Oracle9i Designer Release Notes



Oracle9i Designer Release Notes

Release 2

April 2002

This document contains important information on installing and operating Oracle9i Designer for Windows. This information supersedes any similar information in the Oracle9i Designer online documentation.

In addition to these release notes, you should also read the Oracle9i Software Configuration Manager release notes available on this CD.

For the latest information about product availability and support, product alerts, certifications, bugs and patches, visit OracleMetaLink.

If you print out this document, we recommend that you use landscape page format, so that long lines of text (such as command line inputs) are not truncated.

Installing this release

Install this release as described in the Oracle9iDS Installation Guide. Set up the repository as described in the Oracle9i SCM Repository Installation Guide.

Before following the instructions in the Oracle9i Designer Installation Guide, please read the rest of these release notes.

Known problems and restrictions

This section documents known problems and restrictions for:

Installation

Migration

System Modeling and Design Tools

Database Design Transformer

Form Generator

Web PL/SQL Generator

Report Generator, Design Capture and Application Logic Capture

Server Generator

Repository Reports

Matrix Diagrammer

Accessibility issues

Other problems and restrictions

Installation

Japanese in the multi-language environment

When installing the Oracle9iDS software on a client machine, you can select a combination of different product languages (i.e., languages that you would like the products to support, if available). If you include Japanese as one of these languages (for example, if you select Japanese, Korean and English) then, in the Designer product, the user interface text will always be in Japanese. You cannot alter this later by changing the NLS language setting on the client machine. If you do not include Japanese as one of the product languages (for example, if you select Chinese, Korean and English) then the user interface text in Designer will always be in English.

If you do not require the user interface text to be in Japanese, then you must not include Japanese as one of the product languages. If you do require the user interface text to be in Japanese, you should, in addition to selecting Japanese as a product language, also check that a Japanese font has been installed.

Installing Oracle Designer and upgrading an existing repository core schema to a 9i Oracle Designer schema

If you have a 6i repository core schema installed (release 1, 2 3, 4.1 or 4.1.1) and now want to upgrade to the Oracle Designer 9i schema, use one of the following methods to ensure that your core repository schema is retained:

Upgrading from a core repository only to Oracle9i Designer repository may cause the repository to become non-versioned (bug 1419412)

Upgrading from a 6i Production installation of a versioned Repository only (i.e. no Designer) to a full Designer and Repository release 4 installation will cause the repository to become non-versioned. Any version history information from the 6i Production repository will not be visible. To switch the versioning on again, in the Repository Administration Utility choose Options -> Enable Version Support. The version history information will then be visible.

Migration

Migration of user-defined report data

If you migrate user-defined report data from an Oracle Designer 6.0 repository, note that user-defined reports, groups and parameters can be accessed in the release 6i repository only by a username that is identical to that of the user who created them.

In the Repository Reports tool, when exporting or importing user-defined reports (Options > Export or Options > Import), the filtered view in the dialog box does not always return the correct data. The workaround is to type the full dump file name in the File Name field.

End of file on communication channel

Occasionally, the database connection is dropped during migration from a source repository on Oracle 8.0.4 or 8.0.5. The Oracle Error Number is 3113 and the message is 'End of file on communication channel'. It appears this is RDBMS related. The following suggestions may help to overcome the problem:

a) Change the init.ora parameter file for the source and target repository servers to increase the number of open cursors (OPEN_CURSORS) to 3000

b) Upgrade the source repository to Oracle server 8.0.5.2.1.

Should you still experience this problem, please contact Oracle Support.

ORA-03232 during migration of Oracle Designer

Problem:
During migration from version 2.x or 6.0 Oracle Designer to release 6i the following error may be reported:

ORA-3232 unable to allocate an extent of %s blocks from tablespace %s

This is because a join of two tables required a sort operation that requested a temporary table segment. The size of the segment requested was larger than the next extent of the temporary tablespace from which it was requested.

Workaround:
There are two possible solutions. The next extent of the temporary tablespace cited in the error can be increased, or the request size can be reduced to fit within the next extent.

The preferred solution is to reduce the request size. To do this, examine the database INIT.ORA file (or query SYS.V$PARAMETER) to determine your database block size. Usually this will be a multiple of 2K bytes, such as 4096 or 8192. Then issue the SQL command:

     select next_extent/db_block_size 
     from user_tablespaces 
     where tablespace_name = 'tablespace_name';

where db_block_size is the appropriate value and tablespace_name is the name given in the original error message.

Take the value calculated and set the INIT.ORA parameter hash_multiblock_io_count to an equal or lesser value.

Then restart the database and restart the migration.

System Modeling and Design Tools

This section relates to the Process Modeler, Entity Relationship Diagrammer, Function Hierarchy Diagrammer, Dataflow Diagrammer and Design Editor tools.

Matrix diagrammer raises "failed to update registry" error on Windows 2000 (bug 1472195)

Problem

If a Windows user that is not a member of the local 'Power Users' group or the 'Administrator' group attempts to invoke the Oracle Designer diagrammers, then an alert box will appear indicating 'failed to update registry'. The error is being raised because the user does not have permissions to allow Oracle Designer to write to the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT registry key.

Workaround

Initially, press the OK button to dismiss the error message. The workaround is to add the Windows user(s) wishing to use Oracle Designer to the local 'Power Users' group or 'Administrator' group.

Copy, Move and Share

To copy a set of objects, keeping references between them, use Extended Copy.

Container Copy

If you copy a container using Edit > Copy, each object within the container is copied as a separate object. If two or more objects within the container refer to each other, the references are not updated to point to the new object in the new container, but still refer to the object in the original container, for example:

Application System ABC
Table DEPT
Table EMP
FK to DEPT

Copy ABC creating new application system XYZ

Application System XYZ
Table DEPT
Table EMP
FK to ABC.DEPT ( not XYZ.DEPT )

If you want to maintain the links (such that in this example the foreign key points to XYZ.DEPT), select all the objects in the container and then choose Utilities > Extended Copy.

Syntax checker incorrectly reports error for application logic (bug 1366816)

Problem:
When the syntax checker is run on application logic it may spuriously report errors. Two examples when this can occur are:

Workaround:
None. In cases like these the best way to check that the application logic is working correctly is to generate the form and check that it works correctly.

Design Editor does not requery application logic (bug 1317918)

Problem:
Requerying application logic does not work. Thus for example, when editing a workarea to include an old version of a table, any application logic associated with the table is not requeried. If you edit the application logic, you may see a message to the effect that the logic is out of date.

Workaround:
Do any of the following:

Copy With New Language does not work for modules from the Repository Object Navigator (bug 1317853)

Problem:
In the Repository Object Navigator, if you select a module, choose Utilities > Designer > Copy with New Language, select a language and click OK, the message "CDR-00114: Container context has not been set" is displayed.

Workaround:
Run the utility from the Design Editor (choose Utilities > Copy with New Language).

Unable to commit captured queue and queue table (bug 1290408)

Problem:
Design capture of a persistent queue and corresponding queue table into a database user that has no queue table implementations may result in a CDA-02186 error during validation.

A database user must have a queue table implementation if a persistent queue implementation references the database user with its 'Queue Table Database User' property. Since these objects are put forward for validation in an undefined order following design capture, the database user may not have a queue table implementation when the persistent queue implementation is validated.

Workaround:
Design capture the queue table(s) first then invoke design capture again for the persistent queue(s).

Long Java module names are not handled correctly during design capture (bug 1275250)

Problem:
During design capture, the names of Java Modules are truncated to 30 characters prior to being used for the Short Name property of Java Module Definitions. The maximum length of the Short Name property of Java Module Definitions is 20 characters. This means that saving a design-captured Java Module with a name that is longer than 20 characters results in an RME-00020 error.

A related problem occurs when design capturing two or more Java Modules whose names are equal if only the first 30 characters are considered. This results in a CDS-18010 error and only one of the Java Modules is design captured.

Workaround:
Short Names that cause RME-00020 errors can be corrected manually by changing the value of the property via the Property Palette.

The CDS-18010 errors can be avoided by capturing the Java Modules that are causing the errors in separate capture operations.

OLE Problems (bugs 1114261, 951673, 837571, 781670, 755568, 636409, 625193, 595590, 529856, 373015)

Problem:
There are many reported problems using OLE to embed objects in Designer diagrams, or to embed Designer diagrams in other applications.

Note: Some extra exception handling has been added to the diagrammers to handle OLE errors during diagram open. This will enable some diagrams to be partially recovered, which would not have been possible in earlier releases.

Components Affected:
CASEDE - Design Editor
CASEDFD - CASE Dataflow Diagrammer
CASEFHD - CASE Function Hierarchy Diagrammer
CASEERD - CASE Entity Relationship Diagrammer
CASEPM - CASE Process Modeler

Workaround:
Use OLE sparingly.
Do not embed too many objects in Oracle Designer diagrams.
Use Edit > Paste, rather than Edit > Paste Special or Insert > Object if you wish to include a diagram in (for example) a Microsoft Word document.

Overlapping text in Process Modeler diagrams (bug 995298, 627818)

Problem:
Descriptions and Labels may overlap when laid out by the Process Modeler.

Component Affected:
CASEPM - CASE Process Modeler

Workaround:
Manually move the overlapping text, or use shorter text if possible.

Diagram graphics can become corrupt after invoking versioning utilities (bug 897686)

Problem:
Invoke one of the Utilities under the Version menu.
Invoke a diagrammer if not already open.
Click on the Select Icon.
Drag a selection area over the diagram and you will notice that a horizontal and vertical line appears (as well as the dotted selection area rectangle) This is common across all of the tools.

Components Affected:
CASEDE - Design Editor
CASEDFD - CASE Dataflow Diagrammer
CASEFHD - CASE Function Hierarchy Diagrammer
CASEERD - CASE Entity Relationship Diagrammer
CASEPM - CASE Process Modeler

Workaround:
Restart the tool.

Print Scaling (bugs 896032, 674453, 481734)

Problem:
When scaling a diagram on the Print dialog box, the diagram does not always print correctly.

Component Affected:
CASEDFD - CASE Dataflow Diagrammer
CASEFHD - CASE Function Hierarchy Diagrammer
CASEERD - CASE Entity Relationship Diagrammer

Workaround:
None

Design Capture of Server Model results in error "CDI 22051 - TABLES OVERLAPPING ON DIAGRAM" (bug 749724)

Problem:
If you capture a large schema and display the results on a diagram, autolayout may be unable to resolve some overlaps.

Component Affected:
CASEDE - Design Editor

Workaround:
Capture the design without enabling Show Results on new Server Model Diagram (on the Source tab of the Capture Server Model from Database dialog box), then include the server model definitions on the diagram a few at a time.

Batch Generation doesn't work for Menu Modules (bug 745824)

Problem:
You cannot generate Forms Menu Modules with the batch interface.

Component Affected:
CASEDE - Design Editor

Workaround:
Use the generator from within Design Editor.

Using a plotter (bugs 660322, 344117)

Problem:
There are a number of reported problems using a plotter (i.e. a vector device) as opposed to raster device (most printers).

Components Affected:
CASEERD - CASE Entity Relationship Diagrammer
CASEDE - Design Editor

Workaround:
Make sure you have the most up to date driver for your plotter. If the plotter driver supports raster to vector conversion, the results will be better. Avoid using custom colors in your diagram.

Layout problems in Module Diagrammer for Components with two masters (bug 463149)

Problem:
If a module component has two masters, layout can be poor.

Component Affected:
CASEDE - Design Editor

Workaround:
None.

Best Fit Selection (bug 326606)

Problem:
Edit > Select All, followed by Best Fit Selection may result in the diagram becoming very small in the center of the current window.

Component Affected:
CASEFHD - CASE Function Hierarchy Diagrammer

Workaround:
Instead of Edit > Select All, choose Edit>Select and then Select All from within the dialog box. In this case the Best Fit works.

Undo Autolayout not enabled (bug 315136)

Problem:
The Undo layout option is not always enabled until autolayout has been performed a number of times.

Component Affected:
CASEDFD - CASE Dataflow Diagrammer

Workaround:
None.

Database Design Transformer

Entities mapped to views

If a selected application system contains entities that you have mapped to views, these will be removed when the Database Design Transformer starts. You will be asked to confirm each removal with a dialog box which states that a table entity mapping will be removed.

Running the Database Design Transformer from the Entity Relationship Diagrammer locks diagrams (bug 1662205)

Problem

Entity relationship diagrams become inaccessible if the Database Design Transformer is opened from the Entity Relationship Diagrammer.

Workaround

Do one of the following:

Form Generator

Running generated forms within an iDS or iAS installation (bug 2261998)

A prerequisite for running generated forms within iDS or iAS is that JInitiator is installed on the client. The JInitiator software is available in your local Oracle Home: <Oracle_Home>\jinit\jinit1315.exe

To run generated forms locally after an iDS installation:

  1. Ensure that JInitiator has been installed on the client.
  2. Start the OC4J instance by running the file startinst.bat (Oracle_Home>\j2ee\Oracle9iDS\startinst.bat).
  3. On the Run tab of the Form Generator Options dialog box, specify the web browser.
  4. Generate the Form module.
  5. Run the Form.

The specified web browser will display the form.

To run generated forms locally after an iAS installation:

  1. Ensure that JInitiator has been installed on the client.
  2. Set the Form Generator preference WEBURL to <iAS_Host_Name>:<Port>/forms90/servlet
  3. Generate the Form module, noting the location of the generated .fmx file.
  4. Create a sub-folder in the forms90 folder of the iAS Oracle Home (on the client where iAS is installed).
  5. Locate the generated .fmx file and move it into the sub-folder that you created in the previous step.
  6. Open the file default.env (<iAS_Oracle_Home>\forms90\server\default.env) in a text editor.
  7. Uncomment the section 'Forms90_Path' and add to it the path for the sub-folder where your .fmx file now resides. (Save and close the default.env file.)
  8. Start your web browser (preferably Internet Explorer) and enter a URL in the following form: <iAS_Host_Name>:<Port>/forms90/servlet/?form=<Form.fmx>&userid=<user>/<pwd>@<connect>

The generated form will run in the web browser.

OCX/OLE item types in Oracle9i Designer (bug 1978769)

It is possible to model an item of type OCX Control or OLE Container, but these types are now generated as a text item. Warning message 39 is issued when such generation is attempted.

Generating Form-level triggers at lower levels is not valid in 9i (bug 2037694)

For Oracle9i Forms, restrictions have been added for some triggers. The following are now only permissible at form or block level:

WHEN-CLEAR-BLOCK
WHEN-CREATE-RECORD
WHEN-DATABASE-RECORD
WHEN-NEW-RECORD-INSTANCE
WHEN-REMOVE-RECORD

The following is now only permissible at form-level:

WHEN-NEW-FORM-INSTANCE

Previously it was acceptable to create these triggers additionally at block or item level. Although Designer still supports this at the design stage, you should not use this facility.

Number of characters in names used in generation (bug 2061520)

Although the number of characters allowed for object names in Oracle Designer is nominally 30, eight of these are required for the prefix that is added during generation. This means that the practical maximum number of characters for an object name is 22.

RUN_PRODUCT(REPORTS) function is not supported (bug 2176072)

In Oracle9i Designer, the preference MNUDRC does not support the RUN_PRODUCT(REPORTS) function. For alternative preferences to use, see the online help topic "Report invocation preferences".

Oracle Forms menu substitution parameters (bug 2067988)

Menu substitution parameters are not supported by Oracle Forms 9i. Because of this, Oracle Designer 9i is unable to support generation of user-defined menu substitution parameters. From Oracle Designer 9i onwards, any user-defined menu parameter (e.g. <XX>) will simply appear in the menu's command line (e.g. :XX), with no run-time support. We recommend that you replace the use of these parameters with other code/methods for achieving the same results.

Form generation with preserve layout option is not possible when there are sub-components (bug 1317873)

Generation preserving layout does not work with sub-components.

Names of tables, unique names

The Generator requires that the names of tables and their keys be unique within the first 21 characters. The table names are used to create names for program units, which are limited to 30 chars.

The generator prepends the following example text when naming program units to support various areas of functionality:

     CGRI$CHK_table_name or CGRI$DEL_table_name

Generate Preserve Layout does not support Blocks on Tabs layout functionality

It is not possible to preserve layout when modifications are made because the inclusion and dimensions of one block affect the sequence and dimensions of the others. If a form with Blocks on Tabs is generated in preserve layout mode, it may not run correctly. An alternative is to modify the form by hand, capture the design back to the repository and generate again.

Object Library Names

The standard object libraries shipped with Oracle Form Generator have not changed names between releases 6i and 9i. A form generated with release 6i may not compile if compiled with the 9i object library (and vice versa). This may cause confusion if a user has .FMB files generated from both these releases in one area.

Preferences ITMMPW and ITMPPE

The preferences ITMMPW (minimum permitted width) and ITMPPE (permitted percentage expansion) are now applied to block titles, so if they are set at module or module component level they may add extra room to existing titles potentially changing the layout.

Web PL/SQL Generator

DAD (database access descriptor) configuration for Web PL/SQL generated modules with Single Sign On (bug 2288798)

Even though the WSGSSO package provides SSO authentication to your WSG applications, the DAD used to access your generated applications should use "Basic Authentication" as its authentication mode.

This is because generated applications using the WSGSSO security package cooperate with the SSO server for authentication, but still use their own set of user and responsibility tables.

Note: For information on how to set up DADs, refer to the Oracle9i Application Server administration documentation.

Report Generator, Design Capture and Application Logic Capture

Reports generation fails if the definition contains any drill down navigation (bug 2142829)

Problem

If the report definition contains any drill down navigation, the generated report contains a hyperlink referencing a webserver named "unknown.server".

Cause

The report generator is unaware of the webserver.

Workaround

Enter the identity of the reports runtime webserver in the report generator preference WEBSRV.

The form of a typical value for this preference is as follows:

"myserver.uk.oracle.com:8888"

Report generation may fail when attempted from the batch generation tool (bug 2106132)

Problem

You cannot generate reports from the batch generation tool if forms are also generated in the same batch.

Workaround

Generate Reports and Forms separately.

Report Generator restriction on module short name and implementation name

Currently there is a restriction imposed by the Report Generator on the module short name and implementation name which means they cannot contain any spaces. This causes generation to fail with the following error :

CGEN-03448 ERROR: Module: Name is not a valid Oracle name; try 'module_name'

where module_name is the name of the module without spaces.

The workaround is to make sure that the module short name and implementation name do not contain spaces.

Restriction in capturing ORDER BY sequences of items

The design capture tool does not support capturing of ORDER BY sequences where the syntax is based on a number relating to the item order in the select statement, e.g.:

         select empno, deptno, job from emp order by 2;

Here the ORDER BY sequence is based on deptno; however it will not be recovered.

If the select statement is in the following syntax the ORDER BY information will be recovered:

        select empno, deptno, job from emp order by deptno;

Do not modify generated tags prior to application logic recovery

Report Generator includes a tag in a generated program unit to identify the repository element for which the event or named routine was defined. When capturing application logic, Report Generator uses this tag to associate application logic with the correct repository element.

If you modify or remove the tag and attempt to capture the application logic, Report Generator is unable to identify the repository element associated with the captured application logic. Report Generator therefore associates the captured application logic with a repository window definition.

If you intend to capture a generated program unit, do not modify or remove the tag embedded in generated program units.

Hint: If you intend to add user application logic using Report Builder, we recommend that you create a skeletal event code segment or named routine for the appropriate repository element. When you generate the report, Report Generator will generate the code and include a valid tag. You can then use Report Builder to modify the code. During design capture, Report Generator will capture the application logic and use the tag to assign it to the correct Repository element. If you do not define the application logic in the Repository to begin with, a valid tag will not exist and Report Generator will capture the application logic and associate it with the window definition.

Indication of modified generated application logic

You can modify generated application logic in Report Builder. To retain this modified application logic during subsequent generations, you must capture it into the repository. By default, Report Generator does not capture generated application logic unless you indicate that you have modified it.

To indicate that you have modified generated application logic, add one or more alpha-numeric characters (not a space) between the comment symbol (--) and the start of the generated tag.

For example, the line containing the generated tag might appear as follows:

        --  CG$PV0001.5642752

To indicate that you have changed this application logic and that it is to be captured, you might change the tag as follows:

        -- modified CG$PV0001.5642752

Header and footer sections in reports templates no longer available (bug 1386933)

Problem:

Up to Designer 2.1.2 you could apply header, body and trailer templates to Reports. However, because of the changed functionality of Oracle Reports 6.0 onwards you can no longer use templates on report headers and trailers.

Workaround:

None.

Report generation fails if attempted twice in the same session (bug 1377132)

Problem:

You can successfully generate a report the first time in a session, however sometimes if you try to generate it again in the same session generation fails with a DCF-21600 error message.

Workaround:

Restart the Design Editor each time you want to generate the same report.

Server Generator

Not all features are suitable for generating to all databases

Oracle Designer allows you to model many sophisticated database features. However, not all of these can be implemented in every database type. If you generate a feature that is not supported by your chosen database type, you will see an error message.

Default values for columns cannot be derived from user-defined functions (bug 2030889)

Oracle Database does not allow the default value for a column to be derived from a user-defined function. In the Design Editor, if you create a table with such a column, the table is created without any apparent error, but while generating the design to the database, the generator fails, stating that user-defined functions are not allowed as default values.

Attribute types not supported by Oracle Database

The following attribute types that are supported in Oracle Designer are not supported in Oracle Database:

ROWID

LONG

LONG RAW

NVARCHAR2

UROWID

If you try to generate a definition to the database that includes any of the listed attribute types, generation will fail.

ODBC drivers for Server Generator

To connect to an Oracle Rdb database you will need to install the Oracle ODBC driver for Rdb, using the Custom Installation/Deinstallation facility in Oracle Installer.

To connect to Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, use the Microsoft SQL Server ODBC driver that is supplied with the SQL Server 7.0 client software. (Server Generator has been tested with SQLSVR32.DLL version 3.70.06.23).

When specifying the logon details for an IBM DB2/MVS v5 ODBC connection, the username must be entered in uppercase to be able to see any objects for a server model capture. (Bug 1314224 refers.)

When connecting to DB2/MVS v5, use the IBM DB2 ODBC driver to connect. (Bug 1314307 refers.)

Server Generator provides connections to online databases using either ODBC or Oracle Net8.

During testing it has been found that using an old driver designed for an earlier version of an RDBMS can produce unpredictable behavior, such as a failure to recognize legitimate types or syntactic constructs introduced with the newer RDBMS.

Note: For connections other than those described above, you will need to obtain ODBC drivers from a specialist supplier. Such drivers are no longer supplied with Oracle Designer.

Using Server Generator with a Sybase System 11 database

A patch from Sybase (ref. EBF 7704) must be applied to Sybase clients before attempting access to Sybase System 11 databases for generation or capture. If this patch is not applied, the Design Editor can terminate unexpectedly.

Capture of PL/SQL from file is case sensitive

Problem:

When you capture PL/SQL from a file, the text must be upper case otherwise Design Editor GPFs. This only applies to capture from a file; capture from a database is not case sensitive.

Workaround:

Change the PL/SQL text from lower case to upper case.

Reconcile report shows differences between the database value and the repository value (bug 1392795)

Problem:

When you generate an object type with a method to the database and then generate exactly the same object type and method to the database again, the reconcile report shows differences between the database value and the repository value. This is because DDL is generated the second time, although it should not be because the object type has not changed.

Workaround:

None. You can ignore the findings of the reconcile report.

Server Generator and Oracle 8.1.6 Standard Edition (bug 1363298)

Server Generator does not support execution of DDL for:

because the Standard Edition does not support these features.

For further information refer to the the Oracle 8i documentation, in particular the feature matrix in chapter 5 of Getting to Know Oracle 8i.

When Stop on Error is checked before generation to database, the Server Generator still attempts to generate TAPI (bug 1266772)

Problem:
When the Stop on Error option is checked and the Server Generator encounters an error when generating to a database, TAPI is still generated.

Workaround:
None.

Cannot capture an object with reserved words in quotes (bug 1256990)

If you try to capture an object that contains Oracle reserved words in quotation marks, e.g. "USER", the capture fails with the error message CDS-15007.

Workaround:

None.

Generate Distributed Capabilities Doesn't Work (bug 771052)

Problem:
Server Generator does not generate synonyms that reference objects across database links. Therefore the Generate Distributed Capability check box on the Database Generator Options dialog box has no effect.

Workaround:
None.

Replication Group Generation From Design Editor Doesn't Generate Correct Files (bug 675058)

Problem:
Server Generator does not generate code for Master Replication Groups or Replicated Groups. Therefore the Generate Replication Statements check box on the Generate Database Administration Objects dialog box, and the Assign Objects to Replication Code check box on the Database Generator Options dialog box, have no effect.

Workaround:
None.

It is possible to open the same server model diagram twice (bug 641532)

Problem:
The same server diagram can be open any number of times in the server diagrammer in the Design Editor.

Workaround:
Open each diagram only once.

Repository Reports

Unable to run Repository Reports using Netscape as the default browser (bug 2140701)

You cannot currently use Netscape to view Repository Reports. You should use Internet Explorer instead.

Default date format

The following situations are all resolved by explicitly setting the default date format to 'DD-MON-YYYY'. To do so, choose Options > General Settings in the Design Editor or Repository Object Navigator and enter this value in the Date Format field.

Matrix Diagrammer

Matrix Diagrammer: invoking the VHV from a matrix diagram

When you try to start the VHV from a matrix diagram the first time, the following error is displayed:

CDR-03103: Attempted Diff/Merge but ran out of memory. 

The workaround is to invoke the VHV from elsewhere in Designer.

Matrix Diagrammer: some element types cannot be created, updated, deleted or versioned

Using Matrix Diagrammer, you cannot create, update, delete or version containers, workareas or configurations. Also, you cannot create or delete configuration memberships between elements and configurations.

The workaround is to use the Repository Object Navigator to perform these operations.

Matrix Diagrammer GPFs when the intersection if a foreign key (bug 1456480)

When the intersection is a foreign key, for example if you select Table Definition vs Relational Definition, the Matrix Diagrammer GPFs. It works correctly when the intersection is not a foreign key.

Accessibility issues

General (bug 2023560)

In Microsoft Windows 2000, mnemonics (the underscores that indicate a shortcut) do not appear in a dialog or menu in Oracle Designer until the ALT key has been pressed. (See also bugs 1522303 and 1962540. )

Form Generator (bug 2055467)

Problem

There is limited keyboard access to generated navigation action items.

Workaround

Set the focus on action items by using the menu option Block > Next. Then press enter to select.

Repository Reports (bug 1549890)

Problem

When using the Repository Reports navigator, and when the focus is moved between different nodes, JAWS sometimes reads out inappropriate prose.

Workaround

This problem will not occur if the navigator is not accessed using the mouse.

Design Editor (bug 1549933)

Problem

When using the navigator in the Design Editor, pressing INSERT+UP ARROW sometimes causes JAWS to behave inappropriately.

Workaround

This problem will not occur if the navigator is not accessed using the mouse.

Other problems and restrictions

Unable to connect to VHV, VEV, Dependency Manager and Compare utilities when client and repository are on same machine (bug 2028385)

Problem

If you are using the Repository Object Navigator and are connected to a repository on the default database of the local machine (i.e. connected as repos/manager with no connect identifier specified), you will not be able to invoke the VHV, VEV, Dependency Manager and Compare utilities.

The following error will be displayed:

CDR-03120 : Internal Error - Problem making a repository connection.

The Command Line Tool will invoke and immediately close down. If you invoke the Command Line Tool directly and try to connect to a repository on the default database of the local machine you will get a Java error.

Workaround

Connect to the repository on the default database of the local machine by specifying a Net8 alias e.g. repos/manager@local, where local has been set up as an alias or Net8 connect identifier for the local database by Net8 Configuration.

Changing connection and invoking the VHV gives database connection lost error (bug
2028599)

Problem

In the Repository Object Navigator, the database connection can be lost if the user changes
connection prior to invoking the Version History Viewer. The error given is 'CDR-03120: Internal
Error: Problem making Repository connection'.

Workaround

Close the Repository Object Navigator and re-invoke it with the desired connection before invoking
the Version History Viewer.

ORA-12514 Message not found

In some circumstances message ORA-12514 is displayed without its intended text.

Intended text of message:
ORA-12514 : TNS:listener could not resolve SERVICE_NAME given in connect descriptor

Cause:
The SERVICE_NAME in the CONNECT_DATA was not found in the listener's tables.

Action:
Check to make sure that the SERVICE_NAME specified is correct.

Comment:
This error will be returned if the database instance has not registered with the listener; the instance may need to be started.

Export of repository data requires appropriate version of Import and Export utilities in different Oracle home

If you wish to export any repository data, you must install and use the appropriate version of the Oracle 8i Import and Export utilities (IMP & EXP) against your repository. That is, you must use the 8.1.6 utilities for an 8.1.6 database and the 8.1.7 utilities for an 8.1.7 database. These utilities must not be installed into the same Oracle home as Oracle Repository.

Limitations when using Oracle Designer/Oracle Developer Automation

In some circumstances, you may not be able to get an instance of the Form Builder tool running from the Design Editor. For example, if you click on the action item list, after generation of a form, and choose the option to run Form Builder, nothing happens, i.e. the Form Builder tool does not open.

In this case, you should change the following entry in the registry file from:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{4271DF00-B54A-11CF-864B-0020AF1D40D7}\LocalServe ifbld60.exe /AUTOMATION

to

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{4271DF00-B54A-11CF-864B-0020AF1D40D7}\LocalServe <ORACLE_HOME>\ifbld60.exe /AUTOMATION

Generating forms in non-English environments

After generating a form in a non-English Oracle Designer environment, you will need to compile and run the form externally using Oracle Developer.

Screen resolution types

Oracle Designer can be run under SVGA (recommended) or VGA.

System font size

We recommend that you set the system font size to Small Fonts (Control Panel > Display > Settings > Font Size).

SQL or PL/SQL reserved words

It is possible to create instances of elements with names that are SQL or PL/SQL reserved words. Users should beware of this where these element names are likely to be used in SQL or PL/SQL statements. Also, if a systems modeling element is created with a name that is a SQL or PL/SQL reserved word, it may not be possible to transform it into a systems design element.

Model diagrams and files no longer supplied

Previous releases of Oracle Designer have included printed diagrams of the repository model, together with .DAT and .DMP export files of the model schema. These diagrams and files are no longer supplied. However, model element definition and API information is available from the Start menu (Start > Programs > Oracle Repository 6i doc > API and Model Reference Guide).

Wizard cancel button not implemented (bug 1289213)

When you initiate an action that is likely to take a while to complete, such as creating configurations, creating and refreshing workareas, or importing and exporting data, the relevant Wizard will display a dialog box that shows the progress of the operation.

Note that the Cancel button on the progress dialog box is not implemented; therefore you will not be able to cancel one of these operations while they are in progress. Also note that if you do choose the Cancel button on the progress dialog box, a message will be displayed to indicate that the operation is being canceled. Ignore this message.

In a future release, support for canceling these operations will be added or the Cancel button will be removed.

 



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