Upgraded to APEX 4.1 successfully

Yesterday APEX 4.1 hit production and is now available for everybody to download.

Joel Kallman of the APEX development team did a nice post about this new release here.

He not only mentions some of the new features that come with APEX 4.1, but also explains that jQuery Mobile will come shortly after this release.

I played with the Early Adopter release of APEX 4.1 for some time and liked it very much. I also tried some of my applications and they ran without that many issues. You might want to read on the changed behaviour documentation of APEX 4.1 first.

As the production release is now available, I upgraded one of my APEX 4.0 instance to APEX 4.1 without any issues today (if you need to rerun the ACL privileges, read this). It took less than 15 minutes to do that.

I don't tend to wait too long before I upgrade to the latest release of APEX as with every release you get so many more enhancements and new features, it makes it really worthwhile.

I like the new UI of the Builder very much too and look forward to use APEX 4.1 day in and day out.

Google Apps desupport "old" browsers

I just get an email of Google which was interesting to say the least... and I wish I could tell the people we develop Oracle APEX apps for the same! Developing web applications that are browser compliant (especially older browsers) is just taking so much time! It would be really nice if it was common to only need to support the last 3 versions.

Here is the email:

Beginning on August 1, 2011, Google Apps support for the following browsers versions will be DISCONTINUED:

- Microsoft Internet Explorer 7

- Mozilla Firefox 3.5

- Apple Safari 3

After August 1, you may have trouble using certain features in Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs and Google Sites with these older browsers, and eventually these apps may stop working entirely.

WHY THE CHANGE?

To give users the best experience with Google Apps, we need the capabilities of modern browsers to deliver features such as desktop notifications for Gmail and drag-and-drop file upload in Google Docs.

For this reason, beginning August 1, 2011, Google Apps will support the current and previous major releases of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari on a rolling basis. Each time a new version is released, we’ll begin supporting that version and stop supporting the third-oldest version.

I couldn't agree more ;-)

Ready for the Weekly APEX QUIZ?

With the growing popularity and usage of Oracle Application Express, we are very excited to announce a new weekly Oracle APEX quiz launching on Saturday, 18th June. Weekly quizzes start on Saturday and end on Friday at midnight (UTC).

We have been deeply involved in the development (and success!) of the PL/SQL Challenge from the very beginning... and we have now taken the next logical step:

APEX Evangelists is now sponsoring a weekly APEX quiz, so you can now look forward to APEX Evangelists challenging you with some interesting quizzes. If you’re already a seasoned APEX developer or you are only just beginning your journey with APEX, then this is the perfect time to start competing in the APEX Quiz to help to deepen and broaden your knowledge about one of Oracle’s most exciting application development tools.

To play the APEX quiz starting 18 June, simply visit http://www.plsqlchallenge.com and choose the quiz in the Play a Quiz table. We also encourage you to submit your own ideas for APEX quizzes – and to volunteer as a reviewer (which you can do through the Feedback page).

We made a bet with Steven Feuerstein that more developers will be playing the APEX quiz than the daily PL/SQL quiz in no time! So help us spread the word! Let your friends co-workers know about the APEX quiz and start playing now!

APEX 4.1 EA2 available: drag/drop calendar, data load

The Oracle Application Express (APEX) development team hit the ball out the park again with some of the new features you find in APEX 4.1 Early Adopter 2!

tryapexnow.com got updated last night with a new version of APEX and I just played a little bit with it. Two new features caught my eye: the data load wizard and the drag/drop in the calendar.

Drag/Drop in Calendar

I followed the wizard to create a new page of type Calendar and it now asks if you want to enable Drag and Drop.

The drag and drop features uses an On Demand Page Process which you have to select in the Calendar Attributes. If you click on the Process label you see an example how such a Process needs to look like.

Data Loading Pages (wizard)

You want to allow people to upload data in your application (using copy/paste or a csv file)? Now you just have to follow the Data Loading wizard and it does everything for you. It even includes a mechanism that detects if it needs to do an update or an insert, it allows you to add data transformations and validations and it just flows well.

When you finish the wizard the page in you application looks like this

Many features that come with this wizard, really nice. And it's just an APEX page, so you can still customise it like you want.

If you didn't try APEX 4.1 yet, give it a go, it's worth to see what's coming... and remember to use the Feedback link to give the APEX development team feedback.

APEX rocks wallpaper

If you like to have a special wallpaper on your Desktop, Galaxy tablet, iPad or iPhone you can check out the APEX rocks wallpapers.

Red Gate created in conjunction with APEX Evangelists the APEX Rocks set especially for the APEX community. There are other sets available from the Red Gate website.

The APEX Rocks set wallpapers can be downloaded from APEXBlogs. On the right hand side under Useful Tools you find the link.

APEX 4.1 - Chart improvements

Although they are not specifically listed in the New Features overview, Oracle APEX 4.1 seems to include some charts enhancements and bug fixes.

Here's an overview of the improvements I found on 4.1.0.00.03 compared to 4.0.2.00.07.

1) Although the Font Settings was there in APEX 4.0, there was not a region display selector for it. That got added now.

2) In the Font Settings the Grid Label was removed. This setting was a carry over of APEX 3.x but became obsolete in APEX 4.0 (more info in this blog post's comment).

3) The Marker select list only becomes visible for Line and Pie charts, for other chart types the marker disappeared. (more info in this blog post's comment)

4) Two new features for Bar and Column charts: Overlay Y-Axis and Sorted Overlay Y-Axis which allows to see the Series behind each other instead of next to each other.

Normal behaviour of a 3D Column chart with three series.

If the Overlay Y-Axis is checked the Series go behind each other.

The Sorted Overlay Y-Axis is especially useful in a 2D Column chart, as if you wouldn't do it one column/bar might be over the other one and you wouldn't see it. If it's sorted the smallest are in front and the biggest columns are at the back. In the above example the green (Womens Series) is behind the red (Mens Series), but as they are a bit transparent and 3D you still see it. If you prefer to see it better you should use the Sorted Overlay Y-Axis too.

5) The overall feel of the Application Builder was improved in APEX 4.1. The Axes Settings for example now disable some fields depending other selections on the page. Also only the features that are useful for the chart you selected should be visible.

6) Issues from APEX 4.0 seem to be all resolved in APEX 4.1: Build Query button, Axes, Gradient, Multiple Series

7) You can now position the label of a Pie or Doughnut chart to be either outside (default) or inside. Lengthy labels made the size of the chart smaller as the label was on the outside. If you put your label on the inside you don't have this anymore.

The chart with the Label Position to Outside:

The chart with the Label Position to Inside:

It's these small tweaks that make APEX even better than it was before and makes it a great development environment.

APEX 4.1 and more

10 days ago the APEX Development team announced an early adopter version of APEX 4.1.

A (bigger) release of a new version of APEX happened in the past in three steps:

1) Beta (Early Adopter) on tryapexnow.com (possibly with some refreshes)

2) Upgrade of apex.oracle.com

3) Download new version of APEX on OTN

Depending the feedback the time between the steps might vary and sometimes some unexpected things pop-up, but I would expect the release of APEX 4.1 around the summer holidays. (note; this is just my personal guess!)

Although APEX 4.1 is not as big of a release as 4.0 was, it will definitely be worthwhile to upgrade once it becomes available. A list of the new features you find here.

All improvements and new features are very useful and make a lot of sense, but if I had to list my top 4 at this stage, these would be:

- Nicer and updated look and feel of the Application Builder: flow got improved, new icons, bug fixes ...

- Tabular Form improvements: validations, processes ...

- Plug-Ins improvements: authorization schemes, increased number of attributes ...

- Better Error Handling feature

I've seen a demo of the upcoming Mobile Support before and if that was already in this build of APEX 4.1 it would have been in my top list as well. Another powerful feature mentioned in the SOD will be Data Upload, that enables end-users to upload data into an existing table.

One feature that was rumoured to be in APEX 4.1, but seems not to have made it in time, is non-flash charts. (on a side note; I don't mind that, as we (APEX Evangelists) offer a non-flash chart plugin for APEX :-)).

Definitely give APEX 4.1 a try yourself and give as much feedback as possible to the APEX Development team (from the APP Builder there is a link to the Feedback app).

If you want to read more about the new Error Handling features in APEX, Patrick Wolf did two blog posts which give more detail: part 1 and part 2.

If you are interested in reading about the new Authorization scheme plugin, check out the post of Christian Neumueller, another member of the APEX Development team who started to blog recently.

OBUG APEX SIG - May 24th, Belgium

Oracle and OBUG APEX SIG are glad to invite you to a free full day APEX seminar. The agenda has been completely filled and we have some of the most recognized APEX people presenting!

View the full Agenda and Register

Reminder - FREE Webinar Wednesday - How APEXBlogs was built

Just a quick reminder that I'm doing a FREE Webinar on Wednesday how the new APEXBlogs website was built.

I'll start with what I didn't like about the old APEXBlogs site and why I wanted to do the redesign of back-end and front-end. Next I'll go over the development process and how things work behind the scenes. I'll conclude with the deployment which includes going from our server in the datacenter to our server in the cloud (Amazon). You'll also have the chance to ask me questions about this project and APEX in general.

Currently there are over 200 people registered... if you want to join us register here.

If you can't make it, but liked to have seen it... register too. The webinar gets recorded and the link will be sent to all registered people, so you can still see it whenever suits you.

New APEX Book - Expert Oracle Application Express

Soon a new Oracle Application Express (APEX) book will be available... and it will be one you definitely want to have!

John Scott came up with the idea to do a special APEX book in memory of our passed away friends Carl Backstrom and Scott Spadafore, two members of the APEX Development team. John gives more details on his blog, so definitely read that too.

Next to the emotional value of the book, the content is unique and is not found anywhere else!

Thirteen different chapters, written by thirteen of the worlds best known Oracle APEX experts! The names are: Dietmar Aust, Doug Gault, Dimitri Gielis (myself), Roel Hartman, Michael Hichwa, Sharon Kennedy, Denes Kubicek, Francis Mignault, Anton Nielsen, Raj Mattamal, Daniel McGhan, John Scott and Martin D’Souza.

We all had one mission: share our passion, pass on all our knowledge, give you content you don't find anywhere else and go that extra mile to make this book, *the* APEX book.

Personal Experience with Writing

Although I already wrote articles before and was a technical reviewer on other APEX books, it was the first time I actually wrote a complete chapter for a book. It was quite an experience to say the least... I did enjoy the writing and even more focussing on the technical side of things and doing the research and testing etc. but I didn't realise it would take up so much time. Therefor I would like to thank my wife, my kids and my family for their support and to give me that time during the weekends and evenings.

Also special thanks to Hilary Farrell from the APEX Development team to review my chapter, even with her own tight deadlines.

About My Chapter

There wasn't a real rule about which topic which author took, but it all kinda spook for itself. I guess if you look at the names, you probably know that Anton wrote about security, Dan about Plugins, Francis about Globalization, ... I don't want to give all topics away yet... I'm sure the other authors will tell you soon :-)

The title of my chapter is "APEX 4.0 Charts Inside Out"... and there is a lot to tell about these charts! Apress (the publisher) told me to stop when I hit 80 pages, otherwise I think I was still writing! When you are passionate about something...

I hope that after reading my chapter you really understand how charts work, what they can give you and how you can create any chart you like. And remember... start to include charts in your APEX application (if you are not already doing) as they might trigger your manager to give you a salary increase! Managers love visuals!

Here are the sections of the chapter:

Overview	2
HTML Charts	2
Using the HTML Charts Wizard	2
The Result	3
Debug and Performance	4
Behind the Scenes	4
Other Opportunities linked to HTML Charts	5
Flash Charts	8
Background Flash Charts	8
Creating a Flash Chart	8
The Result	14
Understanding the Chart Region	16
Understanding the Chart Attributes	19
Adding Multiple Series and Combined Charts	28
Different Flash Chart Types	33
Behind the Scenes	35
Debug and Performance	40
Upgrading Oracle APEX 3.x Flash and SVG Charts	44
Screen Reader Mode and Charts	46
Extending Flash Charts	48
Customizing Charts by using Custom XML	48
Customizing Charts by using Custom XML, Dynamic Actions and JavaScript	51
Creating Charts Manually	54
Drill-down Charts, Dashboards and Interactivity	60
Simple Dashboard with Submit	60
Simple Dashboard with JavaScript	63
Complex Dashboard with Actions	67
Most Common Issues	76
Specific feature	76
Invalid #HOST# with Reverse Proxy or HTTPS	76
Flash Security Error	77
Charts in the Future	77
Caution	78
Resources	79
Summary	80

Hope you like the above!

The topics that didn't make it into the chapter were some more examples of the most asked requests in the APEX Forum and all the information about Gantt charts and Maps.

The way of working of Gantts and Maps are very similar to the "normal" charts, they just use a different Flash file and XML. But normally by the time you finish this chapter, you'll be able to answer all your questions you have yourself.

It might be that I'll publish an ebook about Gantts and Maps later in the year if I see many people would benefit from it.

AND NOW... (PRE-)ORDER THE BOOK! :-)

Last day Early bird Registration ODTUG Kscope11

Just a quick reminder to everybody who wants to go to ODTUG Kscope11 and didn't register yet... do it today! You can save 300 USD today as it's the last day for early bird registration.

If you are reading this post after Friday, 25th of March... use "APEX" as the discount code and you get 100 USD off.

If you want to know what I find about the conference... read this post where Mike Riley, president of ODTUG, interviewed me. The post includes also tips for sight seeing, food and shopping!

See you there...

Oracle APEX 4.0 Cookbook

I just wanted to share there is another Oracle Application Express book out called Oracle APEX 4.0 Cookbook (released in December 2010).

The book is different from other APEX books around, in that respect that the two authors, Michel van Zoest and Marcel van der Plas, describe a problem and then explain how to solve it. There is actually a sample chapter free to download that shows how you create a multilingual APEX application. It gives a good idea how the other chapters were done.

I was actually one of the reviewers while they were writing the book. I started to go through their chapters at the end of May 2010.

I liked doing the reviews as it was interesting to see how they described how they would do something. I also like they added a section after every "cooking session", how it works. I do think it's important you know what is happening. Just to set expectations for people wanting the nitty-gritty details, Michel and Marcel didn't go into that much detail in describing how things work behind the scenes, but they scratch the surface so it gives you an idea.

I think the book definitely has an audience. People who followed a beginner training or learned APEX at their own and they want to know how to do a specific thing which is covered in the book, it's great to have the book, as you can just follow what the authors wrote and you also have an idea why it's done like that.

I have much appreciation for people who are dedicating their times to write a book. Most of the times the writing happens next to their regular jobs and I can guarantee the sentences don't come by themselves especially not for non-native English speaking persons.

Well done guys.

Non-Flash Charts for APEX - Released today!

It's with great honour APEX Evangelists is announcing today that Non-Flash Charts APEX Plugin (or in short: NFChart) is publicly available.

If you need great looking charts that run everywhere, including iPad, iPhone, iPod or just any device that doesn't have a Flash player/plugin, this product is definitely something you want!

NFCharts is very easy to use, it's just an Oracle APEX Plugin, so after installing this plugin it behaves as a native region. The plugin comes with a sample application so it's super easy to get started and have examples to your disposal.

Just as with the charts that are in APEX we have plugin text-items which you fill in and the chart will behave like that. If you need more we allow to customise anything you like!

And that is not all... we have a special launch offer too! If you order NFChart by 18-MAR-2011 you get a nice discount! The discount codes are SAVE75, SAVE100, SAVE150 depending the license type you go with.

Check it out now!

Get most out of your Charts in APEX

Who doesn't love charts? I still have to see these persons... in fact I know some developers who got a salary raise because they made the life of their manager easy by including some nice charts in their APEX applications! So read on and get your salary raise in the next months!

APEX 3.0 included already charts way back in 2007, but with the APEX 4.0 release, the charts are taken to another level. Behind the scenes the APEX Development team included the AnyChart 5 engine where before (in APEX 3.x) they used the AnyChart 3 engine.
In APEX 4.0, charts are just on another level! You get so many more options declarative (through the APEX screens) and they look so much nicer. The APEX-team did a really good job. They also allow you to extend the charts for any other feature that is not available declarative by customizing the XML (in Chart Attributes set Use Custom XML to Yes).

If you wonder what the new AnyChart 5 charting engine can do, have a look at the Chart Gallery.
If you are searching for example how to implement these and see some of them in action in APEX, you can have a look at Hilary Farrell examples page. She explains nicely all the steps you have to do to implement a certain feature. You can also have a look for other examples on the AnyChart for APEX website.

If that is not enough to get your salary raise... you definitely want to have a look at all the other chart types AnyChart 5 provides! Oracle didn't license all the chart types in APEX, so although you might be able to change the XML so it uses a different type, it's not licensed correctly.
That is why APEX Evangelists and AnyChart worked together on AnyChart for APEX, which provides you with a valid license to use any chart type you want. There are now two versions available: AnyChart for APEX 3.x and AnyChart for APEX 4.0. The last one includes some plugins to make your life even easier! E.g. it comes with a Bubble Chart plugin so you can include that chart type very easily. You can download a free trial on the APEX Evangelists website once you are logged in.


Another great product from AnyChart is AnyStock. Also for this new charting engine we worked together with AnyChart to create an AnyStock for APEX product. If you want to do Time-based or Financial-based charting, you definitely want to have a look at the demo. Also for this product we offer a free trial on the APEX Evangelists website under Solutions > AnyStock for APEX.


So start making use from the charting capability in APEX or you might already do, so then you can enhance it even nicer ... and if you get that raise, put a comment on this blog post!

APEXBlogs v2 - iPad compatible, even charts!

It's very exciting to announce the new APEXBlogs site is now iPad compatible!

I find it so cool! Now you can look at the latest news on APEX everywhere.

Following enhancements where made to make the site iPad compatible:

• If you navigate to apexblogs.info and you tab the + to add it to your Home Screen on the iPad, it gets a proper icon.
• APEXBlogs is optimised to run in Landscape mode (iPad rotated left or right), if it's not then a popup message will appear to tell you, it looks even better if you turn the screen.
  
• The other exciting enhancement is that you will see also charts now! As the iPad doesn't support to run Flash, we included NFCharts, the Non-Flash Charts APEX Plugin created by APEX Evangelists. If you are on your PC you still see the Flash Charts as there is only a redirect when there is an iPad/iPhone/iPod found. If you want to see the non-Flash charts also on your pc, go here. Look pretty similar no? I love our plugin and it will become available for sale very soon. Keep an eye on John Scott's blog as well as he will do more posts about NFCharts in the coming days too.

To get the site working nicely with the iPad, this website gave me good tips.

Hopefully some people can give it a try on their iPad. I know quiet a lot of people in the APEX community have one, so look forward what you think of it.

Call to the APEX Community - APEX Enhancement Requests

Looking at the statistics of the new version of APEXBlogs shows the "Knowledge Base" is not used that much yet. I really expected that would become one of *the* features what people would come back for.

We all enjoy working with Oracle Application Express (APEX), but it can always be better and for sure you thought at least once "I wish I had that feature in"... so why not register it straight on APEXBlogs? Just login to the site and Submit your Enhancement Request.

If you can't think of a new feature yourself, just go there and have a look what other people wished was in. You can then rate these features and give your feedback/comments on it.

I see a benefit to not only use it for Enhancements Requests, but also for bugs, or things you thought worked in a certain way, but didn't. It's always hard to know if something is implemented the way it works, but you expected something else, or a real bug.

Often the APEX Development team comment on the Forum, Blog Posts etc where they say this is bug 12345678 (which is not a My Oracle Support number) and it will be fixed in the next release. Or they reply, it's intended to work like this, but we might consider to allow ... in the next version or it will be implemented in APEX 4.1.

I really love to just be able to go to one place and find everything in there... so I count on all of you to make APEX even better than it is and by submitting through APEX Blogs we provide a single voice to the APEX Development team which will help them to see what is really important for all of us.

Thanks so much! I look forward to the first entry and comments in APEXBlogs :-)

New APEX Evangelists website online

Our new APEX Evangelists website is online now...

Sign Up now to be kept up-to-date about our Solutions, Consulting and Training activities.

You can also follow us on twitter @apexevangelists

We have been working hard on our Solutions and hope you like them... I'll do some more blog posts about them in the next days. So stay tuned :-)

Free Webinar - APEXBlogs v2 behind the scenes

My friends at Red Gate asked me if I would be interested to do a Webinar about the development process of the creation of the new APEXBlogs site and give some insights what's going on behind the scenes.

I happily accepted and the Webinar is now scheduled for April 6th - 4:00PM - 5:00PM GMT. (that is 6PM Belgium time)

I'll start with what I didn't like about the old APEXBlogs site and why I wanted to do the redesign of back-end and front-end. Next I'll go over development and some specific features I put in to conclude with the deployment. You'll also have the chance to ask me questions about this project and APEX in general.

Everybody is welcome to join this Free Webinar. Just go to the registration url and enter your details and you will receive the login details. All registrants will also be sent a link to the recording after the live event.

If you are interested, speak you then ...

APEXBlogs (v2) - EA Live!

I just put APEXBlogs (v2) EA (Early Adopter) online...

Goal is to gather as much feedback as possible! Any issues, remarks or just your thoughts please use this blog post to add them or use the Feedback button on the APEXBlogs site itself.

Known Issues:

• Internet Explorer 7 and lower compatibility: the search is not aligned like in other browsers
• iPad resize on Home Page gives white band on right hand side
• Charts in Statistics and APEX Usage won't load on the iPad/iPhone

Goal is to have most issues ironed out for the beginning of next week. I'll do some more blog postings in the next days with some more background about this site.

So go quickly to the new APEXBlogs site and try it out! Hope you like it.

APEXBlogs v2 - Search

This post is part of the 10 days of APEXBlogs. This series of blog posts highlight the features of the new version (APEXBlogs v2) of APEXBlogs.info which will be released shortly.

Post 10... the last post before the launch of the new APEXBlogs!

In April last year I already blogged about the nice search in APEX 4, but wouldn't it be nice to have such functionality in APEXBlogs too?

I didn't think it would be interesting to do the number search to go straight to an App and Page, but typing in a text and getting all the results throughout the application is a nice timesaver.

(the screenshot is from APEX itself, you will see the one in APEXBlogs when it launches...)

So that is exactly what I build in APEXBlogs. You type in a text and it will retrieve all the blog posts, tweets, plugins etc where the search string appears in.

If you want to create such a search in your application yourself, here are the steps to do that:

1. Create a Page and give it an Alias of SEARCH
2. Create an Interactive Report Region on that page based on the tables and columns you want to search in
3. Create a Region with an Item called P0_SEARCH on Page 0
4. Create a Dynamic Action on Page 0:
   - Event: Key Release
   - Item: P0_SEARCH
   - True Action: Execute Javascript Code:
   if(this.browserEvent.keyCode == 13) {
   window.location = 'f?p=&APP_ID.:SEARCH:&APP_SESSION.:::RIR:IR_ROWFILTER:'+$v('P0_SEARCH');
   }

That's it... you will have an amazing search in your application now.