Oracle Application Express

(APEX)

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Oracle Application Express account
go to https://iacademy3.oracle.com
• To login to Oracle Application Express, the password for your Oracle
Application Express accounts is: rIvWO82#
• When you first login to each account, you must change the password to a
unique password which contains at least 6 characters, with at least 1
numeric character, 1 upper-case alphabetic character and 1 punctuation
character (!"#$%&()``*+,-/:;?_)
• Enter Workspace as provided below.
• Enter your Student username as provided below.
• Enter your Password as provided to you
• Account Expiration Dates: 29-MAR-2021
Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01
• Student Workspace: RO_B733_SQL_Snn
• Student Username: RO_B733_SQL_Snn

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

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https://iacademy3.oracle.com
• Access to an APEX Instance
1. sign up for an account on Oracle’s hosted version of APEX at
apex.oracle.com
• free for nonproduction applications
2. if already have Oracle database installed locally (Oracle Database
XE, Free Oracle Database for Everyone,
oracle.com/database/technologies/appdev/xe.html) can download
and install APEX into that instance (otn.oracle.com/apex)
3. Pre-Built Developer VMs (for Oracle VM VirtualBox)

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

+
• Web Browser
• SQL Developer / SQL IDE
• oracle.com/database/technologies/appdev/sql-developer.html
• free SQL and PL/SQL IDE provided by Oracle

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Welcome to the wonderful world of Oracle
Application Express (APEX)
• write web-based Oracle systems
• prior to APEX, developing fully interactive, web-based systems for
data that resided within (Oracle) database meant learning new
complex language like Java, .NET, Python, or PHP
• + 2 DataBase SQL + 3 HTML + 4 CSS + 5 JavaScript + … BackEnd
FrameWork, FrontEnd FrameWork … and then figuring out how to
integrate with data

• low code

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

APEX
• Oracle Application Express (APEX) is a low-code development
platform that enables you to build stunning, scalable, secure apps,
with world-class features, that can be deployed anywhere. Oracle
APEX is the native Web application development framework for the
Oracle Database.

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

APEX
• 100% browser-based, low-code, Rapid Application Development (RAD)
tool
• to create rich, interactive, Oracle-based web applications
• built on and uses as its core languages SQL and PL/SQL (Oracle
Procedural Language extensions)
• can focus on the logic specific to your application.
• large share of what you need to accomplish can be done using one of
many built-in wizards provided as part of APEX Application Builder
• once wizard is complete, can edit and enhance functionality or even
replace it with your own custom SQL and PL/SQL routines
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Developer’s Overview

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Workspace
• multi-tenant architecture where many different development
environments (called workspaces) can exist in single APEX instance
• for instance, apex.oracle.com, Oracle’s free hosted instance, holds
over ten thousand active workspaces, each of which completely
separate
• workspace represents virtual private container in which developers
create and deploy their APEX applications
• development process takes place in context of a workspace

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Workspace
• One to many users: one of three types: Administrator, Developer, or
End User
• Zero to many applications: added, imported, or created from scratch
• One to many schemas: workspace must be assigned at least one
schema when it’s created, Instance Administrator may assign multiple
schemas to workspace - can be many applications and many schemas
in workspace, but application may only parse one (and only one)
schema, which can only be set during development

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APEX Users
• Instance Administrators
• Workspace Administrators
• Developers
• End Users

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Instance Administrators
• are special users who manage and maintain the overall APEX instance
• set instance-level preferences and messages, create and manage
workspaces, monitor space utilization, …

• able to log in to special INTERNAL workspace, which houses APEX

Admin Services application

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Workspace Administrators
• responsible for managing details of specific workspace
• can manage user accounts related to workspace
• monitor workspace activity, view log files, override developer locks
and settings, …

• it isn’t good practice, Workspace Administrator can also act as

Developer, creating and modifying applications

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Developers
• are users who create and edit applications in workspace
• access to underlying tables in schema(s) assigned to workspace
• may create and modify database objects and stored PL/SQL units

• most people writing APEX applications only need this level of access

• when you’re developing, you should get the habit of logging in as

Developer as opposed to Workspace Administrator

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End Users
• are only able to run applications in workspace
• don’t have direct access to any of underlying database objects, nor do
they have access to any of the APEX development modules
• can’t log directly into workspace

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• APEX introduces ability to use external repository, such as Single Sign-
on or LDAP, as a source to assign and validate APEX users
• functionality is not set up by default and requires an Instance
Administrator to configure

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• workspace starts off basically empty … can have many applications
that reside in workspace … likely that all applications in workspace
share something: use same underlying database objects, target same
user community, or use same method for authenticating users

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General application hierarchy

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Applications
• groups of pages that perform task (or set of tasks) related to
a business function

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Pages
• basic building blocks of applications and contain both user-
interface (UI) components and programming logic that
processes user’s input

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Regions
• UI items that serve as content containers
• can have any number of regions on page, and regions can be
nested in other regions

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Items
• are HTML form elements that are used to present UI to user
• include things such as buttons, select lists, text fields, check
boxes, radio groups, and so on…
• page-level items - defined on specific page and assigned to
region in order to control where and how they display to
user
• application-level items - defined at application level and
aren’t rendered directly on page

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

• when workspace is created, it’s linked with database schemas
• if application was defined with “parse as” schema of CALIN, query
select * from emp would execute in database as if it were written select
* from CALIN.emp
• APEX applications are portable and may not necessarily be run in same
schema they were developed in
• not good practice to hard code schema names into SQL ; APEX provides
replacement variable: #OWNER# substituted for actual “parse as”
schema for application at runtime
• select * from #OWNER#.emp , resolves to: select * from CALIN.emp
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APEX Modules
• Application Builder - where you create and modify
applications and pages; where you’ll probably spend most of
time
• SQL Workshop - where you deal directly with underlying
database objects and their related data
• Team Development - section that lets you enter and track
information related to development of APEX applications

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APEX Modules
• Packaged Apps - provides way to install and manage
applications that come with Oracle APEX (many of these can
be used out of the box to solve real business problems)
• Administration - can manage details of your workspace,
defaults users, groups, and so on… Workspace Administrator
has more options available than standard Developer

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APEX hierarchic menu structure

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Home Page
• once you log in to your workspace, you’re presented with workspace
Home page: gateway to rest of development environment; provides
some high-level information about what’s going on in workspace.

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• along top is navigation bar containing main navigation structure
available to you throughout developer interface
• each main option of menu bar is broken down into two pieces

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Application Express

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01
• for instance, if you click directly on Application Builder item, you’re
immediately taken to Application Builder home page
• however, if you click small downward-pointing arrow just to right,
you’re presented with more detailed drop-down menu that lets you
choose your destination more granularly

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Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01
At right of navigation bar is set of 4 menu
options represented by icons
•

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

1. search icon, when clicked, allows you to perform context-sensitive
searches; context depends on where you are in Application Builder
2. Administration menu will be available to you whether you are
• Developers will access to monitoring certain areas of workspace activity
and dashboards
• Workspace Administrators will have full access to all functionality including
user maintenance and service requests
3. help menu provides access to online documentation
4. link to profile of currently logged in user; user will be able to edit their
details, update their profile picture, and change their password

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

• at bottom of browser is information region that displays currently
logged in user, current workspace, language, and current version of
Oracle APEX
Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01
Application Builder - Home Page
• core of APEX application-development environment
• where you see list of different applications contained in your
workspace might see some sample applications installed by Workspace
Administrator, but don’t be alarmed if you don’t see any applications at all

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01
• previous figure shows one application in workspace, named Sample
Master Detail
• list of applications you see is actually style of report called Interactive
Report (IR)
• allow to customize how reports and their contents are displayed -
used throughout development and can also be used when creating
your own applications
• on right side of page are three regions that show About information,
recently edited applications, and link to Application Migration wizard

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01
Application - Home Page
• clicking any one of applications listed drills into Application home
page, as shown in previous figure
• shows all pages in application
• uses IR, so you can customize the way you see data

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Page Designer
• manage components and edit their layout and properties from single-
page interface

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SQL Workshop
• suite of tools that provides developers with ability to view and
manage database objects in underlying schema(s) assigned to
workspace

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• there may be more than one schema assigned
to workspace: schema-selection dialog at right
allows you to select and set default schema for
all tools
• main tools available as part of SQL Workshop
are displayed in toolbar at top of page
• you’ll use this area of APEX more heavily when
you create database objects for application

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Object Browser
• working with databases you’ve probably used GUI tools that allows
you to browse and manage ( create, edit data, edit object definitions,
delete, …) database objects
• Object Browser is similar tool presented through your web browser
• there are some limitations on types of objects it can manipulate

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SQL Commands Interface
• allows you to interact with underlying schema(s) using standard SQL
commands or PL/SQL
• SQL Scripts Interface allows to manage and run sets of SQL commands
that are saved into script
• Query Builder has been relegated to Utilities page, allows you to build
SQL select statements using graphical interface

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

SQL Workshop Utilities
• gives access to tools and reports that help you view and manage
information about underlying database objects and their data

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Utilities
• 30

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

• Data Workshop provides tools that import and export data in many
different formats
• Generate DDL wizard allows to choose schema and then generates
script that can be used to re-create some or all of objects
• Methods on Tables wizard generates Application Programming Interface
(API) based on specific table or set of tables
• for each table selected (up to ten named tables), generated package contains
procedure for Insert, Update, Delete, and Select
• benefit of using table APIs instead of accessing table directly is that any
required validation logic can be included once and accessed from various
alternate interfaces including APEX
Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01
• Object Reports utilities that let you get detailed information about
different types of objects
• Schema Comparison to compare objects in two separate schemas
• Query Builder

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

• User-Interface Defaults to define default display attributes for APEX
regions and items
• About Database shows information about database instance and
APEX environment
• Database Monitor to view Sessions, Systems Statistics, Top SQL, and
Long Operations reports
• Recycle Bin allows you to view and potentially recover objects that
have been dropped; when object is dropped, database doesn’t
immediately remove space associated - places it and its associated
storage in Recycle Bin
Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01
Packaged Apps
• where you will install and managed applications that are bundled with
APEX distribution

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Packaged App Gallery

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01
Packaged App Administration
• related to Packaged Applications installed in current workspace
• if you are logged in as developer, you’ll only see options relating to
managing Interactive Report settings and Activity reports
• when logged in as workspace administrator, you’ll see section called
Manage Services

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

• Administration and Team Development
• Deploying applications
• … latter

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Design Solution

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Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01
database application
• collection of pages linked together using menus, tabs, buttons, or hypertext links;
application pages share common session state and authentication
• pages are organized using containers called regions
• regions can contain text, custom PL/SQL, reports, charts, maps, calendars, web service
content, or forms
• forms are made up of fields (called items) which can be selected from built-in types (fields,
text areas, radio groups, select lists, check boxes, date pickers, and popup list of values)
• can also create their own custom item types using plug-ins
• session state (or application context) is transparently managed and user interface
presentation is separated from application logic enabling developers to manage look and
feel of application by simply selecting different theme

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Websheet applications
• users can manage structured and unstructured data without developer assistance
• page sections contain unstructured data which can be edited using WYSIWYG
editor
• Data Grids enable users to manage structured data without need for writing SQL
• using runtime dialog boxes, users can add columns, rename columns, and
validations
• page and row of data grid data can be annotated with files, tags, notes, and links;
can contain sections, reports, and data grids and everything can be linked together
using navigation
• information is searchable and completely controlled by end-user

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

oracletutorial.com/getting-started/
oracle-sample-database/
• - GENERATED BY DEFAULT AS IDENTITY START WITH 10
• - ON DELETE CASCADE
• + ALTER TABLE product_categories ADD photo BLOB;

• SQL WorkShop
• SQL Commands
• SQL Scripts

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

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Lookup Table
• ORDERS table, STATUS column has only values: Pending, Shipped,
Canceled, …
• data values in this column indicate that it’s perfect candidate for
creating lookup table - complete with its own sequence, trigger, and
foreign key and modify original table so it points to new lookup table,
all without writing code

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

User Interface (UI) Defaults
• customize default display attributes for tables, views, and their
columns
• to control many properties, including alignment, searchability, display
sequence, type of item created for column, default values, …

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Cloud Database
Similar to APEX experiences …

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Cloud Database (Relational Database
Service)
• Amazon AWS, Google Cloud SQL, Microsoft Azure, Oracle, …

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

MicroSoft
• using [email protected] or [email protected]
accounts – part of agreements and partnerships between Technical
University of Cluj–Napoca and Microsoft

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Azure Dev Tools for Teaching
• https://azureforeducation.microsoft.com/devtools

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

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portal.azure.com

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Education - Software

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more then 100 items for teacher, student

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

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Oracle
• using [email protected] account – part of agreements and
partnerships between Technical University of Cluj–Napoca and Oracle

• 2 alternatives, cloud database or APEX

• free alternatives no so generous as Oracle academy for institutional
• 2 alternatives Oracle account or institutional account for teachers and
students

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

1 Oracle Cloud

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2 Oracle APEX

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3 Academy.Oracle.com

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Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01
4 iAcademy3.Oracle.com

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01

Applications

Oracle Application Express (APEX) 01