Forms 4.0 : Questions on transition

Hi netters,

The company which i work for is in the process of moving from a character based system to a GUI based system.
Till now we were using Forms 3.0 as the front end tool for data entry purposes. We had HP-9000 machines as servers. We use Oracle7. However now we have decided to go client/server. Towards this end we propose to introduce HP Workstations as the front end and use the existing HP-9000 machines as servers.
I have been asked to formulate a strategy for moving our applications from FORMS30 to FORMS40. I have the following questions.

1. What is the current production version of FORMS40 for HP Workstations and how stable is it.
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)?
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.
5. Are there any other third party front end GUI tools that are better than FORMS40. Our application front end forms are pretty complex.
6. What are the other tools that are required/helpful along with FORMS40
7. How do we handle various aspects of training? (FORMS40, GUI etc)(ORACLE, Third Party )
8. What are the kinds of standards that are followed while developing GUI front ends. (Screen Design, Coding etc)
9. Any other things that we need to take into consideration.

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

My email address is raja_at_netcom.com

I will post a summary if there are enough responses.

Thanks in anticipation
-Raja

Rajaram M Bhakta      Space For Rent                            raja_at_netcom.com
408-481-9325 (R)      Space For Rent
415-247-0331 (O)      Space For Rent     Space For Rent Space For Rent


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