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Run Oracle Forms in the browser

CheerpJ runs the Java client of your Oracle Forms applications in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, including third-party Forms applications. Desktop administrators can take Java off staff computers and retire IE mode, and the Forms server stays as it is.

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What the Forms Java client needs today

Forms 12c and 14c launch as an applet, through Java Web Start or with the Forms Standalone Launcher. All three run on Java installed on the user’s computer.

  1. 01

    Forms is moving out of the browser

    Oracle no longer recommends the embedded applet in Forms 14.1.2. Java Web Start and the Forms Standalone Launcher run Forms in their own windows, and users start the launcher from a desktop shortcut.

    Sources: Oracle, Forms 14.1.2 deprecated and desupported features · Oracle, Forms Standalone Launcher (14.1.2)

  2. 02

    Staff computers need the right Java

    The applet and Java Web Start run on Java 8. The standalone launcher runs on Java 8, 11 or 17 for Forms 12.2.1.4, and needs 64-bit Java 17 or later for Forms 14.1.2.

    Source: Oracle, Forms Standalone Launcher (14.1.2)

  3. 03

    The applet route depends on IE mode

    IE and Edge’s IE mode are the only Forms-certified browsers for the Java plug-in, and Forms 10g and 11g launch only as an applet. Microsoft supports IE mode through at least the end of 2029.

  4. 04

    Java updates and certificates have to be tested against Forms

    Java 8u131 treated the Forms client’s frmall.jar as unsigned and stopped Forms 10.1.2.3 to 11.1.2.2 from loading, and the certificates that sign the Forms JAR files have expired more than once. Desktop administrators also keep Forms in the Java exception site list or deployment rule set on staff computers.

Two ways to run Forms with CheerpJ

1 Browser extension

Through a CheerpJ browser extension

There is one for Forms launched as an applet and one for Forms launched through Java Web Start, so your Forms server and its configuration stay as they are. The extensions run in Chrome, Edge and other Chromium browsers.

Your desktop administrators deploy them through Group Policy or Intune and set the licence by policy, where it activates offline. A self-hosted version serves networks that can’t reach the Chrome Web Store or Edge Add-ons, including air-gapped ones.

Get the browser extensions
2 Your launch page

On your Forms launch page

Serve CheerpJ from your own web servers and start the Forms Java client from a page there. Forms then runs in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, and staff computers need only a browser.

Build with CheerpJ

How your Forms application could look in the browser

Experience an Oracle Form running in the browser with CheerpJ. This is a real, forms-like live Java application running in your browser with CheerpJ. Click around and try it!

Loading the Java runtime

For your security review

The browser sandbox

The Forms Java client runs inside the browser’s sandbox, as a web page does, and reaches files and the network through browser APIs.

Files move by upload and download

Users upload files with a button in CheerpJ’s title bar, and files from Forms arrive as browser downloads.

The browser’s network rules

HTTP requests from the Forms Java client follow the browser’s same-origin and CORS policies.

The Forms server stays yours

CheerpJ runs the client only. The Forms server, the database and the business logic stay on your servers, behind your existing sign-on.

Read the full security review

Running Oracle Forms with CheerpJ

European IT service provider Case study

1 week to a proof of concept with the full application in the browser

A European IT service provider runs an Oracle Forms application with dozens of forms, used by thousands of people at its customers in finance, healthcare, public services, retail and manufacturing. It had been delivered as a Java applet. With CheerpJ it runs in modern browsers with the backend unchanged and the keyboard shortcuts users rely on intact, and the full project took under six months.

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Tell us your Forms version and how your application launches, and we’ll help you plan an evaluation.

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