Beta Draft
Release Notes
Release 2.2
B28553-02
July 2006
These Release Notes contain important information not included in the Oracle Application Express documentation. For the most current information, refer to updates of this document, which are located at the following Web site:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/
This document contains these topics:
For Oracle Application Express 2.2, the value of the character set in the configuration of the mod_plsql Database Access Descriptor (DAD) must be set to AL32UTF8, regardless of the underlying database character set.
This section describes new features of Oracle Application Express that are not documented elsewhere.
This section contains the following topics:
In earlier releases of Oracle Application Express, when a previously authenticated user attempted to use a link to an application that did not contain a session ID, the Application Express engine would check if the user's browser had a session cookie that located a valid session for the link. If the Application Express engine found a session cookie and located a valid session, the user could access the application using that session. Similarly, if an authenticated user attempted to use a link to the application and the link session ID did not match the current session, the user would still be allowed to access the page because of the presence of the session cookie for the currently authenticated session.
In Oracle Application Express 2.2, when page requests do not contain a session ID or when the session ID provided in the request does not match the current session, the user will have to repeat the authentication process, after which a new session will be assigned. Because of this change, you may notice changes in the way bookmarked links work. For example, the use of bookmarked links to pages that require authentication may result in the user being required to repeat the authentication process to the application.
As a best practice, developers should take special care to construct internal links between application pages so that they always contain the current session ID, using &APP_SESSION., v('APP_SESSION'), :APP_SESSION, or equivalent methods appropriate for the context in which the links are constructed.
Oracle Application Express now supports the display of a null option in a popup list of values item. Previously, in Oracle Application Express, the Display Null attribute was ignored. In release 2.2, setting the Display Null attribute to Yes, returns a null value from a popup list of values.
Oracle Application Express includes a number of data dictionary views that expose Oracle Application Express metadata. These views use the naming convention APEX_ (for example, APEX_WORKSPACES and APEX_APPLICATIONS). You can query these views to write custom documentation, perform ad hoc metadata reporting, and to access metadata from within applications. A list of all APEX data dictionary views is available by querying the APEX_DICTIONARY view.
This section describes bugs and known issues for Oracle Application Express:
Problems with Queries Containing a Bind Variable and a String with Two Dashes
Runtime Errors in an Application Imported from a Previous Release
Creating a Web Reference on a WSDL that Has Input Parameters Defined as Arrays
To view or develop Oracle Application Express applications, Web browsers must support JavaScript and the HTML 4.0 and CSS 1.0 standards. The following browsers meet this requirement:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher (Windows only)
Netscape Communicator 7.2 or higher
Mozilla 1.2 or higher
Firefox 1.0 or higher
SQL scripts containing multibyte characters cannot be edited in the SQL Script editor if multibyte characters occur in first line. Note that this issue does not occur when using Internet Explorer 7.0 and Firefox 1.5.0 or higher.
This issue is tracked with Oracle bug 5381230.
Workaround:
This issue most often occurs when the first line of the script contains multibyte characters. You can correct this problem by adding a new first line containing non-multibyte characters, for example two hyphens (--), and making sure the line containing multibyte characters moves to the second line.
When rendering multi-series line charts that contain negative values, the minimal value shown in the y-axis is derived from the minimal value or the first series. To prevent display problems with subsequent series, define the series with the smallest value as the first series.
This issue is tracked with Oracle bug 5250953.
Oracle Application Express does not support an EBCDIC character set. Note the value of the character set in the configuration of the mod_plsql Database Access Descriptor (DAD) must be set to AL32UTF8, regardless of the underlying database character set. See "Important Configuration Changes".
This issue is tracked with Oracle bug 3334282.
Creating a report region based on a query that contains a string with two dashes may hinder the Application Express Engine's ability to handle item bind variable references. Consider the following example:
SELECT ename, job, sal, comm, deptno
FROM emp
WHERE instr ('-'||'-dash-'||'-','uu') = 0
AND deptno = :P18_X
AND 1 = 1
This issue is tracked with Oracle bug 4583405.
Workaround:
You can correct this behavior by changing the bind variable format. For example, to correct this issue in the previous example you would change :P18_X to v('P18_X').
In Oracle Application Express, release 2.2 online Help is not translated into Japanese.
If you import spreadsheet data by copying and pasting and a column value contains a double quotation mark, the data will not import correctly (for example, 54" Plasma Flat Screen). To avoid this problem, you have two options:
Option 1:
Save the data in a delimited format (such as comma-delimited (.csv) or tab-delimited).
Use Import Text Data wizard to upload and import the saved file.
Option 2:
Replace the quotation mark with two double quotation marks as shown in the following example:
54"" Plasma Flat Screen
Use the Import Spreadsheet Data wizard to import the file.
When you view the Number/Date Format popup dialog on the Column Attributes page, the following appears in the dialog box:
\ + 5,234.10
It is expected that the symbol of 'yen' displays accurately in a Japanese environment.
Note that the backslash (\) and yen are the same character code point, but display differently depending on the selected font. A backslash (\) also displays when applying the data format on the page in the application.
This issue is tracked with Oracle bug 3384664.
If you create a form on a table or view based on an included column whose name is in Japanese using a wizard, the name of the new item will be included in Japanese.
This issue is tracked with Oracle bug 3393090.
Workaround:
To correct this problem, when you create new items on the Page Definition use alphanumeric characters A_Z, 0-9 and '_' for the item names. You may also need to changes item names to alphanumeric before you apply changes to the item.
If you export an application from an earlier Oracle Application Express release and then import and install it using the installation pages in Application Builder, in rare situations you may encounter runtime errors after the application installs.
These errors often manifest themselves as PL/SQL parser or execution errors pertaining to blocks of PL/SQL code embedded within application components. The installation process sometimes splits strings greater than 200 characters into multiple lines. For example, lines may split between PL/SQL keywords, or at other places that cause parsing errors.
Workaround:
If you encounter these types of errors and suspect the installation process has split large strings:
Isolate the failing component containing the suspect PL/SQL within the application by editing the failing page in Application Builder.
Locate the blocks of code that appear to split incorrectly.
Attempt to split the blocks of code in more appropriate places, or insert white space with the lines until no runtime errors are observed.
Export the application, import the export file, and then reinstall it.
Retain the new export file as a permanent backup copy.
If you create a Web service reference in Oracle Application Express on a WSDL document that has input parameters defined as arrays, you will not be able to use built-in wizards to create a form or a form and report on that Web reference.
This issue is tracked with Oracle bug 3922270.
Workaround:
Oracle Application Express does not provide a user interface for input parameters that are arrays. Output parameters that are defined as arrays are handled properly if you use the Form and Report on Web Service Wizard.
Oracle Application Express release 2.2 does not support the Corel SVG Viewer.
Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible, with good usability, to the disabled community. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Accessibility standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For more information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at
http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/
Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation
Screen readers may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise empty line; however, some screen readers may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace.
Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation
This documentation may contain links to Web sites of other companies or organizations that Oracle does not own or control. Oracle neither evaluates nor makes any representations regarding the accessibility of these Web sites.
TTY Access to Oracle Support Services
Oracle provides dedicated Text Telephone (TTY) access to Oracle Support Services within the United States of America 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For TTY support, call 800.446.2398.
Oracle Database Application Express Release Notes, Release 2.2
B28553-02
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