Purpose

This document describes Oracle Corporation's statement of direction to support Oracle Forms applications on multiple thin client platforms.

Broadened Certification Efforts

In general, the strategy for supporting Java UIs with Oracle Forms has been to provide Enterprise-level, 24x7 support to all Oracle customers, and out of this JInitiator has resulted as the primary solution for the Windows platform. In parallel, the Oracle Forms team, in conjunction with the Oracle Product Lines and Oracle Support, is promoting as many platforms as possible. For a platform to even be considered for certification, it must (at a minimum) be based on the JavaSoft 1.1.8 reference implementation. Our long-term direction is to partner with Sun, such that we share the Enterprise-level, 24x7 support for all Oracle customers, which will result in the certification of the JavaSoft standard Plug-in/JDK on Windows, as well as shorter certification paths to platforms like Solaris, Linux, and Macintosh.

Certification Model

The new certification model is based on two levels:

• Level 1, JVM certified with Oracle Application E-Business suite
• Level 2, JVM certified with custom applications

With this change it will be easier to understand the way Oracle Corporation’s certifications work.

Level 1: Certified with Oracle E-Business Suite

The JVM has been tested in depth against Oracle Applications E-Business Suite. All Oracle Forms applications (either Oracle Applications or custom applications) deployed using the JVM are also deployable, unchanged, to wherever the JVM is ported.

Level 2: Certified with custom applications

This level means that the JVM has been tested with custom applications. Oracle Forms applications can be deployed without significant changes to all platforms where the JVM is ported. In the case of any platform limitations, some customers may need to slightly re-architect their applications to work around bugs related to the JVM. But the implementation is robust enough to support Web deployment of Oracle Forms applications.

Oracle Forms Services 6i:
Matrix of the current status of certified browsers/client platforms

The following matrix will give you an overview of the certified client platforms and browsers. When a client platform is certified with a specific patch release it is implicitly certified with all subsequent patch releases. Information in this matrix is always undergoing changes and you should always cross check this information with http://metalink.oracle.com.

Browsers (5) Client Platform Level Forms Patch set Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x Oracle JInitiator (Win32(1), based on JDK 1.1.8.x(6)) 1 All Oracle JInitiator (Win32(1), based on JDK 1.3.x(6)) 1 Patch set 9 Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x (Microsoft VM 5.0(2)) 2 Patch set 2 JavaSoft 1.4.1x Java Plug-in (Win32(1) 2 Patch set 12 MacOS 9 - Apple MRJ 2.2.5 (3) (4) 1 Patch set 1 MacOS 9 - Apple MRJ 2.2.6 (3) (4) 1 Recommend minimum of patch set 8 Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.2.x Mac OS X (10.2) (Java 1.3.1) 1 Currently certified from patch 12-16 but recommended to use patch 16 Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 Oracle JInitiator (Win32(1), based on JDK 1.1.8.x(6)) 1 Patch set 9 Oracle JInitiator (Win32(1), based on JDK 1.3.x(6)) 1 Patch set 9 Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 (Microsoft VM 5.0(2)) 2 Patch set 13 JavaSoft 1.4.1x Java Plug-in (Win32(1) 2 Patch set 12 Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows XP professional - client Oracle JInitiator (Win32(1), based on JDK 1.1.8.x(6)) 1 Patch set 10 Oracle JInitiator (Win32(1), based on JDK 1.3.x(6)) 1 Patch set 10 Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 (Microsoft VM 5.0) 2 Patch set 13 JavaSoft 1.4.1x Java Plug-in (Win32(1) 2 Patch set 12 Netscape Navigator 4.7x Oracle JInitiator (Win32(1), based on JDK 1.1.8.x(6)) 1 All Oracle JInitiator (Win32(1), based on JDK 1.3.x(6)) 1 Patch set 9 JavaSoft 1.4.1x Java Plug-in (Win32(1) 2 Patch set 12 Netscape Navigator 7.0x Oracle JInitiator (Win32(1), based on JDK 1.1.8.x(6)) 1 Patch set 14 Oracle JInitiator (Win32(1), based on JDK 1.3.x(6)) 1 Patch set 14 Netscape 7.0 native JVM (1.4.1 Plug-in) (Win32(1) 2 Patch set 15 JavaSoft 1.4.1x Java Plug-in (Win32(1)) 2 Patch set 15

Notes:

1. Win32 refers to Win98/2000, NT 4.0, XP. Please see Metalink note Note:166748.1
2. When using the signed CAB file shipped with Forms Services. No browser-specific configuration is necessary.
3. There are some restrictions with Oracle Forms 6i for Apple Macintosh. Please refer to the Metalink notes Note:212390.1 and Note:233264.1
4. Oracle recommends that for customers using the Forms Listener Servlet, patches 1-7 should be applied on 2.2.5. For customers using the Forms Listener Servelet architecture beyond patch 7, 2.2.6 should be used and it is strongly recommended to use the latest Forms patch.
5. See Microsoft Statement of Direction.
6. Certification indicates minimum patch and Jinit verison- Oracle recommeds, if possible, you should run the latest versions.

Additional Reading

Refer to the Metalink Web site - http://metalink.oracle.com - for information regarding which release of Oracle JInitiator is certified with which version of Oracle Forms. All information regarding client certification for Oracle Applications is also available on Metalink. The following papers on related topics can be downloaded from Oracle Technology Network ().

• Oracle JInitiator, Technical FAQ
• Oracle JInitiator, Whitepaper

• Using Sun's 1.4.1 Java Plug-in with Oracle Forms 6i