BPEL Database Polling - Oracle SOA 10.1.3.x in JDeveloper (Asynchronous)
Filed Under Technical Tips // Tags: jdeveloper (jdev), oracle soa bpel
Polling for changes in a database has been a requirement for systems for a very long time. With Oracle BPEL, of course, this need exists and we will review one way you can go about this.
Note: This particular article is not meant to provide a detailed background for each step, nor does it go through showing how to test end-to-end, but feel free to ask questions in your comments and I will be happy to update any areas that you are confused about.
Objective
Create a BPEL process that would poll the database periodically for records with a specific flag.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough with Screenshots
Create an asynchronous BPEL project using JDeveloper BPEL Plugin
Click Finish and view the JDeveloper design view.
Create a Database Adapter, by dragging and dropping ‘Database Adapter’ from the ‘Component Palette’ and begin configuring using the wizard.
Click ‘Next’ and choose a name for the service that will be created and available for consumption by your BPEL process.
Click ‘Next’ and select the appropriate ‘Database’ Connection from the drop down (or create a new connection if needed).

Click ‘Next’ and select ‘Poll for New or Changed Records in a Table’
Click on ‘Import Tables’ and Select the table that you wish to poll.
Once your table is selected:
Click ‘Next’
Click ‘Next’
Click ‘Next’
As you poll entries, you must decide on a way to read and mark entries. We have chosen to update a field, setting all values to “FALSE” since we do not want Oracle BPEL to automatically update a field as soon as it is read; instead, we want to update the value ourselves later in the process, once we are sure certain processing has been completed.
Note: Assuming that you will update the ‘Task_Completed’ Flag after processing the records, you might want to change the wsdl to modify polling parameters.
Modify the receive activity to get data from the new Database Adapter Service
Related Information:
- Asynchronous vs Synchronous BPEL Processes Asynchronous and Synchronous BPEL processes, as their names imply, process a request in parallel or sequenctially respectively. Screenshot: Invoke Asynchronous...
- Oracle BPEL Sensors for Real Time Event Publishing from Business Processes - A Design Perspective This article is a look at Oracle’s BPEL Sensor approach to publishing real time data and events for in flight...
- Salesforce.com Integration - Oracle Fusion Middleware SOA and BPEL Oracle Corporation has recently published a white paper written by M&S Consulting, where we take the opportunity to outline an...
- BPEL Not Good For Rapid Changes I am excited about BPEL’s proliferation. But for some organizations (specifically, IT shops), BPEL is being used in areas it...
- Discoverer - Public Connections for Oracle Applications with SSO While using SSO, in order to create a public connection to Oracle Discoverer for Oracle Applications, I suggest creating a...
- Oracle APEX Tutorial 2 - Parameterized Report Part 2 - Video Training This Tutorial is a guided walkthrough of section 3 of the Oracle APEX Advanced Tutorials....
- Invalid Nested Schema Loading Error with Oracle BPEL, AIA/PIP I faced this issue in the context of building an Application Business Connector Service (ABCS) using AIA / PIP, so...











