Oracle Application Express Architecture <Insert Picture Here> Oracle Application Express Architecture * Pick and choose slides to discuss Architecture

Architectural Overview Discussion Points: APEX is effectively a 2-Tier architecture where the client (a simple Web browser) talks through to the APEX Engine which resides in the Oracle DB Given the fact it resides in the Oracle Db it can be installed into any edition and any version of the Oracle DB 9iR2 and above SE, SE1, or EE and Oracle XE. The APEX Engine serves HTML pages and processes page submissions based on the meta data stored in tables within the DB Communication between the browser and database can be configured using the APEX Listener (Soon to be released), Embedded PL/SQL Gateway (EPG) which is part of the DB, or Apache and mod_plsql. Integrated within the database 9iR2, 10g, 11g, XE Meta data driven Uses APEX Listener, Embedded Gateway or ModPLSQL © 2009 Oracle Corporation

Page Processing Discussion Points: When a URL (page request) is sent from a user a pooled Database session is used to fetch the meta data relating to the page and then render the HTML after passing the authentication and authorization checks. Similarly, when a page is posted a pooled Database session is used to fetch the meta data relating to the validations, computations, processes, etc that are to be performed. Once they have been completed, the resulting page including processing information (e.g. success / error messages) is posted. APEX doesn’t consume any Database resources (e.g. maintaining a connection for each user) except when processing a page. The overhead of APEX page processing (e.g. reading the meta data, testing authentication / authorization, rendering, etc.) is normally measured in sub milli-seconds with the majority of the time to render a page on the user’s computer being consumed by the actual Database calls (e.g. SELECT * FROM …, INSERT INTO …), network latency, and speed with which their computer renders the HTML within their browser. Each request opens / closes Database session Doesn’t keep a Database session open for each user Page Request / Submission processing adds minimal overhead © 2009 Oracle Corporation

Multi-Tenant SaaS Single Oracle Database for multiple applications Discussion Points: Oracle Application Express enables a single database to host large numbers of users. Users work in a dedicated work area called a workspace. A workspace is a virtual private database that enables multiple users to work within the same Oracle Application Express installation while keeping their objects, data and applications private. This flexible architecture enables a single database instance to manage thousands of applications. It turns a single database into a hosted service, making it an ideal platform for consolidation of smaller data stores. Single Oracle Database for multiple applications Provides virtual private databases Self-service or IT managed provisioning © 2009 Oracle Corporation

Oracle APEX Deployment Options Deployable on any Oracle Database accessed using only a Web browser Cloud / Hosted On Premise – In Datacenter Discussion Points: APEX gives you choices: - Develop and Run it where it makes the most sense for you and your organization. - Across any platform that Oracle runs - Provides you the opportunity to change your mind - Start out in the cloud and move in house or vice versa - Develop on a laptop and deploy to a hosted service - its up to you On Premise - Departmental Server Personal Database © 2009 Oracle Corporation 5

Oracle APEX and Amazon Cloud Discussion Points: Administrators need to configure and maintain the environment using specific add-ons provided by Amazon. For developers and end-users the only difference is the URL used to access APEX © 2009 Oracle Corporation 6

Oracle APEX and Amazon Cloud Discussion Points: The above configuration is the recommended configuration for running APEX on Amazon Using S3 for storage allows the administrator to easily manage and change the EC2 level of service as required The admin simply defines the service and then mounts the Oracle Database on EBS from S3. This allows maximum flexibility, for example: Turn off development instance over the weekend when developers not working Change from Large Instance to Small Instance for Production applications after hours As application workload increases upgrade from Medium Instance to Large Instance © 2009 Oracle Corporation 7

Why APEX makes sense for the Cloud Very few moving parts – Simple to manage Browser based development / deployment / runtime No client-side dependencies Multi-Tenant SaaS provides multiple “workspaces” Applications easy to migrate to other deployments Database Backups also backup application source Oracle AMI includes APEX (may require upgrade) Webservice Support Discussion Points: As APEX has a simple architecture and is browser based it makes the transition for developers and end-users seamless - simply provide the URL for the cloud environment. The multi-tenant capabilities allow multiple development teams and their associated applications to co-exist within one Oracle DB minimizing costs (You only need one instance) Given that APEX is fully-contained within the Oracle database maintaining the environment is greatly simplified © 2009 Oracle Corporation 8 8

Building Integrated Applications Discussion Points: The APEX Engine, and hence APEX applications, can be easily integrated with outside data sources using Web Services and DB links. Given that APEX resides within the Oracle DB it can easily integrate with other Oracle database features. APEX applications can also be extended using Javascript and AJAX to provide a richer UI. © 2009 Oracle Corporation

Integrating APEX & BI Publisher Declarative PDF reporting services Create professional “high-fidelity” reports Range of document formats Ability to define multiple queries Discussion Points: Declarative PDF Reporting Services – Include PDF printing feature with your report using a declarative interface that allows you to define a range of attributes associated with the output document. For instance, you can set the report Page size, Background color, add a page header etc. Create Professional Looking Reports – You can Add Charts and other Visual aides to your Report that not only helps in interpreting the data listed in your report, but also adds a more professional look to your reports. This would be ideal for say, your department’s financial figures, Sales reports etc. With this feature, you can not only use APEX to consolidate and maintain consistent data, but also use it to generate reports that you can add to your Organization Annual reports without having to use any Additional Tool. Note: For these features the Customer would have to procure a BI Publisher License, to enable the “Advanced PDF” Reporting Services option. With the advanced option, they may use the XML Publishers RTF Template Builder to generate Templates for their Reports. Under the Standard License (Default with APEX 3.0), Customers are limited to using the “Default Template” provided or build XSL/FO templates. Range of Document Formats – This feature does not limit you to only PDF documents, You may select document format from a variety of industry standard formats: 1. PDF 2. Word(RTF) 3. Excel Spreadsheet 4. HTML © 2008 Oracle Corporation – Proprietary

Oracle APEX Listener – Available Soon The Oracle Application Express Listener is a Java based mod_plsql replacement for all Oracle APEX releases. The java based listener will support file system caching, FOP transformations to PDF and improved file upload with Oracle APEX 4.0. The APEX listener will support popular versions of Apache, Web Logic, Tomcat and OC4J. The Java based listener is also extensible. Discussion Points: The APEX Listener is currently undergoing internal testing and should be available shortly. Given the greatly enhanced functionality it will become the preferred listener for use across all versions of APEX on all supported Oracle databases. One of the key attributes of the new listener is that it is Java based and extensible allowing much greater flexibility and improved performance. © 2009 Oracle Corporation