Training on Oracle Forms

By :Manoj Baghel (Assistant Consultant) TCS,New Delhi

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Agenda

What Is Oracle Form Builder? Forms Concepts - What is a Form? The Forms Application Display Forms Builder forms in a Web browser Use a data block form to view, insert, update, and delete database data Create a data block form that displays a single record at a time Use the Object Navigator to change form object names
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Agenda (continued)
Use

the Data Block and Layout Wizards to modify form properties Create a tabular-style data block form that displays multiple records References

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What Is Oracle Form Builder?

Component of
Forms Reports

Oracle Developer/2000

Graphics

Application builder Event-driven applications

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Forms - The Basic Idea

A powerful Graphical User Interface. Are used to create applications to enter, access, change, or delete data from an Oracle database in an online, formbased environment. Forms provides many objects for developing an effective application module. Coupled with the concept of user extensibility, Forms can be used to serve virtually every online need in an Oracle database environment.

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Components of Form Builder

Forms

Builder

- Used to create a form. Forms Compiler - Required to compile the file created in Forms Builder. Forms Runtime - Used to run the compiled code created by Forms
Compiler.
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Forms Concepts - The Big Picture

User actions Internal events

Triggers and/or default processes

Application State
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Database

What Is Forms Looking For

Client

Forms Runtime
Connect Database Registry
FORMS_PATH

Forms Server
(Compiled Objects)
8

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File Types

Forms Modules
.FMB; Forms Source
.FMX; Forms Executable

Menu Modules
.MMB; Menu Source
.MMX; Menu Executable

Libraries
.PLL; PL/SQL Source and Executables
.PLX; PL/SQL Executable Only. .PLD; Documentation file

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The Forms Application What You See

File Edit View Query Block Record Insert Help Whatever

Menu

Canvas
Are you really sure you want to do this? Yes No

Window
enter

exit

View
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Control Item

BaseTable Item
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The Forms Application

What

you see;

Window Menu

Canvas/View
Items Base-block items Control-block items Database records
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Forms Components
Highest Level of Hierarchy
Forms Menu Libraries Built-in Packages Database Objects

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Forms Components
Windows
- Displays canvases. - Form can have multiple windows. - Modal; user must respond and dismiss window before doing anything in another window. - Modeless; user can move to another window.

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Forms Components
Canvas-Views
- Visual element of Forms. This is how you display all those Items. - Canvas; Background on which text and items are placed. - View; Visible portion of canvas. - Form can have multiple canvases. - Canvases can be stacked, scrolled.

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Forms Components
Blocks
- Base-Table Block corresponds to Database Table; set of items representing database table columns. An instance of a Base-Table Block corresponds to a Database Record. - Control Block is usually a collection of control items (e.g. Buttons, CheckBoxes, Radio Groups), but can also be collection of Display Items (readonly text), Text Items (variables), images, etc.
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Forms Components
Block Properties

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Forms Components
Items
- Base-Table Items are text items that correspond to Database Columns. Forms creates them automatically. - Control Items can be Buttons, Check-Boxes, Radio Groups, Display Items (read-only text), Text Items (variables), images, etc.

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Forms Components
Item Properties

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Forms Components
Visual Attributes
- Collection of display properties. - Refer to Named Visual Attribute in Items to standardise appearance. Change in NVA will affect all Items referring to it.

Property Classes
- Collection of ANY properties. - When items refer to Property Class, only properties that make sense for that item will be used.
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Forms Components
Triggers
- At Form, Block or Item level - Lower level triggers fire before higher level triggers - If same trigger-type occurs at different levels, only lowest will fire

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Forms Component
Alerts
- Modal Window that displays a message - Modal; User must respond - One, two or three buttons - Three types; - Stop (stop sign) - Caution (exclamation) - Note - Use SHOW_ALERT built-in function
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Forms Components
LOVs
- Allows user to select from specific set of values. -Displays Record Group. -Use Built-in Show_Lov,List_Values functions

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Forms Components
Editors
- Editor; simple text-editor dialog box for entering lines of text into Text Item. - Can create editors with different appearances for different text fields.

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Forms Components
Parameters
- Used as a Form variable. - Pass values between Forms.

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Forms Components
Program Units
- PL/SQL Procedures, Functions and Packages etc.

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Forms Components
Attached Libraries, Libraries & Built-in Packages
- PL/SQL procedures and functions. - Attached Library; Reference collected routines. - Library; Maintain and reference collected routines. - Built-in Packages; Oracle supplied procedure and functions.
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Forms Components
Object Groups
- Package reusable objects for later copying or reference. - E.g. Your Form includes an alarm clock to wake the user after ten minutes inactivity. This includes Triggers, Procedures, a Window, some graphics, etc. You can package these objects together to conveniently include this functionality in other forms.
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Forms Concepts
Events
Processes Triggers

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Forms Concepts
Events Things that happen External Events

User Interaction; Mouse, Keyboard, Menu

Internal Events Timers Processing steps for which triggers can be set Initiate Processes No Events? No Processing!
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Forms Concepts
Processes Pre-programmed default behavior What Forms DOES, for example;

Navigation Transaction Processing Validation Query Processing Master-Detail coordination

Series of Internal Events

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Forms Concepts
Triggers
Fired when Internal/External events occur Replace, supplement or initiate default

processing Initiate External events, to make Forms behave as if user performed action

E.g. Simulate User key-press

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The Forms Application

Form Builder builds Forms, Menus and Libraries
Application consists of at least one Form Can also include one or more Menu and Library modules Oracle provides default Menu

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Data Block Wizard Table Page

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Layout Editor Window

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The Layout Editor

Graphical display of form canvas Draw and proportion form items Boilerplate objects
Static imported image

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Using a Data Block Form

Block
Group of related form items

Data block
Corresponds to specific database table Contains objects that display values from tables data

fields

Text items Form menu

Contains selections to manipulate form
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Using a Data Block Form (continued)

Modes:
Normal Enter query

Query

Message

line

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Using a Form to View Table Records

Click

Enter Query button Type search expression Click Execute Query button To retrieve all records
Do not enter search expression

Inexact search Use comparison and wildcard operators in

search fields
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Using a Form to Insert, Update, and Delete Records

Insert
Enter data in blank form Click Save button

Update
Modify existing record using form Click Save button

Delete
Click Remove Record button Click Save button

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Viewing and Interpreting Form Errors

When

error occurs

Error code and message displayed in message

line
Errors

generated by

Form DBMS

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Creating a Data Block Form

Forms

Builder

Automatically generates text items and labels

for data fields in table Provides code for inserting, modifying, deleting, and viewing data records

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Multiple Record Form

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Triggers
Forms

Trigger
Trigger

Fires in response to Forms Events

Database THESE

Fires in response to Database Events

ARE COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER!!!

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Triggers
Can

be coded at Form, Block, and/or Item Level Some Triggers apply to multiple levels of hierarchy, others are specific
When creating new trigger, List of Values

presents list of appropriate triggers

Each

Trigger-type executes only once Lowest level Triggers fired first

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Types of Form Triggers

Interface

Triggers

- Triggers associated with user interface objects. Navigational Triggers - Fire in response to navigational events Smart Triggers - Triggers classified on the basis of the object
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Types of Interface Triggers

Key

Triggers

- Key-Next-Item, Key-Commit etc. Action Triggers associated with user objects - When-Button-Pressed, When-List-Changed,WhenRadio-Changed etc

Mouse

Triggers

- When-Mouse-Click, When-Mouse-Leave,WhenMouse-Enter etc

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Types of Navigational Triggers

Pre- and Post- triggers - Fire when cursor navigates internally through different levels of the object hierarchy. - e.g. Pre-Text-Item, Post-Text-Item etc When-New-Instance triggers - Fires after the forms focus is positioned on given form,block or item. - e.g. When-New-Form-Instance, When-New-ItemInstance etc.
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Master-Detail Delete Properties

Non-Isolated - A master record cannot be deleted if associated detail records exist in the database. Isolated - A master record can be deleted, but the associated details records are not affected. Cascading - Master record can be deleted, and any associated detail
records are automatically deleted from the database.

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How Forms Builder Displays a Form in a Browser

Java

applet OC4J Instance

Translates compiled .fmx file into Java applet Downloads Java applet to Web browser

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References

On-line help

Oracle Developer/2000 Handbook (2nd. Ed.) Robert J. Muller, Oracle Press Oracle technology network (http://TechNet.Oracle.Com)

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