Preface

Welcome to Oracle Forms Developer! This document will help you get started with Forms Developer for Windows.

Prerequisites

You should be familiar with your computer and its operating system. For example, you should know the commands for deleting and copying files and understand the concepts of search paths, subdirectories, and path names. Refer to your Microsoft Windows product documentation for more information.

You should also understand the fundamentals of Microsoft Windows, such as the elements of an application window. You should also be familiar with such programs as the Explorer, Taskbar or Task Manager, and Registry.

Notational Conventions

The following typographical conventions are used in this guide:

Convention Meaning

fixed-width font

Text in a fixed-width font indicates commands that you enter exactly as shown. Text typed on a PC is not case-sensitive unless otherwise noted.
In commands, punctuation other than brackets ( [ ] ) and vertical bars ( | ) must be entered exactly as shown.

lowercase

Lowercase characters in a command statement represent a variable. Substitute an appropriate value.

UPPERCASE

Uppercase characters within the text represent command names, SQL reserved words, and keywords.

boldface

Boldface indicates user interface items, such as menu choices and buttons.

C>

C> represents the DOS prompt. Your prompt may differ.

Convention	Meaning
`fixed-width font`	Text in a fixed-width font indicates commands that you enter exactly as shown. Text typed on a PC is not case-sensitive unless otherwise noted. In commands, punctuation other than brackets ( [ ] ) and vertical bars ( \| ) must be entered exactly as shown.
lowercase	Lowercase characters in a command statement represent a variable. Substitute an appropriate value.
UPPERCASE	Uppercase characters within the text represent command names, SQL reserved words, and keywords.
boldface	Boldface indicates user interface items, such as menu choices and buttons.
C>	C> represents the DOS prompt. Your prompt may differ.

Related Publications for Installation

Before using this manual and installing the product, you should read the Release Notes. The Release Notes (included as a file on the product CD) provide late-breaking information that may be relevant to the installation process.

If you will be deploying your completed applications on the web, then you must also install the Forms Server. (Forms Server is licensed separately; a free 30-day trial is available.) The server installation is an additional step after you complete the instructions in this Getting Started manual. That additional step is described in the manual Oracle Forms Developer: Deploying Forms Applications to the Web with Oracle Forms Server, A73071.

Also included on the CD are the Oracle Reports Developer and Oracle Reports Server products (which are licensed separately). Those products have their own Getting Started manual (also included on the CD).