FORMS is designed to be a part of a complex environment, and its open interface makes it easy to integrate with a variety of other systems.
As forms and sets move through the FORMS’ production modules (Scan, Interpret, Verify, and Transfer), events are fired at predefined occasions. An event is a condition or the result of an activity at a specific point in a program.
When an event is fired, FORMS checks to see whether you have defined a handler for the event. An event handler causes execution of a predefined VBA function, DLL function, COM object, or all of these. This allows you to customize the program to suit your requirements, modifying its functionality and adding more features. You can add dialogs, ActiveX automation calls, ODBC access, file manipulation, and much more.
There are four types of event handlers that you can define on five different levels.
VBA and DLL programming is a complex task which requires knowledge of programming, Visual Basic, C, C++ or other programming language, and simple ActiveX automation issues.
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FORMS customizations can be quite powerful. They can change values on forms and even cause FORMS to malfunction. Proceed with caution when implementing event handlers. |
Migrating FORMS customizations to recent operating systems
Where should the event handlers be placed?
Separate documentation relating to the customization of FORMS (FORMS Help topic)