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Oracle MAF 2.3: deploying and installing an application to the Universal Windows Platform

Almost one month ago, Oracle released Oracle Mobile Application Framework 2.3 that allow us to build Windows 10 applications. After building or migrating our application it is time to distribute it.

Fist you have to prepare you development environment. You can check how to do it here:  Oracle MAF: configuring Windows 10 development environment

In this post I will show how to deploy and install an UWP executable

We are going to use Workbetter application that can be found in the next path (change ‘C:OracleMiddleware1221’ with your JDeveloper installation path):

‘C:OracleMiddleware1221Oracle_Homejdeveloperjdevextensionsoracle.mafSamples’

One we have opened the application we have to deploy it as we usually do todeploy it to iOS or Android, but selecting Windows profile.

Once the deployment has finished, under deploy folder we will a folder structure like this:
‘…deployWindows1debugMafTemplateAppPackagesMafTemplate_1.0.0.0_Debug_Test’
The last folder will depend on the version number and the build mode. We will see many files and folders that includes the dependencies and the certificate we used to sign the application.
This is the folder you have to share in order to install the application.

In order to install the application we have to ‘Run with PowerShell’ the .ps1 file.

We will see a progress bar while installing.

Once it is installed we can search for the application and run it.

Oracle MAF: configuring Windows 10 development environment

One of the main features that includes Oracle MAF 2.3 released early this week is the ability to deploy applications in any Windows 10 device.

Downloading and Installing JDeveloper 12.2.1

To develop an application with Oracle MAF 2.3 we need JDeveloper 12.2.1 that can be downloaded in this link:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/jdev/downloads/index.html

You have to download both files.

Once we have installed JDeveloper, we have to install Oracle Mobile Application Framework extension.
This is a known step for JDeveloper users, under ‘Help’ menu click on ‘Check for updates’ and select MAF extension.

Downloading and Installing Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition

First of all we have to download Visual Studio in this link:

https://www.visualstudio.com/products/visual-studio-community-vs


We can use Community, Professional or Enterprise versions


 And click on download button.

Once we have executed the installer, in the wizard we have to select this items and finish the installation.
Creating and Installing the PFX file

Now we need to create a Personal Information Exchange (.pfx file). 
The tools we are going to use are in this folder:

cd C:Program Files (x86)Windows Kits10binx64
First we need to create a .cer and .pvk files.
makecert.exe -sv E:mafmaf.pvk -n “CN=Ruben Rodriguez,OU=MAF,O=rsantrod,C=ES” -r -h 0 -eku “1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.3,1.3.6.1.4.1.311.10.3.13” E:mafmaf.cer
A brief explanation of the arguments
  • -sv path of the private key
  • -n name of the certificate
  • -r means that is self signed
  • -h 0 means that cannot be used as a CA (Certification Authority)
  • -eku 
    • 1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.3 the certificate can be used to sign code
    • 1.3.6.1.4.1.311.10.3.13 lifetime signing
  • The last one is the path of the .cer file

Once we execute the command, we will have to set a password for the certificate.
The second command will allow us to copy both .cer and .pvk files into a pfx file.

pvk2pfx.exe -pvk E:mafmaf.pvk -spc E:mafmaf.cer -pfx E:mafmaf.pfx -pi rsantrod -po rsantrod

  • -pvk path of the .pvk file
  • -spc path of the .cer file
  • -pfx path of the pfx file
  • -pi password of the key file
  • -po password of the certificate file

Once we have executed both command we will have this 3 files.

Now we have to import the PFX file into the certificate stores by clicking on the PFX file. 
We have to run this wizard 3 times.
The first one will be in Current User location.

We have to select the pfx file.

We have to set a password for the password for the pfx file and click next.

In this first import we have to select Personal certificate store.

Click on finish to import the file.

The second time we execute the import wizard we have to use Current User location and Trusted People Certificate Store.

And the third time we have to select Local Machine location and Trusted People Certificate Store.

Enabling Developer Mode in Windows 10

We need to enable Developer Mode in Windows 10 as by default we will not be allowed to run applications if are not installed from Windows Store.
We have to open settings and click on Update & Security.
Then click on For Developers and click on Developer Mode.

Configuring JDeveloper

The last step is to configure Windows Platform in JDeveloper preferences.
We need to provide Windows SDK location, the PFX file and its password.

Oracle MAF 2.3 has been released

The most  awaited version of Oracle Mobile Application Framework (Oracle MAF 2.3.0) has been released. This is a big announcement as we can now build Windows 10 applications that can be run on any Windows 10 devices, even on computers. 

These are some of the new features of this release:

JDeveloper 12.2.1


Oracle MAF 2.3.0 is now available in JDeveloper 12.2.1, released in November just before Oracle Open World.

Windows 10 support

Oracle MAF now allows to deploy the application to Windows 10 devices, event desktops or laptops but there are some limitations as you can only deploy the applications to devices based on x86 chipset.



Mobile Cloud Service Analytics integration

This release also provides built-in support for generating analytics events in Oracle Mobile Cloud Service. This will allow us to create custom analytics events and also for lifecycle events like startup, user login, etc… without any line of code.

Data Visualization Tools enhancements

Some of this enhancements are that we can individually style the axis labels or tooltips.

We can also set vertial orientation  for Rating Gauge.

In conclusion I think that this is a step forward and that Oracle MAF is now one of the best choices to build cross-platform single-code mobile applications that makes the development simpler thanks to the declarative programming.

You can check step by step how to configure the development environment in this link: Oracle MAF: configuring Windows 10 development environment

You can get more information in these links: link 1 and link 2.