Fusion

Moving from Forms to J2EE. Almost as much a problem for the Oracle applications developer as moving from PeopleSoft.


http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid26_gci894857,00.html

The latest version of forms uses the default 5.0 JVM and not Oracle's proprietary JVM Jinitiator so it is easier to get the client installed.




Technical Tsunami. Underlines the need for certain developers/supporters to have a solid Java knowledge.
http://blog.oraclecontractors.com/?p=320

OA Framework - A Java framework to extend the previous versions of Oracle EBS, Superseded by Oracle Application Development Framework
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_Application_Development_Framework
http://www.orafaq.com/forum/t/63823/0/





The Joys of Release 12 Early Adoption
http://blog.oraclecontractors.com/?p=322

We are at the leading edge with the Oracle product set. Oracle R12 was released at the end of January this Year.






Reporting Tools for Oracle Applications. 6 reporting tools plus the analytics tools and doing things like reporting direct from PL/SQL, Lots to learn.
http://blog.oraclecontractors.com/?p=121






Difference between configuration, personalization, and Custom Extensions. So much more complicated than PeopleSoft.
http://blog.oraclecontractors.com/?p=258

Forms Personalization :
http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/oracle/appstraction/archives/oracle-form-personalization-basic-example-11936
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/applications/development_pesonalization/index.html

OA Framework Personalization :
The OA Framework's declarative architecture and object-oriented implementation enable personalisation's to be saved as offsets from the base component meta data definition. Hence patching the base component definition doesn't lose the customer personalisation's.
Personalisation's can be implemented at several levels by three types of users: application developers, application administrators and end users. End-user personalisation's can be applied to particular user interface components and are only visible in the context of the implementing user. For example, an end user may save an employee search result sorted by manager and choose to hide the employee's date of birth column. The result is called a view and is given a name by the user. The user can retrieve that view again in the future by name. Application administrators and application developers are offered the flexibility to tailor user experience at several levels. They can author personalisation's that affect all users, users of a particular locale, users of a particular organization, users with a particular role and in the context of a particular function. Several levels can apply at the same time with a predetermined precedence order that yields a very personalized user experience. For example, human resource managers in Japanese and Spanish subsidiaries could have a different user experience that reflect personalisation's made to accommodate legal and language differences between the two countries and possible personalisation's done by the individual human resource managers.
Using a combination of JDeveloper wizards and built-in personalization screens, several user interface and business logic extensions are made possible at a minimal cost of development and little-to-no maintenance cost. In addition, Oracle E-Business Suite customers continue to enjoy the extensibility features offered by Flexfields, Oracle Workflow and Business Events.

Siebel

In May 2002 I took the 3 week Siebel core consultant training course. I then had nothing more to do with the product. We are implementing Siebel CRM as part of our solution. These are my thoughts after re-familiarising myself with the product.

Siebel has some very useful features. For example, the speed in which the individual screens can be used, once loaded, for call centre operatives and the 'Notes' like replication of the database for mobile sales staff that do not have access to the Internet.

But, I my opinion, it is a hard to customise product and there are difficulties in getting information in and out of the product.

Heavy customisation of Siebel is very difficult. The tools in (version 7) are not as well developed as, for example, PeopleSoft. Different elements such as web templates, Javascript and style sheets are not under the control of the tool set. The page builder is not 'what you see is what you get', elements like buttons need an amount of manual coding. 3 different scripting lanuages are used VBScript eScript and JavaScript. There are several layout editors in Siebel Tools: the Applet Layout Editor, View Layout Editor, Web Page Layout Editor, and Applet Menu Layout Editor.

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B40099_02/books/ConfigApps/ConfigApps_Overview29.html#wp1041979

Siebel Tools is a declarative configuration tool, not a programming environment.

The using Siebel Tools course does not cover how to configure Oracle's Siebel applications. For example, it does not cover how to extend the data model, define business logic, or build user interface objects. For configuration-related information, see Configuring Siebel Business Applications.

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B40099_02/books/UsingTools/UsingTools_AboutUI2.html#wp1101239

- You cannot create custom unique indexes without the help of Oracle's Siebel Expert Services.
- You cannot add or modify user keys in standard Siebel tables or Siebel Enterprise Integration Manager (EIM) base tables.

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B40099_02/books/ConfigApps/ConfigApps_WhatsNew.html

Thread: Best practice on extending the SIEBEL data model - Basically, avoid extending the data model at all costs. The impact to configuration can be substantial.

http://forums.oracle.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=554991&tstart=0

http://www.selectorweb.com/siebel.html

Blogging

I looked at a couple of different free blogging 'systems' namely Blogger, Wordpress.com and LiveJournal.

Blogger won out because it was recommended in a couple of reviews that I have seen, it has a generous amount of picture space and because I already had a Gmail account.

I added an update to Sitemeter,http://www.sitemeter.com/ , to monitor usage and modified the standard template to include expandable posts
http://hackosphere.blogspot.com/2006/09/expandable-posts-with-peekaboo-view.html

First Post

This is my first step into the web since I experimented with a domain and some free web space around 5-6 years ago.

I have wanted to share my thoughts about PeopleSoft, moving away from PeopleSoft as the system fades and enterprise systems in general for some time. It would be great to get feedback on my ideas and to share and increase my knowledge. By blogging about these topics I might become more reflective of the ideas I have. I was inspired by Dave Kurtz's web site, http://blog.psftdba.com/, which discusses PeopleSoft issues from a DBA angle. I wanted to do something similar but with an application developers angle.

I work in a small team of PeopleSoft HRMS developers who's system has recently been put on life support only. We are in the process of being outsourced to an internal shared service centre based on Oracle EBS systems. There will be opportunities for retraining and I think this is the reason everyone is hanging around.

PeopleSoft technology is great for delivering Human Resources type functionality. It is highly productive even though the later releases are bloating up some what. If I have the opportunity to move over to Oracle applications it will be interesting to see the differences between the two sets of technologies.

After looking at social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, and considering the options of self hosting a blogging tool or 'raw' html pages this is where I have found myself.

The views in this blog are not necessarily those of my employer.


I found this article on blogging informative.

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/14/is-a-blog-right-for-you/