Scott Spendolini's Blog

One neat little trick which I have found that users like is the ability to highlight a cell as you mouse over it. In HTML DB 1.6, the Highlight Row feature was introduced as a part of Themes. With just a couple of small changes to your report template, you can take things up a notch, and provide your users with the ability to change the cell color as they mouse around an HTML DB Report. First of all, create a report based on any table or view. Be sure to use the "Standard" Report Template, not the one with "Alternating Color Rows." If you want to use an Alternating Color Row template, you’ll have to make the changes below for both Odd and Even rows. Once you have created your report, edit the Report Template which is associated with it. If you edit the page that your report is on, you should be able to see a link to your Report Template under the Shared Components: Templates section of the Application Builder. Scroll down to the Before Each Row section and replac...

I’ve been playing around with Trees over the last couple of days. One of the requirements dictates that I render a Tree based on a sub-set of a larger hierarchy of data. Luckily, the data is already in the correct format (ID, PARENT_ID, DESCRIPTION) for an Oracle HTML DB Tree, so I don’t have to make any changes to the data structure. Due to the large size of the table, it was much more efficient to create an HTML DB Collection based on a subset of the data, and then use that Collection in my Trees. Sounds simple enough, but you cannot easily create a Tree based on a Collection, as the view HTMLDB_COLLECTIONS does not show up in the Select List of Tables/Views that you can base a Tree on. The solution to this was almost too simple: Create your own View for HTMLDB_COLLECTIONS. This killed two birds with one stone: I could now select my view from the Select List when I created a new Tree, and I could also rename the columns to reflect those of the base table, rather than be forced to use...

In a previous post, I mentioned that I was using membership in an eBusiness Suite Responsibility as the basis for an HTML DB Authorization Scheme. It’s really quite simple to set up, and even easier to manage. Note: This assumes that you have already integrated HTML DB with the Oracle Single Sign On server. See this How To for detailed steps on how to do that. Create a new Responsibility in the eBusiness Suite Once created, note the RESPONSIBILITY_ID . You can obtain this via SQL*Plus or from the Help : Examine : Item menu in the eBusiness Suite. In HTML DB, create a new Authorization Scheme. Select Exists SQL Query as the Scheme Type, and enter the following as Expression 1: select 1 from apps.fnd_user_resp_groups ur, apps.fnd_user u where u.user_name = :APP_USER and u.user_id = ur.user_id and ur.responsibility_id = 50280 Be sure to use your RESPONSIBILITY_ID in place of mine (50280). Associate this new Authorization Scheme with an Application by editing the Application At...

It’s Wednesday night, and I’m already ½ way through the first week of the new job. If I had $1 for each time I said “we” – meaning Oracle – I would be able to take the rest of the week off! I guess it will take some time before I can refer to Oracle as “them”. Being on the outside is very different. No longer can I pop into MetaLink to look up a TAR or Bug. I can’t access any of the internal sites which I used to do on a daily, if not more frequent basis. Call it separation anxiety, but I guess daily habits take some time to break. It was especially weird not being at OpenWorld this week. From what I heard, it was going well with a ton of interest in HTML DB, as well as BPEL & Fusion. Speaking of OpenWorld, I have also been reading about Oracle Raptor on Brian Duff & Wilfred’s blog. I’ve known about this project for some time, but obviously couldn’t comment until it was made public. I think that it’s about time that Oracle entered into this market. I remember back w...

Since I am no longer employed at Oracle, I am going to move my blog to Blogger, thus avoiding any confusion of what I "officially" said about HTML DB and what I "personally" say about it. Please update your bookmarks accordingly: New Blog Home: http://spendolini.blogspot.com New Blog RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ScottSpendolinisBlog

I’ll admit it – I’ve been spoiled for the last 9 years or so. Oracle has always provided its employees with a laptop or desktop (or both) system. Every couple years or so, you can typically convince your manager that you need an upgrade. Once your manager agreed and approved it, you could go to a web page, click on a picture of a laptop, and typically 2 or 3 days later, it would show up on your desk. Not bad! My most recent machine was a Toshiba Tecra M2. I loved it – it had awesome battery life (could easily make the trip from Dulles to San Francisco), didn’t weigh a ton, and just worked well. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take it with me, and since my new job requires me to own a laptop, I had to purchase one ASAP. As someone who designs software and applications, I was shocked to find that almost every major PC company’s Laptop/PC configuration site was way too complicated and cluttered! There are simply too many choices to make configuring a laptop an efficient process. Sure, there is ...

As many of you may know by now, I am no longer with Oracle. After almost 9 ½ years, Last Friday was my final day. I’m going to be working on a contract with the US Marine Corps in Tysons Corner, VA – just a quick ride from where I live. There, I will be using HTML DB (naturally) to build a web interface to some Oracle eBusiness Suite applications. I’m anxious to get started, as I’ve long thought that using HTML DB as a one-off for eBusiness Suite applications is an excellent use for the tool which can save both time and money. In addition to that, I am going to be doing some HTML DB & Oracle consulting on the side. I’m in the process of forming my own LLC – Sumner Technologies. While I admit that the website isn’t much to look at today, I plan on offering HTML DB consulting and training as my time permits. So the focus of this blog is going to have to adjust accordingly. I’ll still be blogging on HTML DB related topics, but I am also going to blog on what it’s like to leave ...