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CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle Application Express. Joel Kallman (Oracle) Giovanni Chierico (CERN). Oracle Open World San Francisco – 24 October 06. CERN: Globe of Science and Innovation in Geneva. Overview. CERN Oracle Application Express Why we chose it IT environment
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CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle Application Express Joel Kallman (Oracle) Giovanni Chierico (CERN) Oracle Open World San Francisco – 24 October 06 CERN: Globe of Science and Innovation in Geneva
Overview • CERN • Oracle Application Express • Why we chose it • IT environment • Completed projects • CERN Training Application • Safety Information Registration • Evaluation • The good • The bad • Is Oracle APEX good for my project? • Final thoughts • Questions CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
CERN • Centre Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire • The world's largest particle physics laboratory • Founded in 1954, 20 European Member States but worldwide scientific collaborations • CERN's business is pure science: to provide scientists with tools to study the building blocks of matter and the forces that hold them together. These tools are Accelerators and Detectors • Plays a vital role in developing the technologies of tomorrow • IT: Birthplace of the Web & World’s largest scientific Grid CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
CERN: the LHC accelerator CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Administrative Information Services 40 people group responsible for all administrative applications and corporate data at CERN covering: • Finances: 1 BCHF standard budget • Material: biggest scientific machine built on Earth • Human Resources: 180’000 people database • Experiment Support: 8’000 scientists from 75 countries CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
User Developer Oracle Application Express Is a rapid web application development tool for the Oracle database. Oracle APEX PL/SQL Engine Application Data Oracle APEX Metadata CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Why we chose it • Rapid development cycle • Interface Creation • Business Logic (PL/SQL based) • Deployment • Good looking results • Easy integration with Oracle environment • In-house Oracle expertise • Bundled for free with RDBMS CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
IT Environment Single Sign-On View & Controller (JEE) Oracle RDBMS Oracle APEX Foundation CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Applications Around 10 applications developed and put in production in 1 year. Presentation test cases: • CERN Training Application • Safety Information Registration CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
$ CERN Training Application • Goal: Manage CERN Training courses • Create courses and sessions • Manage registrations • Manage resources (rooms,…) • Interface with financial & workflow apps • Use CERN single sign-on • Size (users/population) • ~ 5500 registrations / year • ~ 250 courses • Replace old Designer application • Reuse existing db • Data • Interface with related applications • Custom components • Web Course Catalog Registration Workflow Oracle APEX: Request & Catalog Management Send Email Notifications Charge courses CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Various user profiles and access rights Integration with CERN Single Sign-on Linked with CERN’s Electronic Document Handling system CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Context Tooltips CERN official holidays Custom Calendar (HTP.P) CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
CTA Project Results • Investment: 6 man months • Painless migration • Reused existing data repository • Links from and to related apps • 1 year in production with no problems • 6000 course registrations • 3000 distinct trainees • 100K$ transactions charged • Much improved usability and efficiency CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Oracle HR Safety Information Registration • Goal: provide self-service safety training courses and tests on the web • 2 different authentications: • CERN Single Sign-on (worldwide accessible) • CERN Card scanner (local self-service kiosk) • Custom interface (to work with touch screens) • Integrated with IT various data sources • Insert data in Oracle HR, using PL/SQL APIs • Provide admin/reporting tools • Easy to extend with new content ApEx Validtest Single Sign On CERN AccessControl System Card Reader Course Data CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Customized Template for touch screen interface Customized input elements Multi-lingual interface CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Integration with picture database Javascript driven buttons Vertical reporting CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Standard SVG graph widgets CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
SIR Project Results • Investment: 4 man months • One year in production • 2 different courses offered (4 more coming) • 11000 courses registered • 15000 tests passed • Very few performance and stability issues CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Oracle APEX Evaluation • Did it meet our expectations? • What have we learned from its use? • How does it compare to other frameworks? CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
The good • Quickly create web apps • Professional looking results • Good existing UI widgets • Easy to integrate with Oracle infrastructure • Painless deployment • Very intuitive development interface • Completely web based • Full power of PL/SQL! • Fast performance CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
The bad • Difficult to reuse components • Dev time doesn’t scale with app complexity • Impossible to modify/extend existing widgets • Proprietary solution • Tricky to debug • Limited version control CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
JEE Comparison Effort Very small “entry cost” Very convenient for “simple” applications Doesn’t scale too well with app complexity JEE Oracle APEX ? Oracle APEX convenience zone Results CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
UI Abstraction & Metacontrol Pluggable Validation Data Abstraction Transaction Management Is Oracle APEX good for my project? Horizontal Vertical Business Logic Multi-level Business Logic Oracle APEX excels with: • Horizontal applications • Standard Interfaces • “Simple” Validation & Business Logic • Oracle experienced teams CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Final Thoughts • Take full advantage of DBMS & PL/SQL! • Materialized views, DB Links, DBMS_*, • Put Business logic into DB • Easier code reuse • Better exception handling • Powerful transaction management • Easier debugging • Be generic • Use placeholders for generic regions • Use “conditionals”: Regions, Reports, Items, Processes … • Read the docs! CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX
Questions? ? CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX