Forms Playback

Exclusive to Oracle Applications
Very fast loads
Upto 20 times faster than Macro
Excellent reliability
Built-in error handling
Load is built as you work

Forms Playback

Forms playback is only available in the commercial version of DataLoad, DataLoad Professional, where it is the preferred load technology because of its super fast load speed combined with great reliability and error handling.

All versions of Oracle Forms contain 'record' and 'playback' functionality. When you run Forms in record mode a file is written detailing everything you did in the forms session. Run forms in playback mode and the forms will do whatever is specified in the file being played back. So, if you enter an customer's order in your order entry system when in record mode then playback that file on another system that order will be loaded into the second system. Because the playback is run by the forms software the load runs as fast as the forms can possibly work. This is much faster than is possible with Macro loads using Load Control because the forms run the load internally and what you see on screen is the form only showing you what is happening rather than actually driving the load. Along with the speed the load is also totally reliable and stops if an error or warning message is shown in the form.

DataLoad can edit the files record by Oracle Forms and save a new playback file containing the data you want to load. To create a load to enter a supplier into your system all you need to do is enter a supplier yourself while the forms are in record mode. Next edit that file in DataLoad and enter the supplier data you want to load. Save the file and run Oracle Forms in playback mode specifying the file you just saved. Your suppliers will now be loaded. Using this technology you can build a load in the time it takes you to manually enter just one record of your data in the form(s).

Data entered using forms playback is loaded seriously quickly. The load runs many times faster than is possible using Macros and is usually only slightly slower than conventional interfaces loading data directly into the database. The data is loaded through the forms so you know it will be entered into the database correctly, in the same way as if you had entered the data in the form yourself. Best of all, this functionality can be used by non-technical users. Now end users can build and run loads that are almost as powerful as those built by developers, and in a fraction of the time it takes a developer to build a load.

Forms playback is provided as a demonstration in DataLoad Classic and loads are restricted to 5 records. However, this functionality is fully enabled and unrestricted in DataLoad Professional.

See the User Guide for more information on setting up and using Forms Playback.

Case Study

Loading Suppliers into Oracle Applications 11i. We frequently use Forms Playback to load Suppliers into Oracle Applications. The following times are typical for how long it takes to build and test a load then enter data.

These times are for an experienced user of DataLoad Professional and Forms Playback to load suppliers with one site per supplier.