1. Oracle World 2003 - #36625 1 Web Forms: The Great Leap Forward A P Clarke

2. Oracle World 2003 - #366252 AGENDA The application The migration process This web stuff The migrated application Questions

3. Oracle World 2003 - #366253 The Application

4. Oracle World 2003 - #366254 The starting point Government agency – regulatory authority – issuing licences Core business system Richly-featured: – Third party workflow – Post Office Address validation – Complex technical calculations – Integration with MS Word and Excel Developer 1.6.1

5. Oracle World 2003 - #366255 Database Client/Server architecture OLE2Host Desktop drives OLE Containers ORA_FFI

6. Oracle World 2003 - #366256 Database Web-deployed architecture OLE2HostORA_FFI unix

7. Oracle World 2003 - #366257 Going back to the application… The following features will not work with web deployment… – Third party workflow – Address validation – D2KWUTIL – Calls to.DLL and.EXE files – Integration with MS Word – Production of Excel spreadsheets – Upload files – Reading registry …without making changes This is not an upgrade, it is a migration

8. Oracle World 2003 - #366258 Can we build it? Yes we can! …er, sort of The Migration Process

9. Oracle World 2003 - #366259 Forms 4.5 to 9i Forms Conversion – Migration Wizard – Forms Builder OTN Web Site Remember to start OC4J! Icons:.ICO bad,.GIF good

10. Oracle World 2003 - #3662510 Reports 2.5 to 9i Reports Pretty straightforward RUN_PRODUCT is de-supported in 9i Forms – RUN_REPORT_OBJECT – WEB.SHOW_DOCUMENT

11. Oracle World 2003 - #3662511 Porting to Unix Watch out for : – case sensitivity – embedded file names – directory separators O9iDS is less usable on Unix Not supported on terminal emulators unix

12. Oracle World 2003 - #3662512 Client interaction Workflow  move to Java API Address validation  move to new product File upload  Forms demo PJC OLE Intergration  JACOB D2KWUTIL calls  ??? ORA_FFI calls  ??? HOST  ??? TEXT_IO  ???

13. Oracle World 2003 - #3662513 This Web Stuff But where to find it? Zounds! This web stuff is harder than it looks. If only I had a handy utility to do all the tough stuff for me.

14. Oracle World 2003 - #3662514 Introducing WebUtil Oracle Beta Pre-Production software Client side versions of old favourites – CLIENT_HOST – CLIENT_TEXT_IO – CLIENT_OLE2 – CLIENT_GET_FILE_DIR – CLIENT_TOOL_ENV – CLIENT_WIN_API_ENVIRONMENT New features – WEBUTIL_FILE_TRANSFER – WEBUTIL_HOST – WEBUTIL_C_API – WEBUTIL_CLIENTINFO – WEBUTIL_BROWSER All straight PL/SQL calls

15. Oracle World 2003 - #3662515 Limitations of WebUtil Uses Pluggable Java Components Require PJC instantiations –Not useable in many triggers  Use timers –Can only use in Forms, not Reports or Menus  Create one-off Forms Cannot get a Windows handle Not always the best approach – CLIENT_TEXT_IO – CLIENT_OLE2

16. Oracle World 2003 - #3662516 So, do I have to become a Java head? Must know how Java CLASSPATH works ORA_JAVA requires some familiarity with: – classes – inheritance May need to write your own Java class

17. Oracle World 2003 - #3662517 Running on O9iAS Current client/server apps now need O9iAS – licensing – administration Getting this wrong can kill your project Complex configuration Need experienced O9iAS admin – Q: What killed the Reports Server? – A: Permissions on the /tmp directory

18. Oracle World 2003 - #3662518 The Migrated Application

19. Oracle World 2003 - #3662519 Migrated functionality Through ORA_JAVA – Third party workflow – Address validation Through WEBUTIL_C_API – Complex technical calculations – Terrain mapping Through CLIENT_OLE2 – Integration with MS Word – Production of Excel spreadsheets Through WEBUTIL miscellaneous – Upload files – Read registry

20. Oracle World 2003 - #3662520 Lost functionality Help files Using Notepad to edit items Performance – Using Forms to launch apps – Using timers instead of W-N-F-I – CLIENT_OLE2 time lag IDENTIFIED EXTERNALLY DLL transactions

21. Oracle World 2003 - #3662521 Intangible benefits Supported platform Easier deployment Standardisation of third party products

22. Oracle World 2003 - #3662522 Any questions? andrew.clarke@logicacmg.com