Oracle has for a long time offered “Statements of Direction” outlining their strategy in various areas. One the statements I have been following with interest is the one that applies to Oracle Forms and Reports.
The latest version of this reassuringly says about Forms and Reports: “Oracle has no plan to desupport these products. Furthermore, new version of Oracle Forms,Oracle Reports will continue to be released as part of Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle Forms 11g and Oracle Reports 11g are components of Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g.”
However, the document now starts by saying that “It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle’s products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.”
With this sleight of hand, Oracle has effectively retracted their commitment to the old tools. If a Statement of Direction cannot not be relied upon, what is the purpose?