Information and Findings in Oracle Forms and Reports 11.1.2.1

Dec 21, 2012

Oracle Forms and Reports 11.1.2.1 is the first patchset release for Oracle Forms and Reports 11gR2. However, this is not the most current release of Oracle Forms and Reports. Oracle Forms and Reports 12.2.1.2.0 (12c) is currently the most up-to-date version. It is highly recommended that you upgrade to Oracle Forms 12c as soon as possible as all releases of Oracle Forms and Reports 11gR2 are no longer covered by premier support via My Oracle Support. For more information regarding the differences between Oracle Forms 11g and 12c, please check out our article, “Differences Between Forms 11g and 12c.”

NEW UPDATES

Oracle Forms and Reports 11.1.2.1 contains the following updates in comparison to the initial release of Oracle Forms 11gR2:

  • Many bugs have been fixed
  • Like the previous version of Forms 11gR2, it is supported with Oracle WebLogic Server (WLS) 10.3.5 and 10.3.6
    • NOTE: If you would like to use Oracle WebLogic Server 12.2.1.x instead of WebLogic 10.3.5 or 10.3.6, you will need to upgrade to Oracle Forms 12c.
  • The operating system support is the same as 11.1.2.0 except that RHEL 6 and Solaris 11 are now also certified
    • Windows 8.1, 10, and Server 2012 R2 are not supported with this release (however, Oracle Forms and Reports 11.1.2.2.0 and 12.2.1.x are certified)
  • JDK support:
    • Using WLS 10.3.5: JDK 1.6.0_35+
    • Using WLS 10.3.6: JDK 1.7.0_07+
    • NOTE: JDK 1.8 is not supported with Oracle Forms 11gR2
  • Internet browser support is the same as in 11.1.2.0
    • NOTE: The NPAPI plugin (used by the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for the Java browser plugin) is not usable in the Firefox, Chrome, and Microsoft Edge browsers. The Java browser plugin is the only supported way of running Oracle Forms 11gR2. Please read this article by PITSS for more information regarding Oracle Forms and the Java browser plug-in. Although the article is written for Oracle Forms 12c, the latest version, it also implies to Oracle Forms 11gR2 and older.
  • Database support:
    • 10.2.0.4+
    • 11.1.0.7+
    • 11.2.0.1+
    • 12.1.0.1+ (New to Forms 11.1.2.1)
    • NOTE: Oracle Database 12.2.0.1 and higher are not supported with this release (however, Oracle Forms & Reports 11.1.2.2.0 and 12.2.1.x are certified)
  • OAM support:
    • Oracle SSO 10gR3 (10.1.4.3+) (same as before)
    • Oracle Access Management 11gR1 (11.1.1.5+)
    • Oracle Access Management 11gR2 (11.1.2.0.0) (OAM 11gR2 patchsets are not supported with this patchset release of Oracle Forms 11gR2)
    • Oracle Internet Directory (OID) 11gR1 (11.1.1.5+)
    • Oracle Virtual Directory (OVD) 11gR1 (11.1.1.5+)
    • NOTE: OID and OVD 11.1.1.9 is not supported with Oracle Forms 11gR2. You must upgrade to Oracle Forms 12c if you wish to use these versions of OID or OVD.
  • This version is released as both a base installation and a patchset (Oracle Patch 15948641) installation meaning that we can install Oracle Forms and Reports 11.1.2.1 as a separate installation or as a patch to an existing 11.1.2.0 installation.

Reference: Oracle Support note 1503701.1

SIMILARITIES/DIFFERENCES TO FORMS 11.1.2.0

After successfully installing and configuring Oracle Forms and Reports 11.1.2.1 in our Windows 7 64-bit test environment, we found that there are no major functionality changes which we could detect. In our test installation, we worked with Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6 using JDK 1.7.0_10 (JDK 8 is not supported with Oracle Forms 11gR2) as we were curious to see how JDK 7 would work with Forms. Based off the installation and configuration, we have noticed the following:

  • The installation and configuration steps for installing Oracle Forms and Reports 11.1.2.1 are identical to installing 11.1.2.0.
  • Environment files and formsweb.cfg work the same. In order to use the latest JRE, we have to configure the jpi parameters in formsweb.cfg. More information regarding this may be found in our knowledge base article, “How to Use Java 7 with Oracle Forms 11g in an Oracle-Supported Environment.”
  • In Forms Builder, we have to specify a web browser location in Edit –> Preferences before we can run a form using Forms Builder.
  • For some reason, running anything with rwservlet (including viewing generated PDF reports) fails with the message, “REP-52262: Diagnostic output is disabled.” In previous releases of Oracle Forms & Reports 11gR1 and 11gR2, using the default setting in rwservlet.properties would allow anyone to access anything related to rwservlet such as getjobid, showjobs, showenv, etc. For some reason in 11.1.2.1, the default settings act the same as using <webcommandaccess>L0</webcommandaccess> in the file. To fix this, we have to manually add the parameter <webcommandaccess>L2</webcommandaccess> into rwservlet.properties and restart WLS_REPORTS before we can view generated reports. This also applies with the latest version of Oracle Forms 11gR2, version 11.1.2.2.0, as well as Oracle Forms 12c. More information regarding this error and the solution may be found in our knowledge base article, “Running Reports in Forms/Reports 11.1.2.1 Generates REP-52262 with Default Settings.”
  • If you are using Oracle Forms 11.1.2.1 using WebLogic Server 10.3.6 (not 10.3.5), Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 7 works well. The tabbing issue in the login form seems to be fixed. However, Java 8 is not supported with this release of Oracle Forms and Reports. If you would like to use JRE 8, you will need to either upgrade to Oracle Forms and Reports 11.1.2.2.0 or 12c.
  • The OHS bug which occurred in many Oracle Forms 11.1.2.0 installations no longer occurs as it has been patched. The problem was where you had to rollback and re-apply an Oracle patch to fix an issue where OHS would lose connectivity with the forms server, WLS_FORMS, after a report was run. We had this occur with some of our customers on Windows 7 64-bit.
  • The Reports Builder bug where it crashes when viewing the Data Model in 64-bit machines has NOT been fixed. The same holds true for all other 11gR2 and 12c Forms installations. Fortunately, applying the fix noted in our article, “Reports Builder 11gR2 Crashes When Viewing Data Model“, will still fix the problem.
  • Oracle Forms and Reports 11.1.2.1 is backwards-compatible with Oracle Forms & Reports 11.1.2.0. We tested this by successfully opening up or loading a form in either an 11.1.2.0 Forms Builder or PITSS.CON saved in either Forms Builder or PITSS.CON using Forms 11.1.2.1. This means that if you are working with a customer who is using Oracle Forms 11.1.2.1, you are able to use your PITSS.CON or Forms Builder using Forms 11.1.2.0 without any problems. NOTE: Forms 11.1.2.1 is not backwards-compatible with Forms 11gR1. In addition, any forms developed in 12c will not run in Forms 11gR2 and will not open in the 11gR2 version of Forms Builder.

Other than what we mentioned above, we did not notice any other major differences. We also setup a test PITSS.CON environment to run in Oracle Forms and Reports 11.1.2.1. We were able to see that PITSS.CON works well with Forms and Reports 11.1.2.1. Everything works the same as it does in all other Oracle Forms 11g and 12c environments.