Sunday, March 28, 2010

Weblogic Portal : 10.3.2 : Eclipse Subversion Integration : Plugin

" The Subversive project aims to provide Subversion (SVN) integration for Eclipse. You can work with Subversion repositories in almost exactly the same way you can now work with CVS repositories using the CVS plug-in bundled in the standard Eclipse distribution. "


If you are working in a team, then a Source Control Repository is mandatory. A Source Control Repository becomes an integral part of your Project Infrastructure, apart from the Software, Systems, etc. used to build your Solutions.

You can take a look at the Subversive Project, which provides a wonderful plugin to work conveniently with Subversion Source Control Repositories directly from your Eclipse IDE :-


You can find a wealth of literature on Subversion, Eclipse and the Subversive Eclipse Plugin. I have cobbled up a simple Installation Guide to help folks who are in a hurry ( like myself ) to see something working. You can download the Guide from this location :-


As always, please remember to "clean" the Eclipse Project before you upload the Artifacts.

If you need more insight into Eclipse Upgrades, Tips & Tricks, please do take a look at this article ( " Tips to Updating and Upgrading with Eclipse " ) from Scott Nelson :-




Friday, March 26, 2010

Weblogic Portal : 10.3.2 : Installation : SYSTABLES

" SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYSTABLES; ORA-00942: table or view does not exist"

- Weblogic Server Domain Creation Wizard

You'll see this error when you are creating a Domain for Oracle Weblogic Portal 10.3.2.

The Weblogic Server DataSource uses this query to check if the connection is valid to a Database ( including an Oracle Database ! ) :-

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYSTABLES;

The error is so infuriating that at time, the Server forcefully shuts down quoting that the tables is not present. The Table is not required to be present in an Oracle Database.

Aw, well, you are in a tight deadline and you don't want to fuss over this :-

Go ahead and create a dummy table SYSTABLES in your Database Schema :-

CREATE TABLE SYSTABLES ( DUMMY NUMBER );

The Domain Creation Wizard is happy, you are happy and you can move ahead to more interesting tasks.

If you have spare time ( if you really have ), go ahead and take a look under the $WEBLOGIC_DOMAIN_HOME/config/jdbc folder - you'll see the XML files for your Data Sources. You can go ahead and change the Testing Query used in the files and bounce your server.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Weblogic Portal : 10.3.2 : Installation : Eclipse

" This certified set of Eclipse plug-ins is designed to help develop, deploy and debug applications for Oracle WebLogic Server. It installs as a plug-in to your existing Eclipse, or will install Eclipse for you, and enhances Eclipse's capabilities for Java, Java EE, Spring, ORM and Web Services. "


I discovered an anomaly during the installation of Oracle Weblogic Portal 10.3.2 and am Blogging about it. I installed the Oracle Weblogic Portal 10.3.2 and after installation, I discovered that the Eclipse IDE did not have anything that I could use to develop Weblogic Portal solutions !

Eclipse 3.5.2 is now used as IDE for Weblogic Portal 10.3.2. Eclipse with OEPE (Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse) replaces Workshop and post-installation, the Eclipse IDE should come with all the required Weblogic Portal plugins installed.

You can start using the Eclipse IDE from :-

Windows : [ INSTALL_HOME ] / oepe_11gR1PS1 / eclipse / eclipse.exe
LINUX : [ INSTALL_HOME ] / oepe_11gR1PS1 / eclipse / eclipse.sh

However, after the installation I was in for a shock - I opened the Eclipse IDE, only to notice that I couldn't create any Weblogic Portal artifacts. I didn't see any of these familiar options :-

  • Portal EAR Project
  • Portal Web Project
  • Portal Perspective
After much Googling, I came across an interesting OTN posts which pointed to the same solution :-


During the installation Process:-

  • The "installation Type" Screen is displayed.
  • Select the "Custom" install type.
  • The "Choose Products and Components" Screen is displayed.
  • Under the WebLogic Portal section, select the "Workshop Portal Extension" Box
  • Under the WebLogic Server section, select the "Samples" Box
  • Proceed with the installation.
After the installation, when you run the Eclipse IDE, you'll notice that you have a full-fledged IDE at your disposal, with all the Portal Bells & Whistles.

I tried a lot to get this with the "Default Installation" type, but gave up after 4 iterations.

I feel this is a non-intuitive way to get a full Eclipse IDE for Weblogic Portal Development.

I can only imagine the impact it can have on newbies to Weblogic Portal, when they discover that there's a disconnect between the popular Tutorials and the IDE in front of them.

Anyways, as usual, the folks who take their time of to help others on OTN threw light on this and saved countless hours of time.