DBMS_SCHEDULER is a newer, more complex job scheduling engine released in 10g, intended to replace DBMS_JOB going forward. DBMS_JOB, the older job scheduler, as of now is still available for quick and easy DB based job scheduling.

Job scheduling comprises the core of the functionality of DBMS_SCHUDULER, however here are some additional benefits available to DBMS_SCHEDULER:

• Logging of job runs (job history)
• Simple but powerful scheduling syntax (similar to but more powerful than cron syntax)
• Running of jobs outside of the database on the operating system (see below)
• Resource management between different classes of jobs
• Use of job arguments including passing of objects into stored procedures
• Privilege-based security model for jobs
• Naming of jobs and comments in jobs
• Stored, reusable schedules

Overview

This tutorial article and it’s associated video will help guide you through the process of installing APEX version 4.0 in a Windows Server 2003 64 bit OS environment with Oracle Database 11g R2 installed.

Tutorial Video

High Level steps

1. Create destination directory and extract APEX files. (0:20)
2. Login via SQLPLUS (1:13)
3. Install APEX 4.0. (1:58)
4. Change APEX ADMIN password (2:40)
5. Configure PL/SQL Gateway and unlock Anonymous User. (3:15)
6. Verify XML DB HTTP Port (4:04)
7. Enabling Network Services (4:32)
8. Enable Indexing on online help for 11g R2 (4:32)
9. Check Job Queue Processes and Shared Servers (6:45)
10. Check for Previous Releases and remove if needed. (7:00)
11. Remove Invalid ACL’s if needed (7:27)
12. Verify Install by logging in. (8:00)

I like seeing Oracle leverage non-Oracle technology, like Adobe Flex and AIR. I hope that trend continues for Oracle…while Microsoft goes off to build things like Silverlight and Apple simply decides to avoid support for Flash altogether on their iPhone and iPad devices. I haven’t played with these widgets myself yet, but I do like the idea and sure we will be leveraging them.

• Click to Download - Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g Desktop Widgets
• Click to Blog - Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g Desktop Widgets

Service Level & Monitoring

High-Load Databases

Target Search & Monitoring

Setting up Windows Native Authentication (with Kerberos) Single Sign-On (SSO) within WebLogic can be tricky. One way to accomplish this is to use IIS to front-end the WebLogic cluster. You need to use an IISIdentityAsserter in this scenario. Using an Identity Asserter based on HTTP headers has security implications and it’s important to ensure the communications are locked down between the IIS front-end to the WebLogic cluster. I don’t have much time to type more about this, but was excited about some recent work and wanted to get a quick post up in reference to this.

Like many days, I had a need to query data stored in Oracle. But today was different. I needed to return the data in an XML format. I started with a very simple need and generated the XML brute-force while traversing my cursor. However, I realized the data would not be escaped properly and knew/assumed Oracle has created built-in functionality to accomplish what I was trying to do.

I then recreated my logic using DBMS_XMLGEN. This worked well, in that it created the desired result set, but I hate the idea of storing SQL in a string to be passed into a function, which is precisely what DBMS_XMLGEN was having me do. I had a hard time figuring out the precise technique recommended by Oracle, or even the “latest” technique. My client’s environment was 9i, so I knew I wasn’t going to get to play with anything interesting 11g might have to offer.

My brief research showed that SQL/XML (SQLX) appeared to be the best option. A few hours later, it really has been nice. I have been able to create both simple and complex XML results. Once you have the syntax down, you can generate just about any XML structure you desire.

Let me know if you come across anything more interesting/useful than SQLX for querying Oracle RDBMS tables (not XML data stored natively in the DB), and I’ll be interested in checking it out.

We have recently been working on and completed an entire Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g environment setup for a customer:

• Identity Management
• WebCenter (Framework and Services)
• SOA Suite
• UCM

This article is part of the recent work short blurb series.