregorianCalendar and Date conversions

2012-07-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

Converting from oracle.jbo.domain.Date to java.util.Date to GregoriaCalendar to XMLGregorianCalendar

Converting from XMLGregorianCalendar to GregoriaCalendar to java.util.Date to oracle.jbo.domain.Date

ManagedServer For ADF application Deployment

2012-05-22T02:17:00.001-07:00

Here we will talk about how you can create a separate managed server for ADF applications deployment. The way you install SOA, Webcenter etc and create Managed Servers for deployment... same can be done for ADF applications as well.

Steps involved :
1. Install Weblogic Server - I will assume that you already have a weblogic server installed and will not cover in this post.

2. Install ADF runtime (available as part of Jdeveloper 11g) to WebLogic Server
Run the Jdev installer and select options as shown below.
Select to install in your existing middleware home where you have installed Weblogic

CLICK NEXT AND Select ADF Runtime

Now do Next and Finish the wizard.

3. Run Config.cmd to create/extend domain.

Create or Extend the domain with ADF Runtime. You should see the option to select ADF Runtime as below.

That is all .. you can go ahead with domain creation/extension as you do with SOA.

Enjoy.....

Using JSTL Functions in ADF Page

2012-05-04T04:06:00.000-07:00

This post will illustrate how can we use the JSTL functions in you ADF Jspx/Jsff pages.

A friend came with following problem :

Attribute Value : +1100WWS displayed in a table column with some inlineStyle.
Same attribute value needs to be displayed in following manner
+ -> with a different inlineStyle
-> with another inlineStyle.

Business Service Layer used in his project EJB. If it would have been ADF BC, I would have recommended creating transient attribute and all. Now I don't have any idea on EJB, I started looking for something to do on expression Language on ADF page. Simple google Search - subString operation in Expression Language.

Answer is - Use JSTL.

How to use JSTL -
1. Add JSTL function in your tag library.

2. Include namespace in your jsff.

3. Use JSTL functions in your expression language.

Src: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/jsp/jsp_standard_tag_library.htm

Enjoy...

How to delete the domain from the weblogic

2012-04-12T23:47:00.007-07:00

As we know there is no configuration wizard to delete the existing domains. So you can delete the domains using below mentioned manual steps :

I am going to delete the domain "mycustomdomain" -
1. Open the domain-registry under $Middleware_HOME directory. Remove the entry referring to mycustomdomain

Code Snippet in domain-registry.xml

<domain location="C:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\domains\mycustomdomain"/>

2. Open nodemanager.domains file under $Middleware_HOME\wlserver_10.3\common\nodemanager\ folder. Remove the corresponding entry referring to mycustomdomain.

Code Snipper in nodemanager.domains

mycustomdomain=C\:\\Oracle\\Middleware\\user_projects\\domains\mycustomdomain

3. Delete the domain folder under domains folder manually.

$Middleware_Home\user_projects\domains\mycustom_domain

4. Delete the domain folder under applications folder manually.

$Middleware_Home\user_projects\applications\\mycustom_domain

Printing a command link using af:showPrintablePageBehavior

2012-04-12T22:32:00.004-07:00

This post will illustrate how you can print the text on CommandLink when using af:showPrintablePageBehavior tag

Problem :
By default, when showPrintablePageBehavior is used in page and it renders the page in print mode in new tab with exception that command link disappears in the printable version.
As per default print behavior of ADF that it omits command buttons, links etc present on the page.

Solution :
Add another component (e.g. af:outputText) next to the commandlink (together with the link) and set the rendered attribute to

rendered ="#{adfFacesContext.outputMode eq 'printable'}"

Then (in theory) the outputtext only gets rendered if you render the page as printable.

Enjoy...

Master Detail Form for creating master-detail records

2012-04-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

This post will show you how to create master-detail form to create master-detail record.
You will find quite many blogs for below requirements :
Master Form and Detail Table -- Keep adding detail record a queried master.
Master Table and Detail Table -- Add master record and then add detail record.

Here fields from both master and detail table are taken in to same ADF form allowing you to create one Master and one Detail record.

I have referred Controlling Entity Posting Order to Avoid Constraint Violations from Oracle® Fusion Middleware Fusion Developer's Guide for Oracle Application Development Framework
11g Release 1 (11.1.1.6.0).

To start with you will be having entity, association, viewobject and viewlinks created on top of your database table. Once your VO's ( updatable based on entity Objects ) are created, you need understand how you want to populate your primary key Id attribute in Master and detail.

In my sample application, I have populated primary key for master and detail Entities like this :

adf.object.nextVal("DEPARTMENTS_SEQ")
adf.object.nextVal("LOCATIONS_SEQ")

Note that when you are using the above groovy, it means you need to have nextVal method in your EntityImpl. So add below method when using adf.object.nextVal("<sequenceName>").

    protected Number nextVal(String sequenceName) {
    SequenceImpl s = new SequenceImpl(sequenceName, getDBTransaction());
    return s.getSequenceNumber();
    }

This is all about setting primary key, where is the master detail form.

From Oracle Link Referred. { Default Post Processing Order :- By default, when you commit the transaction the entity objects in the pending changes list are processed in chronological order, in other words, the order in which the entities were added to the list. This means that, for example, if you create a new detail record and then a new master record related to that product, the new detail record will be inserted first and the new master record second. }

Since you will be calling a commit ( AMDataControl commit method ) from UI, we need to make sure that master gets committed before the detail row. There are couple of ways to do that which are mentioned in the Oracle Link referred.
One way is Compositions changing the default processing order. -- Andrejus Blog explains this.
Other way is overriding postChanges() method to control Posting Order --- Used in this blog.

So here goes the code for DetailEOImpl where postChanges() method is overridden to make sure the master is committed first.

    public void postChanges(TransactionEvent e) {
      /* If current entity is new or modified */
      if (getPostState() == STATUS_NEW ||
          getPostState() == STATUS_MODIFIED) {
        /* Get the associated Locations for the Department */
          LocationsEOImpl location = (LocationsEOImpl)getLocationsEO();

        /* If there is an associated location */
        if (location != null) {
          /* And if it's post-status is NEW */
          if (location.getPostState() == STATUS_NEW) {
            /*
             * Post the location first, before posting this
             * entity by calling super below
             */
            location.postChanges(e);
          }
        }
      }
      System.out.println(" this.getLocationId()-"+this.getLocationId());

      super.postChanges(e);
    }

Now you are done, just create your ADF form and add commit to the button on Page. it works perfectly fine. In my application, I am calling a AM exposed method as default activity for the taskflow to create the master and detail row ready for entering values. Then added the commit button on page calling datacontrol commit method.

Notes : - You might notice that I have not followed a few steps mentioned in the Oracle link referred. As per section 38.8.3 Overriding postChanges() to Control Post Order steps that needs to be followed are as below :

38.8.3.1 Observing the Post Ordering Problem First Hand -- Describes about the problem of commit of master detail.
38.8.3.2 Forcing the Supplier to Post Before the Product -- This is what we have done by overriding the postChanges() method.
38.8.3.3 Understanding Associations Based on DBSequence-Valued Primary Keys -- This explains what exactly happens when you use DBSequence-Valued Primary Keys. Have you noted that we are populating the primary key from from DBSequence, but ours is not DBSequence-Valued PrimaryKeys. So primary keys in our case gets assigned with proper values as soon as a row is created, where as in case of DBSequence-Valued Primary Keys it is a negative number.
38.8.3.4 Refreshing References to DBSequence-Assigned Foreign Keys - We don't need this because we don't have DBSequence-Valued Primary keys.

Sample application can be downloaded from here.

PageFlowScope with Unbounded Task Flows

2012-03-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well I am not explaining any memory scopes here. I was going through blogs and found this one pretty interesting.
Chris Muir has explained it pretty well here
http://one-size-doesnt-fit-all.blogspot.in/2011/10/pageflowscope-with-unbounded-task-flows.html

Oracle ADF Certification

2011-11-08T22:53:00.000-08:00

I am now an Oracle Certified Application Development Framework Implementation Specialist.

I wrote the exam 1Z0-554 day before yesterday and managed to pass the exam.

My certification status currently is :

Pass Parameter to ActionListener Method

2011-09-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

This post illustrates way to send additional parameters to actionListener method.

Any actionListener method accept only one parameter actionEvent. So to pass additional parameter to actionListener method add attribute tag from JSF core. Also set the parameter value to the value that needs to passed to actionListner method.

<af:commandButton text="TestButton" id="cb1"
                        actionListener="#{pageFlowScope.TestTaskflowBean.testButtonActionListener}">
        <f:attribute name="testParam" value="#{'123'}"/>
      </af:commandButton>

Next part is how to retrieve the value ? In order to retrieve the value use the following code :

 String param =
        (String)actionEvent.getComponent().getAttributes().get("testParam");

Sample application can be downloaded from ParamToActionListener

Conditional Rendering : Usage of Rendered Attribute and Partial Trigger

2011-09-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

In this post we will understand how to render the adf components using the refresh component.In above diagram, B is a child of component A and rendered of B is controlled based on parameter renderBParam value. An action or event from component C updates the renderBParam parameter value. So what needs to be done to show hide the component B ?

Set the partialTrigger of component B to point to id of component C and see what happpens ? Oopps nothing happened ... is partial trigger working ? ... is render attribute working ?

Lets first learn what went wrong which is not allowing it to work and then we will understand how to refresh ( show/hide ) ?

When rendered attribute is set to false for a specific component that component will not be included into the source rendered on the client and all life cycle phases will be skipped for the component in cause.
So, the partialTriggers attribute doesn’t work if set on component B because the component is not available. So refresh another component which is parent of B so that when it refreshed component B gets rendered.

Solution : Surround component B with another parent component .. in our case say A. Now set the partialTrigger of component A to point the id of component C. Whenever C triggers that action/event it refreshed the component A which in turns refresh component B.

ADF UI - How to use af:iterator to implement forms

2011-01-13T21:34:00.000-08:00

Using <af:iterator> to implement forms

In this post, I am going to illustrate how you can use the <af:iterator> to implement forms. You can achieve the same by following these steps :-

1. First of all you need to create the required bindings. Drag and drop the VO as table to create the binding.

Table code -

Following bindings got created -

2. Now drop <af:iterator> from the component Pallete and specify the values for properties value, rows and var copying from <af:table> that you dropped.

<af:iterator id="i1" value="#{bindings.EmployeesVO1.collectionModel}" var="row"
rows="#{bindings.EmployeesVO1.rangeSize}">

3.Now, copy the attributes from table (which are under each column) into the <af:iterator> . Then cut the table code ( don't delete it from structure window or design to protect the bindings ).

4. Arrange all these attributes in your preferred layout and run the page. That's it. You'll see each VO row data one by one. If you've dropped it as editable fields, you can edit them and Commit. Here we are just displaying them.

Application can be downloaded from here .

Oracle SOASuite Basics

2010-12-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

SOA Suite Components

Mediator and Service Bus—Disambiguation

Similar to Mediator, Oracle Service Bus also performs mediation activities in Oracle SOA Suite.While both the Mediator and the Service Bus can perform such tasks as interface and data mapping, routing,
and filtering, their scopes are very different: the Mediator is a component that performs intra-composite mediation, to connect components within a given composite. The Service Bus on the other hand is in charge of inter-composite mediation, that is to say that it connects differentcomposites together—and while doing that, it can also carry out other fundamental tasks of a service bus such as service virtualization, protocol translation, service pooling, and so on.

Relationship of Applications, Projects, and Composites in JDeveloper

A JDeveloper (JDev) application contains one or more JDev projects. When you are developing SOA technologies, a JDev project is equal to a composite application.

CreditCardApplication
|
|---- JDev Project ( CCValidation) ---- SOA Composite (CCValidation )
|
|----JDev Project ( AccountRegistration) ---- SOA Composite ( AccountRegistration )

About the Adapter Wizards

Most adapter wizards follow a common flow explained in below diagram -

First give name to the new adapter. Then establish a connection to the target system: it could be a database, some application—or even just a file system (in which case, it is not really a connection, but simply a path). After this, select an operation—the operations that are offered by the wizard will of course be different for each target system: a database will offer the expected SQL operations
(select, insert, delete, and a few more), a file system will be read or write, and so on. Finally, in the last stage, specify the objects on which you are going to be operating: database tables, specific files, or directories in the file system, records in an application and so on.

Will add more to it.

Understanding Taskflow Train

2010-12-18T05:35:00.000-08:00

Understanding navigations in Taskflow with train

This post illustrate different kind of manipulation with navigation in Taskflow with train.

Create Taskflow with train

A taskflow with train can be created by selecting CreateTrain checkbox in CreateTaskflow wizard.

Add train component to each train stop view.

Change the label for the train stop in the train component -
Select the train stop (view activity) in the diagram and look at the property inspector, choose the Train Stop tab and set the value of display-name property to a string or an EL Expression

1. Simple Train -

Added a input parameter skipValue to Taskflow for later use. Value passed is the name of viewActivity.

Use skip property of train stop to stop access to a viewActivity of the Train -

Using the taskflow parameter to update the skip property of activity to skip the train sequence.

By default a train is sequential. For a non-sequential behaviour pass modify the sequential property of the TrainStop.

Drag and drop the taskflow as a region on page and analyze the output.

Navigation to stview4 can be done directly. It's no more sequential.

Also stview3 is skipped in train navigation.

2. Complex Train -

How to call a view activity between two train stops -

Created a taskflow with train having three view activity. Here we are trying to make a method call when navigating from view1 to view2 .

Drag and drop wildCard Control Flow rule and method. Use control flow case as mentioned in below diagram.

ctView1 contains a button with action "addText".

For direct navigation without calling method use train. To invoke methodcall use button with action "addText".

Application can be download from here.

Use SQL subquery and SQL OPERATOR ( IN, BETWEEN) in ViewCriteria

2010-12-18T03:22:00.000-08:00

Use SQL subquery and SQL OPERATOR ( IN, BETWEEN) in ViewCriteria

This post will illustrate how to use IN,BETWEEN operators in ViewCriteria. How to use the SQL subquery with ViewCriteria.

In this application, HRAppModuleImpl.java contains a method applyCustomCriteria() with three input parameters - departmentIdVar, lowSalaryVar, and highSalaryVar. Expose this method and test .

Below steps explains the code in snapshot below-

1.Create ViewCriteria using createViewCriteria().

2.Create ViewCriteriaRow using createViewCriteriaRow().

3.Create String with required where Clause.

4.Create ViewCriteriaItem using ensureCriteriaItem.

5.Use setOperator() to set the sqlOperator. Use JboCompOper. class to find list of supported operators.

6.Use setValue() method of ViewCriteriaItem to set value . Incase of IN/BETWEEN operator, add multiple values. For sql subquery for IN operator, simply use setValue.

8.Use addElement method to ViewCriteriaRow to VC.

9.Use applyViewCriteria to apply created viewCriteria.

Expose Method -

Run AM and pass parameters to method -

Project can be downloaded from here.

Tips and Tricks for JDeveloper customization

2010-11-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

JDeveloper Customization Tips -

1. Customize user's working directory
By default, JDeveloper’s user directory is the \system subdirectory of the <JDev_Home>
directory, such as C:\Oracle\Middleware\jdeveloper\system—that is, where it
stores user preferences, such as information about the appearance of the IDE. If you want to use
a different directory, start JDeveloper with the –J-Dide.user.dir flag. For example -
"F:\SOASuite11gR1PS2\JDeveloper\jdeveloper\jdeveloper.exe -J-Dide.user.dir=F:\mywork"

Add following flag to shortcut "-J-Dide.user.dir=<path>"

2. If you don't want to IDE to open the last time opened files, add following flag.

-noreopen

3. When you open SqlWorksheet in Jdeveloper, it prompts to save the sql file. To avoid that follow below instruction

How to install SOA Suite and Jdeveloper On Windows

2010-11-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

                            Installing the Oracle SOA Suite Server and the Oracle JDeveloper

1. Pre-Installation Tasks
    a) Installer Download -
        JDK Installer Download - Download JDK 6 from here.
        Download rest of the installer packages from OTN -
        First, you will need to have an OTN account to download packages,
        you can sign up here,it’s free.
       Then head to SOA Suite HomePage and click on the "Downloads" tab.

        Download each of the below mentioned packages -
            SOA Suite PS1 (11.1.1.2.0)
            SOA Suite PS1 (11.1.1.3.0)
            WebLogic Server (10.3.3) generic
            Repository Creation Utility (11.1.1.3.0)
            Oracle Jdeveloper 11g (11.1.1.3.0)
            Oracle XE latest version

2. JDK Installation -
Below screenshots will guide you for JDK installation.

3. Jdeveloper & embedded Weblogic Server -

Run the "jdevstudio11113install.jar" installer.
Below screens will guide you for jdeveloper installation.

Choose the directory cautiously.

4. Update the JDeveloper to the SOA module-

Run Jdeveloper and follow screenshots.

5. Install WebLogic Server

Run the "wls1033_oepe111150_win32.exe" installer.

Below screens will guide you for jdeveloper installation.

Select the directory as shown in below screenshot.

6. Oracle XE installation -

Run the OracleXE.exe installer.

7. Configuring Database -

Before installing schemas using RCU, you need to configure the database.
Update the number of process "alter system set processes=200 scope=spfile"

Restart the Database and verify the changes.

8. RCU ( Repository Creation Utility )-

Unzip the ofm_rcu_win_11.1.1.3.0_disk1_1of1.zip to C:/stageSOA folder.

Navigate to stageSOAfolder and run rcuHome\BIN\rcu.bat . A wizard will be launched that will configure your database by creating the required users. Screenshots will guide you through the wizard.

Click ignore and proceed.

Password - soainfra

9. SOASuite PS1(11.1.1.2.0)-

Unzip the ofm_soa_generic_11.1.1.2.0_disk1_1of1.zip and run the setup.exe from disk1.

Choose the WebLogic Home in which you installed WebLogic Server.

Make sure Oracle Home has a proper value.

10. SOA Suite PS1 (11.1.1.3.0)-

Unzip the ofm_soa_generic_11.1.1.3.0_disk1_1of1.zip and run the setup.exe from disk1.

Make sure you have selected the proper Oracle Middleware Home and Oracle Home Directory.