Frm-18105 Failed To Start The Help System ~upd~

Blog post — FRM-18105: Help System Failed to Start

Most Oracle Forms versions (like 6i or 10g) rely on .hlp files. Microsoft discontinued the viewer for these files due to security concerns.

FRM-18105: Failed to start the Help System. Form Builder 12. frm-18105 failed to start the help system

By following the guidelines and solutions in this article, you should be able to resolve the FRM-18105 error and ensure that the help system functions correctly in Oracle Forms. Blog post — FRM-18105: Help System Failed to

1. Recreate the help path

   "FRM-18105: Failed to start the help system"

   Example:

   If your help file myapp.chm is placed in $ORACLE_HOME/forms/help/ , and your Forms servlet is mapped to /forms/ , set the Help property to: Recreate the help path "FRM-18105: Failed to start

   • Use context‑sensitive help sparingly – In large companies, many users never use F1. Consider disabling help instead (set Help property to empty or trap KEY-HELP).
   • Package help files with your installer – For client‑server, always include the correct .hlp or .chm and set the registry key during installation.
   • For web deployments, prefer browser‑based HTML help – Do not use .chm files, as browsers block them. Instead, use a simple HTML help index and WEB.SHOW_DOCUMENT to display it.
   • Test after OS upgrades – Windows feature updates often break legacy help viewers. Plan to migrate away from .hlp files.
   • Document your help file path – Store the virtual or physical path in a configuration table, so you can change it without recompiling forms.

   2.1 Client‑Server (Classic) Deployment