EBS R12.1.3

Desktop Client Tier

Moving from JInitiator to Native Sun Java plug-in.

• Native Sun J2SE 1.5 (5.0) Desktop Client Tier

• Supported Browsers:

Macintosh OSX Browser - Safari 2.0 10.4

Browser - FireFox 1.5 Windows 2000 and XP

Browser - IE 6.0 Windows 2000 and XP

Browser Version Client OS

Application Server Tier

R11 Application Tier

Major Components:

Major Components

•Java Home: 8.1.7-based iAS1.0.2

•C Home: 8.0.6-based Developer 6

•Database Home: 10.2

•ApplTop: Applications’code staging area

•Common Top: Runtime location for Java, HTML, run-time generated files

R12 Application Tier

Major Components:

•Java Home: 10.1-based iAS10.1.3 –new

•C Home: 10.1-based Developer 10 standalone install of AS 10.1.2 phase2 –new

•Database Home: 10.2

•ApplTop: Applications’code staging area

•Common Top: Runtime location for Java, HTML

•Instance Top: configuration and run-time generated files –new

•OracleAS 10g 10.1.2 for Forms & Reports Services

–Replaces the 8.0.6-based Oracle_Home

•OracleAS 10g 10.1.3 for Oracle Containers for Java (OC4J)

–Replaces the 8.1.7-based Oracle_Home provided by iAS 1.0.2.2 in 11i

•JDBC 10.2

•JDK 1.5 for web & concurrent processing

•Servlet Container: JServ -> OC4J

(OC4J is Oracles J2EE container)

•Apache: 1.3.19 -> 1.3.31

•Forms/Reports: 6i -> 10g

Application Server 10.1.3

–The Java Oracle Home

–HTTP Listener

–Oracle Containers for J2EE (OC4J)

–Oracle Process Manager and Notification Server

–Application Server Control (ASControl)

–JDK 5.0

Application Server 10.1.2

–The Forms or ‘C’ Oracle Home

–Forms and Reports

–Delivers native runtime executables for

•Forms (frmweb)

•Reports (rwrun)

–No relinking of native executables. User exists (Applications C Code) is now dynamically linked at

runtime.

–10.1 Required Support Files (RSF’s)

Desktop Client Tier

• 10g Database 10.2.

• Improved Manageability

Automatic Workload Repository

Automatic SGA Tuning

• Better Performance

PL/SQL operation 2x faster

PL/SQL Native Compilation for RAC

In R12 a new instance top is added in application tier. This TOP will now hold any configuration files (specific to that server) , Certificates (If SSL is enabled SSL Certificates & any other certificates specific to that server) and related log files or pid files (for Apache or any other process).

Tops with _ST can be shared across servers (Shared Tier) and INSTANCE_TOP will be specific to Server.

SERVLET vs SOCKET mode of FORMS connection mode

Oracle Form Servlet Overview in apps R12

i) In this mode, Java servlet handles communication between forms client(java based) and Oracle Forms Service (10g).

ii) All connection is via HTTP Server so there is no need to start form server and no need to open form server port on firewall between client machine and application tier.

iii) More secure as compared to Forms Socket Mode.

iv) Network traffic is more as HTTP protocol is more chatty so little bit network bandwidth hungry when compared with SOCKET mode

v) No additional certificate requirement during SSL implementation for application tier, single certificate will handle both forms & web connection.

How to change from default Servlet mode (in apps R12) to Socket mode ?

Refer to Oracle Metalink Note # 384241.1 Using Forms Socket Mode with Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12

Are there any network overheads of using Forms in Servlet Mode ?

Metalink Note # 311091.1 Understanding the Network Overhead Of Forms Servlet Listener Architecture Compared to Forms Server, covers some interesting points w.r.t. network traffic

Advantage & Disadvantages of Forms Servlet Mode

– Simple SSL Configuration (as no separate ssl configuration is required for Forms as connections are via web/http server)

– No port need to open to access forms in firewall

– More secure method of deployment over Internet

– Result in more network traffic because of HTTP is more chatty than socket (dedicated) so not preferred in WAN implementation.

How will you identify if you are using Forms in Socket or Servlet mode in Oracle Applications 11i or R12 ?

1. In xml file parameter is s_forms_servlet_serverurl . If value is blank that means this is not servlet else if value is “/forms/formservlet” this indicates forms servlet.

2. In $COMMON_TOP/html/bin (11i) or $INST_TOP/ora/10.1.2/forms/server/ and the file name is ls -ltr appsweb*cfg.

If serverURL is set to /forms/formservlet then its Servlet Mode (serverURL=/forms/formservlet) ; else if blank its socket (serverURL=)

->grep -i serverURL appsweb.cfg

serverURL=/forms/lservlet

; for the ServerURL and comment the line that that sets serverURL to

From "R12: Forms Runtime Diagnostics (FRD), Tracing And Logging For Forms In Oracle Applications [ID 438652.1]"

Identify if forms is implemented in socket /servlet mode

Oracle Applications Release12 by default configures Forms 10g stack in servlet mode, as this is the preferred and recommended deployment model for deploying forms on the web. In this mode, there is a java servlet called the Forms Listener Servlet, manages the communication between the Forms Java Client and OracleAS Forms Services. The Forms Listener Servlet architecture operates through the HTTP server port alone and does not need extra ports to handle communication between the client and the application server. The servlet architecture is designed to work with industry standards, and also to be fully supported for advanced network configurations with no additional ports or SSL configuration.

Although forms servlet is the preferred deployment method, there may be circumstances where customers need to switch from Forms servlet mode to socket mode, which allows desktop clients to access the Forms server directly.

To check if forms is implemented in socket /servlet mode perform the following steps:

Step 1: Source the middle-tier environment file from <Install_Home>/apps/apps_st/appl directory

Note: Replace <Install_Home> with the base directory where Oracle Application R12 is installed in your system

Step 2: Open the appsweb.cfg file pointed by environment variable "FORMS_WEB_CONFIG_FILE" and check the values for following parameters:

• serverURL=
• connectMode=

Note: Refer the table below for the values that they must contain based on the implementation mode

Step 3: Based on the values for these two parameters one should be able to determine if forms is implemented in socket /servlet mode