For years, Oracle APEX has been chosen by customers around the world to modernize their legacy Oracle Forms applications into modern web apps, resulting in happy and successful APEX users. Consequently, many additional customers want to learn more about APEX to discover if it’s the right platform for them as well to run this type of project.

This blog post highlights the frequently asked Oracle Forms to APEX modernization questions. Let’s get started!

What is Oracle APEX?

Oracle APEX is the world’s most popular enterprise low-code application platform that enables you to build scalable, secure web and mobile apps, with world-class features, that can be deployed anywhere – cloud or on-premises.

What do I need to start modernizing my Oracle Forms apps?

APEX Environment: The first thing you need is to choose in which environment you’re going to start building your APEX apps, explore the different options on our Getting Started page:

Proof of Concept: Select a small form/module in Oracle Forms as a candidate to be modernized with Oracle APEX. This project will allow you to learn how APEX works and how you can effectively build and edit any component to meet the requirements.
Once you have selected your form, you may need to install the database objects used in the form or alternatively associate the APEX workspace to your database schema.

APEX Training:  If you are new to APEX, it’s highly recommended that you and your team learn how to build apps with Oracle APEX. Explore the FREE Training available online and enroll in the following courses:

Besides, on apex.oracle.com  you can find a variety of content to learn about APEX and its features, such as tutorials, videos, office hours sessions and more.

Is Oracle APEX the right platform for Oracle Forms developers?

Definitely yes! Here are some of the reasons why APEX is the right platform for Forms developers:

  • Declarative development framework. With APEX, Forms developers can add pages to their application from scratch or use the wizard in a similar way that they used to do it using Forms. 
  • Productivity. The learning curve with APEX is really short, Forms developers will find that APEX is easier to learn, making them productive in days.
  • Database-centric development. Using APEX, Forms developers can quickly build apps based on table definitions – just like Forms.  And they can build forms, reports, charts, grids and more based on tables, views, or SQL queries on the local database or remote sources.
  • Business Logic. Forms developers can readily use the existing business logic (packages, procedures, functions, etc) in the database in the new APEX apps.
  • No client software. Developers and users only need a modern browser to be able to build/run the APEX apps.
  • Leverage your skills. The language of APEX today is SQL and PL/SQL, that’s why Forms developers don’t need to learn a new language to create the apps.
  • APEX is “cloud-ready”. APEX is available everywhere, on a laptop, on-premises, on Oracle Cloud or on other clouds.
  • Oracle Database. Forms and APEX are built on top of Oracle Database and you can take advantage of native database features like RAC, HA, end-to-end security, and more.

Read more on Top 10 Reasons why Oracle APEX is Ideal for Oracle Forms Developers!

How expensive is Oracle APEX?

Oracle APEX is a fully supported no-cost feature of all Oracle Database editions. If you already have an Oracle Database – on-premises or Oracle Cloud – you can start using Oracle APEX right away. Explore all of the features and benefits you receive because of the native integration from Oracle APEX to Oracle Database: Powered by Oracle.

How secure is Oracle APEX?

Oracle APEX generates applications with highly secure settings out of the box, such as:

  • Authentication and Authorization. To identify who can access the app and whether the user has permission to use an application, or parts of it.

  • Session Management. Sessions are defined by a browser cookie value and an ID in the URL, which are long random values that an attacker can not guess to take over a user’s session.

  • Parameter Tampering Protection. Oracle APEX uses checksums to prevent users from manipulating parameters in the URL and when saving changes.

  • XSS Prevention. Oracle APEX components escape all output by default to prevent this class of attacks.

What is the best practice to modernize Oracle Forms apps?

There is no “silver bullet” to modernize your Oracle Forms apps, however, some points that you can consider are:

  • Identify which forms your business needs to be added or discarded from the modernization project. It’s a good idea to check which forms are really being used by the users and how often they are using them.
  • Once you know which forms will be modernized, identify their complexity based on the number of tables involved in the forms, the number of stored procedures included, or any other aspect relevant to you. This helps to estimate the effort (time and resources) required to modernize the form. For example:
    • Low: For the forms that involve less than 3 tables / stored procedures.
    • Medium: For the forms that involve less than 10 tables / stored procedures.
    • High: For the forms that involve more than 10 tables / stored procedures.
  • Make a decision about the existing business logic (stored procedures) inside of the forms: 
    • Do you want to keep the logic in your apps?
    • Or might it be better to move it to Oracle Database? (Highly recommended!)
  • Prioritize the forms based on your own criteria:
    • Start with the simple forms, so that you can start seeing results faster, or
    • Start with the forms that have the biggest impact on the organization, so you can start meeting the needs in a timely way.
  • As developers are modernizing the forms, keep in mind:
    • Don’t try to mimic/replicate the Oracle Forms functionality in the new APEX apps. Instead, learn how you can accomplish the same results with APEX as it, might be faster and easier than replicating old functionality.
    • Modernization is a great time to review the business processes and to check if there’s an opportunity to enhance, simplify, or skip functionality previously implemented that is obsolete, or not used by your users.   
  • If your team doesn’t have sufficient APEX skills, it is recommended to work along with consulting companies that are experts in this type of project.

How can I decide if I should modernize my Oracle Forms apps?

There are a couple of simple questions you can ask yourself to determine what best works for you. Run this Should you modernize? test app and start making decisions!

Can my Oracle Forms app co-exist with my new APEX apps?

Yes. Your APEX applications can readily co-exist with Forms applications, having both running against the same Oracle Database and using the same database objects.  

How can I modernize my Oracle Reports with APEX?

Before deciding which platform to use to design pixel-perfect reports, identify which reports can be created using APEX regions, such as:

For those pixel-perfect reports (for example, invoices), there are a number of options, some of them are:

What new features can I add to my apps with APEX that are not available in Forms?

Oracle APEX offers a number of features you can add to your new APEX apps, here are some of them:

  • Data and Reporting. APEX allows to display, manipulate, chart, and process data in different ways efficiently.
  • Mobile. APEX apps are fully responsive, can be easily installed as Progressive Web Apps, and also you can send push notifications to your users on their device.
  • Workflow & Process Automation. You can deliver solutions requiring human approvals in record time
  • User Interface. Universal Theme is a user interface for Oracle APEX that enables developers to build modern web applications without requiring extensive knowledge of HTML, CSS, or JavaScript.
  • Accessibility. APEX allows building highly accessible web apps, that provide an inclusive user experience for users with different abilities and requirements.
  • Globalization. APEX supports developing applications that perform well and correctly in multiple languages and local environments.
  • Monitoring. APEX provides insight into how users interact with your application.

Are there any published sample APEX apps to take a look at?

Yes. Please see the following APEX apps:

Find more sample and starter apps on Apps and Plug-ins.

Is there any recommended migration tool?

You can modernize your Forms apps by building them with APEX from scratch page by page, but there’s no need to use a specific tool to do so. However, if you prefer to use a tool, there are third-party tools to expedite this process, built by APEX consulting companies such as:

My company currently uses Oracle Forms and Reports 6i. Can I still modernize it to Oracle APEX?

Of course! You can modernize Forms apps that exist in any version.

The migration workbench was desupported in APEX 21.1. How can I modernize my Oracle Forms app now?

Yes, as of APEX 21.1 the Migration Project was desupported. However, you can still modernize your Forms apps using APEX by building your apps from scratch.

Can I convert my Oracle 6i Forms app to XML and import them into APEX?

As mentioned above the Migration Project was desupported in APEX 21.1. Since you no longer need to convert your Forms apps to XML to start the modernization process. You can modernize your apps by building them from scratch with APEX using the latest version available.

Should I install APEX 20.2 to convert my Oracle Forms app and then upgrade to the latest version of APEX?

If you’re installing APEX 20.2 with the only purpose of using the Migration Project, that is not the correct workaround. The main reason the Migration Project was desupported is because as mentioned in the previous answers, it is not a good idea to just mimic or replicate exactly what you had in Forms apps to APEX and on the other side, the Migration Project wouldn’t deliver a 100% migration. At the end of the day, you would need to work on your APEX apps and check what was implemented, and what you need to enhance or simplify. In terms of productivity, it’s faster to build your apps from scratch rather than convert them using the Migration Project.

What about business logic inside of the forms, such as libraries, and triggers? 

As with the stored procedures, review and understand the purpose of the component and ask yourself if this is something you need to implement in your new APEX app or not. In the majority of the scenarios, you can discard the logic in the libraries and implement APEX dynamic actions to cover the logic in the triggers. Again, don’t try to replicate the Forms functionality.

What is the level of effort required to modernize Forms apps with APEX?

The level of effort required depends on several factors, such as:

  • Number of Forms to modernize and their complexity
  • Business logic located in the app or not
  • Number of people dedicated to this project

Is there any material or example that helps to understand the process step by step?

Yes, please read this blog post series: Modernizing an Oracle Forms Application to an Oracle APEX Application. Explore the original sample forms used in the series and the resulting APEX app: Summit Application.

 

Are there any success stories from customers modernizing their apps with APEX?

Yes, here are just a few modernization success stories:

  • Customer: Humanic
    Result: Humanic enhanced its payroll solution while reducing development time by 35%.
     
  • Customer: Novatech
    Result: Novatech cut development time in half by replacing Forms apps with Oracle APEX.
     
  • Customer: Soham ERP Solutions
    Result: With Oracle APEX and Database Cloud Service, Soham has a faster time to market to build and deploy plus data security. And Oracle Consulting helped us seamlessly convert our existing forms and reports and trained our current staff.
     
  • Customer: REACH New Zealand Limited
    Result: REACH has reduced IT operating costs by 30% by migrating to Oracle APEX, using Oracle Autonomous Database.

Conclusion

Modernizing your Oracle Forms apps is a non-trivial project, it requires a significant investment in time and resources but it pays off for sure. Your customers, users, and the entire company will be glad to have a renovated enterprise system that can be run anywhere (cloud or on-premises) and on any device (desktop, smartphone, or tablet).
Start your proof of concept and give APEX a try on apex.oracle.com!