vgo software forms to fusion bulgarian oracle users group – ernst renner, ceo, vgo software

Vgo Software

Forms to Fusion

Bulgarian Oracle Users Group – www.bgoug.org

Ernst Renner, CEO, Vgo Software

© Vgo Software, Inc. 2008 www.vgosoftware.com

Agenda

Introductions and topic review State of the Forms landscape Your options Upgrade? Modernize? Which is right for you? Why Modernize? Forms to Fusion Mapping ADF v11 Closing and Q&A


Introduction

Vgo Software, Inc. Software and services to modernize Oracle Forms to JEE or upgrade Services to modernize PowerBuilder, VB and ASP to Oracle ADF 1 of 2 global partners certified by Oracle product development 1st to modernize Forms to ADF v11 1st in the world to automate the conversion of character-based telnet forms Software and services based on 4 years of experience in conversions (25+ conversions) International customers and partners Started from NEOS – practical consulting


The Forms Landscape

Are Forms going somewhere? No!

(Well, maybe…) Oracle Forms 2008 de-support

v6.0.8.x sustained support ended in January 2008 9.0.2.x sustained support ended in July 1 2008 10gR2 extended support ends December 2011 10gR3 extended support ends December 2011

http://www.oracle.com/support/collateral/lifetime-support-coverage-chart.pdf

Forms continuing on until at least 2013 Forms community is alive, well and strong


Forms Landscape

But… Oracle is moving to ADF – you will too Think about it… what is “Fusion”? It’s important for Oracle’s continued growth strategy – it’s

how they will integrate acquired products and those they’ve grown

What’s the “glue”? ADF– BPM Studio, BPEL, a new (better) Enterprise Message

Bus (AquaLogic Service Bus), etc.


Impact

What does this mean? If you are not running Oracle Application Server (or

Weblogic), you will need to Get up to speed now – prepare for change Oracle Applications users – Apps are being migrated to

ADF now; your custom extensions will have to move too Resources – where will all the Forms developers be in

2012? This may not be a “simple” change for developers – it is a

paradigm shift


Options

Upgrade to Web Forms

Modernize, re-engineer… evolve

Re-write

Buy a commercial package


Which Option is Right for You?

Upgrade Forms when…– The application cannot change at all– Cost is a huge issue– You need to stay supported (6i users)

Modernize to ADF when you require …– Greater ability to integrate with other applications– Greater cross-platform support– See next slides…

Re-write when..– Business processes need to dramatically change– Forms are really old (v3) and code is unclear– You have unlimited budget


Modernization & Business Value

Why Modernize? Address tactical challenges while positioning for a long-term

strategic operations architecture. Consider:– Vendor direction– Availability of skilled resources in legacy technology– Ability to maintain SDLC maturity levels in “aged” and “new”

paradigms

• Greater efficiencies in IT support of business changes– Lower TCO of the enterprise and single LOB (line-of-business)

applications through common architectures and development patterns

– Faster turn-around on functional enhancements – Greater flexibility to business demands – Common, flexible, development methodologies and processes



Why Modernize? (continued) Application and/or data integration

– SOA or EAI – Integration and cross-application rules sharing or re-use– Consolidation and management of (previously) disparate

architectures – file transfers, client/server apps, EDI, etc.

“All AD (Application Development) organizations should plan to migrate away from Oracle Forms applications during the next 10 years… All but the most-conservative of AD organizations should plan to migrate during the next five years.”

Mark Driver, Gartner RAS Core Research Note G00146666, July 3, 2007



Why do these efforts fail? Under-estimation of effort – blown budgets Lack of planning No business participation “Blind” conversion Lack of Experience


Pre-Modernization Thoughts

Consider strategic direction and business value Develop your “Conversion Framework”

Assessments, domain analysis, function point analysis, design, QA, etc.

Application “domains” Client, Producer, Product, Agent, etc.

Emphasize re-use and process Make “High-Leverage” Enhancements Think ahead – where and how does this tie in strategically?

Prior to any modernization or re-engineering project, effort should be extended to:


Typical Forms Architecture

Batch Files

PL/SQL

Reports, Data Feeds, To DW

Topic Reporting

DW or Data Store

6i Forms

Client

External

DW or Mart

Mgmt Rprts

Data Model

Business Rules


Typical Architectural View

6i Forms

Batch Files

Data Model

PL/SQL


Client

6i Forms

Batch Files

Data Model

PL/SQL


Client

6i Forms

Batch Files

Data Model

PL/SQL


Client

Mainframe 1

Mainframe 2

Mainframe 3

DW or Data Store

DW or Data Store

DW or Data Store

6i Forms

Batch Files

Data Model

PL/SQL


Client

Topic Reporting

DW or Data Store

Business Rules

External

DW or Mart

Mgmt Rprts

External

DW or Mart

Mgmt Rprts

External

DW or Mart

Mgmt Rprts

External

DW or Mart

Mgmt Rprts

Business Rules

Business RulesBusiness Rules

Business Rules are all over the place Redundant logic, process, data, tight integration with DB’s


Forms to Fusion Mapping

Forms ADF Mapping Complexity When?

Forms

LOV’sQuery-based blocksTables (DB)TransactionsTriggers

Windows & CanvasesLibrariesSQL

Task Flows (for Transaction Mgmt)Application Modules (Evo Work Units)Read-only View ObjectsView ObjectsEntity ObjectsTask FlowsJava Method (programmatic) or Groovy Expression (declarative)JSPX pages, PanelGroups, FragsApplication ModulesView Objects, Business rules – BPM (ALBPM)

High/Medium Specific to app

Complexity depends on Forms state

Client Technology – Oracle Forms


Forms to Fusion Mapping

Legacy Environment

Fusion or ADF Mapping Complexity When?

DB PL/SQL Leave in DBConvert to ADF if needed

SimpleMedium/Low

Specific to app

Broader Use

External Calls Business Events,SOA suite – BPEL flow, ESB, Mediator, etc.BEA equivs – BPM Studio (Fuego), AquaLogic Service Bus (ALSB)

MediumMedium/Low

Scalable useExternal use

File processing BPELADF

Mid/High External parties involved

Server-side Technology


Why ADF v11?

ADF Business Components– Data caching– Transaction handling via Task Flows

ADF Rich Faces– Ajax-enabled components– JSF-based

JDeveloper– Lots of wizards– Less coding


Forms to ADF

Model Layer Tables

Entity Objects – 1 per Table– Can be used to implement validation triggers– Validation occurs no matter where Entity is used

View Objects View Links and Associations

Query-based blocks View Objects Based on one or more entities May be linked to other views Views may include other views or entities – description fields and

LOVs


Forms to ADF

Model Layer LOVs read-only View Objects

– Built using SQL statements – very much like a block in Forms– Why “read-only”?

Performance Functionality

ADF BC Browser– Test model layer

Validations and LOV’s


Forms to ADF

ViewController Layer Forms Task flows Windows & Canvases

– Windows become separate JSPX pages– Canvases become mutable PanelGroups

Hide/show each PanelGroup as application navigates between canvases (uses Render tag and a managed bean)


Groovy

What’s so groovy about

Based on Java and used in many projects– Open source expression language– Competitor is Rails-Grails

Included in ADF v11 In ADF, Groovy scripts can be used in any application layer

– Validation on the presentation layer (hide/show, allow/prevent)– Foreign key checks on the Entity – Access Application Modules, views, etc.


What Doesn’t Map?

Client-Server != Web Many aspects of a Forms application can’t be

replicated exactly in the web world– WinAPI Calls– File-system or Registry access– Synchronize, etc….

Many aspects of a Forms application should be re-implemented or converted

– Declarative validation– LOVs


ADF in JDeveloper 11g

Big performance enhancements BEA Weblogic in; OC4J out Look and feel of ADF Faces Rich Client components has

been updated Fixed problems with LOV

LOV in Create form with Mandatory fields is fixed LOV wizards are improved Some are not: LOV bug re-presenting selected value

Most major issues from TP4 have been resolved Such as Oracle Java Platform Security (JPS)

This is a Jdeveloper release; rest of 11g coming in January


Summary

Upgrade for safety and ease Modernize and evolve when positioning for strategic

advantage Always consider your process in either type of project –

leverage new architectural advantages ADF v11 will be the correct go-forward answer for Forms

modernization and other client/server applications Think outside of the Forms silo – what is the value to the

business and to the enterprise?


Closing & Q/A

Useful resources:Rob Nocera’s blog on ADF, Java and web application trends www.java-hair.com

Visit Andrejus Baranovskis blog on ADF and Jdeveloper:andrejusb-samples.blogspot.com

Vgosoftware.com webinars: modernization, ADF, JSF, SOAwww.vgosoftware.com Next webinar is November 12 on Forms & ADF Modernization (detailed and technical)

Contact Info:Ernst Renner, [email protected]

vgo software forms to fusion bulgarian oracle users group – ernst renner, ceo, vgo software

Documents

vgo software forms

oracle forms

vgo software slide

upgrade forms

forms landscape

forms developers

web forms

forms community