Oracle E-Business Suite Technology

Sharp-eyed readers of my OAUG Collaborate 06 presentation will have noticed some sneak previews of Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12's technology stack buried in an appendix.

The most significant news:  Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 will use Oracle Application Server 10g for its application tier.  We're officially in the 21st Century now, so it's about time.

This long-awaited configuration will use:

• OracleAS 10g 10.1.2.x for Forms and Reports services.  This will replace the elderly 8.0.6 ORACLE_HOME provided by Oracle9i Application Server 1.0.2.2.2 in Release 11i.
  
  
• OracleAS 10g 10.1.3 for Oracle Containers for Java (OC4J).  This will
  replace the aging 8.1.7-based ORACLE_HOME provided by Oracle9i Application Server 1.0.2.2.2 in Release 11i, and herald our switch from JServ to Oracle Containers for Java.

[Cheering is heard from Oracle Applications DBAs worldwide]

Now, a word from Oracle Legal, which I'm obliged to append to all Release 12-related posts:

The above is intended to outline our general product direction.  It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract.   It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decision.  The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle's products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.

Related Articles:

• Updated User Interface for E-Business Suite Release 12
• Project Swan and Release 12, Redux
• E-Business Suite Release 12 to include 10gR2 Database
• Native Sun Plug-In to Replace Jinitiator in E-Business Suite Release 12
• Why Use Two ORACLE_HOMEs for Release 12's Application Tier?

Why use two different OracleAS 10g releases in two different ORACLE_HOMEs for the upcoming Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12?  Because you asked for it, of course.  Well, indirectly, perhaps.  You've been asking us when E-Business Suite users can take advantage of the latest Oracle technologies.  So, we're biting the bullet and putting them into our Release technology stack.

The latest version of Forms and Reports available today is included in Oracle Application Server 10g 10.1.2.0.2, so that release, at minimum, will be part of the E-Business Suite Release 12.

You've been clamoring for the ability to use Oracle Containers for Java (OC4J), the next-generation successor to JServ.  The latest version of Oracle Containers for Java available today is included in Oracle Application Server 10g 10.1.3, so that release, at minimum, will be part of the E-Business Suite Release 12, too.

The slightly tricky thing is using these two releases together.  In a nutshell, all major services will be started out of the 10.1.3 ORACLE_HOME.  The E-Business Suite modules (packaged in formsapp.eap) will be loaded into the OC4J-Forms instance running out of the 10.1.3 ORACLE_HOME, and frmweb will be invoked out of the 10.1.2 ORACLE_HOME.

The above is intended to outline our general product direction.  It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract.   It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decision.  The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle's products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.

E-Business Suite Release 12 will replace Oracle JInitiator with the native Sun Java2 Standard Edition (J2SE).

[More cheering from Oracle Apps DBAs]
As most of you know, Oracle JInitiator is an authorised version of Sun Microsystems' Java2 Standard Edition with some specific fixes required to support Oracle Forms.  JInitiator is currently required to run Oracle Forms in the E-Business Suite Release 11i, although we're running an Early Adopter Program that's evaluating the feasibility of eliminating this requirement for Release 11i.

Oracle JInitiator will no longer be required to run Oracle Forms in E-Business Suite Release 12.  Oracle Forms in Release 12 will run directly in the native Sun Java2 Standard Edition plug-in.  This will be our standard configuration for Release 12.

Related Articles:

• Replacing Oracle JInitiator with Sun's Native Plug-In
  

The above is intended to outline our general product direction.  It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract.   It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decision.  The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle's products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.

I'm going to bend my rule of keeping this blog focussed on the E-Business Suite by thanking the Collaborate Nashville team for a splendid event.  Excellent agenda, dazzling venue, and a rocking lineup for the Wednesday night party.  Great job, folks.

And now, back to our regular blog programming...