NChar support in ADF BC

Question

Our database uses non-unicode character set and we needed to support unicode using NVARCHAR2 columns. ADF does not support it in current version (10.1.3.0.4 or 10.1.3.1), so I developed a workaround. It uses custom SqlBuilder and publish it here for someone it could help.
Steps to use it:
* entities that should support NCHAR must extend MyEntityImpl (source below, just to be able to call protected methods).
* you need to set the property jbo.SQLBuilder to my sql builder implementation (due to a bug, you have either to set the option for all application modules in a JVM or you'd better to set it for whole JVM using -D option - AM under some circumstances overwrite each other's settings).
* manually set the Database Column Type on the entity attribute to NCHAR/NVARCHAR2 (synchronization will ask to convert it back to CHAR/VARCHAR2 - don't synchronize!)
* if you set bind variables in where clause using setWhereClauseParams, convert the string values using getNCharized static method in the sql builder. SQL builder will later recognize it and bind correctly.
Here are the sources:
OracleNCharSqlBuilder.java
package sk.transacty.bc4j.ncharsup;
import com.sun.java.util.collections.*;
import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
import java.sql.PreparedStatement;
import java.sql.SQLException;
import oracle.jbo.Transaction;
import oracle.jbo.Version;
import oracle.jbo.common.Diagnostic;
import oracle.jbo.server.AttributeDefImpl;
import oracle.jbo.server.DBTransaction;
import oracle.jbo.server.DBTransactionImpl;
import oracle.jbo.server.EntityDefImpl;
import oracle.jbo.server.EntityImpl;
import oracle.jbo.server.OracleSQLBuilderImpl;
import oracle.jbo.server.SQLBuilder;
import oracle.jdbc.OraclePreparedStatement;
import org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64;
* <p>Rozsirenie OracleSQLBuilderImpl o podporu nastavovania setFormOfUse(x, FORM_NCHAR) pre spravne
* fungovanie unicode parametrov.
* <p>Kedze sa spolieha na implementaciu v nadtriede, ktora nie je dokumentovana a moze sa zmenit, testuje verziu
* BC4J a hodi chybu, ak je to nepodporovana verzia. V principe mozno v buducnosti porovnat dekompilovanu
* OracleSQLBuilderImpl z najvyssej testovanej verzie s touto a ak sa nijako nezmenila (co je, dufam, pravdepodobne),
* iba povolit vyssiu verziu. V opacnom pripade bude treba mozno robit upravy.
* <p>NChar stlpce budu fungovat, ak JVM parameter -Doracle.jdbc.defaultNChar je false alebo nie je (kontroluje sa to).
* Nastavuje sa len FORM_NCHAR pre Nchar stlpce, FORM_CHAR sa nenastavuje (aby sme co najmene ovplyvnili aspon
* ne-unicode aplikacie, ak by doslo k nekompatibilnym zmenam v ADF BC).
* <p>NChar stlpce nebudu fungovat korektne, ak:<ul>
*   <li>režim zamykania je Optimistic update
*   <li>typ NChar je v kľúčových stĺpcoch (prim. a cudzích kľúčoch, detailrowsetoch cez viewlink apod.)
*   <li>asi nefunguje pre pomenované bind premenné typu NChar...
* </ul>
* @author Viliam Durina, First Data SK, 8. dec 2006
public class OracleNCharSqlBuilder extends OracleSQLBuilderImpl {
   * BOM - byte order mark UTF-8, ktora sa pridava na zaciatok Stringov na odlisenia ncharizovanych retazcov.
  private static final String BOM;
  static {
    byte[] BOM_BYTES = new byte[] { (byte)0xef, (byte)0xbb, (byte)0xbf };
    try {
      BOM = new String(BOM_BYTES, "windows-1250");
    } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
      throw new RuntimeException(e);
  private OracleNCharSqlBuilder() {
    // overenie verzie ADF BC
    if ( ! (Version.major == 10 && Version.minor == 1 && Version.revision == 3 && Version.bldnum >= 3653 && Version.bldnum <= 3984)) {
      String msg = "Incorrect ADF BC version, tested with: 10.1.3.36.53 - 10.1.3.39.84";
      System.out.println(msg);
      throw new RuntimeException(msg);
   * Singleton instancia
  private static SQLBuilder mSQLBuilderInterface;
   * Vrati singleton instanciu.
  public static synchronized SQLBuilder getInterface() {
    if (mSQLBuilderInterface == null) {
      if (Diagnostic.isOn())
        Diagnostic.println("OracleNCharSqlBuilder reached getInterface");
      if ("true".equalsIgnoreCase(System.getProperty("oracle.jdbc.defaultNChar"))) {
        System.err.println("Parameter oracle.jdbc.defaultNChar is true, falling back to standard OracleSQLBuilderImpl");
        mSQLBuilderInterface = OracleSQLBuilderImpl.getInterface();
      else
        mSQLBuilderInterface = new OracleNCharSqlBuilder();
    return mSQLBuilderInterface;
  private void setFormOfUse(PreparedStatement stmt, int idx, String typ) {
    /*if ("CHAR".equalsIgnoreCase(typ) || "VARCHAR2".equalsIgnoreCase(typ) || "CLOB".equalsIgnoreCase(typ))
      ((OraclePreparedStatement)stmt).setFormOfUse(idx, OraclePreparedStatement.FORM_CHAR);
    else */
    if ("NCHAR".equalsIgnoreCase(typ) || "NVARCHAR2".equalsIgnoreCase(typ) || "NCLOB".equalsIgnoreCase(typ))
      ((OraclePreparedStatement)stmt).setFormOfUse(idx, OraclePreparedStatement.FORM_NCHAR);
   * retrList by mala byt mapa <Integer,AttributeDef>, kde kluc je bindIndex a attrDef sa cekuje, ci nie je
   * niektory z NChar typov. Odvodene z dekompilovaneho OracleSQLBuilderImpl.
  private void updateRetrList(HashMap retrList, PreparedStatement stmt, StringBuffer indices) {
    Iterator it = retrList.keySet().iterator();
    while (it.hasNext()) {
      Integer idx = (Integer)it.next();
      AttributeDefImpl adef = (AttributeDefImpl)retrList.get(idx);
      setFormOfUse(stmt, idx, adef.getObjectType());
      if (Diagnostic.isOn()) {
        indices.append(idx);
        indices.append(',');
   * Nastavi setFormOfUse pre NChar stlpce.
   * Keďže sa nastavuje podľa indexov, musí to presne kopírovať logiku v nadtriede.
   * Odvodene z dekompilovaneho OracleSQLBuilderImpl.
  public int bindUpdateStatement(EntityImpl _entityContext,
                               PreparedStatement stmt, AttributeDefImpl[] cols,
                               AttributeDefImpl[] retrCols, AttributeDefImpl[] retrKeyCols,
                               HashMap retrList,
                               boolean batchMode)
  throws SQLException {
    MyEntityImpl entityContext = null;
    StringBuffer indices = null;
    if (_entityContext instanceof MyEntityImpl) entityContext = (MyEntityImpl)_entityContext;
    if (entityContext != null) {
      int i = 1;
      if (Diagnostic.isOn())
        indices = new StringBuffer(256);
      EntityDefImpl entitydefimpl = entityContext.getEntityDef();
      DBTransaction dbtransactionimpl = entityContext.getDBTransaction();
      boolean isLockOptUpdate = dbtransactionimpl.getLockingMode() == Transaction.LOCK_OPTUPDATE;
      boolean onlyChanged = isLockOptUpdate || entitydefimpl.isUpdateChangedColumns();
      for (int j1 = 0; j1 < cols.length; j1++) {
        if (batchMode || (onlyChanged ? entityContext.isAttributeChanged(cols[j1].getIndex())
            : entityContext.isAttributePopulated(cols[j1].getIndex()))
          setFormOfUse(stmt, i, cols[j1].getObjectType());
          if (Diagnostic.isOn()) {
            indices.append(i);
            indices.append(',');
          i++;
    int res = super.bindUpdateStatement(_entityContext, stmt, cols, retrCols, retrKeyCols, retrList, batchMode);
    if (entityContext != null) {
      updateRetrList(retrList, stmt, indices);
    if (Diagnostic.isOn() && indices != null) {
      // odstranime poslednu ciarku
      if (indices.length() > 1) indices.setLength(indices.length() - 1);
      Diagnostic.println("OracleNCharSqlBuilder: FORM_NCHAR set for indices: " + indices);
    return res;
   * Nastavi setFormOfUse pre NChar stlpce.
   * Keďže sa nastavuje podľa indexov, musí to presne kopírovať logiku v nadtriede.
   * Odvodene z dekompilovaneho OracleSQLBuilderImpl.
  public int bindInsertStatement(EntityImpl _entityContext,
                               PreparedStatement stmt, AttributeDefImpl[] cols,
                                 AttributeDefImpl[] retrCols, AttributeDefImpl[] retrKeyCols,
                               com.sun.java.util.collections.HashMap retrList,
                               boolean batchMode)
  throws SQLException {
    MyEntityImpl entityContext = null;
    StringBuffer indices = null;
    if (_entityContext instanceof MyEntityImpl) entityContext = (MyEntityImpl)_entityContext;
    if (entityContext != null) {
      int i = 1;
      if (Diagnostic.isOn())
        indices = new StringBuffer(256);
      EntityDefImpl entitydefimpl = entityContext.getEntityDef();
      boolean onlyChanged = entitydefimpl.isUpdateChangedColumns();
      for (int j1 = 0; j1 < cols.length; j1++)
        if (batchMode || ! onlyChanged || entityContext.isAttributeChanged(cols[j1].getIndex())) {
          setFormOfUse(stmt, i, cols[j1].getObjectType());
          if (Diagnostic.isOn()) {
            indices.append(i);
            indices.append(',');
          i++;
    int res = super.bindInsertStatement(_entityContext, stmt, cols, retrCols, retrKeyCols, retrList, batchMode);
    if (entityContext != null) {
      updateRetrList(retrList, stmt, indices);
    if (Diagnostic.isOn() && indices != null) {
      // odstranime poslednu ciarku
      if (indices.length() > 1) indices.setLength(indices.length() - 1);
      Diagnostic.println("OracleNCharSqlBuilder: FORM_NCHAR set for indices: " + indices);
    return res;
   * Nastavi setFormOfUse pre NChar stlpce.
   * Odvodene z dekompilovaneho OracleSQLBuilderImpl. Volá sa interne z iných metód v nadtriede,
   * sem sa dostane každý objekt nastavený na ViewObjekte cez setWhereClauseParams.
  protected int bindParamValue(int bindingStyle,
                             java.lang.Object value, DBTransactionImpl trans,
                             PreparedStatement stmt, AttributeDefImpl attrDef,
                             int bindIndex,
                             boolean skipNull)
  throws SQLException {
    if (value != null && value instanceof String) {
      String s = unNCharize((String)value);
      if (s != value) {
        ((OraclePreparedStatement)stmt).setFormOfUse(bindIndex, OraclePreparedStatement.FORM_NCHAR);
        if(Diagnostic.isOn())
          Diagnostic.println("Setting FORM_NCHAR for index " + bindIndex);
        value = s;
    return super.bindParamValue(bindingStyle, value, trans, stmt, attrDef, bindIndex, skipNull);
   * Funkcia na oklamanie DBSerializera a zamaskovanie Unicode-stringov. Takto zamaskovane
   * Stringy sa obnovuju na povodne funkciou unNCharize.
   * Maskovanie prebieha tak, ze sa vyberu bajty v kodovani UTF-8, zakoduju base64 algoritmom a
   * prida sa BOM na zaciatok. Vysledny
   * String bude sice zmrseny, ale nedojde k dalsiemu zmrseniu po deserializacii z PS_TXN.
   * Takto zmrsene stringy sa pred bindovanim detekuju v unNCharize a obnovia na pekne unicode
   * stringy.
   * Je mala sanca, ze bezne stringy budu vyzerat ako zmrsene (teda zacinat znakmi EF BB BF vo
   * win1250 kodovani). Dufam...
   * @see #unNCharize(String)
  public static String getNCharized(String in) {
    if (in == null) return null;
    try {
      byte[] b = in.getBytes("utf-8");
      b = Base64.encodeBase64(b);
      return BOM + new String(b);
    } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
      throw new RuntimeException(e);
   * Detekuje a pripadne obnovi Stringy zmrsene na ulozitelnu formu funkciou getNCharized
   * @see #getNCharized(String)
  public static String unNCharize(String in) {
    if (in == null) return null;
    if (in.startsWith(BOM)) {
      try {
        byte[] b = in.substring(3).getBytes();
        b = Base64.decodeBase64(b);
        return new String(b, "utf-8");
      } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
        throw new RuntimeException(e);
      } catch (RuntimeException e) {
        return in;
    } else
      return in;
}MyEntityImpl.java
package sk.transacty.bc4j.ncharsup;
import oracle.jbo.server.EntityDefImpl;
import oracle.jbo.server.EntityImpl;
* Implementacia entity, ktora "zviditelni" niektore protected metody z EntityImpl pre nas package
public class MyEntityImpl extends EntityImpl {
  protected EntityDefImpl getEntityDef() {
    return super.getEntityDef();
  protected boolean isAttributeChanged(int i) {
    return super.isAttributeChanged(i);
  protected boolean isAttributePopulated(int i) {
    return super.isAttributePopulated(i);
}Notes:
* NChar will not work if:
** "Optimistic update" locking mode is used
** NChar columns are in key columns (primary or foreign keys, detail rowsets etc.)
** named bind variables probably don't work
* if jbo.debugoutput is turned on, it will print messages about setting setFormOfUse
* implementation overrides methods marked as "subject to change" - version check takes place in the constructor and exception is thrown. Will need to be rechecked in future ADF versions (if this functionality will not be implemented by default, I filled an Enhancement request).
Viliam

Answer 1

Hi,
You can get User name using EL ---adf.context.securityContext.userName
and also using---getUserPrincipalName()
Thanks,
Vijay