Using client side rich context systems such as Adobe Flex/Flash, Java FX, Microsoft Silverlight and REST(Representational State Transfer) to provide data feeds rich content can be embedded into the framework pages. REST is simply a technology that allows data from the database to be provided to the rich components on the webpage. This is done by passing the data as fairly plain XML (i.e. not full-blown web services) over HTTP. In addition OBIEE analytics can be embedded into pages. The webinar then went on to show the OA Frameworks, personalization and extensibility frameworks. Personalizations allow the modification of the user interface by storing the required information as XML documents in the database and using the Metadata service to provide the personalizations. Using this technique page items and regions may be shown/hidden/reordered, labels changed and so on. These changes are layered onto the base page at runtime; i.e. they are not customisations to the system (good!?). Personalizations can be made in different contexts depending on the user, the function, responsibility etc. They can also be made at an administrative level or an end users level. Extensibility takes personalization further to allow the business logic to be extended, new pages and new business components to be built.
Finally Oracle ADF (Application Development Framework) allows developers to develop applications using a rich tool kit giving the same look and feel as E-business suite applications. ADF would seem to ease development by encouraging service orientated development, providing around 150 components (written using AJAX and providing a set of rich components) and being based on familiar standards such as MVC, JAAS and the Oracle infrastructure (i.e. Single Sign On).
In summary the webinar covered some of the user interface features of E-business suite, the architecture they are build on and, perhaps more interestingly, covers the toolkits that allow similar technologies to be used to create your own applications.
David Jones, Computing Officer, Liverpool John Moores University.