Oracle Introduces Data Mining for Java (DM4J)

Oracle recently announced the general availability of Oracle Data Mining for Java (DM4J), a set of extensions for Oracle9i JDeveloper that helps data analysts and application developers build advanced business intelligence applications based on Oracle9i Data Mining, the embedded data-mining technology in Oracle9i Database. DM4J consists of Oracle Data Mining (ODM) Components and the ODM Browser. ODM Components and the ODM Browser are Oracle9i JDeveloper extensions that help data analysts and application developers build advanced business intelligence applications based on Oracle's embedded data-mining technology.

ODM Components is a collection of GUI wizards that create Java code to perform data mining in an Oracle9i Database. You can use the components to create Java programs that perform the following data-mining tasks:

• Build, test, calculate lift, and apply classification models using either the Adaptive Bayes Network or Naïve Bayes algorithm; you can also create a transformation that splits a table into the build and test tables required for classification models.
• Build and apply clustering models using either the O-Cluster or k-means algorithm.
• Build association rules models.
• Build attribute importance models.

Migration from BEA WebLogic to Oracle9iAS Made Simpler

Oracle is offering a 100-percent trade-in credit on BEA WebLogic licenses with the BEA Switch & Save Program. Oracle will migrate J2EE applications from BEA to Oracle9i Application Server (Oracle9iAS) Java Edition for free and give you a free Oracle9iAS Java Edition CPU license for every BEA WebLogic CPU license you own.

Oracle Java experts will migrate an agreed-upon number of J2EE-compliant, functional applications within 20 business days. Migrations that do not fit in the 20-day window are considered on a case-by-case basis. Oracle9iAS Java Edition includes Oracle9iAS Containers for J2EE, Oracle9iAS HTTP Server, TopLink, JDeveloper, and Oracle Enterprise Manager. Oracle9iAS Java Edition offers software maintenance and support fees that are as much as 50 percent lower than competing products; and complete additional CPU licenses are available for US$5,000.

New Tools Encourage Web Services Interoperability

In theory, one of the advantages of Web services is their ability to interact with each other—a Web service from Company A should work effortlessly with one from Company B. That theoretical strength recently took a big step toward reality with the release of two new tools designed to assess Web services interoperability.

The first tool released by the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I), the industry organization that is creating Web services standards (currently known as the WS-I Basic Profile), is the Web Service Communication Monitor, which captures and stores HTTP-based SOAP messages exchanged between Web services and the software that invokes them. The second tool is the Web Service Profile Analyzer, which evaluates the captured messages and validates the description and registration artifacts of the Web service, including WSDL documents and the XML schema files that describe the data types. The Web Service Profile Analyzer produces a report indicating whether a Web service meets the WS-I Basic Profile—and, if it doesn't, detailing specific deviations and failures.

Prerelease versions of both tools were released in April 2003. Testing and public comment are expected to take several months, with final versions expected this year. "The tools have been designed to allow for expansion and extension, so they can accommodate the Basic Profile as well as future profiles," says Jacques Durand, chair of the WS-I's Test Tools Working Group and an employee of Fujitsu Software Corporation. Oracle is a founding member of the WS-I.

Three-Part Service Moves Teradata Users to Oracle BI

Customers of NCR Teradata who are concerned about the ongoing expense of their proprietary business intelligence platform are invited to learn about the benefits of moving their data warehouse to an open, standards-based Oracle environment.

Oracle Teradata Migration Services, from Oracle Consulting, uses a three-phase method to make the migration in a cost- and time-efficient manner. First, a Migration Assessment reviews existing business requirements, technical infrastructure, the current data model, gaps in functionality, and skills that exist in an organization. This provides a step-by-step road map for preparing an organization for migration. Second, the Migration Architecture and Blueprint analyzes the current data architecture to determine the best data modeling approach; partitioning scheme; and extract, transform, and load (ETL) approach. This enables an organization to prioritize critical corporate data and realize benefits earlier in the migration process. Third, the Migration Services actually migrate or redesign Teradata schemas for the Oracle environment. New solutions are designed to take advantage of the new business intelligence system.

Web Locator Data Mining for Java (DM4J) /products/bi/9idm4j Migration to Oracle technology /tech/migration oracle.com/start Web Services Interoperability Organization www.ws-i.org Oracle Consulting oracle.com/consulting/offerings/platform/bi.html Industry Standards /tech/webservices/standards Oracle9i Database manageability oracle.com/ip/ma_home.html

By moving business intelligence and data warehousing to a single, open, standards-based Oracle database, companies are reaping improved return on investment, faster business decision-making, and reduced administration and maintenance costs. More information about Oracle's Teradata Migration Services is available from Oracle Consulting.

Oracle Drives Web Services Security Spec

As a member of the OASIS Web Services Security Technical Committee, Oracle is working to standardize a set of SOAP extensions to secure Web services from a message integrity and confidentiality perspective. The group, which first met in September 2002, includes representatives from IBM, Microsoft, and Verisign, which contributed the original draft specification, as well as Sun Microsystems, Netegrity, Entrust, RSA, Novell, BEA, and SAP.

The WS-Security specification defines a standard set of SOAP extensions that can be used to secure Web services while accommodating multiple security models, mechanisms, and technologies. Whereas SSL provides point-to-point security, the new specification will secure SOAP messages from end to end. The plan is to include a set of security tokens as part of the SOAP header so that the content in the SOAP body is secured by use of the existing security infrastructure, including PKI, Kerberos, and passwords.

The WS-Security spec takes advantage of existing standards, such as those for encryption and digital signatures. It leverages existing XML-Encryption and XML-Signature standards from the W3C. Most other standards that use SOAP are waiting for the WS-Security standard. However, for WS-Security to be effective, all key pieces—such as user delegation, mapping, session, and policy—need to be agreed on.

Although prototype code is available from IBM, Microsoft, and Verisign, multiple issues need to be agreed on for secure SOAP services to interoperate, says Vipin Samar, director of development for security products at Oracle and a member of the WS-Security technical committee. These include the various token formats, the policy specification, and negotiation. In some cases, says Samar, the discussions have yet to begin. He expects that the committee will make a recommendation later this year.

Oracle will make WS-Security-compliant secure Web services available in the next major release of Oracle9i Application Server. Oracle is also working with the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) to help define a common profile for the various WS-Security components so that implementations from various vendors interoperate.

Independent Research Firm Finds Oracle9i Database Simpler, Faster, and Cheaper to Manage than DB2

Database manageability with native, built-in management tools has proved one of the more difficult areas to measure, but a recently published study takes on this challenge. Rauch Associates, an independent research firm based in San Jose, California, compared the time required to perform typical management tasks on Oracle9i Release 2 and IBM DB2 Version 8.1. Overall, Rauch Associates found a 45-percent time savings with Oracle over DB2, amounting to a savings of US$37,054 in the first year alone.

The study compared management tasks in four areas: database setup and configuration, ongoing database administration, performance tuning, and backup and recovery.

Sample Code: Trigger to prevent dropping objects This trigger secures objects, preventing a user from dropping them by mistake. To begin, create a table for the example below called secured_objects with a column objectname, with datatype varchar2(20). Insert a record into this table with a value, the name of the object, which should not get dropped. Then, create the following trigger: create or replace trigger check_beforedrop before drop on database declare oname char(20); begin select objectname into oname from secured_objects where upper(objectname)=ora_dict_obj_name; if sql%found then RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20001,'You did not want this object to be dropped'); end if; exception when no_data_found then dbms_output.put_line('This object will be dropped'); end; After this trigger is created, you cannot drop an object whose name is entered in the table. In the case where you need to drop an object, remove the entry from the secured_objects table. This tip was submitted by Rajasekhar Aluru (aluru_raja@hotmail.com).