Experiences Migrating Tools Forms to J2EE : EVO + Exodus ADF

Question

Hi,
has anyone used the tools
-EVO from NEOS Software
-Exodus ADF from Cipher Software?
We are planning to migrate our 500 forms into J2EE (ADF Faces). So we are very pleased if anyone has experiences in these tools.
Thanks and Regards
Wolfgang Brandt

Answer 1

In J2ee it is much easier to get the 3 value of record 5 (multi row)I've not had much exposure to web-based development but I can see a number of ways that a forms multi-record block has an advantage over a tabular form on a webpage:
For data entry:
o You don't need to click a button and refresh the page when you run out of rows
o You can restrict the user to a field/record until it's in a valid state
o Records are locked instantly
o You can validate without refreshing the page
o You can commit each record automatically as it's entered/deleted/updated
For viewing data:
o You can have multiple MRBs on a page (very hard if not impossible in App Express)
o You can move between master records and show their children just by using the cursor keys
o You can access all the records at once (scrolling in a block is much friendlier than page refreshes and much more efficient than a huge iframe)
In general, navigating between records is much easier in Forms, and there's less need to reach for the mouse. Having to do a go_record to get a field value is annoying, but on the whole I don't think it's a big deal. At least in Forms we don't have to loop though a collection of records just to do a delete!
Another advantage is that Forms development requires skills only in pl/sql and the very similar forms built-ins. For an ADF application that does anything more than the wizards can create, you'd need skills in one or more of java, sql, html, css, and javascript.
IMHO the only reason to migrate away from forms is if you can't find the developers (unlikely!) or you want to open the application up to the general web without java/jinitiator in between.