Unit 12.2. When to Use PSPs

When to Use PSPs

Your development environment and the skills of your development team will dictate, to a large extent, which project technology (for example, using PSPs vs. using the PL/SQL Web Toolkit) you choose. HTML developers typically prefer using PSPs to writing PL/SQL code with the PL/SQL Web Toolkit. A good rule of thumb is that if you already have applications that were created with the PL/SQL Web Toolkit, keep using them that way and, if you have existing HTML files you’d like to make dynamic, use PSPs. If you are faced with aggressive deadlines and short time periods in which to code, consider the core knowledge base of your development team. If the overall skill set for the team is PL/SQL, and, for example, a third party is producing your presentation HTML layer, then PSPs will most likely prove to be the way to go.

Embedding PL/SQL code in the HTML page that you create allows you to write code quickly and follow a rapid, iterative development process. You maintain central control of the software, with only a Web browser required on the client machine.

How to Choose Between PSP and the PL/SQL Web Toolkit

When deciding between creating a Web application using PSP and creating a Web application using the PL/SQL Web Toolkit, you can actually produce the same results in different ways:

• Using the PL/SQL Web Toolkit, you can write a stored procedure or a stored package of procedures that produces HTML by calling the HTP, HTF, and OWA_* built-in PL/SQL Web Toolkit packaged procedures and functions.

• Using PSP, you can create an HTML page with embedded PL/SQL code and compile it as a PL/SQL Server Page. You have the option to call procedures from the PL/SQL Web Toolkit, but if you are using PSP, then you are probably not invoking these additional PL/SQL Web Toolkit procedures to generate every line of HTML output. Instead, the PL/SQL code is focused on data handling.

The factors you may find key in choosing between these two methods are:

• What is your starting point?

  • If you have a large body of preexisting PL/SQL code, you may find it easier to produce HTML tags by creating print statements that call the HTP and HTF packages of the PL/SQL Web Toolkit.

  • On the other hand, if you have a large body of preexisting HTML, and you want to include dynamic database content, you may find it more convenient to use PSP.

• What is the quickest and most convenient code-development environment for your group?

  • If most of the development work is done using HTML authoring tools, use PSP.

  • If you use code-writing tools that produce PL/SQL code for you, such as the page-building wizards in WebDB, then using PSP might be less convenient for you.