Thanks for joining us in the past Office Hour session: Part 3: What's new in Oracle APEX 23.1
Watch the replay of the session: apex.oracle.com/officehours and find below the Q&A for the live session.
- Will we be able to import and export template components like you would a plugin?
Yes, it works the same as all the other plug-in types.
Theme related Template Components are part of your Theme export.
- Any Custom Icons for RDS?
In APEX 23.1, RDS has the ability to show Region Icons within the RDS tabs. For this to show, you'll need to first define icons for the regions that are included within your RDS. Hope this helps!
- Can the Link Type be set to Dynamic Action for the Actions in the new task content row template?
Currently, there is no declarative way to invoke a Dynamic Action using a Template Component Action button / menu. We do think that would be very useful in a future release.
- Could the template directives be extended using, for example, Handlebars or Mustache?
Those would be separate things and would probably make thinks very complex. Remember that Template Components are rendered by the server. Handlebars and Mustache are usually processed by the client.
- How we can download universal theme application to run from local machine?
You can download the 22.2 version of the Universal Theme Reference app via the Gallery in your workspace. When APEX 23.1 is released, we will make the new 23.1 apps available for download via the Gallery in your new 23.1 instance. Right now, check out apex.oracle.com/ut to check out our hosted version of the 23.1 app.
- Can you export and Share a Template Component in the same way you can a normal plugin?
Yes they do behave the same as any other plug-in type. What’s new is that Template Component plug-ins can now also be included with the theme. That’s not possible for regular plug-ins yet.
- Will there be a tutorial video about using template components?
We will be putting together more content in the coming weeks
- Wizard-generated Classic Report with a Form. Report has DA for Dialog Closed to refresh the report region. Button 'CREATE' has a server-side condition to control if it shows. All works when opening the page, but not after. Problem: Partial refresh works only on report data, the button condition is not re-evaluated so it always shows even when it shouldn't. Fix or workaround?
I would encourage you to post your question to forums.oracle.com, ideally accompanied by a test case on apex.oracle.com -
https://forums.oracle.com/ords/apexds/domain/dev-community/category/apex
- When will we see the shortened URL in APEX?
In Oracle Cloud, see https://blogs.oracle.com/apex/post/introducing-vanity-urls-on-adb otherwise, Friendly URLs make APEX URLs pretty short!
- How can we keep update if some feature going to deprecated lets take example PL/SQL DC is deprecated what if we used it in many pages?
Take a look at our Release Notes for every new APEX release, where we outline Deprecated Features, alongside the details re New Features, Changed Behaviour, etc. For example, see our 22.2 Release Notes - https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/apex/22.2/htmrn/deprecated-features.html#GUID-657FF369-756E-4F31-96F9-B2D92C3DE084 - to see what was listed as deprecated for 22.2. Our 23.1 doc will have a similar section, so once we make our 23.1 documentation available, check out the new Release Notes for the latest information!
- Is APEX supporting create reports and forms over custom user types for table columns? I tried to create a report and a form over a table with a custom type column and it was not recognized by 22.2 APEX version.
Columns of custom object type are ignored at the moment.
- I had a use case previously, but now with Template Compnents, can I include a query for a child table in the cards region that is on the parent table? Basically in each card for a select query on the parent table, I would like data from the child table to be displayed in the card as well. About 3 rows of data from the Child table for each Parent.
Template Directives and Template Components are really just for visualizing already queried data. But if you can return the data of your child query as a concatenated string, eg. using the LISTAGG aggregation function, you can use the {loop} template directive to loop over that value.
- Styling a template component would it best to do this using theme roller with custom CSS that is used for the application or link a dedicated CSS file direct to the template component?
It will be simplest for developers using your template component to encapsulate the default styling in a template component-specific CSS file, which is something that the Template Components support. They can also include custom JS files so they are a self-contained unit. The Theme Roller can then be used to override anything that developers don't like about the default styling, just like they are used to doing for other components.
- Can someone share some key points / Summary of overview?
To learn what's New in Oracle APEX 23.1! https://apex.oracle.com/en/platform/features/whats-new-231/
- Today I started seeing a new certification in Oracle MyLearn called "Oracle APEX Cloud Developer Specialist 2023". does this mean the previous 1Z0-760 is going to be retired?
Oracle APEX Cloud Developer Specialist 2023 is not a certification but a new learning path. We will be formally announcing it soon. Thanks for your interest in APEX certifications!
- Any planned date to release 23.1 to download?
Soon! We don't release dates though.
- What is the use case for manually applying a template component using template directives?
You can use it in the HTML Expression of a classic report. The other use case is that one template component's HTML markup can include the {with/}...{apply/} to apply another template component as part of its definition.
- Can custom template components be assigned a page wizard icon?
For the time being, they will be mapped to a generic icon. In the future we might expose pre-defined icons which can be used. Custom icons are not possible because of security reasons.
- Template Components sample application is available anywhere to download and understand the code?
The template components that are part of the 23.1 universal theme are part of the UT sample application that you can reference here https://apex.oracle.com/pls/apex/r/apex_pm/ut/components
- Will you share this application with Template components?
Most of the examples will be included in the Sample Universal Theme app but I can see if I can create an export of my app which installs without issues.
- Some good resources to learn about AJAX CALLS/PROCESS please? (intermediate/advanced)
Access to the APEX APIs directly from apex.oracle.com is available to everyone, but also there are numerous blogs from many of our team members that show more advanced features in detail - there are also published books that can be ordered online to expand your knowledge on APEX.
To add, we have our YouTube channel that is constantly updated with all APEX features!
- How we can find a list of UT things such as THEME$TAGS which we can use with template directives?
All of the template components that are bundled with the Universal Theme appear in the Shared Components area under Templates for the Universal Theme. Search the template Type column for “Template Component”
- Are those directives documented?
Yes. See https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/apex/22.2/htmdb/using-template-directives.html
- Settings for badges are in inline dialog with multiple item, can we see the plugin?
If you want to check out any of these new Template Components, just log on to apex.oracle.com and create a new app, and check out the Universal Theme templates
- Where preferences "by user " will be stored?
APEX maintains a user preferences table of values for any preference configured by app
- Usually, how long does it take to become a professional in Oracle APEX?
Many developers can create professional apps in APEX rather quickly - perhaps within weeks or months for production apps. But there are a lot of skills that take time to being proficient in, such as SQL, PL/SQL and even JavaScript. It can take years of experience - it all depends on developer skill level and commitment to keep learning!
- What is the tentative timeline for 23 APEX to go GA in OCI?
We can't disclose GA dates, but hopefully, APEX 23.1 in ADB will be available at the same time than on-premises env.