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The TestBoard For Your Oracle APEX Apps

3/17/2024

0 Comments

 
​While working for many companies as an Oracle APEX Developer I have seen a number of clients that are still using Excel to communicate issues or enhancements in their APEX Apps, either because they are not allowed to use an external 3rd party software or because of the extra cost of them. 

Because of that I thought about creating an open-source APEX App called TestBoard, which as such will be inside the existing infrastructure, without adding any cost to it, helping project managers, developers and testers to communicate better, reporting bugs/enhancements, communicating resolutions, and testing the organization's APEX App Issues, in a central easy to use place.

Preview
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You can download and install the SOTFUL APEX TestBoard from its GitHub repository: https://github.com/SOTFUL/SOTFUL-APEX-TestBoard

For any feedback or suggestions please send it in GitHub as well: https://github.com/SOTFUL/SOTFUL-APEX-TestBoard/issues

Best Regards,
Sandro Ferreira
0 Comments

Dark Mode on your APEX Application

10/6/2018

2 Comments

 
The just released macOS Mojave main new feature is the ability to enable the Dark Mode. Which is not only great for working on low ambient light or long hours, but it is also a design trend. We can easily implement this capability on our APEX Applications defining two Theme Styles.


After adapting what Rodrigo Mesquita shared in his blog we can create a Dark and Light Mode Switch, so users can set the Theme Style independently, in a pre-configured way.
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First step is to create the Light and Dark theme styles


Run your APEX Application and click on Theme Roller
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Click on ‘Save As’ to save your current Theme Style as the ‘Light’ one.


Then click on ‘Save As’ again and name the new Theme Style as ‘Dark’ and change these values as the ones suggested below.
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Global Colors - Header Accent
#323232


Global Colors - Body Accent
#39393A


Save your new ‘Dark’ Theme Style.
​
On Shared Components - Templates


Copy the template Type ‘Page’ with Name ‘Standard’ and name it for example ‘Custom Standard’.


Then click on the name of the created template and on Definition - Header add the following HTML for the Light and Dark icons, just before the #NAVIGATION_BAR# tag.

    
For the new page template to be used, go on the pages that use the ‘Theme Default’ or ‘Standard’ template and change them to use the 'Custom Standard’ template that was just created.


Page - Appearance - Page Template - Change to ‘Custom Standard’ template.

​
On Page 0 create two hidden items with the code below as its source.​

Identification - Name: P0_DARK_MODE_ID
Identification - Type: Hidden
Source - Type: SQL Query (return single value)
Source - SQL Query: 

    
Server-side Condition - Type - Item is NULL
Server-side Condition - Item - P0_DARK_MODE_ID
Identification - Name: P0_LIGHT_MODE_ID
Identification - Type: Hidden
Source - Type: SQL Query (return single value)
Source - SQL Query:

    
Server-side Condition - Type - Item is NULL​

Server-side Condition - Item - P0_LIGHT_MODE_ID
Still on Page 0, create two Dynamic Actions that will run on click of the Sun and Moon icons.
  • Click Moon - Dark Mode
  • Click Sun - Light Mode
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​Create two true actions, Execute PL/SQL Code with the code below and a Submit Page action.
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​Create two true actions, Execute PL/SQL Code with the code below and a Submit Page action.
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​All is done, and the users of your application should now be able to switch to Dark or Light mode.
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​Demo Application
You can login and see this solution accessing the SOTFUL - APEX Examples application.

SOTFUL - APEX Examples
https://apex.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=sotful_examples
Username: [email protected]
Password: orclapex1

If you would like to login to the APEX Builder to see more details or export this demo application, please email me at [email protected] or send your info on the SOTFUL Contact Us page, and I will gladly provide your credentials.

2 Comments

Quickest Print Friendly in Oracle APEX

3/20/2018

18 Comments

 

Scenario

Recently I was asked in two different projects to implement a simple way to print the current APEX page without requiring any client software or plugin, and also preserving the main appearance of the APEX page.
​
There are several more sophisticated ways to implement a Print Friendly in Oracle APEX. This is the quickest solution I could think of, following the requirements mentioned above.
​

Solution

The solution basically hides all page components that should not be printed and invokes the browser print, and then the user can choose to print or save the pdf file. Then all the page components that were hidden before are shown back to the user.

The implementation consist of Dynamic Actions to do the Hide, the window.print() JavaScript command to invoke the browser print and then Dynamic Actions to show the components back. An even quicker implementation is to place all the necessary JavaScript code in a single Dynamic Action (Click Print Button) that will do the Hides, Print and Shows.

​Below are the steps to implement this solution.

Implementation

Classic Reports

After creating your APEX Page with a Classic Report, create a button and name it Print. ​
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For the button to look like this
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you have to define the Icon CSS Class as fa-print and change the Button Template to Text with Icon.


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Then you create a Dynamic Action in the Print Button, and define the When section to be Click - Button - Print.
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​Then for the True you choose 
Execute JavaScript Code.
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and in Settings - Code, you paste the following code below:
Code Editor

    
If the Report data is too wide you can placing the following CSS in the Page Properties so that the Print is in Landscape format
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That is it. You are now ready to run the page, click on the Print button and then you will have the behavior shown below.
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​
​Following up in this article, we have this same solution implemented in pages with other types of Oracle APEX components. All the examples in this article are developed in the demo SOTFUL - APEX Examples application. Link and credentials are available below.


​

Interactive Report

The solution above can also work on an Interactive Report with some adjustments. We need the code below, similar to the one above, plus one additional step.

    

​Additional step:

In your Interactive Report click on Attributes, then on Heading change
Fixed To     None
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​Now let's run the page. Click on the Print button and then you will have the behavior shown below.
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​

Form

After creating your APEX Page with a Form create a button and name it Print.

​Then for the True you choose Execute JavaScript Code. In Settings - Code, you paste the following code below:

    
Right on. You are again ready to run the page, click on the Print button and then you will have the behavior shown below.
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Note: This solution works on the Google Chrome browser. I am going to test it on the Internet Explorer/Edge browsers soon. For the Safari browser this code needs adjustment, since after the 1st Print the Hides no longer work. Feel free to post comments if you are able to adapt the code.

​


​
​Demo Application

You can login and see this solution accessing this demo APEX application.

SOTFUL - APEX Examples
https://pex.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=sotful_examples
Username: [email protected]
Password: orclapex1

If you would like to login to the APEX Builder to see more details or export this demo application, please email me at [email protected] or send your info on the SOTFUL Contact Us page, and I will gladly provide your credentials.


In my next blog post I am going to share the details for implementing a collapsible, user friendly Report Filter, using declarative Dynamic Actions. I promise taking "no time" to publish this next one :)

Best,
Sandro
18 Comments

Oracle APEX History and Directions by Michael Hichwa

11/11/2016

0 Comments

 

Companies that need an Oracle APEX Expert will often ask 'how long the expert has been working with it?' Since that can be quite some time, it is important to recall the Oracle APEX history.

This is a fantastic presentation about the Oracle APEX product, given by its main creator, Michael Hichwa. It describes the past, present and future vision of the product. It happened in Berlin in one of the best APEX conferences of 2016.

Following this Oracle APEX history recap, you can see below information about all Oracle APEX releases, since the beginning in 2004 when it was still called HTML DB. (Source: Wikipedia.com)
Product Name
Version
Released
Notes
HTML DB
1.5
2004
First release.
​​HTML DB
​1.6
2004
Added themes.
​​HTML DB
2.0
​2005
​Added SQL Workshop.
​Application Express
2.1
January 2006
HTMLDB was renamed to APEX. Version 2.1 of APEX was bundled with the free Oracle Express Edition (XE) database.
​Application Express
2.2
​2006
Packaged Applications.
​Application Express
3.0
2007
​This version featured several new features, including PDF Printing, Flash charting and Access Application Migration.
​​Application Express
3.0.1
​July 2007
​This version could also be installed into an Oracle XE database.
​​Application Express
3.1
​Spring 2008
​This included a new major feature known as Interactive Reporting (enabled end-users to customize a report without programmer intervention, using techniques such as filtering, sorting, group-by, choosing displayed columns, etc. The user can even save multiple versions of their customized reports. The programmer can limit which features are enabled). Also added support for BLOB data type.
​​Application Express
3.2
​2009
​Forms conversion.
​Application Express
4.0
​June 2010
​Some notable features are declarative Dynamic Actions (which allow reacting to changes on a page without the developer having to write custom Javascript) and Plugins (which allow developers to create custom components such as items, regions and processes, that can be re-used across pages and applications). Also added Websheets and RESTful Web.
​​Application Express
4.1
August 2011
Notable new features included improved (customized) error handling, use of ROWID for updates, a data upload feature for end-users, and improved WebSheets (a hybrid of a spreadsheet and a Wiki, built using Apex itself).
​​Application Express
4.1.1
​February 2012
Notable new features included new theme (cloudy) and various templates.
​​Application Express
4.2
October 2012
Notable new features such as application builder for mobile, mobile and responsive themes, and HTML5 support.
​​Application Express
4.2.1
​December 2012
Bug Fixes.
​​Application Express
4.2.2
​April 2013
Bug Fixes, Improved PDF printing, new Survey Builder packaged application.
​​Application Express
4.2.3
​September 2013
This is a cumulative patch set for Application Express 4.2.0, Application Express 4.2.1, and Application Express 4.2.2.
​​Application Express
4.2.4
December 2013
This is a cumulative patch set for Application Express 4.2.0, Application Express 4.2.1, Application Express 4.2.2 and Application Express 4.2.3.
​​Application Express
4.2.5
​April 2014
This is a cumulative patch set for Application Express 4.2.0, Application Express 4.2.1, Application Express 4.2.2, Application Express 4.2.3 and Application Express 4.2.4.
​​Application Express
4.2.6
​September 2014
This is a cumulative patch set for Application Express 4.2.0, Application Express 4.2.1, Application Express 4.2.2, Application Express 4.2.3, Application Express 4.2.4 and Application Express 4.2.5.
​​Application Express
5.0
​April 2015
Notable features are focused on developer productivity and improving the User Interface of user applications. This version introduces Page Designer, a browser-based IDE which provides drag and drop layouting of page components, property editor, and much more, reducing the need to go from page to page to make changes. Version 5.0 also introduces Universal Theme, a responsive user interface for user applications which can easily and extensively be customized using Template Options and Theme Roller (which enables on-the-fly theming of an application).
​​Application Express
5.0.1
July 2015
​This is a cumulative patch set for Application Express 5.0.0.
​​Application Express
5.0.2
October 2015
​This is a cumulative patch set for Application Express 5.0.0 and Application Express 5.0.1.
​​Application Express
5.0.3
December 2015
​Application Express 5.0.3.
​Application Express
5.0.4
​July 2016
​This is a cumulative patch set for Application Express 5.0.0 and Application Express 5.0.3.
​It is so rewarding to recognize for how long the Oracle APEX product has survived and evolved already. That happened probably because the product itself is data driven and generated on the fly, running on top of a relational, mathematical, reliable, portable and secure data repository, the Oracle Database, which also happens to have been the best database in the market for all these years. Last but not least, Oracle APEX bet more than a decade ago in another winner, the web browser. That was before the internet was The Internet, and before Cloud was a technical term, instead referred by the applications, servers, databases, networks that it really is.

Until my next post.
Sandro
0 Comments

Welcome to my blog!

10/26/2016

1 Comment

 
Given my continued focus and passion about Rapid Application Development products since my early days at Oracle, I decided to start writing about my ongoing efforts and accomplishments using Oracle APEX and share any valuable content I come across about Oracle APEX, related technologies and about other RAD options. I plan to write a summary of my professional history that started in 1997 in an internet provider and got considerably more interesting when I joined Oracle in 1999. As time permits I also plan to write about my journey as an entrepreneur and some insights about life.

By the way, I am starting the ORCLAPEX Chicago meetup group and we are planning our first meetup for December 2016. If you are in the area and is passionate about Oracle APEX you can join us here https://www.meetup.com/ORCLAPEX-Chicago/

Until my next post.
Sandro
1 Comment
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    Blog

    ​Sharing a few of my Oracle APEX solutions. To access the complete list of solutions please access the Knowbase platform.
    ​
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    Sandro Ferreira

    Sandro is the Oracle APEX Developer / Architect & Founder at SOTFUL. He has been working as an Oracle Developer since 1999, and on several Oracle APEX projects since 2010 through Oracle Corporation, and then from 2015 independently through SOTFUL. He has been working on envisioning, specifying, developing and managing the development of the Web and Mobile apps of the SOTFUL company. He is passioned about Rapid Application Development, Usability, and Efficiency, overall to improve company businesses and our lives.

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