1.Oracle OAF Overview,Architecture and Benefits.

#OAF Overview

With arrival for R12 and now Oracle Fusion, oracle is moving from Forms based interface to
Web based UI. So now days there is a buzz of OAF and ADF which has been the bases for development of these Web based UI for Oracle ebiz.

Oracle Application Framework(OA Framework) is a proprietary framework developed by Oracle Corporation for application development within the Oracle E-Business Suite.
OA Framework is an architecture for creating web based front end pages and J2EE type of applications within the Oracle EBS ERP platform. In order to develop and maintain OAF functionality, Oracle's JDeveloper tool is used. OA Framework uses the UIX other XML technologies for building the components.

OA Framework is based on J2EE technology called BC4J (Business Components for Java)
The OA Framework is a Model-view-controller (MVC) framework built using J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) technologies.

#OAF Architecture

• OA Framework is based on Model View Controller design pattern.

Model: (Data) implemented using Oracle Business Components for Java (BC4J).

1. EO (Entity Object):Entity Object is based on database table or other data source.Entity   Object contains attributes which represent database columns.All insert/update/delete (DML Operations) transactions go through EO to database.

      2.VO( View Objects ):

   View Objects are based on EO or SQL Query which is again based on EO Objects

   Two types

    1. SQL based

    2. EO based

   Basically VO is synonymous to views used in PLSQL Programming they are used for joining   tables, filtering based on conditions and sorting the data. Entity Objects can be based on any number of EO and provide access to EO.

      3. Application Module:
     Its a container for VO. Once you create a Application Module you need to associate the      corresponding VO to the Application Modules. Access to the VO is always provided through the Application Module.Every Page in OAF Framework need to be associated with a AM.

View: (User Interface) Implemented using an Oracle technology called UIX.

      (UIX = User Interface XML).

Controller: (Code) User actions are handled by the OA Controller.

      (Ex: Clicking “Go” button)

Controller responds to user actions and directs application flow. Model objects like EO and VO can't be accessed directly from theController Class, except AM.

Contains methods such as,

1. ProcessRequest: Fires when OAF page loads for the first time.

2. ProcessFormRequest: Fires when user submits the page.

#Benefits:

• Consistent and Compelling User Interface
• Durable Personalization and Extensibility
• User Interface Interactivity
• Built-in Security
• Integrated Development Environment
• Mobile Support
• Functional Administration Tool