siping@cathedral.cerc.wvu.wvnet.edu (Siping Liu) (03/12/91)
Can I use SQL*Menu or SQL*Forms to build a user interface yet to keep the process control in my program code? For example, I may want to invoke a form to let the user type in a few employee records, go back to my program and calculate the average salary for them. This way, I only use the FORM as a convenient interface builder and use it to get some user input for my program. The program will decide when to use a certain form, if the changes done in the form be permanent to the database, etc. I know the programming interface Oracle offers is quite convenient but you have to build your own user interface -- this is what I am trying to see if some Oracle tools can help. Thanks in advance. Siping Liu. siping@cerc.wvu.wvnet.edu
cjackso@uswnvg.UUCP (Clay Jackson) (03/14/91)
In article <1434@babcock.cerc.wvu.wvnet.edu> siping@cathedral.cerc.wvu.wvnet.edu (Siping Liu) writes: >Can I use SQL*Menu or SQL*Forms to build a user interface yet to >keep the process control in my program code? > >I know the programming interface Oracle offers is quite convenient >but you have to build your own user interface -- this is what I am >trying to see if some Oracle tools can help. > Well - my experience is "yes, but..". Forms can CALL another Form, or any other executable, so that part is easily done. What's not so easy is keeping the database accesses to a minimum. You didn't say what version of Forms you're using. Something like this would probably be very difficult under Forms 2.x, because all of the "logic" in the Form is in the shape of 'steps' which are difficult to describe and even more difficult to program. Also, with 2.x, each step must involve a database access in order to do any useful work, even if you're just comparing two NON database fields. In Forms 3.0, they use (can use) PL/SQL, a procedural language very much like ADA. So, that can eliminate your database accesses for stuff not involving database fields. Then, your only concern is that the database itself must be available in order to use the form. If that's not a problem, then Forms 3.0 (I know nothing about Menu, yet) would seem to be as reasonable an approach as any (nomex longjohns on ;-) ) to UI implementation. Clay Jackson
mdeltoro@druco.ATT.COM (DeltoroMA) (03/14/91)
in article <1434@babcock.cerc.wvu.wvnet.edu>, siping@cathedral.cerc.wvu.wvnet.edu (Siping Liu) says: > > Can I use SQL*Menu or SQL*Forms to build a user interface yet to > keep the process control in my program code? For example, I may You can make calls to SQL*Forms and SQL*Menu from within a 3GL (at least you can do this in C). Thus, you can control the flow of your program without having to completely use Oracle's 4GLs. -- ********************************************************************** Michael 'DT' Del Toro 303-538-1764 AT&T Bell Labs, Denver, CO mdeltoro@druco.COM.ATT