DataLoad V4 is a Windows program that enables the user to control and manipulate other applications. Although DataLoad is aimed at Oracle Forms based applications, and in particular Oracle Applications, it can be used with any program running in the Windows environment, including Java based software. Previous versions of this tool were written as an Excel macro and V3.x will continue to be developed in this format. For reasons of improved performance, reliability and functionality, however, the software was re-written as a standalone Windows application. This standalone version is numbered 4.X.
Every Oracle Applications implementation requires data and setup information to be loaded in the database before the system goes live. Furthermore, there are often requirements to regularly load or amend data in the system once it has gone live. Oracle provides open interfaces into the Applications that are normally used for this purpose, however these interfaces are not available in all areas and a certain amount of skilled work is required to use them. DataLoad was developed to allow end users to automate the manipulation of the Application's forms, providing a method of loading data that ensures Oracle's validation code is still applied. All data is entered through Oracle forms so there are no support implications by using this tool and data is validated by the application in the normal way. There are two ways data can be loaded. The first can be used to automate any software while the second is specific to Oracle Applications.