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APEX Blog
Latest Posts
Application Performance Monitoring
In this blog, I want to allocate a quick moment to consider Oracle's Application Performance Monitoring (APM) service, reviewing its purpose and scope, where it can be applied and..
Oracle APEX Support for Hierarchical REST Source Data Profiles
Until recently, Oracle APEX, via functionality such as REST Data Sources, could only extract a flat JSON structure. From release 24.1, however, APEX can now understand and..
Invoking Workflows within Workflows – APEX 24.2
The workflow component was first introduced in APEX 23.2 and can be integrated into your applications to model and run your business processes. I first reviewed the component in a..
Oracle APEX 24.2 General Builder Enhancements
As with all Oracle APEX releases, new features are introduced into APEX to move it forward, but there are also enhancements and improvements to existing functionality to make APEX..
Oracle APEX 24.2 AI Features
Oracle APEX 24.2 has expanded on AI integration within the development tools, and several new features are available as part of the 24.2 environment. In this blog, I'll explain..
APEX UI Defaults
Introduction When it comes to user interface design, efficiency and consistency are paramount.
Cursor AI – How Tools Can Improve Developer Performance
Introduction Recently, new tools have emerged on the market, offering exciting opportunities to enhance development performance. Curious about their potential, I decided to..
Exploring Oracle's Generative AI Agent Service
As an Oracle developer, I find advancements in generative AI both fascinating and exciting. Oracle's Generative AI Agents are at the forefront of this innovation, offering..
What is Oracle APEX?
What is Oracle APEX? A Comprehensive Guide for IT Professionals Tired of slow, complex application development? Discover Oracle APEX (Oracle Application Express), the low-code..
Best Practices for Handling File Uploads with Oracle APEX
Introduction File uploads are a common requirement in many applications., With Oracle APEX, implementing file uploads is very straightforward, but following best practices ensures..
APEX and Auth0: A Seamless Single Sign-On Integration
Introduction In today's interconnected world, providing a seamless and secure authentication experience is a must for modern web applications. Whether managing internal tools or..
Recent APEX Changes that Make the Developer’s Life Easier
Introduction Those of us who have been developing in APEX for years have probably gotten used to certain foibles of APEX and the builder that we know, accept and have workarounds..
APEX 24.1 New Features Roundup
Over the past few months, we have published several blogs on the new features released in APEX 24.1. In case you missed any of them, you can read them here:
Implementing & Managing Certificates for APEX in OCI
As part of your deployment of your APEX application(s), you might want to make them accessible outside of your organisation's network to allow employees access to the..
Making APEX Applications Accessible
Accessibility for many people means "do I have the authority to access something?" but for many other people, accessibility means can I get the information I need due to physical..
APEX 24.1 – Document Generator Remote Printing
At the start of 2024, the in-built function ‘Document Generator’ was released in OCI and, therefore, became available for use within Oracle APEX. This topic was discussed in my..
APEX Approvals and Workflow Enhancements
As part of APEX release 24.1, there are several improvements to the Approvals and Workflow functionality. My colleague, Colin Archer, wrote a blog about the Workflow Designer,..
AI-Powered Apps
Introduction With the release of APEX 24.1 and Oracle 23ai (ADB date TBC), I was excited to experiment with their respective new features, assessing how they could be combined and..
Improvements to Template Components in APEX 24.1
Oracle APEX 24.1 is packed with new features and enhancements designed to streamline application development and improve user experience. Whilst many of the new developments focus..
APEX 24.1 - Improvements to Working Copies
Introduction In mid-June, Oracle released APEX 24.1, introducing a range of exciting new features. One notable enhancement is improving the Working Copy functionality, designed to..
Building a Euro 2024 App with APEX and AI Assistance
With the release of Oracle APEX 24.1, the inclusion of AI-assisted development features has revolutionised how we approach application development. In this blog post, I'll share..
Leveraging AI to Automate Invoice Processing - Part 2
This blog is part 2, covering "Leveraging AI to Automate Invoice Processing". If you haven't already, check out part 1 or our recently released webinar on the subject!
Oracle APEX v SQL Developer for VS Code
Oracle APEX has always included the ability to access the database through SQL and examine objects through an object browser, including (but not limited to) tables, indexes,..
Using APEX Workflows
APEX 23.2 introduced the new Workflow Designer, which works with the existing Task Definitions to create workflows and automate business processes. My colleague, James Sanna,..
Oracle Forms Position in 2024
It's been a few years since my last blog on the Roadmap of Oracle Forms in 2021, so I thought it would be good to see what has been happening with Oracle Forms since then. I..
Document Generator in APEX: An alternative to AOP?
Earlier this year, Oracle announced the introduction of the Document Generator pre-built function in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). They have also created a sample application..
Leveraging AI to Automate Invoice Processing - Part 1
The previous attempts to automate processing - the last remaining manual step - based on early OCR and invoice exchange technologies have not quite delivered. However, new..
Oracle APEX 23.2 New Features
As my colleagues have discussed in previous blogs, there are several new and innovative features that Oracle APEX has integrated with the release of version 23.2. Today, I will..
APEX Execution Chain Process
Oracle APEX 23.1 introduced some process improvements, including a new process type: Execution Chain, which allows you to create a sequence of processes executed in the foreground..
Revolutionise Your APEX Development with Template Components
Oracle APEX 23.1 introduced a groundbreaking new feature: Template Components. This functionality allows you to create, implement, and share your own reusable UI components within..
Oracle APEX 23.2 New Page Items
With release 23.2 of APEX, Oracle has added three new page items. Throughout this blog, I will explain the three new page items, detail some of their features and guide you..
APEX Workflows
Since the introduction of Approvals inAPEX 22.1, Oracle has been continually working towards a fully integrated APEX solution for business process automation. And now included as..
Application Working Copies in APEX
The latest APEX release, 23.2, introduces new functionality for creating an application working copy. It allows developers to create their own copy of the application and make..
Exporting data Using APEX_DATA_EXPORT
What is APEX_DATA_EXPORT APEX_DATA_EXPORT was introduced along with APEX_REGION.EXPORT_DATA in APEX 20.2, to allow developers to easily extract and download data. APEX_DATA_EXPORT..
Connecting Worlds - APEX and WooCommerce REST Synchronisation
In today's fast-paced digital world, it's essential for businesses to integrate different platforms to achieve efficiency and productivity seamlessly. Two of the most powerful..
Methods on Tables and Beyond – Auto-generation of code for APEX Applications
When developing APEX applications, native DML is the obvious way to go as it handles DML operations without having to write custom code. However, in many real-world scenarios,..
Exporting Custom Interactive Reports via REST
On a recent project, I was tasked with developing a module within an APEX application to receive a JSON file via a REST API. This was so it could be manipulated on screen before..
Introduction to Integrating APEX with Twilio
Twilio is a cloud communications platform whose aim is to drive communications to and from your applications. In this blog, I have an introductory look at Twilio and explore how..
APEX behind a Custom Domain using Oracle Cloud and NGINX
Oracle provides both the most capable database and the most popular low-code platform. So why not pair them with the most popular web server? [1]
APEX 23.1 - New Features
As with each release, 23.1 has introduced the community to many new and exciting features, improving user experience and allowing us developers to find new ways to revolutionise..
Exporting APEX Applications using SQLcl
Introduction When I started working with APEX, I regularly exported my applications before making any changes. Even after several years of experience, I still export before making..
PWA: Progressive Web Applications
What are PWAs? Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) are web applications where some code is installed on your device (desktop, tablet or mobile device) to deliver an experience..
APEX Data Generator
Introduction Data Generator is a relatively new feature, launching last year as part of the APEX 22.1 update. This new addition provides the developer with a built-in solution for..
OCI Document Understanding
Introduction Oracle recently announced their newDocument Understanding feature in OCI. In this blog, I will be looking into this feature and considering its practical application..
Implement AWS Cognito Authentication in your APEX Application
AWS Cognito is a popular cloud-based user authentication and management service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It provides a simple and secure way for developers to manage..
How to use ChatGPT to aid your Oracle APEX development
Oracle APEX is a powerful tool for web application development, allowing developers to create and deploy interactive and responsive web applications with minimal coding. However,..
Setting up OCI Bucket storage and accessing from APEX
I recently needed to set up and use OCI bucket storage for use with an APEX application. Although I found some helpful reference guides out there, they all appeared a little out..
More New Features of APEX 22.2
A few weeks ago, immediately after the release of APEX 22.2, my colleague, Lee Burgess, wrote a blog titled APEX 22.2 - New Features Spotlight. This focused on three of the key..
Always Free – Session Limit Increase
Over the weekend of the 5th of November, Oracle pushed an update to all “Always Free” autonomous databases (ADBs) to increase the maximum simultaneous database sessions limit from..
APEX 22.2 - New Features Spotlight
It’s that time of year again when we find out what new features the Oracle APEX team have been working feverishly on for the last 6 months. As always, there are some that..
Flows for APEX #JoelKallmanDay
Flows for APEX…you've heard of it before, but what exactly is it? And, beyond that, where should it be used and why? In this blog, I will establish the premise behind Flows for..
Sending emails from an APEX application in the cloud
Configuring and sending emails from an APEX application running in the cloud involves multiple steps and can sometimes be confusing. Therefore, I decided to write this blog to..
How to get the most out of APEX Advisor
In this blog, James Sanna advises how you can utilise APEX Advisor to its fullest potential. To find out more information, take a look at our APEX services.
Liquibase and Flyway: Using Database versioning tools for APEX database projects.
As an APEX developer that used to be an Oracle Forms developer, my approach to releasing front-end code (APEX apps) and backend code (the plsql packages and triggers that support..
REST Improvements for APEX since 20.1
It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog on REST features in APEX, in fact, it was way back in 2019! Since 2020 there have been five APEX releases, which collectively contain..
Placing Components Anywhere since APEX 21.2
With the release of APEX v21.2 Oracle promised that page components can be positioned anywhere. With additional component positions across page templates, developers can enjoy..
Smart Filters
"Smart Filters" is a region-type component added in APEX 21.2. It provides end-users with numerous filters that narrow search results at run-time.
Enforcing the Execution Order of an Interactive Grid
Tariere Ogidi, a member of our specialist Oracle APEX services team, uses the AJAX callback function to enforce the execution order of an interactive grid, which otherwise was..
Implementing CKEditor 5 in APEX 19
As is the case with web technologies, time moves on, and so does the usability, design and features of these technologies. That is no less the case with rich text editors.
Options for hosting APEX in Oracle Cloud
An important consideration in Oracle APEX deployment is the environment that will host it. This article briefly covers the main options available in OCI which can be used to..
A first look at the new APEX 22.1 features
APEX 22.1 has arrived! You can now access the latest pre-production version of our favourite low-code tool here. There are some great new features on offer in this release so our..
Oracle APEX: Ideas and Feature Requests
There have been a few places for APEX aficionados to express their ideas for future development over the years but the latest Oracle APEX announcement may have passed you by…
A closer look at GraphQL
GraphQL is a query language for APIs and a runtime for fulfilling those queries with your existing data. GraphQL provides a complete and understandable description of the data in..
APEX Classic Reports and Comment Template
At DSP we carry out a range of unique tasks for our customers. The Oracle APEX low-code platform allows us to develop scalable applications modified to our customer's needs. This..
Oracle ATP Free Tier: Machine Learning and APEX Integration
Finally, Oracle has released a supported free tier of their cloud database offering. I’ve been hoping that they would release some kind of Express Edition in the cloud for years..
Migrate your data to a different Oracle Cloud Tenancy
If you are operating with more than one OCI tenancy, sometimes there will be situations when you need to move data from one to another - in this blog I will be showing you steps..
How to view HubSpot engagement information in an APEX application
This is a relatively short blog to remind everyone how easy it is to configure and utilise RESTful web services provided by other (SaaS) systems. They allow you to get the data..
7 New Features of APEX 21.1 You Should Know About
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX, with our award winning application development and consultancy services.
Faceted Search Enhancements in APEX 21.1
In my previous blog, I explained how Faceted Search works.
The Forms Roadmap in 2021
Find out how we can help you migrate your Oracle Forms applications to Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services. There have been minimal..
Native Maps in APEX 21.1
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award-winning application development and consultancy services. Version 21.1 of APEX has recently been..
APEX 21.1 Packaged Application Plugins
Having recently joined the DSP-Explorer team, when writing my first APEX Blog post I decided to revisit the archives and take inspiration from what my new colleagues had written..
Azure Form Recognizer
Azure Form Recognizer is a cognitive service that uses machine learning technology to identify and extract text, key/value pairs, selection marks, tables, and structure from..
Oracle Launches New ‘Always Free’ APEX Service in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . Following on from Oracle launching the new..
APEX Automations
As part of the release of Application Express 20.2, Oracle announced the inclusion of APEX Automations. But what are they? And are they any good?
Integrating NetSuite with Oracle APEX
I recently worked on a project which involved generating a sales dashboard in APEX, for which the source data resided in NetSuite. There is a fair amount of documentation out..
Enhancing Oracle Enterprise Manager with Oracle APEX
Oracle APEX Integrations with Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM)/Cloud-Control Some years ago, my colleagues, Justin Tomlinson (Oracle Technical Services Team Leader) and Craig Sykes..
Comparing Microsoft Power Apps and Oracle APEX – Part 2 Database Centric Applications
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . In the first part of our blog series about..
Cards – New Region Type in APEX 20.2
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services. Cards regions are a great way to present a..
Oracle Heralds a New Dawn for APEX
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . Oracle recently published news about their..
Creating a dynamic Organisation Chart in APEX in under an hour from your Active Directory
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services. In my previous blog, I talked about how we..
Faceted Search
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services. Oracle first introduced the exciting new..
The Pitfalls of APEX Authentication with OAuth2
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services. After another successful development and..
Part One: Low Code - Microsoft and Oracle
Microsoft Power Apps and Oracle APEX The use of low code tools to create an application is increasing every day and we see new tools and frameworks being released to the market..
APEX 20.2 Hidden Gems
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . Most of the headlines from the latest..
APEX Native Mega Menu
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . Oracle has recently released APEX version..
A review of Azure DevOps Boards, from an APEX development perspective
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . I was recently asked to review a number of..
APEX Authentication Using Microsoft Azure Face API
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . One of my favourite features of my phone..
Integrating APEX with Office 365 via Microsoft Graph REST API
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services. It was almost 4 years ago that I wrote..
APEX 20.2 New Reporting Features
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . A pre-production version of APEX 20.2 has..
10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Using APEX
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award-winning application development and consultancy services. APEX is an intuitive tool and it is easy to..
Oracle Forms: Where Are We Now?
Find out how we can help you migrate your Oracle Forms applications to Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services. Last year I wrote a..
Explorer Are Selling Through G Cloud 12
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . What do you need to know about the Digital..
PL/PDF or AOP which should I use?
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . APEX is a low code platform, which allows..
APEX REST Enabled Forms
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services. Following on from my previous blog, today I..
Faster APEX get the browser to work for you
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . Want to do some data-intensive heavy..
Creating A Mobile App From Scratch
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services . Most businesses will at some point find a..
When to AJAX Callback vrs. When to Dynamic Action
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award-winning application development and consultancy services . I am going to assume you know what Dynamic..
DSP acquires Explorer UK to create market leading managed services and database technology services group
Ian Thomason (left), managing director of Explorer, with Simon Goodenough, CEO of DSP Group
ATP Features for APEX Developers
Oracle Autonomous Database (ADB), consisting of ATP (Autonomous Transaction Processing) and/or Autonomous Data Warehouse (ADW), refers to a cloud-based Oracle database service..
How to leverage Machine Learning, Spatial and Graph in APEX applications – no license required
https://blogs.oracle.com/database/machine-learning%2c-spatial-and-graph-no-license-required-v2 As of December 2019, Oracle has made Machine Learning, Spatial and Graph features..
The Things an APEX Developer Should Be Aware of When Developing APEX Applications on an Oracle Autonomous Database
Back in June 2019, Oracle announced the availability of APEX on the Oracle Autonomous Database (ADB). Then in September 2019 at OpenWorld ‘Always Free’ services (of which the ADB..
Using REST Data Sources for APEX List of Values
There have been many new REST features and improvements added to APEX over the past few releases, so I thought now would be a good time to take a look at some of the newer REST..
APEX Authentication Options
When you create an APEX application using the blueprints, you have no option to opt out of creating an Authentication Scheme and a Login Page.
Top WOW Features of APEX
Your dream development framework of the future is right here in the present and you can use it free.
Oracle Supported EBS extensions with APEX – Simply explained
I recently reviewed the White Paper “Extending Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 using Oracle APEX – Revision 3.02”.
Exadata: An Updated Perspective For 2020
As 2020 kicks off in full swing with a celebration of 10 years of Exadata today, I thought it would be timely to provide an updated perspective on Exadata, it’s business value for..
No More Guesswork: The Oracle Advisor for Optimal Database Partitioning
Intelligent analysis and execution
Better Together: Oracle Database Compression for Oracle Database Partitioning
The best compression for OLTP workloads and Data Warehousing
Datacentre Exit (DExit): Making Enterprises Great Again!
Datacentre strategies, or at least the sentiment of strategies, can be likened to the rhetoric of Brexit. More and more, I am seeing organisations that have mandated a Cloud only..
Developing Secure Web Applications with APEX and ApexSec
A very common question asked is ‘Is APEX Secure?’ and Joel Kallman from Oracle addressed this topic here, the post is a few years old now but it still applies today. There are two..
PL/PDF – PDF Images
Continuing the blog series about PL/PDF, this blog is all about adding images to a PDF report. In this first step, we are going to create a page cover and add this image.
Latest News from Oracle (October)
Rewind the clock to New Years Eve 2018 and if anyone had said to me that in 2019 Oracle would announce new and meaningful partnerships with Microsoft and VMware for Cloud..
Time is running out: Do you have a plan for your Oracle Reports?
In a previous blog, I mentioned how Oracle Reports is now deprecated as of Fusion Middleware 12c Release 2 (12.2.1.3). This means no more new releases of Oracle Reports will be..
Oracle Forms 12.2 New Features
For those looking to upgrade to the latest Oracle Forms version, here is a brief look at some of the notable new features introduced in the latest versions, 12.2.1.3 and 12.2.1.4...
How Do I Access My Free Oracle Cloud Database
If you have created a free database in the new Always Free Oracle Cloud Tier, you can use the provided web version of SQL Developer to gain access to your schemas for development.
A Reference APEX Application for APEX_IR.GET_REPORT
On occasion, I encounter the need to use APEX_IR.GET_REPORT and I thought it would be a good idea to create a reference APEX application that includes handy examples which I can..
PL/PDF – Code Reuse
When it comes to generating PDF reports, there are some options available. However, in the real world it is not just about generating simple PDFs, it is about being powerful and..
Oracle ATP Free Tier: Machine Learning and APEX Integration
Finally, Oracle has released a supported free tier of their cloud database offering. I’ve been hoping that they would release some kind of Express Edition in the cloud for years..
ADW and ATP ‘always free’ databases in the OCI. If you snooze, you may lose!
A few days ago at Oracle Open World Oracle announced the availability of an Always Free Autonomous Database and Cloud Infrastructure.
3 Reasons to use Inline Dialogs
When you create an APEX page you usually are given the choice of a Normal Page or a Modal Page.
Explorer Achieves ISO 27001: 2017 Certification from the British Assessment Bureau
Leeds based Oracle Platinum Partner has achieved certification to the internationally recognised ISO 27001:2017 standard, establishing it as one of the leaders in its field.
Oracle’s EMEA Systems Partner Summit Marks Another Win for Explorer
We are proud to have received an award at the Oracle Systems Partner Summit in Malaga, in recognition for delivering new Systems, Storage and Engineered Systems business in EMEA.
AI Tech North
Last month I attended the new AI Tech North conference in Leeds. “AI” (Artificial Intelligence) is a topic I’ve been touching on recently in various projects with technologies..
Enhancing the APEX Debugger
One minor inconvenience when using the APEX debug features is the amount of noise which fills up the debugger when I try to find my debug messages.
Creating & Consuming Web Services in APEX
Last December at Tech 18 and then again at this year’s UKOUG Midlands Tech Event, I gave a presentation (including live demos) on how to create and consume Web Services in APEX.
Build a Chatbot on Your Lunch Break
I’m primarily an APEX developer, and one of the things I love about APEX is how I can create something impressive in such a such a short space of time. I can build an application..
Making Your APEX App Safer
APEX uses the best of the modern web to create native web applications; unfortunately, this also brings modern vulnerabilities that we always need to be aware of. To protect..
Customising Workspace Login
Ever logged in to an APEX Workspace using a page that looked like this…?
![OCEAN: A Methodology for Oracle Hybrid & Multi-Cloud Deployments [Video]](https://content.dsp.co.uk/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/swatch.jpeg)
OCEAN: A Methodology for Oracle Hybrid & Multi-Cloud Deployments [Video]
There are a number of market trends impacting the rate and success of Cloud adoption for Oracle workloads, not least the co-existence of on-premise infrastructure with multiple..
Choosing the Right Report and Features to Give Your Users When Presenting Data in an APEX Application
At a conference some time ago I was asked a question on enabled options on reports in an APEX application with regards what built-in functions should be enabled for the users.
Calling PLSQL from Javascript
For those who came from an Oracle Forms world, it is very easy to start working with APEX. When creating simple screens, you don’t need any jQuery or AJAX knowledge as dynamic..
What is the Oracle Forms Standalone Launcher?
Find out how we can help you migrate your Oracle Forms applications to Oracle APEX with our award-winning application development and consultancy services. I recently attended the..
Apiary and APEX
More and more projects I work on at the minute make use of RESTful Web Services. These can either be a way of exposing our own data or a way to make use of data from external..
Creating an Online Leaderboard in APEX
In my spare time I like to play around with creating video games in technologies other than Oracle (!). I recently created a game for an online community that I participate in and..
UKOUG Tech 18 Debrief: New Universal Theme features in APEX 18
In my first blog (ever) I am going to give you a flavour of what I saw at the UKOUG Tech18 Conference in Liverpool. At the conference, I was mainly concentrating on the talks..
APEX Report Performance
Recently at the UKOUG TECH18 Conference I gave a presentation entitled ‘Choosing the Right Report & Features to Give your Users when Presenting Data in an APEX Application’ which..
Making an APEX Wizard Clickable
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award winning application development and consultancy services. Recently I was at the Tech 18 conference in..
The Numerous Options for APEX 18.1 Interactive Grid Validations
I’ve written a number of blogs lately; however the one I am quite fond of is the one I did on Client Side Validations back in 2017. I look favourably back on this because it..
UK OUG Tech18 APEX State Of The Union
If, like me, you attended UK OUG’s Tech18 conference at ACC Liverpool and have a particular interest in Application Express, you may well have attended Joel Kallman’s “State Of..
Cloud Adjacent Architecture accelerates Oracle performance by 27x [infographic]
OCEAN stands for Oracle Cloud, Enterprise Architecture & Networks and is a methodology for Oracle Cloud and multi-cloud adoption alongside on-premise infrastructure hosted within..
Application Archive for Presentations
For my Tech18 presentation ‘The Numerous options for APEX 18.1 Interactive Grid Validation” I needed to prepare a deck of slides and a demo APEX application in which I can quickly..
Is Autonomous Safer Driving or a Car Crash Waiting to Happen?
One year on from the first iteration of “Autonomous” being preached by Larry, I am left wondering if the Oracle Autonomous Database really is the self-driving car that Oracle..
APEX Plugins for Beginners
One of the great features of APEX is the possibility to import JavaScript plugins and css libraries into the application, just by referencing an external link or uploading a .js..
When Forms to APEX Projects get thorny
Oracle Forms and Oracle Application Express (APEX) are both technologies used to build data centric applications.
Undocumented IG Features
I’ve blogged quite a bit on the Interactive Grid and the vast array of features; some features are technically available for use in your applications however they are not..
APEX Splitter Plugin
You’ve been using the Splitter plugin for maybe years without realising it. No? Well if you’ve used APEX Page Designer on version APEX 5 and above you’ll notice the page is split..
Anchoring Links in APEX 18.1 Page Designer
APEX 18.1 page designer now includes a new “Advanced” setting called Anchor in the Link Builder Modal.
APEX Application for Managing Other APEX Application Properties in Your Workspace
As part of my presentation I gave at a couple of OUG events (see here for the blog post and video) one of things I discussed is how APEX has built in many things that can help..
Cross Row Interactive Grid Cascading LOVs
One of my main gripes about the Interactive Grid is that it performing cross row validations is quite a painful process. By this I mean, the user can modify various records and..
Adding an Auto Save Feature to an APEX Page
Recently I was tasked with adding an auto save feature to an APEX page for a questionnaire style application I was developing for a customer.
Disabling Interactive Grid Columns
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award-winning application development and consultancy services. I’ve seen various information about how to..
Interactive Grid – First Impressions
I recently joined Explorer from 4 years as an APEX 4.2 Developer on a variety of projects. I looked forward to using Interactive Grid (IG) – from APEX 5.1 onwards – and it is good..
Integrating Chatbots with your APEX (or non-APEX) web application
Lots of people are talking about chatbots alongside other tech buzzwords like AI and IoT. I like to look into these up-and-coming technologies to see what might be useful for..
Application Support with APEX Applications: Looking After the Users when Development has Finished
Although at Explorer we spend most of our time creating brand-new bespoke APEX applications or completing Forms to APEX projects; sometimes we are asked to work on and/or support..
New REST features of 18.1 (Early Adopter 2)
I recently published a set of blogs on the subject of ORDS, Outh2 and Web Services in APEX 5.1. In part three (available here) I detailed how to use a REST Service as the source..
Oracle Cloud: Universal Credits. What you need to know…
In September 2017, Oracle announced a change to their Cloud pricing and transaction model for end users and partners alike. The change was born out of poor customer experience..
APEX Developer Mode
When I used to work with Oracle Forms, the company I worked for used to grant users on the development environment with a special role which provided enhanced access to many areas..
Interactive Grid Column Read Only Control
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award-winning application development and consultancy services. I thought it would be interesting to share..
APEX Interactive Grid: Preventing Lost Updates & Record Locking
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award-winning application development and consultancy services. I was recently asked about the Interactive..
Querying an Oracle Database Using Amazon Alexa
At the UKOUG Tech17 conference last year, I delivered a presentation called APEX and the Internet of Things. As part of this presentation, I wanted to demonstrate how to query the..
Introducing APEX TabLock
A little side project of mine is developing new features for a chrome extension which provides extra functionality for the APEX developer.
ORDS, OAuth2 & Web Services in APEX – Part 3
Calling Web Services from APEX The following blog will show you how to call GET method Web Service from an APEX 5.1 application and extract the response data. It will also show..
Options For Loading Excel Data Into APEX Applications
Excel is still widely used across many organisations as a standard reporting tool, often being used as a substitute for small databases. As a consequence, it has become necessary..
Oracle Forms – The venerable statesman with a cloudy future
Back in August 2015 I wrote a blog titled ‘The Future of Forms’ and a colleague of mine, Jon Lingard, followed this up in December 2015 by writing a continuation based upon his..
Getting to Grips with the APEX Interactive Grid API
Whilst attending Tech17 at Birmingham this year, I was pleased to see David Peake provide a short demonstration of the Oracle Interactive Grid API documentation. The documentation..
APEX & Search
This year, we have been looking into the best way to deliver search capabilities in an APEX application. Customers are used to searching in Google and often want the same..
APEX Development on a Raspberry Pi
Before you get excited, I’ll start off by saying that there’s no way you’re going to get an Oracle database running properly on a Raspberry Pi at the moment. However, the..
ORDS, OAuth2 & Web Services in APEX – Part 2
In my previous blog, I took you through how to create RESTful Web Services with ORDS and how to test them with a REST client. This blog will build on those Web Services (Fig.1)..
ORDS,OAuth2 & Web Services in APEX – Part 1
I recently gave a presentation on how to get started with Web Services at the UKOUG APEX SIG in London. The first half covered how to create Web Services with ORDS, how to protect..
Oracle Goldengate or Dbvisit Replicate?
These two products offer data capture functionality and replication between multiple Database environments covering both Oracle SE and EE versions. They essentially operate by..
Oracle skip unlucky 13 with new Database version structure
Following the announcements at OpenWorld last week here are my thoughts on the changes to the new software version numbering structure…
Oracle Data Visualization Update
Throughout 2016, I posted a series of blogs introducing Oracle’s recent additions to its Data Visualization portfolio – Data Visualization Cloud Service (DVCS) and Data..
Using Oracle Cloud for Database Upgrade
The Oracle Cloud provides a comprehensive set of services that can be used for fast and efficient data migration & testing between different Database versions. The notes below are..
ODA X7 – more than just a hardware refresh
Following a week out in San Francisco with Oracle a number of announcements have come out relating to Cloud Infrastructure and Engineered Systems that are very relevant for our..
Validations and Duplicate Page Submissions in APEX 5.1
I had a problem with a modal dialog page in APEX 5.1, which created new rows in a table on the database whenever the Create button was pressed. The problem was that if the user..
Generating PDF and Word Documents from an APEX application
Generating PDF and Word documents from an APEX application is a request that we get all the time. There are many great third party tools to help you do this but in this blog post..
QuickSQL – Saves you time
One of the new features of APEX 5.1 definitely changed my way of creating DDL on Oracle databases. With the Quick SQL packaged application you only need to write minimal lines of..
A quick introduction to Oracle Private Cloud Appliance
The Oracle Private Cloud Appliance is an Engineered System designed to simplify the installation, deployment and support of Oracle and non-Oracle Application and Database..
The start of the end for Apex 4.2
In October 2017 (just 3 months’ time), Premier Support for Oracle Application Express 4.2 will end. This ultimately marks the end of the APEX 4 era and coincides with the fifth..
Moving to the Cloud: A Developer’s Perspective
I have been recently working with a charity who had developed a production APEX application and hosted it on apex.oracle.com. While this environment is brilliant for quickly..
Client Side Validations
Since using APEX 5.1, you may have noticed a few differences in regards to client side validation when using a combination of:
Oracle Code – London (2017)
Last week I attended the Oracle Code event in London; a free event hosted by Oracle showcasing the latest technologies, practices and trends in development. As a developer who..
A Review of Interactive Grid in APEX 5.1.1
This blog has been a long time in the making… Of course before writing a blog on any subject, you have to do your research. In my case, my research involved creating dozens (maybe..
Dynamic Theme Style in APEX 5.1
One of the new features of APEX 5.1 is the introduction of APEX_THEME API which enables you to change the application theme style by user.
License compliance is not easy
Certified Oracle Compliance Over the last decade or so, countless Oracle customers have experienced license issues by falling foul of Oracle’s ‘trust model’, complex licensing..
Customising chart colours in APEX 5.1
Find out how we can help you build solutions using Oracle APEX with our award-winning application development and consultancy services. One of the new features of APEX 5.1 is the..
Theme Roller not saving changes on a 5.1 ORDS standalone environment
A very quick entry so we have this written down and so that it may help anyone in the future who faces the same problem..
A complete guide to #ORCLAPEX Dynamic Actions
Last year, Craig Sykes and I were discussing ideas for presentations at Tech16 and one idea made us quite excited to turn in to a paper for submission.
ODA: What you need to know
Oracle Engineered Systems are a range of hardware appliances designed to address different business problems or objectives. The entry level member of this group is the Oracle..
Need more oomph from Oracle?
Since joining Explorer in 2010 and working with customers with varying sizes of Oracle estates there are 2 key drivers that push customers to want to talk to me; reducing costs..
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