Database Reference
In-Depth Information
At that point in time, you
could
actually write web applications in PL/SQL by hand,
and unfortunately we authors did. This required not only a thorough knowledge of PL/
SQL and HTML but also the patience of a saint and the determination of a headstrong
mule. The end result wasn't very pretty, and it was definitely not secure by today's
terms, but it was functional, if somewhat limited.
Not long after, Oracle introduced PL/SQL Server Pages (PSPs). This involved first
coding the static HTML and including special Oracle markup to indicate where dynam-
ic data would go. Once you had the output looking as you wanted, you then ran it
through a program called
LOADPSP
. This would translate the raw HTML and the spe-
cial Oracle markup into a PL/SQL procedure that, again, used the PL/SQL Web Toolkit
to emit the HTML including the dynamic data you requested. At the time, this was a
huge leap forward. Doug Gault worked at a company where he built an entire frame-
work around using PSP technology and deployed it at several clients.
Finally, in 1997, WebDB came on the scene. The true grandfather of what is now
called APEX, WebDB was revolutionary in that it was a 100% web-based tool that al-
lowed developers to design web applications. It was written entirely in PL/SQL even
though Java seemed to be taking over the world. Developers could point WebDB at
their database and generate code that would produce forms, reports, charts, and calen-
dars. There was no session-state management, and there were no templates; once the
code was generated, you couldn't go back through the tool.
WebDB allowed a large number of companies that wanted to jump on the web-
based bandwagon to do so without spending vast amounts of time and effort retraining
their staff. As a tribute to its success, the authors know of a number of companies that
still have WebDB systems running in production environments.
Unfortunately, WebDB's days were numbered. Because it generated code (and if
you didn't like the code it generated, then too bad for you), it had already begun to fade
from favor by the time it was absorbed into Oracle's Portal product. However, creator
Mike Hichwa didn't forget the glimpse of greatness that WebDB had seen.
More Recent History
Around 1999, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison presented Mike Hichwa (VP of Software
Development) with the task of creating an internal calendaring and scheduling system
for Oracle Corp. The original remit was to use WebDB to generate the initial code and
then hand-code all the changes from that point forward. Mike, however, saw this as an
opportunity to completely rewrite WebDB into something that could be far more use-
ful. Thus, with the help of Joel Kallman and Tom Kyte, Oracle Flows was born.
