Dumping data from forms 4.5 to excel

Question

Hi,
we use oracle 8.1.3 (WINDOWS 2000) / forms 4.5 (WINDOWS 98).
we call a procedure from forms 4.5 to dump oracle data
into excel file. The procedure is working fine. The problem is
after dumping data into excel file and exiting the program,
excel is not completely closed.
If i press "ctrl + alt + delete" i can see excel is still in use.
Because of this if i click on excel file it doesn't open automatically.
Any suggestions?
regards,
chetty.
PROCEDURE RUN_EXCEL_REPORT_summary IS
v_text VARCHAR2(100);
currow NUMBER;
curcol NUMBER;
obj OLE2.obj_type;
wb OLE2.obj_type;
sheet OLE2.obj_type;
cell OLE2.obj_type;
olearg OLE2.obj_type;
CURSOR cc_exp(P_YEAR_start_date DATE,P_year_end_date DATE) IS
SELECT      
l.account_no,account_desc,
SUM(NVL(debit_amt,0))-SUM(NVL(credit_amt,0)) YTD_Amount
FROM      gl_line_items l,gl_journal_entries h ,gl_accounts m,gl_cost_centre_master glm
WHERE      l.entity_code = 'TWL01'
     AND l.account_no = m.account_no
     AND m.chart_name = 'LOC - CHART'
     AND cost_centre_code = glm.cc_code(+)
     AND h.entity_code = l.entity_code
     AND h.journal_type = l.journal_type
     AND h.journal_no = l.journal_no
     AND h.post_it = 1
     AND h.posted_flag = 1
     AND L.TRAN_date BETWEEN '01-JAN-03' AND '31-DEC-03'
GROUP BY
l.account_no ,account_desc
ORDER BY 1;
BEGIN
currow := 1; -- Current row number on the excel sheet
curcol := 3; -- Current column number on the excel sheet
obj := OLE2.CREATE_OBJ('excel.application');
OLE2.SET_PROPERTY(obj,'visible','true');
wb := OLE2.GET_OBJ_PROPERTY(obj,'workbooks');
sheet := OLE2.GET_OBJ_PROPERTY(wb,'add');
-- Print Report Title
olearg := OLE2.CREATE_ARGLIST;
OLE2.ADD_ARG(olearg,currow);
OLE2.ADD_ARG(olearg,curcol);
cell := OLE2.GET_OBJ_PROPERTY(obj,'cells',olearg);
ole2.SET_PROPERTY(cell,'value','TRIAL BALACE - SUMMARY');
-- Print Data
-- FOR x IN cc_exp(v_year_start_date,v_year_end_date) LOOP
FOR x IN cc_exp(v_year_start_date,:P_TO_DATE) LOOP
currow := currow + 1; -- start with next row
curcol := 2; -- start with second column
FOR k in 2..5 LOOP
IF k = 2 THEN
v_text := x.account_no;
END IF;
IF k = 3 THEN
v_text := x.account_desc;
END IF;
IF k = 4 THEN
NULL;
END IF;
IF k = 5 THEN
v_text := TO_CHAR(x.Ytd_amount);
END IF;
olearg := OLE2.CREATE_ARGLIST;
OLE2.ADD_ARG(olearg,currow);
OLE2.ADD_ARG(olearg,curcol);
cell := OLE2.GET_OBJ_PROPERTY(obj,'cells',olearg);
OLE2.SET_PROPERTY(cell,'value',v_text);
curcol := curcol + 1;
END LOOP; -- Cursor Columns loop
END LOOP; -- Cursor Rows loop
-- Print End of Report
currow := currow + 2;
curcol := 3;
olearg := OLE2.CREATE_ARGLIST;
OLE2.ADD_ARG(olearg,currow);
OLE2.ADD_ARG(olearg,curcol);
cell := OLE2.GET_OBJ_PROPERTY(obj,'cells',olearg);
ole2.SET_PROPERTY(cell,'value','***End of Report***');
OLE2.RELEASE_OBJ(obj); -- Release the object
END;

Answer 1

You could probably use the built-in DDE or OLE2 packages to do this (although you may run into problems having reports close after invoking excel).
I don't have any sample code for this though, so you'd need to review the DDE and OLE APIs that Excel provides to see if it's applicable.
Incidentally, in 6i it's possible to run a report on the web, return a csv file and have Excel automatically open (assuming the mimetype is set correctly). You may want to look closer at this solution (which would require an upgrade).
Hope this helps,
Danny