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This product comes with a README file that outlines how to install the kit. After performing the installation on my Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, I had to define three variables (HOMEDRIVE, HOMEPATH, and HOME) as outlined in the Windows Installation Troubleshooting section. Additionally, I had to remove the CLASSPATH variable even though the Oracle version of the README said to use it. These variables can be defined by right-clicking the My Computer icon on the Windows NT 4.0 desktop and selecting Properties from the pop-up menu. On the properties page, select the Environment tab and enter the variables. After installation, the appletviewer is started up from a Command Prompt in Windows NT by entering the command APPLETVIEWER followed by the URL of the Web page to display.

Software for the Middle or Application Server

According to the Windows NT version of the Developer 2000 documentation, the application server needs to be running either Windows NT 4.0 server and later or Sun Solaris version 2.4 and later for its operating system. Once the appropriate machine is available, the Designer 2000 products that you will be implementing need to be installed.

Next, a Web server should be loaded onto the application server. While the documentation says that Developer 2000 will support any Web server, I was informed by Oracle support that there were some bugs in the Web cartridge forms implementation when using a Web server other than Oracle's. I did successfully run the non-cartridge forms implementation with Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) Web server.

Whether you choose to load the Oracle Web server or not, you are required to load the Oracle Web Request Broker if implementing forms with the Web Cartridge. I will explain later in this chapter the difference between cartridge and non-cartridge forms implementations in the section titled Cartridge versus Non-Cartridge. One important note, when installing the Oracle Web Request Broker or Oracle Web server, you will be prompted for a configuration port (default is 9999), and a username and password. Remember the username and password for later for they will be required to enter the Web page for configuring the Oracle Web Request Broker.

Finally, if connecting to a database on another machine, the SQL*Net or other remote database access software will need to be loaded onto the application server.

Software for the Back-End or Database Server

The back-end piece may be any Oracle 7.1 or later database server or an ODBC-compliant RDBMS. If the back-end/database is on a machine other than the application server, then the necessary remote database access software will need to be installed (SQL*Net, for example).

Software Configuration Used for This Article

As mentioned before, for my experimentation for writing this chapter, I loaded all the pieces for implementing Designer 2000 forms and reports via the Web on my NT 4.0 workstation. Table 19.2 shows a breakdown of the complete configuration:

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Table 19.2 Software Configuration


Tier Component Software Installed
Front-End Operating system Windows NT v.4.0 Workstation
Web Browser Internet Explorer 3.02 (used for reports)
Appletviewer JDK v.1.1.1.o7 from Oracle (used for forms)
Middle Operating system Windows NT v.4.0 Server
Web Server Microsoft IIS and Oracle WebServer
Developer 2000 v.1.4W Forms and Reports
Other Software Oracle Web Request Broker (used for forms Cartridge)
Back-End Database Oracle Workgroup Server for Windows NT

Throughout the remainder of this chapter, configuration details will be given for the Windows NT installation. There will be references in the chapter to the ORACLE_HOME directory. This variable points to the directory into which you install the Oracle products (Developer 2000 or Web server components).

Setting Up Oracle Forms on the Web

Now comes the fun part, taking a fully developed Oracle client/server system and moving the forms to a Web server. The first step is relatively simple and mundane. Take the forms Binaries (FMX files) and move them to a directory on the Web server. The forms should be re-
generated by using the Developer 2000 v.1.4W for Windows NT version (or later) of forms before moving them to the Web server.

It would be wise to create a common forms and reports product directory into which you would copy all forms and reports that will be accessed via the Web interface. For my purposes
I created a directory called oraprod. This directory could be further subdivided into directories for each system implemented.

Next, start the Forms Server Listener process. For NT, this was installed as part of the Developer 2000 forms installation. There should be an icon in the Developer 2000 group for the Forms Server Listener. You can verify that the Forms Server Listener is started by going to the Task Manager and looking for the process F45srv32.exe.

Now it is time to make the application available on the Web server. To do this, there are two options available.

Cartridge versus Non-Cartridge Implementation

Oracle gives you two options for implementing forms, via the Web Cartridge or Non-Cartridge. Both of the implementations require Java v.1.1.2. The main difference between the two options

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is that the Cartridge implementation can be set up once and used with many different Developer 2000 Web applications by just changing the URL that calls the application.

The Non-Cartridge application will require a unique static HTML file for each application. An additional difference between the Cartridge and Non-Cartridge implementations was mentioned earlier in the chapter. That difference is that the Cartridge configuration requires the additional Oracle Web Request Broker software.

Setup Common to Both Implementations

Regardless of which Web forms implementation you will be using, there are some Virtual directories that should be configured upon the Web Server. It is important to note that the virtual directory names can be anything you want; however a virtual directory should be set
up for each of the following:

NOTE
If you are not familiar with configuring a Web server, you may be unfamiliar with the term Virtual Directory. A Virtual Directory is a sort of shortcut to or alias for a directory on a Web server. It is a way of cleaning up the URL or link that is used to navigate the various information on a Web server.n

The Applet codebase directory points to the absolute directory where the forms client will search for the Java Class files. These files are located in the ORACLE_HOME\forms45\java\ directory. This virtual directory must point to this directory for the forms to run on the Web.
In my examples, I use the virtual directory /Web_code/.

The HTML files directory points to the absolute directory where the Cartridge and static HTML files are located. In my examples, I use the virtual directory called /Web_html/ which will point to the absolute directory D:\ORAPROD\WEB\HTML\ (another location may be substituted for this directory).

The JAR files directory points to the absolute directory where the Oracle JAR files are stored. In my examples, I use the virtual directory called /Web_jars/ which will point to the absolute directory D:\ORAPROD\WEB\JARS\ (another location may be substituted for this directory). A jar file is a bundle of multiple files (Java class files, images, and so on) that because it contains many files, accomplishes in a single download what would take many downloads if the files were unbundled. These jar files are downloaded at the startup of the application. This is supposed to increase the speed of the forms applet due to its compression and the fact that it takes only a single transaction to download. This directory can be used to hold any custom jar files that you create for your forms.

To set up the virtual directories, go to your Web server's configuration page and add entries for the virtual directories noted earlier. These steps will vary from Web server to Web server. Following is a setup screen from the Microsoft IIS Web server (see Figure 19.1) that is used to configure the virtual directories.

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