A global variable is a Oracle Forms variable whose value is accessible to triggers and subprograms in any module that is active during the current session. In previous versions of Oracle Forms, a global variable stores a character string of up to 255 bytes in length, for all usages. In Oracle Forms 10g, global variables are now limited to 4000 bytes when they are set or referenced using PL/SQL bind variable notation; for other usages, no limit is imposed. Global variables are not formally declared the way PL/SQL local variables are. Rather, you initialize a global variable the first time you assign a value to it: :GLOBAL.my_var := TO_CHAR(:order.total * .85); To reference a global variable, prefix the variable name with the word GLOBAL and a colon. The following example shows a global variable passed as an actual parameter to a procedure call: calculate_discount(TO_NUMBER(:GLOBAL.my_var)); Referencing a global variable that has not been initialized through assignment causes a runtime error. To destroy a global variable and release its memory, use the ERASE Built-in procedure: Erase(‘GLOBAL.my_var’);