Oracle Forms 6i(32-bit) = Oracle database 10g R2 Windows 2008 R2 64-bit)

Question

We have Oracle database 10g R2 installed on a Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 (64-bit) (SERVER1)
We have Oracle Forms 6i (patch 4a) installed on a Microsoft Windows XP Professional (32-bit) (SERVER2)
I am not able to connect from SERVER2 to SERVER1, either through SQLPLUS or FORMS BUILDER.
Its giving some DLL error.
Is it because forms 6i (32-bit) cannot connect to a 64-bit database on a 64-bit OS ?

Answer 1

There might be problems with 8i clients (like forms 6i) if the database uses AL32UTF8 characterset indeed (if you need unicode and you need to run forms 6i use UTF8 instead) but this should not be related to the platform of the database.
The platform of the database server really should not matter as the forms runtime talks via SQL*Net with the database server and in the end it does not matter if the database runs on linux, windows whatsoever or unix 32 or 64 bit for the client. The only problem you'll encounter is that SQL*Net also changes with versions and thus "older" clients might not be able to communicate with "newer" servers and vice versa.
SQL> select * from v$version;
BANNER
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 - 64bi
PL/SQL Release 10.2.0.4.0 - Production
CORE    10.2.0.4.0      Production
TNS for 64-bit Windows: Version 10.2.0.4.0 - Production
NLSRTL Version 10.2.0.4.0 - Production
SQL> select * from v$nls_parameters where parameter = 'NLS_CHARACTERSET';
PARAMETER                                                       |VALUE
----------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------
NLS_CHARACTERSET                                                |WE8MSWIN1252
SQL>I just tried a 6i form (6.0.8.25.2) connected to this database. It worked ;) (again: not certified)
cheers