Oracle Apps 11i Form Server

Forms Server Connection

Step 1

The URL is run from a browser session via an HTTP request. If using the dynamic HTML method, the Listener (WebDB 2.2, or Apache for 11i) calls the Forms CGI Cartridge to generate the HTML page dynamically. This involves replacing tokens within a base HTML file with parameters passed in the URL, or defaulting to values specified in the appsweb.cfg file.

Step 2
The HTML page is returned to the client browser. Viewing the HTML page source in a browser should show valid HTML/Javascript, with the tokens having been replaced by valid data. Using Single Sign-on, it is not easy to view the HTML source, as the browser window’s menu has been disabled for security reasons.

Steps 3 and 4
Next, the browser reads the applet tags, mime types and other elements in the HTML page. It then launches the JInitiator plug-in (what is Jinitiator -- JInitiator is a replacement JRE (Java Runtime Engine) or JVM (Java Virtual Machine), which replaces the default JVM in the Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) browsers. It is essentially Sun’s Java plug-in,) , as defined by the MIME type, to replace the browser’s default JDK. JInitiator then launches the Forms Applet specified by the applet tags. First, it downloads the jar files specified in the archive tag via the WebDB or Apache listener. Once the jar files have been downloaded, the Forms Applet is started up. JInitiator implements jar caching and on-demand loading, so the way the jar files are actually downloaded is more complex.

Step 5
The Forms Applet is started up. It reads the serverPort, serverHost, and connectMode HTML parameters, and connects to the Forms listener using the host, port and protocol specified

Jinitiator, JDK and Client JavaTrusted Applets and Certificates

Oracle Applications requires a trusted Applet to function properly. A trusted applet is one that is allowed to perform certain operations outside the Java sandbox environment. Operations that require the applet to be trusted include:

1. Screen printing.
2. Launching on-line help, or any other feature that opens a new browser window.
3. Cutting and pasting from third party Applications.

If the applet is not trusted, a Java security exception will be raised on performing any of these actions. To make the applet trusted, the correct public key of the Applications certificate must be installed on each client PC ( same directory as Jinitiator stays ) that will run Applications, and JInitiator or Appletviewer must be configured to pick up the correct identitydb.obj file, If the certificate is not installed, you will see a yellow bar with the legend Untrusted Applet