Java Development Tools

Hi,

We're starting a new project which we intend to build using BC4J, Struts and the JSTL. We faced a lot of problems in our last BC4J project, so now I'm seeking advice on how to make this project a better one. Please note that we'll be using JDeveloper 9.0.3.4 since we can not upgrade the data centers of our client at the moment.

My questions:
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1- Can someone please point me to articles on how to use BC4J with Struts and the JSTL, as all the documentation talks about using Struts with databound JSP pages, and this is not the approach we'll be using.

2- Can someone please point me to resources on how to use BC4J optimally. For example, I very recently learned that it's not advisable to have many small grained application modules in an application. On the other hand, I also learned that an application module containing numerous views is also not advisable. How does one solve this dilemma in a large project with hundreds of entities? In particular I need to know:
a- Is there a maximum number of application modules that can be created in an application?
b- Is there a maximum number of views that should be added to an application module?
c- Would it make any difference if I didn't add views to the application module until run time where I can add them dynamically?
d- Should I only use views based on entities for updating? Does that mean I should always have two kinds of views, one for updating and one for querying?

3- When a large team is working on a single project, we've usually had problems with configuration management. Sometimes when you change some settings, JDeveloper requires that some files be writable in order to update them with those changes. If those files are made read only by a source control system, JDeveloper silently ignores them, which causes subtle problems that are very hard to debug. I was thinking, maybe the problem is, we're using Visual Source Safe for source control, which is not integrated with JDeveloper. If we switch to a source control system that is integrated with JDeveloper such as CVS, would that solve our problem?

4- When one creates a new BC4J project, he has to enter the connection to use to import the entities. The connection information is then copied to the xcfg files, including the unencrypted password. Is there a way I can build my project from the start based on a data source to prevent this? How can I do that if it's doable? If not, how do I configure my deployment profile so that the generated ear file contains a datasource information in the xcfg files instead of the connection?

5- Can someone please point me to articles on how to use Ant with BC4J projects in JDeveloper.

6- Is it better to test my applications inside the JDeveloper, or should I use a standalone OC4J instance?

7- Is there an article that discusses in detail how caching and locking is implemented in JDeveloper?

I know those are a lot of questions, but I hope someone knowledgeable would have the time and patience to answer them.

Every help is appreciated.