The future of Oracle APEX - aka Oracle APEX 4.0

In case you haven't read it on Marc Sewtz blog or in the newest edition of the German Oracle APEX community newsletter, on Friday July 25th at 14:00 (German time) there will be a WebCast about the features the Oracle APEX team is currently working on for Oracle APEX 4.0! The WebCast will also cover some tips & tricks for APEX 3.1.1.

Get the details about how to join the WebCast at the German Oracle APEX Community web site.

Note: This WebCast will be in German.

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Is there life on planet Oracle APEX 3.2?

Sure there is! ;-)

David Peake the Product Manager for Oracle Application Express (APEX) recently blogged about this "unofficial" insight what's on the drawing board after the patch release for Oracle APEX 3.1.

Get the details in this A peek over the Application Express horizon posting!

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More undocumented new features in Oracle APEX 3.1

A quick posting.

In one of my last posting I wrote about some undocumented new features in Oracle APEX 3.1, but there are more of them. I'm really short with my time, because I have to pack and get ready for my vacation, but

• have you already tried to enter
  

  PCT_GRAPH:777777:111111:200

  into the format mask property of a report column? Try it out! There is also an equivalent PL/SQL function called

  apex_util.html_pct_graph_mask

• Did you know that you can double click a Shuttle entry in 3.1 to move it to the other side?
• Or that there is a package to handle JSON communication? Have a look at the apex_util package.
• An On-Demand process will return an error message when it's called in debug mode, currently it just returns a blank page if an error occurs (because of security reasons). Note: I couldn't try this feature on the Eval Instance, because there seems to be a problem with the debug mode in general.
• Last but not least, Carl did a complete rework of the APEX Javascript libraries, have a look! Ok, now you can't have a look, because they a minified, but I'm sure they will still deploy a readable version for us developer so that we can have a look.

That's it for now. I have to continue packing...

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Building Interactive Reports in Oracle APEX 3.1

In the newest issue of Oracle Magazine, David Peake has written an article about Building Interactive Reports. "The" new feature of the upcoming Oracle APEX 3.1.

If you haven't looked at the beta yourself, this article is a good chance to get some more details about this exciting new feature of Oracle APEX.

BTW David, reading the article someone could have the impression that it was planned to have a released Oracle APEX 3.1 when the article is published. I just say: "Deadlines" in the software industry... ;-)

For more Oracle APEX 3.1 coverage read:

• Undocumented new features in Oracle APEX 3.1
• New Features in Oracle APEX 3.1 - update of Evaluation Instance
• Oracle Application Express (APEX) 3.1 - Preview Video

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New Features in Oracle APEX 3.1 - update of Evaluation Instance

The beta testers have been informed that the Evaluation Instance of Oracle APEX 3.1 has been refreshed last Friday. Looks like that I was lucky with my The undocumented new features in Oracle APEX 3.1 posting, because without knowing it I was already working on the new version.

But there is more new stuff, which I didn't discover. Read the announcement mail from the APEX team.

Thanks again for all your participation in our public evaluation instance of Application Express 3.1. We wanted to let you know that late last Friday, we upgraded the evaluation instance to bring it up to date with our development. If you haven't used your workspace in a while, now is the time to check it out again. Interactive Reports should be more stable and you will be able to try out our new BLOB support. Deinstall and install the Sample Application - some BLOB support using images has been included on the home tab and on the Products tab. You can also create an application, page or report and include a column that is a BLOB then edit the column or item and click the new link below the format or source to see the full format - more info to come in our doc and on the comments site.

If you find any new issues, please report them using the feedback application. The link is also available from within the hosted Application Express 3.1 evaluation instance Home page.

As you can see from the feedback application, I already did some testing of the new BLOB feature. But your help is also needed! Register if you haven't done it yet and start testing this new beta version!!

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Undocumented new features in Oracle APEX 3.1

The Oracle Application Express (APEX) 3.1 Beta contains a lot more new features than just the Interactive Report Region. Some of the additional features like enhanced wizards, new themes, runtime installation, attachments for mails, ... are mentioned in the Evaluation Feedback Application.

But actually there are a lot new properties in the existing features which are "undocumented"....

Ok, I have to confess that they are actually well documented when you click onto the label of the field. But

1. I needed a good title for the posting :-) and
2. because they are not documented in the Feedback Application, probably a lot of the beta tester missed them because we didn't expect that the existing features got some tweaking too (without mentioning it).

So here we go with a list of properties/features I found when browsing around on the evaluation instance. Most of the text is from the online help.

Workspace Themes

Workspace themes allow you to add to the theme repository. They are available when you create an application or when you create a theme for an existing application.

You create a workspace theme by selecting a theme from within an application. Once created, it cannot be edited directly. To edit, create an application based off the theme, edit the theme within that application and then you can create a new workspace theme with the updated application theme (and delete the old, if you no longer want it).

Page Item - Display As - Hidden and Protected

Automatically set for all Primary Key columns by the wizard. The value send during a submit is ignored. The field is checksum protected. This will solve some potential attack vectors demonstrated by Anton Nielsen during an "Unconference session" at Oracle Open World.

Region Definition - Region Attributes

Region templates that contain the substitution string #REGION_ATTRIBUTES# will be substituted with this value.

Note to Dietmar: I think that's something you where always looking for. It allows you to customize your template for a specific region. For example you could write

width="300px"

to set the width. No more special templates for a page, just to be able to set the same width for all regions on the page.

Report Attributes - Report Attributes Substituion

Same as above, just for the Report template.

Report Attributes - Enable Partial Page Refresh

Partial Page rendering for reports doesn't require a special template (the PPR templates) anymore. It now works with every template.

Report Column Attributes - Include In Export

Use the attribute to define whether this column should be included in a report export, this includes exporting to CSV and printing to PDF, Word or Excel.

Note: That's new for CSV. For PDF it was available before on the "Print Attributes" tab.

Report Print Attributes - Response Header

The response header is the information, that the server sends back to the browser in response to receiving an HTTP request. The response header contains the date, size and type of file that the server is sending back to the client and also data about the server itself.

The response header can be generated by Application Express based on your report settings or passed through from the print server. If you want to specify file name and content disposition, the response header needs to be based on your report settings.

Report Print Attributes - View File As

Using the View File As attribute, you can instruct the browser to either display a file open / save dialog when clicking on the report download link, or to display the report document inside the browser window. This selection is included in the http header of the document, using the content-disposition attribute.

Report Print Attributes - Print Server Overwrite

The Print Server Overwrite attribute allows configuring an alternative print server. A print server is typically configured centrally for all workspaces under the instance administration. Configuring an alternative print server at the report level allows for easier debugging and diagnosis of potential printing problems and also allows for the use of specific custom built end points to perform custom XSLT transformations.

Report Print Attributes - Total Width

Now showing the total of the column widths. Hurrah! :-)

Report Print Attributes - Column Width Units

Use the Column Width Units attributes to specify whether the column width values define the width in percent or points.

Report Print Attributes - Recalculate

The Recalculate button recalculates the column widths based on their current values so that the total is below or equal to 100.

Process - Automatic Row .../Multi Row ... - Runtime Where Clause

This SQL WHERE clause will be appended to all generated SELECT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements (e.g. DEPTNO = 10). Use this attribute to enhance the security of automatically generated SQL calls.

Page Definition - Include Standard CSS and JavaScript

Oracle Application Express typically requires specific CSS and JavaScript files. For some applications, such as mobile applications, you may wish to suppress the inclusion of these files in the HTML HEADER. Because suppressing the display of these files breaks typical applications, enabling this attribute is only recommended for advanced developers.

Report Queries

The wizard has changed a lot.

The definition page contains the new "View File As" property. You are now also able to derive the "Output Type" from an item.

There is also an export option available where you can download your report query as "XML Data" or as "XML Schema", so that you are able to test your report with real data.

Have you noticed other new cool features?

Then let me/us know!

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Oracle APEX 3.1 Eval Instance refreshed!

If you have already registered for the Oracle APEX 3.1 beta program you should already have received a mail that informed you that the evaluation instance has been updated with a new version from development.

Beside a lot of fixes to the new Interactive Report Regions, some of the icons in the Builder got a face lifting as Dimitri had already noticed.

BTW, I just noticed a nice little new feature in the Interactive Report Regions. It's now possible to collapse the criteria header which make up the report to just show icons without a text.

Though it would be nice if it would save that state, because when you switch between several saved reports it always gets expanded again... :-(

If you haven't joined the beta program yet, it's getting time! Sign up and help to make this release as stable as possible!

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Oracle APEX 3.1 evaluation version ready for public beta testing!

Just read the e-mail that the Oracle APEX team has released the Oracle Application Express (APEX) 3.1 evaluation version for public beta testing. As with 3.0, you can do the testing on a hosted environment. So get ready, register for a workspace and start testing the new release. The new "Interactive Report Regions" are really great! So give them a lot of feedback about the new/changed features so that we get a really stable production version as usual!

All the details can be found in the original mail below:

To access our hosted instance, please register.
If you have participated in a previous evaluation, you will bypass the short survey.
After registering, you will be provided with access to the evaluation instance from which new accounts can be requested.

You will need to request a workspace and then wait on the email notification.

The new feature that we would really like feedback on is our new region type - Interactive Report. This is a new SQL query based region type that lets end-users customize which columns they see as well as column order. End users can also, sort, filter, break, sum, highlight, and add computed columns using simple pull down menus.

The full list of 3.1 features available with this Early Adopters release is:

• Application Builder
  
  • Interactive Report Regions *
    
  • Templates
    
    • Improve Searching of templates
      
    • Replace Templates
      
    • Publish Templates
      
    • Bulk Unsubscribe of templates
      
    • 2 New Themes
  • Wizards
    
    • Allow for early exit when creating HTML region
      
    • Create Interactive Report Wizard
      
    • Remove 32k limit on Create Application on a Spreadsheet
  • Addition of Application Groups
    
  • Simplification of Page Group pages
    
  • Addition of Application Date Format
    
  • Support for Declarative Media Type
    
  • Can view existence of run-only application (but cannot edit them)
    
  • Display Application Name in App Builder footer
    
• Workspace Administration
  
  • Workspace-specific Builder Notifications
• Runtime Installation
  
• APIs
  
  • Augment APEX_MAIL API to support adding attachments to e-mails

Please remember, the success of this Application Express 3.1 evaluation depends on user feedback. All participants are strongly encouraged to provide feedback using the feedback application. The link is also available from within the hosted Application Express 3.1 evaluation instance Home page.

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Oracle APEX 3.0 close to completion?

Is the APEX 3.0 development already close to completion?

If you read some of the development responses in the APEX 3.0 Feedback application

[...] I have logged a bug but it won't be fixed for 3.0 because we have already sent our translations out and even though this would not be a new string [...]

it really looks like that they are coming into a state where they don't do any fundamental changes anymore.

But I'm sure the APEX development is happy if you help them find bugs in the new features so that APEX 3.0 is a really stable development environment when it gets released. Or as Carl would say it

I'm sure he'd be thrilled to get bug reports and feature requests who doesn't want more work?

So get your b... up, logon to the evaluation instance of APEX 3.0 and do a shake down test of the new features! Together we can help them to create a stable new release with a lot of nice new features!

For all the existing testers, to my knowledge the evaluation instance has been refreshed on Feb. 20. So check out what has already been fixed!

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Early access release of Application Express 3.0 available!

Just saw it on my Google Reader and I thought I have to immediately post this news.

It seems that the APEX team has released an Early access release of Application Express 3.0!

Check it out and give them feedback!

Enough for now, I have to get me registered! :-)

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