7 New Features of APEX 21.1 You Should Know About

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We covered some exciting new features of APEX 21.1 in a recent blog post, but here are some additional features worth understanding:

1) Dynamic Action Enhancements

It was previously only possible to add Client-Side Conditions, Server-Side Conditions, Authorizations, and Build Options to the dynamic action event definition. Now we can define those condition by action. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest improvements of APEX 21.1, as I constantly need to create more then one dynamic action fired by the same event to manage different action conditions.

2) Number Field Format Mask

1. Edit a number item and add a format mask to Appearance/Format Mask 999G999G999G999G990D00
2. Run the page and add a value to the number field
3. After it loses focus, the number changes from 1000000 to 10,000.00

3) Lazy Loading on Classic and Interactive Reports

4) Font APEX 2.2

Font APEX 2 expands the original Font APEX, providing a complete set of icons at a larger size. There are 2 sizes: small (16x16 grid) and large (32x32 grid), both well suited for places where you need to provide a larger graphic, such as cards, media lists, and hero regions.

On Font APEX 2.2 (released as part of APEX 21.1) 95 new icons for medical apps, map markers, and additional file types are now included. Please see below:

If you want to check all Font APEX Icons and customize them, edit an APP, go to ‘Utilities’ and click on ‘Font APEX Icons’. Here we are able to add modifiers, animations, change the size, and rotate.

5) New Date Picker

The new Date Picker now supports 3 different types: Native HTML, Popup and Inline:

All display modes support both ‘Date’, and ‘Date and Time’, however, now there is a declarative option to show time and define time increments by the selection control:

The new Date Picker item is also able to define date ranges (minimum and maximum dates), set by a static value or a page item and additional appearance options like 'Show Week' and 'Days Outside Month'.

6) New Redwood Light Theme Style

Redwood Light now supports customisation options using Theme Roller. You can now use different layouts, make declarative changes to the appearance, and add custom CSS.

7) Compare Applications and Pages using the Checksum.

The Checksum report provides an easy way to compare two application or two pages and check for similarities and differences. This is very helpful when comparing pages or applications across different environments. Here’s how to use this feature:

1. Compare Applications: Edit an app and go to ‘Utilities/Application Checksum’. Two equal apps will have the same checksum.
2. Compare Pages: Edit an app and go to ‘Utilities/Page Checksums’. Two equal pages will have the same checksum.

APEX Github repository

Another change to check out on this version, which isn't a feature, but is certainly worth mentioning, is the announcement of the APEX GitHub repository. The App gallery on the page designer is now called ‘Gallery’ and it links to an external site where you can find package applications, samples apps and some plugins.

In addition to the features above, the APEX 21.1 universal theme is also now refactored using improved CSS to provide a more robust interface and improve the performance of page load and rendering.

I hope that's given you some useful information to put into practice. What's your favourite feature of APEX 21.1?

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Author: Rodrigo Mesquita 

Job Title: Oracle APEX Development Consultant

Bio: Rodrigo is an Oracle ACE and APEX Developer Expert certified by Oracle and is an experienced software engineer with emphasis in analysis, design and development of bespoke Oracle applications utilising development tools such as PL/SQL, APEX and Forms for a variety of international businesses. Rodrigo speaks regularly at Oracle community events and enjoys creating APEX plugins and writing blogs.