As a Developer you might sometimes have the requirement to redirect from one page to another which displays an interactive report, but this report should be filtered by whatever value is selected on the first page.

Every User knows how to set a filter and every Developer knows how to use Page Items in the Report WHERE Clause, but most Developers don’t know how to call a Page and set a Filter for an IR with URL Parameters.

The APEX Application Builder Users Guide has a section where these URL Parameters are described, but when i search for that i won’t come up most of the time. Hence this blogposting (things i blog about always come up in search…).

If anyone wants to look it up in the Documentation it is in Chapter 9, Section Reports, Paragraph “Linking to Interactive Reports”.

For all others, here is a short summary:

1. Read the basic APEX URL Syntax to know whats what
2. use RIR in the ClearCache Section to reset to the default Interactive Report (clear all filters, formats, …) on the target Page
3. use CIR to clear all report settings
4. set Filters in the ParamName/ParamValue Section, using IR<operator>_<column_name> as ParamName where operator can be EQ,LT,GT,LTE,GTE,NEQ,LIKE,N,NN,C,NC
5. you can omit the operator if you want to use “equal” as operator
6. to set a Rowfilter use IR_ROWFILTER as ParamName
7. all these settings target the default public report on the target page. if you want to set filters for any other public report use IR_REPORT_<alias> as Request

If you want to change Interactive Report Filters in a PL/SQL Process use the Package APEX_UTIL, it contains functions like IR_RESET, IR_FILTER and some other IR_* utility functions.

After some quick investigations i detected that some Javascript was missing in my Plugin.

If an Item-Type Plugin is created and it is using something else than an <input> Tag with type=”text” you need to add a Javascript Callback function for getValue and setValue.

Example:

function info_oracleapex_html5_text_field(pSelector,pOptions)
{
  // Register apex.item callbacks
  apex.jQuery(pSelector).each(function(){

    apex.widget.initPageItem(this.id, {
      setValue      : function(pValue, pDisplayValue) {
        apex.jQuery('#' + this.id).val(pValue);
      },
      getValue      : function() {
        return apex.jQuery('#' + this.id).val();
      }
    });
  });
}

You can not only provide Callbacks for setValue and getValue, but also enable, disable, hide and show.

If you are looking for examples you can find some in the file apex_widget_4_1.js (which is provided with your APEX installation in the images/javascript folder).

I already fixed my HTML5 input type plugins and you can download the new version already.

Oracle APEX includes the realy nice feature of exporting an Application “As of x minutes ago”.

But there is also a dialog where you can export a single page, without the whole application overhead:

But this dialog lists only currently existing Pages and doesn’t include our deleted Page.

Firebug to the rescue we manipulate the HTML-Code of the Page-Select-List and add our deleted Page 99 which then exports easily “As of 30 minutes ago”.

1. Use Firebugs “Inspect Element” on the Page-Select-List

2. Edit the HTML and insert a new <option>

3. pick the newly added entry from the select-list, enter 30 as number of minutes and press the export button

4. go to the import menu and import the Page-Export File.

That’s all.

Life can be sooo easy using the right tools :-)

But what does that mean on a more technical level? Which Views have changed, which API’s have changed?

Inspired by the Webinar over here I thought i’ll give the redgate Schema Compare Tool a try.

The Setup was pretty easy. After installing that tool on a Windows VM i just started it and created a new compare project where i entered the connection details from my 2 databases where APEX 4.0 and APEX 4.1 is installed.

On the second Tab of this dialog you can specify some options.

Now all you need to do is hit the “Compare Now” Button, wait a minute (which i think is pretty quick) and see the Result Overview:

Now you can zoom in and check the Details of each and every difference found:

As you can see this was just a matter of minutes and a pretty straight forward process.

For now I’m interested in the differences only and don’t want to use Schema Compare to generate a script to update my 4.1 database with the contents of my 4.0 database.
But if you’re about to move an application from dev to test or push it live, the tool can write the upgrade script  and do the upgrade for you too, if you want.

Changes between APEX 4.0 and 4.1

After creating the Diff between 4.0 and 4.1 i browsed the Details and found some changes which were interesting to me.

Please note that this is not a complete evaluation of the differences, nor might it be important to anyone (but me).

Also note, that many objects are for internal use only, therefore i’ll mention names of Public Objects only  (APEX*-Views).

New / Removed Objects

At first i compared the objects that were removed (exist only in APEX_040000 Schema) and the objects that were created new with APEX 4.1 (Schema APEX_040100).

Here we can find some objects dropped and more created which refer to the new Authorizations and Authentications, which are new Plugins in APEX 4.1 (read this one for details on those Plugins).

Other created Objects are used for the new Data Upload Wizard you can implement in an APEX Application.

The third new Cluster deals with the changed Errorhandling as described by Patrick over here.

But there are also things i didn’t expect, like new public Views for dynamic Translations and the Translation Table itself.

New Views:

• APEX_WORKSPACE_GROUP_USERS
• APEX_WORKSPACE_GROUPS
• APEX_APPLICATION_TRANS_DYNAMIC
• APEX_APPLICATION_TRANS_REPOS
• APEX_APPL_LOAD_TABLES
• APEX_APPL_LOAD_TABLE_LOOKUPS
• APEX_APPL_LOAD_TABLE_RULES

New API’s:

• APEX_AUTHENTICATION
• APEX_DATA_LOAD
• APEX_ERROR

Changed Objects

Changes in the previous existing 154 public Views and API’s can be clustered as:

• most (if not all) Views got a new column WORKSPACE_DISPLAY_NAME
• the security check in all relevant Views got enhanced by also checking the SYS_CONTEXT and the new Build-Status RUN_AND_HIDDEN
• Plugins got enhanced by new types (authentication and authorization) and have now up to 15 attributes instead of 10 before
• APEX_APPLICATION_AUTH and APEX_APPLICATION_AUTHORIZATION got rewritten to reflect that Authorizations/Authentications are Plugins now
• APEX_APPLICATION_LIST_ENTRIES do have a flag indicating if the entry should be translated, or not
• APEX_APPLICATION_LISTS can be static or dynamic now, reflected by the new columns LIST_CODE_TYPE and LIST_QUERY
• APEX_APPLICATION_PAGE_BUTTONS: Buttons now can be normal or “hot”, and both Button types (Region Button and Item Button) now have same functionality.
  Another new Button feature is the Button Action “Defined by Dynamic Action” which basically does nothing at all (in APEX 4.0 you would use target URL “#” to achieve the same)
• Dynamic Actions can directly target Buttons which lead to new columns in APEX_APPLICATION_PAGE_DA
• new Errorhandling Function can be defined on Application or on Page Level, changes in APEX_APPLICATION_PAGES
• Validations for Tabular Form Columns have been enhanced: APEX_APPLICATION_PAGE_VAL
• some preperations for mobile Templates have been made, like the “Render Form Items in Table” Flag in APEX_APPLICATION_TEMP_REGION or special defaults for mobile templates in APEX_APPLICATION_THEMES
• APEX_APPLICATIONS has plenty of new and changed colums
• lots of minor changes like new columns in Views that have been missing before (e.g. Condition-Type in APEX_APPLICATION_BC_ENTRIES)

Of course there have been numerous changes in several API Packages, but this would be too much for a single blog post.
If you want to digg that deep, feel free to do a Diff or look directly at the Package Specs of interest.

Happy Coding, everyone !

“Wir sind APEX” (a cooperation my company click-click IT Solutions is part of) adds its share to the Community and provides some informational Events and some Workshops in the near future.
See a full listing here.

The widely most interesting Event will be held on October 14 2011 in Vienna. Topic and Title of this Event is “Oracle APEX and the Cloud“. Next to myself there will be Patrick Wolf, Christian Neumüller and Carsten Czarski talking about Oracle APEX and how it can be used within public or private clouds (e.g. provide APEX hosting within your company for your colleagues).

There will be also a guest speaker from a big company presenting about how APEX is currently used in his company.

So if you are somewhere in or around Austria and you do understand german (as this event will be held in german language) you should definitely come. Bookings required !

With this post i give you a listing of links to all ressources mentioned in the webinar, as well as some F.A.Q. regarding mobile on APEX.

There will also be information on a 1-day training on mobile Applications with Oracle APEX, given by me in Oct 2011.

At first a listing of the ressources:

• You can download the slides i used during the webinar
• jQuery mobile -> there you’ll find links to the Documenation, Forum, Blog
• jQuery mobile Device Support Matrix
• Gallery of mobile Webistes built with jQuery mobile
• APEX Statement of Direction
• Blog Post Series “mobile APEX”
• HTML5 Item Type Plugins at www.apex-plugin.com
• Google Visualization Region Type Plugin from Roel Hartman

The most common Questions and their answers:

• Q: Is your mobile Theme available for download?
• A: How I built the mobile Theme is described in a series of Blogposts
• Q: Do I have to develop seperate Pages or Applications for mobile and Standard or does jQuery mobile automatically render my desktop version mobile-friendly?
• A: Mobile Websites and Desktop Websites have one big difference: the screen size. So you will want to make sure, that the little screen you have is used as good as possible. Show only the necessary informations and reduced menues will be beneficiary for the mobile experience. That means: develop one Desktop Application with all the functionality you need, and a separate Application for mobile devices with only the necessary functions on it. Your users will appreciate that.
• Q: Is jQuery mobile limited to iPhones or Android Phones?
• A: Not at all. jQuery mobile tries to cover all mobile devices like phones or tablets. Depending on the device features jQuery mobile tries to make your page as nice and good working as possible. See the Device Support Matrix for Details.
• Q: Do you need extra Skills in HTML or CSS or Javascript to create a mobile APEX Application?
• A: Once you have the mobile theme you only need standard APEX skills to create a mobile Application.

If you are eager to start developing mobile Applications but don’t know how to do that you can attend my 1-Day Training Class for Developing mobile Application with Oracle APEX.
This Training is scheduled to take place on Oct 04th 2011 in Vienna, Austria. If there is enough demand for an extra english-speaking Training class i would schedule an english Training the day before or so.

Please email me at apex [at] click-click.at or comment on this blog post if you are interested in attending an english speaking training class for developing mobile Application with Oracle APEX.

Yesterday started Kscope 2011 with some very interesting presentations and a load of Twitter messages following that.On the one Hand it’s for sure that Oracle APEX will integrate jQuery mobile in the future, on the other Hand nobody knows (or tells) when this will happen. Most probably not for the upcoming Version 4.1 of Application Express, but maybe it comes with 4.1.1 or 4.2 or…

The good thing is: it doesn’t matter.

If you want to create mobile Web Application with Oracle APEX you can do so already, in almost any available Version of APEX (i tried it in 3.2 and 4.0, both work very well).
Just read my postings on APEX on your smartphone, you’ll see it’s no magic at all.

But,…

But Oracle APEX 4.1 (and/or the following versions) will bring some fundamental enhancements in the APEX engine that makes it even easier to create a mobile Application.
That is  dynamic lists (based on a SQL Statement), Templates without a HTML-Table around Page-Items and Labels (very important!) and much more.

And, of course, Oracle will bring a full fledged mobile Theme for APEX which will include many templates for your Reports, Lists, Forms, Items, Buttons and all to look and work good on a mobile phone.

No need to wait

Still there is no need to wait. If you need/want a mobile APEX Application now you can alreay build it. Your code will work in future versions, so there is nothing lost.

And now: go on and write a mobile Application. Mobile is the future !

If you want help doing that, just contact me.

If you haven’t read the first one, please do so now.

This Article is based on the current release of Oracle APEX 4.0.2.00.07, but should also work on APEX 3.x and 4.1.
With Oracle APEX 4.1 and later there will be more options and possibilities which let you create an even better mobile Application, more to that in a later Article in this series.

This time we’ll start to build an Application which runs and adapts to mobile devices.

Create the Application

At first we create a new Application, pick any Theme you like but make sure that you don’t use Tabs.
The first/starting Page in our Application will consist of a List, which will be the main menu, and two other Pages with a Report and a Form. In my Demo Application I use the Table DEMO_CUSTOMERS which comes with the APEX Sample Application.

Page 10 (Customers) is a classic SQL Report with that Statement:

SELECT 'f?p='||:APP_ID||':11:'||:APP_SESSION||'::::P11_CUSTOMER_ID:'||CUSTOMER_ID AS LINK
, cust_last_name || ', ' || cust_first_name                                  AS TITLE
, CUST_STREET_ADDRESS1 || decode(CUST_STREET_ADDRESS2, null, null, ', ' || CUST_STREET_ADDRESS2) AS BOLD_TEXT
, cust_city ||', '|| cust_state ||', '|| cust_postal_code                    AS PLAIN_TEXT
from demo_customers
ORDER BY CUST_LAST_NAME, CUST_FIRST_NAME

Page 11 (Customer) is a standard APEX-Form based on Table DEMO_CUSTOMERS (simply use the wizard to create it).

Page 1 contains a List-Region. At first create a new List (Main Menue) under Shared Components with a List entry pointing to Page 10. Then you can create the List-Region on Page 1 which uses this new list.

You can run this Application right away, but you’ll see that it isn’t rendered for mobile Devices. At this point it is just a normal APEX Application like all the other Applications you already have created.

create a new Page Template

Telling our Application to do some special rendering for mobile Devices is done with the Page Template. There we include jQuery mobile and define the required HTML5-Structure of the Page, as required per the jQuery mobile Documentation.

Now simply copy one of the existing Page Templates and replace the following code snippets in the respective options:

Page Template Header

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="&BROWSER_LANGUAGE." xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"
xmlns:htmldb="http://htmldb.oracle.com" xmlns:apex="http://apex.oracle.com">
<head>
<title>#TITLE#</title>
<link rel="icon" href="#IMAGE_PREFIX#favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="#IMAGE_PREFIX#favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
#HEAD#
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://code.jquery.com/mobile/1.0a4.1/jquery.mobile-1.0a4.1.min.css" />
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.5.2.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://code.jquery.com/mobile/1.0a4.1/jquery.mobile-1.0a4.1.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body #ONLOAD#>
<div  data-role="page">
#FORM_OPEN#

Page Template Body

      <div data-role="header" data-backbtn="false">
<h1>#TITLE#</h1>
#NAVIGATION_BAR#
</div><!-- /header -->
<div id="messages">#SUCCESS_MESSAGE##NOTIFICATION_MESSAGE##GLOBAL_NOTIFICATION#</div>
<div data-role="content">
<ul data-role="listview">
#REGION_POSITION_01#
#REGION_POSITION_02#
#REGION_POSITION_03#
#REGION_POSITION_04#
#REGION_POSITION_05#
#REGION_POSITION_06#
#REGION_POSITION_07#
</ul>
#BOX_BODY#
</div><!-- /content -->

Page Template Footer

      <div data-role="footer">
<h4>#REGION_POSITION_08#</h4>
</div><!-- /footer -->

#FORM_CLOSE#
</div>
</body>
</html>

Page Template Navigation Bar Entry

<a href="#LINK#" rel="external" #ALT#>#TEXT#</a>

Save the Page Template and set it as Default Template in the Theme Definition.
After starting the Application you can see a different Layout than before.

create a new Region Template

Create a new and empty Region Template and copy this code:

Region Template Definition

<div id="#REGION_STATIC_ID#" #REGION_ATTRIBUTES#>
<h2>#TITLE#</h2>
<div data-role="controlgroup" data-type="horizontal">#CLOSE##PREVIOUS##NEXT##DELETE##EDIT##CHANGE##CREATE#
#CREATE2##EXPAND##COPY##HELP#</div>
<div>
#BODY#
</div>
</div>

Again set this new Region Template as Default in the Theme Settings and use it in all already created Regions.
This now takes care of the Region Title and the Region Buttons, both are now rendered for mobile Devices.

create a List Template

The Home Page shall be the main Menu of the Application which is an APEX List. To make this look good and work on mobile Devices we need a new List Template with the following Definitions.

List Template Before Rows

<ul data-role="listview" data-inset="true">

List Template Current

<li><a href="#LINK#" rel="external">#TEXT#</a></li>

List Template Noncurrent

<li><a href="#LINK#" rel="external">#TEXT#</a></li>

List Template After Rows

</ul>

After setting the new Template as Template for the List on Page 1 it instantly looks great.

create a Report Template

There is a vast variety on mobile Devices with differen Screen Sizes, Screen Resolutions and Capabilities. Standard APEX Reports won’t fit on most of the Screens, so we choose a different approach and create a Report Template for named Columns. This way we have more control over the Layout.

Create a new Report Row Template with the following Definitions:

Report Template Row Template 1

<li>
<a href="#LINK#" rel="external">
<h3>#TITLE#</h3>
<p><strong>#BOLD_TEXT#</strong></p>
<p>#PLAIN_TEXT#</p>
</a>
</li>

Report Template Before Rows

<ul data-role="listview">

Report Template After Rows

</ul>

This Report Template expects that the Report SELECT Statement returns the Columns LINK, TITLE, BOLD_TEXT and PLAIN_TEXT. What you put in these Columns is totally up to you, just create any SELECT Statement and use the expected Column names as alias.

Using this new Template for our Report on Page 10 gives it a nice look.

As you can see we created a mobile Application with just a few changes on Templates. Of course this is just a first draft and there are some things to polish up and take care of (like Navigation, Buttons, Charts, …). See what’s possible in the mobile Demo Application

More tipps on APEX for mobile Devices in the next Article – so stay tuned!

Also Join me for a webinar on June 20^th when I will go through my APEX for mobile project

One of the Key Components of this Translation Mechanism is the creation of an XLIFF File. This File contains all text strings of your Application (that is all your UI Strings, not your Data) and from which to which language it should be translated.

This File then goes to a Translation Office or to a colleague who speaks the required language. They load this XLIFF File into an XLIFF Editor and translate all the texts in there.

Of course there is a broad range of XLIFF Editors with different features, starting with a very basic Editor to simply translate string by string. At the other end there are Translation Suites with Term Databases and Auto Translation Support and whatnot.

But basically the all work similiar: at first they read the supported XLIFF File, the betters now do an auto translation and then the Files content is shown to the User. That looks something like this:

Picture of an XLIFF Editor (CMS Kite) with a standard APEX XLIFF

Could you work like that and create a correct translation? I doubt it.

All the information about what you are translating is missing. You just see a text string without knowing where it is used. So all you can do is a word by word translation, which sometimes can create rather funny results (ever tried to translated something with Google Translation where you know what the outcome should look like?).

Now imagine your customer wants you to change the text of a Button on Page 3 from “Logout” to “Goodbye”, without changing the other Links and Texts on this Page.
That’s the point where you either stutter “..i..i can’t, i don’t know which of all these Logout-Texts is the button on Page 3…” or you try to change one after the other until you find the right one.

No wonder this is a complicated task, when you take a look into the XLIFF File generated by APEX you see something like this:

<trans-unit id="S-2-787383050723570607-101">
<source>Logout</source>
<target>Logout</target>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="S-2-787383152187570608-101">
<source>Print</source>
<target>Print</target>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="S-2.1-787383050723570607-101">
<source>Logout</source>
<target>Logout</target>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="S-2.1-787383152187570608-101">
<source>Print</source>
<target>Print</target>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="S-2.1-830770714218750168-101">
<source>Feedback</source>
<target>Feedback</target>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="S-4-787382566755570601-101">
<source>Home</source>
<target>Home</target>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="S-4-787382647591570605-101">
<source>Customers</source>
<target>Customers</target>
</trans-unit>

But don’t you panic now. Here comes another ApexLib Tool to the Rescue:

The ApexLib XLIFF Export Tool

The ApexLib XLIFF Export Tool is thought to be used instead of the builtin APEX XLIFF Export.

It creates an XLIFF File in Format 1.2 which contains tons of extra information, like: the Application Structure and the Context (what, where) a Text is used.

Once you load that into your XLIFF Editor it looks like this:

ApexLib XLIFF Export File in CMS Kite

ApexLib XLIFF Export in SDL Trados

Way better, isn’t it?

Now you actually know where the text you are working on is used and what it’s purpose is.

The next time someone wants you to change a Button Label on Page 3 you can say: “Sure, no problem.”

The best thing is: after you translated all those texts you can take this XLIFF File and re-import it into APEX using the standard APEX Translation Upload XLIFF Functionality.

So all you need to change in your translation workflow is the creation of the XLIFF File, the rest stays the same as you are used to right now.

Isn’t that great?

Try an ApexLib XLIFF Export File

Download this file and load it into your XLIFF Editor and see the difference!

Currently i have tested the XLIFF Files in CMS Kite Editor and in SDL Trados Suite (thanks to George for supporting me there), but it should work in any XLIFF 1.2 Compliant Editor.

Join the Beta Program

The ApexLib XLIFF Export Tool is currently in Beta-Test, if you want to join the Beta Program or just want to be notified once the XLIFF Export Tool is officially released, just drop me a note.

Meine Firma, click-click IT Solutions, veranstaltet zwei Seminare zu Oracle APEX Anfang März in Wien.

Diese Seminare laufen in der Reihe der AOUG Seminare und sind deswegen unfassbar günstig!
Für Mitglieder der AOUG kostet so ein Tag gerade mal EUR 225,- , Nichtmitglieder auch nur EUR 295,- !

Seminar 1: 03.03.2011 APEX Einstieg

Der richtige Einstieg für alle Interessierten, hier bekommen sie einen ganzen Tag lang alles wissenswerte rund um Oracle Application Express vermittelt und “begreifen” Applikationsentwicklung mit gezielten Hands-On Übungen.

Egal ob Entwickler, DBA oder Manager. Nach diesem Tag können sie nicht nur ihre eigene Applikationsentwicklung starten, sondern sie haben auch genug Background um zu entscheiden ob/wie/wo Oracle APEX in ihrem Unternehmen eingesetzt werden kann.

Seminar 2: 04.03.2011 APEX 4.0 new Features

Wer schon Ahnung von Oracle APEX hat, aber die neuen Features der Release 4.0 noch nicht einsetzt, der ist mit diesem Tag richtig beraten.

An diesem Tag dreht sich alles um Interaktivität mit Dynamic Actions, Plugins und den neuen Tabular Form Features.
Aber auch die anderen neuen Features kommen nicht zu kurz:

• neue Charts und Maps
• interaktive Reports
• Team Development
• REST Webservices
• uvm.

Lassen sie sich diese einmalige Gelegenheit nicht entgehen und buchen noch heute einen der wenigen noch verfügbaren Plätze direkt auf der AOUG Seminar-Seite.