Oracle Forms offers a flexible, reliable front-end data access platform. With robust low-code development tools and a secure, intuitive design, it supports efficient data management through its comprehensive feature set.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Oracle Forms | 10.2% |
| D3.js | 9.2% |
| ComponentOne Studio Enterprise | 8.2% |
| Other | 72.4% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 3 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 2 |
| Large Enterprise | 4 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 35 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 17 |
| Large Enterprise | 36 |
Providing a stable environment, Oracle Forms is recognized for reliability and flexibility, enhanced by low-code rapid application development, intuitive design, and integration capabilities. It supports varied industries, ensuring secure data processes with built-in libraries, long-standing stability, and minimized support needs. However, challenges include outdated Java-based interfaces requiring modern web updates and a complex customization process which can hinder seamless integration into current technology landscapes. These limitations are particularly notable in graphic-intensive applications, necessitating improvements in GUI and data interaction.
What are the main features of Oracle Forms?Across educational, financial, and secured environments, organizations implement Oracle Forms to manage access control systems and integrate with banking operations, enhancing transaction efficiency and database management tasks.
Cologne Data, Jubilee Life, Shikun Binui Group, DTE Energy
| Author info | Rating | Review Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Senior System Specialist at ArcelorMittal | 3.5 | We use Oracle Forms as a basic development tool for specific database tasks because it is easy to use and stable. However, it needs better integration with Oracle Reports for improved reporting. It offers a good return on investment without requiring developer training. |
| IT Manager at NED University of Engineering and Technology | 5.0 | Oracle Forms provides a comprehensive data entry solution with features like LOBs and triggers but faces performance challenges with graphics and user interface. A robust platform, it benefits from SQL integration yet requires improvements in speed and visual design. |
| Owner at Klas Stenhammar Konsult AB | 1.5 | I found Oracle Forms very stable, rarely needing support, but it's an old product with a complex setup. I wouldn't recommend it for new development, only maintenance, rating it 3/10. |
| Sr. Director at LogiCorner Info Tech. | 4.0 | Having used Oracle Forms for 22 years, I value its RAD, performance, and intuitive design. However, it needs a web-style UI. Installation is difficult, and support is average. I now prefer Oracle APEX. I rate it 8/10. |
| Mechanical Designer at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees | 4.0 | I find Oracle Forms reliable, stable, and efficient for fast application development, making it suitable for large organizations. However, its complex setup and outdated Java applet output, rather than responsive browser compatibility, are significant drawbacks needing urgent updates. |
| Presales Manager at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees | 4.5 | I find this solution offers very good performance, valuable features, and stability, with straightforward setup and good support. However, its GUI needs improvement, and it's not centrally scalable, functioning best as a client tool. I rate it 9/10. |
| Sr. Oracle Developer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees | 4.0 | I find this tool robust, stable, and good for reporting, with responsive customer service. However, it needs modernization as I'm moving away due to its outdated technology. |
| Programmer at a aerospace/defense firm with 1,001-5,000 employees | 4.5 | We value its stability and scalability for non-technical users to retrieve exact data. Though setup is complex and costs are high, our main issue is that excessive customization creates confusion and maintenance challenges for us. |
| Consultant at a aerospace/defense firm with 1,001-5,000 employees | 5.0 | I find Oracle Forms flexible, stable, and scalable, automating tasks and standardizing our GUI. Deployment was easy. My biggest issue is occasional update function disconnections, but it's a valuable, albeit expensive, solution. |
We use the solution as a basic development tool to design specific tasks for database.
The solution is an easy-to-use design tool.
The solution should be integrated with Oracle Reports like before. At present, there are areas for improvement in terms of reporting.
We have been using the solution for 15 years.
The solution is stable. I rate its stability a nine out of ten. Although, we encounter issues sometimes.
It is a scalable solution. We have 200 users in our organization, and we plan to increase the usage.
The solution's initial setup process is straightforward. We have to design a form, generate a run time, and copy it to the production environment. It takes three or four admin executives to carry out the process.
We can implement the solution in-house.
The solution generates a return on investment for us. It provides a very stable environment and doesn't require training for developers.
We purchase the solution's yearly license.
The solution is very robust; I rate it a seven out of ten. I recommend it to others. I advise them to have enough training for application development.
It offers a comprehensive data entry solution, allowing end-users to effortlessly input data for various purposes, including education and finance. We examine fees and seamlessly integrate Oracle Forms with a banking system, enabling students to print their receipts at a bank location, which are then automatically recorded in our database as we develop this on-site system within the university premises.
It offers a wealth of features, including LOBs and triggers, making it a comprehensive platform.
It may encounter performance challenges, particularly when handling extensive graphics. In contrast to cloud-based solutions like Apex, Oracle Forms may lack some advanced visual features. In terms of form recovery and enhancements, there's a need for virtualization. The speed and efficiency of data retrieval should be increased. User interaction and the overall user interface design should be significantly improved in the next critical version to make it more user-friendly and intuitive. Having a built-in SQL prompt or a Windows environment alongside the data connection would be valuable. It would be a significant advancement if there were a platform or functionality within Oracle Forms for reviewing and managing alerts.
I have nearly nineteen years of experience with it.
I would rate its stability capabilities ten out of ten.
It provides exceptional scalability abilities. I would rate it nine out of ten.
We used Oracle SQL plays a pivotal role, particularly in terms of personal devices. A strong grasp of SQL is essential, encompassing its processes, functions, and packages. I prefer Oracle Forms because it remains a robust and flexible system, and allows us to incorporate or eliminate new features, catering to specific user requirements.
Setting it up on the server side is a rather complex task. I would rate it five out of ten.
It involves configuring the Oracle Application Server and establishing connections between Oracle Forms and the database. This process typically requires the involvement of specialized roles, including the database server administrator, application administrator, and developer, working together to ensure a successful setup. Creating one form typically takes about an hour, and the entire system should be completed within a week. In this process, a minimum of three individuals are involved. One of them is a system administrator who possesses expertise in Linux or the operating system and is skilled in database management. Another essential component is an expert in the application server domain. The next step involves the developers creating the forms and deploying them into a specified folder as indicated by the database administrator or system administrator. Following this, the network is set up to ensure access, whether within a single building or across the entire university campus.
Overall, I would rate it ten out of ten.
It's a very old product, and therefore, very seldom do you need to get in contact with technical support for issues. It's very stable.
It's quite an old product. It may be easier to use if it were a web application.
Nothing happens on the development side for this product, so it's quite stable.
It's scalable.
The initial setup is very complex.
I would not recommend Oracle Forms if you want to do development with this product for a new system because it's so old. It's more for maintaining all the systems.
Considering this, I would rate it at three on a scale from one to ten.
Oracle Forms is a tool to do Rapid Application Development (RAD).
The most valuable features are the low-code RAD, performance, and intuitive design.
The solution could improve by having a web-style rendered UI.
I have been using this solution for approximately 22 years.
I would rate the overall technical support provided by Oracle at an average quality level.
I have switched to Oracle APEX which I have found better than Oracle Forms.
The installation is difficult, you will need someone who is a professional to complete it. The time it takes for the installation can vary depending on the complexity. However, it typically takes one to two hours.
I would recommend people who want to use Oracle Forms to use Oracle APEX instead.
I rate Oracle Forms an eight out of ten.
We use this product to develop applications.
I think the way that Oracle Forms has allowed us to improve our organization is based on what we have been able to develop through the application. How our application design was developed and how the analysis is done and how the user requirements were built are based on what we planned. We only used the Oracle Forms as a tool. We could have used basic and other tools also, but we selected Forms as our best option.
The main thing which is very useful in Oracle Forms is that we can rely on this tool. There are a very limited number of failures in Oracle Forms compared to .NET Framework or real basic type tools. The last and most important factor for application development is that we can develop an application very fast using this tool when compared to other tools.
The most important thing is the reliability. The over-all user control is very important as is data security. The application is efficient. All of these factors are important to our usage of Oracle forms.
I think the most problematic point is that we still can only use Oracle Forms output as a Java applet. Most users now demand to access these forms in responsive pages or in browsers that allow the application's size to be adjusted automatically as part of the requirements of a user interface. But interfaces developed in Oracle Forms are not a flexible thing because it opens in a Java applet. Oracle Application Express is not like that. They should switch Oracle Forms to have that kind of interface option now.
We have been using this solution for about 10 years.
Oracle Forms is very stable. 11G is much more stable than 10G. There were actually a lot of issues in the 10G version as it was using JInitiator. But now it is using a Java Runtime environment. I am not working with the 12G and I assume it is as good, but I know for a fact from experience that 11G is a very stable product.
Oracle middleware provides a lot of options for scalability but also requires another kind of expertise. You should have expertise and understanding in developing load balancing in a cluster environment. Oracle Forms middleware provides a classic level application infrastructure so there is an option for scalability. It also depends upon how the application has been developed and designed.
In the previous company I worked for, I think we had 150 to 200 users concurrently. It was not a problem to scale usage.
On a basic level support is very good. Sometimes during troubleshooting of an issue, you get bug patches from the Oracle support to resolve the problem and that is good. But the documentation side of support is very cumbersome and difficult to understand. There is a huge amount of very detailed documentation available on the site. For a technical user, this is a good thing and it is a place to get answers, but at the same time, it is not so easy to find what you need.
The initial setup is too complex. Whoever does the setup has to be an expert in the installation and the configuration. It is not easy. If you are an expert in the deployment infrastructure then there is no problem. But for a beginner, it takes getting some training. He needs some training and he needs some skills. Once you have a hands-on tech with expertise, then there is no problem with the development, and once it is configured, it works very smoothly.
For maintenance, we require only one or two people. The second is really a backup. We also have one person on the administration side for the middleware service. So it does not take a lot of administrative support to maintain.
My advice to people who are considering Oracle Forms as a solution is that they should look at the other Oracle products that are available. Forms is not for everyone. So they may want to consider J Developer or Oracle Application Express. Then after they survey all of these options then they can decide what they actually require for their company. Each of the products has its individual benefits and advantages — but also disadvantages as well. If you are working in a large organization, I think they should go for Oracle Forms because it is a very stable and very reliable application. But on the backend, it also requires a lot of resources and infrastructure. That requirement may make Forms less desireable for smaller organizations.
On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate this product above average as a seven or eight. To make it a nine or ten, the main features I would like to see is the change from making the output only available as a Java applet in 11G and even in 12G. That should be updated now. The output should be directly available and compatible with any internet browser and it should be available without any Java runtime environment like any other website or any other application without installing anything additional. It should come like that now. That is the main complaint from the end-users who I interact with. When you install a new PC and bring on a new user, they have to do a lot of work for the individual client to configure Java and other things. It seems like an unnecessary requirement.
The libraries and packages are all valuable aspects of the solution, as well as form building, and built-in core features.
Overall, the performance of the solution is very good.
The GUI needs improvement.
The solution needs to add recording features that can be included on the fly in the forms.
The solution is very stable.
It's not scalable as a central product. It's a client tool, so you install it on your computer to add a development framework and you develop forms from that tool. After that, you can publish all these applications through the application server. It's not about serving a certain number of users. There is no limit because you just have to install it on each machine.
Technical support is good.
The initial setup is very straightforward. It's quite easy.
Users should be able to implement the solution themselves.
We use the on-premises deployment model.
My advice for others considering implementation is that you have to do some programming for mobile to ensure your forms will be following good practice and your code will be usable.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
It has been around for a long time and a lot of companies are using it. It's pretty flexible for it's age. Reports gives you a lot of possibilities to do multiple queries. It’s really good, robust tool.
We do consulting for companies that are already using it, and we do enhancements if they want to add a report or a form. It needs to stay up with the times a little bit more. Everyone wants to move into web services and applications.
It's pretty stable. I don't do much on the database server, so if there is an issue, I give the DBA a call.
I don't think there are limitations. The reports and forms are just fine in the interfaces, so there is not much scaling to do.
I'm pretty pleased with the resolution. They are pretty responsive and we have not had any issues. It is going to be an antsy part of applications soon though, which is one of the reasons we are moving out of it right now.
I would look into the next technology. 80% of the technology in the Chicago police department is still on Oracle forms and reports even though they want to move out. I would rate it an 8 out of 10, however.
The best feature we've found is the ability to capture and display exact values in the database. That's exactly what the end user wants to see, because if they store something in the database that they want to retrieve later on, Forms is on the front end. This makes it easy to retrieve whatever was entered into the database before.
It's allows end users who don't have technical backgrounds to capture, edit, and later retrieve data in the database.
You can customize it way too much and it becomes confusing to control. You have different users who want to customize it for their purposes, so everybody is doing something different. Then you write a code, and somebody else has to maintain it, which presents challenges.
We've had no issues with deploying it.
It's stable and we can do whatever we want to do.
When you purchase Oracle Forms, you purchase a certain number of licenses, and so it works for a certain number of licenses. We have been able to add more users and licenses without any problems.
The initial setup is complex because our network is private.
Let's say that we spend a lot of money, but it's useful. We're willing to pay for that.
Spend time playing with it prior to purchasing it, and then make the decision.
There are a few features we've found very valuable in Oracle Forms. First, it's a very flexible solution. It also gives us the ability to provide a front end for the customer to access their data. Additionally, we can update our database through the application.
We've automated a lot of the daily administrative tasks through our applications. I go back to the old COBOL days as I originally programmed in COBOL. Forms is kind of like that in that it provides a standard method for us to provide those solutions to the customer again.
In other words, we can tailor the interface, the GUI, so that when users go from one application to another application and to yet another application, it gives us the capability to standardize that front end for the customer so it isn't something totally new when they go in there. It gives them a comfort.
For our bosses, it's a good thing that they aren't getting hammered by functional users saying, "Hey, what are you guys doing?" It's basically good customer service to have a product like Forms.
In the form itself building it, you can set up selected update functions in the properties. There are times where that gets disconnected. Essentially, what it's doing is it's pointing to a package in the database to go do its work. The functionality of that piece, occasionally, doesn't know what it is. The form no longer compiles, and you have to go back and redo those. That's the biggest shortcoming that I've come across.
It's been able to deploy without any huge issues.
Everything's been solid. We've had no big stability issues.
It's been scaleable for our needs.
We were using COBOL when I got there, then we migrated to Oracle. Forms provided a much better, higher-quality GUI for the customer.
I think the initial setup was fairly easy. Coming from the display-accept world in COBOL on a VAX-11/780, the biggest challenge was learning the tool. Aside from that, it was fairly simple to use. We had some training, and we took off and ran with it.
We implemented it ourselves with our in-house team.
Every Oracle product is expensive. Forms is no exception.
I would recommend training for your developers on the tool.
