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New Whitepaper: Mod_plsql and E-Business Suite 12

Mod_plsql is an Apache web server extension that can be used to develop web application pages using Server PL/SQL.

Architecture diagram showing flow from client to mod_plsql Apache mod to Oracle database

The Past is Prologue

Unlike Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i, Release 12 does not include mod_plsql as part of its technology stack. I've briefly discussed this architectural change in the following two articles:

It should be stressed that Oracle is fully committed to supporting mod_plsql as part of Oracle Application Server and as part of the Oracle Database distribution into the indefinite future.

The Oracle E-Business Suite is distinct from Oracle Application Server. Oracle E-Business Suite Development chooses to use specific Oracle Application Server components in the E-Business Suite technology stack. These decisions by E-Business Suite Development should not be interpreted to represent the release policies or plans for Oracle Application Server.

Going Into More Detail

Many of you have raised questions about why mod_plsql was removed from Release 12. Others have asked what to do about their mod_plsql-based Apps 11i customizations and extensions when upgrading to R12.

George Buzsaki,our preeminent E-Business Suite architect, has put together an excellent new whitepaper that addresses these topics, and more:

The whitepaper discusses:
  • The architectural rationale for dropping mod_plsql in EBS 12
  • Prioritized recommendations for dealing with custom mod_plsql pages from EBS 11i
  • Deployment and coding considerations when using mod_plsql in EBS 12

An Open Conversation

George concludes the whitepaper by emphasizing that we encourage you to use your Release 12 upgrade as an opportunity to eliminate customizations or replace them with the use of native functionality or supported personalization or extension technologies.

We don't expect this to be the final word in this discussion, but something that provides an informed starting point in an ongoing dialogue with us. If you have thoughts or questions about this whitepaper, please post them as comments here. If we're lucky, we'll get George and the mod_plsql development team participating directly in these online discussions with you.

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Comments (10)

Raghu:

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I am sure it is an excellent whitepaper, it would be even more excellent if it were made public on Metalink. Right now it seems to be accessible to Oracle employees only, any idea when it will be available to us "great unwashed"?

Steven Chan:

>sigh

Sorry, folks. You're right. There's a lag between the time where we flip the "Externally Published" switch in our internal system and the time the article actually shows up in Metalink externally.

It's visible externally now. Just hit Refresh in your browsers.

Regards,
Steven

nice read, but no single word about Apex (Application Express). Apex has solved a lot of the issues described in the white paper, is developed by Oracle, but not yet known by the eBusiness team, as it seems.

Asif Gill:

Hi Steven,

Near the end of the metalink note is the following statement:
"...
Although some of the Oracle E-Business Suite mod_plsql infrastructure code appears to be carried forward to Release 12, none of it is tested, supported, or guaranteed to remain in the code base over time.
...."

Could you get some elaboration on this.

I also found it interesting that Oracle E-Business Suite is eliminating 'use of superseded technologies' - kind of makes me think about 8.0.6 ORACLE_HOME, iAS 1.0.2.2, etc. in 11.5.x environments.

Thanks,
Asif

George Buzsaki:
"Although some of the Oracle E-Business Suite mod_plsql infrastructure code appears to be carried forward to Release 12, none of it is tested, supported, or guaranteed to remain in the code base over time."

Could you get some elaboration on this.

Thanks for the question, yes I should be more clear. Mod_plsql pages that were written by Oracle EBS development teams generally called a set of central PL/SQL APIs to handle session validation, common page header/footer code and other shared routines. This central functionality was implemented in a number of PL/SQL packages, generally starting with the "ICX_" or "ORACLE" prefix. Here is a representative list of these PL/SQL packages (but please not that this is not 100% complete):

ICX_SEC
ICX_UTIL
ICX_ON%
ICX_PORTLET%
ICX_ADMIN_SIG
ICX_ASK_ORACLE
ORACLENAVIGATE
ORACLEPLUGS
ORACLEAPPS
ORACLESSWA

It is possible that customers who extended EBS 11.5 using mod_plsql also called these packages, probably by simply copying working pages from base development. In many cases these PL/SQL packages appear to exist in EBS Release 12 as well, but they have not been tested, are not supported, and could be stubbed out or actually removed at any time.

George Buzsaki:
nice read, but no single word about Apex (Application Express). Apex has solved a lot of the issues described in the white paper, is developed by Oracle, but not yet known by the eBusiness team, as it seems.

Yes, Application Express is a high-level hosted application development framework that happens to use mod_plsql under the covers. Application Express developers define the structure and business logic of the application, and happily do not have to code the complex user interface rendering logic. So APEX developers are do not have to worry about most of the issues mentioned in my paper. That is one of the many reasons why people who use Application Express seem to love it!

The Application Express Product Management team is currently working on their own white paper that will discuss APEX and EBS integration best practices in detail. I don't have an ETA on that, but you can be sure that when the paper is available it will be featured in Steven Chan's blog.

Thierry,

Re: No mention of APEX

APEX is well known within the eBusiness team. In fact we (the APEX Development team) are working closely with eBusiness Suite Development to develop a new APEX OTN page dedicated to utilizing APEX in an EBS environment. This page is intended to provide information and address issues such as those raised in the accompanying paper.

As part of this effort I will be blogging shortly (dpeake.blogspot.com), asking the community to provide further information on just how you are using the two tools together so we can all better understand how you are utilizing APEX within your eBusiness Suite environments.

Regards,
David Peake
Product Manager - Oracle Application Express
Oracle USA Inc.

Dinesh:

David,


when is this said APEX-Ebusisness page likely to appear in OTN ?

Dinesh

Dinesh,

The first step is to write a white paper on integrating Oracle APEX with eBusiness Suite. Further to this we are in the process of configuring a suitable environment where we can perform this integration and then write it up.

I have posted asking the community to fill out a simple survey to further assist us: http://dpeake.blogspot.com/2008/07/do-you-use-application-express-with.html

Please be patient while we produce the collateral for this page.

Regards,
David

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on July 11, 2008 12:24 PM.

The previous post in this blog was New Whitepaper: Cleaning Up Apps 12 on Windows.

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