APEX

I would like to do something like

javascript:doSubmit('foo');alert('&ITEM.');

There is a After Submit process (for request=foo) that calls a PL/SQL procedure and sets the value of :ITEM.

It doesnt seem to be working. The page is submitted but the JS alert box is shown before the after submit process has completed, thus showing the incorrect (older) value of :ITEM

Am I doing something wrong, is there another way to do this?

Thanks