Editing Oracle Forms (section)

==How it works==
Oracle Forms accesses the [[Oracle database]] and generates a screen that presents the data. The source form (*.fmb) is compiled into a platform-specific "executable" (*.fmx), that is run (interpreted) by the forms runtime module. The form is used to view and edit data in database-driven applications. Various [[Graphical user interface|GUI]] elements, such as buttons, menus, scrollbars, and graphics can be placed on the form.  Source code may also be placed in library files (*.pll) which are compiled into library executables (*.plx) used at runtime.

The environment supplies built-in record creation, query, and update modes, each with its own default data manipulations. This minimizes the need to program common, and tedious operations, such as creating dynamic [[SQL]], sensing changed fields, and locking rows.

As is normal with [[Event-driven architecture|event driven]] interfaces, the software implements event-handling functions called triggers which are automatically invoked at critical steps in the processing of records, the receipt of keyboard strokes, and the receipt of mouse movements. Different triggers may be called before, during, and after each critical step.

Each trigger function is initially a stub, containing a default action or nothing. Programming Oracle Forms therefore generally consists of modifying the contents of these triggers in order to alter the default behavior. Some triggers, if provided by the programmer, replace the default action while others augment it.

As a result of this strategy, it is possible to create a number of default form layouts which possess complete database functionality yet contain no programmer-written code at all.