6
Deploying Forms to the Web

6.1 Introduction

This chapter contains information about deploying Oracle Forms applications to the Web. After you have configured Form Services, you can deploy your executable files and broadcast your application's URL. For information about configuring Form Services, see Chapter 5, "Configuring Form Services".

6.2 Deploying a Forms Application

To deploy a Forms application, take these steps:

• Create your runtime executable files.

• Deploy the executable files on your server.

• Broadcast your application's URL.

6.2.1 Creating your Runtime Executable Files

You must create the .FMX runtime executable files on the same platform as the application server on which you will deploy them.

For example, if your application server's operating system is Sun Solaris, you must use the Solaris version of the Forms Compiler component to create the .FMX files for deployment on the Web.

To compile .FMX files for the Sun Solaris operating system, use the following f60genm command line:

f60genm module=mymodule.fmb userid=scott/tiger

For more information about the forms compiler options, refer to the online help.

6.2.2 Deploying the Executable Files on Your Server

You can deploy your Forms application executables from any directory on your server. This directory must be specified in the FORMS60_PATH environment variable.

6.2.3 Broadcasting the Application's URL

To broadcast an application's URL, all you need to do is let your intended users know what it is. Users can contact the URL with their Java-enabled Web browser and run the corresponding application. If you created an HTML page for your application, then the URL you give to users should simply point to that page.

For example, to announce the availability of its new Order Tracking application, ABC Corp. might broadcast the following URL:

http://www.abc.com:80/servlet/f60servlet?config=order

Note: Use "https" rather than "http" if you are running in HTTPS mode. (This is optional for Oracle JInitiator.)

ABC's URL consists of the following components:

• Protocol: http (or https)

• Domain: www.abc.com

• Web server listener port: 80 (implicit)

• Forms Servlet: /servlet/f60servlet

• Special configuration set up in formsweb.cfg: config=order

If you created special configurations in the formsweb.cfg file as described in Section 5.5.2.1, "Creating special configurations in formsweb.cfg", the end-user launches the application as follows:

http://server:port/servlet/f60servlet?config=specialConfigName

(for a servlet configuration)

http://myhost.mydomain.com/dev60cgi/ifcgi60.exe?config=specialConfigName

(for a CGI configuration on NT)

6.2.4 Servlet Error Log

If you are using the Forms Servlet implementation, any configuration errors in the formsweb.cfg and FormsServlet.initArgs files are logged to the jserv.log file. This file is located in <ORACLE_HOME>/apache/Jserv/logs.

6.3 What's Next

After you deploy your executable files on the Web server and broadcast the application's URL, you will want to test and optimize your applications from within a Web browser.

Refer to Chapter 7, "Application Design Considerations" for guidelines and tips on designing Forms applications for Web deployment.

Refer to Chapter 11, "Performance Tuning Considerations" for more information about tuning considerations when you deploy an application over the Internet or other network environment using Form Services.