As announced in an
earlier post, this is a review of the book
Oracle Fusion Applications Development and Extensibility Handbook by Vladimir Ajvaz, Anil Passi and Dhaval Mehta.Overall, the 500+ page oeuvre is a "must" for the aspiring Fusion Applications developer. Extending and customizing Fusion Applications can be challenging and should not be done without proper education. This book is a perfect companion alongside the training path offered by Oracle University.
The first chapter is dedicated to the architecture of Fusion Applications with a strong focus on Fusion Middleware components such as WebLogic Server, Enterprise Service Scheduler and Enterprise Crawl and Search Framework.
Chapter 2 introduces the various types of customizations such as personalization, run-time customization, application extensions and design-time customizations and extensions and doesn't shy away from Metadata Services (MDS), sandboxes and layers.
A separate chapter on flexfields follows, which is much appreciated by all folks in Fusion ERP or HCM applications.
The fourth chapter talks about security in Fusion Applications, of course introducing the various Oracle Identity Management modules such as Entitlement Server. It also explains the Fusion-style role-based access control (RBAC). It is also the first chapter which provides a step-by-step use case scenario (creating a superuser).
Chapter 5 tackles run-time customizations with Oracle Page Composer which originates from Oracle Web Center and provides browser-based customization capabilities across all Fusion Application families. The chapter is satisfyingly full with examples and screenshots.
The following chapter is on Application Composer and provides a good overview and (code) examples for typical customization scenarios.
Chapters 7 and 8 change the tune and introduce customization with JDeveloper, which extends the book's topic range to on-premise installations of Fusion Applications. Both chapters take the reader on a roller coaster ride through JDeveloper and ADF. Especially useful if you want a closer impression how Fusion ADF applications work, but these two chapters will not make you an ADF developer.
The ninth chapter directs our attention to Business Process Management (BPM) in Fusion Applications and very briefly introduces the BPM Proces Designer and its role in the HCM domain. The authors also position BPM against SOA, the latter being the more prevalent orchestration tool in the current release of Fusion Applications.
Which brings us to chapter 10 which focuses on Oracle SOA Suite and its position in the Fusion Applications architecture. This is a much appreciated chapter as the functionality around SOA such as Approval Management is highly underrated.
Chapter 11 talks about BI Publisher and shows how it can be used for reporting purposes in Fusion Applications.
The 12th chapter goes deeper into the concepts of OBIEE and has a nice introduction to the pre-built .rpd file delivered with Fusion Applications. Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence (OTBI), a specialty of Fusion Apps is laid out in detail.
The Enterprise Scheduler Service (ESS) is the topic for chapter 13. A nice worked example for a custom job is delivered with this chapter.
In the fourteenth chapter, we learn how to create custom skins using the ADF skinning feature.
The final chapter tackles the big topic of integration. It also introduces the reader to the Fusion Apps Enterprise Repository (OER) where developers find all available interfaces such as web services. A comprehensive example rounds up this chapter.
SummaryAs stated above, this book will prove to be a valuable companion for Fusion Applications developers of all kinds, be it for cloud-based, on-premise or hybrid deployments.
have a nice day
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