SES 16: Persistence Services in Cloud Computing

Creating Database Schemas

Within SAP HCP, database schemas are created using any one of the following ways:

• Using the create-schema command of the Console Client.
• Interactively, via the SAP HCP Cockpit.
• Automatically during the application deployment process.

Although the dynamic schemas creation is an innate behavior within SAP HCP itself, you can at least determine which database type you want the system to select for you during the creation process by clicking on the CHANGE button in the toolbar of the DATABASES & SCHEMAS tab. Here, you can choose the default database type within the correspondingly names DEFAULT DATABASE dropdown list.

Initially database schemas are just empty partitions. In order to put a database schema to work, you need to bind the schema with a Java web application. This allows you to utilize JPA or JDBC APIs to create tables and fill them with data.

Much like schema creation process, schemas can be bound explicitly or implicitly. You can explicitly bind a database schema to an application using SAP HCP Cockpit or the Console Client via bind-screen command.

In SAP HCP Cockpit, you can bind schemas within the same SCHEMAS and DATABASES tab used to create schemas in the first place. Simply, select the target schema in the DATABASE and SCHEMAS panel at the top of the main content area and then create a binding by clicking on NEW BINDING button in the lower-level schema editor panel.

At this point, there are two main attributes you should configure:

• DATA SOURCE: In order for your Java application to be able to address and access a binding, you must assign binding a data source name. The name can also be used to allocate data sources using dependency injections.
• JAVA APPLICATION: In the JAVA APPLICATION dropdown list, select target application that you wish to define the binding for. List is automatically populated based on Java applications that are currently deployed within the account.