Lesson 9

In this lesson you will learn how to create an end-user interface and
add more functionality to the basic form that we created in Lesson 8.
Specifically, this will involve:
Creating LOVs, or List of Values, where you will connect your form to another
table from which the users make their selections
Creating Radio Buttons
Creating Combo Boxes and Poplists
Creating Push Buttons
Adding triggers to the Push Buttons for inserting, deleting and retrieving records
List of Values (LOVs)
1. In this form we are designing, we will create a List of Values for major, so that the
user can select a major from the list. To do this, first we will have to create table
called Major_List.
2. To do this, go to SQL*Plus and type the following code at the SQL prompt
SQL> CREATE TABLE MAJOR_LIST
2 (MAJOR VARCHAR2(20));
3. Now type in the following statement to insert more data into the Major_list table:
SQL> INSERT INTO
('Accounting');
SQL> INSERT INTO
Systems');
SQL> INSERT INTO
SQL> INSERT INTO
SQL> INSERT INTO
Sciences');

MAJOR_LIST VALUES
MAJOR_LIST VALUES ('Info.
MAJOR_LIST VALUES ('Marketing');
MAJOR_LIST VALUES ('Finance');
MAJOR_LIST VALUES ('Decision

4. Now, type in Select * from Major_List to view your newly created table and its
records. (See Figure 9.1)

Figure 9.1: Creating table Major_List in SQL*PLUS

5. First, select LOV in the Object Navigator on Developer/2000 and click on the "+"
sign on the toolbar to your left. (See Figure 9.2)

Figure 9.2: Creating a new LOV

6. Immediately, the window for the new LOV will pop up. (See Figure 9.3)

Figure 9.3: The New LOV Window

7. Type in the following Select statement in the window to connect the new LOV to
the Major_List table that we created earlier and click OK. (See figure 9.4)

Figure 9.4: The New LOV Window with the select code
select major into :studblock.major from major_list order
by major;
8. Once you click OK, you will come back to the Object navigator window. Now,
name the LOV as MAJOR_LOV by double clicking the word LOV. (See Figure
9.5)

Figure 9.5: Changing the name of the LOV

9. Now go back to the Canvas View by clicking on the small picture icon just
beneath the word Canvases in the Object Navigator. (See Figure 9.6)

Figure 9.6: Returning to the Canvas view

10. In the Canvas View, we will create a push button and position it right beside the
Major data field. To create the push button, select the box like icon from the
toolbox, click on it once and drop it beside the Major data field. (See Figure 9.7)

Figure 9.7: Creating a push button to place it beside the Major data field
11. After the push button has been created, then right click on the button and select
Property Palette from the list that pops up. (See Figure 9.8)

Figure 9.8: Selecting Property Palette for the Push Button

12. Once you are in the Property Palette, remove the label, specify Iconic as Yes and
in the icon Filename type Down. Click on the close button in the lower taskbar
located on the upper right corner. (See Figure 9.9)

Figure 9.9: The Property Palette for the Push Button

13. You will now return to Canvas View. Your Canvas will now look like Figure 9.10.

Figure 9.10: The Canvas View with the Push Button for the LOV
14. Now back in the canvas, right click on push and this time select the PL/SQL
Editor. (See Figure 9.11)

Figure 9.11: Selecting the PL/SQL Editor of the Iconic Button

15.
In the PL/SQL Editor we will write a trigger that will connect this button
to the table called Major_List, so that when the user clicks on the button they will
be able to view the list of options. When you select the Pl/SQL Editor, the
window for the new trigger selection will appear. (See Figure 9.12)

Figure 9.12: The Window with the list of triggers available to the user

16.
We will write a When-Button-Pressed trigger, since we would like the
code to be activated when the user presses the button. Scroll down and select
When-Button-pressed trigger. (See Figure 9.13)

Figure 9.13: Selecting the When-Button-Pressed trigger

17.
Immediately, you will see the PL/SQL Editor window. (See Figure 9.14).
Type in the following code in the blank space in the Editor.
Declare
Return_LOV Boolean;
Begin
Return_LOV :=show_LOV('Major_LOV');
End;

18.
Figure 9.14: The PL/SQL Editor window
19.
After typing in the code, click compile on the upper left-hand corner of the
window. (See Figure 9.15)

Figure 9.15: The Window for the PL/SQL Editor with the code for the LOV
20.
To test how the button works, you can view the form by returning to the
Canvas View and selecting Run Form from the Program menu. (See Figure 9.16)

Figure 9.16: Selecting Run Form from the Program menu

21.
When the form is running, type in an ID number in the STUDID field
(there has to be data in the primary field). Then click the button with the down
arrow. The list of majors will pop up. (See Figure 9.17). To return to the canvas
View, simply click OK in the list of majors and click the close button in the upper
right taskbar.

Figure 9.17: The List of values for the Majors

21.
We will now create radio buttons for the FTPT_Status to give the user an
option of creating either Full-Time or Part-Time.
22.
To do this, right click on the FTPT_Status field in the canvas view and go
to its Property palette. (See Figure 9.18)

Figure 9.18: Selecting the Property Palette for the FTPT_Status field
23.
Change the item type from text to Radio Group and set the initial value to
either FT or PT. Close the Property Palette by clicking the close button on the
upper right hand corner. (See figure 9.19)

Figure 9.19: The Property Palette for FTPT_Status

24.
Once you return back to the canvas, you will realize that the data field for
the FTPT_Status is no longer visible. This is because we have specified it to be a
radio group and not a text item. To see them, we will have to insert radio buttons.
Select radio button from the tool palette on your left. (See Figure 9.20)

Figure 9.20: The palette with the icon for the radio buttons
25.
Drop the radio button into the canvas. Immediately a window will appear,
prompting you to select the radio group you would like to attach this radio button
to. Select the radio group FTPT_Status. (See Figure 9.21)

Figure 9.21: The Window for Attaching the radio button to a radio group
26.
Now right click on the radio button and go to its Property Palette. Change
the label of the button to 'Full_Time', change background color to gray and give
the radio button a value of FT. (See Figure 9.22)

Figure 9.22: The Property Palette for the radio button

27.
In the same manner create a second radio button, attach it to the radio
group FTPT_Status, give it a label of 'Part-Time' and a value of PT.
28.
Select a rectangle from the palette and draw it around the radio buttons.
(See Figure 9.23)

Figure 9.23: The Rectangle Icon in the palette

29.
Go to the properties for the rectangle frame by right clicking on it, and
change the fill pattern to none. (See Figure 9.24)

Figure 9.24: Selecting the Property Palette for the rectangle frame
30.
Now, click on the rectangle frame and select Format
format the frame. (See Figure 9.25)

Bevel

Lowered to

Figure 9.25: Formatting the Rectangle Frame around the radio buttons
31.
You can now test your form by selecting Program Run Form. Your form
with the newly created radio buttons should now look like Figure 9.26.

Figure 9.26: The form with the newly created radio buttons
32.
We will now create a drop-down poplist for the variable Start_Sem that
will contain four entries: Fall, Spring, Summer 1 and Summer 2. To do this, go to
the Property Palette for the Start_Sem and change its item type from text to list
items, and select type of list as poplist. (See Figure 9.27). Close the Property
Palette to return to the Canvas View by clicking on the close button in the upper
right hand corner

Figure 9.27: The Property Palette for List Item

33.
Click on the List Elements tab and type in the list elements and list values.
In this lesson, the list elements and values will be same and will be Fall, Spring,
Summer 1 and Summer 2. (However, in the values, Summer1 and Summer2
should be typed in without spaces). (See Figure 9.28)

Figure 9.28: The Window for the List Elements

34.
Now go to Programs
(See Figure 9.29)

Run Form to view your newly created Poplist.

Figure 9.29: Window with the Poplist on Start_Sem

35.
We will now create three push buttons and write triggers for each button.
To create a push button, select the button icon from the palette on the left of the
canvas and drop in the lower part of the form. (See Figure 9.30)

Figure 9.30: Selecting a push button

36.
We will change the label of the first push button in the property palette to
"Retrieve." To do this, right click on the button and go to its Property Palette. (See
Figure 9.31).

Figure 9.31: Selecting the Property Palette for the push button
37.
Now select the PL/SQL editor by right clicking on the push button. (See
Figure 9.32).

Figure 9.32: Selecting the PL/SQL Editor for the push button
38.
Select the WHEN-BUTTON-PRESSED-TRIGGER, insert the following
PL/SQL code in the blank space of the editor and then click Compile.
begin
select studid, studname, ftpt_status, sex, start_sem, start_year, major
into :studblock.studid, :studblock.studname, :studblock.ftpt_status,
:studblock.sex, :studblock.start_sem, :studblock.start_year, :studblock.major
from student
where studid = :studblock.studid;
exception
when no_data_found then
message ('Invalid Student Id:Please enter a valid Id.');
raise form_trigger_failure;
end;
39.
In the above code, we are writing a select statement for retrieving the
record of a student with any particular student ID. If no data is found on a
particular student ID, then Developer/2000 will give an error message and raise
the form_trigger_failure trigger. Run the form and type in a invalid STUDID to
check the message. (See Figure 9.33)

Figure 9.33: Error Message when invalid Student ID is entered by the user
In a similar manner, create two other buttons, totaling three push
buttons.
40.
Go to the second push button, right click on it and go to its property
palette. Change its label to Insert. Now come back to the Layout Editor, right
click again on the push button and go to its PL/SQL Editor. In it, write the
following code in the When-Button-Pressed trigger:
Commit;
Clear_Form;
41.
Label the third push button as Clear. At the When-Button-Pressed Trigger,
write the following code:
Clear_Form;
42.
Now go back to the Canvas View and Program
form with the three push buttons. (See Figure 9.34)

Run Form to view your

Figure 9.34: The Form with the three Push buttons

Lesson Summary
In this lesson, you have learned how to add various objects to your
form and write triggers on them to add functionality. Specifically this
involved:
Creating LOVs, or List of Values, where you connected to another table from
which users make their selections
Creating Radio Buttons
Creating Poplists
Creating Push Buttons
Adding triggers to the push buttons for inserting, clearing and retrieving records
In the next lesson we will create another push button for deleting
records, to which we will add alerts for warning the user before a
record is deleted. We will also use a procedure to create the above
mentioned functionality. To learn how to do this, proceed to Lesson 10.