APEX

Thanks for joining us in the past Office Hour session: What’s New for Oracle APEX on OCI and Autonomous Database
Watch the replay of the session: apex.oracle.com/officehours and find below the Q&A for the live session.

• Is there a way in APEX to create a Word Document and then email the document?
  For this use case, you'll likely want to review the power of https://www.apexofficeprint.com/

• Can I use my own SMTP Settings?
  To some extent. Read the doc for which settings are up to the user: Overview of the Email Delivery Service
  For ADB, APEX only supports OCI Email Delivery at this time.

• How fast will patches be available on OCI?
  APEX Patch Set Bundles are released to ADB within days of them being available for download from My Oracle Support.
  For example, APEX 22.2.4 patch was released for download on March 15, and as of today - March 16 - it is already deployed to all cloud regions except for Ashburn (which will get it later today).

• Is there an easy way to migrate my current database dev env (tables, data, etc) to OCI to use APEX service instance?
  I'm pretty sure you know about the APEX data packager, which helps a lot in many cases. But, we do have a goal of making this easier ASAP.

• Do I run into an issue if I close the browser(tab) after starting the upgrade process before it ends?
  No - once the process is initiated it's all server-side.

• When will we see SSO supported with APEX?
  SSO is supported already, for both the apps you build as well as for the App Builder itself. It requires additional configuration after provisioning, but should be reasonably easy (similar to on-premises deployments). For example, we use Social Sign-In authentication with Oracle Single Sign-on a lot here at Oracle.

• For the answer about SSO with on-premises IdP (AD), is that with the Oracle-managed ORDS?
  Depends on what integration method you are using for Active Directory. If SAML, then you would need a customer-managed ORDS at this time.
  For all other options - such as LDAP - you can keep using the Oracle-managed ORDS.

• How can I stop sending emails with autonomous action in APEX (scheduled to send emails once a day) when I cannot see it in APEX after APEX upgrade in OCI (upgrade from 21.x to 22.x)?
  We need to better understand the specific scenario. You may want to contact Oracle Support, or post this question with more details in the new Forum - https://apex.oracle.com/forum

• Are the APEX_MAIL emails transactional? That is, if an error happens elsewhere in the block and it gets rolled back, is the email sent anyway?
  When you call APEX_MAIL.send, the message is put into a queue (inserted into a table). This part is transactional and can be rolled back.

• How can I open a ticket on a bug that I have spotted in APEX in OCI AD environment in case of exclusively Always Free state?
  If you don't have access to Oracle Support as part of other products/services that you may have, you can report issues with APEX in Always Free ADB in the new Forum - http://apex.oracle.com/forum

• Any link for the non-database users APEX accounts for?
  You would configure this the same way as in any on-premises APEX environment - Configuring Authentication Controls for an Instance

• All the features of on-premise APEX will be available on OCI?
  Generally, yes - our goal is to maintain feature parity. For any differences in capabilities, we list them in the documentation:
  Restrictions and Limitations for Oracle APEX with Autonomous Database
  Using Oracle Autonomous Database on Shared Exadata Infrastructure

• So in the testing scenario, you clone your env (you pay twice in that time), you upgrade there, you test, you deploy to your PROD and threw away the test ADB again?
  Yes.

• What does “paying state” mean, I pay for the full DB or is it just the DB stays free but I can buy credits for more emails?
  Pay-as-you-go - You can choose a DB shape, and choose to buy credits for more emails.
  Always free - resource limit cannot be increased.

• I'm facing this error whenever I attempt to access my apex account on free ADB :
  403 Forbidden
  2023-03-16T14:55:21.485696Z | b6d227240a2162a26ee0be117be1561d |
  Perhaps you have an IP allow-list configured for your ADB.
  Please post this issue in the new Forum - https://apex.oracle.com/forum - and mention which cloud region you are using. We can take a closer look.

• Is there a quick and easy solution for PDF printing in ADB? We would like to print customer invoices in a PDF format and send it to the customer email after the transaction is finalized.
  Take a look into https://www.apexofficeprint.com/

• Are there any options for Jasper reports?
  It is still being used in APEX by many customers: https://gitq.com/daust/JasperReportsIntegration

• The Download section of interactive Grid (IG) having download report option with email delivery. I am using the free tier of ADB. The latest email functionality will work from IG, too?
  As long as APEX can send email from your instance, yes (that is, as long as your service is configured to send email)

• If we are calling REST services - how do we install a new wallet to call REST services in our data center?
  I'd recommend that you create a post on the Oracle Forums https://apex.oracle.com/forum

• On the paid service, is it possible (for an additional fee) to send like 100k emails on a certain day (like once a month)?
  It should be possible. You may need to request a Service Limits Increase for the Email Delivery resource(s) from OCI Console.

• For the upgrade settings - what if there is a change/bug in the new release that impacts your app and the patch doesn't get released within the 90-day window?
  During this 90-day upgrade window, we may still release APEX patches, such as x.x.1 and x.x.2. So when you apply the upgrade, your database will be patched all the way to the latest available patch.
  The maximum upgrade window is 90 days and it cannot be extended. At the end of the upgrade window, the upgrade is automatically applied (all the way to the latest patch available at that time).

• Can I set the upgrade release window to greater than 90 days, to be able to be tailored?
  The upgrade window cannot exceed 90 days.

• Can we get those email service price link?
  https://www.oracle.com/cloud/price-list/#email-delivery

• Is there any API to fetch ATP Instance related notifications? Notifications are sent via email currently, but it would be great to show them on a page in your APEX app.
  It might be a good idea to submit this as a feature request on apex.oracle.com/ideas.

• And what is the cost for making a backup and I suppose that you need another database to install that backup?
  You don't necessarily need to use backup and restore. You would use the Clone feature, which is easier to use. Then terminate the cloned database once your testing is complete. You would pay for the duration the cloned database is running at the normal rate.

• Is there a complete training documents for a beginner to learn APEX?
  Yes! Please go to
  Learn Oracle APEX
  Training and Certifications

• I was using email on my Free ADB over a year ago when I created the app. After the trial period of the Free ADB ended, emailing was one of the features that was lost. Is that still the case?
  Todd is just talking about the Free Email Delivery. In short - Always Free customers can use some amount of email for free now.

• I received a notification that my "Always Free" Database will be terminated because I'm on 21c. How is this always free if it gets terminated by Oracle?
  One of the main reasons an Always Free database gets terminated is inactivity. The database is shut down after 7 days of inactivity and terminated 30 days after.

• Free up to 3000 emails per month by APEX workspace?
  Per OCI tenancy.

• While signing up for OCI and opting for always free we still need to provide credit card, is there an option to use always free without providing credit card, if not can we have this feature please, just a thought :)
  I think this is beyond our control and is rooted somewhat in the fact that the services are available globally and it's just the way it is and will be, to verify customers.

• So restarting the database will upgrade imminently?
  What Todd was referring to was the scenario where you keep the database closed for some period of time, APEX upgrade becomes available in your cloud region, and then you start your database. At that point, any pending database patch - including APEX - will be automatically applied.
  If APEX Administration Services (on ADB) shows a message that an upgrade is available to you, simply restarting the database at that point will not automatically apply this upgrade. It is still your choice when to initiate the upgrade, whether using the UI or PLSQL API.

• Are there any planned measures to consider for upgrading from 21 to 23?
  I think the best advice we can give you is to review the release notes from 21.x through 23 here: Release Notes

• Is there a recommended path by Oracle to create OCI on behalf of my customers?
  Depending on how much you would like to be involved, you can still start with your own account as the admin and provide various amount of rights to the customer account. This is Identity and Access Management (IAM) and you can get a better understanding here: OCI Identity and Access Management

• What are cases where the OCI account got suspended?
  APEX Product Development team is not in the best position to discuss this particular topic. I recommend to reach out to Oracle Support or post in the OCI forum at https://forums.oracle.com

• There was a safe harbor promise a year ago that we will see 2 new APEX certification, 1 free, other paid. We got the free one, but where is the PRO one? Thanks.
  It is coming soon! It's a lot of work and our team has been working hard on it.

• P_FROM parameter in APEX_MAIL.SEND must match that in the SMTP credential or you can put any valid or invented mail account?
  P_FROM does not need to match the SMTP Credential. It must be one of the Approved Senders defined in your Email Delivery service.