Oracle Forms application direction

Question

We have a big Oracle Forms 10 application and have been thinking about future direction. The choices seem to be:

• Continue development with Forms (Oracle has stated it will continue support).
• Do future development with Oracle Application Development Framework (ADF) and Oracle JDeveloper. This can co-exist with Forms.
• Migrate the whole application to a Java MVC model. There are various tools to facilitate this. Big advantages here are the fact that Java developers are easy to find and it allows us superior interfacing access via e.g. web services.

One of the driving issues for this change is that Forms developers are becoming hard to find.

Any suggestions or comments on the best way to go based on previous experience?

Answer 1

If you ask Oracle, the way to do is to use ADF and JDeveloper. This is where all of Oracle's concentration and programming effort is going. You want to review "Oracle Fusion" which is their complete interface. The reason for this is Fusion is what Oracle is using for the e-Business suite (aka Oracle Applications, the big huge run your multinational corporation software).

ADF is java, and you can use all the Java developers you want. ADF is a interface design tool which includes all of the database interaction layers as well as the UI. I've used it some, and once you get through a few conceptual hurtles, your team can be amazingly productive with it.

The other suggestion I would have, if you have a smaller Forms application, is to take a look at Oracle Application Express (APEX). It is a tool for building web applications using a web design tool (i.e. the only tool you use is the APEX interface). It uses PL/SQL for writing code, and many templates for making your application look great. I've also used this for building applications, and with no problem I've built great looking, fast executing applications in a few days.

Answer 2

I have heard of that Oracle will stop support form untill 2017, is that true?

Answer 3

no, ORACLE saying, Forms will support at least until 2017. I think, the said this in 2007 and they do not issue support statements for more then 10 years in advance. So there are very good chances that Forms will be supported mutch longer.

Answer 4

Whilst I agree with a much of Thomas Jones-Low response, in my experience I have found it depends on WHO you speak to in Oracle as to the best route for Oracle Forms Migrations.

Speak to the Forms product manager (who is also the product manager for ADF) and you will be told that ADF is the right choice for migrating your Oracle Forms applications.

Speak to the Apex Product manager and you will be reassured that Apex is not only for "small" Oracle Form migrations. In fact the ability for Apex to handle large Form migrations is also back up by a fellow SO members blog post .

The point I am trying to make is that Oracle solutions for migrating from Forms appears to be "fuzzy" at best and this "fuzziness" appears to be caused by the mixed messages from Oracle.