System Variables
A system variable is an Oracle Forms variable that keeps track of an internal Oracle Forms state. You can reference the value of a system variable to control the way an application behaves.
Oracle Forms maintains the values of system variables on a per form basis. That is, the values of all system variables correspond only to the current form.
List of system variables
SYSTEM.BLOCK_STATUS : Represents the status of the block where the cursor is located, or the current block during trigger processing. The value can be one of three character strings:
• CHANGED -Indicates that the block contains at least one Changed record.
• NEW - Indicates that the block contains only New records.
• QUERY - Indicates that the block contains only Valid records that have been retrieved from the database.
SYSTEM.COORDINATION_OPERATION : This system variable works with its companion SYSTEM.MASTER_BLOCK to help an On-Clear-Details trigger determine what type of coordination-causing operation fired the trigger, and on which master block of a master-detail relation.
SYSTEM.CURRENT_BLOCK : The value that the SYSTEM.CURRENT_BLOCK system variable represents depends on the current navigation unit:
• If the current navigation unit is the block, record, or item (as in the Pre- and Post- Item, Record, and Block triggers), the value of SYSTEM.CURRENT_BLOCK is the name of the block that Oracle Forms is processing or that the cursor is in.
• If the current navigation unit is the form (as in the Pre- and Post-Form triggers), the value ofSYSTEM.CURRENT_BLOCK is NULL.
The value is always a character string.
Note: SYSTEM.CURRENT_BLOCK is included for compatibility with previous versions. Oracle Corporation recommends that you use SYSTEM.CURSOR_BLOCK and SYSTEM.TRIGGER_BLOCKinstead.
SYSTEM.CURRENT_DATETIME : Is a variable representing the operating system date. The value is a CHAR string in the following format:
DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS
SYSTEM.CURRENT_FORM : Represents the name of the form that Oracle Forms is executing. The value is always a character string.
SYSTEM.CURRENT_ITEM : The value that the SYSTEM.CURRENT_ITEM system variable represents depends on the current navigation unit:
• If the current navigation unit is the item (as in the Pre- and Post-Item triggers), the value ofSYSTEM.CURRENT_ITEM is the name of the item that Oracle Forms is processing or that the cursor is in. The returned item name does not include a block name prefix.
• If the current navigation unit is the record, block, or form (as in the Pre- and Post- Record, Block, and Form triggers), the value of SYSTEM.CURRENT_ITEM is NULL.
The value is always a character string.
Note: SYSTEM.CURRENT_ITEM is included for compatibility with previous versions. Oracle Corporation recommends that you use SYSTEM.CURSOR_ITEM or SYSTEM.TRIGGER_ITEMinstead.
SYSTEM.CURRENT_VALUE : Represents the value of the item that is registered in SYSTEM.CURRENT_ITEM.
The value is always a character string.
Note: SYSTEM.CURRENT_VALUE is included for compatibility with previous versions. Oracle Corporation recommends that you use SYSTEM.CURSOR_ITEM and SYSTEM.CURSOR_VALUEinstead.
SYSTEM.CURSOR_BLOCK : The value that the SYSTEM.CURSOR_BLOCK system variable represents depends on the current navigation unit:
• If the current navigation unit is the block, record, or item (as in the Pre- and Post- Item, Record, and Block triggers), the value of SYSTEM.CURSOR_BLOCK is the name of the block where the cursor is located. The value is always a character string.
• If the current navigation unit is the form (as in the Pre- and Post-Form triggers), the value ofSYSTEM.CURSOR_BLOCK is NULL.
SYSTEM.CURSOR_ITEM : Represents the name of the block and item, block.item, where the input focus (cursor) is located.
The value is always a character string.
SYSTEM.CURSOR_RECORD : Represents the number of the record where the cursor is located. This number represents the record's current physical order in the block's list of records. The value is always a character string.
SYSTEM.CURSOR_VALUE : Represents the value of the item where the cursor is located. The value is always a character string.
SYSTEM.CUSTOM_ITEM_EVENT : Stores the name of the event fired by a VBX control.
SYSTEM.CUSTOM_ITEM_EVENT_PARAMETERS : Stores the supplementary arguments for an event fired by a VBX control.
