From an Oracle form, I want to read a text file.

Question

From an Oracle form, I want to read a text file. In the form on a button press I have:
declare
in_file Text_IO.File_Type;
linebuf VARCHAR2(1800);
filename VARCHAR2(30);
BEGIN
filename:=GET_FILE_NAME('U:\ora_devl\pps\work\a.txt', File_Filter=>'Text Files (*.txt)|*.txt|');
in_file := Text_IO.Fopen(filename, 'r');
LOOP
Text_IO.Get_Line(in_file, linebuf);
-- :text_item5:=:text_item5||linebuf||chr(10);
Text_IO.New_Line;
END LOOP;
EXCEPTION
WHEN no_data_found THEN
Text_IO.Put_Line('Closing the file...');
Text_IO.Fclose(in_file);
END;
It gets an ORA-302000. I suspect the problem starts with the GET_FILE_NAME because when I comment out everything but that, It processes endlessly never ending.
Forms [32 Bit] Version 11.1.1.3.0 (Production)
Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.1.0 - 64bit Production
What can you tell me? Thanks

Answer 1

GET_FILE_NAME will try to open an "Open File" dialog on the server, which obviously can't happen. If you want to use that type of behavior you need to use WebUtil and the function CLIENT_GET_FILE_NAME. Example:
     filename := CLIENT_GET_FILE_NAME('C:\', File_Filter=> 'Text Files (*.txt)|*.txt|All Files (*.*)|*.*|', dialog_type=> OPEN_FILE);Refer to the Builder Online help for more details. You can also refer to the demo which is available here:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/forms/downloads/index.html
More information here:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/forms/webutil-090641.html
Also, it appears that you are attempting to use a mapped drive ("U"). Although this can be made to work, it is not recommended and in some cases will not be supported. If you need access to remote files, you should use some other mechanism to bring the file to the local machine before manipulating it.