Oracle APEX 18.1 New Features

Marc Sewtz
Senior Software Development Manager
Oracle America, Inc. – New York, NY
Oracle APEX 18.1 New Features

Marc Sewtz
• Joined Oracle Consulting, Hamburg, Germany 1998
• Oracle Corp., New York, NY 1999 - today
• Built my first “APEX” Application in 2001
• Joined the APEX Development Team / Database Tools in 2002
• APEX on Twitter: #ORCLAPEX
• Twitter: @msewtz
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/msewtz
• Blog: http://marcsewtz.blogspot.com
Senior Software Development Manager
Oracle Application Express / Database Tools

Oracle APEX Community 2018 214K
45KConferences with
dedicated APEX tracks 12
APEX World Rotterdam, Netherlands
Oracle Developer Day Montreal, Canada
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Great Lakes Oracle Conference Cleveland, Ohio
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UKOUG Tech18 Liverpool, England
APEX Alpe Adria Graz, Austria
• Dedicated APEX Conference
•
•
•
•
~500K
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Millions
4.9K
1.5B
7.9K
3K
1.2B
YouTube Video Views
Active Workspaces on
apex.oracle.com
Developers
New installs per quarter
Active Instances / quarter
Daily End Users
Schema Service Instances
Internal page events / year
#orclapex Followers
LinkedIn APEX members
Internal APEX page views / yr
Meetup Groups 41
2,900+
Members
20
Countries
•

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Oracle APEX
Database-centric web application development framework
Develop desktop and
mobile web apps
Visualize and
maintain
database data
Leverage SQL Skills
and database
capabilities

Oracle APEX
Use Cases
Developing opportunistic
& self service web apps
Extending enterprise
application solutions
Migrating file based and
client server apps to the web

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

Oracle APEX
• No-cost fully supported feature
• Any number of apps, developers & end-users
• Specialized Oracle Support Team
• 11gR2, 12c, 18c
• All DB editions: EE, SE, SE1, XE
• Included with Oracle Cloud Services
• Schema Service
• Exadata Express Service
• Database as a Service
• No cost evaluation http://apex.oracle.com
• Easy to install
• Included by default with all editions of Oracle database
• Download latest release from https://apex.oracle.com/otn
No cost feature of the Oracle Database

Oracle APEX
Rapidly develop, customize, and deliver
Develop Customize Deliver
Go from prototype to production in minutes
Pre-built controls for security, authentication,
database interaction, validation, session management
and more…

Oracle APEX
3 Tier Architecture
Database Tier
Oracle Database
(Pluggable or Dedicated, 11g, 12c, 18c)
SQL & PL/SQL
Schemas
APEX Engine
Oracle REST Data Services
(Weblogic, Jetty, Tomcat)
JDBCHTTPS
REST, SOAP
Zero latency database data access
Dynamically driven by APEX metadata
No Application Logic
Converts HTTP to database API calls
Mid TierBrowser

Data Sources
Utilize the Oracle Database / ORDS / Web Services
Local Data Source
HTTPS
REST, SOAP
Oracle Database & APEX
JDBC
JDBC
JDBC
Remote Data Sources & Services
Enterprise Data Sources
and Services
Database Link

Development / Deployment Options
Local
• Install on stand-alone laptops
using Oracle Express Edition (XE)
or full database version
• Simply upgrade APEX to the
required version
• Can work completely
disconnected
On-Premise
• Typically run by the IT
Department
• IT generally both production
operations service, and a service
provider
• Departments responsible for
application development
Cloud
• Deploy Internet applications
• Leveraged for fast application
development, user acceptance
and training.
• Prototyping & Proof-of-Concept
• Consulting companies develop
for deployment on customer
premise
Browser based application development framework enables efficient development & deployment
Shoot someone a URL – Check this out – Application Development

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
1.5 HTML DB
1.5 - First Release
1.6 – Themes
Hosted free service
apex.oracle.com
3.0 Flash Charts
PDF Printing
Access Migration
Tabular Forms
4.0 Websheets
Dynamic Actions
Plug-Ins
Team Development
2.0 SQL Workshop
2.1 - Oracle XE
2.2 - Dictionary Views
5.0 Page Designer (PD)
Universal Theme
Modal Dialogs
Data Upload
Error Handling
ROWID
4.1
2009
Oracle Forms to APEX
Conversion
3.2
Mobile with JQuery
HTML 5
Packaged Apps
4.2
2008
Interactive Reports (IR)
3.1
Interactive Data Grid (IG)
JET Charts
Simplified Wizards
Live Template Options
Improved Universal Theme
Font APEX
Improved Packaged Apps
5.1
18.1
REST & Remote SQL
Oracle JET Upgrade
Improved IG, IR, PD
New REST Workshop
Schema Service
EECS
2018
5.1+
New "Low Code “
App Wizard
Blueprints
QuickSQL
App Features
(apex.oracle.com only)
Oracle APEX
Version History

Agenda
New Create Application Wizard
Oracle JET & jQuery Upgrade
Universal Theme Updates
REST Enabled SQL Support
REST Service Consumption
New REST Workshop
Interactive Grid Enhancements
Page Designer Enhancements
Miscellaneous

New REST Workshop
Miscellaneous

• New Low Code Create Application Wizard.
• New and improved user experience for
creating applications.
• Simpler and modernized wizards for
creating pages.
• Customize user interface options, theme
style, application icon and page icons.
• Allows creation of more advanced pages
such as Dashboards, Master-Detail, etc.
19
Low Code Development
http://apex.oracle.com/lowcode

Features
• Supports adding common frameworks or "Features" when creating an application
such as access control, activity reporting, theme selection, and more
• Features provide application-level functionality and are based on best-practices
used in APEX Packaged Applications.

Demo
Create Application Wizard

New REST Workshop
Miscellaneous

• Oracle JET based charting engine introduced in Oracle APEX 5.1
• APEX 5.1 ships with Oracle JET 2.0.2, jQuery 2.2.3 and jQuery UI 1.10.4
• APEX 18.1 ships with Oracle JET 4.2.0, jQuery 3.1.1 and jQuery UI 1.12.0
• Oracle JET version included with APEX is updated with each release:
– Allows us to adopt new data visualizations and other JET components
– Allows plug-in developers to build APEX plug-ins using current versions of Oracle JET
– Ensures that APEX ships with supported version of Oracle JET
jQuery, jQuery UI and Oracle JET Upgrade
Upgraded Libraries

• All built-in functionality in APEX has been updated to work
with updated libraries, incl. the APEX Builder, native components
and Packaged Apps.
• For Desktop / Responsive apps using only built-in APEX components,
no changes are needed after the upgrade to APEX 18.1.
• For apps that have custom client-side code, including 3rd party libraries or
plug-ins, changes may be required.
• Apps using the jQuery Mobile UI, may still work, however jQuery Mobile
is no longer supported, apps should be migrated to Universal Theme.
Øhttp://hardlikesoftware.com/weblog/2018/03/30/apex-18-1-jquery-jquery-ui-and-jet-upgrade/
How does this impact my existing applications?

• Old item type 'Text Field with autocomplete' uses an outdated and
inaccessible autocomplete jQuery plugin.
• Has dependency on old jQuery Migrate, thus will no longer work in 18.1
• New Auto Complete item based on the Oracle JET Input Search
• Provides much improved accessibility and better Dynamic Action support.
• Implemented as a stand-alone JavaScript widget:
– Used as the basis for the updated item type
– Can also be used in its own right in other areas of APEX (e.g. IG dialogs, Page Designer:
Property Editor, toolbar widget, etc.”
• APEX will automatically upgrade all “Text Field with autocomplete” items
New Auto Complete Item Type

• New Gantt Charts
• Based on JET ojGantt component
• Responsive, WAI-ARIA compliant
• New Chart Types – Pyramid, Box Plot
• New Chart-Level Attributes:
• Fill Gaps in Chart Data – Yes / No, Sort Order
• New Series-Level Attributes:
• Display As, Value Aggregation
• Enhanced Sample Charts application
26
New Chart Types and Attributes

Demo
New Chart Types

28
New REST Workshop
Miscellaneous

• JQuery Mobile Apps can now be transitioned to Universal Theme
• New Region Types for Mobile UI patterns:
• Reflow Report
• List view
• Column Toggle Report
• Support for touch gestures (Swipe, Tap, etc.)
• New Mobile Navigation template
• Performance Improvements
• apex.oracle.com/ut/
29
Improvements for Mobile UI

• Optimized for Mobile UI
• Form item labels can now be
placed to the side or top of the
input fields.
• New label template: "Floating"
• Positions the label inside of the
input field.
• Label automatically shrinks
upon entering a value in the
input field
30
Floating Labels

APEX Movie Trailers
http://bit.ly/apex-movie-sample
https://twitter.com/shakeeb/status/1011275880855953408

New REST Workshop
Miscellaneous

• Executing dynamic SQL or PL/SQL on
remote databases using ORDS and REST
• Relies on the ORDS "REST Enabled SQL" feature (ORDS 17.3 or later)
• Requires ORDS instance having a connection pool
configured for target database.
• Oracle APEX passes SQL query to ORDS over REST
• Self-describing JSON response
• Response contains a JSON object with:
• Result set meta data (column names, data types)
• The result data
• Information about pagination
33
Remote Database Connections

• Create and maintain References to REST Enabled SQL Instances (Oracle REST Data
Services) in Shared Components: Name, Endpoint URL, and Authentication information
• Use a REST Enabled SQL Service
and therefore a remote Oracle
Database as the Data Source for
Oracle APEX components like:
• Classic Reports, Interactive Reports
• Reflow / Toggle Columns Report
• Tree Region, JET Charts, Calendar
• PL/SQL Process
34
Using Remote Database Connections in Oracle APEX

• Access REST enabled SQL sources within custom PL/SQL Code:
• Execute query and provide a "cursor" object
APEX_EXEC.OPEN_REMOTESQL_QUERY
• Execute a PL/SQL block anonymously APEX_EXEC.EXECUTE_REMOTE_SQL
• Use REST Enabled SQL as a Plug-In developer:
• "Region Source supports different Data Sources" Plugin Attribute
• Use APEX_EXEC PL/SQL package in Plug-In code
35
Using Custom PL/SQL Code

New REST Workshop
Miscellaneous

• New data source type called "Web Source Modules", a declarative method to define
references to external REST APIs and generic JSON data feeds.
• Web Source Modules store additional metadata about how to parse response data and
map it as a virtual table with rows and columns.
• A module can contain one or many Web Source
Operations which are the references
to a concrete external web service.
• Create and maintain Web Source
Modules in Shared Components.
37
Web Source Modules

• Use as data sources for Oracle APEX components such as:
• Interactive Report, Classic Report
• JET Chart, CSS Calendar
• Tree Region, Reflow Report, Toggle Column Report
• Post Processing SQL modifies data before being processed by an Oracle APEX
component:
• Apply SQL functions, aggregations, join to local tables etc.
• Avoid unnecessary HTTP requests by using Caching
38
Web Source Modules

Web Source Modules: Drive Oracle APEX Components…

…with data from a REST Endpoint

Web Source Modules: Custom PL/SQL Code
• Access Web Source Modules within custom PL/SQL Code:
• Execute "GET" request and provide a "cursor" object
APEX_EXEC.OPEN_WEB_SOURCE_QUERY
• Execute POST, PUT, or DELETE requests APEX_EXEC.EXECUTE_WEB_SOURCE
• Use Web Source Modules as a Plug-In developer:
• "Region Source supports different Data Sources" Plugin Attribute
• Use APEX_EXEC PL/SQL package in Plug-In code

• Access data from other Oracle Databases using REST
• Similar use case to REST Enabled SQL, however REST Enabled SQL requires privileges to
directly access tables on target database via SQL.
• Many databases do not allow this type of access but do provide standardized REST services.
• Access internal systems (non Oracle Databases) within an Oracle APEX application
• Writing extensions to third-party in-house systems that provide REST APIs.
• Access Oracle SaaS functionality from within Oracle APEX applications.
• Access external APIs (non Oracle Databases) or fetch external data feeds within
Oracle APEX applications
42
Use Cases

New REST Workshop
Miscellaneous

• Declarative REST service
support for ORDS-enabled
REST services.
• New REST workshop supports
REST web services developed
using the ORDS repository.
• Oracle APEX 18.1 requires
ORDS 17.4.1 and above to
provide full integration with
the ORDS repository
• You can migrate any existing
APEX-based REST services
44
New REST Workshop
ORDS Repository

• Create and manage REST Services in any schema assigned to a Workspace
• Generate Swagger documentation
45
New REST Workshop
Using the ORDS Repository

New REST Workshop
Miscellaneous

• Copy-Down Support to copy data from one row to other rows
• Copy to Clipboard for row or cell range selections
• New Dynamic Action events:
Mode Change, Page Change,
Report Change, View Change and Save
• User settable report setting:
"Actions > Format > Stretch"
Declarative control over how the column width
will stretch to fill available space
or not.
47
Client-Side Behavior and Processing

• Documentation of public JavaScript widget APIs
• Provides supported and documented
JavaScript APIs for widgets like
Interactive Grid, Tree, etc
• Automatically generates documentation
from JavaScript doc comments
48
Documentation

New REST Workshop
APEX Spotlight Search
Miscellaneous

• Updated UI to improve usability
• When an attribute has focus, the group becomes highlighted
• Improved "Go to group" functionality
• Alignment property (for example, column heading alignment in an
interactive report) now use a pile button
50
Property Editor Enhancements

• Pin keywords to have them persist
as you click around Page Designer
51
Sticky Filters

• New indicator (red dot) if a page component
has a condition
• Component name strikethrough if it has a
'Never' condition
• Page Designer Toolbar > Utilities includes option
to enable and disable tooltips within the UI
52
Miscellaneous

New REST Workshop
Miscellaneous

• Provides quick navigation and unified search experience across APEX
• Activate by clicking search
button from header, or
using the keyboard shortcut
Ctrl + '
• You can navigate to most
screens within APEX builder
• Quickly jump across apps
and pages
• Also works in Page Designer
– can focus on page components
54
APEX Spotlight Search
Developer Experience

• New authentication scheme –
Social Sign-In
• Supports Oracle Identity Cloud Service,
Google, Facebook, OpenID Connect,
OAuth2
• New authentication scheme attribute
"Switch in Session" for schemes that
can be set in the current session.
55
Authentication Scheme Enhancements
New Authentication Scheme

Oracle APEX 18.1 New Features

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