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About the Root Window

Note: the concept of a root window is no longer used in Oracle Forms Release 5 and later. However, for purposes of forward compatibility, the name ROOT_WINDOW, the associated properties and Built-ins, and the root window behavior are still supported.

A root window displays the console for the currently-active form in your application. Creating a root window in a form is optional, and is used most often in multiple-form applications (which are designed to run several form modules simultaneously).

A root window has special characteristics. In a multiple-form application, using a root window allows you to have a single window that always displays the console for the currently-active form. This is an advantage only on platforms other than Microsoft Windows, since on Microsoft Windows the console always appears on the MDI application window.

At runtime, only one root window can be displayed at a time. When several forms, each of which has a root window, are running at the same time, the result is a single root window that displays the console for whichever form is currently the active form in the application.

In addition to displaying the active form's console, the root window in a multiple-form application also displays the current form's current content canvas. As the end user navigates between open forms, the background area of the root window updates to display the canvas that is assigned to the root window in the currently active form.

In a multiple-form application, the fact that there can be only one root window displayed at a time also affects the behavior of forms that invoke other forms by executing the OPEN_FORM or CALL_FORM Built-ins. If both the called form and the calling form have a root window, and the first navigable item in the called form is on a canvas assigned to the root window, then executing OPEN_FORM or CALL_FORM causes the called form to take over the root window from the calling form.

Creating a Root Window

You create a root window by creating a default window and giving it the name ROOT_WINDOW.

For non-Microsoft Windows forms, you indicate the window on which you want the console to display by setting the Console Window form property. In a multiple-form application, you can create a root window in each form, and assign the console to it by setting the Console Window property to ROOT_WINDOW.

Due to the root window's unique characteristics, some of its properties have fixed settings. Overriding these settings in Oracle Forms has no effect on the window's runtime behavior. The properties (and their default settings) are as follows:

Displaying the Root Window

Oracle Forms displays the root window at form startup, and it remains displayed throughout the session. This is true even if the root window does not contain navigable items or even any canvases. For example, an application might use the root window only as a menu bar that displays status and message lines, and then use secondary windows to display the main application canvases.