Oracle Forms Demos Install Guide

Introduction

This document contains the steps to install the Oracle Forms Demos into your environment.  The Forms Demos contain sample applications designed to show various features of Forms.  The original source code is included so they can serve as a basis from which you may utilize the same features in your applications.

Currently, you will need to follow the manual steps in this guide to install the Forms Demos.  In a future release, a script or installation program will be supplied to minimize the number of manual steps needed.

Contents

Prerequisites

Conventions

Installation

  1 Copy the staging area

  2 Install the demo data
    2a Modify the database scripts
    2b Run the database scripts
    2c Verify the demo data

  3 Modify the OC4J configuration
    3a Modify orion-web.xml
    3b Modify web.xml
    3c Verify the changes

  4 Modify the Forms configuration file
    4a Add application sections
    4b Modify variables

  5 Add the HTML files and the Forms demo environment file
    5a Copy the files
    5b Modify the Forms demo environment file
    5c Check the length of FORMS_PATH

  6 Install the Demo Web Service
    6a Make sure OC4J is started
    6b Install the Web Service
    6c Verify the Web Service Installation

  7 Run the demos

Appendix 1 - Starting OC4J

Version: 10.1.2.0.2

The version number shown here is for the Forms Demos as a whole, and is not connected to the version of any particular Oracle software.  As new demos get added over time the Forms Demos package will be updated, along with the version number.  That way, in the future if you download the Forms Demos again, you can compare the version number to see if there have been any changes.

Feedback

Please feel free to provide feedback on your experience with the Forms Demos on the Forms forum on OTN:

http://otn.oracle.com/discussionforums/forms.html

Prerequisites

These demos are intended to be installed on Windows NT, 2000, or XP only.

You must have the following installed and working before you start:

Installing into Oracle Application Server 10g (10.1.2.0.2) or on Other Platforms

Future releases of these Forms Demos will be installable into an Oracle Application Server or into an Oracle Developer Suite home on a non-Windows platform.  Keep checking http://otn.oracle.com/sample_code/products/forms/index.html for updates.

Conventions

%STAGE_HOME% represents the location where you unzipped the Forms Demos (and from where you're probably reading this guide).  Wherever you see %STAGE_HOME% in this guide, you should replace it with location of where you unzipped the Forms Demos.  e.g. C:\Temp\OracleDemos.

%ORACLE_HOME% represents the location where Oracle Developer Suite is installed (or Oracle Application Server if you are installing into that).  Wherever you see %ORACLE_HOME% in this guide, you should replace it with your Oracle Home. e.g. C:\Oracle\ids10112.

Installation

Follow these steps to install the Forms Demos.

1 Copy the staging area

Copy %STAGE_HOME%\demos to %ORACLE_HOME%\forms.

Make sure you copy the directory itself, not just the contents.  You want to end up with %ORACLE_HOME%\forms\demos, including all of its contents.

2 Install the demo data

2a Modify the database scripts

Before installing the database components, the scripts need to be modified for your environment.

Using a text editor, open the following file:

%ORACLE_HOME%\forms\demos\sql\demoinstall.bat

Near the top of the file are several variables whose values you should set:

There are comments for each variable to help you.  Be sure to save the file before continuing.

2b Run the database scripts

This step will install the database components of the demos.

Run %ORACLE_HOME%\forms\demos\sql\demoinstall.bat from the command line, or by double-clicking it in Windows Explorer.  There may be warnings or errors.  This often happens when the database scripts delete an object before creating it.  When the scripts are run for the first time, there are no objects to delete which results in error messages.  These errors and warnings be ignored.

2c Verify the demo data

If you would like to verify that the scripts worked, you can run the following commands and see if you got the same results.  (Replace DB_NAME with the name of your database.)

3 Modify the OC4J Configuration

3a Modify orion-web.xml

This step will create the virtual directories and servlet mappings for the HTTP listener, which are used by the demos.

Using a text editor, open the following file:

%ORACLE_HOME%\j2ee\DevSuite\application-deployments\forms\formsweb\orion-web.xml

Add the following lines within the <orion-web-app> tags, making sure to replace %ORACLE_HOME% with the correct value:

<classpath path="%ORACLE_HOME%/forms/java/frmjdapi.jar" />
<classpath path="%ORACLE_HOME%\forms\demos/metadatabrowser/classes" />
<virtual-directory virtual-path="/formsdemo" real-path="%ORACLE_HOME%\forms\demos" />

To be sure you have the placement correct, your file should look something like the following:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE orion-web-app PUBLIC "-//ORACLE//DTD OC4J Web Application 9.04//EN" "http://xmlns.oracle.com/ias/dtds/orion-web-9_04.dtd">

<orion-web-app
deployment-version="10.1.2.0.2"
jsp-cache-directory="./persistence"
temporary-directory="./temp"
servlet-webdir="/servlet/"
>
  <context-param-mapping name="configFileName">c:\oracle\ids1012/forms/server/formsweb.cfg</context-param-mapping>
  <virtual-directory virtual-path="/html" real-path="c:\oracle\ids1012/tools/web/html" />
  <virtual-directory virtual-path="/java" real-path="c:\oracle\ids1012/forms/java" />
  <virtual-directory virtual-path="/jinitiator" real-path="c:\oracle\ids1012/jinit" />
  <session-tracking cookies="disabled" />
  <!-- Uncomment this element to control web application class loader behavior.
  <web-app-class-loader search-local-classes-first="true" include-war-manifest-class-path="true" />
  -->

  <classpath path="c:\oracle\ids1012/forms/java/frmjdapi.jar" />
  <classpath path="c:\oracle\ids1012\forms\demos/metadatabrowser/classes" />
  <virtual-directory virtual-path="/formsdemo" real-path="c:\oracle\ids1012\forms\demos" />


</orion-web-app>

3b Modify web.xml

Using a text editor, open the following file:

%ORACLE_HOME%\forms\j2ee\formsapp\formsweb\WEB-INF\web.xml

Find where this text is located:

<servlet>
  <servlet-name>lservlet</servlet-name>
  <servlet-class>oracle.forms.servlet.ListenerServlet</servlet-class>
</servlet>

and put the following text after it:

<!-- Forms JDAPI Metadata Browser Servlet -->
<servlet>
  <servlet-name>FormsBrowser</servlet-name>
  <servlet-class>oracle.forms.jdapi.util.FormsBrowser</servlet-class>
</servlet>

You should end up with the following:

<servlet>
  <servlet-name>lservlet</servlet-name>
  <servlet-class>oracle.forms.servlet.ListenerServlet</servlet-class>
</servlet>

<!-- Forms JDAPI Metadata Browser Servlet -->
<servlet>
  <servlet-name>FormsBrowser</servlet-name>
  <servlet-class>oracle.forms.jdapi.util.FormsBrowser</servlet-class>
</servlet>

In the same file, now find the following text:

<servlet-mapping>
  <servlet-name>lservlet</servlet-name>
  <url-pattern>/lservlet*</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

and put the following text after it:

<servlet-mapping>
  <servlet-name>FormsBrowser</servlet-name>
  <url-pattern>/FormsBrowser*</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

You should end up with the following:

<servlet-mapping>
  <servlet-name>lservlet</servlet-name>
  <url-pattern>/lservlet*</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
<servlet-mapping>
  <servlet-name>FormsBrowser</servlet-name>
  <url-pattern>/FormsBrowser*</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

3c Verify the changes

Start OC4J.  If you're not sure how to do that, refer to Appendix 1 for instructions.  If OC4J was already running when you made these changes then you need to restart it first.

Once OC4J is running (or re-started), enter the following URL, replacing <host> and <port> with the correct values:

http://<host>:<port>/forms/formsdemo/images/tick.gif

If you are using Oracle Developer Suite, the URL might look like this:

http://127.0.0.1:8889/forms/formsdemo/images/tick.gif

You should see this image:

4  Modify the Forms configuration file

4a Add application sections

Using a text editor, open both of the following files:

%ORACLE_HOME%\forms\demos\install\formswebDemos.cfg
%ORACLE_HOME%\forms\server\formsweb.cfg

Copy-and-paste the entire contents of formswebDemos.cfg to the end of formsweb.cfg.  That is, you are essentially appending formswebDemos.cfg to formsweb.cfg.

4b  Modify variables

Some of the parameters from the previous step need to be modified for your environment.  Do a global search-and-replace for the following in %ORACLE_HOME%\forms\server\formsweb.cfg:

What to search for... What to replace it with...
%ORACLE_HOME% The same value that you are using for %ORACLE_HOME% in this document, as detailed in the Conventions section.
%DB_NAME% The connect string for the database where you installed the demo components in step 2 Install the demo data.
%JSPELL_HOST% OPTIONAL. The machine hosting the JSpell server.  This is only needed if you intend to run the JSpell demo, which requires extra configuration because it uses third party software.  Refer to the JSpell Demo Doc for more information.

There are several occurrences of %ORACLE_HOME% and %DB_NAME% so be sure you replaced them all.

5 Add the HTML files and the Forms demo environment file

5a Copy the files

Copy the following files to %ORACLE_HOME%\forms\server:

%STAGE_HOME%\install\formsdemo.env
%STAGE_HOME%\install\demobase.html
%STAGE_HOME%\install\demobaseie.html
%STAGE_HOME%\install\demobasejini.html
%STAGE_HOME%\install\demobasejpi.htm

5b Modify the Forms demo environment file

Using a text editor, open the Forms demo environment file:

%ORACLE_HOME%\forms\server\formsdemo.env

Do a global search-and-replace for the following:

What to search for... What to replace it with...
%ORACLE_HOME% The same value that you are using for %ORACLE_HOME% in this document, as detailed in the Conventions section.

There are many instances of %ORACLE_HOME% so be sure that you replaced them all.

5c Check the length of FORMS_PATH

Windows restricts the length of environment variables, so the maximum length of the FORMS_PATH environment variable is 512 characters.  If your %ORACLE_HOME% was already long, then this could make your FORMS_PATH too long.  In that case, make your FORMS_PATH as long as possible, but less than 512 characters, and put the rest of the environment variable in the ORACLE_PATH environment variable.

6 Install the Demo Web Service

6a Make sure OC4J is started

Start OC4J.  If you're not sure how to do this, refer to the instructions in Appendix 1.

6b Install the Web Service

From a DOS window, run the following command.

%ORACLE_HOME%\forms\demos\install\installwebservice.bat %ORACLE_HOME%

Make sure you replace both instances of %ORACLE_HOME% in the above statement with the correct value (see the Conventions section).

Note: If your %ORACLE_HOME% has spaces then you will need to edit installwebservice.bat in a text editor before running it.  Modify the set and if lines to something like the following:

set OHOME="c:\My Programs\oracle\ids10g"

REM if "%OHOME%"=="" goto ERROR

Note: The installwebservice.bat assumes that you used the default port and administrator username and password for O4CJ.  If you have changed any of those then you will need to modify the batch script accordingly.  For the RMI port, look in

%ORACLE_HOME%\j2ee\DevSuite\config\rmi.xml

Then you can modify installwebservice.bat with the correct RMI port number.

6c Verify the Web Service Installation

To verify that the intallation of the Web Service worked, enter the following URL, replacing <host> and <port> with the correct values:

http://<host>:<port>/demowebservice/Forms90CurrencyConverter

If you are using Oracle Developer Suite, the URL might look like this:

http://127.0.0.1:8889/demowebservice/Forms90CurrencyConverter

Note: this URL is case sensitive

You should see a web page with some information about the Currency Converter Web Service:

7 Run the demos

Make sure OC4J is running and enter the following URL, replacing <host> and <port> with the correct values:

http://<host>:<port>/forms/formsdemo/demos.html

If you are using Oracle Developer Suite, the URL might look like this:

http://127.0.0.1:8889/forms/formsdemo/demos.html

Alternatively, you can double-click the following file to launch the demos:

%ORACLE_HOME%\forms\demos\launchdemos.html

Appendix 1 - Starting OC4J

From the Windows Start Menu, choose Programs -> Oracle Developer Suite - xxx -> Forms Developer -> Start OC4J Instance, where xxx is the name of your Oracle Home when you installed iDS.

(This menu icon is just a shortcut which runs %ORACLE_HOME%\j2ee\DevSuite\startinst.bat.  You can run this manually in a DOS window if you like.)

You know it has successfully started when it says Oracle Application Server Containers for J2EE 10g (10.1.2.0.2) initialized.  When you initially run OC4J there may be a delay for a few moments as everything unpacks and initializes.