Forms - An Overview of Oracle Form Builder v.6.0 Abhishek Parag Prashant Arun.

Forms - Forms - An Overview of An Overview of Oracle Form Builder v.6.0 Oracle Form Builder v.6.0

AbhishekParagPrashantArun

AgendaAgendaWhat Is Oracle Form Builder?Forms Concepts - What is a Form?The Forms ApplicationReferences

What Is Oracle Form Builder?What Is Oracle Form Builder?

Component of Oracle Developer/2000– Forms– Reports– Graphics

Application builderEvent-driven applications

Forms - The Basic IdeaForms - The Basic Idea

Are used to create applications to enter, access, change, or delete data from an Oracle database in an online, form-based 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.

Forms Concepts The Big Forms Concepts The Big Picture Picture

Triggersand/or

default processes

User actions Internal events

DatabaseApplication

State

Forms ConceptsForms Concepts

EventsProcessesTriggers

Forms ConceptsForms ConceptsEvents

– 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!

Forms ConceptsForms ConceptsProcesses

– Pre-programmed default behaviour– What Forms DOES, for example;

Navigation Transaction Processing Validation Query Processing Master-Detail coordination

– Series of Internal Events

Forms ConceptsForms ConceptsTriggers

– 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

TriggersTriggersTrigger

– Forms trigger– Database trigger

TriggersTriggersForms Trigger

– Fires in response to Forms Events

Database Trigger– Fires in response to Database Events

THESE ARE COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER!!!

The Forms ApplicationThe 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

File TypesFile 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

The Forms Application The Forms Application What You SeeWhat You See

exitenter

File Edit View Query Block Record Insert Help Whatever

Are you really sure you want to do this?

Canvas

ViewControl Item

Base-TableItem

Menu

WindowYes No

The Forms ApplicationThe Forms Application

What you see;– Window– Menu– Canvas/View– Items

Base-block items Control-block items

– Database records

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsHighest Level of Hierarchy

- Forms- Menu- Built-in Packages- Database Objects

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsWindows

- 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.

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsCanvas-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.

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsBlocks

- 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, Check-Boxes, Radio Groups), but can also be collection of Display Items (read-only text), Text Items (‘variables’), images, etc.

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsBlock Properties

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsItems

- 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.

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsItem Properties

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsVisual 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.

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsTriggers

- 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

TriggersTriggersCan be coded at Form, Block, and/or Item

LevelSome Triggers apply to multiple levels of

hierarchy, others are specific– When creating new trigger, List of Values

presents list of appropriate triggersEach Trigger-type executes only onceLowest level Triggers fired first

Forms ComponentForms ComponentAlerts

- Window that displays message- Modal; User must respond- One, two or three buttons- Three types;

- Stop (stop sign)- Caution (exclamation)- Information (‘i’ symbol)

- Use SHOW_ALERT built-in function

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsLOVs

- Allows user to select from specific set of values.- Displays Record Group.

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsEditors

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

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsParameters

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

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsProgram Units

- PL/SQL Procedures and Functions used in this Form.

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsAttached 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.

Forms ComponentsForms ComponentsObject 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.

Tour of Form BuilderTour of Form Builder

Starting forms– Virtual session

Connecting to the database

Client

What Is Forms Looking ForWhat Is Forms Looking For

FormsRuntime

FormsServer

(Compiled Objects)

Database

RegistryFORMS_PATH

Connect

ReferencesReferencesOn-line helpOracle Developer/2000 Handbook (2nd. Ed.)

– Robert J. Muller, Oracle PressOracle technology network

(http://TechNet.Oracle.Com)

THANK YOUTHANK YOU