Mathias started to learn Oracle Application Express, and while learning we took notes what difficulties he had. This presentation goes over some concepts that were not clear for somebody coming from school with a specific background.

1. Dimitri Gielis
APEX for
Beginners
www.apexRnD.be
dgielis.blogspot.com
@dgielis
dgielis@apexRnD.be

2. Dimitri Gielis
❖ Founder & CEO of APEX R&D
❖ 19+ years of Oracle
Experience (OCP & APEX
Certified)
❖ Oracle ACE Director
❖ “APEX Developer of the year
2009” by Oracle Magazine
❖ “Oracle Developer Choice
award (ORDS)” in 2015
❖ Author Expert Oracle APEX
❖ Presenter at Conferences

3. www.apexofficeprint.comwww.apexRnD.be

4. http://dgielis.blogspot.com @dgielis

5. How to Start

6. PersonaThis is Mathias Vanhove
❖ MSc. Applied Computer Science
❖ Skillset:
✓ Specialization: Usability
✓ Great: HTML 5, Css3
✓ Ok: Javascript, C#/.NET, MySQL
✓ None: APEX, Oracle DB, PL/SQL
❖ Ambitious
❖ Eager to learn

7. The things Mathias Loves
❖ Usability and User Centered Design
❖ Structure
❖ Consistency
❖ Reusability
❖ Customizations

8. Mathias’ Learning Goal
Develop an APEX application
and learn all the necessary elements to do so.

9. Necessary elements?
❖ APEX
❖ SQL
❖ PL/SQL
❖ Oracle DB
❖ HTML 5
❖ CSS3
❖ Javascript
✓
✓
±
±
x
x
x

10. How Mathias started
1. Two introduction sessions 2. APEX R&D’s Guide 3. Book by Steven Feuerstein
4. Online Guide 5. Expert Oracle APEX

11. Structure of APEX
❖ APEX Page — App Builder
❖ SQL Workshop
❖ Shared Components

12. Structure of APEX

13. APEX Page: Elements you should understand
❖ Regions:
➡ Possible types
➡ Template options
❖ Dynamic Actions
❖ Bind variables
❖ Process vs. Computation
❖ Define vs. Declare

14. SQL Workshop
❖ Use the Wizard to build tables
❖ Get a good understanding of:
➡ Sequences
➡ Triggers

15. Shared Components
❖ List Of Values
❖ Navigation:
➡ Navigation Menu
➡ Breadcrumbs
➡ Navigation Bar List
❖ Templates
❖ etc.

16. Mathias’ APP
An easy to manage Information Security Document/
Guideline to be compliant for the European GDPR
legislation.

17. ❖ Subjects
❖ Sub-subjects
❖ Content items for each sub-subject
❖ Auditing/Evaluation system
❖ Todo system
❖ Maintainable
Information Security

18. Mathias’ problems
Ways to add help text
Page Items
Define vs. Declare
List Of Values
Customizations using PL/SQL
Select list: Dynamic Actions
Working dynamically with cards
Custom dynamic linking to pages
Table id-sequence + triggers
Changing templates to a custom one
Views vs inline SQL-join
Auto fill date
Concatenate two values in a select list
Building custom templates
Refresh page dynamic action
Add PL/SQL to template
Clear cache
Oracle Advisor Utility
Add HTML fields to Classic Report
Escape HTML characters
Debugging
Charts
Configure SQL Developer
PL/SQL package with a function
Subsitution Strings

19. Mathias’ problem

20. Mathias’ problems
Ways to add help text
Page Items
Define vs. Declare
List Of Values
Customizations using PL/SQL
Select list: Dynamic Actions
Working dynamically with cards
Custom dynamic linking to pages
Table id-sequence + triggers
Changing templates to a custom one
Views vs inline SQL-join
Auto fill date
Concatenate two values in a select list
Building custom templates
Refresh page dynamic action
Add PL/SQL to template
Clear cache
Oracle Advisor Utility
Add HTML fields to Classic Report
Escape HTML characters
Debugging
Charts
Configure SQL Developer
PL/SQL package with a function
List Of Values
Select list: Dynamic Actions
Concatenate two values in a select list
Subsitution Strings

21. Mathias’ problems

22. Mathias’ problems
Ways to add help text
Page Items
Define vs. Declare
List Of Values
Customizations using PL/SQL
Select list: Dynamic Actions Custom dynamic linking to pages
Table id-sequence + triggers
Changing templates to a custom one
Views vs inline SQL-join
Auto fill date
Concatenate two values in a select list
Refresh page dynamic action
Add PL/SQL to template
Clear cache
Oracle Advisor Utility
Add HTML fields to Classic Report
Escape HTML characters
Debugging
Charts
Configure SQL Developer
PL/SQL package with a function
Building Custom Templates
Working dynamically with cards
Subsitution Strings

23. Problem #1: Select List
❖ List Of Values
❖ Concatenate two values
❖ Dynamic Action
❖ Dynamic content change

24. First step: build LoV query

25. First step: build LoV query

26. First step: build LoV query

27. First step: build LoV query

28. First step: build LoV queryFirst step: build LoV query

29. First step: build LoV query

30. Second step: Concatenate
❖ Google is your friend!
❖ Difficulties to google
➡ Oracle APEX
❖ Easy to do

31. Second step: Concatenate

32. Third step: Dynamic Action
❖ Not so hard when you followed the APEX R&D Course
❖ Add a Dynamic Action
❖ Use Change event

33. Third step: Dynamic Action

34. Third step: Dynamic Action

35. Third step: Dynamic Action

36. Third step: Dynamic Action

37. Third step: Dynamic Action

38. Fourth Step: Dynamic content
❖ Change content of Sub-subject based on selection of
subject
❖ More advanced step
❖ Substitution strings vs Bind variables

39. Fourth Step: Dynamic content

40. Fourth Step: Dynamic content

41. Fourth Step: Dynamic content

42. Some useful advice Mathias found when exploring the
coding conventions of APEX R&D

43. Some useful advice Mathias found when exploring the
Oracle Builder User Guideline
https://docs.oracle.com/database/121/HTMDB/concept_sub.htm#HTMDB03022

44. Problem #2: Templates
❖ Working dynamically with Cards
➡ Where can I find the templates?
➡ Template substitution
❖ Making an own template
➡ Another problem
➡ PL/SQL?

45. Working with Cards

46. Working with Cards

47. Working with Cards

48. Working with Cards

49. Working with Cards

50. Making your own template
❖ Goal: Show each sub-subject as a collapsible and show
all content items for each sub-subject in that collapsible
region.
➡ Tried customization using PL/SQL
➡ Failed —> Difficult when no knowledge of PL/SQL
➡ Templates instead

51. The PL/SQL Way
❖ Bind to Page Item —> Error
❖ Cursor loop
❖ Collapsible region

52. Bind data to Page Item
❖ Create Page Items
❖ Created a Process
❖ Put data in the Page Items

53. ❖ Logical error
❖ Can’t bind more than one value
to a Page Item
❖ Better solution?
❖ Cursor Loops?
❖ No Page Items, but inline html.
Bind data to Page Item

54. Cursor loops
❖ No output
❖ "dbms_output.put_line();

55. ❖ "sys.htp.p();"
❖ Collapsible fail
❖ Needed help!
Cursor loops

56. Mathias’ thoughts at this point
❖ Roeland’s advice
❖ Customizations
❖ Keep it simple
❖ Use templates

57. Watch Jorge’s video’s on templates
http://rimblas.com/blog/author/admin/

58. How to create a template?
❖ Create a new "report" template
❖ Insert your HTML template with Substitution strings
❖ Use the Row Templates for loops
❖ Use PL/SQL Conditions to keep track

59. How create a template?

60. Call it from your page

61. Result
Different Sub-Subjects
Different Content Items
Different Content Items for a Sub-Subject

62. Make it Collapsible

63. Building your own template
❖ Template Type
❖ Right syntax: #BINDVARIABLE# instead of
#bindvariable#
❖ PL/SQL conditions?
❖ Loops on specific section?

64. Why these problems?

65. Why these problems?
❖ Structure/overview was missing
❖ Lack of knowledge of all the existing APEX elements
❖ Poor understanding of the meaning of specific APEX
terms
❖ Customize to fast
❖ No perfect way

66. How Mathias started
1. Two introduction sessions 2. APEX R&D’s Guide 3. Book by Steven Feuerstein
4. Online Guide 5. Expert Oracle APEX

67. How you should start?!
❖ Introduction training of APEX - Overview
❖ Analyze an existing APEX page
❖ Understand the Core Structure
❖ APEX R&D introduction course / APEX Education Course (free)
❖ Learn to master the key elements of the Core Structure
❖ Read Oracle PL/SQL Programming (only part 1 and 2) by Steven
Feuerstein
❖ QuickSQL and Blueprint
❖ Start developing something easy using the key elements of APEX. Avoid
customizations!

68. Still a long road until reaching the top. But Mathias’ first steps are made.
Now it’s your turn!

70. Q&A
www.apexRnD.be
dgielis.blogspot.com
@dgielis
dgielis@apexRnD.be

71. ❖ Looking for consulting, training and development in
Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
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