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Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX at CERN

Discover how CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory, leverages Oracle APEX for rapid web application development. Explore completed projects like the CERN Training Application and Safety Information Registration. Learn why Oracle APEX is a valuable tool for IT environments and the significant impact it has had on administrative and user-facing applications at CERN.

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Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX at CERN

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  1. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. CERN: the LHC accelerator CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. IT Environment Single Sign-On View & Controller (JEE) Oracle RDBMS Oracle APEX Foundation CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX

  9. 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

  10. $ 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

  11. 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

  12. Context Tooltips CERN official holidays Custom Calendar (HTP.P) CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. Customized Template for touch screen interface Customized input elements Multi-lingual interface CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX

  16. Integration with picture database Javascript driven buttons Vertical reporting CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX

  17. Standard SVG graph widgets CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. 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

  21. 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

  22. 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

  23. 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

  24. 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

  25. Questions? ? CERN: Building Real-World Solutions with Oracle APEX

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