Thursday, November 20, 2008

R12 Patch 5612820 Available: Changing the default layout format between RTF/PDF/Excel when submitting XML / BI Publisher Concurrent Request

In a previous post I provided a temporary solution for the issue where the default value for the Output Format of a BI Publisher based concurrent request was hardcoded to PDF.

For those those customers lucky enough to be on Release 12 I'm glad to say Oracle has provided a patch for this enhancement, the base issue documented in Metalink Note 401328.1 or Bug 5612820 or Bug 5036916:

  • R12 Patch 5612820 DEFAULT OUTPUT FORMAT ATTRIBUTE AT TEMPLATE LEVEL IS REQUIRED

This patch is included in R12 Release Update Pack 12.0.6, but as a note at the time of writing 5612820 is available on controlled release ... not sure of the reason since its in 12.0.6. The code base required for applying 5612820 is:

  • R12.AD.A.delta.4
  • R12.ATG_PF.A.delta.4

For those people on Release 11i, unfortunately you'll have to wait a little longer ... still awaiting the 11i version of the patch.

Here's a screenshot of the new Default Output Format field on the Templates page.

And verification that the default output format is indeed working...

Nice!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Discoverer Plus 10g: contact with Server lost: DiscoApplet Error DiscoNetworkException CORBA.COMM_FAILURE. ICX Territory!

An interesting one today; a Discoverer Plus Workbook called via an eBusiness Suite Menu errored out with:

OracleBI Discoverer: "Contact with the Discoverer Server has been lost. To continue your work, please restart Discoverer Plus. If this problem persists, please contact your Oracle Application Server administrator."

Doh! Who's that Application Server administrator ... oh! me :-(

Attempting to expand the workbook, after going directly into Discoverer Plus errors with:

"This workbook cannot be expanded".

 

Hmm, okay, let's look at the Java Console:

Reading bytes from input stream
   Unmarshalling response
   Session ID:2008111408252618857
   BI Beans Graph version [3.2.3.0.37]
   DiscoApplet[0]: Error received by GlobalStatusListener.workerFailed() in SessionUI.java
   DiscoNetworkException  - Nested exception: org.omg.CORBA.COMM_FAILURE:   vmcid: SUN  minor code: 208 completed: Maybe
   DiscoNetworkException  - Nested exception: org.omg.CORBA.COMM_FAILURE:   vmcid: SUN  minor code: 208 completed: Maybe
   org.omg.CORBA.COMM_FAILURE:   vmcid: SUN  minor code: 208 completed: Maybe
 at com.sun.corba.se.internal.iiop.IIOPConnection.purge_calls(IIOPConnection.java:438)
 at com.sun.corba.se.internal.iiop.ReaderThread.run(ReaderThread.java:70)
 at sun.rmi.transport.StreamRemoteCall.exceptionReceivedFromServer(Unknown Source)
 at sun.rmi.transport.StreamRemoteCall.executeCall(Unknown Source)
 at sun.rmi.server.UnicastRef.invoke(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.remote.rmi.serverbase.RMISessionBase_Stub.sendRecieveData(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.model.corbaserver.ModelInterface.sendRecieveData(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.model.corbaserver.ModelInterface.SendReceiveData(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.model.corbaserver.serverrequest.DsrOpenWorkbook.xmlUpdateServer(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.model.corbaserver.serverrequest.DsrCorbaXML.corbaUpdateServer(Unknown Source)
 at oracle.disco.model.corbaserver.serverrequest.DsrGeneralCorbaXML.updateServer(Unknown Source)
 

Ouch! Sounds like it hurts!

A quick blast through Metalink (oops MOS - My Oracle Support) and a bunch of old bugs later, not looking promising, however there's one major clue - the problem is only occurring for some Users. Okay, lets do a side by side comparison of Profile Options as a first guess:

User Level Profile Option Value Comparison Side by Side

select *
   from (
 with
 prof_di as
 ( select 'USER' level_name, 
 fu.user_name level_value, 
 fpo.profile_option_id,
 fpot.user_profile_option_name,
 fpo.profile_option_name,
 fpov.profile_option_value
 from   fnd_user fu, 
 fnd_profile_options fpo,
 fnd_profile_option_values fpov,
 fnd_profile_options_tl fpot
 where  fu.user_id = fpov.level_value
 and    fpo.profile_option_id = fpov.profile_option_id
 and    fpo.profile_option_name = fpot.profile_option_name
 and    fpot.language = 'US'
 and    fpov.level_id = 10004
 and    fu.user_name = 'SYSADMIN'
 ),
 prof_gr as
 (
 select 'USER' level_name, 
 fu.user_name level_value, 
 fpo.profile_option_id,
 fpot.user_profile_option_name,
 fpo.profile_option_name,
 fpov.profile_option_value
 from   fnd_user fu, 
 fnd_profile_options fpo,
 fnd_profile_option_values fpov,
 fnd_profile_options_tl fpot
 where  fu.user_id = fpov.level_value
 and    fpo.profile_option_id = fpov.profile_option_id
 and    fpo.profile_option_name = fpot.profile_option_name
 and    fpot.language = 'US'
 and    fpov.level_id = 10004
 and    fu.user_name = 'ROBERTSG'
 )
 select pd.profile_option_id
 ,      pd.user_profile_option_name
 ,      pd.profile_option_name
 ,      pd.profile_option_value d_value
 ,      pg.profile_option_value g_value
 ,      decode(pd.profile_option_value,pg.profile_option_value,'EQUAL','DIFF') status
 from   prof_di pd
 ,      prof_gr pg
 where  pd.profile_option_name = pg.profile_option_name (+)
 union
 select pg.profile_option_id
 ,      pg.user_profile_option_name
 ,      pg.profile_option_name
 ,      pd.profile_option_value d_value
 ,      pg.profile_option_value g_value
 ,      decode(pg.profile_option_value,pd.profile_option_value,'EQUAL','DIFF') status
 from   prof_di pd
 ,      prof_gr pg
 where  pg.profile_option_name = pd.profile_option_name (+)
 )
 where status != 'EQUAL';  

The query gets output that includes the following:

USER_PROFILE_OPTION_NAME PROFILE_OPTION_NAME D_VALUE     G_VALUE STATUS
------------------------ ------------------- ----------- ------- ------
ICX: Territory ICX_TERRITORY NEW ZEALAND AMERICA DIFF

Whenever I see anything related to "NLS_LANG" or "Territory" the alarm bells start ringing, and sure enough - for the problem User, just a quick navigate to the "Preferences" responsibility, General Preferences and change the Territory from New Zealand to United States and we're off and laughing again! Alternatively could have looked at the ICX: Territory profile option.

 

What was the real underlying problem? My guess is a clash on date formats for default parameter values ... but that's left for another day.

 

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Enhancing the Oracle eBusiness Suite 11i/12 Homepage Menu via Firefox, Greasemonkey, XPath, Javascript & DOM: aka Foxiness Menus

Update: 12-Nov-08 Extended script for Release 12

The Background

One of the most user-unfriendly and neglected aspects of the eBusiness Suite in my opinion is the homepage. No sooner than you arrive there you really just wanna get out, and get out fast! The majority of people I know, including myself, do one of the following:

  • Save one function from each of your primary responsibilities as a "Favorite" and thereafter only use the "Favorites" area of the homepage
  • After choosing the responsibility just blinding pick the first "Forms" based menu entry so that you get into the forms navigator menu. At least for any responsibility that still has a majority of forms.

One of the aspects that I've desired for a while is a tree based Responsibility menu structure. Now Oracle does provide this, but when I last checked, admitedly a few years ago, it required Oracle Portal integration. As a bit of a refresher, there is a profile option called "Self Service Personal Home Page mode" which used to be able to be set to "Personal Home Page" and then clicking on the responsibility went straight into forms for a Forms based application.

But from 11.5.10, "Self Service Personal Home Page mode" must be set to "Framework Only" and hence you now have an extra couple of mouse clicks to get to where you want to go. At least EBS Release 11i/12 has show/hide responsibilities.

Where is all this going you ask? Well, for a bit of late night entertainment ... sad I know ;-) plus a bit of experimentation, considering Firefox's 4th Birthday was just a couple of days ago, and since I'm now comfortable using Firefox with EBS, I've created a Greasemonkey script to give a smidgen of intelligence to the Framework homepage Responsibility menu.

Introducing the Virtuate Oracle EBS Homepage Menu enhancement Greasemonkey Script!

So, what does this do? Well it turns this:

Into this:

With a quick video here ... apologies if its a bit big:

How do I install it?

Assuming you have Firefox and Greasemonkey, just click on this UserScripts.org link and then click the install button! If you have any hassles, you're more than welcome to fix the code on UserScripts.org (or let me know)! Open Source rocks!

Requirements

References

Related Posts

 

Monday, November 03, 2008

Firefox with eBusiness Suite: Oracle JInitiator Plugin does not start - always get "must install plugin", Vista, Patch 5397653

This problem has bothered me for a while in a couple of scenarios, so time for another post ... after quite an absence I must admit. I'm well over my post Conference 1 & 2 catchup now. On with the enthusiasm!

Update: Firefox 3.x is now certified with EBS. See Steven's post for details.

So you're working with your favourite Firefox 2.x, because Firefox 3 hasn't quite been certified yet. You try to fire up Oracle Applications Forms via JInitiator 1.3.x (or even 1.1.8.x) and get the dreaded "you must install the Oracle JInitiator Plugin" box.

Well, chances are one of the following quick fixes will solve your problem:

1. If you have multiple JVM's installed or multiple versions of JInitiator

In this case you'll need to apply Patch 5397653: Firefox does not work with multiple java plugin versions. Its just a quick patch, no prereqs, go for it!

2. If you are using Microsoft Windows Vista

In this case I'll feel very sorry for as well as suggesting you copy jvm.dll from a Sun JRE 6.0 Update 1 (or higher) installation. This is as per Bug 6074498.

3. If you still have problems after the above.

Make sure you have switched off the Enable Java option in Firefox, per Note 285218.1.

  • Tools -> Options -> Content
  • Uncheck the 'Enable Java' option so that the Sun JRE plug-in is not enabled (this ensures that the Jinitiator plug-in is used instead).

If you have any other scenarios or issues with Firefox and JInitiator / Sun JRE Plugin, please post a comment here!

Reference

  • Patch 5397653: Firefox does not work with multiple java plugin versions
  • Note 285218.1: Recommended Browsers for Oracle E-Business Suite 11i
  • Bug 6074498: Unable To Connect To E-Business Suite On Vista

Related Posts

 

 

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

OpenWorld 2008 Final Post: Fusion Applications, X, R12 - Change Pack & Payment Manager plus SES

A bit of a delay on my final post on OpenWorld - Wednesday, the Appreciation Event and Thursday went past in a blur, then on to enjoying the final moments in the Valley, lastly the long haul home & back to reality.

Fusion Applications came to the fore at Steve Miranda's presentation on Wednesday the highlights for me were as follows - let me know if my scrawls have been translated to something incorrect!

  • Built on ADF stack - I went to a few hands on sessions prior so familiar with the look n feel. Nice.
  • WebCenter Integration
  • Document Management (Stellant?) Integration
  • Secure Enterprise Search (SES) standard (top and center in the UI)
  • BI Publisher in the technology stack
  • Prebuilt Dashboards and Embedded BI
  • Tagging / Categories
  • RSS
  • Instant Collaboration built in - Chat / IM / Voice / Email
  • Help includes User Ratings, Audio/Video
  • Configuration comparison and loading tools across instances
  • Upgrades as per provided today - ie. If you can upgrade your eBusiness Suite, then the same will apply to upgrade to Fusion. Note upgrade paths do not including merging instances, splitting instances. Supports Pillars.

But when are Fusion Applications going to be available? Let me know! Although given the fullness of the demo screens and a couple of mumbles I'd bet there are business trialling it now.

Following on from that the next interesting item was Larry's speech from the blogger's area and that box with the X and Oracle/HP badges; the HP Oracle Database Machine. Unfortunately my sentiment on this is similar to Tim Hall's - in New Zealand there might be 2 perhaps 3 companies with the kind of dosh needed to shell out and buy one... sigh ... but hey, prove me wrong someone in NZ and get me in to have a little play ;-)

After a highly enjoyable and entertaining night at the Appreciation Event, amusements, Seal and UB40 (thanks Greg, Michael & co) Thursday came around all to quick for me and my new Unicorn friend ;-) so skipped a few sessions, and headed to the demo grounds, notes follow.

Oracle Enterprise Manager Change Pack for Release 12.x

The "Change Pack" was very briefly mentioned during the R12 and 12.1 update without details. So I got down to the demo pod to check it out. Had a succinct demo from one of the On Demand team who are currently using it. With my Apps DBA hat on the the Change Pack looks really, really good and here's a rundown of the features:

  • Automation of Patch Application, including automatic downloads, unzip and merge of designated patches. Basically you specify the patches you want applied and it comes up with a task list based on the patches where you can add/reorder etc. the steps.
  • Creation of custom steps to integrate into a given patch run
  • Patch run scheduling, including viewing status of other patch runs
  • Automated notification of patch failures
  • Post install tasks like Generate Messages, Compile etc just a checkbox
  • Creation of Custom Patches that can be applied by adpatch

Note that unfortunately the features don't include patch analysis or automated dependency checking based on the underlying patch Metalink Notes... or should I call them Knowledge Base Notes now? It would be great if the Metalink Notes for Patches were in a strict format so the Change Pack could datamine them and work out patch dependencies etc. Hoping for too much ;-) Of course all features mentioned here are not official yet as Change Pack is due for release sometime in 2009 I think. Bring it on!

Release 12 Payment Manager was the next demo pod, the updates to Payment Batch process from Release 11i and earlier is something I've been looking forward to for a loooong time ... even though parts of it such as easy payment document changes via BI Publisher Templates and built in FTP/SFTP etc delivery are going to negate the need for some of my development time! Good stuff.

The Secure Enterprise Search (SES) for Release 12 demo pod also caught my attention, so took a brief flight through that - seems like it would take quite a bit of configuration to get it working, and more than a few $$ as well, with the need of the SES server and the eBusiness Suite "adaptors". But worth a look all the same ... now where did I put that Google Desktop Search for eBusiness Suite functionality ;-)

Eye Scanning: One of the more fun pods was focussed on UI design by tracking and recording eye movements - so I sat down and after a quick callibration exercise and intro, I went through an eye tracking session. Very very interesting to see where I looked when reading and searching for something on screen. Worth the time - glad the 50K price of the hardware isn't coming out of my budget though!

Well, that wraps up my first OpenWorld. The highlight for me was meeting all the people face to face that I've interacted with or heard about online - the stars from Oracle Forums, Bloggers, Oracle Staff (especially those Product Managers ;-), various NZers/Australians and a bunch of other great people. Good to hang out and catch up at the OTN Lounge, and events like the Bloggers Meetup, OTN Night and APEX Meetup. Hope to hear from you all soon!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Openworld Update: XML/BI Publisher & R12, 11g PL/SQL, ADFdi and more

A few updates on BI Publisher and a couple of interesting notes through the OpenWorld sessions that I attended over the last day or so.

BI Publisher:

  • eBusiness Suite Release 12.1 - All standard reports to have Templates (Data still generated in Reports)
  • Excel Templates for FSGs from EBS Release 12.0 (currently controlled release)
  • DataTemplate Builder coming... still.
  • ... did I miss anything? I was hoping for a little more, but beggars can't be choosers, even in San Francisco ;-)

Other Interesting Stuff:

Attended a couple of top sessions today, first was Steven Feuerstein's 11g PL/SQL session on making the most of the Function Result Cache - an important feature in my mind similar in nature to prior PL/SQL performance enhancing features like bulk binding that developers neglect somewhat. Although with its conflict with authid current_user and my focus on the EBS I'm going to have to do some digging to see if its usable with the EBS (apparently not at first glance).

Second was Juan Ruiz's MS Office Front Ends for ADF, where he demo'd upcoming (Q1 2009?) Desktop Integration components for ADF - very sexy stuff, ADF components built into Microsoft Excel 2007 with http/https communication through to backend ADF based model. In the world I live in the solution will definitely gain some traction. A bit of a shame its not here today although there are people/products achieving the same via varying means - a few of them in the audience including a couple of Kiwis (a.k.a. New Zealanders) - nice to see.

The Fusion Applications scene is very hush hush, some rumours around but unfortunately nothing of public attention - Oracle people keeping everything under wraps.

PS. Trying to keep these posts short and to the point given the heap of posts on OpenWorld around.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

OpenWorld Keynote Announcements: R12.1, Beehive, DB 11.1.0.7, Jdeveloper 11g, My Oracle Support

Update: Removed GA of 12.1, due later!

A quick wrapup of the announcements of interest to me from the OpenWorld keynotes this morning:

From OpenWorld Keynote: Charles Phillips and Chuck Rozwat

  • Oracle eBusiness Suite Release 12.1 General Availability (GA) available soon (perhaps the new year)
  • Oracle Beehive: a suite of collaboration tools including MS Outlook integration
  • Oracle JDeveloper Release 11g GA
  • Oracle Database Release 11.1.0.7
  • My Oracle Support: replacement for Oracle Metalink

From Oracle Develop: Ted Farrell

  • Oracle JDeveloper Release 11g GA
  • Oracle ADF 11g GA including 130+ JSF components (next week)
  • Oracle Toplink 11g GA
  • Oracle Enterprise Eclipse Pack focus

So that wraps up the biggest announcments so far. I was expecting R12.1 and JDev 11g, will be very interesting to follow the progress of Beehive and whether it can gain a footing against other specialist collaboration tools.

Update: Still awaiting details of the major database announcement later in the week... rumours are Database Accelerator... still guessing!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Oracle OpenWorld 2008: From Silicon Welly to Silicon Valley

Shortly off to OpenWorld. Sooo much to do, so little time.

Below are the sessions I'm lining up - also planning to head to the Blogger's Meetup on Sunday night (my apologies for the Australia/New Zealand dinner) and the OTN night Monday night amongst other things - so hope to see some of you there. Drop me a line if you want to catch up.

ID DATE TIME TITLE
S299504 21-Sep-08 11:45 Build the Next Generation of Composite Applications with Oracle WebCenter, SOA, and Enterprise 2.0
S299048 21-Sep-08 13:15 Hands-on Lab: Adapters for Service-Oriented Architectures
S300199 21-Sep-08 14:30 Oracle JDeveloper with Oracle Application Development Framework and Oracle Fusion Stack: Is It Oracle Forms Developer Yet
S298690 21-Sep-08 15:45 Oracle ADF Faces Rich Client Components: Ajax and Web 2.0 with JavaServer Faces
S299488 22-Sep-08 11:30 Road Map for Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Server Infrastructure
S300603 22-Sep-08 13:00 Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Automation: Bursting and Document Delivery in Oracle E-Business Suite
S300595 22-Sep-08 14:30 Oracle PartnerNetwork: Taking Advantage of Oracle's Acquisition Strategy to Grow Your Business
S298724 22-Sep-08 16:00 Redeveloping an Oracle Forms Application with Oracle Application Development Framework: A Case Study
S298463 22-Sep-08 17:30 What's New with Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher: The Standard Reporting Platform for All Applications
S299928 23-Sep-08 9:00 Best Practices for Deploying Oracle Software and Linux: Oracle Validated Configurations and Preconfigured Templates
S298688 23-Sep-08 13:00 Oracle Application Development Framework 11g: New Declarative Validation, List of Values, Search, and Services Features
S298715 23-Sep-08 16:00 MS Office Front Ends for Oracle Application Development Framework Applications: Intro to Oracle ADF Desktop Integration
S299306 23-Sep-08 17:30 Zero-Cost Business Intelligence Using Oracle Database 11g and Oracle Application Express 3.1 
S301712 24-Sep-08 9:00 Successfully Developing and Integrating Applications in Oracle Application Express in Oracle E-Business Suite
S298467 24-Sep-08 11:30 Oracle Fusion Applications: Applications for the Next-Generation Organization, Part 1
S299588 24-Sep-08 13:00 Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Road Map and Planned Features
S300478 25-Sep-08 9:00 Choose Your Weapon: An Overview of Oracle Development Tools
S299685 25-Sep-08 10:30 Bridging the Oracle Applications Unlimited/Oracle Fusion Applications Gap with Oracle Application Integration Architecture
S299692 25-Sep-08 15:00 Oracle Application Integration Architecture for Oracle E-Business Suite 

And in the Demo Grounds:

Application UI Research and Innovation (Pod I11)
SOA Enablement of E-Business Suite (Pod K24)
Oracle Secure Enterprise Search (Pod K26)
Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher for Oracle
Applications (Pod I01)

Don't forget the Lounges:

Applications Lounge
Moscone West, Lobby Level 2 
Monday, September 22 - Wednesday, September 24: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 25: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. 
Database Lounge
Moscone South Esplanade 
Monday, September 22 - Wednesday, September 24: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 25: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Middleware Lounge
San Francisco Marriott, Yerba Buena Ballroom Foyer 
Sunday, September 21: 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Monday, September 22 - Wednesday, September 24: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 25: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. 

Would have been nice to maket these as well, but hey - don't know of anyone with clones yet ;-)

S299504 21-Sep-08 11:45 Build the Next Generation of Composite Applications with Oracle WebCenter, SOA, and Enterprise 2.0
S299048 21-Sep-08 13:15 Hands-on Lab: Adapters for Service-Oriented Architectures
S300199 21-Sep-08 14:30 Oracle JDeveloper with Oracle Application Development Framework and Oracle Fusion Stack: Is It Oracle Forms Developer Yet?
S298690 21-Sep-08 15:45 Oracle ADF Faces Rich Client Components: Ajax and Web 2.0 with JavaServer Faces
S299488 22-Sep-08 11:30 Road Map for Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Server Infrastructure
S300603 22-Sep-08 13:00 Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Automation: Bursting and Document Delivery in Oracle E-Business Suite
S300595 22-Sep-08 14:30 Oracle PartnerNetwork: Taking Advantage of Oracle’s Acquisition Strategy to Grow Your Business
S298724 22-Sep-08 16:00 Redeveloping an Oracle Forms Application with Oracle Application Development Framework: A Case Study
S298463 22-Sep-08 17:30 Whats New with Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher: The Standard Reporting Platform for All Applications
S299928 23-Sep-08 9:00 Best Practices for Deploying Oracle Software and Linux: Oracle Validated Configurations and Preconfigured Templates
S298688 23-Sep-08 13:00 Oracle Application Development Framework 11g: New Declarative Validation, List of Values, Search, and Services Features
S298715 23-Sep-08 16:00 MS Office Front Ends for Oracle Application Development Framework Applications: Intro to Oracle ADF Desktop Integration
S299306 23-Sep-08 17:30 Zero-Cost Business Intelligence Using Oracle Database 11g and Oracle Application Express 3.1 
S301712 24-Sep-08 9:00 Successfully Developing and Integrating Applications in Oracle Application Express in Oracle E-Business Suite
S298467 24-Sep-08 11:30 Oracle Fusion Applications: Applications for the Next-Generation Organization, Part 1
S299588 24-Sep-08 13:00 Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Road Map and Planned Features
S300478 25-Sep-08 9:00 Choose Your Weapon: An Overview of Oracle Development Tools
S299685 25-Sep-08 10:30 Oracle Application Integration Architecture: Bridging The Gap To Next Generation Applications
S298403 25-Sep-08 13:30 Opening Up Oracle Application Framework Applications Through Web Services and Portlets
S299692 25-Sep-08 15:00 Oracle Application Integration Architecture for Oracle E-Business Suite 

All systems go!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Oracle APEX, SEO and Google

One of my major gripes with Oracle APEX is / was its lack of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendliness. At least of couple of us down under have almost pulled out our hair trying to get APEX to play nicely with Google, lynx, Apache rewrite etc. without much success. A couple of references here and here (thanks Steve).

Well, the good news is that a "session 0" fix and the related URL redirect issue look to be resolved in APEX 3.1.2 (patch 7313609) recently released, expertly covered by John Scott here , glad that it got your attention John! So that should really help with Google's crawlers and raise the profile of APEX sites using session 0.

Top 7 Reasons for a FREE version of BI Publisher a.k.a Uncage Oracle XML Publisher

I'd like to see a "free" (as in beer) version of BI Publisher (XML Publisher) added to the list of "free" Oracle products. Here are my reasons:

1. BI Publisher for everyone.

BI Publisher is fundamentally such a fantastic product that every organization and developer should benefit from it.

2. Remove the quirks.

The accelerated uptake from the "free" version would (hopefully) translate to the quirks of the product being identified and fixed in fraction of the time it would take for a paid expensive product.

3. Ease the expense.

BI Publisher bundled up in a package costing large $$$? I have trouble driving Oracle's online store at the best of times, and I can't find "BI Publisher Standalone" on its own - only bundled with other stuff I don't need or want, yet ;-) Try searching on "Publisher". Now making a free version would solve this problem - no license to find and buy!

4. It needs other technology to lean on.

In a similar nature to a plugin, BI Publisher doesn't stand on its own feet. Like APEX (needing the Oracle RDBMS) and JDeveloper (an IDE) it needs either someone to feed it or something else to connect to. If there is a free version its more likely that the other thing will be Oracle. Update: This point has been updated from the original post to clarify my use of "plugin".

5. It's a killer combo with APEX and XE.

The other "free" products - APEX and XE are natural integration partners with BI Publisher and the resulting combination is a awesome one. I see a number of people wanting this integration - but without the cost.

6. Raise visibility.

Although its been around for a number of years in various forms, the product on its own doesn't seem to be highly visible. Or is that just because of the quirks?! Making it free would bring visibility to new levels.

7. Beat the competition

Various other competitors exist, both in free and paid form. Making at least an entry level version of BI Publisher free would make it a viable competitor, and ensure Oracle customers lock into Oracle products taking out the chance of a competitors plugin being used.

8. Create Leads for Oracle

Oracle would benefit by having a greater stream of leads and support revenue.

Oops, that's 8, oh well, luckier than 7 for some ;-)

Post your support here!