Re: Forms 4.0 : Questions on transition

Rajaram M Bhakta (raja_at_netcom.com) wrote: [...]
> 1) What is the current production version of FORMS40 for HP Workstations
> and how stable is it.

I dunno about HP. The latest release for Solaris is stable, but too slow and still has lots of bugs that render it not production quality.

> 2) Since all our applications are currently in FORMS30, is it possible to
> call FORMS30 applications from FORMS40 applications. Can FORMS30 & 40
> co-exist?
> Where would the FORMS30 applications be in that case (Client or Server)?

You can call 40 forms from 30, but not vice versa.. The reason is that they don't run in the same environments. 30 is character based, and 40 brings up seperate windows when called.

> 3) How easy is it to convert from FORMS30 to FORMS40 using tools provided by
> ORACLE. Are there any third party tools that do a better job.
>
> 4) If we use ORACLE convert utility what are the things that we should watch
> out for?
> I heard that the mouse is enabled for all fields after conversion which
> would mean that our applications coded in FORMS30 which depend on
> key-nxtfld will work inconsistently.

No there are no third party tools that manage this...it all has to be done by hand because it is a completely different paradigm. In forms30 you probably have the code written to handle key presses...in forms40, there are no key-presses so these triggers become completely invalid. You will have to get rid of almost all key triggers and/or write them into button triggers.

> 5) Are there any other third party front end GUI tools that are better than
> FORMS40. Our application front end forms are pretty complex.

Sure is... take a look around. Forms40 is in very early stages, and there are others which have been out for a while already, and don't rely on a "form." That becomes a restrictive aspect of Oracle tools.

> 6) What are the other tools that are required/helpful along with FORMS40

You'll have to talk to Oracle about that. They have all kinds of tools for their CDE (cooperative development environment?), including Reports 2.0, Graphics, Book, DataBrowser, etc...

> 7) How do we handle various aspects of training? (FORMS40, GUI etc)(ORACLE,
> Third Party )

Oracle has classes for that. There may also be some third party training centers like Miaco that also teach classes on Oracle and third party products.

> 8) What are the kinds of standards that are followed while developing
> GUI front ends. (Screen Design, Coding etc)

You will want to pick up either the Motif Style Guide, or some kind of MS Windows style guide, depending on your environment... They are similar, but have many details that are very different. (IMHO it's better to follow the Motif guide).

> 9) Any other things that we need to take into consideration.

Well, as of now, I don't know of any Forms 4.0 for Motif that is production quality... that is always a big consideration! They are production release, but not yet production quality.

> If there is a FAQ on the above please let me know where i can locate
> it.

There isn't a FAQ on the above that I have seen.

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