APEX

I have a page with a region on it that calls a PL/SQL procedure. I also have a text item (input field) and a button associated with the region.

My goal: take the value from the text field and pass it as a parameter to the procedure when the user clicks the button.

I am able to pass the parameter without a problem. For example, this works:

MyProcedure(:P1_REQ_ID);

However, if I try to make it conditional upon the button click, it fails. The name of the button is "RUN".

Here is my code:

if :REQUEST = 'RUN' then
MyProcedure(:P1_REQ_ID);
else
MyProcedure(0); --- this always executes
end if;

I have also tried using v('REQUEST') instead of :REQUEST, but it did not work either.

What am I doing wrong?