Re: Getting to the host OS from Oracle REPORTS

Joe,

Unlike in Forms, there is no HOST Built-In in Reports.

To run OS program, user exit must be used. A user exit is a program writen and then linked into the Report Builder/Runtime executable or user exit DLL files.

Another solution is to use ORA_FFI Built-In package. The ORA_FFI package provides a foreign function interface for invoking C functions in a dynamic library.

References:
Reports Online Help > Building and Running Report > Integrating with Other Products > Building a user exit

Reports Online Help > PL/SQL Reference > Built-in Packages > Developer built-in packages > ORA_FFI

Regards
Chandra Mohan

Joe Ferraro wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have a question about printing attached files from within ORACLE
> REPORTS. I have a table with blobs that point to external document files
> (.doc, .pdf or .txt). As part of the report I create I would like a
> button to appear in the preview screen that when pressed can launch the
> correct OS program and bring the document up for display.
>
> I can do this in FORMS because Oracle has included a built-in HOST
> function where you can pass a string to be execute and it will hand it
> off to the OS to execute.
>
> No such function is available in REPORTS. I would like to write a Java
> procedure that I can have in the database then call from REPORTS which
> would do the exact thing. (hand a command over to the OS to execute)
>
> Has anyone done anything like this? Or can you point in the direction of
> good ORACLE/Java book. I know C but I have never used Java.
>
> Thanks
Received on Fri Oct 18 2002 - 11:33:31 CEST