Forms Development :

When first time working on Oracle apps forms,while opening the template.fmb ,will get lot of errors mainly related to libraries

How to set the environment in local machine? these are all we face when we are working first time?

Many of us knows template.fmb,appstand.fmb are both in au_top/forms/US

Why Oracle has provided template.fmb,appstand.fmb?
What is the role of appstand.fmb?

Template.fmb is base for creating forms in Oracle applications.standards(PropertyClasses and visual attributes are sub classed from appstand.fmb) .That's why we copy both template.fmb, appstand.fmb into one directory) in local system

What is these .plls(Program Link Library).
Lot of consultants may get doubt can we modify the these .plls Yes but it is not suggested to modify directly. create one more user defined .pll and subclass it so that sub classed .pll will get all properties of parent .pll.

Same in the case .custom.pll subclass the custom.pll and use it .instead of using seeded custom.pll

Before going deep into Oracle applications standards will explain the basics of forms

CANVASES:

Canvases are background objects on which you place the interface objects and graphic elements that end users interact with when they use a form builder application.

Types of Canvas are:

Content

Stacked

Tab

Toolbar (Horizontal or Vertical)

WINDOW:

A window is, by itself, an empty frame. Windows have a title bar and handles for interaction, allowing end users to scroll, move, and resize the window.

A windows typically contains a canvas with navigable items, and thus is invoked at runtime in response to navigation to items on that canvas.

Window styles:

Document and Dialog:

Document and dialog windows are displayed differently on window managers that support a MDI

Record Group:

A record group is an internal Form Builder data structure that has a column/row framework similar to a database table.

There are three types of record groups: query record groups, non-query record groups, and static record groups.

Query record group:A query record group is a record group that has an associated SELECT statement.

Non-query record group:A non-query record group is a group that does not have an associated query, but whose structure and values can be modified programmatically at runtime.

Non-query record groups can be created and modified only at runtime.

Static record group:A static record group is not associated with a query; instead, you define its structure and row values at design time, and they remain fixed at runtime.Static record groups can be created and modified only at design time.

Visual Attributes:

Visual attributes are the font, color, and pattern properties that you set for form and menu objects that appear in your application's interface.

Font properties: Font Name, Font Size, Font Style, Font Width, Font Weight

Property Class:

A property class is a named object that contains a list of properties and their settings. Once you create a property class you can base other objects on it. An object based on a property class can inherit the setting of any property in the class that makes sense for that object.

Alert:

An alert is a modal window that displays a message notifying the operator of some application condition.

There are three styles of alerts: Stop, Caution, and Note

OBJECT GROUP:

An object group is a container for a group of objects. You define an object group when you want to package related objects so you can copy or subclass them in another module.

Object groups provide a way to bundle objects into higher-level building blocks that can be used in other parts of an application and in subsequent development projects.

Module Types

Property Palette Features

Blocks

BLOCKS:

Blocks are logical containers for form builder items, and are the basic unit of information in a form module. a form module typically contains multiple blocks.

2 types of blocks I.e Data Block : A block which are related to Database.

Control Block : A block which are not related to Database

Creating Control Blocks:

•Select the Data Blocks node and click the Create icon.

Select Navigator—;Create.

•Select the “Build a new data block manually” option in the New Data Block dialog box.

–Invoke the property pallet for the block

–Change the name of the block to CONTROL

–Set the Database Data block property to No.

Database Properties for Data block

Use properties in the Database group to control:

•Type of block—data block or control block

•Query, insert, update, and delete operations on the data block

•Data block’s data source type and Name

•Query search criteria and sort order

•Maximum query time

•Maximum number of records fetched

Lov’s: An LOV is a scrollable popup window that provides the end user with either a single or multi-column selection list.

Editor:There are three editors that can be used at runtime: the default editor, a system editor, or a user-named editor.

Default Editor:The default editor provides standard editing features, including search/replace and cut, copy, and paste. The default editor is built into every form and is automatically available from every text item.

System Editor:If there is a system editor available, you can specify that Form Builder should use the current system editor, rather than the default editor.

User-Named Editor:A user-named editor has the same text editing functionality as the default editor, but, because it is a named object, you can specify editor attributes such as window display size, position, and title.