This chapter contains the following:
Oracle Graphics6i is no longer shipped with Oracle Forms versions 9.0.2 and higher. In addition, the Charting wizard has been removed from Forms. From 11g onwards, the run-time integration of Graphics has also been removed. This chapter describes how you can call existing Reports applications from a form.
You can embed new and existing Reports applications in forms that have been upgraded to Oracle Forms.
You can no longer use the Reports client run-time engine to output Reports in the Web. From Forms 5.0 forward, the RUN_REPORT_OBJECT built-in is available in Forms Developer to run integrated reporting in Forms. Using RUN_PRODUCT in Oracle Forms to run integrated Oracle Reports is no longer supported in this release. In 11g, the use of this built-in results in a compilation error.
Oracle Forms and Oracle Reports versions 9.0.2 and higher are now Web-based only, and do not have client/server run-time engines. Therefore, integrated reports in Oracle Forms applications must be recoded to use the RUN_REPORT_OBJECT Built-in and Oracle Fusion Middleware Reports Services.
For additional information about integrating Oracle Forms with Reports, see Integrating OracleAS Reports in OracleAS Forms at the Oracle Technology Network at http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/forms/.
If your form contains embedded Oracle Reports applications, you can upgrade the form to Oracle Forms by changing the integrated call to Oracle Reports to use:
Using RUN_PRODUCT in Oracle Forms to run integrated Oracle Reports is no longer supported in this release. In 11g, the use of this built-in results in a compilation error. The Migration Assistant is provided to help you upgrade your applications to use RUN_REPORT_OBJECT. See Chapter 2, "Using the Oracle Forms Migration Assistant" for more information.
The following example runs a report using the RUN_REPORT_OBJECT Built-in. The report_object node defined in Oracle Forms is assumed to be "report_node1". A user-defined Reports parameter "p_deptno" is passed by Forms using the value in the "dept.deptno" field. The Reports parameter form is suppressed. For additional details about the logic used in this example, see Notes About the Example.
/* The following example runs a report using the RUN_REPORT_OBJECT Built-in. The
report_object node defined in Forms Developer is assumed to be "report_node1". A
user-defined Reports parameter "p_deptno" is passed by Forms using the value in
the "dept.deptno" field. The Reports parameter form is suppressed */
DECLARE
v_report_id Report_Object;
vc_report_job_id VARCHAR2(100); /* unique id for each Report request */
vc_rep_status VARCHAR2(100); /* status of the Report job */
BEGIN
/* Get a handle to the Report Object itself. */
v_report_id:= FIND_REPORT_OBJECT('report_node1');
SET_REPORT_OBJECT_PROPERTY(v_report_id,REPORT_COMM_MODE, SYNCHRONOUS);
SET_REPORT_OBJECT_PROPERTY(v_report_id,REPORT_DESTYPE,CACHE);
/* Define the Report output format and the name of the Reports Server as well as
a user-defined parameter, passing the department number from Forms to the Report.
The Reports parameter form is suppressed by setting paramform to "no". */
SET_REPORT_OBJECT_PROPERTY(v_report_id,REPORT_DESFORMAT, '<HTML|HTMLCSS|PDF|RTF|XML|DELIMITED>');
/* replace <ReportServerTnsName> with the name of the Reports Services as defined
in your tnsnames.ora file */
SET_REPORT_OBJECT_PROPERTY(v_report_id,REPORT_SERVER, '<ReportServerTnsName>');
SET_REPORT_OBJECT_PROPERTY(v_report_id,REPORT_OTHER, 'p_deptno='||:dept.deptno||'paramform=no');
/* finally, run the report and retrieve the Reports job_id as a handle to the
Reports process */
vc_report_job_id:=RUN_REPORT_OBJECT(report_id);
/*The report output is not delivered automatically to the client, which is okay
because the Web is a request model. Thus the next step is to check if the report
finished. */
vc_rep_status := REPORT_OBJECT_STATUS(vc_report_job_id);
IF vc_rep_status='FINISHED' THEN
/* Call the Report output to be displayed in a separate browser window. The URL
for relative addressing is only valid when the Reports Server is on the same host
as the Forms Server. For accessing a Remote Reports Server on a different
machine, you must use the prefix http://hostname:port/ */
web.show_document ('/<virtual path>/<reports cgi or servlet name>/getjobid='||
vc_report_job_id ||'?server='|| '<ReportServerTnsName>','_blank');
ELSE
message ('Report failed with error message '||rep_status);
END IF;
END;
Calling a report synchronously makes the user wait while the report gets processed on the server. For long-running Reports, it is recommended that you start the report asynchronously, by setting the REPORT_COMM_MODE property to asynchronous and the REPORT_EXECUTION_ MODE to batch.
SET_REPORT_OBJECT_PROPERTY(report_id,REPORT_EXECUTION_MODE,BATCH);
SET_REPORT_OBJECT_PROPERTY(report_id,REPORT_COMM_MODE,ASYNCHRONOUS);
After calling the RUN_REPORT_OBJECT Built-in, you must create a timer to run frequent checks on the current REPORT_OBJECT_STATUS using a When-Timer-Expired trigger. For performance reasons, the timer should not fire more than four times a minute. After the report is generated, the When-Timer-Expired trigger calls the WEB.SHOW_DOCUMENT Built-in to load the Reports output file, identified by a unique job_id, to the client's browser.
Note:
Do not forget to delete the timer when it is no longer needed.The following example shows the When-Timer-Expired trigger that checks for the Report_Object_Status.
(...)
/* :global.vc_report_job_id needs to be global because the information about
the Report job_id is shared between the trigger code that starts the Report
and the When-Trigger-Expired trigger that checks the current Report status. */
vc_rep_status:= REPORT_OBJECT_STATUS(:global.vc_report_job_id);
IF vc_rep_status='FINISHED' THEN
web.show_document ('/<virtual path>/<reports cgi or servlet name>/getjobid='||
vc_report_job_id ||'?server='|| '<ReportServerTnsName>','_blank');
ELSIF vc_rep_status not in ('RUNNING','OPENING_REPORT','ENQUEUED') THEN
message (vc_rep_status||' Report output aborted');
END IF;
(...)
Parameter lists that were used with RUN_PRODUCT in client/server mode can also be used with RUN_REPORT_OBJECT calling Oracle Fusion Middleware Reports Services. System parameters must be set by the Set_Report_Object_Property. The syntax for using parameter lists in RUN_REPORT_OBJECT is as follows:
report_job_id:=run_report_object(report_id,paramlist_id);
where paramlist_id is the same id used with RUN_PRODUCT.
Parameter settings can be any of the following:
REPORT_DESTYPE: FILE, PRINTER, MAIL, CACHE, PREVIEW, FTP, FAX, WEBDAV, ORACLEPORTAL, ORACLEWIRELESS, SECUREPDF, BLOBDESTINATION
REPORT_DESNAME: The report destination name (not used with Cache)
Other settings are as follows:
Reports CGI name is "rwcgi.sh" (UNIX) and "rwcgi.exe" (Windows)
Reports Servlet default name is "rwservlet"
Reports Servlet virtual path is /reports/
You can use the Forms Migration Assistant described in Chapter 2, "Using the Oracle Forms Migration Assistant" to change integrated Reports calls in your Oracle Forms modules. The Migration Assistant adds code to your application modules that redirects Run_Product calls to Reports and uses the Run_Report_Object Built-in and Reports Services. The resulting conversion is of the same quality as using Run_Product and the run-time engine in Forms 6i.
To manually upgrade Reports in Oracle Forms, do the following:
Find all occurrences of Run_Product.
Identify and locate the parameter lists used with these calls.
Remove all of the Reports system parameter settings like desname and destype from the parameter lists.
Find the Reports node ID for the Reports node name defined in Oracle Forms or the Forms 6i Builder.
Create Set_Report_Object_Property codes for DESNAME, REPORT_SERVER, DESFORMAT, DESTYPE, COMM_MODE, and EXECUTION_MODE in your PL/SQL.
Use Run_Report_Object(report_node_id, paramlist_id) to reuse your parameter lists that had been created for Run_Product.
Note:
Detailed information about how to change calls to Oracle Reports in Forms 6i to use Run_Report_Object are provided in a whitepaper onhttp://www.oracle.com/technology/products/forms/.