Forms 6i and message()

Question

Hi.
I have problems with message function in Oracle Forms 6i. I want use it to show alert message to user. In most cases, however, I must run it 2x to get the message on screen
message('Hello!');
message('Hello!');and the message appears 2 times.
When I run only
message('Hello!');then alert window did now appear but is printed on status bar.
Help please...

Answer 1

Blackhole,
By default, the MESSAGE() built-in displays the specified message in the status bar. To push the message to an Alert, most people simply do as you are doing and send the message twice. However, you can send the message directly to the Default Alert by calling the SHOW_ALERT() built-in instead of using the MESSAGE() built-in. There is a little more setup required to use the SHOW_ALERT() built-in. First, you must create and Alert in the Alert Node of the Object Navigator. Typically, you would want three separate Alerts; one for Note, Caution, and Stop. Make sure you set the "Alert Style" property appropriately for each Alert object otherwise you will have three "Stop" alert, which is the default Alter Style.
Now that you have created your Alert items in the navigator you can use them with the SHOW_ALERT() built-in. I suggest you review the Forms Help system for the details, but the basics are you call the FIND_ALERT() built-in to return the ID of the Alert you are calling. Then you call the SET_ALERT_PROPERTY() built-in passing the Alert_ID, the Alert Title, and the Alert Message. Now that the Alert has been set, you display the Alert calling the SHOW_ALERT() built-in Function. Please note, this is a function because it will return the number assigned to the button the user clicks to dismiss the Alert.
Rather than go through all of this every time you want to display a message, I suggest you create a generic Forms Program Unit and either link it to your form or preferably, include it in a Forms Library. Then you can call your Generic Message Handler in a single line of code rather than going through all of the setup for each Alert message you display.
Hope this helps.
Craig...