For the past 5 years, almost on a daily basis, I have had to explain to my Oracle Forms customers that Oracle Forms is not really dead just “Mature” and Oracle intends to keep it around for a long time. All the while quietly praying that Oracle doesn’t make a liar out of me in 2 years. Although the official message from Oracle was forms is not dead the word on the street seemed to be that Oracle Forms Modernization was a code word for migration to java. Even as new versions of Forms were released I heard more about the options for migrating Oracle Forms to APEX, ADF or Java.
Although the future of Oracle Forms seemed uncertain at best, for years I have been helping my clients secure their huge investments in Oracle Forms by stretching their legacy forms applications to the limit. I have done projects such as modernize the look and feel of applications (see screen shots), 
adding webservice capabilities, integrating Oracle Forms into an IBM unified desktop application including forms automation, adding java beans / PJC’s and integrating with SOA applications.
This week, finally and officially, Oracle has joined me in embracing the best message of all “The future of forms is ….. forms” in Lucas Jellema and Grant Ronald’s presentation for UKOUG presentation. I was thrilled to see Oracle was presenting the same message I have been preaching for years. 
Leave your forms systems as they are and integrate them with newer systems developed in any web-based technology.
Don’t get me wrong, I encourage all Oracle Forms users to get familiar with ADF and the next generation tools that Oracle are offering. Oracle is offering incredibly productive java development environments and object oriented programming is the way of the future. However your first project in these technologies should not be to convert a legacy system that was developed 10 – 12 years ago by 20 developers who no longer work for you and of course left no documentation. And by the way your company’s developers have no prior java or object oriented programming experience but you saw a demo at Oracle Open World and it looked so easy your sure you can re-develop your 700 forms application in a giffy.
A huge thanks to Grant Ronald who has kept the faith, and documentation, for us Forms evangelists all these years!To get everyone started on the true Oracle Forms Modernization projects you can refer to some links below.
Let me know if you know of other good ones..
- Ten Years Younger – The Oracle Forms Makeover
- Oracle’s Official Site Oracle Forms Modernization
- Oracle Forms to Mobile / Smartphone
- Pluggable Java Components & Java Beans’ library
- Migrating Oracle Forms to Fusion: Myth or Magic Bullet?
- Oracle Forms to SOA: A Case Study in Modernization - An Oldy but a goody
That is great news indeed. I certainly belong to the old school having seen forms from the version 1.0 days on vax vms, some 25 years ago. Since then I have developed innumerable apps for a while heap of clients, all the way to forms 11g.
Sad to see java and .net has killed forms. Though not an expert at java, I have seen apps developed using the newer technology stack. These have left a lot to be desired when compared to the ease with which quality and rich ui could be developed.
My heart says “long live oracle forms”, but it appears the end is nigh.
Hi Sridhar,
Wow Forms version 1.0 you make me seem like a beginer with only 13 years experience.
I think this quote always best summed it up
“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” said by Mark Twain after hearing that his obituary had been published in the New York Journal.
No matter what people say java and .net have not killed forms (not yet anyways). The proof is in the developers. Forms is the 4th largest OTN forum. Most Oracle ERP customers are still on forms and they say that almost 40% of Oracle DB customers have a forms system.
Although forms may not be popular one in the crowd it is the smart, productive, stable one.
So both my heart and my carrer shows that forms is still alive and kicking.
Mia
Very nice article.
Forms is a great tool and I’m glad to see that a future is available.
This will secure my client and myself (of course).
Thank you Mia and have a good day.
Very Good information.
Thanks and have a happy day.
Happy to help.
Let me know if you have any other topics your interested in hearing about!
Mia
As a Forms developer, i feel we cannot stand in the market. Forms got its own limitation, oracle is not ready to add a flexible grid on Forms. I feel we should move to ADF. Let us all forms users join together and learn ADF with out using much java code. I am not good in Java.
Hi Saji,
I don’t see the world as black vs white or forms vs ADF.
I think hundreds of organizations world wide will have a mish-mash of both.
I agree that forms developers should start looking into the Java world and using the many resources available to learn ADF BUT….
I think forms will be around a long time and if it still meets your business needs no need to recreate the wheel.
Especially if you are not a Java shop.
If you are interested in looking at alternatives we will be presenting it in depth on Feb. 28 in UK
http://www.ukoug.org/events/ukoug-development-sig-meeting1/
We hope to do similar modernizations days in Europe and US this year.
Nice, I am also thinking seriously about ADF. I have build wizard based DB application in ADF. ADF seems not difficult.(I hava 7 year experience in forms and reports)’
Hi Khizer,
I have tried creating an application , but could not succeeded. Do you have any recordings of any master-details data entry forms and a main menu?.
You can try this
http://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/tutorials/obe/forms/11g/formsmenuscreate/formsmenuscreate.htm
I started using Forms 2.0 before the onset of PL/SQL in 1988. In those days it was a big leap from 3GLs. I enjoyed working on Forms, Reports (and RPG).
WOW!
I started with Forms 3.0 so your even more of a veteran than me.
I also started using Forms 2.0 on Oracle5 version, and finally my journey end of using Forms with Forms 2000- Oracle7. By this time I entered in to Oracle DBA career. My heart still beats for Oracle Forms, thru which I learned to understand Oracle internals, tuning, and writing efficient SQL/ PLSQL and I am comfortably sailing my Oracle DBA boat. Long live Oracle Forms, of course enhancements needed to compete with real world.
It was definitely interesting to see and hear what the Forms Community is saying and doing. Yes, Forms was a great technology (and ruled for a long time), but now the demands are different (see the push of ADF).
Rokesh, What is the best way to learn ADF, i have almost 10years experience in Forms10g/8i, but no knowledge in Java. How can we learn Jdeveloper/ADF as a forms programmer.
Hi Saji,
A great place to start is with this ADF reviews guide from OTN
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/jdev/overview/jdeveloper-reviewrguide-086026.html
it has a step by step guide of documents for beginners.
Also a great reference is this blog post by the Oracle product manager Shay Shmeltzer:
https://blogs.oracle.com/shay/entry/how_do_i_start_learning_oracle_adf_and_jdeveloper
Good Luck1
Mia