Oracle Apex Notebook

Get server URL in Apex

Written by Paulo Vale on Monday, September 08, 2008

Some time ago, I had this requirement to send to the application end users, links to specific pages passing some parameters.

The problem was obtaining the full URL including the server's name and port where APEX was running.

The OWA_UTIL package contains utility subprograms for getting the value of environment variables. Specifically the OWA_UTIL.GET_CGI_ENV function returns the value of CGI environment variables, like REQUEST_PROTOCOL, HTTP_HOST, SERVER_PORT and SCRIPT_NAME, this last one to get the mod_plsql cartridge and the database access descriptor name.

Usage:

<br /> owa_util.get_cgi_env('REQUEST_PROTOCOL')<br /> owa_util.get_cgi_env('HTTP_HOST')<br /> owa_util.get_cgi_env('SERVER_PORT')<br /> owa_util.get_cgi_env('SCRIPT_NAME')<br />

You can quickly test these values creating a PL/SQL Dynamic Content region like this:

<br /> BEGIN<br />    HTP.p (   'Apex URL: '<br />           || OWA_UTIL.get_cgi_env ('REQUEST_PROTOCOL') || '://'<br />           || OWA_UTIL.get_cgi_env ('HTTP_HOST')        || ':'<br />           || OWA_UTIL.get_cgi_env ('SERVER_PORT')      || '/'<br />           || OWA_UTIL.get_cgi_env ('SCRIPT_NAME')      || '/'<br />          );<br /> END;<br />

Now to complete the URL you just need to append the well known f function with the right values. In case you have forget, here is the Apex f function URL Syntax:

<br /> f?p=App:Page:Session:Request:Debug:ClearCache:itemNames:itemValues:PrinterFriendly<br />

This blog in a cloud

Written by Paulo Vale on Friday, September 05, 2008

After reading this post by Jake Kuramoto, I was curious to see how Apex Notebook blog looks like in a word cloud. Here is the result:


Wordle is a service for generating word clouds from text sources like blog feeds. The words that appear more frequently in the source text are bigger in the final image.

Back to real life

Written by Paulo Vale on Monday, September 01, 2008

After 15 well deserved :) days of vacations in the sunny Algarve (south Portugal) I'm back to work. It is hard when I think that just two days ago I was at those wonderful beaches, eating fresh sea fish...

However, not everything went fine :( I just had one of the major sports disillusion, provoked by a bad referee decision.

I've just noticed that while I was away some things happened in the APEX world,  starting with the release of APEX 3.1.2 patch. Judging by the number of fixed bugs I think it is worthy to apply the patch. There are already reports saying everything went fine applying the patch.

A new version of OTN forums came out (again) but unfortunately there are still some problems. Fortunately there are people who can help us deal with some issues like the look and feel.

My agenda at OpenWorld 2008

Written by Paulo Vale on Monday, August 11, 2008

Essentially, at OpenWorld I'll be looking for everything related with APEX. Unfortunately it's impossible to attend all APEX related sessions, because (fortunately) there is a huge number of interesting sessions and some of them share the same time schedule. David Peake has built an application that puts together all APEX sessions (good work btw) which helps picking the sessions. Beyond the officiall sessions, I'll try to reserve some time to see what's happening at OpenWorld Unconference.

I'm also planning to go to the Blogger Meetup. It's a good opportunity to meet the faces behind the blogs and of course, drink some beers ;). This year, the Blogger Meetup is organized by Eddie Awad and will take place at ThirstyBear Restaurant and Brewery next September 21, 2008 at 7pm.

Back to OpenWorld agenda, here is my list:

Sunday, Sep 21

S298611, 10:30 - 11:30 at Golden Gate A2, Marriott
Hands-on Lab: Extending the Oracle Application Express Framework with Web 2.0
APEX Development Team

S299315, 11:45 - 12:45 at Salon 14/15, Marriott
Using Oracle Database 11g and Oracle Application Express to Change Business Practices and Realize ROI
Anton Nielsen, Concept 2 Completion; Diana Suteu, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare

S298612, 15:45 - 16:45 at Golden Gate A2, Marriott
Hands-on Lab: Creating "High-Fidelity" PDF Reports with Oracle Application Express
APEX Development Team

Monday, Sep 22

S298617, 11:30 - 12:30 at Golden Gate A2, Marriott
Hands-on Lab: Maximizing the Capabilities of Oracle Application Express--Interactive Reports
APEX Development Team

S300442, 14:30 - 15:30 at Salon 14/15, Marriott
Migrating from Oracle Forms to Oracle Application Express
David Peake, Oracle

S301401, 16:00 - 17:00 at Rm236, Moscone South
Analyze your PL/SQL Code with Oracle Application Express and DBMS_PROFILER
Flavio Casetta, Yocoya.com

S298613, 17:30 - 18:30 at Salon 14/15, Marriott
Web 2.0 Development with Oracle Application Express
Carl Backstrom, Oracle

Tuesday, Sep 23

S298615, 11:30 - 12:30 at Golden Gate A2, Marriott
Hands-on Lab (Part 1): Building a Functional Application with Oracle Application Express
APEX Development Team

S301630, 13:00 - 14:00 at Rm 200, Moscone South
Security: Writing Custom Authentication Schemes for Oracle Application Express
Raj Mattamal & Josh Millinger, Niantic Systems, LLC

S300210, 14:30 - 15:30 at Salon 02, Marriott
The Power of the Oracle Application Express Repository
Patrick Wolf, Sphinx IT Consulting

S299306, 17:30 - 18:30 at Salon 14/15, Marriott
Zero-Cost Business Intelligence Using Oracle Database 11g and Oracle Application Express 3.1
Jim Lancer, Paetec

Wednesday, Sep 24

S298610, 09:00 - 10:00 at Rm 104, Moscone South
Soup-to-Nuts RAD Development Using Oracle SQL Developer and Oracle Application Express
Mike Hichwa, Kris Rice & David Peake, Oracle

S298825, 11:30 - 12:30 at Rm 307, Moscone South
Oracle Application Express and Oracle XML Database: A Match Made in the Database
Mark Drake, Oracle 

As a Speaker
S300458, 17:00 - 18:00 at Rm 304, Moscone South
Building Commercial Software-as-a-Service Applications with Oracle Application Express
David Peake, Oracle; Paulo Vale, Neoface; Francis Mignault, INSUM; Jim Brull, Centroid; Doug Gault, Hotsos; Dennis Vanill, Paetec

Thursday, Sep 25

S300042, 09:00 - 10:00 at Rm 300, Moscone South
Dispelling Myths About Oracle Application Express (IOUG)
John Scott, APEX Evangelists

S300242, 15:00 - 16:00 at Rm 302, Moscone South
Building a Web 2.0 Interface with Oracle Application Express
Mark Lancaster, Theiss Pty. Ltd

Me at Oracle OpenWorld 2008

Written by Paulo Vale on Monday, August 11, 2008

It is my first time at Oracle's big event, the OpenWorld. David Peake was kind enough to invite me to participate in one of the official sessions.

So, if you want to meet me, you can find me at San Francisco next September :)

Here is the session description, don't forget to register:



Session Id: S300458

Title
Building Commercial Software-as-a-Service Applications with Oracle Application Express

Date: 24-SEP-08
Start Time: 17:00
End Time: 18:00

Location: Rm 304, Moscone South

Description:
There is a huge buzz around software as a service (SaaS). Come to this roundtable to hear from a collection of companies (from small to very large) that have successfully deployed commercial SaaS applications with Oracle Application Express. The discussion delves into development, deployment, support, and other issues encountered in building these assorted commercial applications. So if you have ever had a brilliant business idea and want to know how to make it into a commercial reality, this session is a must.

Speakers:
David Peake, Oracle;
Paulo Vale, Neoface;
Francis Mignault, INSUM;
Jim Brull, Centroid;
Doug Gault, Hotsos;
Dennis Vanill, Paetec