Hi @lucgis,

Sorry to hear that you've run into this as a blocker. I've got a few things that we can check:

1. Does your Oracle client bit version match the FME bit version (both are 32 bit?)
2. Do you have multiple Oracle clients installed? If so, you may need to set the PATH variable to the current version
3. When the Oracle formats are enabled, can you connect to your database successfully in an Oracle reader? If you open SQL Developer, does the workspace still run with the reader? If you save the workspae and close FME, and reopen it with SQL Developer still open, can you still run the reader successfully?

This doc on Oracle Connectivity provides a bit more information on PATH and other variables that you could try setting, as well as some more troubleshooting checks. Please let me know if any of these work for you, or if you are still having issues connecting afterwards and I'd be happy to help further (:

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2)

Begin of path listing, wit anonymization

C:\\Oracle\\product32\\11.2.0\\client_1\\bin\\

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Common Files\\Oracle\\Java\\javapath

C:\\windows\\system32

C:\\windows

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

C:\\Oracle\\product64\\11.2.0\\client_1\\bin\\

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\FME\\

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft SQL Server\\150\\DTS\\Binn\\

C:\\Users\\ba3217\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\WindowsApps

C:\\Oracle\\product32\\11.2.0\\client_1\\bin\\

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Common Files\\Oracle\\Java\\javapath

C:\\windows\\system32

C:\\windows

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

C:\\windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\

C:\\Oracle\\product64\\11.2.0\\client_1\\bin\\

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\FME\\

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

C:\\Python27\\ArcGIS10.6\\

C:\\Python27\\ArcGIS10.6\\DLLs

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\ArcGIS\\Desktop10.6\\arcpy

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\ArcGIS\\Desktop10.6\\bin

30 entries found

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Q. When the Oracle formats are enabled, can you connect to your database successfully in an Oracle reader?

A. Yes

Q. If you open SQL Developer, does the workspace still run with the reader?

A. Yes, but I am unable to add new Oracle readers

Q. If you save the workspace and close FME, and reopen it with SQL Developer still open, can you still run the reader successfully?

A. Yes

So the problem pretends when adding new readers in old/new workspaces after SQL Developers is used.

@lucgis,

Could you expand on your environment a bit more?

What OS is it you are running?

What version of SQL Developer you have installed? Where is it install (path) and did you use the install with the JAVA or are you using your local JAVA?

We have one case where a piece of software, when started before FME, seems to have an effect on the Oracle formats functionality. But it is Microsoft Outlook in the other case. So I'm hoping to find some relationship between your system and this other customer's system. (maybe you are starting Outlook at the same time as SQL Developer )

Also, to add a few more details, for the other customer, this seems to affect FME 2017, FME 2018, FME 2019 however FME 2015 is fine.

Steve.

Looks like you have both the Oracle32 and Oracle64 bit clients installed.

You are using the 32 bit FME version.

It is likely that using the 64 bit SQL Developer, the 64 bit Oracle client is the currently active Oracle client.

That would grey out the Oracle readers in the 32 bit FME version.

@erik_jan, I don't ever recall seeing this behavior... have you? I'll test.

@steveatsafe, I don't have that kind of an environment, but I can imagine SQL Developer setting the ORACLE_HOME parameter if multiple clients are installed.

@lucgis, thanks for the quick reply! I checked in with my team on it for ideas and they've suggested to run a script:

script is <install folder>/formatsinfo/dependencies/deputil.tcl, method is oraclePresent(), and on Windows all it does is try to load oci.dll.

They also suggest that the program ProcessMonitor could be used to learn more. Use the "operation = load image" and/or "operation = create file" filters.

FME runs a script to check if an Oracle Client is installed, and if they aren't it's greyed out. There seems to be something happening there that seems to be deciding that the Oracle client is no longer there.

Let me know if the script changes anything for you, and if you decide to try ProcessMonitor, please attach or email me any reports from the suggested filters (jovita.chanATsafe.com).