Oracle Forms Builder running forms only over a server

Question

I had taken over an old Oracle-based system at work. Originally, the previous developer built the forms and reports using Oracle Forms and Reports 6. I somehow managed to install that suite on my Windows 10 PC. I remember I was able to easily 'run' the form for debugging/testing purposes directly.

My PC crashed recently and I took a big loss on data including the working setup for Oracle 6. I have now installed the latest Oracle® Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.3.0). After running into many issues, I finally managed to make it install, configure, and run properly. I can open the old forms easily now:

But there is an issue: I can no longer run the form for testing. It is trying to connect to a server instead and I get this error:

I found this URL in the preference dialog and I'm not sure why it is trying to run windows form on a server. Can the v12 not test forms like v6 used to?

What Am I missing?

Answer 1

Forms 6i was client-server (although you could have deployed it on web). Later versions (beginning with 9i, which follows 6i) are web-based only.

I don't use 12c version, but I think that you need to install WebLogic server in order to run those forms.

If you could "downgrade" to, say, 10g version, you'd run OC4J instance which allows you to run forms locally, without any kind of a server (it was the IAS, Internet Application Server in 10g).

Or, if possible, acquire the 6i Developer Suite installation CD. Note that - as it is a quite old piece of software - you might have problems running it in Windows 10 (it was never supported nor certified combination of Oracle software and operating system). In such a case, I'd install a virtual machine, put Windows XP onto it and install Forms 6i & enjoy.

Answer 2

First of all you should install a Weblogic Server. It's started running file startWebLogic.cmd installed in such C:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\domains\ClassicDomain\bin a default path for windows systems.

When this file is started to run, it prompts you for username(default weblogic unless any other defined ), and password( default Welcome1 unless any other defined ).

It's suggested to store these info in namely boot.properties file in path C:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\domains\ClassicDomain\servers\AdminServer\security by defining credentials in a text file like in the picture below :

providing startWebLogic.cmd not to prompt user for username & password

After you complete to run startWebLogic.cmd successfully, the file boot.properties is encrypted like the following :

Coming back to our original issue,

When you run your form by pressing Ctrl+R, you get FRM-10142 because of the following two cases :

1. The Weblogic Server is not running
2. The Weblogic Server is running but your port number is not truly defined in Runtime Preferences of Forms. It's mostly defined 7001 as default, in your case it's 9001. The current setting of port number can be seen from last lines of startWebLogic.cmd command's screen
   ( where you see string RUNNING provided you're successfull to run ) :

       <Mar 2, 2018 1:11:45 AM VET> <Notice> <Server> <BEA-002613> 
       <Channel "Default" is now listening on 192.168.27.1:7001 for protocols iiop, t3, ldap, snmp, http.>
       <Mar 2, 2018 1:11:45 AM VET> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000329>
       <Started WebLogic Admin Server "AdminServer" for domain "ClassicDomain" running in Production Mode>
       <Mar 2, 2018 1:11:45 AM VET> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000365>  
       <Server state changed to RUNNING>
       <Mar 2, 2018 1:11:45 AM VET> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000360>  
       <Server started in RUNNING mode>

Notice to the literals 7001 and RUNNING in the above text.