Oracle Forms 12c Change Begins Here Michael Ferrante Principal Product Manager Application Development Tools November 2015
Safe Harbor Statement The following is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle s products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle. 3
Program Agenda 1 2 3 4 5 Support Lifecycle Feature Comparison v12.2.1.0 New Features Overview Beyond v12.2.1 Q & A
Lifetime Support Policy Product support timeline Note: Oracle Forms and Reports 12c (12.2.1.0) will be added to the Lifetime Support Policy shortly after its release. http://www.oracle.com/us/support/lifetime-support
Oracle Forms Highlighted features and enhancements GA 2005 GA 2009 GA 2011 GA 2015 Oracle Forms 10.1.2 Oracle Forms 11.1.1 Oracle Forms 11.1.2 Oracle Forms 12.2.1 Runtime Pooling JVM Pooling Improved SSO Integration Improved EM Interface XML Conversion WLS Integration JavaScript Integration Enhanced Java support Server-side events DB Proxy user support Support for OVAB Integration with OAM Schedule Runtime Prestart Forms Metric Agent Enhanced Net Diagnostics Oracle RUEI BI-Publisher integration System Events (5) Client configurations (3+1) JVM Controller improvements OPSS support for RADs SSO Logout support Enhanced sql logging URLs in Image Items Tab canvas label icons Integration with ODL guimode Parameter True window maximizing Record Manager improvements New applet parameters New installation options Customizable colorschemes And many, many more
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The Features Here we go 8
Runtime 9
Client Deployment Configurations Google Chrome, no longer supports plugins. Oracle Java Plugin can no longer be used. https://java.com/en/download/faq/chrome.xml https://www.chromium.org/administrators/turning-off-auto-updates https://support.google.com/installer/answer/146164 Mozilla Firefox to support NPAPI until December 2016 *. https://blogs.oracle.com/java-platform-group/entry/npapi_plugin_perspectives_and_the Microsoft has not officially stated they will desupport NPAPI. Windows 10 supports both IE-11 and Edge (aka Spartan). Edge does not support the Java Plugin. * Reminder: Oracle Forms 11gR2 Premier Support ends December 2016 10
Client Deployment Configurations Applet embedded in HTML Default configuration. Support for SSO, SSO Logout, and Java Script integration. Requires Java Plugin and browser. JNLP embedded in HTML Support for SSO, SSO Logout, and Java Script integration. Base64 encodes JNLP code in client side html source. Requires Java Plugin and browser. 11
Client Deployment Configurations Java Web Start Limited SSO support (requires browser). SSO cookie will not be shared with browsers launched from Forms. No support for SSO Logout or Java Script Integration. Requires either JDK or Java Plugin (JRE). Browser optional (required with SSO). Presents application with native appearance. Standalone No support for SSO, SSO Logout or Java Script Integration. Requires either JDK or Java Plugin (JRE) installation. Browser not required. Presents application with native appearance. Example page available at: /forms/html/fsal.htm 12
Oracle Forms and Microsoft Edge Oracle Forms and Google Chrome 13
Oracle Forms BI-Publisher integration Provides an optional alternative to using Oracle Reports. Can be used in conjunction with Oracle Reports. Communicate with Oracle BI-Publisher via Web Services. Send report output to several delivery destinations simultaneously (e.g. email, printer, ftp, etc). All calls to BI-Publisher are asynchronous. Coding syntax similar to integration with Oracle Reports. Integration with BI-Publisher can be performance enhanced using the JVM Pooling feature(s).
JVM Pooling DEJVM load balancing. Random (default) Least Loaded First Round Robin DEJVM auto removal of child jvm. DEJVM enhanced logging. DEJVM free global references. 15
Oracle Forms Record Manager By default, leverage in-memory archive record storage rather than disk. Reduces record memory usage for both Data Blocks and Record Groups. Customizable. Expose Record Manager status via new built-in (GET_RECMGR_STATS). New System Variables to inspect memory used by RecMan. 16
New System Events Allows applications to react to a variety of events. Developers decide how to react. Client-Idle DB-Idle Single-Sign-Off Notification Media Completion 17
Audio Playback Provides audio playback support. Audio files stored in jar files on a remote server. Audio files will not be associated with a database record in this release. End of file playback can be detected using the Audio Completion System Event. Audio playback is based on JavaFX, therefore most audio formats supported by JFX will be supported by Forms with the exception of the streaming formats. Playback control includes PLAY, PAUSE, STOP, TOGGLE MUTE.
Customizable ColorSchemes Create a customized colorscheme without changing application code. Colors are set in Registry.dat. Nine attributes are settable in this release. More planned for future releases. Uses new applet parameter customcolorscheme (e.g. customcolorscheme=sample). # Sample custom color scheme colorscheme.sample.description=sample custom color scheme colorscheme.sample.lightest=0xffff33 colorscheme.sample.lighter=0xffcc33 colorscheme.sample.light=0xcc3333 colorscheme.sample.dark=0x993333 colorscheme.sample.darker=0x660033 colorscheme.sample.darkest=0x003333 colorscheme.sample.selection=0x4169e1 colorscheme.sample.pinstripe1=0xee82ee colorscheme.sample.pinstripe2=0xf5deb3 19
Tab Label Icons Supports web formatted images (e.g. gif, jpg, etc). Tab label will grow relative to the image size. 16x16 pixel size recommended. Can only be set in plsql. Builder support planned in a later versions. SET_TAB_PAGE_PROPERTY( tab1,icon_name, bluedot.gif );
Logon and Change Password Dialogs Add custom text Add up to 255 single-byte characters of alphanumeric to either of these dialogs by setting FORMS_LOGON_HINT and/or FORMS_CHANGE_PASSWORD_HINT Logon example (48 characters): Username and password fields are case sensitive. Password change example (210 characters): Password must; contain at least 2 letters, be at least 8 characters long, contain at least 1 number, contain at least 1 uppercase letter, not match or contain user ID, not match or contain first or last name.
Designtime 22
Form Builder Multiple Property Inherit Reset multiple item Properties at one time for significant time savings. 23
Enhanced Layout Editor Mouse sizing icons for making UI object resizing and moving easier
Integrated XML Converter Accessible from within the Builder. Select File > Convert from the menu. The Overwrite checkbox determines whether or not to prompt if a file already exists. The Keep window open checkbox is helpful when more than one file is to be converted. 25
WebUtil Object Library New object group excluding third party libraries WEBUTIL_NO_OLE can be used when OLE functionality is not used in the module. JACOB libraries are not needed when WEBUTIL_NO_OLE is used. Existing modules need to be manually altered to replace WEBUTIL with WEBUTIL_NO_OLE
File Open/Save Dialogs Uses more modern Microsoft Windows file dialog. 27
Oracle Forms Documentation Help Menu Easy access to Forms documentation and other resources
Miscellaneous Applet Parameters idletimeout ssologout customcolorscheme alwaysontop * centeronstartup * isresizable dynamiclayout hideactivitybar WebUtilVersion hideclientexceptions * Not supported with Java Web Start Properties SET_APPLICATION_PROPERTY (RECORD_COUNT_DISPLAYED) SET_TAB_PAGE_PROPERTY (ICON_NAME) SET_ITEM_PROPERTY (CURSOR_STYLE) SET_APPLICATON_PROPERTY (MAX_EVENT_WAIT) GET_APPLICATION_PROPERTY (USER_IP_ADDRESS) GET_FORM_PROPERTY (FORM_QUERY_ONLY) GET_RECMGR_STATS ( ) all_record_data archived_record_data active_record_data record_anchors Environment Variables FORMS_SELECT_ON_CLICK FORMS_LOGON_HINT FORMS_CHANGE_PASSWORD_HINT FORMS_HTTP_PROXY_HOST FORMS_HTTP_PROXY_PORT FORMS_HTTPS_PROXY_HOST FORMS_HTTPS_PROXY_PORT FORMS_PROXY_BYPASS 29
Miscellaneous Improvements to JDAPI (e.g. compile PLX, compile_all, etc). Send custom messages to ODL logging from running form. Get/Set value in non-current item Returned values from Java Script events increased in size from 255 to 32k Store RADs in OPSS Perform most RAD administration tasks in Fusion Middleware Control New Builder Preference settings Form Builder Only install option And many more
Oracle Forms 12c Installation and Configuration Refer to documentation Install 64bit JDK (v8u51+) Install WebLogic Server 12c (Infrastructure) Install Forms and Reports Create repository using RCU (11.2.0.4+ Oracle DB required) Create domain using Config Wizard Start all servers (Node Manager, Admin Server, etc) 31
Beyond 12.2.1.0 A look into the crystal ball 32
Oracle Forms On-going development Features being reviewed for future releases: Oracle Cloud Application packaging and deployment utilities Fusion Middleware Control Forms Advanced configuration New applet parameters Enhancements to customcolorscheme feature Form Builder improvements New and/or enhanced UI components WebUtil improvements New and improved security features Improved diagnostic features Enhancements to client deployment options Installation/configuration improvements
Contact Information Stay in touch with the Oracle Forms family
Oracle Forms Stay in touch with the family Oracle Forms on the Oracle Technology Network http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/forms Oracle Technology Network Forms Forum https://community.oracle.com/community/development_tools/forms Oracle Communities (My-Oracle-Support) https://community.oracle.com/community/support/middleware/oracle_forms Follow us on Twitter @OracleFormsPM
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