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68-531: The primary focus of Forms is to create data entry systems that access an Oracle database. Oracle Forms accesses the Oracle database and generates a screen that presents the data. The source form (*.fmb) is compiled into a platform-specific "executable" (*.fmx), that is run (interpreted) by the forms runtime module. The form is used to view and edit data in database-driven applications. Various GUI elements, such as buttons, menus, scrollbars, and graphics can be placed on

136-658: A consultancy called Software Development Laboratories (SDL) in 1977. SDL developed the original version of the Oracle software. The name Oracle comes from the code-name of a CIA -funded project Ellison had worked on while formerly employed by Ampex . Oracle products follow a custom release-numbering and -naming convention. The "ai" in the current release, Oracle Database 23ai, stands for "Artificial Intelligence". Previous releases (e.g. Oracle Database 19c, 10g, and Oracle9i Database) have used suffixes of "c", "g", and "i" which stand for "Cloud", "Grid", and "Internet" respectively. Prior to

204-399: A new row is written to the table, a new unique value for the primary key is generated; this is the key that the system uses primarily for accessing the table. System performance is optimized for PKs. Other, more natural keys may also be identified and defined as alternate keys (AK). Often several columns are needed to form an AK (this is one reason why a single integer column is usually made

272-449: A parent web browser. Although a browser may be used to initially obtain the application's Java Web Start launcher file (.Jalp), the browser is not responsible for hosting the application and can be closed after the application has been started. JWS supports Internet Explorer, Firefox ESR, Chrome, Edge. (*1) Each version of Oracle Forms can connect to numerous versions of the ORACLE database and

340-553: A patch to 4.0, even though a full install was required, rather than upgrading 4.0 to 4.5 with a patch. This version contained significant functional changes and a brand-new IDE, replacing the IDE that was introduced in 4.0. It added GUI -based triggers, and provided a modern IDE with an object navigator, property sheets and code editor . This design had become popular at the time due to its use by Microsoft Visual Basic. The development environment has changed very little since this release, so

408-445: A relational database system is composed of Codd's 12 rules . However, no commercial implementations of the relational model conform to all of Codd's rules, so the term has gradually come to describe a broader class of database systems, which at a minimum: In 1974, IBM began developing System R , a research project to develop a prototype RDBMS. The first system sold as an RDBMS was Multics Relational Data Store (June 1976). Oracle

476-455: A single relation, even though they may grab information from several relations. Also, derived relations can be used as an abstraction layer . A domain describes the set of possible values for a given attribute, and can be considered a constraint on the value of the attribute. Mathematically, attaching a domain to an attribute means that any value for the attribute must be an element of the specified set. The character string "ABC" , for instance,

544-428: A software developer that is experienced with Forms 4.5 can easily work on any version of Forms up to the latest version. Oracle Forms version 5 accompanied Oracle database version 7. Forms 6 was released with Oracle 8.0 database and was re-released as Forms 6i with Oracle 8i. This version was basically Forms 4.5 with some extra wizards and bug-fixes. It included the facility to run inside a web server. A Forms Server

612-554: A system. For increased security, the system design may grant access to only the stored procedures and not directly to the tables. Fundamental stored procedures contain the logic needed to insert new and update existing data. More complex procedures may be written to implement additional rules and logic related to processing or selecting the data. The relational database was first defined in June 1970 by Edgar Codd , of IBM's San Jose Research Laboratory . Codd's view of what qualifies as an RDBMS

680-414: A tuple (restricting combinations of attributes) or to an entire relation. Since every attribute has an associated domain, there are constraints ( domain constraints ). The two principal rules for the relational model are known as entity integrity and referential integrity . Every relation /table has a primary key, this being a consequence of a relation being a set . A primary key uniquely specifies

748-476: A tuple within a table. While natural attributes (attributes used to describe the data being entered) are sometimes good primary keys, surrogate keys are often used instead. A surrogate key is an artificial attribute assigned to an object which uniquely identifies it (for instance, in a table of information about students at a school they might all be assigned a student ID in order to differentiate them). The surrogate key has no intrinsic (inherent) meaning, but rather

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816-570: Is a database commonly used for running online transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing (DW) and mixed (OLTP & DW) database workloads. Oracle Database is available by several service providers on-premises , on-cloud , or as a hybrid cloud installation. It may be run on third party servers as well as on Oracle hardware ( Exadata on-premises, on Oracle Cloud or at Cloud at Customer). Oracle Database uses SQL for database updating and retrieval. Larry Ellison and his two friends and former co-workers, Bob Miner and Ed Oates , started

884-428: Is also Oracle Application Express . One of the advantages of Oracle Application Express is that it is more closely related to Forms as it also relies heavily on PL/SQL . Oracle database Oracle Database (commonly referred to as Oracle DBMS , Oracle Autonomous Database , or simply as Oracle ) is a proprietary multi-model database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation . It

952-503: Is analogous to using the index of a book to go directly to the page on which the information you are looking for is found, so that you do not have to read the entire book to find what you are looking for. Relational databases typically supply multiple indexing techniques, each of which is optimal for some combination of data distribution, relation size, and typical access pattern. Indices are usually implemented via B+ trees , R-trees , and bitmaps . Indices are usually not considered part of

1020-710: Is its Java based Oracle Application Development Framework or Oracle Application Express , Oracle's development tools statement of direction is quite clear in its commitment to continuing to support Oracle Forms and continue to develop and enhance it in the following areas: However, starting from January 2023, in line with the Oracle Lifetime Support Policy, Premier Support for Fusion Middleware 12c (including Oracle Forms 12c) will end in December 2026 (with Extended Support following, ending in December 2027). An alternative to Oracle Application Development Framework

1088-486: Is normal with event driven interfaces, the software implements event-handling functions called triggers which are automatically invoked at critical steps in the processing of records, the receipt of keyboard strokes, and the receipt of mouse movements. Different triggers may be called before, during, and after each critical step. Each trigger function is initially a stub, containing a default action or nothing. Programming Oracle Forms therefore generally consists of modifying

1156-497: Is not in the integer domain, but the integer value 123 is. Another example of domain describes the possible values for the field "CoinFace" as ("Heads","Tails"). So, the field "CoinFace" will not accept input values like (0,1) or (H,T). Constraints are often used to make it possible to further restrict the domain of an attribute. For instance, a constraint can restrict a given integer attribute to values between 1 and 10. Constraints provide one method of implementing business rules in

1224-671: Is sold and released separately from the ORACLE Database. Oracle Forms is generally forward and backward compatible with the Oracle database - for example: Oracle Forms 9 can connect to at least Oracle 8,9, 10 and 11. The database versions listed here are the primary version that was available at the time of the Form release. (*2) Oracle products have historically followed their own release-numbering and naming conventions. This changed with Oracle RDBMS 9i release when Oracle Corporation started to standardize Oracle Forms (and Reports and Developer) to use

1292-449: Is summarized in Codd's 12 rules . A relational database has become the predominant type of database. Other models besides the relational model include the hierarchical database model and the network model . The table below summarizes some of the most important relational database terms and the corresponding SQL term: In a relational database, a relation is a set of tuples that have

1360-446: Is useful through its ability to uniquely identify a tuple. Another common occurrence, especially in regard to N:M cardinality is the composite key . A composite key is a key made up of two or more attributes within a table that (together) uniquely identify a record. Foreign key refers to a field in a relational table that matches the primary key column of another table. It relates the two keys. Foreign keys need not have unique values in

1428-465: The Oracle Database . However, major releases of an Oracle database usually result in a new major version of Oracle Forms to support new features in the database. Oracle Forms started as Interactive Application Facility (IAF) , which had two main components: the compiler (Interactive Application Generator - IAG) and the runtime interpreter (Interactive Application Processor - IAP). Released with

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1496-417: The normal forms . Connolly and Begg define database management system (DBMS) as a "software system that enables users to define, create, maintain and control access to the database". RDBMS is an extension of that initialism that is sometimes used when the underlying database is relational. An alternative definition for a relational database management system is a database management system (DBMS) based on

1564-569: The relational model . Most databases in widespread use today are based on this model. RDBMSs have been a common option for the storage of information in databases used for financial records, manufacturing and logistical information, personnel data, and other applications since the 1980s. Relational databases have often replaced legacy hierarchical databases and network databases , because RDBMS were easier to implement and administer. Nonetheless, relational stored data received continued, unsuccessful challenges by object database management systems in

1632-496: The 1980s and 1990s, (which were introduced in an attempt to address the so-called object–relational impedance mismatch between relational databases and object-oriented application programs), as well as by XML database management systems in the 1990s. However, due to the expanse of technologies, such as horizontal scaling of computer clusters , NoSQL databases have recently become popular as an alternative to RDBMS databases. Distributed Relational Database Architecture (DRDA)

1700-446: The FMX. The Oracle Financials software suite did not use this version of Forms and instead continued to use Forms 2.3. Oracle Forms version 4.5 was really a major release rather than a " point release " of 4.0 despite its ".5" version number. It was named 4.5 in order to meet contractual obligations to support Forms 4 for a period of time for certain clients so it could market 4.5 as being

1768-417: The Oracle 5 database version. Forms 2.0 included a forms design editor that included a screen painter. This release was character-based (rather than GUI) so forms were developed and runtime typically in a terminal. The source file was an *.INP ASCII file and was edited using the screen painter, however the file was an ASCII file and editing this file directly in a text editor was a common practice due to

1836-445: The PK). Both PKs and AKs have the ability to uniquely identify a row within a table. Additional technology may be applied to ensure a unique ID across the world, a globally unique identifier , when there are broader system requirements. The primary keys within a database are used to define the relationships among the tables. When a PK migrates to another table, it becomes a foreign key (FK) in

1904-438: The basis of interaction among these tables. These relationships can be modelled as an entity-relationship model . In order for a database management system (DBMS) to operate efficiently and accurately, it must use ACID transactions . Part of the programming within a RDBMS is accomplished using stored procedures (SPs). Often procedures can be used to greatly reduce the amount of information transferred within and outside of

1972-617: The cloud, Oracle Database competes against the database services of AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Increasingly, the Oracle database products compete against open-source software relational and non-relational database systems such as PostgreSQL , MongoDB , Couchbase , Neo4j , ArangoDB and others. Oracle acquired Innobase , supplier of the InnoDB codebase to MySQL , in part to compete better against open source alternatives, and acquired Sun Microsystems , owner of MySQL, in 2010. Database products licensed as open-source are, by

2040-402: The columns represent values attributed to that instance (such as address or price). For example, each row of a class table corresponds to a class, and a class corresponds to multiple students, so the relationship between the class table and the student table is "one to many" Each row in a table has its own unique key. Rows in a table can be linked to rows in other tables by adding a column for

2108-404: The contents of these triggers in order to alter the default behavior. Some triggers, if provided by the programmer, replace the default action while others augment it. As a result of this strategy, it is possible to create a number of default form layouts which possess complete database functionality yet contain no programmer-written code at all. Oracle Forms is sold, and released separately from

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2176-778: The current Oracle Database releases and their patching end dates. Prior to Oracle Database 18c, Oracle Corporation released Critical Patch Updates (CPUs) and Security Patch Updates (SPUs) and Security Alerts to close security vulnerabilities. These releases are issued quarterly; some of these releases have updates issued prior to the next quarterly release. Starting with Oracle Database 18c, Oracle Corporation releases Release Updates (RUs) and Release Update Revisions (RURs). RUs usually contain security, regression (bug), optimizer, and functional fixes which may include feature extensions as well. RURs include all fixes from their corresponding RU but only add new security and regression fixes. However, no new optimizer or functional fixes are included. In

2244-617: The current understanding on the relational model, as expressed by Christopher J. Date , Hugh Darwen and others), it is not relational. This view, shared by many theorists and other strict adherents to Codd's principles, would disqualify most DBMSs as not relational. For clarification, they often refer to some RDBMSs as truly-relational database management systems (TRDBMS), naming others pseudo-relational database management systems (PRDBMS). As of 2009, most commercial relational DBMSs employ SQL as their query language . Alternative query languages have been proposed and implemented, notably

2312-401: The database and support subsequent data use within the application layer. SQL implements constraint functionality in the form of check constraints . Constraints restrict the data that can be stored in relations . These are usually defined using expressions that result in a Boolean value, indicating whether or not the data satisfies the constraint. Constraints can apply to single attributes, to

2380-469: The database, as they are considered an implementation detail, though indices are usually maintained by the same group that maintains the other parts of the database. The use of efficient indexes on both primary and foreign keys can dramatically improve query performance. This is because B-tree indexes result in query times proportional to log(n) where n is the number of rows in a table and hash indexes result in constant time queries (no size dependency as long as

2448-478: The essential nature of the product. The ability to code in Java, as well as PL/SQL, was added in this period. The version number jumped straight from 6 to 9 in order to keep the number the same as the Oracle database version released at a similar time. Forms 9i included many bug fixes to 6i and was known as a good stable version. Support was removed for Windows client-server runtime, character-based interfaces and instead

2516-399: The first Oracle Database version 2 (there was no version 1), IAF provided a character mode interface to allow users to enter and query data from an Oracle database. It was renamed to Fast Forms with Oracle Database version 4 and added an additional tool to help generate a default form to edit with IAG, the form editor. It was renamed a third time to SQL*Forms version 2 along with

2584-405: The form. Source code may also be placed in library files (*.pll) which are compiled into library executables (*.plx) used at runtime. The environment supplies built-in record creation, query, and update modes, each with its own default data manipulations. This minimizes the need to program common, and tedious operations, such as creating dynamic SQL , sensing changed fields, and locking rows. As

2652-512: The legal terms of the Open Source Definition , free to distribute and free of royalty or other licensing fees. Database constraint A relational database ( RDB ) is a database based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. A database management system used to maintain relational databases is a relational database management system ( RDBMS ). Many relational database systems are equipped with

2720-611: The limitations of the form editor. This version of Forms did not include the PL/SQL language and instead it used its own custom language based on trigger steps. The language was more primitive than the PL/SQL language that was available in SQL*Plus. The limited language was augmented by user exits that compiled language code linked to the binary of the Oracle-provided run-time . Forms 2.3

2788-852: The market for relational databases, Oracle Database competes against commercial products such as IBM Db2 and Microsoft SQL Server . Oracle and IBM tend to battle for the mid-range database market on Unix and Linux platforms, while Microsoft dominates the mid-range database market on Microsoft Windows platforms. However, since they share many of the same customers, Oracle and IBM tend to support each other's products in many middleware and application categories (for example: WebSphere , PeopleSoft , and Siebel Systems CRM ), and IBM's hardware divisions work closely with Oracle on performance-optimizing server-technologies (for example, Linux on IBM Z ). Niche commercial competitors include Teradata (in data warehousing and business intelligence), Software AG's ADABAS , Sybase , and IBM's Informix , among many others. In

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2856-414: The option of using SQL (Structured Query Language) for querying and updating the database. The concept of relational database was defined by E. F. Codd at IBM in 1970. Codd introduced the term relational in his research paper "A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks". In this paper and later papers, he defined what he meant by relation . One well-known definition of what constitutes

2924-519: The original eight including relational comparison operators and extensions that offer support for nesting and hierarchical data, among others. Normalization was first proposed by Codd as an integral part of the relational model. It encompasses a set of procedures designed to eliminate non-simple domains (non-atomic values) and the redundancy (duplication) of data, which in turn prevents data manipulation anomalies and loss of data integrity. The most common forms of normalization applied to databases are called

2992-500: The other table. When each cell can contain only one value and the PK migrates into a regular entity table, this design pattern can represent either a one-to-one or one-to-many relationship. Most relational database designs resolve many-to-many relationships by creating an additional table that contains the PKs from both of the other entity tables – the relationship becomes an entity;

3060-446: The pre-1996 implementation of Ingres QUEL . A relational model organizes data into one or more tables (or "relations") of columns and rows , with a unique key identifying each row. Rows are also called records or tuples . Columns are also called attributes. Generally, each table/relation represents one "entity type" (such as customer or product). The rows represent instances of that type of entity (such as "Lee" or "chair") and

3128-458: The referencing relation. A foreign key can be used to cross-reference tables, and it effectively uses the values of attributes in the referenced relation to restrict the domain of one or more attributes in the referencing relation. The concept is described formally as: "For all tuples in the referencing relation projected over the referencing attributes, there must exist a tuple in the referenced relation projected over those same attributes such that

3196-400: The relational model were from: The most common definition of an RDBMS is a product that presents a view of data as a collection of rows and columns, even if it is not based strictly upon relational theory . By this definition, RDBMS products typically implement some but not all of Codd's 12 rules. A second school of thought argues that if a database does not implement all of Codd's rules (or

3264-460: The release of Oracle8i Database, no suffixes featured in Oracle Database naming conventions. There was no v1 of Oracle Database, as co-founder Larry Ellison "knew no one would want to buy version 1". For some database releases, Oracle also provides an Express Edition (XE) that is free to use. Oracle Database release numbering has used the following codes: Oracle Database 23c (23.2 and 23.3)

3332-594: The relevant part of the index fits into memory). Queries made against the relational database, and the derived relvars in the database are expressed in a relational calculus or a relational algebra . In his original relational algebra, Codd introduced eight relational operators in two groups of four operators each. The first four operators were based on the traditional mathematical set operations : The remaining operators proposed by Codd involve special operations specific to relational databases: Other operators have been introduced or proposed since Codd's introduction of

3400-399: The resolution table is then named appropriately and the two FKs are combined to form a PK. The migration of PKs to other tables is the second major reason why system-assigned integers are used normally as PKs; there is usually neither efficiency nor clarity in migrating a bunch of other types of columns. Relationships are a logical connection between different tables (entities), established on

3468-435: The same attributes . A tuple usually represents an object and information about that object. Objects are typically physical objects or concepts. A relation is usually described as a table , which is organized into rows and columns . All the data referenced by an attribute are in the same domain and conform to the same constraints. The relational model specifies that the tuples of a relation have no specific order and that

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3536-521: The same major version number as the database. This explains the jump in Oracle Forms versions from 6i to 9i (there was no v7 or v8) Oracle Designer is a Computer aided software engineering (CASE) tool that was sold by Oracle. It was able to generate various software modules including Oracle Forms and Oracle Reports. The last release of Oracle Designer was in 2010 and it has since been discontinued. Whilst Oracle's preferred approach for new development

3604-460: The standard declarative SQL syntax. Stored procedures are not part of the relational database model, but all commercial implementations include them. An index is one way of providing quicker access to data. Indices can be created on any combination of attributes on a relation . Queries that filter using those attributes can find matching tuples directly using the index (similar to Hash table lookup), without having to check each tuple in turn. This

3672-447: The three-tier, web browser-based user interface is the only deployment option. The ability to import java classes means that it can act as a web service client. Starting with this release the version number of Oracle Forms moving forward would keep in sync with the Oracle database version. As a result, version 8 as skipped, and the version number jumped to 9. After this release, there were very few product changes made besides keeping

3740-767: The tuple contains a candidate or primary key then obviously it is unique; however, a primary key need not be defined for a row or record to be a tuple. The definition of a tuple requires that it be unique, but does not require a primary key to be defined. Because a tuple is unique, its attributes by definition constitute a superkey . All data are stored and accessed via relations . Relations that store data are called "base relations", and in implementations are called "tables". Other relations do not store data, but are computed by applying relational operations to other relations. These relations are sometimes called "derived relations". In implementations these are called " views " or "queries". Derived relations are convenient in that they act as

3808-473: The tuples, in turn, impose no order on the attributes. Applications access data by specifying queries, which use operations such as select to identify tuples, project to identify attributes, and join to combine relations. Relations can be modified using the insert , delete , and update operators. New tuples can supply explicit values or be derived from a query. Similarly, queries identify tuples for updating or deleting. Tuples by definition are unique. If

3876-401: The unique key of the linked row (such columns are known as foreign keys ). Codd showed that data relationships of arbitrary complexity can be represented by a simple set of concepts. Part of this processing involves consistently being able to select or modify one and only one row in a table. Therefore, most physical implementations have a unique primary key (PK) for each row in a table. When

3944-689: The values in each of the referencing attributes match the corresponding values in the referenced attributes." A stored procedure is executable code that is associated with, and generally stored in, the database. Stored procedures usually collect and customize common operations, like inserting a tuple into a relation , gathering statistical information about usage patterns, or encapsulating complex business logic and calculations. Frequently they are used as an application programming interface (API) for security or simplicity. Implementations of stored procedures on SQL RDBMS's often allow developers to take advantage of procedural extensions (often vendor-specific) to

4012-589: The version number in sync with the Oracle database. Forms 10g is actually Forms version 9.0.4, so is merely a rebadged Forms 9i. Forms 11 introduced advancements such as external events, JavaScript support in Release 1, and Access Manager, Real User Experience Interaction (RUEI), and performance monitoring in Release 2. These improvements expanded functionality and interaction capabilities, utilizing Oracle AQ to enable seamless interaction with JMS . Java Web Start allows users to run Oracle Forms applications without having

4080-465: Was a character mode application and was primarily used in terminals such as Digital VT220 and PCs running Microsoft DOS. It could run under X but did not support any X interface-specific features such as checkboxes , so it was basically a character mode application running in a GUI window. Although a mouse could be used to click on fields, there were no mouse specific triggers (such as when-mouse-double click) available in this release. The source file

4148-593: Was an *.INP ASCII file. The runtime file was an *.FRM binary file. The IDE was greatly improved to allow editing of PL/SQL code, and this reduced the common practice of editing the INP source file directly. Forms 3 automatically generated Forms triggers and code to support some database constraints such as primary keys and foreign keys. Constraints could be defined, but not enforced in the Oracle 6 database at this time, so Oracle used Forms 3 to claim that it supported constraints in its technology stack. Oracle Forms version 4.0

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4216-618: Was designed by a workgroup within IBM in the period 1988 to 1994. DRDA enables network connected relational databases to cooperate to fulfill SQL requests. The messages, protocols, and structural components of DRDA are defined by the Distributed Data Management Architecture . According to DB-Engines , in January 2023 the most popular systems on the db-engines.com web site were: According to research company Gartner , in 2011,

4284-480: Was introduced in this version. Each type of object had an editor window that was optimized for it, so the field editor looked quite different to the window editor. These would be abandoned in the next release and replaced with property sheets that were made popular with Visual Basic. The 4.0 source files were *.FMB for forms, *.PLL for libraries and *.OLB for object libraries the 4.0 runtime files were *.FMX for forms, *.PLX for libraries. *.OLB files were compiled into

4352-412: Was released in 1979 by Relational Software, now Oracle Corporation . Ingres and IBM BS12 followed. Other examples of an RDBMS include IBM Db2 , SAP Sybase ASE , and Informix . In 1984, the first RDBMS for Macintosh began being developed, code-named Silver Surfer, and was released in 1987 as 4th Dimension and known today as 4D. The first systems that were relatively faithful implementations of

4420-511: Was released in 2023: April 2023 (Linux) Oracle Database Free - Developer Release September 2023 Oracle Database on Base Database Service August 2021 (Linux) April 2019 (Linux) June 2019 (cloud) July 2018 (other) March 2017 (on-premises) The Introduction to Oracle Database includes a brief history on some of the key innovations introduced with each major release of Oracle Database. See My Oracle Support (MOS) note Release Schedule of Current Database Releases (Doc ID 742060.1) for

4488-612: Was supplied to solve the problem of adapting Oracle Forms to a three-tier , browser -based delivery, without incurring major changes in its programmatic interface. The complex, highly interactive form interface was provided by a Java applet which communicated directly with the Forms server. However the web version did not work very well over HTTP . A fix from Forms 9i was retrofitted to later versions of 6i to address this. The naming and numbering system applied to Oracle Forms underwent several changes due to marketing factors, without altering

4556-543: Was the first true GUI based version of the product that supported GUI elements such as checkboxes and radio groups in the Forms editor and at runtime. Although not publicly advertised, a character-based runtime was still available for certain customers on request. The arrival of Microsoft Windows 3 and competitive products running under Windows forced Oracle to release this GUI version of Forms for commercial reasons. Forms 4.0 accompanied Oracle database version 6 with support for Microsoft Windows and X Windows. A new IDE

4624-467: Was used as the basis for the Oracle Financials accounting package. As a result, 2.3 remained in use long after Forms 3 and 4 became available in order to support customer forms that were created to integrate with Oracle Financials. Oracle Forms 3 was the first version to allow PL/SQL to be used within Forms triggers and procedures/SQL Functions could also be used as an undocumented feature. Forms 3

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