Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Below is a list of some of the APEX views that you will find very helpful when creating plug-ins:
Item plug-ins:
APEX_APPLICATION_ITEMS
Dynamic action plug-ins:
APEX_APPLICATION_PAGE_DA
and
APEX_APPLICATION_PAGE_DA_ACTS
Region plug-ins:
APEX_APPLICATION_PAGE_REGIONS
Process plug-ins:
APEX_APPLICATION_PAGE_PROC
and
APEX_APPLICATION_PROCESSES
The APEX dictionary is a very powerful tool that tends to get overlooked. You are encouraged to
spend some time reviewing the views that are available.
APEX APIs
APEX provides a set of APIs that can help with your plug-in development. Examples of some of these
APIs are used throughout this topic. Here is a list of some of the most useful ones for plug-in
development:
APEX_CSS:
Handles CSS-related code
APEX_JAVASCRIPT:
Handles JavaScript and JSON code. Good for escaping values
in JavaScript as well.
APEX_PLUGIN:
Primarily used for plug-in data types. Also contains a few
functions to help with AJAX calls and item plug-ins.
APEX_PLUGIN_UTIL:
Debugs calls for all types of plug-ins, along with some utility
functions and procedures.
JavaScript APIs:
JavaScript functions. Before writing your own functions to do
something that you think should be part of APEX, look through this list.
Of course, you may use other packages not listed above. For a complete list of APIs, along with help
and examples, view the APEX documentation. To get the latest copy of the APEX documentation, go to
http://apex.oracle.com
an
d click the
Application Express Documentation
under the
Getting Started
heading.
Summary
Spending time to instrument your code may initially seem like additional work. In the end, it always pays
off to have this in your code. If you don't use it, another developer who has to work with it will.
There are a lot of tools you can use to help speed up development time. This chapter covers some of
the most popular tools used by plug-in developers. There are other tools you may want to add to your
repertoire that will help you with your development.
Again, it is worthwhile to spend the time up front and install/configure these tools. Once you have
these tools in place, you will notice huge improvements on your development time.