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Tom, Jack,
Thank you for sharing your invaluable experience. Can you
shed some light, how do you estimate impact of database changes (anythimng,
changing view's or procedure interface ) on application? How do you (or
developers) know in advance, what pieces of code need to be revised in this
case, especially when the project is, say, large? As far as I see, there is no
central repository in your environment. Of course, I understand, best practice
addressing these issues do not make such changes at all, but in case? Anybody in
this list has technology helping database-application (say Java, or VB whatever)
dependency tracking?
Thank you
Vadim Gorbounov
Oracle DBA
David,
I
agree with Jack.
I
have not used Designer for generating applications (have tried, but not been
successfull - clearly because I did not have the time).
But
I use it exclusively for database design and object creation (TbSpaces,
tables, indexes, PK's, FK's, CK's, Seq's, Trigs & Views). It is
great for buidling all of the relatioinships and then generating the DDL
scripts. Once you learn how it works, it is *much* faster than
maintaining sql scripts for all of your database objects.
I
agree, that there is a learning curve. But, you can "reverse engineer" a
small database, and see how everything is stored to learn what needs to be
done where.
I do
not keep PL/SQL (except for triggers) in the repos, mostly because I don't see
the benefit. The tool does not help you develop the scripts (we use
Toad), so storing them in the repos makes no sense to me (our developers use
SourceSafe for code managment).
Hope
this helps.
Tom Mercadante
Oracle Certified Professional
David,
I've used Designer (and Oracle*CASE before it) for
about 10 years now. I've always used it for logical data modelling and
physical database implementation. In my Developer past, I've done a
ton of Oracle Forms and Reports generation from Designer, as well as Web
Server Generator apps. All my PL/SQL stored packages have always (and
still do) live in Designer.
Now that I'm focussed on Development DBA work, I
user Designer for physical database design and implementation and PL/SQL
package development. It is wonderful for specifying tables, along with
their constraints, indexes, triggers, etc., etc. then generating
the DDL scripts to create the objects. Designer even lets you
deploy the same object, such as a table, with different storage parameters
to different databases - say, development, test, and
production.
The reverse engineering functionality (called
"Design Capture" in the tool) of Designer is extremely useful. You
don't have to create all the objects of a database by hand, just point
Designer at a schema and let it suck up all the details into the Designer
Repository - a real time saver.
There is definitely a *steep* learning curve
associated with Designer and the benefits of the tool are more along the
lines of quality, consistency, impact analysis, etc. rather than more rapid
development and/or deployment. Get some (or lots) of training
and hire a Designer "Guru" to spend some time with you showing you some
good techniques for doing what you want to do. Don't get an expert in
Oracle Forms generation to help you with Designer's DBA functionaliy,
however. Get the "Guru" that has the specific expertise you
need. Check out the Oracle Development Tools User Group (ODTUG) at www.odtug.com for info on how to
subscribe to the Designer (and other) lists, which are hosted along with
this list right here at FatCity.
Designer is HUGE, but you can successfully and
profitably use just the pieces you want.
Jack
--------------------------------
Jack C.
Applewhite
Database Administrator/Developer
OCP Oracle8
DBA
iNetProfit, Inc.
Austin,
Texas
www.iNetProfit.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(512)327-9068
Is
anyone out there deriving much benefit from Oracle Designer 2000? My company has the product and I
set it up but it looks like the initial investment in learning the product
and creating everything in the repository will be extremely
time-consuming. So, please
tell me your favorite uses for
Designer.
Thanks,
David
David B.
Wagoner
Database
Administrator
Arsenal
Digital Solutions Worldwide Inc.
4815
Emperor Blvd., Suite 110
Durham,
NC 27703
Tel.
(919) 941-4645
Fax
(919) 474-0695
Email
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web
http://www.arsenaldigital.com/
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