Summary
The tool has been designed to generate DHTML code based on the Oracle database. The DHTML code generates HTML output for the selected tables. The tool lets you select the tables and columns to show on the first web page. It also generates Insert, Update and delete features for the given table. It is free software, so many thanks to our friends at Especia Pty. in Australia. This review is of version 1.0 released in October 2000.
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Screen Shots
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What is great about this product?
Simple to use tool to make web pages
The product is designed to create basic HTML files based on the selected tables. The application generates DHTML code, which can then be executed in Oracle Web Application Server.
- The user interface is simple to use.
- The application lets you specify the basic template details and you can use this to customize the generated page.
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History
This is a new product from a small company called Especia Pty Ltd. They are based in Sydney, Australia and work in E-Commerce Consultancy. Version 1.0 was released in October 2000. They are now working on version 2.0
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Technical Requirements and Supported Databases
Koolfrog runs on all Windows platforms including Windows 95 / 98 / 2000 / me and on Windows NT. Unix / Linux are not supported.
The actual application does not take more than 2 MB of space and all it needs is space to generate the code. You also need Oracle Web Application Server and SQL*Net .
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Installation
The current version 1.0 of the program can be downloaded free from www.koolfrog.com. The download could take some time, as the Zip file is around 11 MB. The setup is packaged into a WinZip file and the installation is simple and straightforward.
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What it does
Koolfrog generates PL/SQL code for Oracle web developers. It is a tool that makes life simpler by generating the basic HTML code needed for displaying the data on the page.
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Who should use it?
The product is targeted at Oracle Web Developers. People who know Oracle, PL/SQL and DHTML can to use it as a starting point, but the tool cannot take them very far. This tool is not for the novice user.
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Competitive products
There are very few products on the market to cater to the PL/SQL and DTHML combination.
I found a product from Primasoft, called DB-HTML Converter PRO 1.4 www.primasoft.com/dbhtmlp.htm, which costs $103.
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Detailed review
Koolfrog generates PL/SQL code for HTML based web pages. As the product documentation says, the application is not designed to provide a perfect HTML page of your choice, but just helps you build the basics.
The application generates HTML forms with the following features -
- View rows that exist
- Update the displayed rows
- Create copies of the row that is being updated
- Delete displayed rows
- Insert new rows
The output generated can be used with any product running based on Oracle Web Application Server.
Steps involved:
- Enter your username and password along with the connection string. The list of users are then displayed. Select the users you need. Then display the tables related to the users, and tselect the ones you want. Now display the columns.
- Specify the columns you want to be included on the web page. By default, the application does not select any columns, which can be a disadvantage when you have many columns.
- The base template is already specified by the application. The users can change this to fit their requirement. Once the target directory is selected, the code is ready to be generated. The code is generated as a Package with separate procedures for each table involved. Each table has two procedures, one for the view page and one for all the other features.
- The following text files are created: 2 files for the base template ( which is not used much) and 2 more files for the actual package. The Package Spec and Package Body are generated in separate text files. There is also a file with any errors.
- The code can be executed straight into Oracle, if needed.
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Shortcomings
Technical
- The application connects via the SQL*Net and not through ODBC. So it may not help people who don't have SQL*Net.
- The application is designed to look at tables under a specific user name. The HTML page cannot be based on views, which is a significant limitation.
- The code generated may not compile at first, but the problems are not difficult to fix.
- If the table name is of 30 characters, then the generated code will not compile. The procedure name generated is prefixed with P_ and suffixed it with _LIST, and results with a procedure name longer than 30 characters
GUI & Others
- The GUI is good, but it could be improved
- Help is not very useful and just tells you what is on screen.
- When the user has been chosen, the table list does not show the full table name. In a case where the user name is 20 or more characters long, the table name cannot be seen in the list box. This makes it difficult to choose the tables.
- There are quite few bugs within the application, which results in unconditional application exit.
Having said all that, the page generated is a good starting point.
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Cost and where to buy
This is a freeware, and it can be downloaded from www.koolfrog.com
- Especia Pty Ltd
- Suite 3D/6 Hampden St
- Paddington, Sydney, New South Wales 2021, Australia
- Tel: +61 2 9357 3692
- info@koolfrog.com
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Support
Help is available by email to help@koolfrog.com , or you can call +61 2 9357 3692 ( Australia).
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About the Author
Kavitha Soundararajan is an Oracle Database Analyst and Designer working for Global Software Solutions, in India and the UK. She has developed numerous applications for finance, manufacturing and securities trading. She can be reached at kavithask@hotmail.com. She is currently based in the UK.
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