Creating an Integrated Database Application

1
Creating an IntegratedDatabase Application

• Chapter 8

2
Lesson A Objectives

• Understand the steps for developing a database
  application
• Design a database application interface
• Use timers in a Forms Builder application to
  create a splash screen
• Create form templates to ensure consistency
  across application modules
• Learn how to reference application components in
  an integrated database application
• Understand how to open and close form modules in
  a multiple form application
• Learn how to display a report in a database
  application

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Developing an Integrated Database Application

• Design
• Creating the specifications for the application
  components
• Module development
• Creating the individual form and report modules
• Module integration
• Integrating the individual modules into a single
  application

4
Developing an Integrated Database Application

• Testing
• Unit testing testing the individual form and
  report modules to confirm that they work
  correctly as single applications
• System testing evaluates whether the modules
  work correctly when you integrate them into the
  rest of the system
• Deployment
• Packaging the integrated modules in an
  installable format that you can deliver to
  customers

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Development Process

• Good practice to create separate form modules
• Developers can each work on part of an
  application
• Easier to work with
• Load faster in Web-based applications
• Files are integrated in project folder including
• All fmb files
• Graphic images

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Integrated Application

• Single entry point
• Single exit point
• Create a main form module
• Splash screen
• Switchboard - consists of command buttons that
  enable users to access the most commonly used
  forms and reports
• Pull-down menus

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Main Form Screen Design
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Creating a Splash Screen

• First image that appears when you run an
  application
• Displays for limited time
• Use PRE-FORM trigger to set a timer
• Switch to main window when timer finishes

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Splash Screen Sample
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Creating a Splash Screen Timer
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Ensuring a Consistent Appearance Across Form
Modules

• Forms should have consistent look, feel and
  behavior
• Template form
• Generic form that includes graphics, command
  buttons, and program units
• Store in a location that is accessible to all
  developers
• Base new forms on the template form
• Saves time
• Ensures consistent look and behavior
• To use
• Select New --gt Form Using Template from File menu
  when creating new form

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Template Form
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Visual Attribute Group

• A form object that defines object properties,
  such as text item colors, font sizes, and font
  styles
• Assigned to Visual Attribute Group property of
  form windows, canvases, and items

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Referencing Application Components

• Main form application uses program commands to
  open other form modules and to run report modules
• Application also references files that provide
  graphic image data for images

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Path Specification Approach

• Specify the complete path, including the drive
  letter and folder path, to the application file
• Works well for a development team that has
  standardized on saving all of the project files
  to a specific location on a file server
• Difficult to move the application to a different
  storage location
• Can create a global path variable
• References a text string specifying the complete
  path to the drive and folder
• Path information is stored in a single location
• Set global variable in PRE-FORM trigger

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Referencing Forms and Reports Using Module Names

• Assign a module name to the form or report in the
  Object Navigator
• Main application form can reference any form or
  report using the module name if file is stored
• In default form or report folder
• Or available on Oracle Application Server

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Opening and Closing Forms in an Integrated
Database Application

• Use built-in procedures to open one form from
  another
• Opening form is parent, new form is child

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Closing Forms
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Displaying a Report in an Integrated Database
Application

• Report displays a summary view of database data
  at a specific point in time
• Can run as stand-alone applications or appear
  within integrated database applications
• To integrate with database application
• Install and start the local report server
• Configure the main application form so it
  generates the report as an HTML file
• Display the report in a browser window

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Installing a Local Report Server

• Run an Oracle9i utility named Rwserver
• Pass parameters that instruct it to install a new
  local report server and assign a name to the
  local report server
• Installed as Windows service
• Start from control panel

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Starting Local Report Service
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Creating a Report Object

• Create a report object in the main application
  form
• Top-level Forms Builder object in the Object
  Navigator window that represents a Reports
  Builder report file
• Configure its properties using the report object
  Property Palette

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Displaying the Report Object

• Create a form trigger for the button that the
  user clicks to display the report
• Trigger contains commands
• To configure the report filename and output
  filename dynamically
• To run the report and generate an HTML output
  file
• To display the HTML file in a browser window
• 8

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Displaying the Report in a Browser Window
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Lesson B Objectives

• Learn how to create custom pull-down menus
• Understand how to display custom pull-down menus
  in form modules
• Explore how to write program commands to control
  menu items
• Learn how to create context-sensitive pop-up
  menus

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Creating Custom Pull-Down Menus

• Replace the default Forms Services pull-down menu
  choices with custom pull-down menu choices
• Create a menu module
• Independent of any specific form
• Attach the executable (.mmx) menu file to a form
  module in the form module Property Palette
• Contains one or more menu items

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Menu Components
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Creating Menus

• Use Menu Editor
• Menu code trigger performs action when menu
  selected
• Menu properties are specified on Property Palette

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Menu Item Types

• Plain
• Displays a text label and has an associated menu
  code trigger that fires when the user selects the
  menu item
• Check
• Specifies a property that users can enable or
  disable
• Radio
• Specifies a selection in a group of menu
  selections that behave like radio buttons

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Menu Item Types

• Separator
• Specifies that the menu selection appears as a
  separator bar
• Magic
• Specify that the menu selection is one of the
  following predefined magic types Cut, Copy,
  Paste, Clear, Undo, About, Help, Quit, or Window
• Have built-in functionality supplied by Forms
  Builder

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Menu Access Keys

• Pull-down menu selections have an underlined
  letter in the selection label
• Called the menu items access key
• Allows user to open or select the menu item by
  using the keyboard instead of the mouse pointer
• First letter of each menu item label is the
  default access key
• To override the default access key choice
• Type an ampersand () before the desired access
  key letter in the menu label

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Menu Code Triggers

• Perform actions like opening a form
• Cannot reference specific form items
• Right-click menu item to open PL/SQL editor

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Displaying a Menu Module in a Form

• Compile the menu module
• Attach to form
• Open the form module Property Palette
• Reference the compiled menu module file in the
  form modules Menu Module property value
• Copy the compiled menu module file to the default
  form folder

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Using Program Commands to Control Menu Items
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Using Program Commands to Control Menu Items

• To use built-ins, reference menu items using
  their system-assigned names
• Determine the system-assigned names of individual
  menu items by viewing the menu structure in the
  Object Navigator
• To dynamically change menu properties
• SET_MENU_ITEM_PROPERTY('menu_name', property,
  value)

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Menu Names
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Pop-Up Menus

• Context-sensitive menus that appear when the user
  right clicks a specific screen display item
• Top-level form objects
• Associate a pop-up menu with a specific form
  pop-up menu can appear only in that form

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Creating a Pop-Up Menu

• Create in Object Navigator
• Open in Menu Editor
• Define menu items
• Change menu labels
• Create menu code triggers

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Attaching a Pop-Up Menu to a Form Object

• Attach a pop-up menu object to a form canvas or
  to a data block item, such as a text item,
  command button, or check box
• Change the objects Popup Menu property value to
  the name of the associated pop-up menu object

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Summary

• Forms and reports can be integrated into a
  database application
• A splash screen introduces an application and
  loads a main switchboard screen with command
  buttons to access commonly used forms
• Form templates and visual attribute groups are
  used to maintain a common appearance between
  forms
• Pull-down and pop-up menus are used to launch
  windows and perform application tasks