How to Generate FRD Trace in Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) 12.2.x

When troubleshooting forms-related issues in Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) R12.2.x, capturing an FRD (Forms Runtime Diagnostics) trace can be invaluable. This post walks you through the step-by-step process to enable, capture, and clean up an FRD trace.

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✅ Step A: Update ICX:Forms Launcher Profile

1. Navigate to: EBS Home > System Administrator > Profile > System

2. In the "Find System Profile Values" window:

   • Set Level to User

   • Enter the target username (who will reproduce the issue)

   • In the Profile field, enter: ICX: Forms Launcher, then click Find

3. Update the profile value to:

   http://hostname:8000/forms/frmservlet?record=collect
   

4. Save the changes and log out of EBS.

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✅ Step B: Enable Java Console Logging

1. On the client machine, open Control Panel > Java > Advanced

2. Enable the options:

   • ✔ Show Console

   • ✔ Enable Tracing / Logging

3. Now, log into EBS using the specified user.

4. Launch a form and reproduce the issue.

5. In the Java Console, verify that the string record=collect is present. This confirms that tracing is active.

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✅ Step C: Retrieve the FRD Trace File

1. Log in to the EBS application server (as the OS user, typically via SSH or PuTTY).

2. Run the following commands:

$ echo $FORMS_TRACE_DIR
$ cd $FORMS_TRACE_DIR
$ ls -lrt *collect*

3. Identify the generated trace file(s) containing collect in the name.

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🔄 Step D: Revert Profile Changes

Once the trace is collected:

1. Return to Profile > System in EBS.

2. Search for the same ICX: Forms Launcher profile at the user level.

3. Revert the URL back to the default:

   http://hostname:8000/forms/frmservlet
   

4. Save and exit.

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💡 Constructing the Correct frmservlet URL

Having trouble forming the correct URL? Here are a few tips:

• If you're using a Load Balancer, use the same base URL.

• Match the protocol (http/https) and port used in your EBS login URL.

• Simply replace the end of the URL with /forms/frmservlet

📌 Example:

If your login URL is:

https://oci-host.domain.com:4443/OA_HTML/AppsLocalLogin.jsp

Then your frmservlet URL becomes:

https://oci-host.domain.com:4443/forms/frmservlet

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✅ Conclusion

Capturing FRD traces is a straightforward but powerful method for diagnosing runtime issues in Oracle EBS forms. Always remember to revert changes after trace collection to maintain system performance and user experience.