Oracle Forms

Well...that's a complicated answer. At one time, we actually had 6i working with 12c. but it is not supported, even with 11g. I do not recall "what" was done to make it work as it was before my time. I do know it wasn't working right out of the box; they had to make some configuration changes.

That being said, the answer is yes, it does work, but I would advise against it. It is not supported and you will not get any help from Oracle Support on it when something goes wrong.

Beware that WebLogic server is a big undertaking. It is required for Forms 11g and 12c, which is what you really should shoot for as 11g is out of support in both database and forms.

As Gary mentioned, although you may be able to make DB 11 work with Forms 6, this may only be true for the very simplest of applications.  In some cases, things may not works as you'd like.  I personally would not recommend doing this in a production environment because if, at any point an issue arises and it is not easily correctable, you may find yourself in a panic situation.  Oracle Support will not be able to help because Forms 6 is no longer supported AND DB 11 was never expected to work with Forms 6.  Support's reply will be that you either move back to the old db or upgrade to Forms 12.

That said, the fact that you (or your customer) are saying you want to remain on Forms 6 until such time that a move is made to a new technology suggests that you/they have been in this desupported state for a very long time.  If a move to something else hasn't already been started, I can't imagine what would make them move now.  The better and likely easier and less expensive approach might be to upgrade to Forms 12 and learn how to use a web environment.  The only reason I can think of to not do this is if the number of end-users is extremely low (e.g. 10).  However, if the number of end-users is greater than 50 or 100, moving to web likely will make someone's life much easier.  Also to consider is that if a discussion about moving away from Forms was the result of saying that the application looks "dated", this would also be a good time to consider some application enhancements using both new features delivered since v6 and some of your own.

Be sure to contact Oracle Sales or Account Management regarding licensing needs for new product versions, as some changes may be required.

More information about v12 can be found on OTN.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/forms

The answer is it will work on DB11g and even DB12.1 - all you need to do

is to set a compatibility mode in sqlnet, change the password mode (switch off mixedcase) and make sure you use a patch for reports. I can give you these informations if needed.

But as Mike said, it is a not supported version, SQLNET is with V8 Protocol insecure and you remain on PLSQL Version 8 and functionality of the year 2000.

I would recommend a direct migration to 12c directly offered by Gold or Platinum ORACLE partners like PITSS, Trivadis, Opitz or CologneData. They base on Forms API Master or an Datasebase Repository to change the code automatically. A migration to other technologies is a game change - that means if you have a complex application you keep the datamodell and develop a new software. I say it loud - there is no successful migration away from complex Forms solutions.

Some dreamers always thought they find a easy way to migrate to ADF, APEX or Java - but it ended mostly in a big waste of money.

So my suggestion is move to 12c, use 6i in prarallrel till the migration is ready or make your most expensive game change and hope out get back your old functionality.

One more tipp .. move your DB to 11.2.0.4 so you have a supported DB vor 12.2.x and you can use it for Forms6i for a while too

Can you give the informations about how to make 6i to work with 11g or 12c?

Thanks.

oracle 6i forms work with oracle 11g release 1,

just you have to install 6i and patch it  , after patching just put your database tns to forms tns.

just remember that

advance function, procedure , packages of 11g database only work on database .   

vk1224 wrote:
We have a client who is looking to continue to use Forms 6i and want to migrate their DB from 8i to 11g. They want to use Forms 6i until they re-write in another technology. 
Will that work? or Do you see any issues with this database upgrade?
Have you guys ever done this?
Please Suggest,
Thanks

Hello vk

In a single sentence, It will works. I tested with final release of Database 11g.

Hope this helps

Hamid

OK ..

for Oracle 12 you need these setting in you sqlnet.ora on the DB Server:

SQLNET.ALLOWED_LOGON_VERSION_CLIENT = 8

SQLNET.ALLOWED_LOGON_VERSION_SERVER = 8

Forms and Reports in Version 6i transport Passwords in upper case so you have to change as user SYS:

ALTER SYSTEM SET SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON = FALSE;

From an old Reports patch (I think it was three or four) replace these two files in the forms6i bin directory

To this Version:

NN60.dll from 2.1.2011 14:33 168 kb
NNB60.dll from 2.1.2011 14:33 168 kb

Send an EMAIl to the forms12c.com support adress if you don't have them

Then it should run - against DB11.2 or DB12.1. I have not checked against 12.2

One important issue to consider: Forms 6 will not work with character set AL32UTF8. If your db uses UTF8 you should stick to that even in 12c and not convert to AL32UTF8. With single byte c/s like WE8ISO8859P1 or P15 Forms 6i also still works with 12c db. Although it is not a supported configuration neither we nor our customers ever had any problems with it.

Regards