Re: SQL*Forms v3 support

frank.naude_at_onwe.co.za (Frank Naude) writes:

>Any comments on how to migrate our Forms V3.0 systems to a platform that
>can run Forms V4 apps will be appreciated.

We're in the middle of a Forms 3 to Forms 4 migration ourselves. We currently have our entire application in Forms 3.

We have both Forms 3 and Forms 4 running on a Sun Solaris box. Oracle 7. I'm about two weeks into wringing out Forms 4 and pushing the limits of it. Some observations which will hopefully be of assistance:

1. There is a built-in conversion of Forms 3.0 .INP files to forms 4. You have to call it from the command line of the forms 4 generator.
2. Links to the menu system in Forms 3 are different from those in Forms 4.0. If you have links to SQL*Menu, they won't compile in forms 4, BUT! the forms will compile without menu linkage. It is then not too difficult to rebuild the menus using the forms 4.0 tool.
3. As with any other migration, there is a learning curve. Give your people a 'toy' application to work with. We have a self published (by a consultant in New York) tutorial that uses the Oracle default EMP, DEPT, etc. tables to build a small application It touches on all of the features of Forms 4. I'm at home and don't have the particulars; will post them next week if asked.
4. Editing .INP files is history. If you import a Forms 3 .INP file, all of your code and comments are preserved. There is an ASCII save (the .FMT file) but it is not self-explanatory, as forms 3 .INP files are.
5. Don't panic! It seems intimidating, but I'm assisting new (to Oracle) programmers through the tutorials. And just because Oracle won't support Forms 3 after a cut-off date doesn't mean you can't keep it around as a fallback.

   Hope this all helps.
   -Pat Connors
   AZ Department of Health Services
] (opinions mine, not my employer's policy) Received on Sun Apr 02 1995 - 00:00:00 CEST