Oracle WebIV

Here’s a quote about WebIV from Oracle Insights:

WebIV Testimonial

I had a pleasure of working with WebIV while I was at Oracle back in 2000-2001 and it was the most useful tool at our disposal:

  • The interface was dead simple
  • All Articles were linked and indexed
  • Searches were lightning fast
  • Back/Forward buttons actually took you back and forward
  • Copy/Paste preserved the carefully crafted white space from the Article

I wonder if WebIV is still live at Oracle? I hope it wasn’t replaced by the same clunky interface that Metalink (aka Oracle Support) eventually became. I still keep a bunch of legacy WebIV copy/pastes in my notes folder for sentimental reasons – here’s one example:

Article-ID:         <Note:62341.1>
Alias:              SUPTOOL:ORASNIFF
Circulation:        UNDER_EDIT (INTERNAL) ***Oracle Confidential - Internal Use Only***
Folder:             Support.Systems
Topic:              Introduction to Support Systems
Title:              SUPTOOL:  ORASNIFF - Find installed versions
Document-Type:      REFERENCE
Impact:             MEDIUM
Skill-Level:        CASUAL
Updated-Date:       03-JUL-2000 09:39:28
References:         
Shared-Refs:        
Authors:            XXXXXXX.UK
Attachments:        NONE
Content-Type:       TEXT/PLAIN
Products:           0; 
Platforms:          GENERIC;  

 'OraSniff' basically 'sniffs' around ALL the instances on a UNIX box
 for an installed Oracle product.

And every time I work a sticky SR with Oracle Support that gets nowhere – I always wish they would just give me access to WebIV so I can find the solution myself. In fact, for a whole year after I left Oracle my Metalink account had full access to Internal Use Only Articles and Bugs and it made my life so much easier through the Oracle APPS 11.0.3 upgrade that I drove at Alcatel at that time.

I brought up WebIV because while working on porting my project organization bash script to GoLang I realized that I don’t need to make it command line tool only – instead, thanks to GO’s built-in HTTP server – I can make it a full blown web-based app that will run in the browser on your workstation! And why not model it after the infamous WebIV?! You might think it’s a crazy idea – how can a legacy app from the previous era inspire me? Well it does! Simply because it embodies the term Form Follows Function. And perhaps because I started on this road a while back and it was something I came across shortly after my Oracle journey began so it holds a sentimental value? Have you had the privilege of working with WebIV? Join our community and let us know!

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August 4, 2015

Posted In: Operations

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