Help needed in passing GLOBAL between FORMS

From: remove-the-spaces <samfam_at_spaces.dircon.spaces.co.uk(remove-the-spaces)>
Date: 1998/05/20
Message-ID: <35635315.18455580@news.dircon.co.uk>#1/1

Hi!
I am finding that there appears to be no reliable way of passing variables back from a FORM which was called using: OPEN FORM with a new SESSION specified.

Can anyone help or suggest an alternative method?

Here is my problem in detail

We have developed a multi-FORM (ORACLE 7 / FORMS4.5) application in which FORMs are opened either from a main menu or from one another.

We are using OPEN FORM statement with SESSION because we want a COMMIT in one FORM, not to COMMITall other FORMs that happen to be open at the time.

We want to maintain REFERENCE numbers like ACCOUNT_NUMBER between all open FORMs so that when a particular Account is being updated, users can open other FORMs to view/update it without having to re-type the number.
We decided to do this using GLOBAL variables, since parameters cannot be passed back from a FORM only down into it. It seemed to be working OK, until....
A GLOBAL variable set in a FORM that had been opened was not seen by another form that had called it.
We looked in the HELP and asked ORACLE and to our shock the answer seems to be that GLOBAL variables don't pass between FORMs opened in separate sessions (although they had appeared to up till now).

Can anyone else tell me how they cope with what must be a fairly common requirement ie. to pass data between FORMs without all the FORMs COMMITing for one another?

Please e-mail me any advice to:
"JW Samuel" <j.w.samuel_at_x400.icl.co.uk>
(This is bit urgent)
Thanks,in advance.

Jonathan Samuel

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