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Upgrading from Pre-Forms6i Applications to Oracle9i Forms

About Upgrading Forms

Forms Developer is upwardly compatible with earlier versions of Oracle Forms, including Versions 3.0, 4.0, 4.5, and 5.0.

Note::

If you are migrating from older releases of Forms to Oracle9i Forms, you must first migrate your applications to Forms6i, and then migrate them to Oracle9i Forms.Note:

Before converting your forms or menus, it is recommended that you first make backup copies of all files. Once you upgrade a module, you will not be able to open it in an earlier version of Forms Developer.

Upgrading a Form

To upgrade a version 4.x or 5.x Forms application to Forms6i:

1. Start Forms6i.

2. Choose File | Open to display the file or database dialog.

3. Choose the module you want to upgrade.

4. Click OK.

5. Choose File | Save.

6. Choose Program | Compile | All to compile the newly-upgraded module.

Note:

You can also use the Forms compiler (f60genm and ifcmp60) to upgrade a Formscapplication to 6i.Note:

All form modules and libraries must be upgraded and recompiled.

To upgrade a pre-4.0 Forms application to Forms6i:

To upgrade a pre-4.0 form to Forms6i, first upgrade the form to version 4.5 (using Forms 4.5 to perform the upgrade), and then upgrade from version 4.5 to version 6i according to the instructions above.

To upgrade a pre-4.0 form to version 4.5, type this statement at the command line, substituting the correct form of the Forms 4.5 Generate command for your environment:

f45gen32 <module_name> <username>/<password> upgrade=yes version=<version_
number>

Table 16-1 Version Number for Forms 4.5 Generate Command

To upgrade from	Use this version number
Version 3.0	30
Version 2.3	23
Version 2.0	20

PL/SQL 9 Support

Stored program units can use all the new PL/SQL 9 features.

Compatibility with Earlier Versions of PL/SQL

If you have client-side program units written in PL/SQL V1 or V2, you must convert that code to the new level. The PL/SQL V1 conversion utility is provided to help automate the upgrading process.

Stored program units written in PL/SQL V2 will run against the PL/SQL V9 engine on the database server, but may compile with errors. These errors arise in some situations where there is syntax incompatibility between V2 and V9. A V2 compatibility flag in V9 database enables you to choose a V2 compatibility mode, so that the V9 engine does not issue such errors when it compiles V2 code.

Forms Developer Runtime Behavior

The default runtime behavior of forms created with Forms 5.0 through 6i differed from runtime behavior for Forms 4.5. The form-level Runtime Compatibility Mode property could be set to "4.5" to provide Forms release 4.5 behavior. (This happened by default in forms that were upgraded from Forms release 4.5.)

Starting with Oracle9i Forms Developer, 5.0 behavior is used in all cases, and the form-level property, Runtime Compatibility Mode is ignored.

If you are upgrading a form that specifies 4.5 behavior to Oracle9i Forms, you must alter the logic, as necessary, to reflect the differences between 4.5 and 5.0 behavior. See the Forms6i online help for information about the Runtime Compatibility Mode property and the differences between 4.5 and 5.0 behavior.