[Nov 8, 2007 Update: Vista is now certified with IE 7 for E-Business Suite Release 11i and 12. See this article for full details.]
[Oct 11, 2007: See the latest Update #5: Vista Certification with the E-Business Suite]
This article addresses a rather arcane topic. Following my last update #3 on our Vista certification for the E-Business Suite, a few readers have been asking for additional clarification on the specific versions of the Sun JRE plug-ins that will be certified.
JRE Releases and the Focus Issue
The latest Sun JRE 1.5.0_12 version appears to have fixed the focus issue with Oracle Forms. I'll be writing about the larger implications of this for Jinitiator users in a future article.
The
currently released version of Sun JRE 1.6.0_u1 still exhibits the
problematic focus behavior. Sun has committed to fixing this focus
issue in a future release on the the 1.6 codeline. I don't have any
dates that I can share on the 1.6 release schedules with this fix,
unfortunately.
With a Little Help From Our Friends
I
understand that Microsoft and Sun had originally recommended that JRE
1.6 be used on Vista. Perhaps my google-fu is a bit off today, but I
can't find any references on either Sun or Microsoft's sites that back
up that assertion. Nonetheless, the existence of the focus bug in the
1.6 codeline, combined with the fact that it won't be fixed until a later 1.6 release, has since prompted us to collectively revisit
the original recommendation.
We've established the following certification plans after consultation with both Sun and Microsoft. Our plans are to certify the following combinations:
- Vista + Release 11i + JRE 1.5
- Vista + Release 12 + JRE 1.5
- Vista + Release 11i + JRE 1.6
- Vista + Release 12 + JRE 1.6
As usual, I don't have specific dates about these certifications, but I'll continue to post updates on our progress here. Stay tuned.
Related
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.
Comments (11)
Thanks for the clarification on this, this is a very handy blog. As I understand it from my testing, SUN JRE 1.5.0_12 will check for updates on a regular basis (unless the updates are manually disabled) and download the 1.6.x version which will then be *the* JRE used by the PC. Since Sun JRE version 1.5.0_06, Sun withdrew the facility to allow webforms to call specific versions of the JRE on client PCs (quoting security risks), therefore the latest version installed on the PC is run. Since Sun JRE 1.5.0_07 a registry key workaround called EnableSecureStaticVersioning is available which is a bit untidy as you can稚 always go changing your clients registry configurations so I hope the webforms will work on JRE 1.6.x as it seems we don't really have any choice unless you have complete control of every single aspect of your users PCs.
Regards
Scott Jackson, London, England
Posted by Scott Jackson | June 22, 2007 3:36 AM
Posted on June 22, 2007 03:36
Hi, Scott,Thanks for your comments.There's little that we can do from the E-Business Suite side on this front, unfortunately. If a particular end-user has configured their desktop/JRE to download JRE updates automatically, we can't change that behaviour from the E-Business Suite. There's a way of using static versioning, but it's not ideal since it requires some exotic tweaks on the desktop client side. Due to a security change in Sun code, if you have j2se1.5.0_06 or later installed on your desktop static versioning will no longer work by default when using Microsoft internet Explorer (MSIE). When trying to run an application using an earlier j2se version, it will be overridden and j2se1.5.0_06 or later will be used instead. (This issue does not affect JInitiator versions). If you still wish to use static versioning, you must edit the Windows Registry for each affected desktop client. Regards,Steven
Posted by Steven Chan | June 22, 2007 9:36 AM
Posted on June 22, 2007 09:36
Hi Steven
As far as I know, Apps 11i is based on Forms 10.1.2. Does this mean, that you will certify Forms 10.1.2 for JRE 1.6 anyway? According to
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/forms/htdocs/10gR2/clientsod_forms10gR2.html
certification for the JRE 1.6 plugin won't arrive until Forms 11. Can you clarify on this?
Thanks in advance,
Jacob
Posted by Jacob Madsen | July 4, 2007 9:21 AM
Posted on July 4, 2007 09:21
Hi, Jacob,Release 11i runs Forms-based content on Developer6i and its associated Forms components. Release 11i does not run Forms 10.1.2.Release 12 runs Forms-based content based on Forms 10.1.2. I can't comment on the Forms-only certification plans with JRE 1.6. That one might be better-answered by someone in Forms Development. I'll see if I can chase this down when I'm back on my feet.Regards,Steven
Posted by Steven Chan | July 5, 2007 7:37 AM
Posted on July 5, 2007 07:37
Hi, Jacob,It's certainly our intention to certify the JRE 1.6 plugin with Release 12 (and Forms 10.1.2). I'm trying to clarify our internal position vis-a-vis Forms 11 right now. Stay tuned.Regards,Steven
Posted by Steven Chan | July 13, 2007 11:45 AM
Posted on July 13, 2007 11:45
Hmm. This is interesting - I just lodged a query about getting things which use Java Vista Certified, and was told flatly that 'Java applications can not be certified' with a reference to this document: http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/6/7/167e4efe-59b3-42c3-a8d7-ae2218644d67/LogoEligibilityAndApplicability.doc Does the Oracle stuff not classify as a Java Application for some reason?
Posted by Leighton Haynes | August 21, 2007 8:59 PM
Posted on August 21, 2007 20:59
Leighton,Whom did you lodge a query with? I'm assuming Microsoft, and they'd be correct in that assertion.The document you've linked to is a Microsoft document for their official Vista logo certification program. We're not certifying the E-Business Suite under the auspices of that program.Oracle's own certification activities run independently of Microsoft. We do our own certifications of the E-Business Suite with desktop clients running various versions of Windows and Mac OS X.Note that the E-Business Suite primarily runs in either a browser (for OA Framework-based content) or via Jinitiator/Java (for Forms-based content). There are only a very small number of administrative tools (e.g. for Discoverer) that run in client-server mode directly on the desktop.Regards,Steven
Posted by Steven Chan | August 22, 2007 8:23 AM
Posted on August 22, 2007 08:23
Hi Steven,
There is no new info in your blog since 06/21/2007 about Vista. Don't you know about any new information since then?
thanks,
Andras
Posted by Andras | September 10, 2007 3:47 AM
Posted on September 10, 2007 03:47
Hi, Andras,I haven't posted any new updates on this because, well, I have no new information on this certification. Certification efforts are still underway internally. I'll be sure to post more information as soon as that situation changes.Regards,Steven
Posted by Steven Chan | September 11, 2007 1:46 PM
Posted on September 11, 2007 13:46
Steven,
Would it be possible to provide Alcoa the draft version of the installation setup in advance? A kind of Early Adopter Program. As it is likely to have the SUN JRE 1.5.0_12 certified first with 11i in Vista, could we test this? We would take the risk of that fact that this may be not the final version.
thanks,
Andras
Posted by Andras | September 14, 2007 7:20 AM
Posted on September 14, 2007 07:20
Andras,We're not releasing early copies of the documentation in advance of our certification. There are no Early Adopter Programs planned at this time for Vista clients for the E-Business Suite. If that situation changes, I'll post an update here.Regards,Steven
Posted by Steven Chan | September 19, 2007 8:30 AM
Posted on September 19, 2007 08:30