Re: Forms 5.0 binary module conversion

Robert -

> 4. Search every module by hand :-(
> The "Find" tool in Forms 5 only works within one PL/SQL
> window (one block of code) and does not search the whole
> module top to bottom, so you are forced to search again and
> again in every item...manually. :-( :-(

Have you used the Program/PL-SQL Editor on the Forms 5 menu? It is (barely) a step above the Find tool, but it will search the entire PL/SQL codebase in the form - triggers and program units. But, it stops after each trigger/program unit whether it found anything or not, and waits for a Continue response. If you go too fast, it'll crash form builder, and it seems to slow down the deeper it probes your code. I've also had it give a PDE error, whatever that is, if I have been editing the form. I have to close the fmb file and re-open it to get the tool to work.

ORACLE ARE YOU LISTENING! FormGrep (see my earlier post) can help, but it will only _tell_ you where a string of code resides, in multiple fmb's and pll's, but it doesn't _take_ you to the code so you can change it.

I learned Forms on version 2 (!), and those fmt's (there were no fmb's) were edited by hand - in YOUR OWN editor! Even in Forms 3, you could use a text editor as long as you kept the format intact. I'm so happy we have "better" tools now! ;-)

<rtproffitt_at_my-deja.com> wrote in message [Quoted] news:8c2lq1$2gk$1_at_nnrp1.deja.com...
> Sorry Torben...
> Welcome to Oracle Forms...
>
> The behavior is exactly as designed for Forms.
> The FMT files are designed to be a way to describe
> the binary in text format. Just like yourself,
> I wanted to search for text in multiple places...
> this is very difficult.
>
> So, 1. you can't use FMT to search for text....
> 2. You might be able to create Object List Reports
> for all 200 ??? modules. This is a text/english readable
> translation of the properties and triggers in forms.
> However, in Forms 5 I have had problems and at least 25%
> of the time the whole app crashes while creating the
> object report. I have not tested Forms 6 yet.
>
> This leaves two less than adequate choices:
> 3. Search for text in the FMB files (or copies of them)
> using a binary editor. Problem is: when you locate the
> text, you cannot tell WHICH trigger contains it, except
> by deductive reasoning...
>
> 4. Search every module by hand :-(
> The "Find" tool in Forms 5 only works within one PL/SQL
> window (one block of code) and does not search the whole
> module top to bottom, so you are forced to search again and
> again in every item...manually. :-( :-(
>
> I have had limited success with method 3, searching in
> a binary editor (I just used KEDIT), then search the
> module carefully in Forms when I find a hit in KEDIT.
>
> (By the way, when I first learned Forms, I hoped for
> an Engligh metalanguage for the entire module, which I
> could edit and import easily on large blocks of code,
> but NO SUCH LUCK....only Object List Report and FMT Files)
>
> Good Luck
> Robert Proffitt
> Beckman Coulter
> RTProffitt AT beckman DOT com
>
>
> Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> Before you buy.
Received on Sat Apr 01 2000 - 17:46:23 CEST