Oracle Forms 6i / Reports 6i To Oracle APEX Developer

Oracle Forms 6i / Reports 6i to Oracle APEX Developer

Position

Oracle Forms 6i / Reports 6i to Oracle APEX Developer

Project

We are undertaking a modernisation of an existing Oracle Forms 6i and Oracle Reports 6i business application to a modern, browser-based application using Oracle APEX, with an underlying upgrade of the existing Oracle Database environment to a supported modern Oracle Database release.

The successful candidate will be responsible for analysing the existing Forms/Reports application, using appropriate Oracle migration/conversion tooling where applicable, and rebuilding, adapting and testing the application in Oracle APEX.

This is primarily a database-centric Oracle application modernisation project, rather than a conventional web-development project.

Key Responsibilities

Oracle Forms 6i Analysis and Migration

• Analyse existing Oracle Forms 6i applications, including:
• Forms modules (.FMB)
• Menus (.MMB)
• Object libraries (.OLB)
• PL/SQL libraries (.PLL)
• Forms triggers
• Program units
• LOVs and record groups
• Data blocks
• Master/detail relationships
• Form-level and item-level business logic
• Understand and document existing application functionality and business rules.
• Identify Forms-specific functionality that does not have a direct APEX equivalent.
• Use Oracle Forms/APEX migration and conversion tools where appropriate.
• Analyse migration/conversion output and resolve issues requiring manual development.
• Preserve existing business functionality while improving the user experience for the web environment.

Oracle APEX Development

• Design and develop Oracle APEX applications to replace existing Forms functionality.
• Convert Forms data blocks into appropriate APEX components.
• Develop:
• Interactive Reports
• Interactive Grids
• Forms
• Master/detail pages
• LOVs
• Faceted searches
• Charts
• Dashboards
• Navigation menus
• Modal dialogs
• Implement APEX:
• Validations
• Computations
• Processes
• Branches
• Dynamic Actions
• Shared Components
• Authentication and authorisation
• Develop responsive browser-based interfaces using Oracle APEX Universal Theme.

Oracle Database / PL/SQL

• Work extensively with Oracle SQL and PL/SQL.
• Understand and maintain existing:
• Tables
• Views
• Packages
• Procedures
• Functions
• Triggers
• Sequences
• Indexes
• Jobs
• Where appropriate, move business logic currently embedded in Forms triggers/program units into reusable database packages and procedures.
• Analyse and optimise SQL and PL/SQL performance.
• Assist with database compatibility issues arising from the migration from the existing Oracle 10g environment to a modern Oracle Database release.

Oracle Reports 6i Migration

• Analyse existing Oracle Reports 6i reports (.RDF/.REP and associated objects).
• Categorise reports according to whether they should be:
• Rebuilt as APEX reports
• Implemented using APEX Interactive Reports/Grids
• Rebuilt using Oracle Analytics Publisher / BI Publisher
• Replaced with another appropriate reporting solution
• Reproduce existing report functionality, calculations, parameters and business rules.
• Ensure PDF, Excel, CSV and other required outputs are available where applicable.
• Maintain existing report layouts where business requirements require them.

Web / Integration Development

• Develop and consume REST APIs where required.
• Understand Oracle REST Data Services (ORDS).
• Work with JSON and RESTful services.
• Integrate APEX applications with external systems where required.
• Understand HTTP, HTTPS and basic web application architecture.

Testing and Deployment

• Perform functional testing against the existing Forms application.
• Compare existing Forms behaviour with the new APEX application.
• Identify and resolve migration discrepancies.
• Perform regression testing.
• Support user acceptance testing.
• Prepare APEX application exports and deployment scripts.
• Work with source control/version control systems such as Git.
• Support deployment between development, test and production environments.

Essential Skills and Experience

The successful candidate should have strong experience in the following:

Essential

• Oracle APEX development
• Oracle SQL
• Oracle PL/SQL
• Oracle Forms 6i
• Oracle Reports 6i
• Experience migrating or modernising legacy Oracle Forms applications.
• Experience analysing Forms triggers and Forms business logic.
• Experience with Oracle APEX Forms, Reports, Interactive Reports and Interactive Grids.
• Experience with APEX Dynamic Actions, validations and processes.
• Good understanding of Oracle database architecture.
• Experience with Oracle database upgrades or compatibility issues.
• Ability to understand an existing legacy application and reproduce its functionality in APEX.
• Strong problem-solving and debugging skills.

Strongly Desirable

• Previous Oracle Forms 6i Oracle APEX migration experience.
• Experience with Oracle Forms-to-APEX migration/conversion tooling.
• Oracle Reports 6i APEX / BI Publisher migration experience.
• Oracle REST Data Services (ORDS).
• REST APIs and JSON.
• HTML5 and CSS.
• JavaScript, particularly the Oracle APEX JavaScript API.
• Git/source control.
• Oracle Analytics Publisher / BI Publisher.
• Oracle Database 19c or later.
• Experience with large transactional business applications.

Technical Skills

The candidate should ideally be comfortable working with:

Oracle

• Oracle Database 19c+
• SQL
• PL/SQL
• Packages
• Procedures
• Functions
• Views
• Triggers
• Indexes
• Query optimisation
• Execution plans

Oracle APEX

• APEX Pages
• Regions
• Page Items
• Interactive Reports
• Interactive Grids
• Forms
• Master/Detail
• LOVs
• Dynamic Actions
• Processes
• Validations
• Computations
• Shared Components
• Authentication
• Authorisation
• Security
• Universal Theme

Web

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• REST
• JSON
• HTTP/HTTPS
• ORDS

Reporting

• Oracle Reports 6i
• APEX reporting
• PDF/Excel/CSV output
• Oracle Analytics Publisher / BI Publisher

Candidate Profile

We are looking for someone who can work with an existing mature Oracle application and understand why the application does something, rather than simply reproduce the appearance of an old Form.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable reading legacy Forms 6i code, understanding Forms triggers and PL/SQL business logic, identifying dependencies, and deciding how that functionality should be implemented properly in APEX.

The candidate should be able to distinguish between:

Business logic

Oracle PL/SQL / database packages

User interface logic

APEX pages, processes, validations and Dynamic Actions

Web/integration functionality

APEX / ORDS / REST / JavaScript

Reporting

APEX Reports / Analytics Publisher / appropriate reporting technology

Project Deliverables

The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to:

1. Assessment and inventory of the existing Forms 6i and Reports 6i application.

2. Identification of Forms modules, libraries, menus, reports and dependencies.

3. Migration/conversion assessment using appropriate Oracle tooling.

4. APEX application architecture and design.

5. Conversion/redevelopment of Forms modules into APEX.

6. Conversion/redevelopment of Reports 6i reports.

7. Refactoring of Forms-specific business logic where appropriate.

8. Database compatibility and migration support.

9. Functional and regression testing.

10. User acceptance testing support.

11. Deployment documentation.

12. Technical documentation for the new APEX application.

13. Knowledge transfer to existing Oracle/PLSQL development staff.

Qualifications

• Professional experience in Software Engineering, Information Systems or a related discipline.
• 5+ years Oracle development experience preferred.
• Demonstrable Oracle APEX experience.
• Demonstrable Oracle Forms experience.
• Experience with legacy application modernisation is highly desirable.

Candidates with strong Oracle Forms/PLSQL experience and proven APEX migration experience will be preferred over candidates who are primarily general-purpose web developers.

Preferred Experience

The ideal candidate will have previously completed a project involving:

Oracle Forms 6i Oracle APEX

and/or

Oracle Reports 6i APEX / BI Publisher

and can provide examples of such work.

Experience migrating an application from an older Oracle database version to Oracle Database 19c or later would also be highly desirable.

Important Requirement

This is not simply an APEX page-development position.

The candidate must be able to understand and work with an existing Oracle Forms 6i / Reports 6i application, including legacy Forms triggers, PL/SQL, libraries, menus, reports and database dependencies.

Experience in both legacy Oracle Forms and modern Oracle APEX is therefore strongly preferred.