10g Forms decode - [solved]

Question

A block in a 6i form is built on multiple tables joined in the where clause. An item Column Name property has a decode function. This works fine in 6i, however the 10g tool compiles but crashes upon build.
Is this a bug or a wonderful Oracle "undocumented feature"?

Answer 1

Ok, found the problem. ...Apparently, size matters. ;-)
Using my test form above, I plugged your long statement into my form. I first had to remove the Carriage Returns, but otherwise, it compiled just fine at 6i, and failed in 10g.
Taking out the spaces shortened the statement to 133 characters -- 10g still failed.
By abbreviating 'criminal', I was able to get both versions to compile at length 123 or less.
But as soon as I add a single character (even a space someplace), the 10g compiler fails at length 124.
So it is a length problem, and not a decode problem.
To fix the problem, make your problem column a non-base-table item, select l.criminal_level and s.criminal_sub_level into two hidden columns in the block, then in the post-query trigger, use pl/sql to display your column:
  If :Block1.criminal_level  = :Block1.criminal_sub_level then
     :Block1.derived_column := :Block1.criminal_level;
  Elsif :Block1.criminal_sub_level = '*' then
     :Block1.derived_column := :Block1.criminal_level || ' - ANY';
  Else
     :Block1.derived_column := :Block1.criminal_level || ' - ' || :Block1.criminal_sub_level;
  End if;