| January 2021 Edition Oracle Integration & Process Partner Community Newsletter |
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| Grow the Oracle Cloud business and connect, extend & innovate Oracle SaaS solutions. |
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| For a short summary of our monthly key information watch the PaaS Partner Updates on YouTube. The January edition highlights the top 2020 blog posts and our social media channels. |
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| On-demand Integration Platform Partner Advisory Council 2020 |
| Attend the free on-demand workshops |
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| SOA Suite Modernization Partner Community Webcast |
January 27, 2021
16:30 - 17:30 CET (Berlin) |
Come to this session to learn about how you can modernize your SOA Suite estate while maintaining the value of your investment. You will learn about:
• Oracle’s commitment and roadmap for SOA |
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• Options you have for moving your SOA to the cloud
• Modernize your integration ecosystem with services like Oracle Integration, Digital Assistant and Autonomous DB
We will have Oracle Integration PMs on the call to provide you the strategic direction Oracle’s integration platform and recommendations for how to approach modernizing your SOA. You will learn why Oracle is best positioned to help you lower costs, increase your agility, and help you build out your Digital Platform for Digital Resilience which is more important now than ever.
Speakers: Sandhya Lakshmi Gopalan & Ravi Pinto
Schedule: January 27, 2021 16:30 - 17:30 CET (Berlin time) |
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| Free on-demand PaaS Partner Community Webcasts |
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Thanks for attending our monthly community webcasts. Every month a speaker from the Oracle product management teams presents the latest updates on the Oracle Cloud Platform. In case you missed one of them, take the opportunity to watch our community webcasts on-demand:
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| PaaS Partner YouTube Update |
| January 2021 |
The January video includes three topics:
• Top blog posts 2021
• Social media
• SOA Modernization
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| Integrate SaaS hands-on Bootcamps Webtraining |
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Do you want to find out why Gartner named Oracle as a Leader in Magic Quadrant for three years in a row? Are you able to innovate quickly in the new digital world? Are you looking for ways to integrate systems and data faster using a modern cloud integration platform? Attend the Oracle Integration Bootcamp, a three days hands-on training for Oracle partners!
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| Oracle Implementation Certifications |
| Enablement and certification is key to cloud succe |
At the Oracle Competence Center and Online Learning Library partners can attend free on-line classes and certifications. Free vouchers for the implementation exam (USD 245) are part of your OPN benefits. To request them please contact your Oracle partner manager.
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| Permanent service for Partners free of charge! Want to try, test and get trained on Oracle Integration? Use our OIC playground - a shared permanent environment. |
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It’s a shared instance for Oracle Integration Partners community members only, so:
- use your business email address as your user id (not yahoo or gmail)
- don’t delete anything you didn’t create
- do not store any customer data
- do not give anybody external direct access to this instance
- when you create any Integration artifacts e.g. connections, integration flows etc. put your initials in the name and your email address in the description. Once registered go here to access the instance. If asked for Cloud Tenant, then enter “bots4saas”.
Remember to use the documentation, tutorials and learning material at https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/paas/integration-cloud/index.html. Any issues, questions or feedback please use the Slack workspace |
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February 2021 Oracle Integration Update by Antony Reynolds
It is time for the February quarterly update to Oracle Integration. Lilly, the Oracle integration mascot, has lots of exciting new features and improvements to share with you. Note that testing is still underway for these features and, although unlikely, it is possible that some will not meet our quality standard and be deferred to a later release.
Announcements & Update Windows
Currently tenant administrators get notified of OIC Gen 2 updates via notifications in the OCI console. OIC Gen 2 administrators can also see the same upgrade notice in the OIC console, so watch out for the date of your upgrade.
Remember, you can also mark your Gen 2 instance for update in either the first or second upgrade window, as explained in Choose Your Update Window. If you previously tagged your instance, then there is no need to tag it again. If it is not yet tagged for window 1, then the deadline for tagging for February is 14 January. Tags added after this date will take effect for the May release.
API Led Integration
We are making it easier to work with Oracle API products. Previously we supported only Oracle API Platform. We are now building out support for Oracle API Gateway.
Using Oracle Integration Cloud to integrate SAP & Oracle SaaS by Martijn de Grunt
Oracle Integration Cloud is your one stop shop for application integration and extensibility. It offers a combination of prebuilt connectors to Cloud and on-premises applications for faster deployment, ready-to-use process automation templates, and an intuitive visual application builder for web and mobile application development. Oracle Integration also includes integration insight dashboards, that give your business users the ability to track business processes as they traverse different applications .
This blog post focuses solely on how to integrate SAP legacy apps with Oracle Cloud applications, using Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC).
Oracle SaaS and SAP legacy apps, some integration use cases
Most organizations have applications from different vendors, so we often see many Oracle Cloud Application customers needing to integrate with an SAP legacy application/module.
Here are a few examples:
- Connecting Oracle ERP with SAP ECC
Insight --> embeddable Dashboards by Niall Commiskey
A big thanks to my colleague Sandhya for her help here.
Scenario here is very simple - I have a Visual Builder app that allows users to register their eCars, BMW i3's and the like. These registration requests are sent on to approvers who then say Ye or Ne.
Topping all of this off are a couple of Insight dashboards that give business users insight into what's going on in the business process.
Protecting your OIC apis with OCI API Gateway by Niall Commiskey
OCI Services add a lot of value add to OIC. I have discussed OCI Functions Service and the OCI Streaming Service in previous posts. Today - my first working day of 2021 - it's the turn of OCI API Gateway.
I'm sure you are all conversant with what API Gateway gives you. If not, check out the overview here.
OIC Backups by John Graves
This is a quick post for those who like to back up data, including OIC flows. The OIC REST API is pretty simple to use and follow, but it may not be obvious how to backup all your flows, so here is a script. NOTE: This is just for the integration flows an not for PCS or VBCS. There are two APIs used here: Retrieve Integrations and Export an Integration.
The high-level steps are:
1. Get count of how many integrations exist
2. Since you are limited to retrieving 100 flow details at a time:
Loop for every 100 flows
3. Export each flow
If you'd like to use this script, just modify the top few lines to point to your instance of OIC and your AUTH string. It's pretty easy to get the AUTH string by just looking at the developer console when you login to OIC.
export SERVER_URL=""
export AUTH="..."
Once the IAR is extracted, it is pretty easy to the expand it and check the code into GIT or DevCS.
Invoking Oracle Functions from OIC by Niall Commiskey
Introduction
From the Oracle website -
Oracle Cloud Functions is a serverless platform that lets developers create, run, and scale applications without managing any infrastructure. Functions integrate with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, platform services and SaaS applications. Because Functions is based on the open source Fn Project, developers can create applications that can be easily ported to other cloud and on-premises environments. Code based on Functions typically runs for short durations, and customers pay only for the resources they use.
These Functions can be written in a variety of languages - Java, Python, Node etc. You write and deploy the code, Oracle takes care of provisioning, scaling etc.
Think of blocks of code that generally do one thing, e.g. applying a discount to an order. These are stored as Docker images in a docker registry. They can be executed via CLI or HTTP request. We will be using the latter in our example. So how do Functions enhance the OIC experience? Here's one use case - Say you are porting SOA Composites to OIC and you make use of Java Embedding in your BPEL process. Where shall I put that code in OIC?
Data Stitch Append for Complex Content Elements by Jorge Herreria
Summary
This blog explains how to do Append for Complex Elements in Data Stitch
In a nutshell:
In order to append instances into an unbounded (aka repeating) Complex Content Element, the instance has to be created in another variable, and then the instance can be appended into the variable having the unbounded complex content element.
What is Complex Content Element?
There are two types of complex types:
1. Complex Type Simple Content
2. Complex Type Complex Content
Twilio Adapter - send SMS / WhatsApp from Oracle Integration by Niall Commiskey
A very simple example of sending an SMS / WhatsApp from OIC via Twilio. Before I begin...
Acknowledgements
Thanks to my colleague Pavan D. for providing me with the base .iar file and the impetus for writing this post.
Let's Go
First step - get a Twilio Trial account from twilio.com Then get a trial number - this will be used to send messages.
Oracle SOA Modernization - Move and Improve Oracle SOA Suite - Webcast #1 Recap by Pat Shepherd
We held the first of 2 SOA Modernization webcasts and had a great turnout. I think this slide sums up the key points fairly well:
• Oracle is still supporting SOA Suite (including a new major release coming up) so your investment is protected
• You can use BYOL to leverage the license investment you already have in SOA Suite
• Moving to the Oracle Cloud (OIC) is relatively easy - we have OCS and Partners that can help you with the move
• We have bi-directional capabilities for OIC to discover and call SOA Suite integrations and Jdeveloper can do the same with OIC
• Once moved to the Cloud, you benefit from the advantages of OCI as well as the ability to start building new processes and innovating much faster
• You have the ability to start using new and unmatched services such as Autonomous Database, Blockchain, Digital Assistant, etc... driving even more innovation and creativity.
New Release of Oracle SOA Suite Docker Image by Ravi Pinto
We are extremely happy to announce the release of a new version of the Oracle SOA Suite Docker Image. In keeping with our policy of Quarterly Feature release, this release will be tagged as 20.4.2. This is an update to our earlier GA announcement, which was tagged 20.3.3
The salient features of this release are as follows
1. The release incorporates October 2020 PSU and known bug fixes.
2. We have added HEALTHCHECK support for the Oracle SOA Suite docker image
You can download the Oracle SOA Suite 12.2.1.4 Docker image using patch id 32215749 on My Oracle Support. As always, up-to-date documentation is available here - https://oracle.github.io/fmw-kubernetes/soa-domains/
Wishing you very happy Holidays and keep watching this space for even more exciting news and updates coming your way!
On-demand Webinar: Maximize the Potential of Oracle Integration Cloud with FlexDeploy
Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) can help quickly and seamlessly integrate data, applications, and services and be a key enabler to your digital transformation process.
However, OIC does not include features for automated CI/CD, and deployment of OIC artifacts is a manual process, which means extra time, additional manpower, and management nightmares.
In this webinar, you will learn how FlexDeploy can eliminate these manual steps and reduce costs and risk by:
• Automating the build and deployment of OIC artifacts including Integrations, Connections, Lookups, and Libraries
• Adopting Continuous Integration (CI) and Release Pipelines
• Integrating tools like Git, SVN, Jira, SoapUI, Postman, and ServiceNow.
Identity Propagation - VBCS > IC > Fusion Apps by Greg Mally
This blog was a collaborative effort between Greg Mally and Mike Muller of the A-Team. There is an effort under way to provide example assets for this blog and when those assets are available, this blog will be updated with details on how to get to them.
One of the big challenges that Oracle Integration Cloud developers face is any outbound REST calls from Integration Cloud (IC) to Fusion Applications (FA) APIs require a user’s identity. On the surface this seems pretty trivial because the IC REST connections allow for configuring the connection with basic authentication or OAuth 2 JSON Web Token (JWT). However, this configuration is tied to a single user and many use cases/flows require the identity of the person making the FA REST call due to access restrictions, security, auditing, etc. This blog will present a pattern that has been implemented to accomplish identity propagation from a client application, through IC, and to FA.
Create Delimited String from XML Nodes and Vice Versa in SOA 12c by Pranav Davar
A delimited string is a string representation of data separated by a delimiter(e.g. ","). A simple representation of the delimited string will look like.
Delimited String Examples
Sample-1-- Delimiter as ","
Value1,Value2,Value3
Sample-2-- Delimiter as "|"
Value1|Value2|Value3
If we want to represent the above set of delimited values in the form of an XML document under some root and parent tag. The representation will look like this.
XML Example
Value1
Value2
Value3
Sometimes we may need to convert values coming in delimited string to an xml document or vice versa. Since delimited string is similar to csv format. We can create a nxsd schema and then perform translate i.e. native to xml or xml to native within our SOA application. But in the scenarios wherein we just want to convert one delimited string to xml or recurring xml nodes to one delimited string, there we can make use of oracle xpath extension functions:
Import and Export MDS artifacts in SOA 12c by Pranav Davar
Oracle SOA-MDS (Metadata Store) repository can be used to access artifacts that can be shared among various SOA composites. For example, we have one common schema for a business fault that is consumed by various applications. Instead of having a localized copy of that schema file in each SOA composite, we can have it in a centralized repository (SOA-MDS). Another benefit of using SOA-MDS is that we can change the file at runtime and need not redeploy the complete code.
While developing SOA composites, we use SOA design-time repository, later these changes can be synced to the SOA servers. In this article, we will discuss 2 ways to sync the artifacts available in the SOA design-time repository and the SOA servers.
1. Establishing the connection to SOA-MDS in Jdeveloper.
2. Using SOA em console or Fusion Middleware control console.
Moving a file between SOA composite to SOA design-time MDS repository
Let's assume, we created a businessFault.xsd which will be used by various SOA composites or projects. Before moving this file to the SOA server MDS location, we need to first push it to the SOA design-time repository.
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| Business Process Management & Innovation Section |
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The Micro Process Feature Making Life Easier by Jan Kettenis
In this article I discuss the Micro Process feature in the Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC). With some price I can take credit for being the name giver of this feature, which makes applying the Microprocess Architecture in OIC a bit simpler. But even when you are not applying that architecture, it still is a feature worth being aware of.
A few releases ago the Micro Process feature has been introduced in the Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC). Simply put, it provides a convenience for calling a Structured Process from a different process application.
"What a great feature that sounds, why did you not write about it before?", I can hear you thinking. Well, there were a few issues with it which mostly have been fixed since OIC release (20.2.3.0.0 (200705.0200.36413)). That's why.
"What is this "Microprocess Architecture?", I hear some others thinking. In short, the Microprocess Architecture is about constructing a process application by having (typically but not necessarily) 1 main process that orchestrates / choreographs activities of which each of them is implemented as separate, decoupled process applications. It is not the same but inspired by many of the solid principles behind the Microservices Architecture, hence the name.
When applied to the Oracle Integration Cloud, every activity in the main process is implemented by an (asynchronous) Structured Process called a "Delegator" that does nothing but start some other Structured Process using a Send activity and then wait for the outcome in a Receive activity. There are a few deviations, but basically that's it and what the "Use Micro Process" feature supports.
Before this, you as a developer first had to configure the external process as External SOAP Integration and provide the URL to the WSDL (or upload it), and secondly you had to create the Delegator yourself. Now you just point and click and off you go. When using it in a Dynamic Process, a Delegator is automatically created and hidden in the background.
Microprocesses are configured from the Processes tab.
You select the Structured Process to use from a picklist. Be aware that only Structured Processes are shown from activated Process Applications. For bigger Microprocess applications there can be many of them, so it is good that you can filter them with a Search box. Also mind that it shows Structured Processes from all the default revisions of the Process Applications containing them.
Archiving and Purging Process Automation Data in Oracle Integration by Arvind Venugopal and Nilakshi Soni
What data is generated by Process in Oracle Integration
Large volumes of data are generated during the life of each process instance. This data collected can be broadly divided into two. Instance data and Analytics data.
• Instance Data: This is instance specific data generated at each step during execution. It includes the payload, comments, execution and audit information.
• Analytics Data: Additional system metrics and user defined business metrics are also collated and stored at predefined events during the lifecycle of an instance. This data exists independently of the instance data
Archive Process data in Oracle Integration
Archiving is taking data which is no longer actively used and storing it in an external secondary storage where it can be retained for extended time. This archived data can be accessed, if needed, for compliance, audit, and analytics. Archiving the right data can not only save businesses money, but also intelligence derived using this will add value to the business. The following questions are often asked when users are setting up archive: what all data should be archived, how to setup archiving and finally how to retrieve data from the archived file. The purpose of these blogs is to discuss couple of options which will answer these very questions.
When planning an archiving strategy best suited for your needs one must give thought to some basic questions like
• how often you would need to retrieve data from the archive
• what data needs to be available for legal and regulatory compliance
• what data set could be analyzed to add value to the business over time etc.
• what insights are relevant for your business.
Microprocess Consequences by Jan Kettenis
In a previous blog article I introduced the Microprocess Architecture. The article below discusses the consequences of maintaining, managing and running applications that are build according to this architecture.
We are applying the Microprocess Architecture to some 4 Dynamic Process applications that are being built with the Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) for some one and a half year already, but none of them went production so far. We can clearly see the benefits of applying the Microprocess Architecture, but also realize the consequences. I have addressed most of these with some pointers for dealing with them in a follow-up article on the subject.
As the go-live date slowly but inevitably is nearing, people obviously start wondering what the consequences regarding maintaining, managing and running such applications mean in the context of OIC. The below discusses this, referring to a “business process” as the main application that is made up by a collection of microprocesses.
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| Additional New Material for PaaS Community |
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• Dec 2020 – new OIC articles
• Cloud advantage Finance teams at two companies—Trident Maritime Systems and furniture company Knoll—use cloud applications to slash the time and complexity to finish the monthly close and improve insights, despite COVID-19 restrictions.
• Customer connection It takes more than technology for Oracle to help businesses meet their customer service goals—it takes knowledge of specific industry needs. Here’s how Oracle plans to combine the two elements.
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| Training Calendar |
For the latest trainings please visit our Training Wiki.
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| Join the Oracle Developer Meetup groups |
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Want to learn more about developing Enterprise-grade Cloud Native applications on the Oracle Cloud Platform, covering topics like Microservices Architecture, developing in Node, Python and PHP, using Low Code development tools to build Mobile apps, and much more?
Join the Oracle Developer Meetup groups if you want to follow Oracle’s solutions in this area, or participate in the events and hands-on labs we organize:
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| My private Corner – top blogs |
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| Thanks to the community for your wonderful contribution in 2020. Every day we publish a blog post with your best practices articles & customer success. Subscribe to our blog to receive the latest integration & process automation updates. Want to share & promote your posts? Please send them via twitter at #PaaSCommunity! |
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| Invite your colleagues to join the PaaS Partner Community |
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