JDeveloper 11g and SOA Suite 11g integration

On my blog you can find application I have developed previously - Invoking BPEL Process from Oracle ADF Application. Application described in my previous post is developed with JDeveloper 10.1.3.x, BPEL process with parameters is invoked here, however I don't return any parameters back to ADF application from BPEL process. Today I have developed new application based on JDeveloper 11g TP3 and SOA Suite 11g TP, where a set of parameters is accepted and returned by BPEL process from and to ADF application.

Sample application for this blog post is based on two parts - SOAComposite.zip and SalaryUpdate.zip. First part contains a simple BPEL process that accepts and returns a set of parameters. Second part is ADF application that invokes BPEL process, receives result from BPEL process and stores this result into database. I'm using HR schema for this sample, you can find this schema in Oracle XE database.

In order to run developed sample application, you need to configure JDeveloper 11g TP3 according to instructions available on this page - Oracle SOA Suite 11g - Technology Preview. Just follow install instructions and it will work. May be also this Oracle SOA Suite 11g Technology Preview - Configuration Hint will be useful.

SOA part in developed sample application is relatively simple, it contains one BPEL process:


This BPEL process accepts input parameters, performs some calculations and returns updated parameters:


Since there are three parameters - EmployeeID, SalaryValue and CompensationValue, updateSalary Assign activity implements Copy operation and provides values for process output:


However, one of the parameters isn't just copied, but modified - SalaryValue is increased by 100:


If we will test developed BPEL process and will provide 5300 as a value for SalaryValue parameter:


Generated result will have 5400 for SalaryValue parameter:


Now let's talk about a second part - ADF application. Here I have created Web Service Data Control based on WSDL for BPEL process:


As a result, I got a possibility to invoke BPEL process and to have a Data Control for returned parameters:


BPEL process invocation is defined in Page Definition file:


I'm accessing results returned from BPEL process through accessorIterator, this iterator is binded to methodIterator which is related to BPEL process invocation definition. accessorIterator and methodIterator definitions:


And finally, all fun stuff is done in Backing bean method associated with Update button:


In this method I'm invoking BPEL process, retrieving returned result from accessorIterator and storing updated value into database.

How it works? Let's say we select employee with STOBIAS email and press Update button:


Salary value is updated by 100:

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Oracle SOA Suite 11g Technology Preview - Configuration Hint

I was recently configuring Oracle SOA Suite 11g on my computer and I have faced configuration related problem. Want to describe it and give hint how not to face it.

Problem description:

1. SOA Suite configuration is failing with message - Configuring SOA Infrastructure has FAILED

2. In startsoa.log there are only two strange lines printed:

java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError:
Exception in thread "main"

And no more information about problem :-)

Ok, I have found solution in Release Notes for SOA Suite 11g Technology Preview 3 update 1. It seems problem was in spaces in JDEV_USER_DIR path. In order to change home directory you need to open \jdev\bin\jdev.boot file and change value for ide.user.dir variable.

After those changes, I configured Oracle SOA Suite 11g Technology Preview successfully.

Complete Guide for Oracle SOA Suite 11g Technology Preview configuration you can get on OTN.

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Invoking BPEL Process from Oracle ADF Application

In today post I have decided to describe and show how application developed using Oracle ADF can fit into SOA (Service-Oriented-Architecture). SOA is important technology, because it allows developers to find common language with business analysts and as result to develop more useful systems. Simply speaking, SOA allows to participate in system development both parties - IT and non IT. IT folks develop technical things and non IT people are allowed to manage system logic. My goal is to show, how it looks in reality, and how it works with Oracle JDeveloper and Oracle SOA Suite. Sample applications are developed using Oracle JDeveloper 10.1.3.3 and BPEL process is tested on Oracle BPEL Process Manager 10.1.3.1.0. For those who will want to look further, I recommend to browse through Guides and Tutorials available on Oracle BPEL Process Manager 10.1.3.1.0 Information page.

Web application - SalaryBonusApplication.zip and synchronous BPEL process - SalaryBonusProcess.zip are provided as sample applications. Web application Model layer is implemented using Oracle ADF Business Components and is based on standard HR schema, in View layer ADF Faces components are used. Synchronous BPEL process access HR schema using Oracle TopLink.

Developed logic - in Web application users can search for particular employee and select him/her for salary update process. Salary update is based on current salary and applied bonus value. Salary update business logic is implemented in BPEL process. So, it's where we can see a power of SOA - salary update business logic can be changed at any time by non IT people, they will just need to modify defined process.

I will start from process part description. Implemented BPEL process diagram:


In first step, process receives input. In second step, conditional logic is applied and process output is calculated. When process output is known, data is transformed to be compatible with EMPLOYEES table structure from HR schema. After transformation step, employees data update in database is invoked and process is finished.

As it was described, salary update process is based on two parameters - current salary and applied bonus, however employee ID is also needed. Process parameters are described in XSD document:


Process logic is implemented in switch activity. Switch activity rule is based on bonus variable value:


When process output is calculated, data should be transformed in order to be stored in EMPLOYEES table. Transformation can be defined using Oracle JDeveloper wizard tool:


And finally, transformed data is used in database update through Invoke activity:


Yes, database table will be updated from BPEL process. And there is no magic, simply Oracle TopLink object-relational mapping functionality is used. Complete project structure view in Oracle JDeveloper navigator:


Process part description is completed, now we will move to Web application part. Web application contains two forms, first is Search Employees form:


Second form - Edit Employee Salary, can be opened for selected row:


Update Salary button here invokes BPEL process. Salary calculation is done outside of Web application, through Web Service submited values are passed to process where are modified and stored to database. In Web application refresh action is executed and updated values are shown:


You can notice, that salary value is increased by 100, this logic is defined in BPEL:


You may wonder, how BPEL process can be included into Web application developed using Oracle ADF. But it is simple, Oracle JDeveloper provides complete solution - you just need to provide WSDL URL and Data Control for available operations will be generated and displayed in Data Control pallette:


BPEL process is accessed through Web Service specified in DataControls.dcx file:


Action related to BPEL process is defined in page definition file in standard way:


Executed BPEL process instance can be explored from Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g BPEL Control window - executed process steps are represented in visual flow and values available in each step are provided:


When running sample application, don't forget to add adf-faces-impl.jar and jsf-impl.jar to application's WEB-INF\lib directory.

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