I just read Doug’s, hopefully first (I am interested how it is to present on a boat), blog post called “Conference Activities“. I didn’t realize that the deadlines are almost up for UKOUG. It feels like just the other day that I presented for the first time on UKOUG last December. You really missed something out if you didn’t try to put in an abstract. UKOUG was one off my all time best conferences so far. The quality of presentations is very good and the atmosphere is very cozy and welcoming, although the weather reminded me to much on the sometimes horrible cold and dreadful rainy Dutch weather.
Anyway, I took Doug’s advise at heart and submitted two presentations this year. I didn’t really start on them yet, but I have the outlines in my head.
The first one is called:
Having Fun with the XMLDB Protocol Server
This should be a cool presentation that will address, with only beginner knowledge at hand, how to build a neat website with some simple XMLDB functionality in just 45 minutes. Who knows, maybe I will succeed to scare the APEX evangelist people out there, a little bit, when they see how easy it can be to achieve some complex stuff with just some little XMLDB functionality understanding. The content of the abstract I submitted was:
The Oracle XMLDB Development team developed and added Protocol Server functionality to the known Listener functionality. Based on the Shared Server architecture, new methods came available to move data in and out of the database. Since then, this feature has enabled a lot of new possibilities, like local support of sharing APEX without the need of a web technology.
This presentation will show and demonstrate ways to make maximum use of those protocols like: HTTP(s), FTP and WebDAV. The presentation will explain the XMLDB Protocol Server architecture, ways to control security, how to enable new behavior to access database contents and how this affects the XMLDB Repository. The XMLDB Repository is one of the pillars in this architecture. Methods will be demonstrated that show how to gain stability and performance of this part of the architecture.
Also new ways of sharing your data will be explained or demonstrated, for example, the Oracle 11g Native Database Web Service (NDWS) functionality, Repository Events and if allowed some new Oracle 11gR2 functionality. The presentation will present new insights and a better understanding on how to revive, use or support legacy or APEX environments, with build-in core database XMLDB features.
Maybe by that time, Oracle 11gR2 is around and I will be able to pack some new stuff in it, and maybe it won’t. I’ll see. It is a long time until December.
The second abstract I submitted was more serious in content. I wondered a while ago how you have to manage XML data in a database environment if the requirements change. How do you back it up, what do you do when the needs change, what do you do when the XML document content changes in format. As you can imagine the second one is not really beginners stuff, but I am in for a target to set my standards a little bit higher. Until now I mainly focussed on concepts , indexing and storage. It’s time to do some real investment in database data change management topics, so that is why I came up with this second title:
Management and Evolution of XML data in an Oracle XMLDB Environment
The abstract goes like this…
The world around us is constantly changing and so is the XML data in our database. XML data is not easy to handle due to its free format nature. So when you have finally managed to setup a working XML environment, how do you safeguard you investment? How do you handle the business needs to update XML Schemas to its latest version, and doing so, your XML data accordingly?
This presentation will show you ways on how to support the changing needs of your XML data. Methods will be demonstrated and explained that help you with your data manipulation requirements: The “Do’s and Don’ts” while using copy based or in place XML Schema evolution; Maintaining XML structures via the new 11g XML partitioning functionality (made available in database version 11.1.0.7); Handling Binary XMLType table structures making use of SecureFile functionality or Deduplication. The presentation will also discuss techniques that help safeguard your data using Data Pump and other more creative ways to handle your XML data based on the Oracle XMLDB database functionality.
This presentation provides you with a better insight in the Oracle XMLDB functionality: preserving and managing your XML data. XML data management solutions and experiences will be shared, based on real production data environments. If allowed, the latest and new possibilities of the XMLDB functionality will be demonstrated.
XML Evolution is not so hot yet on the Oracle XMLDB forum, but it will be the logical next step to invest some energy into when you managed to get the XML data in there, reach the performance goals and then when you just settled in: the requirements change. Or…the next release comes up and you want to upgrade… You probably are to late if you haven’t taken this into account from the beginning…
Time flies…
If you have something good on a bookshelf and you want to make an attempt, be quick, you will not be sorry if you make it… Stellent, Siebel and Hyperion people have still some time until the 24th of June.
So, Last call (for papers):
I hope I make it and I will have the chance to see you there.
😉
Hi Marco,
>maybe I will succeed to scare the APEX evangelist people out >there
As one of the APEX evangelists people, I see nothing to be scared off, XMLDB has some great features and the way I see it the more great features the DB has to offer, the more possibilities there are to include those features in applications (regardless of what development environment is used).
I am planning to attend your session though 😉
John.
Credit those who…
The Oracle XMLDB development team build the “add-on” functionality of the listener (aka “The Protocol Server”). This functionality alone enables WebDAV, HTTP, FTP, Native Database Web Services, direct access to ASM, build-in gateways to direct access own servlet’s and / or the PL/SQL Gateway and other neat things to come. Export of, for instance, parts of an APEX environment, can be done via one URL call via DBUri functionality.
IMHO, security and versioning will be greatly determined by enabled functionality build by the Oracle XMLDB development team.
AFAIK, see it, if you don’t know or are handy with PL/SQL and you want to go for an application build , for instance, based on “plain old Javascript”, DHTML, AJAX, Java etc, the Protocol Server combined with XMLDB out of the box functionality, is a way to go.
The “Oracle fusion” stuff is about to hit the “internal database world” as well. To get an idea of the XMLDB possibilities, have a go with the XFILES demo application:
Cool you came by John, I didn’t you read my ramblings…
😉