Error-Message Handling

IN THIS CHAPTER

• The Basics of Error-Message Handling
• Handling Errors
• Deficiencies in Forms Error-Message Handling
• Summary

Error-message and exception handling are part and parcel of any quality software application, and Oracle Forms is no exception. This chapter provides the tricks of the trade for error- message handling in Forms programming and describes techniques required to augment the default Forms error-messaging capabilities.

Basically, the errors raised in Forms can be classified in the following broad categories:

• Errors raised out of failure of Forms built-ins (FRM errors)
• Errors raised out of failure of Forms object properties (also, FRM errors)
• Errors raised out of exceptions from triggers and program unit code ”that is, failure of DML statements or PL/SQL errors
• Errors raised on the server side and propagated to Forms as a failure of integrity constraints, insufficient privileges on base tables, and so on ( ORA-ERRORS )

All these types of errors can be tracked either by default Forms error-messaging capabilities or by augmenting these capabilities with customized code. I will discuss the various techniques to handle each of these types of errors, along with special cases involved.