Happy New Year 2011 !

Dear Visitors,

Wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year ahead.

Happy New Year 2011 !

Thank you all for reading my blog and supporting me. Please continue to do so in the year ahead too!

Cheers,
-AR

FOTY0001: Type Error

I have encountered the below error during runtime many a time:

ORABPEL-09500
XPath expression failed to execute.
Error while processing xpath expression, the expression is "ora:processXSLT('Transformation_5.xsl',bpws:getVariableData('inputVariable','payload'))", the reason is FOTY0001: type error. Please verify the xpath query.

This error, though mentions the reason for failure was due to a xpath expression, when one executes the xslt using xalan or test option of Jdeveloper, the xslt works fine. I later found that the part name was missing in the transformation node where the xsl was used. This could be because, the bpel file was edited prematurely even before the details of the node were loaded or could be an actual issue with the schema (in case of first timers)!

Always check if the part name in the transformation node are present and are correct before debugging further on this error. I found the this link useful when I was debugging.

Please note this is only one such FOTY0001 error (most common) and one such solution which worked for me. There could be many other reasons for the error in different scenarios and hence different resolutions.

Cheers,
-AR

Oracle Business Rules as a Composite Service

The general practice of using Oracle Business Rules is to create a set of rules in a dictionary and this dictionary in turn will be invoke by a bpel, which would have been exposed as a web service or composite service. But there are cases where a bpel is not needed and one needs the service of just rules.

In those particular cases, the dictionary themselves can be exposed as a composite service. So a web service would be created which would directly interface with the dictionary. A couple of points has to be noted when doing this and apart from that, its just a normal rules configuration, soa composite deploy and test:

Create an empty composite, just add a dictionary and make sure to mark the dictionary for the below:

When testing the service, it would require the name of the decision function to be passed. Earlier this was taken care by the bpel when we used to drag drop the business rules component and choose the dictionary and decision function:

Cheers,
-AR

Upcoming Review of the book - Getting Started with Oracle BPM Suite 11gR1

I have been reading technical articles and books on SOA and related technologies. I have read several books to learn about Fusion Middleware 11g and one of the most effective ones among the lot was "Getting Started With Oracle SOA Suite 11g R1". The book was very practical and the gets you started very fast with hands-on on Oracle SOA Suite 11g.

Now, when I want to teach myself Oracle BPM 11g, I am naturally attracted to a book, similar in nature, for BPM, "Getting Started with Oracle BPM Suite 11gR1". I will be using the book for learning BPM, on a hands-on level. On completion of this book, I would put forth my review of the book. In the meantime, for those interested to help me out on this exercise, the book can be found and bought via the link below (Click on the picture to find and purchase the book).

Cheers,
- AR

ora:parseEscapedXml function fails during conversion

The ora:parseEscapedXml functions fails to convert string which have & 'Ampersand' in them. It errors during conversion and the error in the BPEL Console is nowhere close to the issue. There has already a bug filed for this issue, bug# 5598150 and it appears to have been fixed in 11.1.1.0.0. I am running on 11.1.1.2.0 and I still face this issue !

On metalink, there is a workarouund provided for this issue. One needs to replace & with & amp; amp; (mentioned with spaces so that its not converted to & by html). This can be done using a XSLT replace all template or a java embedding node.

Refer to How to solve the Ora:Parseescapedxml error when you are using ampersand character [ID 418488.1] in metalink for the workaround using java.


Bug 5598150 - AMPERSAND ENTITY IS NOT HANDLED CORRECT




Peace!


Cheers,
-AR

Re-generation of facts fail when Java facts originating from same Schema exits

Re-generation of facts in a dictionary in Oracle Business Rules 11g is a simple step. One needs to just update the schema and reload the facts from the options available in the Fact tab of the dictionary. Unfortunately, I had been struggling for more than two weeks on this simple step and any change in schema, be it addition/deletion of an element or change in an element's type, the facts in the dictionary were so glued to the dictionary that, they refused to update !

I pondered over a lot of options and tried a lot of workarounds/suggestions:

• Re-created the schema and imported the schema again into Jdeveloper
• Cleaned the temporary files in windows which Jdeveloper creates, stores and uses, available under an user's profile
• Reloaded the facts in the dictionary in a different package (not the default). This updated the facts but all the existing reference in the dictionary had errors in them
• I even re-designed the schema based on one of my earlier posts

 All my efforts were futile and we had in the meanwhile a SR open with Oracle and we were getting some directions from them. Finally, Oracle found that we had been using a java fact created from the same schema  and imported via a jar, which was the issue!

Since the jaxb objects were the same, they was issue in refreshing the xml facts when a java fact belonging to same schema existed in the same dictionary. Below are the steps to be followed when a xml fact has to be refreshed (as in the case mentioned above):

1. Exit Jdeveloper
2. Remove the jar referenced to import the java fact (from hard disk)
3. Start Jdeveloper, remove the jar from project reference
4. Update the schema (preferably, open the schema and update contents instead of a replace of .xsd file)
5. Save all artifacts and run a clean up (not necessary, just a feel good factor) from Build>CleanAll
6. Reload facts from updated Schema and check for the same (in case not refreshed, close Jdeveloper and try cleaning workspace)
7. Update the jar with the update schema and reference it in the project properties

Good to move on now !!

Peace!

Cheers,
-AR

Using Dynamic Endpoint for a non-AIA based Composite in SOA 11g

The use of dynamic endpoint approach for a non-AIA based Composite is more or less the same, as it would have to been done for an AIA Composite. The stress on AIA in the implementation of dynamic endpoint is because AIA has AIAConfigurations.properties file, where usually this type information is stored. This information can be changed, loaded and reference at runtime, and so making the endpoint dynamic. The non-existence of AIA does not limit one from implementing this.

One just needs to make sure, AIA is replaced by a suitable component. By this statement, I mean one needs to make sure a mechanism is available to change, load and reference the endpoint at runtime. Oracle Fusion Middleware offers a lot of option for one to replace AIA. You can do any one of the below and yet use the dynamic endpoint feature without AIA:

• Store information in a file and use file adapter to read the file whenever required
• Store information in a database table and use a DB adapter to fetch the information
• Use BPEL Preference Properties to store the information (Preference Properties can be modified at runtime from EM Console)
• Store the information in Domain Value Map (DVM) and use functions to read the information from DVM

In all the cases, the information can be modified on the fly and each have their own set of limitations. I  saw DVM as the simplest, straightforward, hassle-free and readymade approach towards dynamic endpoint.

I created a DVM to store the information: Name of the Composite and Endpoint URI for the Composite. Teh DVM can be created within the Composite or deployed to MDS directly and referred from MDS. As to, how to deploy the DVM to MDS and referring from MDS, read this post.

Implementing the Dynamic Endpoint:

Creating Variables in BPEL:

1. Create two variables in the BPEL flow namely, TargetEndpointLocation (String) and EndpointReference (of Type EndpointReference from WS-Addressing)
2. When creating  the variable EndpointReference, import the XSD ws_addressing.xsd and choose the element type EndpointReference to create the variable
3. ws_addressing.xsd can be downloaded from here
4. This way, one need not copy-paste any code, or insert any namespace in the BPEL Process and its corresponding WSDL 
5. After creating the variables, open the .bpel in source  mode and look for the namespace http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2003/03/addressing. Change the namespace prefix to wsa so that the namespace looks like below:
   
    xmlns:wsa="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2003/03/addressing"

Implementing the dynamic endpoint:

1. Use the dvm:lookupValue function to look up the endpoint URI from the DVM. In the code snippet below, I have the DVM in MDS and I am looking up a DVM by name Endpoints to get the endpoint URI
2. Assign the URI to /wsa:EndpointReference/wsa:Address
3. Assign the /wsa:EndpointReference/wsa:Address to Partner link in the invoke that follows this logic
4. Insert the below code snippet just before the invoke node from the source view of the .bpel

Code Snippet:

<scope name="Scope_GetDynamicEndpoint">
    <sequence>
        <assign name="Assign_targetEndpointLocation">
            <copy>
                <from expression="dvm:lookupValue('oramds:/apps/Samples/Endpoints.dvm','ServiceName','SampleFlow','EndPoint','')"/>
                <to variable="TargetEndpointLocation"/>
            </copy>
        </assign>
        <assign name="AssignPartnerlinkEndpointReference">
            <copy>
                <from>
                    <wsa:EndpointReference xmlns:wsa="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2003/03/addressing">
                        <wsa:Address/>
                    </wsa:EndpointReference>
                </from>
                <to variable="EndpointReference" query="/wsa:EndpointReference"/>
            </copy>
            <copy>
                <from variable="TargetEndpointLocation"/>
                <to variable="EndpointReference"
                query="/wsa:EndpointReference/wsa:Address"/>
            </copy>
            <copy>
                <from variable="EndpointReference"/>
                <to partnerLink="SampleFlowTarget"/>
            </copy>
        </assign>
    </sequence>
</scope>

    inputVariable="Invoke_SampleFlowTarget_InputVariable"
    ......


Peace!

Cheers,
- AR