7.3 Creating Mobile Applications

7.3.1 About jQuery Mobile Support

To support mobile application development, Oracle Application Express incorporates jQuery Mobile. jQuery Mobile-based web pages use a lightweight framework that enables you to create compact and minimalistic web sites that include only a few images and CSS files. Using jQuery Mobile, these applications can run on the following mobile operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile.

jQuery Mobile supports mobile device-specific events, such as orientation change and touch events. You easily change the look and feel of jQuery Mobile-based applications by modifying the CSS using tools such as ThemeRoller. To learn more, see:

http://themeroller.jquerymobile.com/

7.3.2 Creating a Mobile Application

To create a mobile application:

1. On the Workspace home page, click the Application Builder icon.

2. Click the Create button.

3. For application type, select Mobile and click Next.

4. For Name:

   1. Schema - Each application obtains its privileges by parsing all SQL as a specific database schema. Identify the database schema owner.

   2. Name - Enter the name used to identify the application to developers.

   3. Application - Specify an integer value that identifies the application. The application ID must be unique within your Application Express instance. Application IDs between 3000 to 9000 are reserved for internal use by Oracle Application Express.

   4. Theme - Select a theme. Themes are collections of templates used to define the layout and style of an entire application. See "Using Themes."

   5. Theme Style - Select a theme style. Theme styles are only available for newer applications such as theme 42 and 51. See "Using Theme Styles."

   6. Click Next.

   Tip:

   To create an instant application consisting that includes just a login page and blank page, click the Create Application button.

   Next, add pages to your application.

5. For Pages, click Add Page.

   In the Create Application - Add Page dialog:

   1. For Select Page Type, select the type of page you want to add. See Table 7-1, "Create Application Wizard - Available Page Types".

      The available page types depends upon the User Interface you select in the previous step.

      Action displays the currently selected page type. For each selection, the wizard prompts you for different types of information, such as selecting a table name or report implementation. To learn more, see field-level Help.

   2. Click Add Page.

      The page (or pages) appear at the top of the page. To delete a page, click the Delete icon.

   3. Repeat the previous steps until all pages have been added.

   4. Click Next.

      Tip:

      To exit this wizard early and use Application Builder Defaults, click the Create Application button. To configure Application Builder Defaults, see "Leveraging Application Builder Defaults" in Oracle Application Express Administration Guide.

6. For Shared Components, indicate whether to copy shared components from another application. Select Yes or No. If you select Yes, select where to copy them from and which components to import.

   Shared components are common application elements that can be displayed or applied across multiple pages in an application. To save time or maintain consistency between applications, copy the shared components from an existing application. The types of shared components you can copy include: user interface themes, lists of values, navigation bar entries, authorization schemes and authentication schemes.

7. For Attributes:

   1. Authentication Scheme - Determine how to establish user identity before accessing an application.

      To learn more, see field-level Help and "Establishing User Identity Through Authentication."

   2. Language - Select the primary language for this application.

      This attribute identifies the language in which an application is developed. This language is the base language from which all translations are made.

   3. User Language Preference Derived From - Specifies how the engine determines the application language. The application primary language can be static (that is, derived from the web browser language) or determined from a user preference or item. The database language setting determines date display and sorting characteristics. To learn more, see field-level Help.

      You can alter the Language and User Language Preference Derived From attributes later on the Edit Globalization attributes page. See "Configuring Globalization Attributes."

   4. Date Format - Specifies the date format to be used in the application.

      Use this date format to alter the NLS_DATE_FORMAT database session setting before showing or submitting any page within the application. This value can be a literal string containing a valid Oracle date format mask or an item reference through substitution syntax. If no value is specified, the default date format is derived from the database session at runtime. If supplied, this is also used as the date format for any items resulting from columns of type DATE.

   5. Date Time Format - Specifies the date time format to be used in the application.

      This date time format can be referenced in an application using the substitution reference &APP_DATE_TIME_FORMAT., or in PL/SQL using the function v('APP_DATE_TIME_FORMAT'). This attribute does not alter any NLS settings. This value can be a literal string containing a valid Oracle date format mask or an item reference using substitution syntax. If this attribute value is not specified, then a reference to APP_DATE_TIME_FORMAT returns the NLS database session date format and the NLS time format.

   6. Timestamp Format - Specifies the timestamp format to be used in your application.

      Use this timestamp format to alter the NLS_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT database session setting before showing or submitting any page within the application. This value can be a literal string containing a valid Oracle timestamp format mask or an item reference through substitution syntax. If no value is specified, the default timestamp format is derived from the database session at runtime.

   7. Timestamp Time Zone Format - Specifies the timestamp with time zone format to be used in your application.

      Use this timestamp with time zone format to alter the NLS_TIMESTAMP_TZ_FORMAT database session setting before showing or submitting any page within the application. This value can be a literal string containing a valid Oracle timestamp with time zone format mask or an item reference through substitution syntax. If no value is specified, the default timestamp with time zone format is derived from the database session at runtime.

   8. Click Next.

8. Confirm your selections and click Create Application.