Bar Solutions WebLog

I have been playing around with Apex 4.0 on http://tryapexnow.com. When playing around with some ideas I have for application I decided to use the logging mechanism I created a while ago, to see what’s going on in the custom code.
Since this is a hosted environment it is not too easy to check the records in the log. There were a couple of queries needed to check the log. I usually run these from my IDE, but the is not possible now. They can be easily run using the SQL Workshop, but I have APEX at my disposal. So why not create a simple application to display the information in the log table. But if I create an application and start using it, it becomes publicly available and everybody can see what’s being logged (including the values of parameters). I need some sort of authentication here.
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During the last couple of days I have been playing around with the new, hosted version of APEX. I know I haven’t been using all the features available in APEX and I have mostly been using my mod_plsql skills, because I don’t know how to do certain things in APEX (yet).

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I had a good time in Atlanta at OPP doing my presentations. When I got back I had some issues regarding our APEX application that I needed to solve. But the guys at the office decided to drop all objects from the schema and create all the necessary objects again. This way we got rid of all the development code and all the rubbish gathered over the last couple of months. That is a good thing. Not so good was that the APEX application was also imported again and I created a script that creates a run-only version of the application. Continue reading »

As I am writing this I am on a plane ride back from Atlanta to Amsterdam. I had a great time in Atlanta during OPP. I also enjoyed doing the sessions I presented. One was on ‘Table Functions’ and another was on Collections and Bulk Operations. Both these session were scheduled in the same timeslot Steven Feuerstein got, yet both times I have drawn a bigger audience than he did. Something I am really proud of.

I also did a presentation in the tools track for Allround Automations’ product ‘PL/SQL Developer’. This audience was of course smaller, but it allowed this presentation to be more interactive. The guys from Allround were nice enough to sent out some shirts and books and the audience really enjoyed those. I could barely save one for myself ;-).

I have been busy for months preparing for this seminar. Not full time of course, but it has taken up a lot of my thoughts over the last couple of months. Now what should I do with my time. Maybe prepare for OPP2010 ;-). Don’t even know when and if there will be one. Don’t even know if I will be invited as a presenter again.

I know I learned a lot preparing for the sessions. I know how to use the stuff I was talking about, but I needed more in depth knowledge, which I got from reading documentation, blogs, books etc. So, until next year, I will be doing something different with my spare time. Maybe I can focus on becoming on OCP on PL/SQL.

De Oracle PL/SQL Programming conference vind dit jaar in Atlanta, Georgia plaats. Patrick Barel is daarbij om een drietal presentaties te geven. Voor degene die niet aanwezig zullen zijn in Atlanta vind deze OPP-Preview plaats.
Tijdens deze KC zal Patrick twee van deze presentaties geven.
Na het diner zal Alex een re-run geven van zijn ODTUG presentatie: "SQL Holmes".

Het programma voor deze avond:
16:30
"Pipelined table functions" - Patrick Barel
Pipelined table functions offer an ideal convergence of the elegance and simplicity of PL/SQL with the performance of SQL. Complex data transformations are effortless to develop and support with PL/SQL, yet to achieve high-performance data processing, we often resort to set-based SQL solutions. Pipelined functions bridge the gap between the two methods effortlessly, but they also have some unique performance features of their own, making them a superb performance optimization tool.

18:00
diner: Chinees

Na diner (rond 19:00):
"SQL Holmes: The Case of the Missing Performance" - Alex Nuijten
During this presentation, a case study is unfolded to reveal the true cause of a slow performing query. Did the database just "have a bad day"? Was the evil DBA to blame? The PL/SQL developer who didn’t get enough coffee? Or was it the application sending the "wrong" query in the first place?
In this classic "whodunnit" you will take a tour past the crime scene. Investigate the query, use the tools of the trade and collect all the relevant information. Follow the trail to uncover the truth and nothing but the truth…

20:00
Ter afsluiting:
"Optimizing SQL with Collections" - Patrick Barel
Collections (array-like structures in PL/SQL) are used in two of the most important performance features of PL/SQL: FORALL and BULK COLLECT. This session demonstrates the power of these features and offers in-depth guidance on how to apply them.