JSP files for OAF pages

Our developers coded a custom OAF (Oracle Application Framework) apps. After code files were saved to folders under $JAVA_TOP/oracle/apps/custom/Rebate/webui and .xml files were loaded into the database, webpage https://sitename.domain.com/OA_HTML/OA.jsp?page=/oracle/apps/custom/Rebate/webui/RebatePG&language_code=US&.... got error:

Error Page  You have encountered an unexpected error. Please contact the System Administrator for assistance

 I enabled Profile option "FND: Diagnostics" to see more detailed exception.

 Exception Details. 
 oracle.apps.fnd.framework.OAException: oracle.adf.mds.exception.MDSRuntimeException:
 Unable to find component with absolute reference = /oracle/apps/aear/Rebate/webui/SearchPage, XML Path = null.
 Please verify that the reference is valid and the definition of the component exists either on the File System or in the MDS Repository.
    at oracle.apps.fnd.framework.OAException.wrapperException(OAException.java:912)
    ... ... ...

We verified file $JAVA_TOP/oracle/apps/custom/Rebate/webui/SearchPage.xml does exist on in the OS folder, and then we ran a short script to upload it to the database

APPS_USER_PARAM=$1
APPS_PASS_PARAM=$2
HOST_NAME_PARAM=$3
DB_SID_PARAM=$4
DB_PORT_PARAM=$5
LOG_CONTROL=$LOG_TOP/log/SearchPage`date '+%Y%m%d%H%M'`.log  
... ... ....
 java oracle.jrad.tools.xml.importer.XMLImporter $JAVA_TOP/oracle/apps/custom/Rebate/webui/SearchPage.xml \
-username $APPS_USER_PARAM -password $APPS_PASS_PARAM -rootdir . \
-dbconnection "(DESCRIPTION= (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=$HOST_NAME_PARAM)(PORT=$DB_PORT_PARAM)) (CONNECT_DATA= (SID=$DB_SID_PARAM)))"

After the xml is imported successfully, below code should display its definition stored in MDS repository.

SQL> set serveroutput on
SQL> Begin
SQL> apps.jdr_utils.printdocument('/oracle/apps/custom/Rebate/webui/SearchPage');
SQL> End;

Now, after we click on the OAF page again, it works! The problem was fixed.

Additional notes:

1. all .java files in a folder can be compiled to .class file by javac. For example,

$ cd $JAVA_TOP/oracle/apps/custom/Rebate/webui
$ javac *.java

2. For JSP apps, Java .class file is not loaded into the database. All compiled JSP files are stored in $COMMON/_pages. In R12, the jsp files does not get compiled automatically. If OC4J doesn’t find the .class file in the _pages directory, it will just display a blank webpage and will not even attempt to compile the JSP. This is different from 11i. So, do not modify or delete files in folder $COMMON/_pages in R12 if you do not know how to compile JSP files.

3. The Perl script to compile JSP file is $FND_TOP/patch/115/bin/ojspCompile.pl. Run below line will clear cache and force compile all jsp pages

 $ perl -x $FND_TOP/patch/115/bin/ojspCompile.pl --compile --flush

Good documents on compiling JSP files:
JSP Pages Hanging in R12 After Removing Cached Class Files in _pages (Doc ID 433386.1)
How to Enable Automatic Compilation of JSP pages in R12 Environment (Doc ID 458338.1)

UPDATES:  How jsp file works in R12.2.10?

For R12.2, JSP file is saved in $OA_HTML (same as $EBS_APPS_DEPLOYMENT_DIR/oacore/html). They are not uploaded to database. You can use same command to compile a single custom .jsp file, such as 

$ cd $OA_HTML

$ more JDKtest.jsp

The JDK version is: <%= System.getProperty("java.version") %>

$ perl -x $FND_TOP/patch/115/bin/ojspCompile.pl --compile -s 'JDKtest.jsp' --flush 

logfile set: $LOG_HOME/appl/rgf/ojsp/ojspc_error.log

starting...(compiling delta)

using 10i internal ojsp ver: 10.3.6.0

synchronizing dependency file:

  loading deplist...7874

  enumerating jsps...7875

  updating dependency...7875

  parsing jsp...7875

  writing deplist...7875

initializing compilation:

  files to compile...1

  eliminating children...1 (-0)

  searching uncompiled...1

translating and compiling:

  searching untranslated...1

  translating jsps...1/1 in 23s

  compiling jsps...1/1 in 3s

Finished!

After compilation, file jdktest.class is saved in $OA_HTML/WEB-INF/classes/_pages. But it may give error on page https://[web node]:[port]/OA_HTML/JDKtest.jsp :

Requested resource or page is not allowed in this site

This feature is controlled by new profile options in R12.2. To resolve the issue, change "Security: Allowed Resources" to ALL (and may also change "Allow Unrestricted JSP Access [FND_SEC_ALLOW_JSP_UNRESTRICTED_ACCESS] to Yes).  

Then, bounce all Apps services. Now page http://[web node]:[port]/OA_HTML/JDKtest.jsp shall say "The JDK version is: 1.7.0_xxx".