FormsAPI Master
FormsAPI Master helps you to programmatically modify and analyze Oracle Forms and Reports Modules. An easy to learn scripting language (similar to PL/SQL) gives you full access & flexibility over Oracle's Forms Open API. FormsAPI Master is a powerful add on tool for the Oracle Developer Suite that allows you to automate and track changes in Oracle Forms and Reports modules!
Automate complex tasks by writing scripts
Screenshot Script Window
Write simple PL/SQL like scripts to modify Forms and Reports modules
The Oracle Forms Open API functions and procedures exposed through the scripting engine allow you to do everything (and more!) to a Forms module than what can be done by opening it up in Forms-Builder. You can create, change, and delete items and properties and apply and automate complex changes to large applications in minutes.
The scripting language used has a PL/SQL like syntax that will make it very easy for Oracle developers to use the tool and get proficient in writing scripts on their own in virtually no time. FormsAPI Master comes with a large selection of tutorial scripts that will teach you all you need to know. The script engine has hundreds of small helper functions and classes exposed to it that make writing scripts a breeze. The built-ins will give you access to Oracle database connectivity, Excel functions, PL/SQL parser/tokenizer (for easier modification of program units and triggers) and many helpful string processing functions that will make it simple to get your work done.
Endless possibilities
The possibilities with FormsAPI are truly endless. Here are just a few examples of what is possible and has been done with FormsAPI Master:
Resize your old legacy 640*480 screens to 1024*768 or whatever resolution you like!
Make sure your application runs on Unix & Windows (lowercase icon filename, menus and library filenames, etc ...)
Make a visual make-over of your old design, Use a new color scheme, icons, add PJCs, and background graphics to give your application modern up to date look!
Translate labels, captions, titles, prompts, texts and list items of your Forms module into another languages and make it multilingual!
Attach new libraries and detach old ones
Analyze and gather change impact information
Check your application conforms to "good practices" - every item has a visual attribute assigned, every button/menu item/radio button has a shortcut, fields have the proper height, etc ...
Add a new line of code to the "When-New-Form-Instance" trigger in every module
Replace the obsolete run_product calls in Forms9i with report-objects
Batch compile all your modules
Convert boilerplate texts to prompts
Patch module information for version control directly into the module
Integrate the DeveloperCompare tool with many leading Change Management Systems
...and many more ..
Making change happen
In normal application development environments you think twice before making changes to your whole application system that are not absolutely necessary. Mostly because if you have to do all the work manually it will take weeks or months .. or is simply impossible to do. This is where FormsAPI Master really shines. The tool gives you the power to apply all sorts of complex changes to your whole application system often within hours. Think of FormsAPI Master as a tool to increase your development team by 500 junior developers. You will need to tell them exactly what to do (by writing a script) but once they know they will execute the work for you in mere minutes and in perfect quality (nothing gets overlooked!) instead of weeks or months.
Worth the investment
Many of our customers are able to claim a ROI (return of investment) with the time saved through automation on their very first project. Depending on your project requirements FormsAPI Master can save you weeks or even months of human developer time! Many of them buy it for a big Forms version upgrade project, but then find other uses for FormsAPI Master scripts almost on a weekly base. There is no doubt that FormsAPI Master increases productivity and quality of your applications by a large factor.