Scott Spendolini's Blog

I owe a lot of thanks to the ODC - which stands for Oracle Developer Community.  What is ODC?  You may remember it as OTN, or the Oracle Technology Network.  Same people, different name.  Why they changed it I can't say.  People just liked it better that way... (love that song) In any case, what am I thankful for?  A lot.  To start, the tools that I use day in and day out: SQL Developer, ORDS, Oracle Data Modeler, SQLcl and - of course - APEX.  Without these tools, I'm likely on a completely different career path, perhaps even one that aligns more closely with my degree in television management. While the tools are great, it's really the people that make up the community that make ODC stand out. From the folks who run ODC and the Oracle ACE program to the developers and product managers who are behind the awesome tools, the ODC community is one of, if not the greatest asset of being involved with Oracle's products. If you have yet to get mor...

A while back, I wrote about how to give the Universal Theme a face lift .  If you follow the steps in that post, the base font for an APEX application with the Universal Theme can easily be changed. While that's all well and good, sometimes you only want to change the font for a report, not the entire page.  One of the applications that I'm building contains a number of IRs based mostly on log data.  Thus, having that data in a monospaced font would make it a whole lot easier to read. You can search Google Fonts for monospaced fonts by selecting only that option on the right-side menubar.  You can also opt for the standard yet kinda boring Courier and achieve the same thing. To implement this in your application, follow the steps in my other post, but stop shy of the final step.  Instead of pasting in the text that I specify, paste in the following to the Custom CSS field in Theme Roller, using the name of the font you selected for the font-family: .a-IR...

This year at KScope, we're going to try something new.  And fun.  And funny to watch - we hope.  It's called "Whose Deck is it Anyways?", and will occur on Sunday at 8:30pm.  It's only 30 minutes, but it will likely be the best 30 minutes of the conference.  Or at least the most embarrassing. Here's what we're going to do: the will be four 5-minute presentations - one on each of the following: BI, EPM, Database & APEX. Sound interesting?  Probably not.  We get that, too.  So here's what we did. Each 5-minute session will be presented by a non-expert.  For example, it's highly likely that I'll be presenting on BI or EPM. To make it even better, each slide deck will be prepared by the corresponding expert.  So again, it's highly likely that my slide deck's creator will be either Stewart Bryson or Edward Roske.  If nothing else, this session will be a crash course in how not to make cohesive, easy to read slides. Interest...

Unless you've managed to somehow filter out everything about US politics over the last few months (and if you have, please let me know your secret), then you've likely heard about "fake news".  From a high level, my basic understanding of "fake news" is that it refers to stories or websites that are fabricated to advance the political beliefs and/or ideologies of one site or the other.  Your definition may differ. So what is fake code?  That, I can at least try to explain in a bit more detail. The other day, I saw this image posted on Kris Rice's twitter feed: I thought it was a joke, but it's actually a real book . That made me laugh.  Then cry.  Then I read the book, mainly since it's only 4 pages.  Believe it or not,  there's actually some really good content packed in there.  Let me summarize: If you choose to copy code from Stack Overflow, the OTN forum, or anywhere, really, there's a few things to keep in mind: Who ow...

Alright, stop!  Collaborate and listen!  Ok, I’ll be the one to take my own advice here and stop... Later this month, I’ll be heading to Reykjavík, Iceland to deliver our 3-day training class “Developing Desktop APEX Applications”.  This class will be open to the public and costs about $2500 per student, so anyone is welcome to sign up. You’ll have to make your way to Iceland, of course. Here’s a brief overview of what we’re going to cover: This 3-day course is an introduction to developing web applications using Oracle Application Express, or simply APEX. The course starts out with an overview of data model of the application that student will build. It then transitions to the SQL Workshop portion of APEX, where basic database object management concepts are addressed. The bulk of the remainder of the class focuses on building an APEX application, starting with the core components that make up the foundation of the application. Students will then build several forms and reports, w...

This Thursday, I’ll be participating in the Taste of KScope 2017 webinar series by presenting GET POST ORDS JSON: Web Services for APEX Decoded.  The webinar will begin at noon EDT on Thursday, March 16th.  The webinar is completely free, and you don’t need to be an ODTUG member to attend. Here’s a summary of the abstract: Web Services in the APEX world are becoming more and more popular.  However, there is still a lot of confusion as to what they are and how they could benefit the APEX developer.  After a review of the syntax and jargon associated with web services, this session will review and boil down web services to their basic components.  It will then demonstrate how APEX developers can start to use these powerful components - both to send and receive data from other sites.   Not only will I be presenting this session at KScope later this year, but I’ve also done it a few times already, so most of the kinks are (hopefully) worked out. You can register for the webinar here:  ...

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about "low code" development platforms.  Even the Oracle APEX team has embraced this term (see  https://apex.oracle.com/lowcode/ for details). This approach allows the "citizen developer" - someone without a traditional IT background - to build basic applications with little to no code. Platforms such as QuickBase, Appian, Mendix and even SalesForce.com have popup up, offering the promise to quickly build applications with little to no code.  Users from all walks of life can now build and deploy applications to some sort of cloud in just minutes! But is it possible to build a truly useful application with little to no code?  Perhaps.  Perhaps not.  I suppose that all depends on what you want the application to do and what data it will use.  It probably also depends on the security of the application, and how easy it will be to integrate into a corporate identity management system behind a firewall.  It ...

It's going to be a hectic couple of weeks for me, as I get ready to head to Utah this weekend for the annual UTOUG Training Days conference next week.  I love Salt Lake City, and the UTOUG conference is just the right size - not too large, but large enough that most of the rooms are full of attendees. This year, I've got three slots, each as different as the next: jQuery & APEX Primer This session is aimed at the APEX developer who has just never had the time to get into the details of jQuery.  It starts with an overview of the basics, and then proceeds to demonstrate these concepts using a simple HTML page.  After that, it will show some more practical examples of how jQuery can work in an APEX application. Secure Your APEX Applications with APEX-SERT Security is as important as ever, and this session will show you how APEX-SERT - a free, open source tool - can be integrated into your development process.  Once installed, APEX-SERT is instantly...

NATCAP OUG - or the National Capitol Region Oracle Users Group - has a long history of providing Oracle-related content to those in the DC metro area.  I remember presenting there back in my Oracle days (early 2000's) on multiple occasions. Over the last few months, a few of us have been trying to resurrect this group, as there are likely more Oracle developers & DBAs in the DC area than any other area in the US, perhaps even the world!  This region has long been underserved, and we hope to change that. We have had a couple of meeting at Oracle's campus in Reston, and attendance has been, well, not where we need it to be.  So, if you're in the DC area, please consider joining this group.  It's free, and our goal is to have quarterly meetings where both experienced presenters and NATCAP members alike provide the content. If interested, please sign up on the NATCAP website here:  http://natcapoug.org Let's grow this group and give the DC metro a...

Yes, you read that right - it's not a typo, nor did one of my kids or wife gain access to my laptop.  It's part of a "blog hop" - where a number of experts made recommendations about KScope sessions that are "must attend" and are not in their core technology.  I picked ADF/MAF, as I don't have any practical experience in either technology, but they are at least similar enough that I would not be totally lost. In any case, the following sessions in the ADF/MAF track are worth checking out at Kscope 16 this year: How to Use Oracle ALTA UI to Create a Smashing UI for Web and Mobile Luc Bors, eProseed NL When: Jun 28, 2016, Session 12, 4:45 pm - 5:45 pm I've always liked UI, and Oracle ALTA is a new set of templates that we'll be seeing quite a bit of across a number of new technologies. Three's Company: Going Mobile with Oracle APEX, Oracle MAF, and Oracle MCS Frederic Desbiens , Oracle Corporation When: Jun 27, 2016, Session 6, 4:3...

Ever since APEX 5, the poor Navigation Bar has taken a back seat to the Navigation Menu. And for good reason, as the Navigation Menu offers a much more intuitive and flexible way to provide site-wide navigation that looks great, is responsive and just plain works. However, the Navigation Bar can and does still serve a purpose. Most application still use it to display the Logout link and perhaps the name of the currently signed on user. Some applications use it to also provide a link to a user's profile or something similar. Another use for the Navigation Bar is to present simple metrics via badges. You've seen the before: the little red numbered icons that hover in the upper-right corner of an iPhone or Mac application, indicating that there's something that needs attention. Whether you consider them annoying or helpful, truth be told, they are a simple, minimalistic way to convey that something needs attention. Fortunately, adding a badge to a Navigation Bar entr...

Providing file upload and download capabilities has been native functionality in APEX for a couple major releases now. In 5.0, it's even more streamlined and 100% declarative. In the interest of saving screen real estate, I wanted to represent the download link in an IR with an icon - specifically fa-download. This is a simple task to achieve - edit the column and set the Download Text to this: <i class="fa fa-lg fa-download"></i> The fa-lg will make the icon a bit larger, and is not required. Now, instead of a "download" link, you'll see the icon rendered in each row. Clicking on the icon will download the corresponding file. However, when you hover over the icon, instead of getting the standard text, it displays this: Clearly not optimal, and very uninformative. Let's fix this with a quick Dynamic Action. I placed mine on the global page, as this application has several places where it can download files. You can do the same ...

It's conference season!  That means time to start looking at flights and hotels and ensuring that while I'm on the road, my wife is not at work (no easy task).  In addition to many of the conferences that I've been presenting at for years, I have a couple of new additions to the list. Here it is: RMOUG - Denver, CO One of the larger conferences, the year usually starts out in Denver for me, where crowds are always large and appreciative.  RMOUG has some of the most dedicated volunteers and puts on a great conference year after year. GAOUG - Atlanta, GA This will be my first time at GAOUG, and I'm excited to help them get their annual conference started.  Lots of familiar faces will be in attendance.  At only $150, if you near the Atlanta drive, it's worth checking out. OCOJ - Williamsburg, VA (submitted) This will (hopefully) also be my first Oracle Conference on the James.  Held in historic Williamsburg, OCOJ is also a steal at just $99. UT...

If you've been using APEX long enough, you've probably used a PL/SQL Region to render some sort of HTML that the APEX built-in components simply can't handle. Perhaps a complex chart or region that has a lot of custom content and/or layout. While best practices may be to use an APEX component, or if not, build a plugin, we all know that sometimes reality doesn't give us that kind of time or flexibility. While the PL/SQL Region is quite powerful, it still lacks a key feature: the ability to be refreshed by a Dynamic Action. This is true even in APEX 5. Fortunately, there's a simple workaround that only requires a small change to your code: change your procedure to a function and call it from a Classic Report region. In changing your procedure to a function, you'll likely only need to make one type of change: converting and htp.prn calls to instead populate and return a variable at the end of the function. Most, if not all of the rest of the code can rem...

On Twitter today, Jeff Smith tweeted about a new SQL Developer cheat sheet that he created with a site called cheatography.com . Not to be outdone, I created a cheat sheet for the APEX 5 Keyboard Shortcuts . Not only can you view it online, but you can also download a PDF version of it. Check it out and let me know if there's anything that you'd like to see added.

In migrating SERT from 4.2 to 5.0, there's a number of challenges that I'm facing. This has to do with the fact that I am also migrating a custom theme to the Universal Theme, as almost 100% of the application just worked if I chose to leave it alone. I didn't. More on that journey in a longer post later. In any case, some of the IR filters that I have on by default can get a bit... ugly. Even in the Universal Theme: In APEX 4.2, you could click on the little arrow, and it would collapse the region entirely, leaving only a small trace that there's a filter. That's no longer the case: So what to do... Enter CSS & the Universal Theme. Simply edit the page and add the following to the Inline CSS region (or add the CSS to the Theme Roller if you want this change to impact all IRs): .a-IRR-reportSummary-item { display: none; } This will cause most of the region to simply not display at all - until you click on the small triangle icon, which will...

I'm a huge fan of APEX's new Universal Theme, and have been working quite a bit with it.  One of the coolest features is how easy it is to change the colors.  You don't even need to be good at design - just click Theme Roller, and spin all the things! However, as much as you change the colors, the look and feel still largely looks the same, since the base font is unchanged. So let's change it up! More importantly, let's change it up without making any changes to the Universal Theme itself, so that when we upgrade to APEX 5.1, our changes will be preserved. First, head on over to Google Fonts ( https://www.google.com/fonts ) and pick a font to use as your new base font.  It doesn't really matter which one you use.  For this example, I’m going to use Montserrat.  Once you've chosen which font to use, click on the Quick Use icon.  This will render a page with a number of different options as to how to include the font in your application. Select which s...

The next Oracle APEX NOVA MeetUp is going to be held on November 12th, 2015 at 7PM.  We decided to mix things up a bit and are going to have it at Vapianos in the Reston Town Center.  We're also going to try a more informal agenda.  In other words, there will be no agenda. So if you're around Reston on November 12th from 7-9PM (or so), feel free to stop by.  Here's the MeetUp.com link:  http://www.meetup.com/orclapex-NOVA/events/226009784/

I just ran the following script: -- TABLES FOR x IN (SELECT table_name FROM user_tables) LOOP   EXECUTE IMMEDIATE('DROP TABLE ' || x.table_name || ' CASCADE CONSTRAINTS'); END LOOP; -- SEQUENCES FOR x IN (SELECT sequence_name FROM user_sequences) LOOP   EXECUTE IMMEDIATE ('DROP SEQUENCE ' || x.sequence_name); END LOOP; -- VIEWS FOR x IN (SELECT view_name FROM user_views) LOOP   EXECUTE IMMEDIATE ('DROP VIEW ' || x.view_name); END LOOP; Basically, drop all tables, views and sequences.  It worked great, cleaning out those objects in my schema without touching any packages, producers or functions.  The was just one problem:  I ran it in the wrong schema. Maybe I didn't have enough coffee, or maybe I just wasn't paying attention, but I essentially wiped out a schema that I really would rather not have.  But I didn't even flinch, and here's why. All tables & views were safely stored in my data model.  All sequence...

About a month ago, I left my position at Accenture Enkitec Group. I had a couple of ideas as to what I wanted to do next, but nothing was 100% solid.  After considering a couple of different options, I'm happy to announce that together with Doug Gault & Tim St. Hilaire, we're re-launching Sumner Technologies . Much like last time, the focus will be on Oracle APEX; but we’re going to refine that focus a little bit.  In addition to traditional consulting, we’re going to focus more on higher-level services, such as security reviews and APEX health checks, as well as produce a library of on-demand training content.  APEX has matured tremendously over the past few years, and we feel that these services will complement the needs of the marketplace. It’s exciting to be starting things over, so to speak.  Lots will be the same, but even more will be different.  There’s a lot of work to be done (yes, I know the site is not in APEX - yet), but we’re excited at the potential of what...