FormsAPI Master FAQ
Here are a couple of answers to the most common questions that we receive. Please contact us at
support@orcl-toolbox.com
if there is anything still unclear or not answered in this FAQ!
Installation & Integration
Q: I get an error on startup that no valid Oracle Forms API can be found, how can i solve this?
A: Most likely the issue is that your Oracles \bin directory is not in the systems PATH environment variable, or that your \\HKLM\Software\Oracle registry doesn't contain any of the necessary entries for your Oracle Forms installation. Eventually a reinstall of Oracle Forms will most often solve the issue. Please contact support if you need more help fixing the issue.
Q: Do FormsAPI Master/FormsTool have command line support?
A: Yes, except for PowerSearch everything can be started/controlled by command line. Check the help files under the keyword "Command line"
Q: Can FormsAPI Master/FormsTool be integrated with any of the leading source control system?
A: Depends on the source control system. As long as they allow you to call us with with command line parameters then you will be able to integrate. There is a fantastic article about that available on http://www.araxis.com/merge/scm_integration.html
FormsAPI Master Scripting
Q: The Oracle Forms Open API is accessible by C/C++ and now by Java - why should i use your tool?
A: FormsAPI Master offers so many more useful helper function that go beyond of what Oracle has built into the API. FormsAPI Master scripts can use Parameterscreens, logging, Oracle Database connections, etc ... . It's a fact that all programs written in FormsAPI Master require in average just a fifth(often even less) of source code that you need in C/C++ and are by far easier to understand by normal Oracle Forms developers because of it's similarities to PL/SQL. Another BIG REASON is the fact that only FormsAPI Master offers you an API to read/write Oracle Reports, there is no such technology available in C/C++/Java at the moment. Also the many example source scripts are a very good resource to learn the API programming and guarantee a fast learning curve. With our tool you can be productive within minutes/hours! FormsAPI Master also solved the problems for multiple Forms version support (every Oracle Open API Version has different constants/properties/functions).
Q: Is a Forms Module changed through the API still supported by Oracle?
A: Yes! The Oracle Forms API is a well documented and supported interface written by Oracle itself. However, there are some things possible that are not allowed in FormsBuilder (like for example renaming object names to lowercase!)! We recommend to always work on backuped modules, and check them thoroughly after any modification! In our experience it has shown that as long as you behave and know what you are changing it is very safe to use!
Q: What are the limitations of Oracle Forms Open API compared to Forms Builder?
A: In the current version(6i), the Oracle Forms Open API has no limitations compared to Forms Builder except one : PL/SQL Library cannot be saved. There are some advantages with the API that you can't do with FormsBuilder - one of them for example that you can access all objects, even the ones not exposed in FormsBuilder, like V2 Trigger Steps for example.
Q: What is the scripting language used in FormsAPI Master?
A: It's a full implementation of Object Pascal with almost all the features Borland Delphi has. Both languages have the same roots (Lisp) and are therefore already very similar in their structure. We even went a step further and also ported all Oracle built ins and data types into the scripting engine.
Q: Where can i learn more about the language?
A: The best way is by learning from the example scripts and mimic them. Also the script editor has context sensitive help, just move your cursor over the command you want to know more about and press F1!
Q: When using the script i often get errors when loading Forms Modules like : "Missing subclassing module" - what does this mean?
A: It's an error raised to show you that some subclassed objects from another modules can't be found in the FORMS60_PATH. You can switch off the behavior by calling the API_IgnoreMissingReferences() function before loading the modules. Check the Help files for more information.
Q: I wish to write commercial scripts, can i send customers scripts without then seeing the source code?
A: Yes, on the download page there is an utility called ScriptEncrypter. When using that one please make sure your customer is using a FormsAPI Master version above 287!
Developer Compare
Q: Why do I often get Error #1 when loading PLSQL Libraries?
A: This is a bug of the Oracle Open API Library. PL/SQL Module handling since it's inception in Oracle Forms 6i API always has been flaky. I noticed that it often helps to convert the plsql library to text format (*.pld) and back to binary (*.pll). Often the libraries then load without the #1 error.
Q: What can i use it for?
A: The easy answer is "To compare changes between two modules". But Developer Compare can also be used for a couple of other things, like extracting a change log, for code reviews, for quality control review. Some even use it to merge changes when multiple developers work on the same module or to replicate latest changes into their base Forms modules that were customized for certain customers.
Q: What type of files can be compared?
A: Forms Modules, Object Libraries, PL/SQL Libraries, Menu Modules, Report Modules, SQL Text Files.
Q: Why do my Items of type ListBox sometimes show up as changed when comparing?
A: It's a bug! We currently don't handle comparison of elements correctly that have the same names on the same level! This can only happen for List Elements and in rare cases for Datasource arguments/columns for blocks built on stored procedures.
Power Search
Q: What's so special about PowerSearch?
A: PowerSearch handles searches smarter. Don't worry about spaces and linefeeds when you search for something. The PowerSearch uses a regular expression search engine that is specifically tuned for PL/SQL searches!.