Oracle Forms 12c

Browser Alternatives

Michael Ferrante
Principal Product Manager
Application Development Tools
November 2016

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Safe Harbor Statement
The following is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for
information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a
commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon
in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or
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Program Agenda

1 Browser Concerns
2 Configurations with Browsers
3 Configurations without Browsers
4 Oracle Forms Features Session
5 Contact Information

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End-User Tier
Browser concerns

• Browser vendors dropping support for plug-ins.

• Google Chrome: September 2015
• Mozilla Firefox: March 2017 (Early 2018 in ESR)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer: October 2020 (Extended Support October 2025)
• Apple Safari: Unknown
• Application compatibility within various browsers.
• Compatibility between browser versions, plugin, and operating systems.
• Security concerns. Browsers, Java Plugin, and combinations of versions.

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Client Deployment Configurations
From browser to browser-less

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Browser Configurations
• Applet embedded in HTML
– Default configuration.
– Supports SSO, SSO Logout, and JS.
– Integration with HTML applications.
– Requires browser and Java Plugin (JRE).
• JNLP embedded in HTML
– Supports SSO, SSO Logout, and JS.
– Base64 encodes client side JNLP code.
• Improved startup performance.
• Obfuscates browser “View Source”
– Integration with HTML applications.
– Requires browser and Java Plugin (JRE).

Browser Java Plugin

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HTML – End-User Source View

Traditional Applet Embedded JNLP

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Browser-less Configurations
• Java Web Start (JWS) • Forms Standalone Launcher (FSAL)
– Limited SSO support (requires browser). – Does not support browser.
– Does not support SSO Logout or JS. – Does not support SSO, SSO Logout or JS.
– Browser optional (required for SSO). – Launched from command line.
– Client Java (choose one): – Client Java (choose one):
• Java Plugin • Java Plugin (JRE)
• Java Development Kit (JDK) • Java Development Kit (JDK)
• Server JRE

REQUIRED (choose one) REQUIRED (choose one)

• Java Plugin (JRE) OPTIONAL • Java Plugin (JRE)
• Java Development Kit (JDK) • Browser • Java Development Kit (JDK)
• Server JRE

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Using JWS
• Called from most browsers or hyperlink using either http or jnlp protocol.
• Called from command line, script, shortcut, or custom executable.
• Can be run using these Oracle Java distributions: JRE (Plugin) and JDK

JNLP/JNLPS requires Java 8u92 or newer

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Oracle Forms and Microsoft Edge Oracle Forms and Google Chrome

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JWS - Install App

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Java Network Launch Protocol
<jnlp spec="1.0" codebase="http://example.com:9001/forms/java/">
<information>
<title>Oracle Forms Services</title>
<vendor>Oracle Corporation</vendor>
<homepage href="http://www.oracle.com"/>
<description>Oracle Forms Services applet launcher.</description>
<description kind="short">Oracle Forms Applet</description>
</information>
<security>
<all-permissions/>
</security>
<update check="always" policy="prompt-run"/>
<resources>
<java href="http://java.sun.com/products/autodl/j2se" version="1.7+"/>
<javafx-runtime version="2.2+"/>
<jar href=http://example.com:9001/forms/java/frmall.jar " download="eager" main="true"/>
<extension href="http://example.com:9001/forms/java/extensions.jnlp" name="Extensions"/>
</resources>
<applet-desc name="Oracle Forms" main-class="oracle.forms.engine.Main" width="1" height="1">
<param name="width" value="902"/>
<param name="recordFileName" value=""/>
<param name="height" value="705"/>
<param name="disableMDIScrollbars" value=""/>
<param name="digitSubstitution" value="context"/>
...
...

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JWS/JNLP - More Information

Java Network Launch Protocol

https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/deployment/deploymentInDepth/jnlp.html

http://bit.ly/2emxed8

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Using FSAL
• Called from command line, script, shortcut, or custom executable.
• Can be run using any Oracle Java SE distribution (JRE, JDK, Server JRE).
• Requires small launcher file (frmsal.jar) on the user’s machine.

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 Download Link

http://example.com:9001/forms/html/fsal.htm

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Things To Know About FSAL
• Uses “java” command to start launcher.
– Refer to the java documentation for available extra arguments.
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/tools/windows/java.html
• Launcher does not provide file based logging. Output is sent to shell that
starts FSAL. Redirect output to file as needed.
java –jar frmsal.jar –url “http://example.com/forms/frmservlet?config=standaloneapp” > c:\fsal.txt

• WEB.SHOW_DOCUMENT is supported.
• To use SSL, needed certificates must be imported into the keystore of the
java instance being used to run FSAL.

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Java - More Information

Java Command
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/tools/windows/java.html

http://bit.ly/2emv3Gs

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Browser-less Settings
• alwaysOnTop
– Forces the Forms window to remain on top of all other desktop windows.
• centerOnStartup
– Centers Forms MDI parent window on screen upon application startup.
• isResizable
– When set to FALSE, the Forms MDI parent window cannot be resized by the user.

Requires 12.2.1.1 or newer.

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Oracle Forms 12c Client Deployment Options
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/forms/documentation

As of September 2016

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Contact and Community Information
• Oracle Forms on Oracle Technology Network
oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/forms

• Oracle Technology Network Forms Forum

community.oracle.com/community/development_tools/forms

• Oracle Support
support.oracle.com

• Follow us on Twitter
@OracleFormsPM

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