This
FAQ addresses the most common questions on Oracle® Workflow
Release 2.6.2 and provides answers to questions on new features, integration,
and supported platforms and database versions.
What's new
in Oracle Workflow 2.6.2?
The Oracle Workflow
Business Event System is a new application service introduced in Release
2.6 that leverages the Oracle Advanced Queuing (AQ) infrastructure to communicate
business events between systems. The Business Event System consists of the
Event Manager and workflow process event activities. The Event Manager contains
a registry of business events, systems, named communication agents within
those systems, and subscriptions indicating that an event is significant
to a particular system. Events can be raised locally or received from an
external system or the local system through AQ. When a local event occurs,
the subscribing code is executed in the same transaction as the code that
raised the event, unless the subscriptions are deferred.
Subscriptions
can include the following types of processing:
- Executing
custom code on the event information
- Sending event
information to a workflow process
- Sending event
information to other queues or systems
Business events
are represented within workflow processes by event activities. By including
event activities in a workflow process, you can model complex processing
or routing logic for business events beyond the options of directly running
a predefined function or sending the event to a predefined recipient.
Oracle Workflow
2.6.1 included enhancements such as support for HTTP and HTTPS communication
protocols through Oracle9i Advanced Queuing and the ability to
use the Oracle Workflow Builder with all Release 2.5 or Release 2.6 versions
of the Oracle Workflow Server.
Oracle Workflow
2.6.2 includes the following enhancements:
- Oracle Internet
Directory integration--You
can synchronize the user information in your Workflow directory service
with Oracle Internet Directory (OID) using Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (LDAP). This integration is recommended because it enables
you to manage and publish user information in a central location which
various systems can reference. OID integration also enables Oracle Workflow
to synchronize with other external user directories that are synchronized
with OID.
- Single sign-on--OID
integration enables Oracle Workflow to participate in single sign-on
through LDAP external authentication with Oracle Portal and Oracle9iAS
Single Sign-On Server. With single sign-on, a user who is logged into
any participating Oracle9iAS component is automatically authenticated
when accessing any other participating component and does not need to
log in again.
- Deferred subscription
processing--If you do not want subscriptions for an event to be executed
immediately when the event occurs, you can defer the subscriptions for
asynchronous execution. In this way you can return control more quickly
to the calling application and let the Event Manager execute any costly
subscription processing at a later time.
Can the Oracle
Workflow 2.6.2 Business Event System meet my business process integration
requirements?
Yes. The uses of
the Business Event System include:
- System integration
messaging hubs--Oracle Workflow with the Business Event System can serve
as a messaging hub for complex system integration scenarios. The Event
Manager can be used to "hard-wire" routing between systems based on
event and originator. Workflow process event activities can be used
to model more advanced routing such as content-based routing, transformations,
error handling, and so on.
- Distributed
applications messaging--Applications can supply Generate and Receive
event message handlers for their business entities. For example, message
handlers can be used to implement Master/Copy replication for distributed
applications.
- Message-based
system integration--You can set up subscriptions which cause messages
to be sent from one system to another when business events occur. In
this way, you can use the Event Manager to implement point-to-point
messaging integration.
- Business-event
based workflow processes--You can develop sophisticated workflow processes
that include advanced routing or processing based on the content of
business events.
What communication
protocols does Oracle Workflow 2.6.2 support?
Oracle Workflow
offers Oracle Net as well as HTTP/HTTPS support out of the box through Oracle9i
Advanced Queuing.
How does Oracle
Workflow 2.6.2 integrate with Oracle9i Advanced Queuing?
Oracle Workflow
leverages Oracle9i Advanced Queuing to propagate messages among different
applications or systems. Oracle9i Advanced Queuing is the message
queuing functionality of the Oracle database. It enables applications to
communicate asynchronously and offers extensible architecture for integrating
distributed applications. Its integration with the database brings unprecedented
levels of functionality, operational simplicity, security, reliability,
availability, and scalability to the world of message queuing. In addition,
Oracle9i Advanced Queuing supports multiple communication channels,
including the Internet, to cater to the needs of e-businesses.
Does Oracle
Workflow 2.6.2 integrate with IBM MQSeries or other messaging solutions?
Yes. Oracle Workflow
2.6.2 can integrate with third party messaging solutions such as IBM MQSeries
and TIBCO Rendezvous through the Oracle9i Messaging Gateway feature.
Can custom
Java code be integrated with Oracle Workflow 2.6.2?
Yes. The Oracle
Workflow Builder now supports a new type of function activity, called an
external Java function activity. External Java function activities let you
model workflow processes that include Java programs executed on the middle
tier. The Java Function Activity Agent is a perpetually running Java
program which dequeues messages from the wf_outbound_queue, executes a Java
class you defined at design time, and enqueues the message back on the wf_inbound_queue.
You can run multiple Java Function Activity Agent processes at the same
time if required to handle a larger volume of activities.
What data transformation
services does Oracle Workflow 2.6.2 offer or integrate with?
Oracle Workflow
2.6.2 allows you to apply a stylesheet to an XML document. In addition,
when queues are defined within the Business Event System, you specify the
logic that is used to enqueue and dequeue messages. This logic, called a
queue handler, can include transformations.
Oracle Workflow
2.6.2 also allows you to take advantage of XML support in Oracle 9i.
Oracle9i delivers native support for XML with a new XML data type,
which makes the manipulation of XML data and documents in applications
totally seamless and easier than ever before. Oracle9i offers unique
capabilities to generate, massage, and transform XML data and documents
inside the runtime engine itself for unprecedented scalability and high
performance.
Additionally,
Oracle Workflow is integrated with Oracle9iAS InterConnect. In
the context of Oracle9iAS
InterConnect, Oracle Workflow is used for
business process collaborations across two or more applications. A business
process collaboration is defined as the conversation between two or more
applications in the context of a business process. In previous versions
of Oracle9iAS
InterConnect, this business process definition
was implicit in the messaging definitions through iStudio. Now, Oracle9iAS
InterConnect leverages the robust design
time and runtime Oracle Workflow business process definition and execution
support to make these business processes explicit and manageable. For
each application participating in a specific integration, Oracle9iAS
InterConnect attaches one or more adapters
to it. At runtime, the adapters retrieve the metadata from the Repository
to determine the format of messages, perform transformations between the
various data formats, and route the messages to the appropriate queues
in the Oracle9iAS
InterConnect hub.
I already use
Oracle Advanced Queues with a custom datatype. Can I use Oracle
Workflow 2.6.2?
Yes. If you
already have a custom datatype, you can define these queues as agents in
the Business Event System, and write your own queue handler code to enqueue
and dequeue from your queues. The queue handler code should also transform
messages from your datatype to the standard Oracle Workflow business
event datatype. After you have done this, you can either rebuild your
complex business rules in Oracle Workflow as workflow processes, or minimally,
you can wrap your existing code in the Oracle Workflow event subscription
rule function API.
Does Oracle
Workflow 2.6.2 support Oracle9i Real Application Clusters?
Yes. Oracle Workflow
2.6.2 supports Oracle9i Real Application Clusters, which enable out-of-the-box,
near-linear scaling transparency. Based on Oracle's Cache Fusion architecture,
Oracle9i Real Application Clusters provide transparent application scalability
by quickly and efficiently sharing frequently accessed data across all the
servers in a cluster, resolving all manners of contention between servers
in the process.
What platforms
does Oracle Workflow 2.6.2 support?
Oracle Workflow
2.6.2 is available for Compaq Tru64 UNIX, HP 9000 Series HP-UX, IBM RS/6000
AIX, Linux Intel, and Sun SPARC Solaris, as well as Microsoft Windows
NT.
What languages
does Oracle Workflow 2.6.2 support?
The Oracle Workflow
2.6.2 Server supports all 28 languages which the Oracle9i database
supports.
In which database
versions can Oracle Workflow 2.6.2 be installed?
Oracle Workflow
2.6.2 can be installed in Oracle9i version 9.0.1 Enterprise and Standard
Edition databases. Oracle Workflow 2.6.2 also requires the JServer
database option to be installed.
Is there any
difference between using Oracle Workflow 2.6.2 with an Oracle9i
Standard Edition database versus an Enterprise Edition database?
No. In Oracle9i,
exactly the same functionality is available with Oracle Workflow on
a Standard Edition database as on an Enterprise Edition database.
In which products
is Oracle Workflow 2.6.2 bundled?
Oracle Workflow
2.6.2 is included on the
Oracle9i Application Server Release 2 Integration installation CD.
Oracle Workflow is also included on the product
installation CD for Oracle9i Enterprise and Standard Edition databases
version 9.0.1, under the Oracle9i Management and Integration installation
type.
Can Oracle
e-Business Suite customers install Oracle Workflow 2.6.2?
Oracle e-Business
Suite customers must not install the standalone version of Oracle Workflow
2.6.2. Instead, an 11i patch is available which upgrades 11i
customers from Oracle Workflow 2.5 to Oracle Workflow 2.6. For instructions,
please reference patch 1765626. Oracle Workflow 2.6 is also included in
the base release of Oracle e-Business Suite version 11.5.6.
Can Oracle
Workflow 2.5.1 or 2.5.2 be upgraded to Oracle Workflow 2.6.2 in one step?
No. Oracle Workflow
2.5.1 or 2.5.2 standalone customers must first upgrade to Oracle Workflow
2.6 or 2.6.1, and then upgrade to Oracle Workflow 2.6.2.
What web servers
are certfied with Oracle Workflow 2.6.2?
The Oracle HTTP
Server with mod_plsql is the only certified web server with Oracle Workflow
2.6.2. The Oracle HTTP Server with mod_plsql is included in Oracle9i
Application Server, and is also shipped with the Enterprise Edition database.
What documentation
and training materials are available for Oracle Workflow 2.6.2?
The following user
documentation will be available for Oracle Workflow 2.6.2:
- Oracle Workflow
Guide (part number A95265)
- Oracle Workflow
Release Notes (part number A95814)
You can also
learn about Oracle Workflow through the following classes:
- Self-paced
classes available from the Oracle Learning Network:
- 11i/2.6
Implement Workflow Business Event System (eClass)
- 11i Workflow
Overview (eSeminar)
- Instructor-led
classes available from Oracle University:
- 11i/2.6
Workflow Business Event System (ILT)
- 11i/2.6
Implement Oracle Workflow (ILT)
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