Oracle Forms Developer – Form Builder Reference, Volume 1

FORM_SUCCESS built-in
Description
Returns the outcome of the action most recently performed during the current Runform session.
Outcome Returned Value
success TRUE
failure FALSE
fatal error FALSE
Syntax
FUNCTION FORM_SUCCESS;
Built-in Type unrestricted function
Return Type:
BOOLEAN
Enter Query Mode yes
Parameters
none
Usage Notes
• Use FORM_SUCCESS to test the outcome of a built-in to determine further processing within any
trigger. To get the correct results, you must perform the test immediately after the action executes.
That is, another action should not occur prior to the test. "Another action" includes both built-ins
and PL/SQL assignment statements. If another action occurs, FORM_SUCCESS may not reflect
the status of the built-in you are testing, but of the other, more recently executed action.
• FORM_SUCCESS should not be used to test whether a COMMIT_FORM or POST built-in has
succeeded. Because COMMIT_FORM may cause many other triggers to fire, when you evaluate
FORM_SUCCESS it may not reflect the status of COMMIT_FORM but of some other, more
recently executed built-in. A more accurate technique is to check that the
SYSTEM.FORM_STATUS variable is set to ’QUERY’ after the operation is done.
• On Microsoft Windows NT, when using HOST to execute a 16-bit application, the
FORM_SUCCESS built-in will return TRUE whether the application succeeds or fails. This is a
Microsoft a Win32 issue. 32-bit applications and OS commands will correctly return TRUE if
executed sucessfully and FALSE if failed. Invalid commands will return FALSE.
• On Windows 95 platforms the FORM_SUCCESS built-in will always return TRUE for HOST
commands which fail. This includes calls to command.com or OS functions, any 16-bit DOS or
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