Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 2-12.
The APEX Object Browser
The name
Object Browser
is somewhat of a misnomer because the tool can be used not only to browse the objects
in the underlying schema(s) but also to create new objects, browse and edit data, delete objects, and edit object
definitions. Although there are some limitations on the types of objects it can manipulate, it's powerful enough to do
most of the daily tasks that an application developer needs to tackle.
You choose the object type you want to work with by selecting it from the drop-down list in the upper-left corner.
You can search the selected object type by entering a text string in the search box just below it and clicking the refresh
icon to the right. Clicking the name of an object displays its properties along with links to drill into more details.
Although the interface for the Object Browser is pretty intuitive, there are some interesting things to note. In
the upper-right corner is a drop-down list that allows you to set the current schema. The list contains all schemas
currently assigned to the workspace. You can switch between them simply by choosing a new one from the list.
Also, to the right of the drop-down list is a set of quick link icons that takes you directly to the other tools in the
SQL Workshop.
The SQL Commands Interface
The SQL Commands interface allows you to interact with the underlying schema(s) using standard SQL commands or
PL/SQL as you would in any other GUI tool or SQL*Plus. The difference is that you can save the statements for use at a
later time. Figure
2-13
shows a simple SQL statement as executed in the SQL Commands interface.
