Oracle JDeveloper and Oracle ADF 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.x): New Features
Updated: October 4, 2013
Introduction
JDeveloper 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.4.0)
The 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.4.0) version of JDeveloper and ADF is a minor update release. It contains many bug fixes as well as a few new ADF Mobile features to enjoy.
The 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.3.0) version of JDeveloper and ADF is a minor update release. It contains many bug fixes as well as a few new features to enjoy.
ADF Mobile: ADF Mobile extends ADF applications to mobile devices as native applications. ADF Mobile is now production and available from the JDeveloper Update Center (Help > Check for Updates)
ADF Essentials: ADF Essentials is a brand new offering of Oracle ADF. It makes the core aspects of ADF available for developers to use and deploy for free!
The 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.2.0) version of JDeveloper and ADF is a minor update release. It contains many bug fixes as well as a few new features to enjoy.
The 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.0.0) version of JDeveloper and ADF is a major, feature-bearing release. While there are many new goodies to enjoy here, the primary themes of the release are:
Upgraded JDeveloper Extension Framework: The extension (plug-in) framework has been upgraded to use OSGi. This allows for lazy-loading of extensions as needed. The result is faster start-up time, and much improved overall performance.
Improved JDeveloper Performance: In addition to upgrading to use OSGI, work was done throughout JDeveloper to improve design time performance.
Integrated Maven: Maven 2 support is now integrated with JDeveloper.
ADF Skin Editor: New ADF Skin editor for visually creating and modifying the appearance of ADF Faces applications.
JSF 2.0: JSF 2.0 support in the IDE and for ADF applications
Of course, there were also lots of bug fixes implemented in this release (about 700 customer bugs). Read on for more details of the new features!
Provide visual cue to mobile users of new application events
Frequently used with push notifications
Supported on iOS only
File Content Display on Android
Enables seamless integration with file viewers on Android
Application Archive Support
Enables enterprise distribution of ADF Mobile applications that are created by System Integrators or ISVs
Useful for SI and ISV partners
Infrastructure Updates
Performance enhancements
iPhone5 and iPad Mini Form Factors Support
Migration of PhoneGap 1.0 to Cordova 2.2
Updated Xcode and Android SDK support
URL Scheme support (added in ADF Mobile 11.1.2.4.39.64.51 release)
Allows ADF Mobile Applications to be launched from other applications using URL scheme
Supports listener to process the context parameters passed via URL scheme
Custom SOAP Header Support (added in ADF Mobile 11.1.2.4.39.64.51 update release)
Allows custom SOAP Headers to be included in the Web Service Data Control SOAP Requests
xCode 5 Support (added in ADF Mobile 11.1.2.4.39.64.62 update release)
Starting with patch 5, XCode 5 and iOS 7 SDK are required to build ADF Mobile applications for iOS. Application developers are required to download and install XCode 5 and update the Tools > Preferences, ADF Mobile iOS Platform settings to XCode 5 build directory and iOS 7 SDK.
New Skin with Native iOS7 and Android Look and Feel (added in ADF Mobile 11.1.2.4.39.64.62 update release)
Patch 5 is shipped with a new skin - AltaMobile. This skin provides iOS 7 look and feel when running on iOS devices and native Android look and feel when running on Android devices. AltaMobile skin is an opt-in so Application developers have to change the skin configuration in adfmf-config.xml to uptake the new skin. adfmf-config.xml needs to be changed as follows:
JDeveloper provides support for deployment to GlassFish Server 3.1.
ADF Mobile
ADF Mobile extends ADF applications to mobile devices as native applications. ADF Mobile is now production and available from the JDeveloper Update Center (Help > Check for Updates). For more information on specific features, demonstrations, and more product details, please see the ADF Mobile corner on OTN.
ADF Essentials
This release introduces a brand new option for introducing ADF to the larger Java Web development community. ADF Essentials is free to develop, free to deploy, free to distribute offering. It includes the core ADF building blocks of ADF Faces, ADF Data Visualization Tools (DVT), ADF Controller, ADF Model, ADF Share, and ADF Business Components. Furthermore, Oracle is excited to announce that ADF Essentials comes with certification for deployment on GlassFish. For more information, refer to the new ADF Essentials corner on OTN.
ADF Faces and Data Visualization Tools (DVT)
All ADF Faces and Data Visualization components now support touch gestures for interactivity on the touch-enabled devices, such as touch support for drag and drop, tooltips, data tips, and context menus. This support is enabled through the new v1.2 version of the FusionFx and FusionFx-simple families of skins. ADF Faces and DVT components are now certified on iPad. Additionally, ADF DVT Graph and Gauge components now support rendering in HTML5.
ADF View Framework
Override default dimensions - By default, certain components default to getting their dimensions from the parent. This makes these components harder to work with in flowing containers, where the desire is usually to get the dimensions from the preferred size of the children components. In order to support this, but still maintain backwards compatibility, we have introduced a new web.xml context parameter. This parameter, when set, will allow the default values of certain attributes to assume a value that fits their current container. For the dimensionsFrom attribute, this means that the default value will be "auto" instead of "parent". This has the affect that the component will determine from its parent component what dimensions to use by default. This affects the dimensionsFrom attribute on af:decorativeBox, af:panelAccordion, af:panelDashboard, af:panelStretchLayout, af:panelSplitter and af:panelTabbed.For the table family of components, af:table, af:tree and af:treeTable, setting the new context parameter to auto will result in the default value of autoHeightRows to be switched from -1 to 0. Also, the these components will renderer the AFStretchWidth style class when autoHeightRows is 0 (and the context parameter has been set to auto). In order to set this new parameter, you must add this to the web.xml of your application:
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<context-param>
<description>
This parameter controls the default value for component geometry on the page.
Supported values are:
legacy - component attributes use the default values as specified for the attributes
in the tag documentation (default value)
auto - component attributes use the correct default value given the value of their
parent component. For example, with this setting, the panelStretchLayout
will use "auto" as the default value for its "dimensionsFrom" attribute
instead of "parent".
</description>
<param-name>oracle.adf.view.rich.geometry.DEFAULT_DIMENSIONS</param-name>
<param-value>auto</param-value>
</context-param>
Table
On tablet devices, ADF table now automatically renders as a paginated table, rather than infinite scroll. Instead of scroll bars, the table component is paginated, and displays a footer that allows the user to jump to specific pages of rows, as shown below. The number of rows on a page is determined by the fetchSize attribute.
New In This Release (11.1.2.2.0)
ADF Faces and Data Visualization Tools (DVT)
ADF Faces Framework
Improved Page Loading Performance: A number of features have been added in this release to improve the overall experience of loading ADF Faces applications.
Reduce size of minimum required JavaScript -- The Triinidad JavaScript has been partitioned to minimize the core set of JavaScript needed for ADF Faces, and separating that from services that can be downloaded on demand.
Reduce size of images -- Images used in ADF Faces are now optimally compressed.
Add Closure compiler -- A new method is being used to produce better compressed (and obfuscated) JavaScript.
Support for Content Delivery Networks (cdn) -- New settings in adf-config.xml allow users to take advantage of Content Delivery Networks (CDN) to cache and serve the static parts of the application (images, javascript, style sheets, etc).
Pretty URLs: By default, the parameter values for maintaining ADF Faces session state will no longer be passed using dynamic URL parameters. This results in much cleaner URLs that are visible to end users. For browsers that support it, the HTML 5 History Management API is used to remove the parameters, otherwise the information will be sent via session cookies. Alternatively, developers can choose a specific method or turn the feature off completely in web.xml.
ADF Faces
Layout
af:panelGridLayout: This release introduces a new layout component. Panel Grid Layout, in conjunction with the related af:gridRow and af:gridCell tags, allows users to layout elements of a page in a simple (or sophisticated) collection of rows and columns. Note, there is no support for the new layout component in the JSF Visual editor in this release.
ADF Databinding
Web Services Data Control
Ability to define key attribute: A WSDL which references an ID type attribute will now result in a Web Service Data Control structure that marks that attribute as a "Primary Key". Otherwise, the generated Web Service Data Control will add a hidden RowIndex attribute for the key value. As a result, the Web Service Data Control is also now able to support the setCurrentRowKey and setCurrentRowKeyWithValue iterator operations.
HTTP header customization: When creating a Web Service Data Control definition, there is a new option to "Include HTTP Header Parameter". Selecting this option will result in a "HTTP Header" parameter under the data control operations in the Data Controls accordion panel. You can provide the value for the HTTP Header parameter from a backing bean, and the value will be passed via the request then the method is executed.
URL Data Control
*Multiple methods:*A single URL data control can now be used to expose all the operations of a REST service. Multiple methods can be created within a single data control definition.
XSD no longer required: For GET operations, you no longer need to specify an XSD for the return type. If the XSD is not specified when creating the data control, the return type will be generated by making a request to the service.
HTTP header customization: When creating a URL data control, there is a new option to "Include HTTP Header Parameter". Selecting this option will result in a "HTTP Header" parameter under the data control operations in the Data Controls accordion panel. You can provide the value for the HTTP Header parameter from a backing bean, and the value will be passed via the request then the method is executed.
New In This Release (11.1.2.0.0)
JDeveloper IDE
Editor Management
Asynchronous editor support This will allow clients of the editor manager framework to open editors without blocking the event thread
Extension Development
IDE extensions using trigger hooks Allow extensions to define when and how they should be loaded
IDE extensions supporting lazy initialization Extensions are loaded when they're needed. Not all at the same time at startup.
IDE extensions as OSGi bundles Extension classes are now loaded in separate classloaders thanks to OSGi classloading policy
Removing JavaCompiler.jar from SQLDev distribution
Fast JOT Parser
Debugger
toString() in Data Window
Data Window Array Navigation
Debugger Find Source Dialog
Java Code Editor
Unsurround Code
Incremental Search
Replace command can now preserve case when run
Call Tree Browser
Java Navigation
Goto Class / File Navigator
Java Refactoring
Externalize strings
Invert Boolean
Internationalize Replace a Java string literal with an internationalized version from a resource bundle
Introduce Parameter Object
Extract Class
Extract Method Object
Java Searching/Indexing
Class Locator
Application Cache
Copy of Class Locator
File Change Support
Exposing String Searching Capability
Assuming External Files Are Not Changed By Default
Application Level Persistent Storage
Active Root Manager
Launcher
64bit support for Windows
Maven
Create new applications and projects with Maven POM
Create Maven POM from existing JDeveloper applications and projects
Import Maven POM
Configure Maven settings for any application
Maven POM editing with code insight
Run Maven goals
Integrated Maven output display
Manage locale and remote repositories with indexing and querying
Manage Maven dependencies with synchronization with JDeveloper project libraries
Automatic publishing of JDeveloper project libraries to local repository
Profilers
Color New vs Old Refs in Snapshots
64bit agent support
Partial Tree Expansion
Linear Chain Reduction
Database Development
Offline Database
Persist files or generate as Oracle 11gR2 SXML
Bind variables as report parameters
Filter application navigator by offline database object
Persist PL/SQL as flat files such as .sql or .pls
Improved dependency analysis when references (usages) made from PL/SQL to tables, views etc, or other PL/SQL objects
"Go To Declaration" command for PL/SQL Editor
Modeler
Database Profile in the UML class model increases flexibility of the transform from logical to physical database model
Reverse transform from a physical database model to a logical model (UML class model)
Steamline use of "Delete" and "Remove from Diagram"
Graphical distinction between online and offline database objects through icons and connection information in the object tooltip
Display join objects in iconic mode
Allow "Show Related Elements" for views and relation usages
Hide constraint name option added to preferences
View Dialog Improvements
SQL Code Insight
UNION set operator and bind variables support for query building
Group By expressions and function calls
Declarative support for inline and hierarchical query creation
Oracle Database Support
Added DEFFERABLE and INITIALLY clauses to constraint model
Explicitly model indexes implementing primary/unique keys
Support for Oracle 11gR2 XE (Express Edition)
Non-Oracle Database Support
Use of third party database dictionary and JDBC drivers
Team Development
Common Infrastructure
Enhanced compare algorithm for large files
Version Tree thumbnail view and structure pane usage
Compare panels use accordion layout
Subversion
Repository revision browser
Support for tree conflict and Subversion property conflicts
Add to svn:ignore via context menu on file
Repository URL shown on commit and update dialogs
Compare subversion properties in main compare view
Perforce
Perforce annotation support
Connection dropdown list converted to a browse button and dialog
Serena Dimensions
Support Dimensions requests (lifecycle) in version operations
Import wizard
Java EE Development and Deployment
Application Server Integration
Deploy Plan customization framework
Flat Editor for Weblogic-policy-ref.xml
Project/Application auditing for deployment rules
Generate *-jdbc.xml files
Deployment Cancel Support
OJDeploy as a background Service
Prompt user for initial admin password when creating default domain
EJB/JPA
Preferences for Default Entity mapping
Entity Field/Column synchronization
Dynamic discovery of associated JPA entities in Entities from Tables wizard
Generate implementations for toString(), hashCode(), Comparable.compareTo() methods onto entities
EJB refactoring
Entities From Tables Wizard user interface redesign
EJB / Bean Data Control
Add support for Java 5 Generic types in Bean DC
Leverage web-app for jndi lookup for remote lookup
Bean data control metadata management improvements now only generate xml if needed (sparse xml)
Bean data control and Query - Subquery and join support
Bean data control pagination performance improvements
Bean data control user interface improvements
Bean data control transaction support
EJB Diagram
Create Data Control from EJB Modeler
Integrated WebLogic Server
Class and metadata refresh support (hot swapping)
Action to access run URL (if any)
SSL Support
Delete and recreate domain support
Terminate run during deployment support
Local Debugging Protocol support
Java EE Security
Support OPSS resource catalog
Custom policy and codebase grant support
XML Development
XML Schema
Resolving of reference shall happen in a background thread
New context menu added to allow easier access to "Generate XML from XSD" feature.
Facet values are now validated with regard to their base type.
Added design editor support for List and Union elements in schemas.
Added support to collapse and expand all attributes for elements and complextypes in the schema design editor.
Added support for setting the attributeGroup references using a drop down list
Schema Auditing: More Validations in Schema editing
Property Inspector now shows value for type attributes when applicable.
Added the ability to make an element, attribute/implicit type, global via context menu in Visual Editor
XSLT
xsl variables are now shown in the smart data window
XML Editor Framework
Structure pane improvements
Component palette improvements
UML Development
Class Diagram
Primitive type support
Additional association end information
Constraints on attributes
Modeling Framework
Pre-Loading facility for element references
Upgrading to JViews 8.6
Diagram Rename and Save As
Diagram content set
Sequence Diagram
Enable nesting of Sequence diagrams as per UML 2.0 Combined Fragments
Interaction shape
Sequence layout
Stereotype Support
Enable user defined stereotypes on diagrams
Enable user defined stereotypes in Property Inspector
Enable user defined stereotypes in dialogs
UML 2 Infrastructure
Profile Support - Base
Profile Support - Final
Web Services Development
Client
Integrate credential wizard with the proxy client wizard
Change name of proxy wizard option in new gallery
'Go To WSDL' context menu option from proxy node
'Go To Client Class' context menu option from proxy node
HTTP Analyzer
Support for async service monitoring
Default certificate acceptance
Policy
Policy validation
Make title and hint text of client policy page customizable
Edit server connection from policy preferences page
HTTP Analyzer sign/encrypt support
Property Inspector
User interface improvement for MTOM and Addressing annotations in PI
Property Inspector support for @Action and @SOAPBinding annotations
Property Inspector support for @WssConfiguration annotation
REST
Support relative links from Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State (HATEOAS)
Support atomic (href) links
Service Development
TopLink database web services support
Support for editing a top-down generated web service
Add validation for SOAPBinding.ParameterStyle.BARE
Add context menu option to add a wsdl to a annotated web service
Add @WebServiceRef in one-step
After top-down generation open implementation class rather than WSDL
WSDL Editor
Add test web service option
Add directory in WSDL create dialog
Web and Ajax Development
Improve faces-config flat editor
Icons for managed beans will show up in the navigator and a new Managed Bean finger has been added to the Application Overview
Gallery reorganization
Support faces-config annotations
Web application migrator
Option to create managed bean using annotation
Support for functions in EL insight
Facelets
Support for Facelets tag libraries in project properties and Tools > Manage Libraries
Visual editor support
Custom tag library editing
Show functions in EL builder
Composite component support
Support for new .jsf extension
Page Layout
Support overflow scrolling in visual editor
Oracle Toplink Development
Enhanced support for Oracle TopLink's advanced JPA (EclipseLink) mapping and persistence unit capabilities
ADF Framework
Configuration Files
The adf-settings.xml file is created automatically for new ViewController projects; you no longer have to create it manually.
ADF Debugging
You can now set breakpoints for contextual events and for tree and table bindings.
Database-Portable Applications
An application's SQL properties, including the type of database used, are now exposed in the application's adf-config.xml editor and can be modified when packaging the application, making it easier to make a database-portable application.
ADF Faces and Data Visualization (DVT) Design-time
ADF Skin Editor
A new JDeveloper editor is available starting in 11.1.2.0.0 for creating and editing ADF skin files. The core features include:
ability to extend from one of the ADF skins as a starting point
selector tree listing all the possible skin selectors for ADF Faces and DVT including style classes, global aliases, and pseudo-elements
preview pane that renders components and reflects changes made to their skin selectors in real-time
inheritance information showing where existing, default properties values are coming from in the skin hierarchy
support for seeing which set of components and selectors are utilizing a particular global alias
support for editing skin selectors for a particular theme
image generation capabilities based on color aliases when extending a fusionFx-simple skin
Available as a standalone product
Download standalone ADF Skin Editor from the JDeveloper/ADF page on OTN.
Standalone version allows creation of skins for earlier versions of ADF web applications (ie. 11.1.1.4 or 11.1.1.5). Simply set the target version on the project creation dialog.
Component Palette Reorganization
The ADF Faces components in the component palette were reorganized into new accordions and display groups. This was done to assist users in locating and identifying components more efficiently and effectively by making the organization more predictable and usable. The reorganization will also accommodate the addition of new components in the future.
Support for Building Nested Templates
Previously, one was only able to utilize a single page template in their page (chosen during the creation of the page). Also, one was not able to include another page template while creating a page template definition. That restriction has been removed and a new Template item is now available
in the component palette which can be DnD'ed onto either a page template definition or a regular page. A dialog will appear prompting the user to choose a page template to point to. With this new feature, the ability to nest page templates is now possible.
Conversion Support for ADF Faces Layout Components
The ability to convert between various ADF Faces layout components was reintroduced in 11.1.2.0.0 (specifically, decorativeBox, group, panelAccordion, panelBorderLayout, panelBox, panelFormLayout, panelGroupLayout, panelHeader, panelList, panelSplitter, panelStretchLayout, panelTabbed, showDetailHeader, and toolbox). For cases that cannot be resolved algorithmically, a new Convert dialog will be shown to prompt the user for direction. Here the user is able to drag and drop child components into other facets. In addition, if they want more than one child in a facet they can choose what component they would like to group these children.
Enhanced Hierarchy Navigation in Structure Pane
Previously, navigating the structure pane was tedius and one often lost his/her place as they navigated deeper in their hierarchy. Today, users can choose to make their current node the top of the heirarchy by using the Show As Top icon. They can then navigate deeper in their heirachy without losing their place. Finally, the user is able to return to showing the root by clicking on the show root icon or using context menu option.
Find in Structure Pane
Now users can quickly navigate to a component in the structure pane tree using the new Find Control. The find progresses depth-first from whatever node is currently designated as the root. To avoid clutter, this was introduced as a toggle option so it renders as a sub toolbar when the toolbar icon is selected.
Reduce Visual Clutter in Structure Pane
Instead of the fully qualified binding for nodes in the Structure Pane, we now use simplified syntax which makes it easier for users to identify the key databinding information.
Eliminate Freeze & New View (also in PI). These options were confusing users and for those who understood them found them not very useful
Fix undesirable auto adjusting
Improved Error and Warning indicators
Remove "empty facet" warnings // applies to JSF in general
Added an error gutter to the Visual Editor so users can easily find and fix errors and warnings in the design view.
ADF Data Visualizations Design Time
Design time user interface for the new Thematic Map component
Sparkcharts data-first design time and binding UI
Improvements to the Hierarchy Viewer design time user experience
Support for circular layout in the Hierarchy Viewer component gallery
Integration of DVT components in the ADF Skinning Editor
CSS Code Insight support for DVT component selectors
Design time support to add a Pivot Filter Bar to an existing data-bound Pivot Table
Improvements to the PivotTable design time UI to generate a default stamping pattern based on control hints
ResourceBundle integration with DVT components design time UI
Property Inspector data entry improvements
ADF Faces and Data Visualization (DVT) Runtime
JSF 2.0
This release offers JSF 2 support, which includes Facelets as the official view technology
Java 5 annotation support is included, such as @ManagedBean, @ViewScoped, which eliminates configuration in faces-config.xml
Navigation is simplified, removing the need for faces-config.xml for navigation cases
Applications are automatically migrated to JSF 2 when opened:
Project library references are migrated to use the 2.0 libraries
Configuration files are upgraded: web.xml to version 2.5, faces-config.xml to version 2.0
References to facelets libraries are removed
Accessibility
Certification with JAWS 11.0.729
New API method in AdfPage.js, announceToAssistiveTechnology(), which is used to add messages to the WAI-ARIA status live region in screen reader mode.
Public API provided so custom view components can participate in heading level negotiations (<H1>, <H2>, ...<H6>)
Active Data
Active Data supports displaying data from multiple bindings
Autosuggest
A new attribute "smartList" is available to autoSuggest tag, which takes a method expression. The smart list is cached on the client, which provides fast results for common search terms. If the user doesn't respond within 2 seconds, the entire suggestedItems list will be fetched from the server and shown.
A new attribute "maxSuggestedItems" is available; if suggested item list is longer than this, a 'more' link is added to the bottom which will launch the search and select dialog
Separator added between smart suggested item list and full suggested item list
Autosuggest shows "no results found" when there is no match
Breadcrumbs
Spacing in vertical breadcrumbs is reduced, and a new skinning property is added to control it.
Calendar
The All Day Activities container now consumes no more than 40% of the page, and if more space is needed a scroll bar is provided
Carousel
New presentation modes in carousel ("circular", "oneByOne"), and a new "controlArea" attribute provided for additional display options
Change Persistence
Change persistence now available to Facelets
Customization support available to Declarative component
Export
Export data now supports table columns with commandLink/goLink and selectOne/selectMany components
File Download
File download supported when ADF Faces content rendered in a portlet
Framework
AdfFacesContext.getOutputMode() now indicates whether page is being rendered in email/printable mode
Deliver a WindowCloseEvent when the window being closed is a dialog
Users are proactively alerted with a popup when their session is about to expire
The af:region component implements a Facelets-specific optimization whereby the region's children are not created until the region is rendered. Deferring the cost of child creation for non-rendered regions can be a significant optimization, especially in cases where regions are hidden inside of af:showDetail, af:showDetailHeader or af:showDetailItem ancestors. This optimization is enabled by default but can be disabled by setting the "oracle.adf.view.rich.region.CHILD_CREATION" context parameter to "immediate".
Inline Frame
Added a new "inlineFrameLoad" event that is queued each time the document defined by the source property is loaded; this event can be used with the af:clientListener tag
Input Components, General
Added "labelStyle" attribute to all input components with labels to allow explicit control styling of labels, such as labelStyle="white-space:nowrap;"
Added "autoComplete" attribute to inputColor, inputComboboxListOfValues, inputDate, inputListOfValues, and inputText, which can be used to suppress browser autocompletion if required
Added "editable" attribute to several input components to offer click-to-edit capabilities
A new utility class oracle.adf.view.rich.util.ResetUtils has been added to reset to initial state; it has a method public static void reset(UIComponent startComponent)
Layout
Flowing alternatives for decorativeBox, panelAccordion, panelDashboard, panelSplitter, and panelStretchLayout: these components have a new "dimensionsFrom" attribute that can enable height to be determined by their children components as an alternative to parent stretched or fixed height
Added "dimensionsFrom" attribute to panelTabbed to specify how the component will handle geometry management in the disclosed tab
For custom component builders, a new API getVisualRootStretchingStyles has been added to allow the component to participate in parent stretching
List of Values (LOV)
A new facet "searchContent" is available to provide custom content by the application developers
A new facet "context" is available to inputListOfValues that supports the af:contextInfo component
MenuBar
Menu model support added to af:menuBar tag, which enables af:commandNavigationItems to be stamped out for each itemNode in the menuModel
The menu model implementation has "hover to open and click to navigate" behavior built in
Navigation Components
Components af:goButton, af:goLink, af:goImageLink, af:goMenuItem, and af:commandNavigationItem have been enhanced to support PPR navigation for GET requests
It is now possible to suppress browser context menus for action links by setting "oracle.adf.view.rich.ACTION_LINK_BROWSER_CONTEXT_SUPPRESSION" to "no"; explanation: many of the action links, such as those from af:commandLink, af:commandMenuItem, af:commandNavigationItem with no "destination" attribute set, expose native browser context menus such as "Bookmark Link", "Copy Link", etc. where the link offered has no relationship to the navigation target if the link is clicked on, and this can be used to suppress this behavior.
Components af:commandLink and af:commandButton now render in print/email output when af:showPrintablePageBehavior is used
PanelCollection
The "featuresOff" attribute has been enhanced to support turning off a more extensive set of features
Popup
Added "autoCancel" property to af:popup tag to control auto-dismissal of popups
Added "childCreation" property to af:popup tag to make it possible to defer construction of the popup's children until needed
Added "resetEditableValues" property to af:popup tag to reset values of input components within the popup content when the popup is canceled
New "showPopupActionListener(ActionEvent event)" method in RichPopup component that compliments the client-side API to show, hide, and cancel a popup
Scrolling
Added "ScrollComponentIntoView" server side API to allow listeners to bring a desired component into the viewable area if it is scrolled out of view
Search Form and Query Panel
Can now save changes to existing saved search, and delete a saved search
New "design" value for attribute "displayMode", which puts the query into design mode
New attribute values for "criterionFeatures": "matchCaseDisplayed" allows the user to set match case for a String criterion, and "requiredDisplayed" allows user to set whether a criterion is required.
Shuttle
Double click will now shuttle items back and forth
Skinning and Styles
The Skin Framework now supports versioning. If you create skins, then you can add skin versions to your skins, so you can keep the skin-family name the same between versions.
We introduced a new skin family called 'fusion-simple' which is targeted to meet the needs of those who want to quickly and easily re-brand their application's look and feel. In this skin, we approximated and reduced hundreds of colors used in our fusion skins into about 18 pairs of background / foreground color aliases. We introduced new aliases that apply in common to few component groups like 'commandLink / goLink', 'panelHeader / showDetailHeader / query' and 'region / panelBox'. We also added a few new global aliases as a result of this exercise.
New Style Class - AFBrandingBarItemBackground. It can be used to style the background of a container (e.g. an af:panelGroupLayout) for items inside of the branding bar container. This typically defines the background color of the items inside of the bar.
Warning in SkinFactory#addSkin API - If you add a duplicate skin using the SkinFactory#addSkin API, you will see a warning logged since this is unsafe to do. The behavior remains unchanged. (Bug 09533892)
New and deprecated APIs in RichRenderer - In oracle.adf.view.rich.render.RichRenderer there is a new API getRootStateStyleClasses that takes a UIComponent as a parameter. The method getRootStateStyleClasses that does not take a UIComponent as a parameter is deprecated.
New icon selector features - Icon selectors (those that end in -icon or Icon:alias) now behave like CSS selectors. Icon styles merge together from base skins, you can use -tr-inhibit, -tr-rule-ref, and -tr-property-ref.
@import is now supported in Skin css files (Bug 10066954)
-tr-rule-ref and -tr-property-ref now work for server-side skin properties (Bug 10094274, Bug 10094451)
You can now configure how many skins to cache with web.xml context-param org.apache.myfaces.trinidad.skin.MAX_SKINS_CACHED The default is 20 unique skins.
Table
Click-to-edit support for tables with a detail stamp facet
Detail Stamp can be selectively displayed for rows in the table by EL binding the "rendered" attribute of the "detailStamp" facet to "true" or "false"
If a row header column is present in the filterable table, an icon will be displayed on the column header that will allow the user to clear filter fields
Improved row interaction using a keyboard; e.g., single click to edit, escape key reverts cell edits and exits edit mode, pressing the arrow key allows the user to navigate from cell to ell in the same row or between rows, tab and enter keys navigate in edit mode in a row-wise fashion that is repeated in adjacent rows
New attribute "activeRowKey" which can be set to make the selected row editable in click-to-edit mode; if there is no activeRowKey set, the first visible row will be editable
New ColumnSelectionEvent and associated ColumnSelectionListener
New "getSelectedColumns()" API that returns client IDs for all selected child columns
Export data now supports table columns with commandLink/goLink and selectOne/selectMany components
Table 'autoHeightRows' attribute is now supported for contentDelivery=lazy/immediate/whenAvailable
Tree
New attribute "autoHeightRows" which can be used to control how many rows are displayed when the component is inside a af:panelCollection
Attribute contentDelivery="whenavailable" queries the model for data availability, and will deliver data immediately to the client if the model indicates the data is available
Tree Table
Improved row interaction using a keyboard; e.g., single click to edit, escape key reverts edits and exits edit mode, pressing Enter or Shift+Enter navigates to adjacent cell when possible, tab and enter keys navigate in edit mode in a row-wise fashion that is repeated in adjacent rows
New attribute "activeRowKey" which can be set to make the selected row editable in click-to-edit mode; if there is no activeRowKey set, the first visible row will be editable
New ColumnSelectionEvent and associated ColumnSelectionListener
New "getSelectedColumns()" API that returns client IDs for all selected child columns
New attribute "autoHeightRows" which can be used to control how many rows are displayed when the component is inside a af:panelCollection
ADF Data Visualizations: Common Features
Support for standard Trinidad converters for numerical and categorical attribute formatting
Improvements to configuring Flash player usage, including a new context Parameter to allow customers to disable Flash
Skinning support
Support for contentDelivery="whenAvailable"
JSF 2.0 Support
Support for auto partial page rendering (autoppr)
ADF Data Visualizations: Data Binding
Common Data Services support for JBO data types and median agg type
Support active data services against multiple GeoMap themes
Support for making PPR the default for all DVT bindings
ADF Data Visualizations: Gantt Chart
Ability to export to xls format
Number and date formatting improvements
Ability to set timezone for the whole chart
Support for hiding and showing dependency lines
Ability to get a list of selected tasks/resources for the scheduling Gantt
Ability to show tooltip when zooming the gantt using the mouse scroll wheel
ADF Data Visualizations: Gauge
Performance improvement: ability to send small PNG images inline
Improved skinning support
ADF Data Visualizations: Geographic Map
Support for number formatting using standard Trinidad converters
Accessibility: screen reader support
ADF Data Visualizations: Graph
New animated transition effects for Graph
Drag and drop between graphs
Drag from a graph into another ADF component
Support for custom marker shapes defined in SVG
Improved support for marker selection
Support for context-sensitive right click popup menu
Improved popup support, including support for af:showPopupBehavior
Improved skinning support
BiDi support
Support for standard Trinidad converters for numerical and categorical attribute formatting
Ability to automatically display a PivotTable instead of Graph for accessibility purposes
Support for legend marker that reflects both the dataline and the marker color
Zoom-and-scroll functionality for y2 axis
Support for Positional/conditional formatting for bubble graph
Improved appearance of no data graph
Sparkcharts: Option to not include zero
ADF Data Visualizations: Hierarchy Viewer
Accessibility support: ability to automatically render Hierarchy Viewer as a TreeTable in screen reader mode
BiDi support for HV node content, search panel and results
New HTML Hierarchy Viewer provides support for Printing and rendering without a Flash player
Improved skinning support
Ability to customize the hover window
Ability to customize the control panel
ADF Data Visualizations: Pivot Table
Several editing and navigation improvements have been introduced to support click-to-edit functionality analogous to the ADF Table:
Support for single click model for editable cells
Support for tab/enter navigation model for all cell types
Support for ESC key to dismiss edits and revert
Support for arrow key navigation while editing
Support for Excel-like pattern recognition while editing
Ability to stay in Edit mode when a readonly cell is focused
Support for active cell key concept
An opt-in mechanism for some of the click-to-edit features
Improved Pivot Table editing performance
Other new features include:
Skinning editor integration
Performance improvements
ADF Data Visualizations: Pivot Filter Bar
Support for accessibility and screen reader mode
Improved design time rendering
Improved skinning support
ADF Data Visualizations: Thematic Map
Thematic Map is a new geographic visualization that focuses on presentation of the data within geographical context and does not require a connection to a mapping server.
Features include:
Built-in base maps for continents, countries, and states
Built-in data for major cities
Ability to color code the regions on the map based on data
Drag and drop support for markers and regions
Ability to specify custom regions
Animation effects on initial display and on data change
Zooming and panning
Selection
Drilling
Support for patterns and gradients
Customizable control panel
Custom marker shapes with support for SVG
Customizable tooltips and popup windows
Legend with collapsible sections and titles
Printing support
Keyboard support
Accessibility and screen reader support
ADF Business Components
Hot Reload of Changes When Running in the Integrated Server
When you're running an application in the integrated application server, refreshing the page in your browser now picks up changes to the ADF BC XML. Previously only client changes were picked up, and to run ADF BC changes you had to restart the integrated server. This greatly speeds up the development process: you no longer have to restart the integrated server to see changes you have made to your business components.
Design-time Improvements
When you create a new ADF BC application, it now uses a datasource and optimistic locking by default. These are recommended best practices.
The editors have a Diagram tab, containing a relationship diagram for every business component. This makes it easy to see the structure of the current objects and its relationships to other business components; you can also click on each related object and open its editor, making it easy to explore the relationships between your business components:
The entity attributes table allows you to sort and reorder columns, and you can choose which columns should be included. For example, you may choose to include the Label and Mandatory columns in the table:
Attribute editing has been moved from a modal dialog into the overview editor, making it easier to check other settings while you're editing attributes:
Your view object Groovy expressions are all included in one place:
When working in an application module's data model panel, you can remove a subtree of objects at a time:
You can group view attributes into categories and set their relative order within those categories:
Database Independence
When running against a SQL Server database, BLOB and CLOB data types are supported.
Services
For a service-enabled view object you can group a numeric property with a string property so they appear as a complex type in the SDO interface. Currently two complex types are supported: AmountType, for use with any property that defines a currency code, and MeasureType, for use with any property that defines a unit of measure.
ADF Databinding
Sparse Bean Data Controls and Data Control Enhancements
When working with data controls, creating an XML file for each accessor in your data control is now optional. For example, your EJB data control may contain accessors for the Department and Employee entity beans, but you do not have to create XML files for these beans until you start modifying data control properties (for example, control hints).
If you do choose to create a bean XML file, you can use many of the ADF BC features in your data control. For example, you can choose which columns to display in the list of attributes. You can also add groovy expressions and a search form to your data control.
Binding Editors
Binding editors now include the ability to search, sort and view variables.
Web Service Data Controls
URL data controls have been extended to support the REST architecture. As well as the GET operation, they now support the PUT, POST and DELETE operations.
ADF Controller (Task Flow)
A region model can be transitioned from active to inactive. This is useful for regions that are used within popups; when the region is dismissed it is now possible to deactivate the region model and release the resources it is using.
JSF 2.0 support
ADF task flows work automatically with JSF 2.0 applications, including the following new features:
A facelets page can be created from an ADF task flow diagram
The JSF 2.0 ConfigurableNavigationHandler is supported.
JSF 2.0 conditional control flow cases are supported.
ADF Desktop Integration
Workbook Features
Workbook Configuration Validation Framework. Easy way to detect possible errors or warnings on your worksheet before executing.
ADF Mobile
Mobile Browser
Merge device browser specific CSS files into one single CSS
Generate mobile optimized CSS automatically when a JSF page is created in an ADF Mobile Browser project
Oracle Team Productivity Center
Build and Test Integration
Build Dashboard for Hudson/Cruise Control CI servers
Build failures - assign to team members and raise bugs
Test results integrated into work item SCM changes tab
User notified of new build results
Connectors
OSLC Change Management Connector
SCM System Integration
Work item repository name and ID added to checkin comments
Server Administration
Dynamic Upgrade
Glassfish Application Server support
Hudson and Cruise Control plugin installation
Oracle Help
Centralize control of the TOC in a master XML file
Improve search functionality
Oracle Help for the Web (Rich Client)
Icons on the TOC pane (OHW only)
Provide hints while editing ohwconfig.xml in JDeveloper
Bugs Fixed in 11.1.2.4.0
Bug Num
Component
Subject
Bug Num
Component
Subject
16345765
ADFMOBILE
edit action bindings ui shows param value binding which doesn't exist in pagedef
15846102
ADFMOBILE
unable to display amx page due to network_err error on api level 16
15950577
ADFMOBILE
adf mobile: using other skin id/family than mobilefusionfx does not work
14099254
ADFMOBILE
log integration
16004650
ADFMOBILE
pass ebs security context parameters and configured cookies to acs
14473582
ADFMOBILE
when in read only mode, the filled portion of the slider should be gray
14456905
ADFMOBILE
button embeded in verbatim tag not display at rt
14774382
ADFMOBILE
update adf mobile gauge icons in the dt
16193697
ADFMOBILE
listview display deleted listitem, but deleted the next listitem
16104606
ADFMOBILE
no springboard in android emulator
16098690
ADFMOBILE
backport - xmltreeeditor: delete (x) icon should be disabled when no node is ava
16238420
ADFMOBILE
backport 16237925 to 11.1.2.4.0: updates to js gauge label apis
16170548
ADFMOBILE
in adf mobile listview really a layout container?
16101222
ADFMOBILE
authentication error on android after first login
16102762
ADFMOBILE
cannot specify led gauge rotation via el expression
16179601
ADFMOBILE
geomap does not refresh when the model changes
16077029
ADFMOBILE
jsonbeanserializerhelper with json object having field name in titlecase.
14326610
ADFMOBILE
issues with invoking/passing parameter to nested web services
16273629
ADFMOBILE
javadoc - devicemanager.startupdatingposition() return value not documented
15930650
ADFMOBILE
cannot serialize - invoke ws operation with complex input param
16275275
ADFMOBILE
adf mobile: missing down arrow in selectonechoice component