Oracle Application Express

Oracle Application
Express

Overview
 Oracle Application Express

Oracle Developer : a robust and productive developer tool used during decades
During decades… The WAY To modernize / Improve
Oracle developer applications is
Oracle developer (Forms + Reports) have been used by JAVA But …
developers to effectively and efficiently build productive JAVA represents a Huge GAP
applications from current developers skills
Bu today …

• Is an old Technology. NO major upgrades

• Is a Client/Server technology
• Robust but RIGID UI (old look&feel difficult to customize)
• Doesn’t contemplate MOBILITY • No leverage of PL/SQL knowledge
• Doesn’t incorporate GRAPHICS • Dramatic change in the “Way of
thinking” (logic)
• Is not the most productive tool
 Oracle Application Express
APEX is the alternative
APEX is a productive framework, based on PL/SQL that generates HTML very easily and quickly, using modern internet
standards (CSS3 +HTML5) to create modern and responsiveness / mobile UI
Without the need of middleware (it’s Oracle DB embedded)

Develop desktop and Visualize and maintain Leverage SQL Skills and
mobile web apps database data database capabilities

Database-centric web application development framework

 Oracle Application Express
Distinguishing Characteristics

App Development IDE is a web App definitions are stored in Page generation is efficient with
browser. the database as meta data. only one request and one response.
No client software needed Declarative – No code Data processing done in the
generation Database
 Oracle Application Express
No cost feature of the Oracle Database

• No-cost fully supported feature

• Any number of developers, apps, & end-users
• Specialized Oracle Support Team
• 11gR1, 11gR2, 12c
• All DB editions: EE, SE, SE1, XE
• Included with Oracle Cloud Services
• Schema and PDB services 5, 20, 50 GB
• Dedicated DBaaS services
• No cost evaluation http://apex.oracle.com
• Easy to install
• Included by default with all editions of Oracle database
• Download latest release from http://otn.oracle.com/apex
 Oracle Application Express

Also known as Oracle APEX (āʹpěks)

HTML DB 1.5 APEX 2.1 APEX 3.1 APEX 4.0 APEX 4.2.x
§ First Release § Oracle XE § Interactive § Websheets § Mobile
Reports § Dynamic Actions § HTML5
HTML DB 1.6 APEX 2.2 § Plug-Ins § Packaged Apps
§ Themes § Packaged § Team
Applications Development

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012-14 2015

HTML DB 2.0 APEX 3.0 APEX 3.2 APEX 4.1 APEX 5.0
§ Flash Charts § Oracle Forms to § Data Upload § Page Designer
§ SQL Workshop § PDF Printing APEX Conversion § Error Handling § Universal Theme
§ Access Migration § ROWID § Modal Dialogs
 Oracle Application Express
2 Tier Architecture / Extendible to 3
Apache

OHS
ORDS Schemas

Oracle APEX

Web Logic
Server
Oracle
WLS Database

Browser Mid Tier Database Tier

 Oracle Application Express
External = apex.oracle.com
Internal = apex.oraclcorp.com

apex.oracle.com
Total Page Views (1 week): 3,624,894
Distinct Applications: 7,006
Distinct Users: 8,428
Number of Workspaces: 23,243
Number of Applications: 85,707

apex.oraclecorp.com
Total Page Views (1 week): 3,088,137
Distinct Applications: 2,509
Distinct Users: 24,637
Number of Workspaces: 3,306
Number of Applications: 17,452

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 Oracle Application Express
Development Community; Very involved, enthusiastic worldwide community

• ~ 400,000 developers
Based on developer downloads, support tickets, check for updates data
• Consulting companies, hosting companies, books, applications, success stories and quotes:
http://apex.oracle.com/community
• 75+ active bloggers:
http://www.odtug.com/apex
• Very active Forum:
https://community.oracle.com/community/database/developer-tools/application_express
 Oracle Application Express
APEX Components
Home

Comprehensive Development IDE, Web Application

Development, and SQL Database Development
 Oracle Application Express
APEX Components
Application Builder

Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with Application Development

Graphical “Page Designer”
Features tight SQL and PL/SQL integration
 Oracle Application Express
APEX Components
SQL Workshop

Browser based maintenance of database objects and data

Designed to meet application developers’ needs, especially in hosted environments
 Oracle Application Express
APEX Components
Teaming

Collaborate with colleges, track project details with associations to application pages.
Life cycle development: design, develop, deploy, view customer feedback, enhance, re-
deploy.
 Oracle Application Express
APEX Components
Packaged Applications

• Robust suite of productivity and sample applications.

• Illustrates best practices and design patterns.
• Template to start customization (e.g. unlock your packaged app).
• Upgraded with every release.
 Oracle Application Express
APEX Components - Code Designer
Available for maintaining SQL, PL/SQL, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and large text sections

• Syntax Highlighting
• Undo / Redo
• Find/Replace
• Auto completion
• Code validation
• Used in Page Designer,
Component View and
SQL Workshop
 Oracle Application Express
APEX Components – Universal Theme
Overview

• New default theme for APEX applications

• Uses responsive HTML5 templates
• Grid-layout for HTML forms
• Modern flat-look
• Ships with a variety of pre-built theme styles
• Older themes still available as legacy themes, and will remain
part of the product for backwards compatibility
 Oracle Application Express

APEX Components – Universal Theme

Template Options

• Declarative CSS modifiers for HTML5 templates

• Enables developers to declaratively apply styles
like borders, padding, icons, colors, size, etc.
• Uses easy-to-understand, descriptive names
• Available for most template types:
– Page, Region, Report, Breadcrumb, List, Item, Button
• Significantly reduces the number of required templates for a
theme
 Oracle Application Express
APEX Features - Charting
Large selection of chart types built with Flash, HTML5 or CSS3
 Oracle Application Express
APEX Features – Plug ins
A complete Rapid Development Platform

Data Grid AJAX Form Tree & Tree Grid

Layout Charts
 Oracle Application Express
APEX Features – RESTful Web Services
Emit RESTful Web Services from the database for use in your SOA environment

• Interaction with data sources through

use of Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs)

• Ability to create services which implement any SQL statement or PL/SQL procedure

• Data returned in JSON or CSV format, or additionally through PL/SQL

• Standard method of accessing data in the Oracle Cloud
 Oracle Application Express
APEX Mobile Applications Features – Mobile development
Rapidly build Web-based Mobile Applications

• Declarative support for building mobile web applications

• APEX Applications support multiple user interfaces:
Desktop and Smartphone; Desktop only; or just Mobile
• Mobile pages use jQuery Mobile through a
jQuery Mobile based theme and templates
• Mobile Pages are lighter weight than Desktop Pages
• Can respond to touch-based events
• HTML5 charts and HTML5 item types
 Oracle Application Express
Leveraging Oracle Database Features with APEX
Security features
Works with APEX

Transparent Data Encryption

Database Vault

Audit Vault

Database Firewall

Key Vault

Data Redaction

Data Masking

Auditing

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 Oracle Application Express
Leveraging Oracle Database Features with APEX
High Availability features
Works with APEX
Real Application Clusters

Data Guard

Active Data Guard

Golden Gate

Secure Backup

Online Reorganization

Edition-Based Redefinition

Flashback, Total Recall

Automated Rolling Upgrade of Database

Failover to the Cloud

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 Oracle Application Express
Leveraging Oracle Database Features with APEX
High performance features
Works with APEX

Multi version read consistency

Row level locking

In-Memory

Compression

Partitioning

Hadoop, Big Data SQL, R

Cost based query optimizer

Scale-out with Oracle RAC

Exadata Smartscan & Infiniband

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 Oracle Application Express
Leveraging Oracle Database Features with APEX
Simplified consolidation and deployment with Oracle Multitenant

Works with APEX

PDB Deployment

PDB Cloning

PDB Self Service App

PDB Migration

High Density Consolidation

Automated Provisioning and Configuration

PDB Resource Management

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 Oracle Application Express
Leveraging Oracle Database Features with APEX
Database Application Development Features Works with APEX

SQL and PL/SQL

Java in the Database

Analytics

Text

Regular Expressions

Spatial

Pattern Matching

Database XML
SQL PL/SQL Database JSON

AQ

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 Oracle Application Express
Leveraging Oracle Developer Developments
Migrating Oracle Developer Apps to APEX

Same DATA structure

All PL/SQL logic is immediately operational

No Data Structure changes needed /Same Data model

No logic changes needed /Same PL/SQL packages
Knowledge in Pl/SQL is leveraged for Development Team
Migration can be run in QuickWin approach (Coexistence between
Developer and APEX developments in the same application)

To take advantage of APEX, only changes in User Interface

(UI) and in Using/customizing Plugins are needed

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 Oracle Application Express
How APEX helps to modernize Forms
In Forms In APEX
All is running inside a Java container & The loaded page may be used until refresh; the new page
needs to be compiled is displayed after

Java JRE had to be installed at the client Native HTML5

Fixed screen size No need for additional software installation

May log off users when a form is complied Scalable screen view

Requires Oracle Fusion Middleware Cal also run on Apache

No Mobility Responsiveness design

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 Oracle Application Express
Forms to APEX example

The Summit application built in Oracle Forms The Summit application replica built in APEX

The improved Summit application, built with

Plugins in APEX 29