tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48319932326142709072024-03-20T01:09:24.630-07:00Oracle Database Development Tools (ODDT)Mostly Oracle Database, Oracle APEX, ORDS, and SQL Developer.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-40849393268163760512015-03-23T19:41:00.001-07:002015-03-23T19:54:09.179-07:00If you haven't done so checkout the Oracle APEX universal theme packaged application on apex.oracle.com. Here it is from inside a Tesla on a crisp 17" touchscreen. Yes it does work while driving.<br />
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Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-91020549947895340912015-03-21T18:33:00.001-07:002015-03-21T18:51:19.533-07:00apex.oracle.com has been upgraded to a pre-production version of Oracle APEX 5.0If your an Oracle APEX developer you will want to try http://apex.oracle.com. We have just upgraded this free service to a close (but not yet) production version of Oracle APEX 5.0. If you already use apex.oracle.com login and validate your applications work as before. If you don't have an account create one; it should take about a minute.<br />
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Oracle APEX 5 has a new feature called "Universal Theme". A good way to learn universal theme is to install the "Universal Theme" packaged application. Another good way is install other packaged applications like "P-Track" or "Customer Tracker". These applications will show off more responsive and more elegant user interface then was available in previous versions of Oracle APEX. The packaged applications also come with many plugins which can improve your app dev productivity and data visualization.<br />
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Give APEX 5 a spin and let us know what you think; we are listening.<br />
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<br />Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-59489890583005978462015-01-31T15:05:00.001-08:002015-02-01T07:55:58.795-08:00APEX EA3 releasedThe third and final early access release of Oracle Application Express (APEX) 5.0 is now released on http://apexea.oracle.com. Our packaged applications now install much faster; I was able to install p-track (all 166 pages) in 22 seconds. Our packaged apps now all use our new "universal theme", which is also available when creating custom apps. The developer interface has been modernized and streamlined. APEX 5.0 supports model dialogs, theme-rollable theme styles, a slick new page designer, and improved interactive reports. <br />
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To me the coolest feature of APEX 5.0 is "template options" which allows for a small number of templates to be styled declaratively. For example in the past we had way-to-many region templates; now we have many fewer; and you can choose template options to show the header, or not, scroll the body, include padding etc. Components including regions, buttons, items, and pages all support theme styles; so you don't need to annotate your components within inline styles. The declarative style support (via template options) is only available when using "universal theme" based apps. Universal theme styles can be added to a theme allowing an application style to be developed independently from applications.<br />
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Getting started is easy; navigate to http://apexea.oracle.com, and request a workspace. You will receive an email, click the email and this will provision your workspace. Your workspace provides you access to an Oracle schema. Authentication is Oracle single-sign-on so its the same credentials you use on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) forums. Once you have your account you will want to click the "administrative icon" in the upper right and choose "Manage Users and Groups"; then create an Oracle APEX user. You can then navigate to the home page and create various packaged apps. Once a packed app is installed you can login using your APEX user credentials. You can unlock your packaged app and see how it was created, and see how common design patterns are implemented using our responsive universal theme.<br />
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Do send us feedback (click comment bubble icon in upper right), we do read them and appreciate any and all comments.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-60193101756401206792013-09-20T09:05:00.000-07:002013-09-20T10:04:20.684-07:00APEX 4.2.3 enhances sample and packaged appsThe Oracle Application Express (APEX) builder includes packaged and sample apps. In each dot release of Oracle APEX we improve these apps. The vision is two fold, provide best practice and clear examples of how to implement common application components like reports and charts (via sample apps) and provide out of the box fully functional applications (via productivity apps).<br />
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In an ideal world these sample and productivity apps would have the following 10 attributes:</div>
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<li>Simple visually pleasing and intuitive user interface</li>
<li>Fast and performant from both database/SQL and HTML perspectives</li>
<li>Be HTML5-ey and flash free</li>
<li>Be fully responsive allowing the application to adapt to different screen sizes / devices</li>
<li>Be easy to maintain declaratively with a minimum amount of custom code or complexity</li>
<li>Be fully accessible</li>
<li>Secure and compliant with industry best practices (support for multiple levels of access including read only)</li>
<li>Have a dedicated mobile UI as needed (e.g. when responsive design is not enough)</li>
<li>Targeted at data centric applications (e.g. not focused on static web sites)</li>
<li>Be fully upgradable, easy to diagnose bugs, easy to install in short easy life cycle management</li>
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These apps are far from perfect but we do strive to achieve these objectives. </div>
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So whats new in 4.2.3 and why should an APEX developer care. Here is a quick tour of some things new in 4.2.3 I find cool:</div>
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<b>1. Filter reports:</b></div>
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Filter reports leverage APEX collections and PL/SQL pipeline functions and provide a great e-commerce style are unfortunately a tad complicated to implement but are easier to use out of the box then interactive reports for the casual user. These reports are highlighted in the "Sample Reporting" app.</div>
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Here is a page that shows a classic report with a filter control. The filters are based on lists of values (LOVs) and also support free form search. This implementation has the advantage of maximizing horizontal screen real-estate by implementing the filter a drop down menu.</div>
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The next tab over in the same application shows a similar control but the filter is not hidden by a drop down menu. The UI on the left side bar could use a bit more attention; hopefully resolved in our next release. We have found this style report is very easy for first time users to understand as its similar to most every e-commerse site. It also has the advantage of making "or" queries easy, you can find all the projects with status of "closed" or "on-hold" or "open". This possible but much harder to do with a standard interactive report.<br />
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<b>2. P-Track Enhancements</b><br />
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Next up is enhancements to the P-track. No huge changes were made but 100's of small tweaks, bug fixes etc. The goal for P-Track is to make this packaged app a world class project tracking tool for the IT manager responsible for large numbers of projects and constantly needing to maintain a road map (milestones), and ensuring tasks (action items) don't fall through the cracks. In short I build this app for myself. I know many use wiki's, excel spreasheets, and for-cost cloud services; all of which can be effective. I use P-track every day and it helps me keep things structured and allows me to track who is doing what, and all the associated documents etc. <br />
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Here is a screen shot of two regions on the home page. I can at a glance know where my time is going and easily drill in on important projects; and of course track the stuff I'm choosing to neglect.<br />
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From the home page I can easily find my project google style by simply typing any keyword. Recently edited projects are also displayed in a prominent region making it easy to see updates and additions by others. <br />
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Clicking on a given project, APEX in this case shows the project detail page. This page works for both read only users as well as contributors (read-write privilege). I can at a glance add and view milestones, action items. I can compare my goal with our actions, milestones and action items recently completed within the last 6 months are displayed by default providing a nice window on whats been done and what needs to be done. Adding attachements, milestones etc uses model dialogs.<br />
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Sample apps ship "unlocked" by default, allowing developers to edit the application after installing it. Packaged apps are locked. Packaged apps are locked on install so that you can upgrade in the future; and to date every release of APEX has enhanced most every packaged app. If your not so interested in using the application but want to review the implementation you can unlock the packaged application by performing the following.<br />
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<li>Navigate to the application builder, and click on the "P-Track" icon</li>
<li>Click the "Manage" button</li>
<li>Then "Unlock" following the wizard</li>
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Once the application is unlocked you can edit the app customize etc. But be warned that its now your app and upgrades will not be possible. The screen shots below show you how; why read text when you can look at screen shots:</div>
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Note that P-Track now has both a "Run" and "Edit" option, where before it just had "Run" and "locked". If you do take the time to unlock p-track and navigate to shared components and then to plugins you can see the ever growing list of plugins used within our packaged apps. Many are new and improved in APEX 4.2.3 (sorry don't have an exact accounting). I am a big fan of our "Flot Pie Chart" plug-in as well as mini-calendar, tags / tag cloud, and big value. </div>
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These plug-ins can easily exported, click "Export Plug-in" in task region in right side bar, and imported into other applications.</div>
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Please do try it out on http://apex.oracle.com, and do come visit the APEX team at this years Oracle World in San Francisco next week. We will be at the demo grounds at the APEX booth in the database area. David Peake (our friendly Oracle APEX product manager) has created an application to make it easy to find our 36 APEX related OOW sessions/events (see link below).</div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><a href="http://apex.oracle.com/oow" style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">http://apex.oracle.com/oow</a></div>
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This site also contains an OOW challenge focused on mobile development and Oracle APEX, if this is up-your-ally please do check it out; prizes will be awarded.<br />
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Mike</div>
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Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-8224488537633130472013-09-18T15:43:00.002-07:002013-09-18T15:43:22.132-07:00APEX 4.2.3 Released, new packaged app "Data Reporter"As someone who develops a large number of Oracle APEX apps I frequently have the dilemma of guessing what type of reporting the end users will want. Basically its hard to know what reports people want in the future. To ease this burden the APEX development team and the special projects team here within Oracle have created a new packaged application called "Data Reporter". Here is how it works.
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1. Run any Oracle APEX 4.2.3 environment, and if you don't have get a free one here http://apex.oracle.com
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2. Click application builder, then create application, then packaged applications, then choose data reporter:
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3. Install the application and run it. Installing can take a minute or more.
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4. From the Data Reporter home page click the <strong>New</strong> button
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5. Choose the type of report you wish to create, my favorite is the Filter Report, so I will choose one of these
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6. Give the report a name and category. Color coding the category allows you to locate you report more rapidly on the home page.
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7. Now for the important part, define your query. Administrators of the application can set up canned data sources. I simply selected "Top Cities" and it pre-populated the SQL. I can edit the SQL or enter new SQL. The theory is that SQL not that hard especially if you start from an existing query. For security each table accessed must be pre-defined by the application administrator by adding it to the "Whitelist".
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8. Since this is a filter report, I need to determine which columns I would like to filter on. For this data set I choose to provide filters for country, sources, and continent. I also adjusted format masks. I only really need to select one filter and I can simply edit my report later.
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9. Thats, it I confirm my report and I am good to go.
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10. After creating the report immediately runs. I click the filters I wish to have; in the example below you see largest cities in Europe and North America from selected sources.
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11. I can edit my report by clicking on edit. Each time the SQL is changed it is revalidated. I can manage access control, view history of when the report was run and changed etc.
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12. Clicking the star icon, favorites the report, making it easy to find the reports you are interested in
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13. Navigating back to the home page I see my new report, and it can be run by anyone with access to the application. Of course I have the option to restrict access. This allows reports to be timely addressing what is needed today, and can be removed if. You can filter to show your reports, favorites, specific groups etc.
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You can follow the same process to build dashboards, interactive reports, calendars and even PDF printable reports. Hopefully this brief introduction will ease the burden on application developers to create lots of reports an effort to anticipate what end users will want in the future. Now end users can, or at least the SQL Savvy ones can get their data self service.
Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-65150073545557180072013-04-29T10:12:00.003-07:002013-04-29T10:19:51.222-07:00APEX 4.2.2 releasedOracle Application Express (APEX) 4.2.2 is now released, you can read up and download it <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/overview/index.html">here</a>, or try it out on http://apex.oracle.com. In addition to fixing some bugs Oracle APEX 4.2.2 includes a major upgrade of all 18 productivity and all 16 database sample applications. You can find these applications by navigating to the application builder from the APEX home page, then clicking the "Packaged Applications" tab.
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Clicking on a given app allows you to install the application, if not already installed, or upgrade if the app is already installed from a previous Oracle APEX version.
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In terms of highlights Oracle APEX 4.2.2 introduces a new survey builder app that is modern and robust, and a new brookstrut sample application that has a nice mash up with google maps. All productivity and sample apps make greater use of APEX plugin's and have improved in-application documentation. All sample applications have been ported to APEX theme 25 which is our responsive grid layout based theme.
Our most popular packaged app P-Track has been enhanced and refined, so if you are a P-Track user you should strongly consider upgrading. Or sample app "Sample Tabular forms" has been renamed Sample Forms and Grid Layout. This sample app includes explanation of how to use Oracle APEX grid layout and is a great application to review for any APEX developer making the leap to grid layout.
We hope our Oracle APEX 4.2.2 release will give both novice and advanced Oracle APEX developers ideas and examples both in the context of a real application (e.g. our productivity apps) and in the form of sample applications. Note you can always install a packaged application then unlock it; thus allowing you to see how it was coded. But if you unlock the application it removes the ability to upgrade to new releases.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-82379115543015797022012-02-23T06:06:00.000-08:002012-02-23T06:38:34.995-08:00Oracle APEX 4.1.1 patch set released on OTNOracle Application Express (APEX) latest patch has been released on OTN and is available for download <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/downloads/index.html">here</a>. This release contains fixes to issues uncovered by our customers (thanks so much for reporting) and our numerous internal deployments. Specifically 221 bugs were fixed; and now this is behind us our development team has clear focus on APEX 4.2. <br /><br />In addition to the bug fixes we also introduced a new theme and schema provisioning enhancements. The new theme, theme 24, is our best HTML5, CSS3 we have delivered as part of core product to date. It has a blue look and is appealing to my eye. For those who want to craft new themes we recommend starting with theme 24 as a template. The provisioning enhancements are in support of our public cloud initiative documented on http://cloud.oracle.com.<br /><br />For those who have not yet upgraded to APEX 4.1, now that we have our 4.1.1 patch its likely to be a good time. With 4.1.1 out many may be wondering what's next. Our initial focus is on completing significant mobile work started in our 4.1 release and ensuring that APEX can properly support our next database release; 12c. The "c" is for cloud. You can see our statement of direction <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/application-express/apex-sod-087560.html">here</a>, and yes we are likely to tweak it over time. We never publish dates of releases, but we are planning (not a commitment) to release APEX 4.2 in the database 12c timeframe, thus supporting 12c.<br /><br />For those interested in all things APEX I strongly encourage you to attend <a href="http://www.odtug.com/apex/f?p=500:420:0">Kscope12</a>, the APEX community will be out in force as will the APEX development team. I will be speaking on Sunday about APEX, 12c, SQL Developer, cloud etc. <br /><br />Let us know if APEX 4.1.1 is allowing you to unleash your full database centric RAD web development vision, and if not let us know what we need to do in APEX 4.2 to make it better. Happy coding!Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-79408935478239202882012-02-09T10:17:00.000-08:002012-02-09T10:27:30.064-08:00SQL Developer 3.1 releasedAfter lots of hard work we have a new SQL Developer 3.1 release is now available for download <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/sql-developer/downloads/index.html">here</a>. Even though its a dot release we have lots of new features. Here are the highlights:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">DBA Utilities<br /></span><br />Release 3.1 continues to expand on SQL Developer's DBA functionality. RMAN, Oracle Recovery Manager, is now part of the DBA navigator. An easy to use wizard takes you through the scheduling of a full database backup. Backups can be stored to disk, tape or a combination. RMAN scripts are generated to restore or recover a whole database, tablespaces, datafiles and archived logs. Reports are available to manage backup jobs, backup sets, image copies and RMAN settings.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Data Pump<br /></span><br />To enable very high speed movement of data and metadata from one database to another, SQL Developer has added the Oracle Data Pump technology. Use SQL Developer's Data Pump UI to import and export your Database, Tablespaces, Schemas, and Tables. Select the option to import and export just the DDL, Data or both. Data Pump also offers scheduling capabilities.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Database Diff<br /></span><br />Completely redesigned, DB Diff now provides a more reliable comparison and difference management support of your DDL. Select what to include in your DDL Generation and select from various comparison options such as match constraints by name or by definition. Objects can be further filtered. Scripts are generated to synchronize the source and target destinations.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Database Copy<br /></span><br />Database Copy is redesigned to enhance performance and offer more flexibility. Choose from various copy options: copy objects, copy a schema or consolidate multiple schemas into one, copy tablespaces, copy DDL, data or both. Further refine your copy by using the filtering capability.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Migrations</span><br /><br />Migrations in 3.1 include enhancements to Teradata and Sybase. Teradata support has expanded to include a SQL Translator, Enterprise Capture and Offline Migration. Sybase now offers TSQL Translation with support for outer join syntax including legacy outer join syntax and triggers.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">PDF Reports</span><br /><br />The Reports dialog is enhanced for ease of use and flexibility to create or update a report. The PDF feature allows the user to change and save their PDF options for a specific report in the Reports Navigator. Customize the visual layout and apply security with password protected encryption to your PDF Reports.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-55836354009486491702011-07-29T08:20:00.000-07:002011-07-29T08:47:37.836-07:00Expert Oracle Application ExpressIf your interested in Oracle APEX, there is a new book available. This book is special, it's 13 chapters from 13 APEX guru's on the on the topics they know best. This book can help you take your APEX development skills to the next level. If your looking for an introduction to Oracle APEX this is not for you, but if you have created a few applications, mastered the basic concepts, and have a desire to build applications that are at the highest standard, this book can help.<br /><br />I wanted to highlight the dedication of the authors, all of whom dedicated their time with all proceeds to a great cause. So a special thanks and warm appreciation for the contributions of John Scott, Doug Gault, Raj Mattamal, Anton Nielsen, Martin D'Souza, Dimitri Gielis, Roel Hartman, Francis Mignault, Dietmar Aust, Denes Kubicek, Dan McGhan, and Sharon Kennedy. I also contributed a chapter on APEX Architecture.<br /><br />So check it out, read the reviews, buy the book, and take your APEX skills to the next level.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Oracle-Application-Express-Dietmar/dp/1430235128">Expert Oracle Application Express</a>Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-61393693497375019092011-07-29T08:10:00.000-07:002011-07-29T08:19:53.628-07:00K-Scope Video InterviewIt was great to catch up with the Oracle APEX community at K-Scope in Long beach this past June. The enthusiasm and success stories were really phenomenal. Here is a video, in which I attempt to side step questions of our Oracle APEX 4.1 release date.<br /><br />Here is the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfNCol3rA88">K-Scope Interview</a>.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-36200081524562364712011-06-01T14:48:00.000-07:002011-06-03T13:54:48.458-07:00We are looking for APEX and HTML / CSS DevelopersThe Oracle Application Express (APEX) team is expanding and looking for additional developers. We are looking for people who can build web applications, SQL and PL/SQL skills are helpful, as are HTML, CSS, JS. We are also looking for an iPhone (Objective C) developer as well. If interested apply at Oracle <a href="http://bit.ly/8YSVTA">http://bit.ly/8YSVTA</a> IRC1545977, IRC1549990, IRC1549989.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-1013295274655742662010-11-22T11:10:00.001-08:002010-11-22T12:09:29.540-08:00SQL Developer 3.0 Early Adopter now availableEarly Adopter (EA) releases of SQL Developer and SQL Developer Data Modeler EA 2 are now available for download from <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/sql-developer/overview/index.html">OTN</a>. <br /><br />SQL Developer new features are described <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/sql-developer/rel3-featurelist-ea1-166831.html">here</a>. The marque SQL Developer 3.0 is improved migrations. You can see an enhanced migration wizard in our EA release, however you should see more improvements in our production release. Our objective is to make it much quicker and easier to analyze the scope of a migration effort, as well as to simplify and streamline the actual migration work. Additional new features exposed in the 3.0 EA release include an all new and much improved query builder, DBA functionality, and an alternative object tree navigator.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/datamodeler/overview/index.html">SQL Developer Data Modeler</a> EA 2 features integrated svn source code control as well as user defined design rules and transformations. It is not a user exposed feature but the biggest change with this release is a much tighter integration with the core SQL Developer framework. Basically the components and behavior is now all uses the same underlying infrastructure.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-22323571882017486872010-11-22T10:35:00.000-08:002010-11-22T11:03:11.387-08:00APEX 4.0.2 is here, and its got two new themes!Oracle Application Express (APEX) 4.0.2 patch is now available on <a href="https://support.oracle.com/">MySupport</a> and a re-release is available on <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/overview/index.html">OTN</a> as of last Friday November 19th, 2010. You can read all about Oracle APEX 4.0.2 <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/application-express/402-patch-189110.html">here</a>. In addition to fixing 111 bugs (thanks to all who made the time and effort to report these), APEX 4.0.2 also introduces two new themes, theme 21 and theme 22.<br /><br />I have been using theme 21 to build a number of internal applications here at Oracle. I am a big fan of the new theme, for me it feels modern, renders fast, and has lots of nice templates. I like the button templates, specifically the opportunity to choose a "hot" button to highlight one button over others. I also like the new horizontal progress train (list template), which works very well for wizards. Interactive reports have also been attractively styled. Theme 21 is red (red tabs in gray top bar, red and gray buttons), and for those who don't want a red theme, theme 22 is the same but in blue (blue tabs in gray top bar with yellow and gray buttons). These new themes are xhtml1-strict so don't use them if you want any IE 6 compatibility.<br /><br />A large number of improvements have also been made to existing themes. To take advantage of the improvements to themes 1-20 you will need to recreate your themes. If you have significantly customized your version of theme 1-20 you will want to reintegrate your customizations, or simply not upgrade your theme. To switch a theme, navigate to share components, then themes, renumber your theme (see task on right side bar), create a new theme, then switch your theme.<br /><br />I hope everyone enjoys the new themes as much as I do.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-91057030235379164132010-11-04T07:49:00.000-07:002010-11-04T07:57:03.366-07:00MAOP Event in Reston Friday November 5th 2010If your in the washington DC or northern Virginia area you may want to attend the 2010 MAOP Training Conference. MOAP has a number of <a href="http://www.maop.org/presenters.html">great speakers</a> lined up, and it's a great opportunity to meet leading Oracle experts and even Oracle development staff. The event starts at 7:30 am for registration and breakfast. You can view the full agenda <a href="http://www.maop.org/agenda.html">here</a>. I will be giving the keynote, I will cover both database 11g topics as well as database tools including Oracle Application Express.<br /><br />http://www.maop.org/Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-5808069855342608882010-10-25T09:50:00.000-07:002010-10-25T09:56:26.293-07:00Profit Magazine ArticleI recently had the opportunity to answer APEX questions for Oracle's Profit magazine. You can read the interview online <a href="http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/profit/features/091610-qanda-176384.html">here</a>. Hopefully this exposure will introduce Oracle Application Express (APEX) to a broader community.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-13412360183560710882010-09-27T10:22:00.000-07:002010-09-27T10:40:23.750-07:00OTN interview of Oracle APEX PM David PeakeOracle Application Express product manager David Peake takes questions from the Oracle Technology Network's Justin Kestelyn in archive of a live Oracle world video cast. See it <a href="http://medianetwork.oracle.com/media/show/15661?n=subCategory&nid=33">here</a>.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-23260416783490121782010-09-23T09:14:00.000-07:002010-09-23T09:21:43.815-07:00SQL Developer 3.0 demonstrated at OOWThe SQL Developer development team is at the demo pod in Moscone West and has been busy showing off the latest (yet to be released) version of SQL Developer. SQL Developer 3 features an all new graphical query builder, a scheduler interface, data import wizards, improved data grids, basic DBA functionality, improved migration capabilities, and an alternative to the tree based object navigator with a client side filter. If you are at Oracle World and want to meet the developers you should stop by the demo pods.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-1779754266756045082010-09-22T10:13:00.000-07:002010-09-22T10:27:38.330-07:00Oracle BI Publisher 11gOracle open world (OOW) is great opportunity catch up on new database and database tools technologies. Yesterday, my highlight was seeing an in-depth presentation of Oracle BI Publisher 11g. I was blown away by the clean and remarkably advanced browser based user interface. The ability to define pixel perfect reports both for online viewing and PDF combining data from multiple queries was very impressive. When you view a BI publisher report online, its not just a static report with beautiful charts, end users can filter and drill down and interact with the report output with outstanding performance. Oracle BI publisher is a great complement to Oracle APEX, in that it can build any report you want, and like APEX it's 100% browser based; and yes it works on the iPad as well.<br /><br />If you are at OOW you can checkout a presentation today Wednesday here:<br /><br />11:30 am - 12:30 pm S317933: Introduction to Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher <br />Mike Donohue, Oracle & Klaus Fabian, Oracle<br />Moscone West L3 Room 3016<br /><br />Read more on <a href="http://blogs.oracle.com/xmlpublisher/">BI publisher blog</a>Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-78840509809084084012010-09-20T07:11:00.001-07:002010-09-20T07:30:22.215-07:00If your at OOW 2010 don't miss Tom Kyte on What's new in DB App DevMost know Tom Kyte from (http://asktom.oracle.com), and from countless presentations he has delivered world wide. Many people may not know that Tom was also instrumental in both WebDB and Oracle Application Express coding parts of both products and mod_plsql. So if your in OOW in SF this week, and your into application development you should consider attending this session. Tom is presenting on other topics as well, you can see his OOW schedule <a href="http://www.oracle.com/newsletters/information-indepth/database-insider/aug-10/kyte.html">here</a>.<br /><br />What's New in Oracle Database Application Development?<br />Tom Kyte takes a look at the new capabilities in the standard set of Oracle Database development tools, from Oracle SQL Developer to Oracle Application Express to Oracle Data Provider for .NET and PHP (among others). He also gives a general overview of what's been done in the last year of tools development.<br />Session ID: S319181<br />Tuesday, September 21<br />4:30 p.m.<br />Hilton San Francisco, Grand Ballroom A & BMike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-75793488175894261142010-09-20T07:00:00.000-07:002010-09-20T07:05:48.276-07:00Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler is now a no cost (free) productIn an effort to bring world class database data modeling to the Oracle database developer community SQL Developer Data Modeler is now a free product. Support is provided with your database support, making SQL Developer Data Modeler just like SQL Developer; in that they are both no cost. You can read about and download Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/datamodeler/overview/index.html">here</a>.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-54304898556195210312010-09-20T06:57:00.000-07:002010-09-20T07:00:10.376-07:00I'm giving the APEX 101 presentation at Oracle World Monday Sept 20, 2010I will be giving an intro to Oracle Application Express (APEX) <br />Session ID: S317042<br />Monday 20-SEP-2010 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm<br />Moscone South, Room 306<br />If your at OOW and want to learn what Oracle APEX is all about you may find this session interesting.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-61590599883217292452010-08-18T09:51:00.000-07:002010-08-18T10:04:02.180-07:00Oracle Technology Network Developer Day - Boston August 19th, 2010I will be in Boston on August 19th giving the database keynote for the <a href="https://eventreg.oracle.com/webapps/events/ns/EventsDetail.jsp?p_eventId=118831&src=7011174&src=7011174&Act=15">OTN developer day</a> at the Weston Copley Place hotel. The morning features a database 11g presentation targeted at database developers, then an overview of database development tools including SQL Developer, Oracle Application Express (APEX), Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio .NET, PHP and Oracle JDeveloper. The afternoon offers instructor guided hands on labs. It's a bring you're own laptop event; a VM is provided online as well as at the event. If your in the Boston area tomorrow Thursday August 19th it may be something worth checking out. The event is free, 8:00am to 5:30pm.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-8033238843251234992010-08-18T09:40:00.000-07:002010-08-18T09:50:31.042-07:00Oracle APEX 4.0.1 ReleasedOracle Application Express (APEX) <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/401-patch-166923.html">release 4.0.1 patch</a> is now available for download. The page itemizes the 95 bugs fixed. APEX 4.0.1 has also been released on <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/downloads/index.html">OTN</a>.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-54641775114995232462010-07-09T15:22:00.000-07:002010-07-09T15:36:10.706-07:00New Oracle APEX Forum PollThanks to the 527 people who participated in our last poll. This poll asked who used Oracle Application Express to integrate with the Oracle E-Business Suite; and 23% indicated that they did. Obviously not a scientific poll, but still highlights some usage paterns.<br /><br />Our new poll asks "What do you like best about Oracle APEX 4.0", and in the interest of brevity gives you 8 choices; Dynamic Actions, Plug-in's, Websheets, Team Development, Improved Interactive Reports, Improved Application Builder, RESTful Web Service integration, and New themes.<br /><br />I also voted myself, and it was a hard choice; as I like all of the features. In the end I selected the "Improved Application Builder". The ever-present search, the new faster rendering and more attractive "blue-look", the tree edit, the improved debugging, high-lighting of buttons in forms to indicate the obvious action, is what I like most. When using my Apple i-pad I do enjoy or many of our new icons (easy to click on with your fingers) as well as the adoption of Interactive reports for the builder.<br /><br />One feature people may not know is you can enter a page number in the "search application" search box from any builder page and it takes you directly to a given page. If you were nice enough to read this far; please also take the next step and <a href="http://forums.oracle.com/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=137">vote</a>.Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4831993232614270907.post-12448328488560621242010-07-09T14:59:00.001-07:002010-07-09T19:11:37.286-07:00Known Issues with Oracle Application Express 4.0Since the introduction of Oracle APEX 4.0 on June 23, 2010 we have seen significant uptake of our new release (APEX 4.0). In monitoring the <a href="http://forums.oracle.com/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=137">discussion forums</a> and other channels we have received a number of customer issues uptaking Oracle APEX 4.0. To provide the APEX community with the latest information on APEX 4.0 issues / bugs we have create an <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/application_express/html/4.0_known_issues.html">Oracle Application Express 4.0 known issues</a> web page. <div><br /></div><div>This page does not track all issues or bugs but should do a good job highlighting many. The development team is working hard to develop one off patches (for some issues) as well as a 4.0.1 re-release. As of the time of this post we have 2 one off patches available via <a href="http://metalink.oracle.com/">metalink</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>We have also updated our Oracle APEX <a href="http://otn.oracle.com/apex">OTN page</a> to link to this <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/application_express/html/4.0_known_issues.html">known issues page</a>, in the "New in release 4.0" section. If you do encounter bugs with Oracle APEX 4.0 and wish to bring these to our attention please do use the <a href="http://forums.oracle.com/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=137">Oracle APEX discussion forum</a> or log bugs with Oracle support.</div><div><br /></div><div></div>Mike Hichwahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15840384308748565963noreply@blogger.com1