Article : Configuring the Forms Server

Configuring the Forms Server

 Introduction

This chapter describes the steps you need to follow to configure your environment for Forms Server. After installation is complete, you can use the information in this chapter to change your initial configuration or make modifications as your needs change.

This chapter contains the following sections:

• Configuring Your Web Server
• Customizing Environment Variables
• Customizing Configuration Files
• Reading the Servlet Error Log
• Setting Up the HTTPS Connection Mode

5.2 Configuring Your Web Server

Oracle Internet Application Server installs and configures the Oracle HTTP Server as your Web server. No additional configuration is necessary.

The following paths are created

These virtual directories are specified in the 6iserver.conf file located in the /6iserver directory.

5.3 Customizing Environment Variables

This section describes how to customize environment variables in Forms Server.

On UNIX, you can set these environment variables in the forms60_server shell script, which is found in the /6iserver directory. This way, all the environment variables needed for Forms Server are automatically set up when you launch the Forms Server Listener using the following command line:

forms60_server start.

After you run the forms60_server startup script, ORACLE_HOME changes from its original setting to /6iserver for use with Forms Server.

On NT, you set environment variables in the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\oracle in the corresponding to Forms 6i, as described in Section A.2, "Windows 95 and Windows NT Registry".

The environment variables for Forms Server are as follows:

For example, you can define your environment variables as the following:

FORMS60_PATH=/<ORACLE_HOME>/6iserver/forms60
FORMS60_OUTPUT=/<ORACLE_HOME>/6iserver/tools/web60/temp
FORMS60_MAPPING=/dev60temp
FORMS60_MESSAGE_ENCRYPTION=TRUE
FORMS60_WALLET=/<ORACLE_HOME>/6iserver/forms60/wallet
FORMS60_HTTPS_NEGOTIATE_DOWN=FALSE

The virtual directory set by the FORMS60_MAPPING environment variable must correspond to the physical directory set by the FORMS60_OUTPUT environment variable.Note::

You will need administrator privileges to make these changes, and will need to restart the server for many of these configuration changes to take effect.

5.4 Description of Forms Server Startup Parameters

The following parameters are used during Forms Server startup:

• Port Parameter
• Mode Parameter
• Pool Parameter
• Log Parameter

On UNIX, you can modify these parameters by editing the forms60_server shell script found in the /6iserver directory and modifying the following command:

f60ctl start

For example:

f60ctl start port=9001 mode=socket pool=5 log=/tmp/app.log

On NT, you can modify these parameters by specifying them on the command line. For example:

ifsrv60 start port=9001 mode=socket pool=5 log=c:\tmp\app.log

On NT, if the Forms Server is started as a service, modify parameters by adding them to the Start-up Parameters field of the Service Start-up property.

5.4.1 Port Parameter

Determines the port on which the server process is started. If you do not specify a port number when you start the Forms Server process, the process starts on port 9001 by default. The port number on which you start the server process must match the serverPort number you specify in an application's HTML file, configuration parameters, or URL.

Mode Parameter

Determines whether the Forms Server will run in socket mode (which uses a direct socket connection), HTTP mode (which can traverse firewalls), or HTTPS mode (which can traverse firewalls, and additionally uses SSL, secure sockets layer, for server authentication and message encryption). The default mode is socket. See Section 3.2, "Sockets, HTTP, or HTTPS" for a detailed description of each mode.

 Pool Parameter

Determines the number of spare active connections that will be available for subsequent users. For example, if "pool" is set to 5, there will be 5 active spare connections.

Log Parameter

Generates a server log file when provided a path name and log file name, for example, log=/PathName/LogFileName.

 Customizing Configuration Files

During the installation, the following configuration files were installed onto your system:

• FormsServlet.initArgs
• formsweb.cfg
• base.htm, basejini.htm, and baseie.htm

When a user first starts a Web-enabled application (by clicking a link to the application's URL), the base HTML file is read by Forms Servlet or CGI. Any variables (%variablename%) in the base HTML file are replaced with the appropriate parameter values specified in the formsweb.cfg file, and from query parameters in the URL request (if any).

For servlet implementations, the baseHTML, baseHTMLJInitiator, and baseHTMLIE tags are replaced with the values specified in the FormsServlet.initArgs file.

You can modify the configuration files as your needs change.

 FormsServlet.initArgs

This file is located at:

<ORACLE_HOME>\6iserver\apache\jserv\servlets\oracle\
forms\servlet\FormsServlet.initArgs

Edit this file only if you are using the servlet implementation. It contains the following parameters:

Do not reference any environment variables in the fully qualified path.Note:

On both UNIX and NT, specify fully qualified paths using the forward slash (/), and not the backslash (\).Note:

The parameter names are case sensitive in the FormsServlet.initArgs file.

 formsweb.cfg

This file contains most of the servlet and CGI configuration parameter settings that you set during installation. You can modify these parameters, if needed.

Variables (%variablename%) in the base HTML file are replaced with the appropriate parameter values specified in the formsweb.cfg file and from query parameters in the URL request (if any).

We recommend that you enter configuration changes in the formsweb.cfg file, and use variables in the baseHTML file.

 Creating special configurations in formsweb.cfg

You can create specific, named configurations in the formsweb.cfg file. These configurations can be requested in the end-user's query string of the URL used to run a form.

Create special configurations by adding the name of the configuration in brackets at the end of the formsweb.cfg file. Then, specify the parameters for this special configuration. (Specify only the parameters that you want to change.)

For example, to create a configuration to run forms in a separate browser window with a "generic" look and feel, add the following code to the formsweb.cfg file:

[sepwin] 
separateFrame=True 
lookandfeel=Generic 

The end-user would type the following URL to launch a form that uses the "sepwin" configuration:

http://server:port/servlet/f60servlet?config=sepwin

(for a servlet configuration)

http://myhost.mydomain.com/dev60cgi/ifcgi60.exe?config=sepwin

(for a CGI configuration)

See Section 5.5.2.3, "Default formsweb.cfg File" for other examples of special configurations.

 Parameters in the formsweb.cfg File

<PARAM NAME="connectMode"  VALUE="<em>%connectMode%</em>">

 Default formsweb.cfg File

The default formsweb.cfg file contains the following:

; Forms Web CGI Configuration File
; --------------------------------
; This file defines parameter values used by the Forms Web CGI

; ********************************
; PARAMETER VALUES USED BY DEFAULT
; ********************************
  ; SYSTEM PARAMETERS
  ; -----------------
  ; These have fixed names and give information required by the Forms 
  ; Web CGI in order to function.  They cannot be specified in the URL query 
  ; string.  But they can be overriden in a named configuration (see below).
baseHTML=d:\orant\forms60\server\base.htm
baseHTMLJInitiator=d:\orant\forms60\server\basejini.htm
baseHTMLie=d:\orant\forms60\server\baseie.htm
HTMLdelimiter=%
MetricsServerPort=9020
MetricsServerErrorURL=
  ; The next parameter specifies how to execute the Forms applet under 
  ; Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0.  Put IE50=native if you want the
  ; Forms applet to run in the browser's native JVM.  
IE50=native
  ; USER PARAMETERS
  ; ---------------  
  ; These match variables (e.g. %form%) in the baseHTML file. Their values 
  ; may be overridden by specifying them in the URL query string
  ; (e.g. "http://myhost.mydomain.com/ifcgi60.exe?form=myform&width=700")
  ; or by overriding them in a specific, named configuration (see below)

  ; 1) Runform arguments:
form=test.fmx
otherparams=
userid=

  ; 2) HTML page title, attributes for the BODY tag, and HTML to add before and 
  ;    after the form:
pageTitle=Oracle Forms Server
HTMLbodyAttrs=
HTMLbeforeForm=<B>Hello</B>
HTMLafterForm=

  ; 3) Values for the Forms applet parameters:
width=650
height=500
separateFrame=false
splashScreen=no
    ; select default background by not specifying a value
background=
lookAndFeel=Oracle
colorScheme=teal
serverApp=default
serverPort=9000
serverHost=rlouis-lap
connectMode=Socket
archive=f60all.jar
archive_ie=f600all.cab
archive_jinit=f60all_jinit.jar

  ; 4) Parameters for JInitiator
    ; Page displayed to Netscape users to allow them to download JInitiator.  
    ; If you create your own version, set this parameter to point to it.
jinit_download_page=/jinitiator/us/jinit_download.htm
    ; Parameters related to the version of JInitiator.
jinit_classid=clsid:21157916-4d49-11d4-a3e0-00c04fa32518
jinit_exename=jinit.exe#Version=1,1,7,30
jinit_mimetype=application/x-jinit-applet;version=1.1.7.30

; ********************************
; SPECIFIC CONFIGURATIONS
; ********************************
;  You may define your own specific, named configurations (sets of parameters)
;  by adding special sections as illustrated in the following examples.  
;  Note that you need only specify the parameters you want to change.  The 
;  default values (defined above) will be used for all other parameters.
;  Use of a specific configuration can be requested by including the text 
;  "config=<your_config_name>" in the query string of the URL used to run
;  a form.  For example, to use the sepwin configuration, your could issue
;  a URL like "http://myhost.mydomain.com/ifcgi60.exe?config=sepwin".

; Example 1: configuration to run forms in a separate browser window with 
;            "generic" look and feel (include "config=sepwin" in the URL)
[sepwin]
separateWindow=True
lookandfeel=Generic

; Example 2: configuration affecting users of MicroSoft Internet Explorer 5.0.  
;            Forms applet will run under the browser's native JVM rather than 
;            using Oracle JInitiator.
[ie50native]
IE50=native

; Example 3: configuration forcing use of the base.htm base HTML file in all 
;            cases (means applet-style tags will always be generated and 
;            JInitiator will never be used).  
[applet]
baseHTMLJInitiator=

 base.htm, basejini.htm, and baseie.htm

Three base HTML files are created for your system by the Oracle Universal Installer during Forms Server installation and configuration. In most cases, you will not need to modify these files.

When a user first starts a Web-enabled application (by clicking a link to the application's URL), a base HTML file is read by Forms Servlet or CGI.

Any variables (%variablename%) in the base HTML file are replaced with the appropriate parameter values specified in the formsweb.cfg file described in Section 5.5.2, "formsweb.cfg", and from query parameters in the URL request (if any).

For servlet implementations, the baseHTML, baseHTMLJInitiator, and baseHTMLIE tags are replaced with the values specified in the FormsServlet.initArgs file described in Section 5.5.1, "FormsServlet.initArgs".

Then, the base HTML file is downloaded to the user's Web browser.

Any base HTML variables that you want to modify can be changed by modifying the corresponding parameter values in the FormsServlet.initArgs file described in Section 5.5.1, "FormsServlet.initArgs" and in the formsweb.cfg file, described in Section 5.5.2, "formsweb.cfg".

The following base HTML starter files are available in the /6iserver/forms60/server directory:

• basejini.htm: This is a base HTML file containing the tags required to run the Forms applet using Oracle JInitiator. It is suitable for browsers (only on Windows platforms) certified by Oracle to work in this manner (and which do not work using standard APPLET tags). See Section 5.5.3.4, "Default basejini.htm File" for an example. Also, see Appendix B, "Client Browser Support" for more information about JInitiator settings.
• base.htm: This is a base HTML file containing the APPLET tags required to run the Forms applet in the AppletViewer, or in any Web browser certified by Oracle whose native JVM is certified with Forms. See Section 5.5.3.3, "Default base.htm File" for an example. Also, see Appendix B, "Client Browser Support" for more information about native JVM and AppletViewer settings.
• baseie.htm: This is a base HTML file containing the Internet Explorer 5 tags required to use native JVM in Internet Explorer 5. See Section 5.5.3.5, "Default baseie.htm File" for an example. Also, see Appendix B, "Client Browser Support" for more information about Internet Explorer and native JVM.

If you decide to create a new base HTML file:

1. Copy the basejini.htm or base.htm starter file, which is located in the /6iserver/forms60/server directory.
2. Rename the file, for example, order.htm.
3. Add or modify any text that is visible to the user (for example text contained within