Beginning Oracle Application Express 5

Transcription

1 Beginning Oracle Application Express 5 Doug Gault

2 Beginning Oracle Application Express 5 Copyright 2015 by Doug Gault This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. ISBN-13 (pbk): ISBN-13 (electronic): Trademarked names, logos, and images may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image we use the names, logos, and images only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Managing Director: Welmoed Spahr Lead Editor: Jonathan Gennick Technical Reviewer: Warren Capps Editorial Board: Steve Anglin, Louise Corrigan, Jonathan Gennick, Robert Hutchinson, Michelle Lowman, James Markham, Matthew Moodie, Jeffrey Pepper, Douglas Pundick, Ben Renow-Clarke, Gwenan Spearing Coordinating Editor: Jill Balzano Copy Editor: April Rondeau Compositor: SPi Global Indexer: SPi Global Artist: SPi Global Distributed to the book trade worldwide by Springer Science+Business Media New York, 233 Spring Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY Phone SPRINGER, fax (201) , orders-ny@springer-sbm.com, or visit Apress Media, LLC is a California LLC and the sole member (owner) is Springer Science + Business Media Finance Inc (SSBM Finance Inc). SSBM Finance Inc is a Delaware corporation. For information on translations, please rights@apress.com, or visit Apress and friends of ED books may be purchased in bulk for academic, corporate, or promotional use. ebook versions and licenses are also available for most titles. For more information, reference our Special Bulk Sales ebook Licensing web page at Any source code or other supplementary material referenced by the author in this text is available to readers at For detailed information about how to locate your book s source code, go to

3 To those in search of knowledge and better understanding, I dedicate this effort. Hopefully, as your skills grow, you too will continue to share the wealth. Doug Gault

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5 Contents at a Glance About the Authors...xix About the Technical Reviewer...xxi Acknowledgments...xxiii Chapter 1: An Introduction to APEX Chapter 2: A Developer s Overview... 7 Chapter 3: Identifying the Problem and Designing the Solution Chapter 4: SQL Workshop Chapter 5: Applications and Navigation Chapter 6: Forms and Reports: The Basics Chapter 7: Forms and Reports: Advanced Chapter 8: Programmatic Elements Chapter 9: Security Chapter 10: Application Bundling and Deployment Chapter 11: Understanding Websheets Chapter 12: A Websheet Example Chapter 13: Extended Developer Tools Chapter 14: Managing Workspaces v

6 Contents at a Glance Chapter 15: Team Development Chapter 16: Dynamic Actions Appendix A: Page Designer Walkthrough and Reference Index vi

7 Contents About the Author...xix About the Technical Reviewer...xxi Acknowledgments...xxiii Chapter 1: An Introduction to APEX What Is APEX?... 1 A Brief History of APEX... 2 Ancient History... 2 More Recent History... 2 APEX 5.0 and the Future... 3 What You Need to Get Started... 4 Access to an APEX Instance... 5 Web Browser... 5 SQL Developer... 5 Summary... 6 Chapter 2: A Developer s Overview... 7 The Anatomy of a Workspace... 7 APEX Users... 8 Applications, Pages, Regions, and Items... 9 Workspaces, Applications, and Schemas A Final Word on Workspaces A Tour of the APEX Modules The Home Page Application Builder vii

8 Contents SQL Workshop Packaged Apps Administration and Team Development Summary Chapter 3: Identifying the Problem and Designing the Solution Identifying System Requirements Never a Clean Slate A Broken System How Do You Fix Things? System Design with APEX in Mind Table Definition and User-Interface Defaults APEX and Primary Keys Business Logic vs. User-Interface Logic Placement of Database Objects Translating Theory to Practice Summary Chapter 4: SQL Workshop Creating Objects with the Object Browser Loading Data with the Data Workshop Utility Creating a Lookup Table Loading and Running SQL Scripts User Interface Defaults Understanding User Interface Defaults Defining UI Defaults for Tables Summary Chapter 5: Applications and Navigation The Create Application Wizard Sample and Packaged Applications Websheet Applications viii

9 Contents Database Applications from Spreadsheets Applications from Scratch Static Content Regions Public Pages Navigation Bar Entries Global Pages Breadcrumb Regions Breadcrumb Entries Lists Lists of Values Static List of Values Dynamic List of Values Summary Chapter 6: Forms and Reports: The Basics APEX Forms Form on a Table Creating a Form on a Table Modifying a Form on a Table Looking Behind the Scenes Form on a Procedure Creating a Form on a Procedure Modifying a Form on a Procedure Looking Behind the Scenes Master Detail Report and Form Creating a Master Detail Report and Form Modifying a Master-Detail Report Session State Understanding Session State Sharing Database Connections ix

10 Contents Setting and Retrieving Session State Viewing Session State APEX Items Page vs. Application Items The Importance of Bind Variables Built-In Items APEX URL Syntax Searchable APEX Reports Creating a Searchable APEX Report Adding Reset Pagination Looking Behind the Scenes APEX Report Looking Behind the Scenes APEX Master Detail Forms More on APEX Forms Item Layout Placing Multiple Items in the Same Row Implementing LOVs Master Detail Cleanup APEX Help Adding a Help Text Region Seeding Help Text Declarative BLOBs Summary Chapter 7: Forms and Reports: Advanced Tabular Forms Creating a Tabular Form Modifying a Tabular Form Looking Behind the Scenes Interactive Reports Creating an Interactive Report Running an Interactive Report x

11 Contents Restricting Functionality by Report Restricting Functionality by Column Using the Column Heading Menu Searching by Column Selecting Columns Filtering Sorting Adding Breaks Highlighting Computing Columns Adding Aggregates Adding Charts to Interactive Reports Grouping Pivot Using Flashback Saving an Interactive Report Resetting an Interactive Report Getting Help Adding a Subscription Downloading Modifying an Interactive Report Looking Behind the Scenes Calendars Understanding Calendar Types Creating a Calendar Looking Behind the Scenes Charts Writing Queries for Charts Creating a Chart xi

12 Contents Filtering Data for a Chart Looking Behind the Scenes Summary Chapter 8: Programmatic Elements Conditions Required Values Validations Item-Level Validation Page-Level Validation Tabular Form Validation Computations Execution Types Creating a Computation Processes Execution Points Process Types Processes in the Help Desk Application PL/SQL Regions Dynamic SQL Summary Chapter 9: Security User-Maintenance Navigation User-Maintenance Data Entry Authentication Custom Authentication Schemes Conditional Security Access Control Authorization xii

13 Contents Read-Only Items Data Security Session-State Protection Summary Chapter 10: Application Bundling and Deployment Identifying Application Components External Files Database Objects APEX-Based Files APEX Application Exports Supporting Objects Prerequisites Substitutions Build Options Validations Install Upgrade Deinstall Export Messages Importing Summary Chapter 11: Understanding Websheets Websheet Structure Navigation Content Navigation Structural Navigation Help Markup Syntax xiii

14 Contents User Authentication User Authorization Sections Text Sections Navigation Sections Data Sections Chart Sections Annotations Administration Summary Chapter 12: A Websheet Example Setup Creating and Configuring a Websheet Application Adding Content to a Websheet Creating Data Grids Applying Constraints Adding Players Creating Alternate Default Reports Creating Page Sections SQL Tags Access Controls Summary Chapter 13: Extended Developer Tools Page Locks APEX Conflicts Locking an APEX Page Unlocking a Page Administering Page Locks xiv

15 Contents Application and Page Groups Application Groups Page Groups APEX Views and the APEX Dictionary The APEX Schema APEX Views APEX Dictionary Searching in APEX APEX Finder Search Application Monitoring Your APEX Application Enabling Logging Using the Activity Logs Login Attempts APEX Advisor Build Options Understanding the Need Creating a Build Option Configuring Build Options Prompting for Build Option Status Applying Build Options Reporting on Build Option Utilization Page-Specific Utilities APEX and Oracle SQL Developer Integration Refactoring Support Summary xv

16 Contents Chapter 14: Managing Workspaces Learning About Your Environment Viewing Instance Information Checking the APEX Version Managing the Service Workspace Preferences Messages Managing Meta Data Developer Activity and Click Count Logs Session State Application Cache Websheet Database Objects Application Build Status File Utilization Interactive Report Settings Managing Users and Groups Creating One User Creating Multiple Users Organizing Users into Groups Viewing Usage Reports and Dashboards Summary Chapter 15: Team Development Team Development Overview Team Development Interface APEX Home Page Team Development Home Page Common Design Elements Drilldown Functionality Tagging xvi

17 Contents Milestones Milestones Report Tab By Owner Tab Features by Milestone Tab Features Features Report Tab History Tab Progress Log Tab To-Do Items Bugs Feedback Configuring Feedback Polishing the Feedback Page Viewing Feedback Responses to Feedback Communication Between Workspaces Team Development Utilities Team Development Settings Release Summary Enable Files Feature Utilities Manage Focus Areas Update Assignees View Files Purge Data Manage News Manage Links User Roles for Team Development Summary xvii

18 Contents Chapter 16: Dynamic Actions Dynamic Action Benefits Breaking Down Dynamic Actions Dynamic Actions in the Help Desk Application Starting Simple Using Page-Level Events Dynamic Actions with Multiple Triggering Elements Dynamic Actions Using PL/SQL Dynamic Actions Using JavaScript Summary Appendix A: Page Designer Walkthrough and Reference Page Designer Overview Page Designer Toolbar Tree Pane Central Pane Grid Layout Messages Page Search Help Property Editor Gallery Keyboard Shortcuts Summary Index xviii

19 About the Author Doug Gault is a Consulting Member of Technical Staff at Oracle Corporation and has been working with Oracle since 1988, starting with version 5.1B, SQL*Forms 2.0, and RPT/RPF. He has focused his career on Oracle s development technologies, spending the majority of that time dedicated to web-based technologies, including the OWA Web Toolkit, PL/SQL Server Pages, WebDB, Oracle Portal, and more recently HTML-DB and APEX. His many years of Oracle experience have taken him all over the world to participate in some truly groundbreaking projects. Doug has presented and participated in roundtable discussions at a number of conferences, including Oracle OpenWorld, UKOUG, and ODTUG s APEXposed & Kaleidoscope conferences. He holds an Associate s Degree in Computer Science and an honorary Master s Degree from The School of Hard Knocks, believing there is no replacement for hard-earned experience. Doug can be found on Twitter and on his blog at douggault.blogspot.com. xix

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21 About the Technical Reviewer Warren Capps, president of Illuminations Inc, has worked with Oracle since 1987 when he worked on version 5.1a. Since 1991, his principal efforts have been spent in training clients in the use of Oracle products, concentrating on database server technologies. He is a well-known presenter at user-group conferences and has written numerous articles and book reviews for a variety of publications. He also ran an Oracle bookstore for ten years and is a retired Navy Commander. When not teaching, Warren has myriad activities to keep him busy. He is an avid photographer and has run photography workshops in southern New Mexico. His photography has led him to visit over 25 countries. Additionally, he plays classical guitar, collects coins, and loves to travel the country with his wife and cat. He is currently a resident of Austin, Texas. xxi

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23 Acknowledgments First, my heart-felt thanks to all the co-authors of the original version of this book: Karen Cannell, Patrick Cimolini, Martin D Souza, and Tim St. Hilaire. Warren Capps also needs to be thanked for his technical review efforts and his input on content and form. If not for these wonderful people, this book may never have come to be. The opportunity to work with such a talented and distinguished group of individuals has been a pleasure. I d also like to thank a few people who have been driving forces in my life: Kerry Osborne for providing me with an immense amount of mentorship and encouragement over the years, even after having left his employ; Cary Millsap for his friendship and helping to solidify in my mind how to think objectively about technology and to use proof to find the truth; and last but not least, Scott Spendolini for his all-around support before, during, and after the book. Without these people, I wouldn t be where I am today. Doug Gault xxiii