Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
C H A P T E R 2
Oracle APEX 4.0 Charts Inside Out
by Dimitri Gielis
This chapter will cover the charting possibilities in Oracle Application Express 4.0 and explain in great
detail how APEX charts work behind the scenes.
In my experience, a lot of people who have been developing in APEX for years don't use charts that
much or haven't really invested time in reviewing all the different options APEX provides. That is why,
although this is an expert topic, we will start this chapter by explaining what APEX charts are, how they
work, and what types of charts you can create with the built-in functionality of APEX. In the second half
of the chapter we will go up a level and discuss how to produce more advanced charts.
The release of APEX 4.0 brought a lot of changes compared to APEX 3.x, including a complete new
charting engine and a lot more functionalities which are now provided declaratively.
By understanding the different components of a chart and how APEX handles them, you'll be able to
visually display your data in almost any way you like. From combined charts to charts with thresholds, to
dashboards, this chapter will explain it all step by step. We'll also make charts more interactive and
combine them with other elements on the page; for example, when you change your chart, a report on
the same page changes automatically based on your change in the chart, and the other way around.
Finally, we will look both at the future of charts in APEX and how you can already benefit from the
latest and greatest in the charting world.
APEX 4.0 includes two different kinds of charts: HTML charts and Flash charts. HTML charts are
very limited and we'll only cover them briefly. Most of this chapter focuses on Flash charts. Flash charts
consist of different types of charts, but you can categorize them into three big groups: Charts, Gantts,
and Maps. This chapter will discuss charts in great detail and will combine them with other components
such as reports later on. Gantts and Maps are not covered, but the way they work is very similar to
charts; the techniques to debug them and see what is happening behind the scenes is exactly the same
as with the Flash charts described in this chapter.
Caution
The information in this chapter is based on Oracle APEX 4.0.2.00.07. Previous or future versions might
behave slightly differently, especially the bugs mentioned in this chapter. The initial release of APEX 4.0 contained
other bugs which were fixed in the latest patch set. As you read this chapter, you might find that the issues
mentioned here have already been solved in the version of APEX you are running.
