Lesson 1

One of the most exciting new developments of the 1990s was the capability to access an Oracle database through a Web-based front-end. Today, large Web sites such as e-Bay support hundreds of Oracle transactions a minute via Web-based interfaces.
This module will explore the techniques for using an Oracle database on the Web and look at some of the most important issues surrounding the use of Web pages to access Oracle databases. When you have completed this module, you will be able to:

Ever since Oracle release 7.3, we see the ability to interface Oracle databases with Web applications. It is very important to remember as we go through this module that the only difference between a Web-based application and a standard SQL*Forms application is that we are using the Internet as the front end. We always need to bear in mind that Oracle applications are essentially no different simply because they are using the Web as their front end. In this module we are going to be taking look at new features that can be used with Oracle Web server products, and techniques that the DBA can use to ensure that they get the best performance and response time, when using the Internet as a front-end for their Oracle databases

Oracle WebDB is a complete solution for building, deploying, and proactively monitoring web database applications and content-driven web sites. WebDB provides a fast and easy way to "web-enable" Oracle databases.

Developers can create, view, and edit database objects through the easy-to-use, HTML-based WebDB interface. These objects include tables, views, procedures, functions, packages, indexes, sequences, synonyms, and triggers.

WebDB provides tools for creating HTML-based interfaces to database data. These interfaces include reports, forms, charts, calendars, menus, hierarchies, and frame drivers.

Web sites created with WebDB (WebDB sites) are divided into manageable areas that can be delegated to individuals or groups. The tools for managing WebDB sites are provided within the site itself, enabling content creators to make changes to and ensure the quality of their own areas of the site, instead of relying on the webmaster. The next lesson is an overview of Web application connection mechanisms.