Table Of Content4749-6 Cover 5/15/01 12:25 PM Page 1
If Oracle9iAS Portal can do it, you can do it too . . . 100% 100%
Oracle’s revamped, browser-based technology for information portals delivers everything you need to create
a complete information portal, which can include forms, charts, reports, content collections, and a variety of C O M P R E H E N S I V E ONE HUNDRED PERCENT
information from the Web. And this authoritative reference provides all the information you need to master OO COMPREHENSIVE
AUTHORITATIVE
portlet creation, database browsing, application development, component management, performance monitoring,
WHAT YOU NEED
and the other capabilities of Portal. Written by two veteran database developers, this encyclopedic guide will ONE HUNDRED PERCENT
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help you extend the rich functionality of Portal — and create powerful, easy-to-use information retrieval and
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Create and
reporting systems for companies and their customers.
Build complete cc administer
Inside, you’ll find complete coverage information portals ll information portals
of Oracle9iAS Portal ee
Integrate internal
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• Understand Portal basics — components, content areas,
and Internet
portlets, and portal pages ii information
• Create sophisticated Portal applications AA
Build and deploy
• Build in menus, links, consistency, and data validation robust, Web-based
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database
• Integrate existing PL/SQL logic into a Portal application
™™ applications
• Design reporting components, including forms, charts, and calendars PP
• Deploy, administer, and secure a Portal site
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Reports —
• Program your own custom portlets and portlet provider
direct to the rr
Web from
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your Oracle OO
Bonus CD-ROM! database aa
• rraaccllee99iiAASS™™ PPoorrttaall
All source code from the book ll
•
A complete sample database
•
PS/SQL Developer trial version, SWiSH demo, and GREENWALD
Cookie Pal freeware
• AND MILBERY
A searchable e-version of the book
Bible
w w w . h u n g r y m i n d s . c o m
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database, development tools, Rick Greenwald and James Milbery
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Oracle9i AS™
Portal Bible
Oracle9 AS™
i
Portal Bible
Rick Greenwald and Jim Milbery
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About the Authors
Rick Greenwaldis a marketing manager in the server technologies group at Oracle
Corporation. He has been active in the field of data processing for over 15 years,
including stints with Data General, Cognos, and Gupta. He is the author of six other
books on technology and dozens of articles and analyst pieces.
Jim Milberyhas been involved in the software business for over 16 years and has
worked for a variety of high-tech companies, including Digital Equipment
Corporation, Ingres, Uniface, and Revere. He is currently a partner with the technol-
ogy consulting firm Kuromaku Partners LLC, where he provides strategic consulting
to a diverse group of clients. Jim lives in Easton, Pennsylvania, with his lovely wife,
Renate, and two spoiled cats.
Jim Milbery — This book is dedicated to my father, Ken Milbery. Here’s to you, Dad;
no son loves his father more than I love you.
Rick Greenwald — For the three women in my life: LuAnn, Elinor, and Josephine
Greenwald. You are the breath of love in my life.
Preface
This book is essentially the second edition of Oracle WebDB Bible. The product for-
merly known as WebDB is called Oracle9iAS Portal in its current incarnation, which
indicates that it is both bundled with the Oracle9iApplication Server product and
that the focus of the product has been modified to encompass the fast-growing
world of information portals. Consequently, the organization of this book has been
enhanced and modified to fit in with the new product direction.
How This Book Is Organized
As with the previous version, the first section of this book is an introduction to
Oracle9iAS Portal — what it is, how to install it, and the basics of the development
environment you will be using.
The second section of the book jumps right into the topic of portals. Chapter 6
introduces the concept of portals, portlets, and how Oracle9iAS Portal handles
these entities. Chapter 7 walks you through the creation of a portal page.
Part III of the book covers the creation of a variety of components. These are the
same components that were supported in WebDB — reports, forms, charts, calen-
dars, hierarchies, and dynamic HTML pages. Each of these components retains the
functionality it had in WebDB, but each of them also has been enhanced in the new
version of the product.
Part IV of the book covers some of the topics you will need to understand to create
complete applications with Oracle9iAS Portal. For instance, you will almost
inevitably be using lists-of-values to help your users properly utilize components,
and Oracle9iAS Portal menus are essential for navigating through an application.
Validation, the use of templates, and linking are also integral to creating complete
applications, and these areas have also been changed and enhanced from their
counterparts in WebDB. Finally, there will be times when you will need to use
PL/SQL procedures to extend the functionality of your Oracle9iAS Portal compo-
nents, which is also covered in this section.
In Oracle9iAS Portal, as in WebDB, you have the ability to create Content Areas,
which were referred to as sitesin WebDB. Part V of the book explores this area of
the product, including how to deploy your content collections.
