Many Oracle tools are available to developers to help them present data and build more sophisticated Oracle database applications. Although this book focuses on the Oracle database, this section briefly describes the main Oracle tools for application development: Oracle Forms Developer, Oracle Reports Developer, Oracle Designer, Oracle JDeveloper, Oracle Discoverer Administrative Edition, and Oracle Portal.
Oracle Forms Developer provides a powerful tool for building forms-based applications and charts for deployment as traditional client/server applications or as three-tier browser-based applications via Oracle9i Application Server. Developer is a fourth-generation language (4GL). With a 4GL, you define applications by defining values for properties, rather than by writing procedural code. Developer supports a wide variety of clients, including traditional client/server PCs and Java-based clients. Version 6 of Developer adds more options for creating easier-to-use applications, including support for animated controls in user dialogs and enhanced user controls. The Forms Builder in Version 6 includes a built-in JVM for previewing web applications.
Oracle Reports Developer provides a development and deployment environment for rapidly building and publishing web-based reports via Reports for Oracle9i Application Server. Data can be formatted in tables, matrices, group reports, graphs, and combinations. High-quality presentation is possible using the HTML extension Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
Oracle JDeveloper was introduced by Oracle in 1998 to develop basic Java applications without writing code. JDeveloper includes a Data Form wizard, a BeansExpress wizard for creating JavaBeans and BeanInfo classes, and a Deployment wizard. JDeveloper includes database development features such as various Oracle drivers, a Connection Editor to hide the JDBC API complexity, database components to bind visual controls, and a SQLJ precompiler for embedding SQL in Java code, which you can then use with Oracle. You can also deploy applications developed with JDeveloper using the Oracle9i Application Server. Although JDeveloper uses wizards to allow programmers to create Java objects without writing code, the end result is generated Java code. This Java implementation makes the code highly flexible, but it is typically a less productive development environment than a true 4GL.
Oracle Designer provides a graphical interface for Rapid Application Development (RAD) for the entire database development process—from building the business model to schema design, generation, and deployment. Designs and changes are stored in a multiuser repository. The tool can reverse-engineer existing tables and database schemas for reuse and redesign from Oracle and non-Oracle relational databases.
Designer also includes generators for creating applications for Oracle Developer, HTML clients using Oracle9i Application Server, and C++. Designer can generate applications and reverse-engineer existing applications or applications that have been modified by developers. This capability enables a process called round-trip engineering , in which a developer uses Designer to generate an application, modifies the generated application, and reverse-engineers the changes back into the Designer repository.
Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition enables administrators to set up and maintain the Discoverer End User Layer (EUL). The purpose of this layer is to shield business analysts using Discoverer as an ad hoc query or ROLAP tool from SQL complexity. Wizards guide the administrator through the process of building the EUL. In addition, administrators can put limits on resources available to analysts monitored by the Discoverer query governor.
Oracle9iAS Portal, introduced as WebDB in 1999, provides an HTML-based tool for developing web-enabled applications and content-driven web sites. Portal application systems are developed and deployed in a simple browser environment. Portal includes wizards for developing application components incorporating “servlets” and access to other HTTP web sites. For example, Oracle Reports and Discoverer may be accessed as servlets. Portals can be designed to be user-customizable. They are deployed to the middle-tier Oracle9i Application Server.
The main enhancement that Oracle9iAS Portal brings to WebDB is the ability to create and use portlets, which allow a single web page to be divided up into different areas that can independently display information and interact with the user.
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