Sugestion on Architecture supported by Oracle 8i using J Dev

Question

Required Application Scenario:
The Application is supposed to be web enabled with following
features :
Application GUI contains some complex screens including Grid
controls, Grid controls with combo box, Drop down combo with
multicolumn list, splitted pane, tabbed pane and dynamic menu
and toolbars. The data displayed in the GUI is supposed to be
filled by the database. The database is on Oracle 8i. Proposed
development tool is JDeveloper. The guideline for development is
such that it requires thin clients and also reduced network
traffic.
Architecture support for JDeveloper
Following are the supported architectures for development of web
based applications. It includes the limitations related to the
proposed architecture.
1. InfoBus Data form
-InfoBus Data form uses the oracle's InfoSwing controls.
-InfoSwing control provides the data storage and retrieval
functionality from the database.
-InfoSwing controls are mainly used in java applications.
-It does not suit the proposed architecture because applet will
be very heavy.
2. DBServlet
-DBServlet provides the look and feel (theme) of the HTML forms
generated by the database servlet.
-It does not suit the proposed architecture because applet does
not come into picture and GUI will not be similar to existing
application.
3. Applet - Servlet or JNDI -EJB / CORBA
-JDeveloper does not support development of entity beans.
-Applet and EJB Server communication needs JNDI support which is
not integrated with JDeveloper.
-EJB's main goal is to provide database independence,
concurrency and transaction monitoring which is not required in
the current application.
Suggestions:
=============
Please suggest us the best architecture, which can be used for
the corresponding application development and deployment to
Oracle8i.
Could you also provide some additional information on the
following points
1.We understand that EJB solution is very similar to the CORBA
solution, but the only advantage we find that it would give an
open architecture in the later. Are there any other overheads in
either of these solutions ?
2.JDeveloper 2.0 supports JDK 1.1.7 and JDK 1.2. We also
understand that the JServer (Aurora JVM ) which comes along with
8i supports JDK 1.1.6. Now if we deploy classes developed using
JDeveloper how will these classes run on a JServer ?
Please reply as soon as possible
Thanks & Regards
Parvez
null

Answer 1

Here's my two cents.
The problem you're facing is a fundamental one which is
identified in the very first sentence: "Application GUI contains
some complex screens...". Since most of us have developed
client/server applications I can safely say everyone has created
screens that have each type of control known to man and half of
those are coded to do back flips in order to work.
The first and most important consideration in developing web
applications should be usability. Check out this article
http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/990823BC62
Instead of one screen with "Grid controls, Grid controls with
combo box, Drop down combo with multicolumn list, splitted pane,
tabbed pane and dynamic menu and toolbars" break down each task
and present them as steps on idividual pages. Think about how we
buy things on the web. There isn't one monster tab object with
99 tabs for selection, shopping cart, payment, addresses and so
on.
Application requirements should not be based on what controls
are needed. The job of a system designer should be to solve a
business problem. There is no rule written in stone which says
the solution must incorporate fancy controls all on one screen.
Focus on ease of use and minimum training effort for the end
user. You'll be able to achieve this with a simple, more
intuitive design.
All of this can be accomplished with dbServlets and EJB's
producing HTML for thin clients. Unfortunately, entity beans
aren't working in the 2.0 release, but should be in 3.0. I'd
like to know when that will be available .
Parvez Shaikh (guest) wrote:
: Required Application Scenario:
: The Application is supposed to be web enabled with following
: features :
: Application GUI contains some complex screens including Grid
: controls, Grid controls with combo box, Drop down combo with
: multicolumn list, splitted pane, tabbed pane and dynamic menu
: and toolbars. The data displayed in the GUI is supposed to be
: filled by the database. The database is on Oracle 8i. Proposed
: development tool is JDeveloper. The guideline for development
is
: such that it requires thin clients and also reduced network
: traffic.
: Architecture support for JDeveloper
null