Moving from Forms 10g to 11g

Remember that there is a new version PL/SQL engine taking care of calls to the database. I stumbled upon a strange error moving from 10g to 11g.

Now in 11g, the PL/SQL is more restricted in functions behaviour.

A function MUST return av value. So code that looked like this, roughly, in Forms 10g passed, but should not have passed. When run in a 11g environment there are strange behaviour of this new more robust view of a function. Some of these errors can be hard to find, but a &debug and/or

MESSAGE('Informative text');

does the trick.

Here is what passed earlier, but no longer during run-time. It compiles, but is giving strange errors in Forms 11g. Note that the solution is just to RETURN something in the THEN-clause.

FUNCTION MyFunc(i_personId) RETURN VARCHAR2 IS
  l_MyVariable VARCHAR2(80);

BEGIN
 IF some_expression 
   THEN NULL;
   ELSE
   /* Do something */
   RETURN('RESULT');
 END IF;

END;

To ExaData or not to ExaData

that is the question. Several years ago ExaData platform came along. When should you go for that platform?

I do not really know...in the beginning of the ExaData product release it was stated that it was aimed at Business Intelligence [BI] applications and not OnLine Transaction Processing [OLTP] applications. Now when Cloud computing is more and more not just a buzz word but a reality things might have changed. They have changed, the new applicances are aimed at OLTP. Which is a natural step in the ExaData product line.

However...there are troubles for the non database guys...

There are of course implications on applications. Some tips over here. But there could be more. And then Tom Kyte is not addressing the DataBase Administrators [DBA] but the developers of the applications. The transition - yes transition not migration :-) - to ExaData from a traditional Oracle DataBase solution have implications on the application.

That is not necessarliy the primary focus for the DBAs, they see the advantages from their point of view in disk space mangagement and such things that DBAs should and are caring for.

Oracle Forms slowly fades away...

I have heard that sentence so many times.

It should be rephrased to "Oracle want their customers to let Oracle Forms  built applications to fade away". The reason for that is the there are new things, jDeveloper and other products that are in the pipe line to be sold.

However, there are very many business critical systems out here - in Sweden as well as in the world - that uses a stable, in production running Oracle Forms/Reports/Discoverer-application. The important thing here is business critical, and stable. Such applications are not taken out of service in an afternoon without a controlled, in-depth study on the cricital businesses processes that are supported by this application.

Slowly fades away is an understatement. The Oracle Forms/Reports/Discoverer-applications has always been fading away, let's say in 5-8 years or so. And believe me, when I say that there are many many applications in critical production systems that will be around for at least 5-8 years more.

There is a natural fear to exchange horses in the middle of the stream.

My advice is to isolate parts of existing Oracle F/R/D-applications and investigate what path to take, are you going to JDeveloper, Application Express or a mix of them both, or are you going to slowly move to JDeveloper, ApplicationExpress or Open Source-solutions? Or are you going to .net-thread?

The technical part of the matter is just the underlying part, the important thing is to get in place a technical platform for all your business applications, a standard to build applications upon.

What's the fuzz around Windows 8

I stumbled upon this presentation that gives you a short introduction.

http://www.slideshare.net/AnastasiaKl/windows-8-and-windows-phone-8-developer-story-anders-bratland

Windows 8 is here, not around the corner, but Oracle Forms/Reports/Discoverer applications might be run in this environment.

It will be exciting to see where this evolves. Because NOKIA Lumia 920 is here to stay, not in the commercial public sector. The increase will probable be noticed amongst hand held terminals that interact with internal traditional OLTP applications.